Chapter 22: Janelle's Daughter

"I'm really glad we did this, Beca." Warren smiled over at his daughter. She just nodded her head and looked over at him.

"Yeah, thanks." She murmured. "I uh should get going. I have to work on homework before tomorrow."

"Of course," Warren nodded his head. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

She smiled at him, "Yeah, sounds good dad."

Beca got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk. She had told her dad that she was staying at an apartment in a gated complex, so he couldn't drive his car in.

Honestly, she didn't really know why she lied about it… She could have just told him where Amy actually lived but what if he dropped by one night while she was at Chloe's or something?

She walked into the complex and waited a few minutes for her dad to drive away before pulling her phone out to call Chloe.

The phone rang a few times before Chloe answered.

"Beca?" Chloe's voice filled her ears.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm at home, where are you? Should I come pick you up?" Her girlfriends clear concern made Beca's heart swell.

"Can you? I'm a few minutes walk away from the park." Beca explained.

"Yeah, of course." She said without hesitation. "Give me ten minutes. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Is it okay if I crash with you tonight?" Beca asked. She knew it would be. It was always okay.

"You don't even have to ask, Bec. Of course it is." Beca could hear the smile in her tone.

"Great, I'll see you in a little bit." Beca beamed. "I love you!"

"I love you!" Chloe stated before ending the call.

Beca began to make her way toward the park and smiled as she went. She honestly couldn't wait to see her girlfriend. It had been such a long day and she wanted her girl.

It didn't take long for her to get there, so she pulled her phone out to text Amy.

Beca: Hey, I'm staying somewhere else tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.

Almost immediately Beca received a text back.

Amy: K. Have fun with your boyfriend ;)

Beca: I don't have a boyfriend Amy.

Amy had been trying for the last few weeks to get Beca to confess that she was secretly dating someone and that's why she was gone so much. Where yes, it is true that she is secretly dating someone, Amy was convinced it was a boyfriend. So no, Beca could say that she wasn't sneaking off to her boyfriend, because she didn't have one of those.

Amy: Whatever you say. Have a good night and use protection!

Beca cringed as she read that text but didn't respond because Chloe's car had just pulled up.

"Hey, beautiful!" Beca smiled as she jumped into the car.

"Hi." Chloe beamed back at her and pulled her into a kiss.

"How was the rest of your day?" Beca asked as she pulled her seatbelt on.

Chloe began to maneuver the car out of the parking lot.

"It was good, I just worked on some lesson planning." Chloe explained. "So uh… how did things go with your dad?"

Beca reached over and took Chloe's hand in her own as Chloe drove down the road.

"It was okay." Beca nodded her head. "He uh… wants to rebuild our relationship or whatever…"

Chloe hummed in acknowledgement but stayed silent for a moment. "And what do you want?"

"I don't really know, Chlo…" Beca sighed. "I just… like why now? Why is he all the sudden showing back up in my life right now…"

"I don't know, Bec." Chloe sighed as well.

Here's the thing, Chloe always believes that everyone deserves a chance. She always like to see the best in people. But there was just something… off.

It was really weird that he was all the sudden just showing up when Beca's life was finally on it's way to find some kind of normalcy… She wanted to be supportive of Beca and whatever she decided to do regarding her dad. But that didn't mean she fully trusted him.

"I don't know what you should do or why he's here." Chloe explained. "Just… promise me you'll be safe."

Chloe looked over at Beca for a moment, wanting Beca to see the conviction and earnestness in her words.

"I know." Beca sent her a soft smile, fighting the urge to lean over and kiss the amazing woman she loved. "I know. You wanna hear something insane?"

"Sure?" Chloe asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

"He asked me to move to New York with him…" Beca stated with a laugh. "Just like that. He was just like 'hey, sorry I sucked as a dad for years but like move your life to a whole different state with me your absentee father and my wife and daughter that I picked instead of you…"

Beca's tone was mocking but the pain was evident as well. Chloe gave her hand a small squeeze. God the nerve of this man…

"That is insane." Chloe mused. "What did you say?"

Chloe's eyes were trained out the window but the street went unseen as her mind was flooded with thoughts.

"I told him no." Beca stated as if it was obvious. She looked over at Chloe, who's attention was still trained out the window but somehow seemed unfocused. "Did you uh… Do you want me to?"

Beca's tone was defeated and small.

"What?" Chloe asked as her eyes snapped to Beca in confusion.

"Do you want me to go live with him?" Beca asked again, her tone soft. She looked down. "It would make your life a lot easier…"

Chloe jerked the car over to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks. She threw the car into park so quickly that Beca barely had time to register that they had stopped.

"Jesus!" Beca yelled in surprise.

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Chloe asked, not even bothering to hide her shock or anger.

"It's true though…" Beca sighed in defeat. "You were normal, and you didn't have to worry about your job or all this shit with Janelle before I came along. Now everything in your life is on the line because of me…"

"That is not true!" Chloe practically yelled cutting Beca off from saying more bullshit. "Just stop, Beca. You know that I love you and I want… no I need you in my life. Beca I love you and nothing will ever change that! No, I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here! But that has to be your choice."

Beca looked down and sighed. She didn't really know what to say or how to act or what to do. She just felt so… stuck.

There was a strange silence that filled the car. One that wasn't normal for the couple. They always knew what to say and how to fix things. But now… What could they say?

"Beca." Chloe finally sighed. "You leaving, is the last thing that I want. I care so much about you and I need you in my life. It would kill me to not have you here anymore."

Beca looked up at her. "I can't leave. You…."

Beca paused for a moment and sighed. She knew that she needed to be honest. She knew that she was safe with Chloe and could tell her anything. So she took in a deep breathe and allowed the vulnerability to take over control.

"I love you and honestly, Chlo… you are my family." Beca looked up at her and sighed. "you're my only family and I'm okay with that. As long as I have you, I'm okay."

"You will always have me." Chloe pulled Beca into a kiss. It was soft and sweet but real.

It was honest. It was coming home. It was safety.

It was love.

They pulled apart and smiled at each other.

"Don't ever doubt my love for you ever again." Chloe sighed.

"Never again." Beca smiled at her.

Her eyes seemed to shine as she looked at the woman she loved. The woman she would always love.

XxX

Warren's POV

Warren sighed heavily as he walked into his hotel room. Seeing Beca had been hard. It had been really hard actually and he just felt completely drained.

He pulled out his phone and clicked on his wife's contact.

"Hi," Sheila's voice filled his ears. "How are you?"

"Hey, I'm good. Just got back to the hotel room. How are you? How's Sam?" Warren asked as he took off his shoes and moved over to sit on the bed while he talked to her.

"She's doing good," Sheila explained. "She went down really easily tonight, which was a miracle since her daddy wasn't there to tuck her in."

"I miss her and you so much." Warren sighed.

"How were your meetings today?" She asked. He could tell she was doing dishes or something as he could hear the pots and pans banging against each other.

"They went well. I met with BU's Dean of Students." Warren lied. "It's looking pretty promising."

"That's so wonderful, Warren!" His wife gushed. "Are you still excited about the offer?"

"Yeah, I think it would be good to work for Barden University. I just don't want to get my hopes up." Warren continued. He ran his hands through his hair. "Plus, even if they do offer it to me, there's a lot of things to take into account."

"I know. But come on Warren, you grew up in Barden. And you've always wanted to raise your kids there one day." Sheila explained. "Now that you're a father, I know you've been dying to get back there."

Warren nodded his head. "I know. It just might not be that easy."

A silence filled the air for a moment.

"Warren, are you alright?" Sheila finally asked breaking the void. "You sound stressed. Is this not what you want?"

"It's just…" Warren began.

He knew he needed to tell Sheila the truth. She needed to know that he had another daughter and that she was the real reason he had come back. Sheila deserved to know about Beca. But how do you spring that on someone you've been married to for three years.

How do you tell someone that you have a 17 year old daughter that you've never told them about? Er 18. Beca's 18 now…

"I think I'm just a little tired is all." Warren explained. He was tired. He was extremely tired. But not for the reasons he knew Shelia thought he did.

"Well then go get some sleep." Sheila said with a laugh. "You're going to do amazing at your interview tomorrow, I just know it."

Warren smiled at her support. "Thank you, baby. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I love you!" Sheila stated and Warren responded in kind, before ending the call.

Warren sighed aloud and lay back in a huff. "Fuck…"

He was screwed. He knew he was.

Here he was trying to support his (secret) daughter through his ex-wife's arrest. Which was due to the absolute hell she put Beca through. While his current wife and daughter are back in New York thinking he was in Barden for a job interview…

When he asked Beca to move to New York with him, he knew she would say no. She would have been insane to say yes…

He cared about Beca.

He did.

But he feared what would happen if Sheila found out that he had a daughter and didn't tell her.

So he needed to find out the type of person Beca was and if she could harm his family. Was she going to try to get money out of him? Was she going to try to break his family apart because she didn't have one?

He was genuinely happy to hear about her full ride to BU because that meant she wouldn't need his money to pay for it.

But still. If she could do harm to his family, he needed to know about it.

Beca was Janelle's daughter after all.

Beca's POV

Beca walked into school the next day feeling… different. There was something about having her dad back in town that just made her feel… hopeful?

She didn't know why. She couldn't exactly explain it.

But it sort of felt like she had people in her corner. For the first time in her life she could see and feel the support. She wasn't alone in this world anymore.

Beca now had Chloe, Stacie, Amy, Emily, the support group, and her dad. It had been years since she felt this loved. This cared about.

Beca could tell that Chloe was apprehensive about her dad. She understood it. Warren had basically been gone for the most important years of her life. For him to show up now was weird.

But what if he genuinely wanted to be there for her. Not out of obligation or whatever. But just because he genuinely gave a shit about her.

But still, there was an uneasiness in the back of her mind as well. A feeling that she shouldn't quite put that much trust in him. At least not yet…

Was she being overly cautions? Probably.

But, she was Janelle's daughter after all.