Hello again, everyone! Happy New Year!
I've been toying with the idea of this story for a while now. I feel like I've seen multiple stories where we see Jade as a single mom (I've even written a few of them myself), but there aren't really as many where we see the opposite with Beck as a single dad. I thought it might be interesting to explore that in an AU setting where the characters are a bit OOC as well. This story takes place in Hartford, Connecticut (although there are still some heavy ties to LA) and revolves around Beck as he tries to navigate a relationship he didn't even realize he was looking for, while also raising two little girls. We also see a lot more of Tori and Andre in this story than in my others, which is something I know I have been asked about in the past ;)
Anyway, I'm always super nervous anytime I post a new story. So thank you all for giving this a read, and I hope you enjoy it!
P.S. I updated my profile to include 'playlists' for my other stories. Feel free to check it out if you'd like :)
"Dad?" A small voice whispers "Daddy?"
Beck Oliver stirs in his sleep, privy to the sound now filling his bedroom. As he gains just the slightest bit of consciousness he realizes who the voice belongs to and that it is speaking to him, and his eyes shoot open fully.
"Chelsea?" He yawns, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sits up "What are you doing in here? It's too early for you to be awake."
He glances over at the digital clock on his bedside table to see that it reads 5:26 a.m. His alarm would have woken him up in four minutes anyway, but it's much too early for his daughter to be awake...especially today of all days.
"I'm too excited to sleep!" Chelsea whines, bouncing on the bed next to him "I couldn't take it anymore!"
Beck can't help but laugh as he yawns again, still trying to gain full consciousness. He certainly would have never woken his parents up early on the first day of school out of excitement. It wasn't that he disliked going, he liked school enough, but his daughter's eagerness is certainly learned and not hereditary.
"Alright." He chuckles, throwing the blankets off of his body "You can get up with me today, but only because it's a special occasion. Deal?"
"Deal." Chelsea nods
Beck instructs the little girl to wait for him in the kitchen, then quickly swaps his pajama pants for a pair of gym shorts. He pulls a tank top over his head and grabs a pair of socks, then joins his daughter downstairs. She follows him out into the garage and watches as he laces up his shoes and begins his workout.
At seven years old, Chelsea Oliver doesn't really understand why so many of the adults in her life swear by 'working out' as often as they do. To her it looks unpleasant, but her father tells her that it makes him feel better and helps him start his day off right. He's never lied to her before, so she doesn't see why he would lie about that.
"Wanna try with me?" Beck pants, looking over his shoulder at his daughter as he begins a set of burpees
"You look silly." Chelsea laughs
"I feel silly." He admits as he jumps up "Come be silly with me!"
"Okay!"
Beck grins as he watches his daughter make an attempt at the exercise. Her back is hunched instead of flat, she doesn't bring her knees in as far as she should, and after about five burpees she grows tired and retreats back to her seat on the steps. He's grateful for any time he can spend with her, because he knows that he'll get less and less of it the older that she gets.
Once he's finished his workout, Beck takes Chelsea back inside and turns on the TV for her. He instructs her to stay in the living room until he finishes showering, unless she hears any noise on the baby monitor. He realizes that he shouldn't worry, Chelsea is a good girl and much more responsible than he ever was at seven years old, but his paternal instincts cause him to anyway as he retreats back upstairs.
He showers and shaves rather quickly, knowing that there's a busy morning ahead of him. As he's getting dressed he checks the time and sees that it's approaching 7:10 and then right on cue, the baby monitor on his dresser begins making noise. Still buttoning his shirt, he follows the noise down the hallway and into his younger daughter's room.
"Good morning!" He greets the infant with a smile "How did you sleep?"
The fourteen month-old smiles groggily as she reaches her arms up to her father, snuggling into his chest as soon as she's in his arms.
"Dad!" Chelsea appears behind him "Aspen is awake!"
"I see that..." Beck chuckles, bouncing Aspen gently in his arms "C'mon, we need to get you two dressed and ready for the day."
It's a rather atypical morning routine for a twenty-five year-old, but Beck wouldn't trade it for anything. There's nothing else in the world he can think of that he would rather be than a dad to his two, in his eyes, perfect daughters, even if he's raising them alone. He loves the early morning wake ups, the tea parties and dress up, the bubble baths, the Mickey Mouse pancakes...all of it. Despite their mother's absence, he's determined to be everything they need and more and to raise them to be the best human beings that they can possibly be. He loves them both more than he could have ever imagined loving someone or something. They make everything worth it.
"Be nice to your teacher, okay?" Beck says to Chelsea as he walks her up to the front doors of the elementary school
In kindergarten and first grade, he had been allowed to walk her all the way into the classroom. Second grade parents can only go as far as the door though, their students are now familiar enough with the building to walk themselves in. One part of Beck is proud of how far his daughter has come, but the other part of him dreads the idea of knowing there's nothing he can to to stop her from getting any older. His baby girl isn't really much of a baby anymore.
"I'm always nice to everyone!" Chelsea insists
"I know you are." Beck smirks "But I wouldn't be a good dad if I didn't remind you to be nice on the first day of school."
"You're the best dad." Chelsea tells him
"Thank you." He smiles "Alright, hugs before you go in!"
He musters a fake grunt as his daughter squeezes him tightly, acting like she's stronger than she really is. The little girl giggles as he kisses her cheek, then turns to her sister in the baby stroller.
"Bye bye, Penny! Have fun at daycare!"
"She'll miss having you there with her." Beck admits
He's a carpenter, and works full days all week days...even some Saturdays on occasion. Without a co-parent, he needs somewhere for his daughters to go during the day. During summers and school breaks, Chelsea attends the same daycare as Aspen. Now that the school year has started again, she'll attend the district's after-school program until he can pick her up at the end of his work day. Both of his parents and plenty of his friends are very supportive of him and offer to watch the girls whenever Beck needs, but he understands that they have their own lives to lead as well. He doesn't want to rely on them too heavily, or be indebted to anyone.
"I'll see you tonight!" Chelsea assures her sister as the first warning bell rings "I gotta go!"
"Yes you do." Beck nods "Have a great day! I love you!"
"Love you too!"
He watches as she joins the flow of students entering the building, and stays planted in his spot until she's out of sight completely. With a sigh, he removes the break on Aspen's stroller and begins walking back to his truck.
As Beck is buckling the baby into her carseat, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He doesn't look at it until he's put the stroller away and is climbing into the driver's seat, and sees that it's a text from his friend Tori.
'Call me when you get the chance.' is all it says.
He presses the call button next to her name and the phone only rings twice before he hears her voice on the other end.
"Hey." Tori greets him "That was fast."
"You caught me at the right time." Beck chuckles "We just dropped Chels off at school."
"Oh right, today is her first day!" Tori exclaims "Was she excited?"
"She woke me up before my alarm." Beck informs her "You know how much that kid loves school."
"That I do." Tori agrees "I can't wait to hear all about her day."
He's known Tori for close to ten years now. They met in high school and stayed close through college, mostly because she was dating, and is now newly married to, his best friend, Andre. He was relieved when the couple decided to move back to Hartford after college, he's needed his friends more in the past year than he could have ever imagined.
"Me too." Beck nods "Why did you need me to call?"
"Oh, right. Do you remember my college roommate? Cat?"
Cat would be hard to forget. With bright red hair and the most effervescent personality Beck has ever seen in someone, she made quite the impact on him the few times that he has met her.
"How could I forget?" He chuckles
"You know how she's from LA?"
"Yeah."
"So her childhood best friend, I guess, actually just moved to the area." Tori tells him "She got a teaching job over in Avon. Anyway, she has these shelves she needs hung in her apartment I guess and she asked if I could have Andre do it but...we all know he's not the most...handy...guy in the world so-."
"Say no more." Beck laughs, remembering Andre's many failed wood shop assignments in high school "I'd be happy to help her out. My parents are taking the girls on Sunday, I can head over then."
"Thank you so much." Tori sounds relieved "She doesn't know many people here yet and Andre and I are trying to help her out as much as we can."
"Like I said, I'm happy to help." Beck repeats "Just text me the address."
"Will do." Tori tells him "Say hi to the girls for me."
"Of course, talk to you later." Beck says to her as he hangs up the phone "Aunt Tori says 'hi', Pen."
The baby barely pays him any mind, preoccupied with the toy she's playing with in her carseat.
"I'll tell her you said 'hi' back." He smirks, turning the key in the ignition "Alright, next stop...daycare."
He starts the engine, puts the truck in gear, and carefully navigates his way out of the school parking lot, cautious of the parents and students who are still making their way into the building. After three years of driving it, route between the elementary school and the daycare has become so familiar to Beck that he could navigate it in his sleep.
There have been plenty of times in the past year when Beck had considered packing everything up and moving the girls somewhere else, somewhere far away from Hartford, outside of Connecticut where they could start fresh. Every time, he talks himself out of it. This is where he had grown up, where his daughters were born, where their family and friends are...where their whole lives are. A fresh start somewhere completely new might end up doing them more harm than good. Yes, Hartford, Connecticut is where they need to be...at least right now.
"Here we are! Your turn!" Beck tries his best to sound enthusiastic as he parks at the daycare
He wishes there was a way to bring Aspen to work with him instead, he doesn't want to miss her growing up. She had both learned to crawl and taken her first steps at daycare, and he had missed both milestones. Being a carpenter and working with his hands so much, and having so many tools around, it's just not safe to have a baby in his workshop with him. It's even less safe to bring her with him to job sites.
"Be a good girl today, alright?" Beck tells the baby as he carries her inside the building "Be good for your teachers?"
Aspen smiles at him as if to tell him she understands, even though Beck knows that she doesn't. He can't say he didn't try though. His daughter is absolutely adorable in every sense, and it still baffles him how anyone could willingly walk away from her.
"I know you will be." He tells her, pressing a kiss to her cheek and making her laugh "I love you."