Epilogue IX - Initiation

There were little squeals of delight as six year old Samuel Beale raced after his cousins, trying to drench them with water from the hose pipe that he held in his hands. Close behind him was a young black Labrador who appeared to be having as much fun as the children, opening his mouth wide to catch the water whenever it was sprayed in his direction. The dog was only a year old, technically classed as a puppy, but was just large enough to successfully carry Sammy on his back whenever the boy clambered onto his pet.

Despite Sue and Jerry telling their youngest son that he and his fiancée were mad for getting a puppy at the same time as having a baby, Johnny and Laura had gone ahead with the commitment anyway, wanting their children to grow up with the puppy. And Chloe couldn't have been more excited to know that there was finally a dog in the family. She'd practically cried when she had first met Max the Labrador at the lake house over Christmas.

"Sammy, spray away from the house please!" Laura called out to her son, who had a mischievous grin on his face, chasing Oliver and Jack who ran together towards the house before splitting and running in opposite directions. Chloe giggled as she saw the boy stop suddenly, as though trying to decide which twin to run after. It didn't really matter which he went after as being two years older than them was a huge advantage. What wasn't an advantage though was being in a water fight with his older cousins, and Sammy shrieked loudly as his eldest cousin, Eva, emptied a huge bucket of water over his head, before running off with a cackle to fill the bucket up again. This was closely followed by another bucket of water thrown at him from the side by Eva's brother and the second eldest cousin, Hunter.

Chloe tried to stifle a laugh as her drenched nephew dropped the hose pipe and began to wail. But the Beale men were relaxed fathers, taking after Jerry for their teasing nature. So Johnny merely called out to his son, "Oh relax Sam, you're alright!" but the six year old staggered up to the decking, joining the adults who were all sat around the large outdoor glass dining table, wiping the water from his eyes.

Samuel approached his mother who pushed his floppy soggy dark brown hair from his face with a grin, saying sweetly "See that's what happens when you have the best water weapon Sammy, someone always sneaks up on you." And the little boy tried to clamber up into Laura's lap, but Johnny was quicker than their son, and managed to keep him from getting his fiancée soaked by pulling the six year old onto his lap instead.

"Can we go swimming yet?" The little Beale asked his mother as he looked over at her with big blue eyes. The kids had been dying to go swimming in the lake since they had arrived at their grandparents lake house two hours ago. Chloe's stomach lurched. She'd almost forgotten for a moment about the huge hickey that currently lurked between her breasts. Dark and brooding. And she reached out for her glass of lemonade as she heard her mother say that they would soon go swimming once their food had settled properly.

"Oh that means you don't have long to get Eva back, Sammy! You'd better go get her!" Michael said to his nephew enthusiastically and it appeared this was enough for the six year old to cheer up and scramble out of his father's arms to race back out to the large grassy area at the back of the house. The adults laughed, resuming their focus on their drinks or the children that dashed about the lawn to avoid the water that came from the hose pipe as Sammy raced after his cousins.

"Are you a keen swimmer Beca?" Claudia asked the young woman, leaning into the table slightly to look past Chloe, who had turned to her right where her girlfriend sat. Chloe saw the brunette hesitate. She wouldn't have ever used the word 'keen' to describe Beca's opinion of swimming. It wasn't that the woman didn't like it. She knew how to swim. She just wouldn't ever be gagging to go swimming if the opportunity arose. Chloe on the other hand, she adored swimming. Spring and Summer had always been Chloe's favourite time of year because it meant plenty of visits to the outdoor pool back home, or full days spent in the lake behind their lake house.

"Um…yeah, I can swim? Never really did it much growing up, you know, the curse of being an only child so…I wouldn't say I'm a keen swimmer. But I can swim."

The Beale's chuckled at Beca's answer and Chloe was relieved to see a smile grow slightly on her girlfriend's face, and the redhead found herself bringing a hand up to pick off a rogue long hair from Beca's top. She was impressed with how quickly the brunette had appeared to settle into conversations with her family around the dinner table, knowing how intimidated Beca often felt within large numbers of people she'd only just met. And to her relief her brothers hadn't been entirely intrusive. Little did she know this was because of the conversation her father had had with them before lunch...

Her eldest niece had insisted on sitting next to Chloe during lunch. They had always been very close since Eva had been born and Chloe knew this was likely due to the fact that Eva and Chloe were the only two redhead's in the family. Sue Beale had once been a redhead, but it had turned to a lighter, more strawberry blonde, colour since entering her fifties. And naturally the ten year old had become curious about Beca, whose side Chloe hadn't left since the rest of the family had arrived.

"I want to sit next to Auntie Chloe!" Eva declared as she dashed onto the decking before her cousins, racing around to join her favourite Aunt who had just sat down beside Beca.

Chloe giggled, pulling out the chair beside her for her niece to sit on, "Come on Pickle" she said as the little redhead dove onto the seat, allowing her Aunt to push her up to the table. Chloe brought her right hand down and reached over to her girlfriend, resting the palm of her hand on Beca's left thigh. She couldn't stop the smile that was spread across her face as she felt her girlfriend take her hand without looking at her, and the redhead looked at her family who took the seats around the table. On the other side of her niece sat Eva's mother Claudia, then Hunter, then Samuel, and opposite them were Jack, Oliver and their mother Julia. Opposite Chloe sat Laura and opposite Beca sat Ellie in a high chair, with Johnny sat the other side of the one year old. To Beca's right sat Michael, then Ryan, and opposite Ryan sat five year old Noah who had desperately wanted to sit beside his grandfather. At either end of the long table sat Sue and Jerry Beale, able to see their entire brood as they dished out the spaghetti bolognese Sue had made for lunch. Beca's favourite.

"Who's that?" Chloe heard Noah ask his grandad loudly, pointing obviously at Beca and Chloe felt her cheeks begin to flush slightly as she saw Beca gulp. In the midst of the shock, excitement and relief of having the adults of her family finding out about her dating Beca, Chloe had completely forgotten that her nephews and niece didn't yet know.

"This is Beca," Michael said to his youngest son, motioning to the young woman beside him with a warm smile, "she's Auntie Chloe's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Noah exclaimed loudly in disbelief and the adults grinned as the young boy laughed loudly, "but Auntie Chloe's a girl! She can't have a girlfriend!"

"Your Daddy's right Noz, Beca's my girlfriend." Chloe said with a bemused smile and she turned to her niece as the ten year old quickly piped up, "Is that why you're holding hands?"

Chloe felt Beca squeeze her hand almost instinctively but she merely smiled softly down at Eva who looked up at her with bright blue inquisitive eyes, her little brow furrowed slightly, "Yeah Evie, that's why we're holding hands."

"Holding hands?" Noah laughed loudly again and Chloe heard her girlfriend let out a chuckle as the family all grinned at the little boy who now looked down at the plate that his grandfather had just placed before him, "That's silly!" he said shaking his head slightly.

"Well that's love kid…"

Chloe felt her heart jump into her mouth, her jaw dropping slightly, a soft smile creeping across her face as she turned to look at her girlfriend, amazed at what she'd just said to her little nephew. The family fell silent with a clatter of dropped cutlery as they all stared at the brunette, surprised by the casual comment about love. They knew that this thing between Chloe and Beca was something that made Chloe very happy, but many of them had presumed that due to the brunette's unaffectionate, shy, awkward nature the two woman hadn't declared their love for one another. Well not officially anyway (the video of drunk Chloe declaring it not counting in their eyes). Nor could they guarantee that Beca even felt this way about the redhead, Chloe being so overly open about loving things and people and Beca seemingly not. Beca had already taken a bite of garlic bread but slowed her chewing to a stop as she saw the sets of eyes on her.

"What?" She said swallowing her mouthful, "Should…" Chloe saw her girlfriend turn to her with a worried expression, "...was I too mean?" But Chloe simply shook her head, closing her mouth and giving Beca a content smile. The brunette continued though, trying to justify her comment, "I just…holding hands...that's-" she turned quickly back to Noah to address the five year old who still stared at his aunt and aunt's girlfriend blankly, "-it's what you do when you're in love kid. You hold hands and stuff…so…yeah…"

Chloe's heart was racing as she heard Beca's sentence trail off awkwardly and she squeezed her hand reassuringly with a soft smile. Beca had moved her attention to the bottle of beer that Jerry had kindly brought through for her when they had sat down and took a swig of the liquid. Chloe felt her cheeks flush slightly in embarrassment. She could feel the eyes of her family on her.

She dared to glance at her brother opposite her, half expecting him to tease the two of them rotten, Johnny being the leader of the Beale brothers when it came to teasing her. He was usually the mastermind. But to her surprise Johnny wasn't looking at her, he was looking at Beca with an expression she'd never seen on his face before. And the redhead couldn't put her finger on what it was about this expression. He was smiling but his smile wasn't jokey or teasey, it was calm and…soft.

"Well Chloe can show you what being a keen swimmer is like," Sue Beale said to Beca with a chuckle, motioning to her daughter who was on her right, "it takes forever to get this one out of the water once she's in!"

Chloe took another sip of her lemonade nervously. She was going to have to say something. Not to explain everything, but to at least give her family some warning that despite being a water-baby she wasn't going to be taking a dip this week, "Um, actually I don't feel much like swimming today" she said casually, and it was no surprise to her when her brothers, sisters-in-law, and parents all turned their attention from the children on the lawn to her, their mouths open in shock.

Ryan was the first to break the silence, "What, do you have a hickey you can't hide in a bikini or something sis?" And Chloe felt herself blush, raising her eyebrows slightly as she shrugged, taking another long sip of lemonade from her glass, "Oh my god you do!"

"Ryan don't start please!" Sue said with a warning tone, but by now all the brothers were grinning, as were their wives. Michael had turned to his left and clapped Beca on the back with a laugh and a "Nice one Bec!" taking the petite brunette entirely by surprise, causing her to cough slightly, not daring to glance at whatever expression Jerry Beale had on his face right now.

"It's not a huge hickey," Chloe found herself protesting. She couldn't look at her parents now. Especially not her father, who hadn't been laughing as loudly as her brothers but was certainly chuckling which meant he found some entertainment in her embarrassment, "its..just in a position that…can't be covered properly by any of my bikinis."

"Well now you have to show us Chlo!" Laura said with a giggle, having leant back in her seat to watch the young women opposite her squirm in embarrassment. There was a pause as Chloe rattled through the options. Either she kept the hickey hidden and risked her and Beca being interrogated and worn down over the next few days until she eventually showed them. Or she got it over and done with now and just showed them, made do with the teasing which would last the rest of the day maximum, and enjoy the rest of the week swimming. Beca was screwed either way. The family knew there was a hickey on Chloe and the only culprit was the quiet, petite brunette.

So Chloe let out a big sigh, pushing her chair back with a scrape and stood up. She paused as the members of her family leant forward to watch her like hawks. She could tell from the look on her brothers' faces that they were poised to laugh loudly. She still couldn't bring herself to look at her parents.

Chloe's heart was hammering against her rib cage as she brought her hands to the bottom of her floaty top and gently pulled it up to above her bikini top, tucking it under her armpits. Several loud horrified gasps sounded from each member of her family, along with a wince and quiet "ouch" from Laura, and a squeal from Julia as the Beale's saw the true extent of what Chloe meant by 'a little hickey'. Chloe thought she'd even heard her father swear under his breath, something that may be the reason why Beca had cringed, putting her head in her hands momentarily, before looking back up at the redhead with wide eyes.

Chloe looked down at the patch of skin between her breasts, at the hickey that was situated over her breastbone and her stomach dropped. The bruising appeared to have got progressively worse since she'd last properly inspected it in the mirror before coming downstairs earlier. But perhaps that was down to the bright sunshine that was hitting her pale skin at that moment in time? It was certainly far larger than she remembered.

It was her own fault though, she'd told Beca she could do it. She'd wanted her to do it, in the thick of the first of their many passionate embraces last night. Beca had been chivalrous, checking with Chloe which patch of skin would be best as she'd slowly trailed her tongue and mouth across the skin of her chest, breasts and torso. And Chloe had been so impatient that she'd insisted that Beca just do it already. And at that time Beca's tongue had been swirling around Chloe's breastbone

"It's always the quiet ones huh. Top work mate" Johnny said with a laugh and Chloe watched her brother lean over the table, holding a hand out to Beca for a high five. Beca, who had been looking up at Chloe as she bit her lip guiltily, turned in her seat, staring at the hand in shock. Then slowly, tentatively, the brunette brought a hand out and Johnny high-fived it with gusto.

"Johnny that's your sister!" Laura said to her fiancé in a sharp tone and she reached out to lightly slap him on the arm as the man chuckled.

"Yeah but it's funny!"

Chloe quickly pulled her top down and returned to her seat, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassment. She cleared her throat, taking another sip of fresh lemonade before glancing nervously at her mother while addressing the rest of the table, "Right well, now you know why I won't be swimming can we move on to a different subject please?" She said with a sigh, still not daring to look at her father, so she looked down at the glass of lemonade on the table before her. Fortunately the man stood up from the table, clearing his throat slightly, mentioning something about going to the kitchen for more beers.

"Chloe, sweetheart, now we know about your…little mark…" her mother was being far too polite, it was hardly little, "you might as well go swimming later. You can borrow one of my t-shirts to put over your bikini if that'll make things easier"

Chloe bit her bottom lip as she considered the offer. She was tempted. Her mother always knew the right things to say, "And what if the kids see it?" the redhead asked, but her brothers were quick to offer their advice and Chloe sighed as she leant on the left arm of her chair, her left hand holding her left cheek as she rested her head against it, patiently waiting for the onslaught. It had only been a matter of time.

"Oh we can tell them you fell" Ryan said with a smirk.

"Ryan…" Julia warned her husband from the other end of the table.

"Yeah onto Beca's mouth" Michael nudged Beca's arm causing the brunette to bring a hand to her face in embarrassment.

"Michael!" Sue told her eldest son off, the man who should know better.

"And she couldn't get up because there was a sucker attached" the youngest son said with a grin and his brothers laughed loudly, each giving Johnny a high five.

"Johnny!"

"Oh relax Mom...this is the initiation, Chlo knows that" Ryan said, grinning at his little sister and Chloe simply rolled her eyes. Because they were right, this was the initiation. Her brothers had always gone out of their way to tease the guys that she'd brought home to meet the family. Okay, so it had only been the one 'friend' during the middle of high school, her first proper boyfriend at the end of high school, and a guy that she'd had a summer thing with between her sophomore and junior years at college. But for all three of those times her brothers had teased painfully, making each of her 'boyfriends' uncomfortable. So much so that often the relationship didn't work out much more than six weeks after meeting the Beale brothers.

This time seemed different though and that was for a number of different reasons. For the first and most obvious part, she hadn't brought a guy home to meet her family, Beca was a girl. And not just any girl, her best friend. The second reason this time felt different was because Chloe's feelings for Beca were unlike any feelings she had had for anyone in her life. Ever. She loved her. And not just a casual "ahh you're so cool I frikkin love you" kind of way. No, Chloe loved Beca with every bone in her body, with her every being, with her entire soul. A love that had been established as a baseline the moment she had first seen her across the activities fair six years ago and had just grown and flourished since then until now. Now Chloe was besotted with her. She simply adored her. She'd tumbled head over heels in love with her. Barely a thought crossed her mind that wasn't at least tainted with the essence of Beca. Everything she did, she did with her in mind. And many people would put this down to the honeymoon period that couples experience at the beginning of their relationship. But Chloe had felt this way about Beca for six years. There was no way she would ever bring herself to stop. Because Beca was her everything.

Other indications that this time was different came courtesy of her brothers. Because with previous guys she had brought home to meet her family none of her brothers had ever high fived them. But Johnny had high fived Beca. None of them had clapped the 'boyfriends' on the back and certainly not congratulated them on marking their little sister (mostly because Chloe had never allowed her past 'boyfriends' to mark her). But Michael had congratulated Beca as well as clapped her on the back. And while it had certainly been several years since she had taken the leap and allowed her brothers to meet someone she was 'seeing', they had never introduced Chloe's 'boyfriend' to whichever niece or nephew that may have been around at the time (which had more often than not been Eva, the eldest of that generation of Beale's). Michael could have easily told Noah that Beca had simply been Auntie Chloe's friend. But no, it had been clearly established by her eldest brother that Beca was Chloe's girlfriend.

Chloe watched her father return from the kitchen with a soft smile, handing a beer to his sons and one to Beca which the brunette took with a sheepish grin. This was the first time Chloe had dared to look at her father. She saw a warm smile spread across his face as he caught her eye and she almost found herself breathing a sigh of relief. Okay perhaps he wasn't too mad about the mark. She couldn't be sure why he seemed alright about it though. Was it because Beca was a woman and he couldn't get too mad with a woman? Was it because Chloe had been honest about it and the embarrassment of having to confess to the hickey was punishment enough?

The men reached in, clinking bottles, Beca joining them when Michael nudged her arm in encouragement. And suddenly it occurred to Chloe. The reason why her father wasn't mad about the mark. The reason why this time was different than all the previous times she had let her 'boyfriend' meet her family. It was because her father and brothers actually liked Beca! And this knowledge made Chloe's heart soar.

I frikkin love The Beale's!

Thank you so much for your reviews! They've really spurred me on to get this chapter written today (even with writers block!)

The next chapter will be set a couple of days after this chapter is set I think..

..

ALSO I'm considering writing a separate 'M' rated fic which would just be the 'M' versions of the intimate sessions that are merely hinted at in this fic:

Like Beca & Chloe's first time in the shower when they're in London (from Chapter 11), Staubrey's first time together (Chapter 15), the first weekend Beca and Chloe returned to their apartment (between Chapters 16 and 17), and of course Beca and Chloe once they finally get some alone time at the lake house (between Chapters 21 and 22)..

What do you think? I've kept it as toned down as possible so far to keep the 'T' rating so people can find this fic on the main FF page but I'm gagging to write in more...detail...

laco0417 - hi! Thank you so much! I may have mentioned before but I'm really trying hard to keep the characters as close to the ones in the movies so I'm so pleased to hear I'm still managing that! And thank you so much for your compliments!

Mysterious Guest - thank you so muuuch! Glad I can bring that little drop of sunshine :)