Epilogue XV - The Duck Pond
The cold breeze whipped about the trees that surrounded the large park near Chloe's family home and Beca walked with the redhead along a smooth path that ran between the trees and alongside a large duck pond. After the grand 'Stocking Present Opening', Beca had followed the Beale's downstairs for one of Sue's infamous 'Beale Breakfasts' made all the more amazing by Jerry's Christmas Coffee, which was his 'secret recipe' (though Chloe had whispered to Beca that it was essentially just coffee, cinnamon, and a bit of brown sugar). Beca hadn't realised how hungry she'd been and she'd happily joined the Beale's in tucking into the morning feast, slurping 'Christmas Coffee' from her new 'B' mug while Max sat at her feet hoping she'd smuggle some bacon down to him. Which she had, but only when nobody was watching.
Tradition meant that no sooner was breakfast finished then it was time to go to the lounge and open the presents around the Christmas tree. Tradition meant that the family sat in a circle on the floor by the tree, the children read out the names on the gift tags, and each person got their very own pile of presents to open. Beca, having only ever really had envelopes to open at Christmas time, with money stuffed in cards from relatives, was surprised when a small pile of presents had begun to pile up in front of her crossed legs. She'd looked over at Chloe who had been beaming at her, saying "you didn't really think my family wouldn't get you any presents did you?" and Beca had just shrugged, looking back at the pile before realising that she'd left Chloe's presents upstairs, so she'd scurried to get them.
It turned out Beca had a lot of presents to unwrap. There's been one from Michael, Claudia, Eva, Hunter, and Noah; one from Ryan, Julia, Oliver, and Jack; one from Johnny, Laura, Sammy, and Ellie; three from Sue and Jerry; and a small hamper of individually wrapped things from Chloe that the woman had bought or made for her. Beca had felt like the luckiest woman on the planet.
Chloe had unwrapped the two presents from Beca last. And had cried, hard, throwing her arms around the brunette's neck and hugging her tight as she mumbled a 'thank you' into her neck. Beca hadn't thought the presents had warranted tears but she'd been relieved that her girlfriend had liked them. It had only been a couple of photobooks, one containing a lot of the photos that Chloe had taken of them and The Bella's during their European Tour.
The other present had been a photobook with photos of the two of them together taken over the past six years. She'd had to reach out to The Bella's on Whatsapp asking that they send over any photos they had of her with Chloe to put in this book. She'd been surprised not only with the speed in which her friends had responded but also how many stealth-photos the women had taken of the two of them over the years. Some way before Fat Amy had begun teasing them, and some way before Beca had even entertained the idea that maybe, just maybe, she might feel a little something more for Chloe than she did her other friends. And Beca had looked at those photos with a hint of awe at the expression on Chloe's face when she had looked at Beca back then. And even the look on Beca's face when she'd looked at Chloe. How had she not noticed their chemistry?
Now the two women walked slowly to a park bench. Chloe put the brakes on the stroller before reaching down and unstrapping her youngest niece. Meanwhile, Beca had bent down to pull out a small bag of bread from under the stroller, chuckling and struggling as Max the Labrador snuffled by her arm, desperate to get to the bread first.
"Max!" Chloe said in a warning tone, and the dog stepped away from the stroller to join the redhead who had slowly begun wandering down to the edge of the park pond, her niece in her arms. It had been the idea of Sue Beale that the two women have the opportunity to go out for a walk just the two of them, knowing full well how wonderful yet overwhelming her family could be on Christmas Day, particularly with all the children who were hocked up on sugar and Christmas spirit. So she'd sent them out to take Max for a walk, suggesting they take Ellie, the easier of her grandchildren, to the local park to feed the ducks so that Beca and Chloe could have a bit of privacy during their first Christmas together.
Beca joined her girlfriend, who was now crouched down by the pond, Ellie stood between her knees. Chloe held her niece by the back of her little coat so she didn't wander too close to the water's edge. Max wagged his tail in recognition as Beca crouched beside Chloe, opening up the bag of bread.
"Ellie look, shall we take some bread to feed the duckies?" Chloe said in an affectionate tone and the 18 month old gave Beca a broad smile that was fast becoming the signature Beale smile, before reaching out and taking a piece of bread that the petite brunette had been holding out at her. The kid lobbed the bread at the pond, and several ducks swam as fast as possible to the bread, one of them getting to it first. Ellie squealed with laughter and the women chuckled as the ducks turned to them expectantly.
Twenty minutes later Beca, Chloe, Ellie, and Max slowly made their way back down the path away from the pond, the little girl waving at the ducks with her left hand as she held her Aunt's hand. Beca pushed the empty stroller, Max walking alongside her obediently on her right, Chloe walking with Ellie to her left.
"Do you ever think about us maybe having a baby one day?"
Beca swallowed loudly, her heart skipping a beat at her girlfriend's question. She looked out at the park around her, but could see out of the corner of her eye Chloe looking at her cautiously.
"Um…" was all she could muster, but Chloe began to ramble quickly, nervously.
"I know, I know, they cost a lot of money and take a lot of commitment and right now we probably can't afford a baby but maybe one d-"
"We could afford to have a baby now." Beca quickly interjected. She turned her head to look at her girlfriend as they continued to slowly walk. Chloe's mouth had dropped open, clearly surprised by Beca's calm response. But why couldn't Beca be calm about this? Since meeting Chloe's nieces and nephews a few months ago and seeing how wonderful her girlfriend was at interacting with and taking care of them Beca had toyed with the idea that yes, they'd one day have a family of their own. She just hadn't mentioned it to Chloe before now.
"I mean, I've been talking to your brothers about it and they say how expensive having kids is but…well they don't earn nearly as much as I do and I'm not even where I want to be in my career." Beca said as she looked out at the trees lined up ahead of them.
"You talk to them about that stuff?" Chloe asked quietly and Beca turned to look back at her girlfriend with a small shrug.
"Sure…I mean…they're the main breadwinners so I figured finding out from them is better than finding out from your sisters-in-law."
It was true, Beca was the main earner out of the two of them. Hardly difficult when Chloe only earned money from the 40 hours she worked a week at the coffee shop in NYC, the rest of her time spent volunteering at the local theatre group in Brooklyn. Since her latest promotion Beca had insisted that she pay for Chloe's third of the rent too, and that Chloe simply paid for their food and half of the bills. Chloe had protested, but Beca had felt it was only fair. What Chloe didn't know was how good Beca was at saving money. She put aside a quarter of her earnings every month to put into savings. Her hope had always been that one day she could buy her own house. This year however it had turned into a hope that one day she and Chloe could buy their own house together. What Chloe didn't know about money wouldn't hurt her.
Beca saw tears begin to form in Chloe's eyes as the redhead beamed at her. She could tell her girlfriend was lost for words. But she didn't want her to get her hopes up too quickly. She knew what Chloe was like. She would get swept up with an idea and it would suddenly become her soul focus until it became a reality. So Beca stopped, turning her body to face Chloe, holding a hand out as if trying to help the woman reel her thoughts back in. Chloe had stopped in her tracks and watched Beca with her bright blue eyes that were shimmering with tears.
"Just…lets wait a bit yeah? Until I've at least got this next promotion." Beca said seriously, almost as if she were begging her girlfriend to give her a little more time. She may be earning quite well at the moment, but it wasn't enough for them to raise a child comfortably on one income in Brooklyn. Not yet anyway. She'd heard along the grapevine at work that a position may be opening for a 'Junior Music Producer' at Residual Heat. That was the promotion she was eyeing up. Her boss loved her, the team that she led at the moment loved her, and she worked really hard for that company. She couldn't see why she wouldn't get that position once it came up.
Beca felt Max scrambling at their feet between them and she grinned. What she was about to say next would likely elicit a squeal from her girlfriend. And so with a deep breath she shrugged.
"And maybe if we start out with getting a dog, see how that goes with our finances and jobs, then we can look into what we'd have to do to have a baby."
Chloe's squeal was everything Beca had expected and more as the redhead dropped her niece's little hand and flung her arms around Beca's neck. Both women grinned.
"You mean it?" Chloe asked, squeezing Beca a little tighter and the petite brunette chuckled.
"Yeah I mean it Chlo. I think we should start reading up on how to look after a dog." Because that was how Beca worked. Things that required a big commitment needed to be read up on before doing. For example: before they moved up to Brooklyn, Beca had read several books and done research online about how best to go about finding somewhere to rent, noticing the signs of a good landlord, the best mode of transport around Brooklyn, the average cost of bills...
Beca let out a yelp which caused Chloe to jump back from her in confusion. But the brunette said nothing, instead dashing past her girlfriend and across the grass behind her. Because since her Auntie Chloe had let go of her hand, Ellie Beale had quickly toddled her way across the grass, away from her Aunts, and back towards the duck pond. Beca managed to wrap her arms around the child's waist and scoop her up just before she reached the water's edge.
Ugh fluff. But I gots to keep this story a'flowin..
Hands up who's curious about what Aubrey's been up to? Because I think we'll be paying her a little visit in the next chapter :)
As always, reviews are really appreciated! Thank you so much for reading!
justbechloe - thank you for your speedy comment and the confirmation that they still feel like they do in the movies!
BallieLives - haha thanks dude. I wanted to grab an essence of how kind and generous The Beale's would be as a family
LauratheChef - I cannot get over how lovely it is of you that you've taken the time to share so much about your life. I really feel very privileged. I'm sorry your mum reacted in a similar way to Beca's Dad and I hope things are a little better between you two now. And my goodness the complexities of your Christmases sound hectic! Oh and all the wonderful descriptions of your grandma's amazing cooking has made me feel so hungry, even though it's past midnight here in London! Thank you so much for leaving a review amigo x
FranciumJoker - aww thank you so much. Yes I loved writing that paragraph. Made me feel all warm and gooey inside!
Eliley - I know, cuteness right? And it's only gonna get cuter in epilogues to come :)
xx