Epilogue XXXXV - The Day of Delights

Beca, Chloe, Stacie and Aubrey, made their way through the doors of the rooftop terrace in downtown Manhattan, the April sun beating down loyally on their bodies while they were led over to a beautifully laid table for four. Aubrey let out a content sigh as she took a seat facing the view before them. Lower Manhattan looked wonderful on a day like today.

"I can't believe there's nobody else here." she said with a light chuckle, focussing on the fabric napkin she spread neatly onto her lap. They all had slightly more expensive taste since reaching their own successes. Aubrey and Stacie's high-end children's fashion company had really taken off this past year, and as a result, living in New York had been an absolute dream. Not least of all because it meant they could regularly visit their best friends: Beca and Chloe Beale.

Aubrey missed the way her two friends and her girlfriend looked at each other with small smirks. It was an empty terrace for a reason.

"I'm just going to find the bathroom." Chloe said innocently enough, scraping her chair back and quickly dashing from the table.

"And I'm going to see who our host it. Hopefully it's Maria." Beca added, scraping back her own chair before heading through to the inside of the restaurant. Leaving Aubrey and Stacie alone together, both facing the city view over the balcony they were sat on.

Stacie's hands became clammy. She'd never been here before but had entirely trusted Beca when the brunette had recommended this place as the perfect location. The perfect location to propose. It had been on her mind for around a year and while impulse had drawn her close to proposing to Aubrey on three different occasions, having not had the ring on her each of those times meant that Stacie had been left with no option but to just tell her girlfriend how much she loved her. This time, however, the brunette was fully prepared. The ring was in the pocket of her jumpsuit at that very minute. She kept stuffing her hand in her pocket to check it was still there. It was currently between her fingertips.

Beca swiftly walked past the bar, her eyes focussed on the back of her wife's head while Chloe headed through to a function room at the back of the restaurant. A soft smile was on Beca's face. A smile that broadened as Chloe glanced at her from over her shoulder. There was a knowing grin across the redhead's face and it only served to speed Beca's walking so that her hand flung out to take her wife's arm, tugging it gently to stop Chloe.

The two women stood toe to toe, smiling affectionately at one another while Beca's hand held itself delicately over Chloe's stomach. They held a deep secret. One that filled their hearts with more love and hope than they'd ever had before.

"Sorry I'm late, babe. The driver was the slowest dr-." Beca huffed in a harassed tone before pausing as she strode through the front door of the house, slinging her bag on the coat stand. Her brow furrowed slightly. She'd been expecting her wife to be greeting her at the door with open arms. Not because Beca was needy, no. But because whenever Beca texted Chloe from the cab when she was nearing the house, the redhead would usually be stood eagerly awaiting her arrival. Three weeks in LA was a long time for Beca to be away, but it wasn't a recurring situation for them to be in.

What also had the brunette slowly wandering through the house in confusion was the lack of presence of Alba, the dog having always leapt across the house to greet her. But the Labrador was nowhere to be seen. So Beca made her way through the lounge and into the kitchen. Nothing.

"Babe?" Beca called out again, and that was when she heard a bark from outside. A smile slowly spread on her face as she wandered up to the kitchen window and saw her wife, laid out on the lawn in the Spring sunshine with Alba laying by her side.

Beca stepped out into the back yard, still surprised that her wife hadn't looked over to greet her. Surprised that Alba sat protectively beside the redhead, though her tail wagged in recognition of her other own. The latest addition to the fold got down onto her knees with a broad grin as Chloe looked up at her with a calm smile on her face, and Beca swore her wife got more and more beautiful the older she got.

"I missed you so much." Beca said, not wasting any time and swooping down to kiss Chloe on the lips. The time she'd spent away had felt like a lifetime! But it was always worth it to be able to come home to her favourite person.

"I missed you so much too!" Chloe cooed, her fingers drifting through her wife's hair while the tips of their noses nudged delicately against one another, "And I have some news." she added in a gentle whisper.

Beca brought her face back from her wife's, a curious smile on her face. A smile that changed to a look of pleasant surprise as Chloe tugged a tiny baby-grow from beneath Alba and laid it out on her stomach.

"We did it?" Beca asked, trying to keep her excitement at bay just in case she was assuming the wrong thing. But tears sprung into her eyes as her wife grinned up at her, nodding gently. "You're pregnant?" Beca checked.

"I'm pregnaaant!" Chloe wailed, tears in her eyes as she beamed up at her wife. Chuckles and coos fell from their mouths as Beca dove down to hug the redhead, tears of joy rolling down their cheeks.

"I took five tests this morning and they were all positive!" Chloe mumbled into her wife's neck, adoring the feel of the woman's tight embrace. They both giggled as Alba decided to join in, kicking ferociously at their cheeks. Beca leant back to take in her wife's beauty and begin to try to get her head around this new reality.

"I-I can't believe it worked first time around!" she said with a content sigh, her hand already on her wife's stomach as though she'd be able to feel it kick already, "What was it..like six weeks ago?"

"Seven." Chloe corrected with a smile. Seven weeks since Chloe had attended the clinic for the first round of IVF. Success on the first go. How lucky were they!

"Seven weeks pregnant." Beca mused in a quiet voice, looking down at the tiny baby-grow in amazement. "So all being well it'll be born-"

"-Around November." Chloe answered helpfully, having already done all the calculations. Beca and Chloe both held one another's gaze as they had done on so many occasions before. Except this time things felt different. They were going to be mothers by the end of the year.

"I love you." Beca mumbled against Chloe's lips before drawing them together with an affectionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around the redhead's waist as Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's neck, their kiss deepening. The wives smiled into the motion, still enjoying the thrill of knowing that in Chloe's belly was a teeny tiny baby, growing away. Their teeny tiny baby.

It had only been around four hours ago that Beca had found out, and both she and Chloe had agreed not to announce it to The Bellas for fear of ruining Stacie's proposal. So the idea of keeping it their little secret for now made it all the more exciting. They were going to have a baby in about seven months time!

Suddenly The Beale's snapped apart, clearing their throats awkwardly when the door beside them flung open and Fat Amy stuck her head out, hissing, "Hurry up you two!"

For Fat Amy to be hurrying Beca and Chloe along was an unusual thing, enough for the two women to hastily drop their arms from each other and dart into the room after the Australian – not wanting to attract too much attention and have The Bellas asking them why they were being so openly affectionate in public. And they happily accepted the warm greeting from their friends as the door closed behind them.

Stacie, meanwhile, was somewhat enchanted with Aubrey's soft smile while the blonde continued to look out at the view before them. This was a common thing for the two of them to do. To sit in comfortable silence. Their whole worlds revolved around one another at both work and home that they so often spoke together. So the odd patch of content silence was just another part of their day.

"So I've been doing some thinking." Stacie began in a nervous tone, though she had no idea why she was so nervous. Aubrey was going to be okay about all this. She was going to say yes. Chloe had assured her she would. Her heart skipped a beat as her girlfriend turned to look at her with a hum, a relaxed smile on her face. Stacie stared deep into Aubrey's bright green eyes. God, this was it.

"We've been together four years this year and…I-I can't even begin to put into words how grateful I am that you took a chance on me back in Europe." Stacie paused. She gave her girlfriend a coy smile as she noticed Aubrey trying to stop herself from grinning broadly.

"You took a chance on me as much as I took a chance on you, babe." Aubrey replied in an affectionate tone, reaching out to place her hand on the brunette's knee. Stacie looked down at it, her smile broadening slightly. It was Aubrey's left hand. The final time she would be without a ring on that wedding finger – Stacie hoped.

"Well I've fallen so in love with you, Bree." Stacie admitted, looking back up and catching her girlfriend's loving gaze, "With you I feel like I can conquer anything. And together I feel like we're gonna do amazing things with our perfect little life."

Stacie noticed that just behind Aubrey at the far end of the rooftop they were sat on, was some movement. Of nine women of differing looks, heights, weights, and ethnicities, all gathering together. She didn't need to look directly at them. She knew they were her Bellas, ready to conduct the plan they'd concocted weeks ago. She began fishing in her jumpsuit pocket, her fingertips hooking onto the ring.

"So would you do me the honour-" she heard Aubrey let out a sharp gasp as she pulled the engagement ring from her pocket, "-of becoming my wife?"

Her heart was hammering against her chest as she noticed tears immediately well up in her girlfriend's eyes while Aubrey looked down at the ring Stacie was now presenting to her. There was a smile on the blonde's face, a sure sign that she would say yes. And Stacie felt a huge wave of relief as Aubrey looked up at her, blurting out a choked "YES!"

The Bellas all stood in the order that had been arranged by Stacie, and as Beca played the opening note from the pitch pipe, they grinned. Aubrey, having just had the engagement ring slipped onto her finger, turned suddenly with an expression of recognition, and let out a light squeal of delight while The Bellas began performing an acapella version of 'All You Need Is Love'.

Stacie watched her fiancée with joy, adoring Aubrey's smile and the knowledge that she'd put it there. Her body felt calm and excited all at the same time, thrilled to be sharing this special moment with the woman she loved and their best friends. She watched as Aubrey turned to her, her smile softening before the blonde leant over to Stacie and they shared the most perfect of kisses.

Beca glanced over at Chloe while they sang, surprised to see her wife already looking at her, and they shared an affectionate, knowing smile. Today was full of delights. Two of their best friends getting engaged, and a baby on the way. How could life possibly get any better?

Thank you SO much to everyone who is still keeping with this fic! There are still many more snippet chapters to come - as many of you who follow me on Tumblr know, i've written many future shots of Bechloe and their kids from this Universe ;)