Thank you to everyone for your reviews! It always brightens my day to see that little notification pop up in my email. I devote a lot of time through out the week trying to get these chapters to where I want them, so your compliments are oh so appreciated.
Bekah-What can i say that hasn't already been said? You're amazing.
Enjoy everyone!
The questions were incessant for the entire 25 minute drive.
"But who will take me to my dance class?" Alex asked.
"Aunt Ashley will, I've already let her know the day and time." Beca reassured her.
Beca and Jesse rarely had conflicting schedules, which made the need for overnight childcare a rare request. But with Jesse currently in New York meeting with executives from Touchstone, and Beca scheduled to leave for LA the next morning, they didn't have a choice. Alex needed a sitter. As a result, Alex was vying for some semblance of control over the situation, and needing to know exactly how everything was going to play out.
"Who will feed me?"
Beca looked at Alex through the rearview mirror. "What? Aunt Ashley and Uncle Mike will. They are fully capable of looking after you. I promise."
"Will I have my own bed?"
"Yes."
"Do they have ice cream?"
"I'm sure they do."
"Did you pack my nightlight? I'm scared of the dark."
Beca smiled slightly. It was as if Alex thought that her mother had forgotten this fact. "Yes, I packed the nightlight."
"Did you tell Aunt Ashley that I get a story at bedtime?"
"Yes, Alex."
"What happens if I have an accident when I'm sleeping?"
Beca thought it was an odd question for her daughter to ask. "Alex, you've been potty trained for two years. You have never had an accident."
"But what if I wake up at night and forget where the bathroom is? Then I have an accident because I can't hold it. Will Aunt Ashley and Uncle Mike get mad at me?"
"No, they will not get mad at you."
"Oh...did you remember to pack my books?"
Beca took a breath, trying her hardest not to be sarcastic. "Yes, I packed your books. Do you have any other questions?"
Alex shrugged her shoulders, pearing around her carseat to get a better look at Beca. "Just one...where do babies come from?"
Beca got back into the car and watched as Ashley held Alex on her hip and they waved goodbye. Alex was frowning as she rested her head on Ashley's chest. She fought the urge to call Mark and tell him to go screw himself before scooping Alex up and going back home. Since that wasn't an option, Beca forced herself to go through her mental checklist to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
She had told Ashley and Mike Alex's bedtime and the time she usually woke up in the morning. She informed them of the 'no drinks after 7pm rule.' and the fact that too much sugar made Alex an Enigizer Bunny on crack. Beca reminded Ashley about Alex's bedtime routine, her favorite bedtime stories, her fear of the dark, and that she was worried about having a potty accident during the night.
She knew Alex was safe, and that she would have fun. Ashley had explained their plans for the week which included a trip to the water park, the Connecticut Children's Museum, and the Aquarium. Alex was in for a fun three days.
Still, immense guilt washed over Beca, and she found herself once again thinking about her own mother. The mother who had so easily left her without so much as a goodbye. She realized in this moment, that her mother couldn't possibly have loved her. If she had, she never would have left. It was hard enough for Beca to leave Alex knowing that she was safe and well cared for and she would see her again in just four days. And though Beca knew that she wasn't doing it on purpose, Alex hadn't made the goodbye all that easy. 'One more kiss' and 'One more hug' had turned into five more kisses and five more hugs. She made Beca tell her three times that she would be back, and Ashley had to at last, peel Alex off of Beca, her arms tightly wrapped around Beca's neck. Beca removed her daughters hold on her neck and kissed her hands, officially letting go as she told her one final time that she loved her before walking out the door. The fact that she was having to travel was hard enough, but the fact of the matter was, for four days, Beca would be 2,845 miles away from her child.
She sat in the car, trying to get control of her emotions as the door to the house closed, and Alex was out of sight.
Beca put the car in drive and pulled away as she told Siri to call Jesse. It was an hour drive to Stacie's from Ashley's and she needed something to distract her.
"Hey beautiful." He answered, picking up on the third ring. His voice infiltrated through the speakers of the car. Beca sighed.
"Hey."
Jesse could hear the sadness in her voice. It was one simple word, but he immediately gauged her mood. "You just dropped Alex off, didn't you?"
Beca sighed once more. "Can you do that thing where you tell me what a great mother I am and make my ego ten times bigger?"
He laughed at her request, and her heart melted as she pictured his smile. Damn it, she missed him already even after only a day away from each other.
"Bec, you're an incredible mother, it's one of the things I love most about you. I know you love Alex, nobody will ever love her more than you do. She knows it too, it's why she doesn't like it when you have to travel. But traveling is part of your job, which you are amazing at. It's hard, but you should not feel guilty. Alex is safe, she's with people who love her and care about her. And come Saturday, we'll all be together again. It's for her Bec, remember that. Were able to provide her with an incredible life because of our work."
Jesse always knew the right words to say to make her feel better and his words had soothed her fears instantly. Leaving her child didn't make her a bad mother, nor the fact that she was actually looking forward to being in LA with Stacie and getting a break for a few days.
"Thank you, I needed to hear that." Beca said as she made a left turn and headed south onto the interstate to head to Stacie's.
"You deserve this trip. I know it's for work, but I want you to enjoy the down time too, you're overdue for a break."
Jesse knew how hard Beca worked as she juggled being a full time mother, a full time music producer, and a full time wife. This left very little time for herself. Though Beca certainly wasn't the type to complain.
"Oh, one more thing. No drunken piercings or tattoo's. Unless it's my name on your ass, of which I'm all for."
Beca laughed as she rolled her eyes. "You mean my non exsistant ass?"
Jesse groaned. "Baby you know I love your ass, it's far from non existant, believe me."
God she missed him. Suddenly, dozens of images danced through her head. She thought about their times together. She thought about the way it felt to have his hands on her, how her body turned to jello when he grabbed at her breasts, kneading them, pinching them, sucking them. She thought about the way his hands massaged her ass when she was on top of him. Breathing in deeply, her hand reached up to touch her neck, remembering how it felt to have him shower that part of her body with kisses, knowing it was her weak spot. A spreading warmth filled her body as she remembered the way he moaned against her lips during sex, how his eyes watched her face intently when he would hit her G-spot, making sure she was enjoying things just as much as he was. Lastly, she thought about the way it felt to have his teeth sink into shoulder when he came inside of her.
"Bec, you still there?" Jesse questioned. Immediately she snapped out of her thoughts and tried her best to focus on the road before she got into a car accident from having phone sex with Jesse while driving.
"Babe, as much as I would love to tell you all the things I want to do to you right now, I have to drive." She explained.
He relented, knowing it wasn't a good time. "I love you Beca, call me tomorrow."
Beca smiled. "I love you too Jesse."
"Becs, have you ever let Jesse enter your back door?" Stacie casually asked before taking a bite of her chicken fried rice. Beca nearly choked as she was mid swallow when the unexpected question was brought up. Taking a swig of her water, she felt herself finally able to breathe again.
"Jesus, Stacie! A little warning would be great next time you have a personal question like that!" Beca nearly screamed. Stacie shrugged her shoulders.
The girls were splayed out on the living room floor as they ate their dinner, split a bottle of wine, and listened to the demo of the girl they were offering a recording contract to.
"No, we've never done that before, nor do I have any desire to do so anytime soon."
Beca did not consider herself to be a prude, she was more than willing to experiment with Jesse in the bedroom. Despite this fact, both Jesse and Beca agreed, anal play was something neither of them had an interest in exploring.
"I read this article in Cosmo the other day about it. I suppose it's worth giving it a shot, if for no other reason than to say I've done it."
Beca grimaced. "There are many things I would allow Jesse to do to me, shoving his dick up my ass is not one of them."
The front door opened, and Scott walked in sporting his scrubs. "Wow, clearly I picked the wrong time to walk into my own house."
Beca blushed profusely as Stacie busted out laughing. Dropping his bag on the floor, Scott walked over to give Stacie a kiss. After a twelve hour shift in the emergency room, he was exhausted.
"So, anal sex and chinese food, you girls really know how to party." Scott laughed as he made his way into the kitchen.
Stacie rolled her eyes before taking another bite of her food. "Oh please, like you and the boys don't talk about sex over beers and whatever game is on."
Pulling a plate out and preparing his dinner, he chuckled. "Of course we do. Unless of course Bumper's in the room. There are just some things a dude should not be telling another dude."
Beca nodded her head as she took a sip of her wine. "Believe me, it's even worse with Amy. I feel your pain."
Beca was exhausted as she fumbled with the Keurig, desperate to get some caffeine in her body. She glanced over at the clock, 4:45 in the morning. Shit! It wasn't even the ass crack of dawn. The black liquid trickled down into the cup, breaking the silence as it filled the kitchen with the aroma of vanilla. As she waited for the coffee to finish brewing, Beca went over things in her head, making sure she had everything she needed. The recording contract was securely in her black leather messenger bag, along with her laptop and charger. Her suitcase was fully packed and securely zipped, and in her purse was all the essentials she needed: License, credit cards, phone, charger, headphones, cash, hand sanitizer and gum.
As she pulled the coffee mug from the brew station and began to mix in the creamer, her phone vibrated against the table.
From: That Weirdo
She's just a girl and she's on fire. She's got both feet on the ground and she's burning it down. I'm so proud of you Beca, you've got this in the bag. I miss you so much baby, but just know that I'm blown away by your drive and commitment. I love you.
Beca smiled as she read the message. Knowing she had the full support of her husband made this trip that much easier to go on. No matter where Beca's career took her, Jesse was always behind her, supporting her, and encouraging her.
Stacie made her way downstairs and put her luggage by the door before making her way into the kitchen. Fully dressed, and with fresh make up, she was ready to go. Scott trailed behind her sleepily in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt.
Grabbing a mug for coffee, he opened the cabinet and released a long yawn. "Girls, remember, one wrong turn and you can end up in Mexico, Jesse and I have no bail money, Lindsay Lohan is not your friend, and if you run into wife number two, remember to get an autograph."
"Wife number two?" Beca questioned.
"Oh, yeah. Scott and I have this deal where we wouldn't question the other's decision if our celebrity crushes asked us to marry them. I chose Chris Pratt, he picked Rihanna." Stacie informed as she threw a few last minute items into her bag. Scott chuckled.
"Seriously though, enjoy this. You'll kick ass." He assured them.
Beca gathered her things together when they heard a car pull up as Stacie and Scott said their goodbye's.
She opened the door to find a black SUV in the driveway and picked up her suitcase to transport it to the vehicle. Stacie was on Beca's heels with her own luggage which Beca was convinced contained more clothing than one person needed for a week, let alone four days.
The window rolled down.
"Get in losers, we're going shopping." Damian announced, causing Stacie to laugh.
Beca looked between Stacie and Damian. "Dude, what? No, there is no time to go shopping! Our flight leaves in like, 2 hours! Rest assured Stacie has enough clothes and shoes for the three of us. We are not making any pit stops."
Stacie stared at Beca in confusion as Damian put his head down and groaned.
"Really? You married the king of movie nerds and he has yet to make you watch Mean Girls? This is a travesty. No Starbucks for you Glen Coco."
Beca shook her head and scoffed. "I suppose I'll live, I'd much rather be double fisting some screwdrivers right now anyway, so can we get this show on the road?"
"Paging passenger Ella Thompson to gate four, Ella Thompson to gate four, your flight is now boarding."
LaGuardia Airport was just begining to come alive as the sun began to rise and people around them printed boarding passes and headed in line to check bags. Beca hummed softly as the coffee, still warm, continued to wake her up. She glanced over to a little girl who wore a Doc McStuffins backpack and held tightly to her mother's hand, thinking of Alex. Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins were staples in the Swanson household.
Stacie stood at the kiosk, repeatedly pressing buttons and trying to figure things out. Huffing in frustration, she finally threw her hands up in defeat.
"Here, you try plugging your information in. For whatever reason, this damn thing keeps telling me I'm on a 7am flight to Laramie, Wyoming."
Beca's brows furrowed in confusion. Clearly this was some kind of mistake. Stepping up to the kiosk, she plugged her confirmation code in and waited as the screen pulled up her information.
Mitchell-Swanson/Rebeca Grace
First Class
Delta Flight 1842
LGA-LAR
On Time Departure
Begins boarding 6:34am
Beca stared at the screen. Why the fuck were they on a flight to Wyoming? Mark had been specific when he had called her on Saturday. They were flying Delta and getting into LA at approximently 10am.
Figuring there had to be a simple explination, the girls gathered their luggage and waited in line to talk to an agent. At six in the morning on a random Wednesday, LaGuardia had yet to overcrowd. Beca watched as person after person moved ahead of them in line, until finally, the "next!" that was called out was meant for them.
A tall, dark skinned, clean cut, uniformed Delta employee typed away on the keyboard while never taking his eyes off the computer screen, barely even ackowledging Beca and Stacie as he asked for their tickets. Looking down at the material in his hands, he finally looked up for the first time.
"What seems to be the problem ladies?" He asked. It was evident from his tone that this man neither cared nor wanted to be bothered to help them at that hour of the morning.
Beca was the first to speak.
"Uh yeah, this isn't our flight. We were supposed to be booked on the 7am flight to Los Angeles."
The man went back to his computer as he continued to type in a frenzy.
"Stacie Conrad and Rebeca Mitchell-Swanson?"
"Yes." Beca answered.
"Mm..yeah, nope." The man stated, his eyes still glued to his computer.
Stacie tilted her head in confusion. "What does 'Mm yeah nope' mean exactly?"
"According to this, I definitely do not have you booked on a flight to LA. You're on that flight to Wyoming. Tough luck ladies."
Beca quickly whipped her cell phone out and stepped to the side as Stacie continued to talk with the agent.
"Hello?" Mark's tired and groggy voice answered after several rings.
"What the fuck dude?!" Beca yelled.
Mark groaned. "Beca? Why the hell are you calling me right now, it's six in the morning."
"Yeah dude, it is. Stacie and I are supposed to be on a flight to Los Angeles. Instead were standing at the ticket counter trying to figure out why were booked on a flight to Wyoming."
"What? Wyoming? Of course I didn't book you on a flight to Wyoming. Hold on a second."
She could hear him flick a light on and begin to sit up while simultaniously telling his wife to go back to bed. His typing on a keyboard could be heard in the distance.
"Right here, you and Stacie, booked to fly out on Wednesday, June 18th, from LaGuardia to Laramie. Wait...Laramie?! Oh shit."
Beca sighed. There hadn't been a mistake, just a screw up on Mark's part.
"Fuck. Alright, my bad. What are your options?"
Beca glanced over to Stacie, who was leaned over the counter seductively. "My options are to fly to Wyoming or hope Stacie's body is enough to get us on the 7:30 flight to LA."
"Well, it is Stacie. Lets not rule out option two just yet."
Beca rolled her eyes as she informed Mark that they would figure something out and hung up the phone as she made her way back to the counter. Stacie was working in overtime to try and find a way around the situation.
Stacie was tall, close to six foot. Her legs stretched on for days and her chest had the ability to make grown men weep. In short, there were few situations Stacie's body couldn't get her out of.
Dressed in a plum, one shoulder top, a pair of dark wash jeans, and her Jimmy Choo's, She leaned up against the counter and smiled.
"Look Simon...if that is in fact your real name, I am willing to make sacrificies here. I will fly coach if that's what it takes. Just name your price handsome, we need to be on that flight to Los Angeles this morning."
Typing away at his computer, the man paused briefly to glance up at Stacie's chest before looking at her face. He then returned back to typing. "I'm gay, and judging by that rock on your finger, you're engaged. Let's both save ourselves the embarrassment and quit while we're ahead."
Stacie huffed, feeling slightly offended. Every tactic had been used, there simply was not any room on the 7:30 flight to Los Angeles. Defeated, Stacie and Beca begrudgingly handed over their luggage to be checked. Picking up her carry on, Beca looked at Stacie as they began to make their way to security.
"Wow Stace, I didn't think it was possible, but you finally found a man not willing to rise to the occasion. This is definitely one for the record books."
Wyoming. Beca and Stacie were flying to Wyoming.
