2 weeks later
Beca was once again laid back on a hospital bed, her feet in stirrups, feeling more exposed than ever as the same man as before injected her with donor sperm. From a donor Aubrey picked out. The tests all came back normal. She was healthy enough to carry.
"Mrs. Posen, would you like to inject the last bit? We always like to ask the spouse if they would like to do that." He smiled and without looking at Beca, Aubrey released her hand and walked around to where the doctor was sitting. Beca watched, her eyes tearing up slightly.
She didn't want a baby. She didn't want this responsibility yet. She was excited to take over the label. Her dreams were coming true. Now, she wasn't sure what was going to happen.
This wasn't her dream, but it was Aubrey's. She wanted a baby. Or so she said. She was working up to 60 hours a week, how was she going to help when the baby arrived? Beca didn't hear them finish, she was only brought out of her thoughts by the doctor scooting back and pulling the blanket over her so she wasn't so exposed.
"Alright, just stay like that for about 15 minutes. I'll come let you know when you are okay to get up." He said taking his gloves off and throwing them away before walking out.
Beca didn't look at Aubrey, opting to close her eyes instead, hoping the woman would think she was just relaxing. She was nervous for this appointment when it was made nearly a week and a half earlier. This was the first time she had been out of the house since Aubrey had lost control again and beat her up. She was sporting two black eyes, a split lip and a massive painful bruise on her arm.
They had nearly fully healed now, turning a nasty yellow and brown color that Aubrey covered well with concealer and foundation.
She hadn't lost control again since that night. She realized the next morning how badly she had hurt her wife and instantly left to an emergency appointment with her therapist. She told Beca that the therapist didn't know the full extent of what their relationship was becoming, but that she knew enough to be able to talk her down.
What Beca didn't know was her therapist was more concerned than she was letting on and had asked Aubrey if Beca could join in on a session. She said no.
Aubrey looked down at her wife. Seeing the tears clinging to her eyelashes as she laid with her eyes closed. She was sorry for what she had done. She hadn't meant to go so far. But what's done is done.
She wouldn't admit it to Beca, but she didn't want a baby either. She had never wanted kids, and her father knew that. She knew that was why he had demanded this. His only daughter was an adult now, and while they worked together, he was losing his control over her. And after losing her mother, he couldn't lose her too. So, he found a way. He always found a way.
Aubrey was weak, and she knew it. She was a coward, just like her father, and she knew that too. But her pride was bigger than it should be. And her need to please him, was even bigger than that. Beca was just the unlucky one stuck in the middle of all of that chaos.
They sat in silence for the entirety of the 15 minutes. When the doctor walked back in and gave them the go ahead to get dressed, Beca did so without a word to her wife. She didn't want to speak to her. She didn't want to say the wrong thing. She just wanted to be done with this.
XXXXXX
The car ride was just as quiet. Until Beca finally broke it.
"Can you take me to the label, please?" She asked and Aubrey looked at her from the driver's side.
"You want to go to work right now? After just being inseminated?" Aubrey asked in confusion.
She nodded. "Yes, I haven't been in two weeks and I figure while I have makeup covering the bruises I could go in and get some work done. This doesn't look good to Kate. Especially after she just asked me to take over."
"I thought we could get dinner, to celebrate."
Beca sighed and let her head fall back against the seat.
"I don't want to celebrate." She said softly. She was scared, she didn't want to upset her wife but she wasn't going to be able to hide her feelings if this worked and she became pregnant.
Aubrey didn't say anything and after a few minutes Beca felt her body relax as Aubrey exited the freeway and headed toward the label. A few moments later she was pulling up outside.
"What time should I pick you up?" She asked as Beca slowly unbuckled her seatbelt. She was nervous, that Aubrey was dropping her off, when she had other plans for their evening. At the same time, she was relieved that she would get a few hours to herself.
"You don't have too; I'll get a ride."
Aubrey looked at her. "You'll get a ride? From who?" She asked quirking an eyebrow, her tone clipped.
Beca felt her stomach tighten. "I mean, I'll get a car, you know, provided by the label, to take me home." She spoke.
Aubrey chuckled. "What you think you're famous or something?" She asked.
Beca looked down, shaking her head. "No, I don't think that at all. But this is a big label that works with A-list artists, and they do provide transportation for their clients as well as their producers. Since I am a producer, and soon to be the head of the label, I can get a car to take me home." She finished, looking down into her lap, away from her Wife's angry eyes.
"Okay, miss big shot producer, who has never even won an award, get a car to bring you home." She said and hit the button to unlock the door.
Becas eyes flashed up to her, filled with hurt as her cruel words stung. "Okay. I-I love you." She said as she opened the door. If Aubrey heard her, she didn't acknowledge it, pulling out into traffic and speeding off as soon as the door was shut.
Beca watched her go, her stomach erupting in what felt like butterflies with thorns covering their wings.
XXXXXX
She was a few hours into her work, when her phone blew up with text messages from Aubrey. She took a breath and picked up her phone to read them. They were long messages about how sorry she was for her rude comment. That she was proud of Beca and she was just feeling envious of her. She was lucky to have such an amazing career, and that she knew Beca would become a very well-known music producer and probably fairly quickly now that she was moving up and had helped with a Billie Eilish album.
She told her that it wouldn't happen again, and that she was going to be making Becas favorite for dinner, so not to eat anything. She ended it with the I love you Beca had hoped to hear earlier that day.
She sighed, replying to her telling her she forgave her comment, and thanking her for her support. At least this time it was just words, and not her fist. She could handle the pain that came from verbal insults. She wasn't sure how much more she could take of the physical outbursts.
XXXXXX
"Yes, sir, I understand." Aubrey was currently standing at the stove, sautéing vegetables, her phone held between her shoulder and her cheek. Her Father had called, wanting to know why Aubrey hadn't been in the office that day, and how the appointment went.
Then, as it always did, the conversation morphed into a scolding. She shouldn't be missing work, and Beca could have gone to this appointment alone. It better not happen again, and he expected Beca at the weekly dinner. Bruises or no bruises.
XXXXXX
Beca was on the phone as well as she got into the back of a black Mercedes to be taken home. Her call however, was a better one.
Chloe had moved out of state just after the wedding, and she was currently working as a vet tech in Portland Oregon. She was single and wasn't looking for a partner, only missing her friends and the sunny Georgia weather.
She visited the previous Christmas but that was the only time they had seen her since they got married and had been Aubrey's maid of honor. She was excited to tell Aubrey that she had called. Apparently, she called Aubrey first but had gotten the busy signal.
"Yes, I'm so excited, can I tell Aubrey?" Beca asked as she buckled in. Her face dropped a little.
"Oh, you want it to be a surprise?" She asked. "Okay, yeah no that's fine."
It wasn't. She didn't want the visit Chloe just told her about to come as a surprise to her wife. What if she got mad? What if she thought Beca had been keeping secrets from her? Or worse, what if she lost control again, right before the visit?
"Okay, yeah no problem, you know our guest room is always open to you." She smiled. "So, you fly in on Friday?"
It was Tuesday and this gave her two days to try and stay busy enough to stay out of Aubrey's way. She could try to do her make up the way Aubrey did and go into the label instead of working from home, and the yellowish bruises she had now should be gone by that time. All these thoughts flew through her mind in a matter of seconds.
"Okay, awesome. Alright, I love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and looked out the window. At the moment, Aubrey was happy with her. She just had to make sure it stayed that way.