Fixes
17
Beca watched from the back deck of the house, sipping from a glass of sweet tea, as Chloe and Tommy talked under the large trees in the yard. The redhead was crying a little, but she was also laughing and shoving at her brother's shoulder, so Beca thought things were going well between them. At least they hadn't cut off any of each other's limbs with the chainsaw.
Rehab had been hard for the second-eldest Beale sibling, but Beca could see a difference in him; in the brightness of his eyes and the emergence of the wickedly sharp wit that her lover also shared. Chloe had confided in her that she thought, this time, he might just be on the right road to recovery.
The vet had spent some time telling Beca some of the stuff she'd gone through over the years with her brother and how she'd felt responsible for him. The musician hadn't understood why Chloe hadn't leaned on her parents more but, watching the siblings together and how close they were, brought that loyalty into stunning clarity.
Chloe had been protecting her brother. Chloe was, purely and simply, a fixer.
"Hey, Becs?!"
The brunette's attention was brought back to her family, and she got up to lean on the deck rail and gaze appreciatively at her partner. "Yeah?!"
"Come make sure this looks ok please?" Chloe asked as she pulled her leather work gloves off and shoved them into the back pocket of her jeans. She was wearing a tank top and boots with them, and her skin was glistening with sweat. Beca felt some serious swooning coming on.
"Looks pretty fucking sexy from where I'm standing," the musician called back with a shit-eating grin. "Oh... wait... you meant the trees?"
Chloe blushed as red as her hair, as her brother guffawed behind his hand. "Shit, Chlo, your face!" he managed to get out.
"Fuck you, Dude," she muttered as she rubbed at her flaming cheeks. "You're just jealous."
"Of you? Most definitely," Tommy replied, turning suddenly serious. "You won the lottery, in finding Beca."
The musician reached them and wrapped her arms around her fiancée's waist as she looked up at the neatly trimmed trees. "Looks great, Babe. I was thinking we can have an arch right here where we're standing. Then..." She looked at Tommy pointedly. "Mickey can stand under it to officiate the wedding."
The man muttered something and then kicked at a stone with the toe of his boot.
Chloe felt a little sorry for him since there had only been seconds between him and Mickey being ordained online. "Hey, listen, how would you feel about being my best man? Aubrey is a bridesmaid, and it would be cool for you to be there with her, since she doesn't have a plus one."
Tommy blinked. "Uh... girls don't have best men."
"I disagree," the redhead replied. "This is my wedding. I want a best man and I want it to be you."
"Chloe..." Tommy whispered. "You... you don't have to do that. I don't deserve it."
Beca let Chloe go as the vet moved to her brother and gently patted his face. "When it was just you and me when we were kids, we were always there for each other. Be there for me now, Thomas."
Unable to speak around the lump in his throat, Tommy nodded. "Always," he whispered. Then he kissed Chloe's cheek and headed back toward the house.
"Is he ok?" Beca asked softly.
"No," the vet replied. "Not yet. But I think he will be."
Just then, another voice sounded out from the back porch. "Beca! A big box was just delivered for you!" Melissa yelled.
"I bet it's my wedding dress," the musician said happily as she lifted a hand in acknowledgement. "Mom said she sent it yesterday." She turned to walk toward the house, but Chloe just stayed where she was. "Not coming?"
"I... uh... I think I'd like it to be a surprise on the day. Is that ok?" Chloe looked a little sheepish and Beca laughed softly.
"You're such a romantic, Chlocifer. Go on and get ready to go. I'll look at this box and then drive you to the airport."
"Ok," the vet nodded, then caught her lover up. "Hey... um... I was going to hand in my notice at Perfect Paws tomorrow. But... I... I wanted to check with you first, because I won't have any money coming in until..."
"Chlo," Beca smiled. "All the money is ours and we're going to be fine. Maybe give just this week as notice though. That way we won't have to worry about rushing back after the wedding."
"Sounds good," Chloe agreed. She pecked her fiancée's lips. "We can talk more about everything in the car. I was thinking that we need to get the word out that we're reopening Purrrfect Veterinary Services so we can get some furry children on the schedule for opening day."
"Aubrey can help with that. She has like a billion social media followers," the musician grinned. She patted Chloe's butt. "Go on, get cleaned up. I love you."
"Love you too," the redhead replied as she headed upstairs.
Xx
"Wow," Mo breathed softly. "When you said your mom was a seamstress, I didn't realize..."
"Right?" Beca replied, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. "It's perfect."
Melissa nodded, tenderly hugging her soon-to-be sister-in-law. "It really is."
Xx
It felt weird, alone in the house. Chloe was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with herself, as she carried her beer and padded barefoot through the large empty spaces. They didn't have close to enough furniture yet and there were whole rooms with nothing in them.
The pool house was dark too, since Aubrey was back in Tampa with Beca and the Beales, so on wild impulse, Chloe just walked out onto the patio, stripped naked and dove into the pool. She shivered a little in the cold water but then relaxed and floated on her back, looking up at the moon shining a pale yellow in the sky above her.
The vet wished she wasn't alone. Even Bella and Battle Cat would have been good company, so she decided to bring them both home from their boarding kennel the next day. While Chloe loved them both, Battle Cat was HER cat, while Bella always gravitated more toward Beca.
"Um... excuse me?"
Chloe almost screamed with fright, and she scrambled to the edge of the pool to cover herself from the intruder's gaze. "Dude! Who the hell are you? This is private property!"
The man smirked a little, then pulled a notebook out of his pocket, along with a voice recorder. "I'm Ben Little," he replied. "I'm a reporter with eTrend Fashion. I've been trying to connect with Beca Mitchell over the past few days and..."
"What? You just decided to show up at our home?" Chloe exclaimed. "Get the HELL off my property now!" Her phone was in her shorts pocket close to the edge of the pool. The reporter didn't seem to have a camera and she weighed the pros and cons of potentially flashing him while going for it. "I'm calling the police."
"Alright, alright," Little said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Just chill. I take it you're Joey Beale? The fiancée?"
"Jesus," Chloe replied, rolling her eyes in disgust. "It's CHLOE! Not JOEY."
"Sorry," the man chuckled, running his hand through his afro. "I'll be going now, Miss Beale."
"It's DOCTOR Beale. And don't come back," the vet exclaimed, feeling a little lightheaded from the shock of the sudden conflict. "In future, if you want to ask questions, go through Beca's agent, Benjamin Applebaum."
The reporter gave her a little salute and then ambled toward the gate. "Yes, Ma'am."
Xx
"Woah! Hold… Chlo… slow down, Baby. What's wrong?"
"Becs, a reporter got onto our property and approached me when I was skinny dipping in the pool!"
Beca sat straight up in the bed, mouth dropping open. "Oh my God! Are you ok? Did you call the cops?"
The vet sighed as she sat on their king-sized bed and ran a hand through her wet hair. "No, I didn't call the cops. He left when I told him to. He said his name was Ben Little and he was a reporter for some fashion something. He said he'd been trying to talk to you for a few days?"
"Fuck," Beca sighed. "eTrend Fashion?"
"Yeah, that's the one." Chloe took a sip of beer and then sat the bottle on her nightstand. "He saw me NAKED, Becs!"
"I'm so sorry, Baby," the musician went on. "I told him ten times to go through Benji to have his questions answered. In fact, you know what? I'm going to have Benji call his editor and have him fucking fired."
Chloe sniffed a little at that, not really wanting to get someone fired, even if their behavior had been bad. "Well, maybe just… make a complaint against him, rather than asking for him to be fired. If he gets fired, he gets fired because of it." There was quiet on the other end of the line for a long moment. "Beca, still there?"
"Yeah," the musician said. "I was just a little speechless at your kindness. I'm not sure I'd be as forgiving but it's your choice, Honey. I'll call Benji tomorrow."
Chloe nodded to herself then lay on her side, the phone pressed between her ear and the pillow. "I'm feeling kinda lonely without you and it's childish," she said quietly.
A soft chuckle echoed down the line. "Then we're both childish," the brunette replied. "I've been cuddling your pillow here for the last couple of hours because it smells like you."
The vet swallowed hard as a deep emotion blossomed in her chest. "I can't wait to marry you. I can't wait until we can register our new last name.
"Chloe and Beca Mitchell-Beale. Has a nice ring to it."
"I can't wait for you to be mine forever," Chloe whispered.
Beca smiled to herself. "Chloe, don't you know I already am?"
"Me too," the redhead replied. "Forever."
Xx
The final drive home from Perfect Paws was a bitter-sweet one for Chloe. After handing in her notice to her boss, she'd spent the rest of the week working late to clear her caseload and make sure anything left was properly handed over. Now, she was cruising in her new convertible, some light traffic on the way back to the house, where she planned to take a dip in the pool, order takeout and watch some mindless action movies.
She pulled into the driveway and closed the gate behind her, then parked on her side of the garage. She still couldn't believe that Benji had bought them a car as a wedding present, to thank them for the hefty commission he was making off Beca's deals with Disney-Pixar.
Chloe spent a few minutes getting her laundry out of the drier and repacking her suitcase for her flight back to Orlando the next day, then she spent some time playing with Bella and Battle Cat. She would have to drop them off at their boarding kennel again early the next morning.
Battle Cat was running around the living room, chasing the red dot of a laser pointer with a single-minded focus like her namesake's.
"By the power of Greyskull!" the vet warbled softly as she watched her beloved baby leap onto the couch and run along its back. Then she laughed as the little cat lost her footing and almost took a nosedive off the furniture. "First time on new paws?" Chloe asked playfully. Under the couch, Bella washed her face with a serious air of disdain, giving off all kinds of 'couldn't care less about the stupid laser pointer' vibes… while keeping a close eye on it. Chloe laughed harder. "Ok, Miss Judgy McJudgerson!"
The vet got up then to carry her beer to the pool, peeling off her coverup to reveal a bikini this time. She wasn't taking any more chances. She was on her fifth length of the pool when her phone rang, and she swam to the poolside to pick it up.
"Hey, Mom," she said, smiling reflexively.
"Chlo..." Mo said with a sigh.
The redhead's smile dropped. "What's wrong? Is Beca ok?"
"Beca's fine," the older Beale replied. "It's Jack. He was horsing around with Mark and Tommy in the yard, and he fell hard. Dad's taking him to the hospital, but we think his left arm is broken."
"Oh shit," Chloe sighed. "Ok, let me see if I can get an earlier flight."
"Thanks, Chlo. He's asking for you."
"Tell him I love him and that I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Will do."
The vet ended the call and then hoisted herself out of the pool, making a mental list of what she had to do. She was already packed so she just had to call the airline to see if she could change her flight and then try to get emergency boarding for the cats.
Three hours later, breathless and exhausted, she was dropping into a seat on the last flight to Orlando out of LAX. Five hours after that, a sleepy Beca was hugging her at the meeting area and reassuring her that Jack was ok and sleeping peacefully with a brand-new cast on his left arm.
"Fuck," Chloe sighed, kissing her lover's forehead. "Poor little guy."
"Come on, he's been asking for you all night. You'd swear he was your son and not your brother."
Chloe didn't say anything for a long moment, but then she sighed and nodded. "He's not my kid," she said. "But he might as well be. He was a rough birth for Mom, and while she was recovering, I spent the first few weeks helping Pop care for him. So, I think he bonded with me as much as he did with Mom."
Beca smiled as she linked her fingers with her fiancée's and headed them toward the parking deck. "It shows," she agreed. "If your mom wasn't so understanding, she might have jealous that he wanted you more than her."
The vet shrugged. "It's cool. She gets it. Is he still at the hospital?"
"No," Beca replied on a yawn. "He's at home. We should make good time at this hour of the night."
"I can drive," Chloe said with a smile as she kissed her lover's head. "You look really tired and I'm still on California time."
"Thanks," the musician replied. "I appreciate that, Chlo."
Xx
Chloe quietly padded across Jack's room and sat down on the edge of his bed. He was sleeping with his casted arm propped up on a pillow, but his face was a little red and sweaty. The vet frowned and felt his forehead, relieved to find that he didn't have a fever.
"Hi, Baby girl," Tom said softly as he joined her. "Thanks for coming back early. He's been asking for you."
"Beca told me," Chloe nodded. "And no need to thank me, Pop. You know I'd do anything for him."
Her dad took her hand, squeezing gently. "I do know," he said with a smile. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," the vet replied with a shrug.
"Why did you never bring anyone home to meet us, before Beca?"
Chloe got up and went to the window, gazing out over the back yard where her mom, Beca, Tommy and Mickey were drinking beer around a firepit.
"I've… been with people, Pop, but… I've never really, um…" She paused and turned to look at him. "I always told myself that I wouldn't let Mark and Jack get attached to someone I was dating in case we broke up, you know? And." She cleared her throat. "Until Beca, I'd never been with anyone I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with."
"You weren't dating Beca long when you brought her home though."
Chloe chuckled and shook her head a little. "Did it seem a little sudden?"
Tom nodded in return. "It did a little, but you were obviously smitten with her. Seems like you were sure about her, even back then?"
The redhead moved back to the bed and sat down again. "The first time I met Beca was at work. She'd brought her cat in and when we went to an exam room, she sat with me on the floor when I was looking at Bella. She looked so scared and worried, but she was so beautiful and kind. I think I fell in love with her right there, Pop. And I knew after our first date that I wanted to be with her." She smiled warmly. "Here I am over a year later with not a single regret."
"Well, we all adore her."
"I'm glad to hear that," Chloe smiled. Then she looked down, biting her bottom lip uncomfortably. "Pop, I'm sorry for just leaving like I did. I should have given you more of a heads up, but I had to get away. I was…" she paused, not wanting to hurt him.
"Suffocating," Tom said softly.
The redhead broke down into sudden tears as she nodded. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I felt like I was losing my mind, and I knew that, if you'd wanted me to stay, I would've let you talk me into it. So I had to leave."
The big man pulled her into his arms, rocking her gently. "Ssshhh… I know, Baby, and it's ok. I'm the one who should be sorry. Your mom and I put too much pressure on you to help with the other kids. And Tommy…" He trailed off, tears rising in his own eyes. "I didn't know how to handle him, so I just let you do it."
"I love you, Pop," Chloe said, wiping her eyes. "And it's ok. Everything worked out for the best."
"Good," Tom nodded. He looked at his watch then. "You and Beca should get some sleep, Baby Girl. It's going to be a huge day tomorrow."
"Yeah," Chloe agreed. Then she eased back from her dad and leaned over to kiss Jack on the forehead. "I'll go get her."
They left the room, going their separate ways and moments later, the redhead was sitting in her fiancée's lap and stealing her beer.
"You ok?" Beca asked quietly, noting the red hint to her lover's eyes.
"Yeah," Chloe smiled. "Just had a talk to clear the air with Pop. It's all good."
The fire crackled, spreading warmth across them both. Beca yawned sleepily. "We really need to go to bed."
"Yeah," the vet agreed. She got up and then tugged the brunette to her feet, pausing to give her a tender kiss on the lips. Then she tossed the empty beer bottle into the trash can nearby. "Night, you guys. See you in the morning.'
"Night, Daughters," Mo replied. "Sleep well."
"Night," Mickey said, stifling her own yawn. "Hey, wait… you guys aren't supposed to sleep together the night before the wedding!"
Beca chuckled softly. "We've been apart all week. There's no way I'm sleeping alone again tonight."
"Ditto," Chloe added with a grin as she wrapped her arm around her lover's shoulders and started the walk to the house. "Night!"
Xx
An hour later, something woke Chloe up, making her heart thump, but she smiled as she realized it was Jack, standing by the side of the bed.
"Hey, JackSparrow," she said softly. "Are you feeling ok? How's the arm?"
"Hurts," the little boy mumbled. "But I don't think it'll hurt as bad if I sleep in here with you."
Chloe eased away from Beca's back and then gently rolled over. "Come over here and cuddle with me," she told her brother, then lifted the covers to let him climb in and snuggle against her chest. "I'm sorry you got hurt, Buddy," she whispered as she held him close and stroked his hair. "But it'll get better soon, I promise."
"Yeah, the doctor said about six weeks," Jack replied, then stuck his thumb in his mouth. Chloe's heart melted. It'd been a few years since she'd seen him do that.
"Try to get some sleep, Sweetheart."
"M'kay," the little boy mumbled, eyes already closed.
Chloe closed her eyes and then smiled as she felt Beca roll over to spoon against her back and nuzzle her neck. "He'll be ok, Baby," the brunette whispered and then drifted back off to sleep.
"Yeah," Chloe replied just as softly. "Everything's going to be ok."
