A/N: I made Beca born in 1996 in this fic. She and Chloe graduated in 2019 in this so that Leap Year Day would fall on a Saturday. She's turning 24.
"That murder mystery party sure was a hit," said Beca, as she and Chloe cleaned up after Lilly's birthday party.
"You think?" asked Chloe.
"Yeah," said Beca. "Even though I think Lilly was legit disappointed that she didn't draw the name of the character who committed the murder."
"That's Lilly," said Chloe, shaking her head. "So, Becs?"
"Yeah, Chlo?"
"I know I've asked you this question a million times since we met, but, now that I've been your girlfriend for about nine months, could you please tell me when your birthday is? Even if I missed it, I still want to know."
Beca immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Chloe…"
"Please?" asked Chloe, giving Beca her signature puppy dog eyes she knew the woman couldn't resist.
"I hate my birthday," said Beca.
"You're being ridiculous," said Chloe. "A day dedicated to the day you were born with cake and presents. What's not to like?"
Beca let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine," she said. "I hate my birthday because it only comes every four years."
Chloe took a few beats to understand. "February 29?"
"Yeah," said Beca. "I hate it. My family celebrated it the day before or the day after when it wasn't a leap year, and I'm sick of the reactions I get when I tell people my birthday."
"I think it's a cool birthday," said Chloe.
"It's not," said Beca. "I only get to celebrate the real day every four years."
"Stop," said Chloe. "I promise I'll make your birthday extra special."
"It's a dumb birthday," said Beca.
"You're getting a party with the Bellas," said Chloe.
"But-"
Chloe cut her off. "No 'buts'," she said. "Every Bella gets a party. You get to celebrate on your actual birthday this year, so you get a party. I won't take no for an answer."
Beca rolled her eyes. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
"Nope," said Chloe.
"Do I get to at least help plan?"
"No again," said Chloe.
"You're insufferable!"
"Thank you," said Chloe, her mouth widening into a mischievous grin.
"You're lucky you're that pretty," said Beca, rolling her eyes again.
Beca and Lilly arrived at the rental townhome that Beca and Chloe had shared for the past six months at 3:00 on the dot. Chloe had insisted that Beca leave the house so she wouldn't be part of the setup for the party. She'd even gone so far as to hide all the party decorations and food somewhere outside their home. Beca suspected it was at Aubrey and Stacie's house, but neither woman would say a word when Beca tried to press them for details. Beca had managed to get Chloe to tell her to dress casually for the party, but that was as much as the woman would say.
As Beca opened the door, Chloe immediately put a birthday crown on her head while hollering, "There's the birthday girl!" a little louder than Beca would have preferred. She also affixed a rather large pin to Beca's shirt that said: "It's finally my birthday, February 29, 2020."
Beca reached up and took off the crown so she could look at it. "Why does it say 'I'm 6!' on this thing?" she asked.
"Because today is only your sixth actual birthday," said Chloe, as though it were the most obvious fact in the world.
"You know I'm twenty-four, right?" asked Beca.
"Of course," said Chloe. "But that's what you get for not even telling me when your birthday is, much less letting me throw you a party."
"You're ridiculous."
"Come on," said Chloe. "We've all been waiting for you."
"It was your idea to have me leave the house."
"Fair point," she said. "Now, let's head downstairs. You'll love what I did with the basement!"
"Yes, ma'am," said Beca.
"Did you and Lilly have fun?"
"Well, it was something," she said. "She took me ax throwing."
"I didn't know that was a thing," said Chloe.
Lilly mumbled something.
"Don't ask," said Beca as she saw her girlfriend open her mouth to ask her to repeat herself.
Chloe quirked an eyebrow at Beca.
"I'll fill you in later," said Beca. "And remind me not to go near that woman when she has an ax in her hand. I think she hit the bullseye every time."
"As if Lilly isn't scary enough," said Chloe.
Lilly simply looked back at the two of them and grinned.
They headed downstairs, where the Bellas were waiting, as well as several members of Beca's family - her dad, her stepmom Sheila, her ten-year-old stepbrother Sam, her mom, and her stepdad Lew. The basement was decorated with a bunch of different frog-themed decorations. There was a watermelon full of fruit that had been cut into a shape to look like a frog, several different lily pads made out of tissue paper, and even sandwiches that had been made to look like frogs with olives for eyes and pickle slices for tongues.
"Why all of the frogs?" she asked.
Sam piped up, "Because frogs leap," he said.
"Sam is right," said Chloe. "We're leaping for joy because it's finally your birthday!"
"You are such a cheeseball," she said.
"But I'm your cheeseball," said Chloe, giving Beca a hug.
Beca smiled and said, "Yeah, you are." She gave Chloe a little peck on the cheek.
"Okay, that's enough, you two!" exclaimed Fat Amy. "You two are going to make us all lose our appetites!"
"I'm glad you two took until the worlds to stop pining and get together," said Stacie. "That said, watching you idiots dance around each other was annoying, but seeing how disgustingly cute you are together might actually be worse."
"Sorry, not sorry," said Beca.
"Look at this list, Beca," said Sam. "All of these people share your birthday."
On the list were: Ja Rule, Antonio Sabàto Jr., Dinah Shore, Pope Paul III, and a lot of people whose names Beca didn't recognize.
Sam walked over to a pitcher of a green liquid labeled "pond punch." He grabbed a plastic cup to pour himself some when several of the adults yelled, "Don't drink that!" He jumped back in surprise.
"You let Amy near the punch, didn't you?" asked Beca.
"She poured something in it when we had our backs turned," said Stacie. "I caught her after she'd already spiked it, and we don't have enough ingredients to make a fresh batch."
"Amy, you know Sam is ten, right?" asked Beca.
"I say, 'Start 'em early!'" exclaimed Fat Amy.
"No!" replied Sheila and Dr. Mitchell.
"Here, Sam," said Aubrey, handing him a juice box. "I don't think Amy has figured out how to spike these."
"Aubrey, why are you having a juice box?" asked Beca.
Beca saw Aubrey look over at Stacie, who subtly shook her head.
"I like juice," Aubrey said quickly.
Beca decided to let it go, for now, knowing she'd drag the real reason out of the two of them soon enough. She had her suspicions.
"You have to see the backyard, Beca," said Chloe.
"You're more excited about this than I am," said Beca.
"Come on, Beca. We get to celebrate your birthday, an occasion so special it only happens every four years, so, of course, I went all out!"
"You'd think it was your birthday," said Beca, feigning annoyance. The truth was that this was more than her family had managed for her birthdays as a child. Her eighth birthday had been a Sunday, but it had been too cold for anyone to go outside. Her mom and dad had recently separated at the time, but they'd managed to pull things together and let Beca have a birthday party at a bounce house - a large indoor play area with a bunch of inflatable moon bounce structures. It had been a fun party, but the fact that it happened about a week after Beca's dad moved out had made it hard for her to fully enjoy her party.
Beca was shocked as she stepped out into their small yard. Chloe had drawn a hopscotch game on the patio, placed jump ropes in another section of the yard, and she had a large tape measure in another part of the yard for a long jump contest.
"What do you think?" asked Chloe.
"I'm...this is...really cute. The leaping and jumping activities like I really am turning six. It's a really great idea."
"Don't put me down for any of this," said Fat Amy. "Too much cardio."
"I can't wait! Beca, I'm totally going to kick your butt at the long jump!" yelled Sam.
Beca's competitive nature got the better of her, so she chased after him immediately calling, "That's what you think!"
Most of the Bellas went ahead with the different hopping and jumping activities while Amy sat in a chair drinking the pond punch. Beca noticed Aubrey hadn't joined in the activities either. Stacie kept walking back to check on her wife every few minutes, and Beca thought Aubrey seemed pretty annoyed with her until she saw the woman jump up and make a beeline for the bathroom.
Beca followed Stacie into the house after she'd bolted into the house upon seeing her wife run. She heard the unmistakable sounds of Aubrey vomiting and Stacie consoling her.
Once Aubrey was out of the bathroom, Beca asked, "Something to share? Because, if there isn't, I need to know what you ate so nobody else gets food poisoning."
Aubrey looked over at Stacie and said, "I wanted to tell everyone, but Stacie said we'd steal your thunder."
"I had a feeling you were pregnant when you went for a juice box instead of the beer or wine. I don't blame you for steering clear of Amy's punch. I don't even want to know the alcohol content of that stuff," said Beca.
"We thought Aubrey was past the morning sickness, but apparently not," said Stacie.
"It's okay," said Beca. "So, how far along?"
"Twelve weeks yesterday," said Aubrey.
"She's due September 11," said Stacie. "If she goes to her due date, then we can find something good to celebrate that day."
"Congratulations," said Beca. "And you two are free to go out and tell everyone. Best birthday present ever!"
Beca walked out to the yard, followed by Stacie and Aubrey, who were holding hands.
"So, some of you may have figured this out already, but Stacie and Aubrey have something to share."
"We're going to be moms!" they both exclaimed.
Lots of congratulations and squeals and hugs followed.
Once the squealing died down, Beca cut and served the frog cake and cupcakes.
After everyone left, Beca and Chloe cuddled on the couch while the TV played for some background noise.
"Becs?" Chloe asked.
"Hmm?"
"How did I do?"
"Best. Birthday. Ever," said Beca.