Title: I Belong With You, You Belong With Me
Author: heartsmash
Rating: M, for later chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own these wonderful characters written by Kay Cannon and brought to life by Jason Moore.
Summary: Companion piece to "You're My Sweetheart." Jesse and Beca are apart for summer and this time around it's Beca's turn to meet the family. Named for another lyric from "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers.
Chapter Five
Sleeping alone in the guest room didn't even matter to Beca after they got back to the house. Christina insinuated that she knew exactly what had taken place on the boat in front of Jesse's parents to which Beca didn't react but instead made a mental note to gently kick her ass later. Jesse was a little less subtle simply saying the words junior prom to his sister, to which Christina paled and shut her mouth.
Jesse walked her upstairs and sat on the guest bed while she got ready.
"I'll never understand parents when they separate couples thinking that by doing that that nothing ever takes place."
"My dad would be doing the same thing so don't be so hard on your parents. Anyways I think it's more the idea of nothing going on under their roof that they're concerned about," Beca added, pulling a brush through her hair.
"If they only knew half the crap that Parker pulled right under their noses while he still lived at home, you sleeping in my room would be the least of their worries."
Beca had never experienced that wonderful thing called sibling rivalry but she's pretty sure that she had been lucky without. She yawned to which Jesse grinned.
"You yawn cute."
"I hate that word, especially when used in reference to me."
"Which is exactly why I insist in using it," Jesse responded as they bantered.
Beca gave him the best glare that she could but tiredness won out and it transpired into another yawn.
"Better rest up, you're going to get a heaping dose of Swanson family togetherness tomorrow." Jesse went to head out of the room and Beca quickly protested. He popped back in and she drew him to her by intertwining their fingers.
"Are you glad that Christina hacked your phone to call me? Because I know I'm having the best time with you."
Jesse kissed her knowing that Beca was doing her best in the words department.
"It's the best secret plan that I was not apart of," he told her.
Jesse was in no way kidding about the heaping togetherness that Beca was to experience the next day. He got her up early, earlier than she would have liked, pointed her in the direction of the shower and when she was ready to go, shoved a travel mug of coffee in her hands.
"The lifeforce mi'lady," Jesse said with flourish.
"You know me too well," she said to him and followed him out to Parker's car. If it wasn't apparent to Beca already, clearly this was a mandatory family holiday that no one was allowed to miss unless on their deathbed. Shannon waved to her from the passenger seat. Although Shannon was now a Swanson by marriage, Beca liked to think of the girl as an ally in all that she about to experience.
Jesse's parents took Christina in their car and led the caravan away from the house and out onto the main road.
Even though it was early, the conversation in the car was at a high. Shannon and Parker hadn't yet heard how they had met or how long they had been together, so Jesse and Beca told the story, which was a good thing so that no one exaggerated any of the facts.
"Let's be serious though," Jesse said, "She wanted me from day one."
"Sure thing Jesse," Shannon teased to which Beca liked the girl even more.
When the cars finally entered a gated community forty minutes later, Beca nearly choked at the sight of the house that they had pulled up to. If she thought that the Swanson house was big then this house dwarfed it.
"Are you ready for the inquisition by Grandma, Jess?" Parker asked looking in the rearview mirror at his younger brother
"This is your grandma's house?" Beca nearly yelled. The house sat on five acres and looked like something out of Gone With The Wind. From what she could see in her spot of the car, there was a guesthouse on the side and a wrap around porch.
"My grandma is super old fashioned. She never really got over the whole North defeating the South thing, wanted to keep the plantation style home even though she's getting older."
Beca left her travel mug in the car and got out of the car, still in awe. The awe continued to develop as she saw a barn far off in the distance behind the house and could hear the sounds of cows and horses.
"Is your grandmother loaded?" Beca whispered to Jesse as they went to meet Jesse's parents. Money was not a concern for her but when she was dressed in jeans and tank top, she almost felt inadequate meeting anyone else in Jesse's family.
Shannon the other hand had picked a sundress, which was definitely not Beca's taste but she looked better suited for this day than Beca could ever hope to feel.
They walked straight through the house giving Beca very little time to admire to décor of the home. Soon, they were on the back porch and Beca was taking in the crowd that was already there, the white tent that had been erected and the mountains of food that was already laid out or was in the process of being cooked by a staff in pristine white chef's jackets.
"You were totally not kidding about this were you," Beca said, a small smirk on her lips. They had started to walk out onto the lawn to find a table to sit at.
"Not in the least. My dad has three sisters and a brother plus their kids and any of them that have had kids makes for quite a crowd. Plus the neighbors are invited and a few of my grandmother's friends from her country club."
"And your grandmother?"
Jesse gave a little laugh. "Grandma is the matriarch of all matriarchs. Sometimes I think she would given Queen Elizabeth a run for her money with how scary she can be."
"Yeah?" Beca asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Parker and Shannon didn't want a big wedding. That changed once Grandma got involved. If the Governor's Mansion had been available, I'm sure that's where it would have been held."
At that information, the youngest children started yelling "Grammy" and Beca turned to look back at the house. An older woman had stepped outside onto the porch, dressed in a white pants and a flowery blouse. Jesse's grandmother, Regina Swanson, was not like any grandmother Beca had ever encountered. She had her gray hair cut in a sleek bob and her brown eyes held wisdom. Instead of any sort of frailty or senility being put forth, her presence commanded respect.
Regina spotted Jesse on the lawn and waved gracefully before starting down the stairs and toward her grandson.
"How do I address her? I don't want to offend her."
"Call her Mrs. Swanson. She'll let you know when you can call her grandma. That means she likes you."
Beca nodded and pushed a lock of hair behind her hair, extremely nervous to be meeting his grandmother. As he told it, Regina Swanson was not to be messed with. She stood behind Jesse slightly so as to deflect some attention off of her presence.
"Jesse, sweetheart," Regina said, kissing both of his cheeks and giving his face a light squeeze.
"Hey grandma," Jesse responded, kissing her cheek.
"How's the job treating you?" she questioned, crossing her arms with authority. From the looks of it, Grandma Swanson had something to do with his taking the consulting firm job that he hated.
"It's fine, learning a lot."
Regina nodded and caught notice of Beca standing behind Jesse. "And who's this?"
Jesse coaxed her to his side and introduced her as his girlfriend. Regina pursed her lips and Beca felt her stomach do a turn.
"Beca Mitchell. Very nice to meet you Mrs. Swanson," Beca said holding out her hand to shake.
Mrs. Swanson shook her hand and eyed the bow tattoo on her right forearm. Beca was immediately thankful that she had taken out her crazier ear piercings when she had flown a few days prior.
"Charmed," Regina responded as she released Beca's hand.
The word out of her mouth might have been charmed but to Beca, it carried an incredibly unwelcoming tone. Regina didn't waste another moment on Beca and turned her attention back to her grandson.
"Jesse, be a good boy and say hello to some of the neighbors that are here. Some of them haven't seen you since you in years."
He nodded dutifully after which Regina left the couple. Beca had to suppress the sigh of relief that she wanted to let go. Meeting his grandmother could have gone much better; she was just hoping that Jesse didn't sense the same unwelcome feeling that she did. From his smile and his excitement over introducing her to some of his younger cousins, Beca didn't think it had been apparent to him.
The lavish event continued throughout the day with typical all-American picnic activities. The smaller great-grandchildren of Regina participated in sack races and competed in freeze dance thanks to the DJ that had been playing in the backyard. Beca and Jesse participated as well in activities as well - couple held their own in the water balloon toss but still wound up losing to his cousins Seth and Michael.
Before food was served, Regina called for the attention of the gathered attendees.
"And now my extremely talented grandsons - Parker, Jesse and Kyle - are going to perform for you all. A time-honored tradition in the Swanson family, mind you."
Some of the kids took seats on the grass as Parker got a guitar as did Kyle, joining Jesse on some chairs in the semi-circle that had unintentionally formed. Beca found Shannon and they both watched with pride.
"So it's obviously the most patriotic of all holidays so what's more patriotic than a little country music?" Parker asked the crowd who cheered in response.
The trio started with Chicken Fried, which was a real crowd pleaser. Beca had to say she hadn't expected the musicality to run in the family based off meeting Parker yesterday at breakfast but his ability to play the guitar was impressive.
Before they launched into a second song, Jesse whispered something to his brother and Parker smiled.
"I like that idea. Beca, can you join us up here? Jesse is incredibly right that we will need some female back up vocals on this tune."
Beca felt a small blush go to her cheeks as she was singled out amongst the crowd. Shannon nudged her and she went to where they were, taking a seat Indian style on the grass in front of Jesse.
"My baby's riding shotgun, singin' just a little off key. Her feet on the dashboard, tapping out the backbeat," Jesse sang
As Jesse finished up the first verse, she knew that it was a male dominated song vocally but the presence of the female echo as backups was important.
Beca would never identify herself as a country music fan but Lady Antebellum was hard to hate and occasionally their slower songs were great to throw into the mash-ups that she created.
Surprisingly, this was one of the first times that she and Jesse had sang together, not counting anything that they had sang along to in the car. There were worse things that they could have chosen to perform.
"Oh my sweet love, keep singing me home," Jesse, Parker and Kyle all harmonized
"Keep singing, love, keep singing," Beca sang as backup and she smiled up as Jesse who gave her a wink.
And truthfully as they continued the song and a slow clap to the beat began from those watching, Beca could feel herself getting into it. She saw Jesse's parents clapping along to the song and she concluded that they were wonderful people from what she had learned about them.
Beca sincerely hoped that they liked her. Both of them had been so nice to her since her arrival that she believed that they did but from what Beca had experienced earlier with Jesse's grandmother, appearances could be deceiving. The song concluded and Jesse leaned down to kiss her cheek. As he did so, the cold stare from Regina was not lost on Beca.
Shaking it off, Beca felt her stomach rumble and it must have been loud enough because Jesse gave her an amused look and chuckled. "Feed me?" she questioned and he nodded. Grabbing her hand, Jesse led her to the enormous spread of food and guided her through the many choices.
They sat with Parker and Shannon, joined also by another of their cousins, Lana and her husband Pete. The group chatted about their summers and they were interested in Beca's internship.
"Music is the one thing that I feel everyone has in common you know? Everyone can relate to there being one song that has changed a bad day or has defined a moment in their life."
"Better hold onto this one, Jess," Lana said with a wink, "She's certainly got a head on her shoulders."
"This one also needs the restroom. Where is it?" Beca asked Jesse and after his directions, she headed across the lawn and into the house.
She found the restroom with no problem but it was the hushed conversation in the kitchen that she hadn't meant to stumble on. When she heard the two people discussing Jesse, Beca couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"Leonard, how could you let Jesse date someone so…different? She doesn't fit in with all that makeup on her eyes and those horrendous tattoos. What happened to that cute blonde girl that he brought to his prom?"
Mr. Swanson shook his head obviously not in the mood to chastised by his mother on the subject of Beca and Jesse's relationship. Beca stayed out of view but anxiously waited to hear his response.
"Mother, Jesse is an adult now. He and Beca met at college and I actually think she is a lovely young woman that has been really good for him. She inspires and encourages him. I think you need to give her a chance."
"I don't approve of her and I will make sure that I speak with Jesse regarding this once she has returned home."
Being as quiet as she could, Beca headed out of the house not wanting to hear any more, if there was anything else. Not only was she not welcome, she was being judged simply on her style and not the kind of person that she was. It was unfair just as it had been when Aubrey disliked her right after joining the Bellas.
Jesse met her halfway from the house.
"I was coming to look for you. Thought maybe you fell in?" he said with a small smirk
"Nope, just got lost in that big house," she answered with a tight smile.
"Well, there's a party tonight with a lot of the people that I went to high school with. Harrison and Chris will be there but I wasn't sure if you wanted to go."
"Sounds great."
Jesse led her back to the small table and she did the best she could to push what she had heard from her mind. Even if they were happy now, Beca worried about the conversations that his grandmother promised to have with him once she headed home to Connecticut. His father had defended her, she just hoped that Jesse was strong enough to do so as well.
A/N: The drama will only continue going forward. Expect Molly to make an experience in the next chapter as this one became too long to include the party as well. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! It makes the writing process easier and gives me more inspiration.