The next day, Beca went to work and told her boss that she would have to cut back on her club appearances from three a week to every other Saturday. She had to be a better wife to Chloe and mother to Emily and Cody. It also wouldn't hurt eliminating her temptation to cheat if she was home every night
It was an adjustment at first to go from getting live feedback to her music half of the week to only once every other week, but being home for dinner every night and do all of the little things with her wife and kids was more than a worthy trade in Beca's mind.
It had been two months, and Beca was dutifully grocery shopping on a Sunday with Emily and Cody so Chloe could have an hour or two to herself before they decorated the Christmas tree that night and baked cookies.
Beca was in the process of putting back some candy that Emily had snuck into the cart when someone called her name. The brunette tensed. She knew that voice. "Emily, Cody, stay by the cart," she instructed.
Turning around confirmed that the voice belonged to Lexi. Beca did her best to force a smile while frantically trying to think of a quick escape that hopefully wouldn't cause a scene. "Hey, Lexi." The brunette greeted awkwardly.
The blonde threw her arms around the DJ in a hug. "I'm so glad I ran into you. Is there any chance you're free for coffee or something?"
"I'm not actually. I have to get the perishable stuff home and then I'm going to be busy decorating the tree and baking cookies with my kids." Beca said as she gestured to Emily and Cody.
"Oh well, is there anyway I can get your number or give you mine so we can arrange a time to get together?"
This girl was not taking the hint. "I'm going to be pretty over the next few weeks with the holidays coming up. Why don't you give me your number and if I have time, I'll call you and we can try to set something up?" Beca suggested.
Lexi's expression quickly turned pissed off. "I'm not trying to get your number so I can harass you. I wanted to get together so I could tell you in private that I'm pregnant and you're the father."
Beca's face flushed of any semblance of color and her eyes went wide at the last six words. "You're what?"
"I'm pregnant and you're the father." The blonde said like she was talking to someone hard of hearing. "And I'm not letting you avoid your responsibilities to this baby so don't even think about trying to run."
"But we used a condom!" Beca whisper yelled so Emily and Cody wouldn't hear.
"Yeah and condoms break." Lexi shot back in a tone that matched Beca's
The brunette took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Ok, you have a point and I'm sorry for the way I reacted, but now really isn't a good time. Give me your number and I'll text you later with some times that work."
"Oh no," Lexi said. "I want your number so you can't blow me off."
Beca turned around and saw Emily and Cody looking confused and upset. They had no idea what was going on, but they knew that it wasn't good. "Ok fine, here's my card," Beca said as she handed over her business card.
With the card exchanged, Beca excused herself and made her way back to her children. "Mommy, who was that and why did she make you so angry?" Emily asked, concerned.
"She is not a nice lady who wants things with your mother and I to go wrong." Beca explained honestly, but vaguely. Hoping that it would be good enough for Emily.
Beca did her best to speed through the rest of the shopping so she could check out and get home to Chloe within 20 minutes, the brunette had put both of her kids in their car seats and was on her way. The whole drive home, she had a sneaking suspicion that something was off. Her concern was confirmed when she looked in the rear view mirror and saw Emily looking back at her with hurt and confusion in her eyes.
The look broke Beca's heart. It bothered her that she had to witness what happened at the grocery store and it made her feel terrible that there was nothing she could do to fix it.
When they puled into the garage, Beca helped both of her kids out of their car seats and brought them into the house before going back out to the car to get the groceries. The brunette got all of the bags in one trip and set them onto the center island when Chloe appeared in the kitchen with one hand on her small baby bump and the other holding a large plastic box filled with ornaments. "You guys were so quick, I only had a chance to grab one container of ornaments.
Before Beca could answer, Emily cut her off. "We went really fast through the store after Mommy ran into a lady who made her upset."
Chloe looked curiously at her daughter and then her wife who mouthed, "Later," indicating that it wouldn't be a conversation appropriate for small ears. "Emily, Cody, why don't you go up to your rooms and change into your jammies for tree decorating? Mommy and I will be up there to get you guys in a few minutes when everything is ready." Chloe said in an overly sweet tone that only Beca knew meant that something was wrong.
As soon as the kids were out of the room, the redhead turned to her wife with anger in her eyes. "What was Emily talking about, Beca?"
The brunette let out a heavy sigh before answering her wife, never taking her eyes off of the floor. "I know when we first started dating that you never wanted to hear about it, but I cheated on you." Before Chloe could cut her off, Beca kept going. "I have been regularly having extramarital sex for about six months. While shopping, we ran into one of the girls I cheated on you with and she's pregnant. She swears that I'm the father, and honestly, I might be, but there is a chance that I'm not."
The next thing Beca knew, her cheek was stinging. It took her a second to realize what had happened, but when she did she didn't say anything. She deserved it. "Words can't express how angry I am at you Rebecca Grace Mitchell," Chloe seethed, keeping her voice low so it wouldn't carry up the stairs. "I can't believe that you would go out and be so reckless, I mean, I haven't made you wear a condom since college because we were monogamous and I was on the pill. Now we both have to get tested to make sure you didn't get anything from anyone."
"I used a condom every time, I swear." Beca said in a small voice. "It may have broken or something, but I did use one."
Chloe continued to glare at Beca for a few moments, seemingly looking for any hints of dishonesty. "Fine, but I still think it'll be a good idea for us to get tested." Before Beca could agree, Chloe continued. "I'm really fucking pissed at you, but I will not let that ruin something Emily and Cody have been looking forward to because you fucked up. We're going to proceed with the evening as planned, but after we put the kids down, I want you out. I don't care where you go, but it can't be here. Don't try to contact me in any way. I need some time to myself to think about our relationship and if I want to continue being your wife. Do you understand?"
"So I don't get to see Emily and Cody until you decide I can? They're just as much my children as they are yours." Beca said, anger clear in her voice. "And if you're so angry, why don't you leave? This is my house too and you have no right to kick me out."
"So you're telling a pregnant woman to leave her home?" Chloe inquired with her arms crossed over her chest. "That is the epitome of scumbag, Beca." The redhead spat.
"I'm not asking you to leave," Beca said sternly. "I'm just saying that I won't be leaving without at least a promise that I will get to see my children in that time."
The couple glared at each other for a few moments, making it clear that they had no intention of backing down. "We can talk about this later after we put Emily and Cody to bed. I don't want to make them wait any longer to decorate the tree and bake cookies." Chloe said.
"Fine by me," Beca agreed.
They took a moment to collect themselves and prepare to fake cheerfulness for the next few hours for the sake of their children.
When they made it up the stairs, they opened the door to Cody's room to find it empty. Beca and Chloe frowned at each other before going to Emily's room. The door was open and they saw their oldest comforting her little brother with a hug.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked concerned as she walked into the room and knelt down so she was closer to eye level with her children.
"You were fighting and I got sad," Chloe admitted.
Both Beca and Chloe immediately felt guilty, they had no idea they had been loud enough to carry up the stairs. "Awe, buddy, we're sorry." Chloe cooed as she pulled her son in for a hug. "We weren't fighting, we were just disagreeing about whether we should make the cookies or decorate the tree first. We both feel very strongly and got a little loud when making our points."
"Really?" Cody asked hopefully.
"Really." Chloe said with a reassuring smile. "Now what do you say we need downstairs and get those cookies in the oven so we can decorate the tree while they broke?" The redhead suggested.
A big smile spread across Cody's face as he nodded enthusiastically before running out of his sister's room and bolted down the stairs.
"Hey, wait for me!" Chloe called after him before jumping to her feet and running after him.
When they were gone, Beca turned to Emily who looked sad. "What's wrong?" Beca asked.
"We always bake the cookies before decorating the tree." Emily pointed out.
Beca's heart stopped. Her five year old had just caught her parents in a lie. The brunette was torn over whether to continue or come clean. "Em, I'm sorry you guys heard that and I promise we'll do a better job of making sure that you guys don't hear in the future. Sometimes parents fight. It's totally normal and doesn't mean anything bad is happening. Mom just told Cody that so he wouldn't get upset because he's little and wouldn't understand. Does that make sense?" Beca asked her daughter hopefully.
The little girl nodded before grabbing her mother's hand and walking down the stairs to go join her other mother and brother. The brunette was relieved that the situation was, at least temporarily, taken care of.
Two and a half hours later, the tree was decorated, the cookies were baked and decorated, and Emily and Cody were tucked in. The brunette and redhead went downstairs to the living room to further discuss what had happened earlier. "So, are you going to do the right thing and leave while I think about us?" Chloe asked when they were seated on opposite ends of the couch.
"Depends. When do I get to see Emily and Cody?"
"When you prove you actually care about your family."
Beca rolled her eyes. "That's horseshit and you know it, Chloe. They're just as much my children as they are yours. I cheated on you. I didn't abuse you or them. You know you have no right to tell me that I can't see them."
Chloe glared at her wife as she thought. She knew that Beca was right, and that pissed her off to no end, but she wasn't willing to back down. Maybe she could get Aubrey to help her. It was then that the redhead realized how unreasonable she was being. She was angry at Beca and wanted to punish her, but keeping the kids from her would punish them just as much, if not more, than it would punish her. "How about you can be with them any time you can work form home until I get home? Then we'll tell them you're going to work. If you can't watch the kids, we'll tell them that you have to be at the studio early and they'll go to daycare."
The brunette considered the offer and figured that it was as reasonable an offer as she was going to get. "Fine. But if either of them catch onto it, we're coming clean. Emily is already suspicious and I won't lie to her if she asks a question."
"Ok, fine. Just don't do anything to intentionally cause suspicion."
"I won't if you won't."
"Good." There was a beat of silence before Chloe continued. "I'll give you a bit of time to collect your things." The redhead said as she grabbed the remote to turn the TV on.
Beca was able to pack up all of her essentials in 10 minutes, remaining optimistic that Chloe would let her come home the next day. "I have to be at the studio tomorrow, but I can be here the rest of the week." The brunette said with her hand on the doorknob.
"Cool." Chloe said, not taking her eyes off of the TV.
"I love you, Chloe." Beca said sadly before she left.
Chloe let out a heavy sigh before whispering, "I love you too, Beca."