Do you know that feeling you sometimes get, when you're so excited that your stomach starts back flipping? That was what Chloe Beale was experiencing. She'd been on tenterhooks for the last three minutes, staring at the rectangular object sitting front and centre on her bathroom vanity. What if it's positive? she thought, chewing her thumbnail. Thankfully her alarm chose that moment to go off, saving her nails from further damage. Chloe's hand shot out, fumbling with the object in question. She tapped it a few times and took a deep breath, steeling herself for either the best or worst news of her life.
"Just do it Chloe. The sooner you know, the better," she said. It sounded good in her head, saying it out loud though? That just made her hands tremor with anxiety. "Come on, Chlo… It's a band aid. Just rip it off."
She flipped over the test, her blue eyes honing in on the tiny window at the end. Holy crap.
"Come on!" Chloe growled, slapping her hands firmly against the steering wheel. She hated airport runs, especially at this time of the afternoon, but she hadn't seen Beca in over a month. She'd been in New York for four weeks, doing a rush order on an album. That was the worst part of Beca's success, the fact that she was in such high demand that people would literally fly her to them. This artist had offered to fly Chloe out as well, but it was mid school term, and a month was a long time to leave her students with a sub.
Finally the traffic cleared enough for Chloe to get a fairly close parking space. She jumped for the car, shouldering her bag and grabbing the envelope on the passenger seat. Hopefully it hadn't been damaged during the trip.
She wiped her sweaty palms as she entered the terminal, noting that Beca's flight was now disembarking. Her wait would thankfully not be too long.
She stopped by the café near the baggage carousel, ordering a hot chocolate for herself and a coffee for Beca. She'd barely collected her order when she noticed a short brunette pushing a luggage cart in her direction. Beca's smile was magnificent, there was something about finally seeing it in person that made it so much more beautiful to Chloe. She placed the cups on top of the trolley and wrapped her arms around Beca.
"I missed you."
Chloe felt Beca bury her face into her shoulder, "Missed you too, nerd."
"I have something for you," Chloe said, wiping a stray tear as Beca pulled back.
"Dude… Are you…? Are you crying?"
"I missed you, asshole!" Chloe said, giggling through the tears that she was trying desperately to stop. "Here."
She watched the confusion on Beca's face as the envelope was placed in her hands. "What's…?" Beca fell silent as she read the front of the card. Her face was blank, eyes flitting from the card back to Chloe.
"Open it," Chloe said, nervously bouncing on the balls of her feet.
She watched a tear roll down Beca's cheek as the envelope dropped leaving Beca clutching the card in one hand and the grainy picture in the other. "I searched everywhere for that card. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a Welcome home Momma card…"
"This is a sonogram…"
Chloe chuckled at the confused look on Beca's face, "Yeah…"
"It worked? It actually… You're pregnant?" The smile that crossed Beca's face in that moment was one that Chloe would remember for a long time. Beca reached a hand out and gently ran it across Chloe's still flat stomach, the smile had softened to a look of amazement. "We're having a baby? An actual small human is in there… right now?"
"Yeah."