"Hi," Jesse greeted as he opened the door just enough Beca could step inside the apartment without Bender running out.

He was rubbing the back of his neck in discomfort after closing the door. "I…" Jesse paused turning to face her. He clenched his jaw when no words came out. He shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily.

"Look, it happens," Beca was the one to speak. She walked further inside the apartment avoiding to look at him because of his lack of clothing.

"It shouldn't." He followed her. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved," he apologized watching her place their son's bag on the couch. "For all I know, you could be seeing someone," he tried to sound casual as he spoke and heard a very sarcastic laugh from Beca.

She turned around and smiled curtly at the frown on his face. "Worry not, my friend, I'm not seeing anyone. You'd know if I were." She tilted her head to look at Joseph and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Now give me a kiss," she said and gave the little boy her cheek who obliged and attacked her cheek with his opened mouth. "Have fun with dada," she told him and he, of course, repeated dada after her.

"So, we cool?" Jesse checked.

"Yeah," Beca nodded and handed him his son. "I think there should be a dress code when we hang out just to be safe and avoid this sort of incident happening again." She added referring to both her clothes from the day before and his adorable but inappropriate to be seen in by his ex-girlfriend boxer shorts that had the batman logo printed on the crotch area.

"I'd just gotten out of the shower when I heard you calling," he explained the reason why he was half naked. "I didn't expect you to show up at 7 in the morning," he added.

"I have some work to do."

Jesse nodded and didn't even try to point out the fact it was Saturday and she shouldn't be working.

"You look restless," he said instead.

"I stayed up late last night making some music Bumper and I discussed," she told him. He nodded again knowing she chose to do that to distract herself from her thoughts that kept her from sleeping.

"What's the plan for the day?" she asked changing the subject.

"Walking Bender in central park and acting like we're high on some good shit by treating everything we see like it's the greatest thing ever!" he told her, while he looked at Joseph, in his best overenthusiastic voice. "And, we're meeting Sam there, too!"

"Well, have fun together," she smiled watching the way Jesse's tone made Joseph grin.

"Say bye-bye to mama," Jesse told the little boy who settled for babbling, "ba-ba," and waved his arms while watching Beca walk towards the door backward.

Beca let out a heavy sigh the moment she climbed into her car. She ran her fingers through her hair then rested her head against the steering wheel and began banging it.

"I got this," Beca mumbled sitting up and sucking in a deep breath before she buckled her belt and started the car. "I fucking got this!" she uttered turning on the radio.

As she drove, she kept thinking if she'd ever completely get it together. She was afraid she'd end up like her mother: full of regret.

She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and blew a breath at the unpleasant and frankly scary thought that is living in regret for the rest of her life.

Beca took off her sunglasses and eyed her mother's house who lived in a different state.

It was a trip that Beca decided to make because she really needed to talk to her mother and couldn't do it over the phone. She was so much like her mother despite how hard it was to admit it to herself and she knew that in order to get her mother to speak the truth and leave nothing out she had to go see her.

She rang the bell and waited. She knew her mom would be home because last time they texted she told her plans for the weekend were to stay in.

"Beca?" Nicole frowned when she unlocked the door and found her daughter at the door.

"Hi, mom," Beca smiled tightly. "I just have something to ask you about that's been fucking with me for days and I need to hear it from you 'cause I think I'll go insane if I don't get a fucking grip," she rambled.

"Okay," the older woman frowned and stepped back.

"Wait, do you have people over?" Beca frowned. "I should have called first."

"No, I don't have anyone over, Becs."

Beca nodded and followed her mother inside the house.

"What's wrong? Why did you drive here? Is it Joe?" Nicole locked the door. "It's totally okay if you're feeling overwhelmed," she firmly said.

"No, not Joe." Beca shook her head. "I think it's safe to say that I dodged postpartum depression," she assured her mom.

"Okay, good," Nicole said, relief washing over her momentarily.

"I drove here to ask you— and please don't get defensive and weird about it 'cause I really have to know," Beca started to say. Her mom nodded. "I know you regret how things turned out with dad. I mean you don't talk about it but I was there the whole time and saw how you just sucked it up and made peace with fucking up. What I wanna know is whether or not you still have feelings for him. And, don't give me the 'I care about him bullshit'."

"No, Bec. I don't think of dad that way. I mean, a part of me will always love him and it sure took me longer than it took him to move on but I did move on," she answered and watched as Beca blew a breath and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Okay, what about regret? Does it fade, too?"

"Beca, what is going?" Nicole wondered.

"Answer me, please?"

"It doesn't, I just kind of just learned to live with it." She paused. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you? I mean I can guess 'cause it's pretty clear but I want you to tell me for once in your life."

"I thought I was doing okay then he kissed me and messed everything up!" she said in annoyance. "I know what to do in situations like this: just cut him off 'till we get past this stage. But I can't do that because Joe is in the midst of all this."

"And you drove all the way from New York to Pittsburgh to be sure that you will eventually get past this stage you're talking about?"

Beca nodded.

"Where did you leave your son?" Nicole asked.

"He's with Jesse." Beca checked the time on her watch to find that it was 1:11 pm. "The milk I packed him should suffice and he's also eating food now. He'll be fine without me."

"How many hours did you drive?"

"About six," Beca gave her an approximation.

"And you're obviously planning on driving back to New York soon." Beca nodded at her mother's words.

"Yeah, you're not gonna do that," the older woman decided.

"Are you telling me or asking me?" Beca arched an eyebrow.

"Beca, you're not a kid anymore. You can do things like this." She paused. "Did you stop to think of the physical toll driving for 12 hours will take on you?" she wondered.

"No, I didn't think this through. I just knew that I had to come here in case I had to harass you into telling me what I wanted to know!" Beca raged.

"You need to relax," Nicole said in worry watching her daughter rub her forehead.

"I haven't slept for more than 4 hours a night in months, mom. I don't think I know how to relax anymore." Beca dropped the hand that she was rubbing her forehead with.

"Yeah, you do." Nicole reached for Beca's arm and pulled her into a hug. "No matter what happens, you'll be fine." She rubbed her back.

"How do you know that?" Beca mumbled into her shoulder.

"You're you. That's how I know." She sighed patted her daughter's back. "Did you eat?" she asked once Beca pulled away.

"C'mon, I'll make you a chicken salad sandwich," she said when Beca shook her head.

"I'd like that," Beca mumbled.

"I know," Nicole smiled despite the fact that she was legit worried about her daughter. "If we head out in half an hour, keeping in mind traffic, we should get to New York by nightfall."

"We?"

"You said you're not sleeping well. Driving while stressed and restless is asking for trouble. It's not just you now, Beca. You have a child to think about. No way you're getting behind the wheel," she firmly said. "Scowl all you want, honey, you know I'm right." She patted her cheek.

Beca was gazing out of the window while she rested her head against it while her mother drove humming the song playing the radio under her breath.

"This oddly feels like the times you drove me to school," Beca said sitting up and rotating her neck.

"It kinda does," Nicole agreed.

"I always hoped we'd get a flat tire and I'd be late for school and miss the first period," Beca confessed. "I don't know why I never fucked up a tire."

"Probably because you're too lazy to pull that off."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Beca nodded then exhaled loudly.

"Beca, I know breaking up when you have a kid together makes it hard," Nicole began to say seeing that her daughter wasn't planning on approaching the subject. "But think about how it's like when you're together and how you're better off when you're not."

"That's the thing, mom, it's not complete shit when we're together." She leaned against her seat. "I don't know, sometimes I wanna punch him in the teeth and other times I want to watch Netflix while we play footsie and cuddle," she shrugged.

"If you think there's still a chance you save your relationship go for it, Becs. Consider these couple of months a break from everything and try again."

Beca chuckled humorlessly then sighed. "Yeah, not gonna go down that rabbit hole again."

"Again?"

"Shit," Beca muttered.

"Beca?" Nicole looked away from the road.

"Promise you won't lecture me for the rest of the ride first."

"I promise," she frowned.

"Jesse and I had been on and off throughout my pregnancy. I was feeling doubtful of our future together and when I told him we should take a break and figure shit out we found out about Joe." She paused. "I basically called all the shots and Jesse just rolled with everything." She rubbed her face. "I don't think either one us is capable of giving it another shot. Especially now that he kinda hates me. I mean, he never said it to my face but I know he blames me for everything."

"That's not right. He can't just blame you. He's a grown man, he could have done something. He can't just depend on you to keep your relationship alive and roll with what you say you should do," Nicole reasoned.

"And that, mother, is why Jesse and I just can't work anymore," Beca retorted. "Besides, Jesse told me himself he's exhausted from being with me. And, honestly I'm tired, too," she declared.

"But you also still want to be with him—"

"I know I know," Beca interrupted. "It's unhealthy. Been there. Done that." She closed her eyes to rest a little. "I won't go running back to him because I miss him."

"I am so sorry, baby," Beca apologized to Joseph who she found weeping. He was babbling as he cried and she held him close to her chest rocking him in her arms.

"He was fine the whole day then he got up from a nap cranky. He exploded like an hour ago," Jesse informed filling her in as he closed the front door. Beca nodded and sat down on the couch while she unbuttoned her shirt.

"This is the most Joe stayed away from me," Beca noted while wiping Joseph's tears when he finally calmed down the moment she started nursing him.

"Won't happen again, buddy, I promise," she said as she held the little boy's gaze. "Meltdown aside, how was Joseph the whole day?" Beca looked up at Jesse. "Was the park a success?"

"Yeah, it went really well." Jesse sat down next to her. "He liked the birds and got mad when they flew away. But he had fun watching Sam play fetch with Bender then started to protest asking to play too and when Sam gave him the Frisbee he tried to put it in his mouth."

"Why do babies just love putting things in their mouths?" Beca wondered. "Do they determine the worthiness of the thing by tasting it?"

Jesse snickered while rubbing his hands together. "Could be it," he shrugged.

"So fucking dumb—ow," she hissed. "Joseph just bit me," she said. "He's so mad at me," she told Jesse who leaned in to get a better look at Joseph.

"I know we agreed he looks more like me but right now, Becs, he's all you," Jesse noted rubbing his thumb against the frown on Joseph's face.

"He looks like me when he's angry. Awesome," she deadpanned then looked up when an alarm clock went off.

"I'm making a cake," Jesse announced turning off the alarm clock on his phone as he stood up.

"Cake?" Beca echoed.

"Uh-huh."

"What's the occasion?" she wondered.

"The producer is on board. He called me," he informed her as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Oh, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, it really is. I still have to get another producer if we want the movie to look like an actual feature length film and not a school project since it's an independent film. But it's great to have him on board." She heard Jesse say from the kitchen.

"How much money do you still need?" she asked.

"I'm not taking your money," he told her in a knowing voice as he placed the cake on the counter.

"I'm not giving you money. I know where to go if I wanna do charity. This is an investment," Beca said.

"You haven't even read the screenplay." Jesse was putting chocolate frosting on the cake as he spoke.

"And I'll probably fall asleep watching the finished product," she truthfully said. "Since when do producers care about the movie? They only care about the money. Trust me, I'm a producer."

"You're a record producer," he pointed out. "And you get Grammys when you make records. You care very much about what you do." He put M&M all over the cake after he finished with the frosting.

"You haven't answered. How much money do you need?" He heard her say.

"A lot of money," he answered and smiled hearing her groan.

He then grabbed a couple of candles and put them in the cake then lit them before grabbing a couple of plates and spoons along with a knife.

"What are you doing?" Beca asked rhetorically when she spotted him. He didn't answer he instead started singing the happy birthday song.

"Dude, it's not my birthday and your candles got it wrong," she reminded him eyeing the candles that were shaped in the number 32 after he set the cake on the coffee table.

Joseph lost interest in nursing and got distracted with the cake so Beca sat him up while adjusting her bra.

"I know when you're born," he rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure I'll be in New York when you turn thirty-three, which is why the candles say thirty-two," he explained. "Now blow them, would you?" he told her gesturing at the cake.

"Yaaaaay!" Jesse exclaimed while clapping once Beca leaned closer to the cake just enough to blow the candles while she held Joseph back to keep him from throwing himself at the cake.

Joseph tried to echo his father and what he babbled was close enough.

"Thanks for this, Jess. You didn't have to," she smiled tightly at him.

"I don't get to bake anymore, I had fun making this." He waved it off then removed the candles so that he could cut her a slice. He paused when Beca's phone chimed with a text.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just mom. She went to get dinner from Chipotle and just got out of there," she told him, typing back a reply. When they got to Manhattan they got stuck in a traffic jam so Beca figured she'd take the subway to Jesse's place because she couldn't just sit in a car while her baby threw a tantrum because he missed her, her mother went to get dinner and they decided she'd come and get them afterwards.

"Your mom is here?" he frowned.

"She'll be here soon," she told him, rocking Joseph in her lap when he rubbed his eye while trying to reach for the cake.

"I'll just wrap this to go then," he figured.

"No, I wanna have some of it now. And I have a feeling this guy is gonna throw another tantrum soon if we don't let him eat the cake."

Jesse wanted to know more but could see that Beca didn't want to talk about it. He cut her a slice of cake while she reached into Joseph's bag to grab his bib and put it around his neck.

"No," she slowly said pulling the plate away from Joseph's reach when he tried to grab the cake with his hand, planning to feed him some with a spoon instead.

He babbled something back in annoyance.

"I said no," she held his gaze and almost cracked a smile at how adorable he looked when he's mad then remembered he was going to start crying soon given the fact that it was past his bedtime.

She sighed when he pouted and his lips started quivering then removed the M&Ms because he'd choke on them and held the plate within reach of him.

"Dive in, baby," she said placing a peck on his temple. Joseph grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth and got overwhelmed with the sweet taste so he looked up at Beca.

Jesse went to pack cake for her to take and when he came back he didn't fight the grin that made its way into his face.

"I'm a bad parent," Beca admitted feeling his gaze.

"It's fine if he eats some," Jesse assured her. "Besides he's not much eating as he's playing with it," he added pulling his phone from his pocket to snap a picture of the little boy who was fascinated with the cake he had in his hand.

Beca tried to eat the cake while she balanced Joseph on one leg and got frosting on her nose.

"Delete that," she glared at Jesse when he took a picture that included her.

"No," Jesse shook his head. "You two look adorable," he added.

He moved and sat next to her on the couch. "This is the type of pictures you put in a scrapbook."

Beca wiped the frosting from her face then tilted her head towards Jesse. "Is it gone?" she asked.

"Huh?" he looked up.

"The mess I made with the frosting, is it gone?" she wondered.

"Uh-huh." He paused. "Just a little at the corner of your mouth," he told her. She used her tongue to get to the corner of her mouth and he found himself gravitating towards her lips then swore under his breath when she quickly looked away the moment he got too close to her face.

Jesse rubbed his face then blew a breath. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Fuck it. I just miss you a lot, there I said it," he confessed.

Beca busied herself with wiping frosting from Joseph's face to give herself some time to keep her tone casual. "Just wait 'till these feelings go away," she uneasily said.

"And if they don't?" he wondered.

"They're gonna have to," she said after a beat. "Just don't obsess over it, Jesse. And, like, talk about it to Dr. Martins," she recommended. "You'll be fine," she continued as she put the plate on the coffee table.

"Did we do the right thing, Beca?" he found himself asking as leaned against the couch.

Beca nodded and proceeded to clean Joe's fistful of cake when he lost interest in the cake and leaned against her chest wanting to sleep.

"Longing is one of the things you experience after a breakup when you still have feelings for your ex-. It won't last forever," she sighed.

"Well, it feels wrong. We broke up before and didn't feel like this." He rested his elbows on his thighs and held his head.

"It's different. The circumstances this time are different." She rubbed his back. "Just hang in there, Jesse."

"Don't use your therapeutic voice on me," Jesse said in annoyance and frustration as he looked up.

She shook her head and removed the bib from around Joseph's neck, forcefully putting it in the bag.

"Stop playing the victim, Jesse, 'cause you're not," she deadpanned and got on her feet. "You miss me?" She looked at him. "Well, I miss you, too," she shrugged and held Joseph close her chest in a way his chin was on her shoulder.

She grabbed Joseph's packed bag. "But you don't see me complaining. 'Cause it's not fair to lump you into it. 'Cause I'm supposed to sack up and move on. 'Cause we're supposed to sack up and move on. So excuse me and my therapeutic voice for trying to be a better friend to you than I was a girlfriend," she told him and held his gaze for a second before she turned on her heels.

"Hey, where are you going? Your mom is not here yet to pick you up." Jesse rushed to the front door to keep her from leaving by standing in front of it.

"Jesse, can you please back off?" Beca spoke in an even voice for her little one's sake. "What is that you want from me, Jesse?" she asked when he shook his head. "I mean, you made up your mind and decided for me how I feel about us: I respected what you wanted and we broke up. So, fucking tell me what you what now!" she said struggling to keep her voice low.

"We're very broken and neither one of us can deny that. I know I said you wanted to break up but it's only because of how you've been acting Beca—you look for a fight at every given chance," he started to say. "But I miss you so much and my gut is telling me that we made a huge mistake by breaking up again." He inhaled then said, "I want to give us another shot."

"No," she firmly said.

"No?" he echoed in surprise.

"No," she insisted. "You said it, we're broken." She paused. "I frankly don't have the time nor energy to try again. Same goes for you: you got the pre-production crap to deal with for your movie and there's also Sam and this guy." She nodded at Joseph then held her phone up when it chimed with a text from her mother informing her that she had arrived.

"Mom is here," she told him as she typed back her reply. She heard Jesse open the door and looked up. He then reached inside their kid's bag and pulled his blanket placing it over him. "Sleep tight, Joseph," Jesse said to the little boy, who was rubbing his eye with the back of his hand, and placed a kiss on his forehead then stepped back scratching his beard as he eyed Beca.

"Night," he said to her.

"G'night," she replied and walked out of the apartment. "E-mail me the screenplay I'm serious about wanting to help finance it," Beca added over her shoulder.

"Okay," he nodded. "Hey, Beca, wait," Jesse called after her.

"What's up?" she sighed.

"The cake." He rushed back inside the apartment.

Beca pressed the elevator button and waited. "Thanks again for the early birthday cake," she thanked him as he put it in Joseph's bag.

"You welcome." He zipped the bag.

"Jesse, you understand why we just can't, right?" she checked not bearing the disappointed look he had in his eyes. "We can't do the whole on-again and off-again thing. A, it's not healthy. B, it's not just us anymore."

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "But you can't deny that there must be a reason why we're still drawn to each other."

"Well, whatever it is, it is not enough," she shrugged and stepped inside the elevator.

He smiled sadly at her and nodded. "Say hi to your mother for me."

"I will."

Jesse watched the elevator door as it closed and eyed his reflection before he sighed and dragged himself to his apartment. Knowing Beca, he knew she was serious about breaking for good this time.

A week later,

Jesse had had a lunch meeting with the producer where they went over the pre-production plan which Jesse had spent hours working on to avoid any gaps that would make him look unprofessional. The meeting was a success which was exciting. Beca being serious about wanting to produce too was made aware via an E-mail because she couldn't be present at the meeting, despite being in L.A., she was busy getting ready for Luke's wedding.

He was lounging on his friend's Donald's couch while Joseph sat on his lap

He was scrolling down his Twitter feed and chuckled when he came across a tweet from Beca that read: 'My 6 months old stays quiet in the car as long as All Star is playing. This is the kinda sacrifice parents never shut up about, right?'

He hit the heart button and scrolled past the tweet then exited the twitter app to reply to a text he received from his daughter's stepfather.

"Sweet," Jesse murmured reading the text from Doug that was an answer to his previous text asking if he could loan him the cabin his family owned in Quebec Canada.

Doug [4:11 PM]

'Sure, you can have it. Planning a vacation?'

Jesse [4:11 PM]

'Yeah, mostly that. But I want to see if the location would fit with the setting of the movie I'm making.'

Jesse sat up and sipped from his root beer. He'd been plotting how he's going to change Beca's mind about them. And his plan was going piss Beca off but he was hopeful it would work out.

"I can't decide if he looks like you or like his mother," Donald, said as he eyed Joseph after placing a pizza box on the coffee table.

"He's got her eyes color and skin tone, and he has dirty blond hair like she did when she was his age, that's all for now, we'll see when he's older how he'll turn out." Jesse leaned forward and grabbed a slice of pizza. "Mom says he looks like me when I was his age, minus the paleness and blue eyes of course," he mumbled taking a bite.

"Okay, what are we playing?" Donald asked as he held two PS4 cases. "Resident evil V or Dead nation?"

"You pick," Jesse shrugged. "What?" he wondered looking down at Joseph when he heard him babble while reaching for his arm. He put the slice in the box then held him up. "Look, Don, he can stand," Jesse grinned letting go of Joseph as he stood while he kept his guard up in case his baby boy fell.

"Wow, amazing," Donald sarcastically said.

"It is amazing." He rubbed his son's back when he threw himself at him then placed a forceful kiss on his cheek, supporting his weight.

"So, the kid stays with his mom at night, right?" Donald checked.

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "Why?"

"I thought we could go out tonight since you're headed to New York tomorrow," Donald told him as he loaded the game.

"I don't party." Jesse sat Joseph on his lap to give his attention to the game.

"You don't drink. It's not the same." Donald grabbed a bag of Doritos and leaned against the couch. "Do I give him?" he checked with Jesse when Joseph babbled demanding a Doritos chip.

"Yeah, he can have one," Jesse said. He watched Joseph bring the chip to his mouth and grimace at the taste.

"What's the point in partying when I don't drink?" Jesse wondered.

"You get to see other faces and like have fun for a change. In case you haven't noticed, you've become very boring."

"I'm not boring," Jesse disagreed not in the slightest offended.

"Prove it," Donald challenged.

"Would you call me boring if I told you that I'm going to trick Beca into going to Canada with me where we're going to stay in a place with no reception?"

"Holy shit, you're going to kidnap your ex-girlfriend?" Donald exclaimed.

"What the fuck, no. I'm not going to kidnap her." Jesse placed a kiss on top of Joseph's head.

"You said you're gonna trick her into going to a remote place. That's kidnapping."

"It's not kidnapping if it's romantic," Jesse shrugged. "And Joe will be with us."

"How are going to trick her?" Donald wondered as they started playing.

"Well, you know how she's co-producing the movie I'm making," he started to say.

"Uh-huh." Donald stuffed his mouth with chips.

"Well, the place we're going to is a potential set location. She told me she's serious about wanting to produce so she's gonna go check it out with me. I'm going to make sure we get stuck there for at least a week," Jesse revealed.

"Wow," Donald chuckled. "And what's the point of this master plan?"

"Isn't obvious?" he wondered. "Winning her back. She lost faith in me and it's taken me longer than it should have to realize that I can't lose her. So, we're gonna spend a week in the forest away from everything and figure everything out once and for all." He let out a happy sigh. "I have a good feeling about this."

"I take it back, you're not boring; you're insane."

"Thank you," Jesse beamed.

AN: Jesse's plan is very original, I know right? I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading.