When Beca's eyes opened in the darkness of the early morning, she was confused. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't know why her breathing had an echo.

She didn't know why her breathing had seven echoes.

Sitting up, she looked around the room groggily before she realised what happened.

Jesse Swanson had slept over.

She had fallen asleep on Jesse Swanson's lap and Jesse Swanson was asleep on her lounge.

"Holy shit", she murmured, slipping out of the room (careful not to step on the menagerie of children who had passed out on her floor). "Oh holy shit!"

Padding into the kitchen, she pulled out a glass and poured herself cold water, taking a long sip and leaning against the wall. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to process the night's events.

Michael had told her father and stepmonster about her relationship.

Her father and stepmonster had met and liked Jesse.

She had fallen asleep with her head in his lap watching a movie.

It was moving too fast, and she didn't even know where to begin.

Ordinarily, in a situation like that, she'd call Chloe.

(But they'd have a field day if they got even a whiff of what had happened. Calling Chloe was not an option.)

Retreating to her bedroom, she crawled under the blankets, closing her eyes and willing sleep to overcome her.

(It didn't excuse the fact that she wished that Jesse was lying beside her.)

(She didn't sleep that night.)

When Jesse opened his eyes, the sun barely rising in the sky, he found an empty spot where Beca had fallen asleep. His shoulders slumped and he stood up, unaware of where she had disappeared to.

Checking on the kids (who were asleep in a tangle of arms and legs on the floor), he advanced into the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of water, he stood at the sink, sighing heavily.

(Where the hell was Beca? Fat Amy had joked that she would run, but he didn't think she was serious. At least not serious enough to run from her own house.)

"Hi", Beca said softly, looking at the floor, as she emerged from her bedroom.

"Morning", Jesse said in surprise. She gave him a small smile but refused to make eye contact. He stepped towards her, a smile on his face- but that drooped away when he saw the worried expression on her face.

"Hey, are you okay?" he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she shied away, pulling away from his reach. Jesse retreated immediately, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Beca stood there awkwardly for a moment, before beginning to pace.

"Want some coffee?" she said.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. They're still asleep". He smiled softly, motioning towards the lounge room.

"What time did they fall asleep?" she questioned, pulling out two mugs and turning on the coffee machine.

"Probably nine, nine thirty?" he shrugged. "Natalie crashed first, I think".

"She doesn't do late nights", Beca agreed, holding up the jar of sugar. He nodded, and she put a spoon into his mug. "What time did I fall asleep?" she wondered out loud.

"Pretty quickly". He shrugged. "Bec-"

She didn't want to have that conversation. So instead she busied herself, making coffee and pulling the milk out of the fridge, surveying the kitchen for something to feed the six kids for breakfast.

"I had a really nice time last night", he said instead (Chloe had told him that she had a habit of shutting people out when she didn't want to talk about something, and he didn't want that to happen). "Your parents are really nice".

(If anything, Beca thought that meeting her father and Sheila would send him running for the hills.)

"Thanks for coming", she mumbled. "It meant a lot to me- and the girls. I'm still going to kill Michael, but that's not the point".

"That's what brothers do". Jesse shrugged. "I'd do the same for my little sister".

He had brought up his sister Mikaela once since Beca had known him, and spoken about her enough for Beca to know that she was two and a half years younger, loved Disney movies, and had been in a relationship with the same guy since she was sixteen. Jesse loved her dearly, but with him in Georgia and Mikaela living in California, they didn't see each other as often as they'd like.

Their idle conversation turned into playful banter as their coffee cooled, Jesse going into great details of the history of John Hughes' Sixteen Candles (the next movie he was going to force Beca to watch, it seemed).

"Hi Daddy". Brody appeared in the doorway, rubbing his sleepy eyes, his hair tousled and sticking up in a hundred different directions. "Hi Beca".

"Morning Brody", Beca said with a smile, and he bypassed Jesse to hug her (Jesse wasn't sure whether or not to be happy that he liked Beca or offended because he preferred the brunette). Beca lifted the sleepy little boy into her arms, and he rested her head against her chest, yawning.

"Did you sleep good?" Jesse questioned, and he nodded, yawning again.

"Beca, sometimes Daddy makes pancakes", he mumbled. "Do you like pancakes?"

"I do, we all like pancakes". She nodded.

"Hey Daddy, can you make pancakes?"

Before Jesse could answer, the three of them heard tiny footsteps with the grace of an insect. Courtney poked her head into the room, smiling when she saw Jesse sitting there.

"Hi", she whispered.

"Hey there early bird". Beca grinned at her youngest, and she was hugged quickly before Courtney climbed into Jesse's lap. Jesse wrapped his arms protectively around her, and she leaned back into his embrace.

"Daddy's makin' pancakes", Brody confirmed, and Courtney giggled with excitement.

"I love pancakes! Pancakes with maple syrup, right Mummy?"

"Right", Beca confirmed, and Jesse smiled.

"Well, that's settled it! Want to help me make pancakes, Courtney?"

"Yeah". She nodded, and Jesse lifted her to his hip. Scanning the kitchen, Beca pointed him in the direction of the pantry, and Jesse pulled out the tub of flour. Putting Courtney and the flour on the bench, he pulled out the butter, the milk and some eggs, before Beca pulled out a bowl for him.

"Let's get this happening", Jesse said to Courtney, and she laughed. "You know what? On Valentine's Day, Brody and I made pink pancakes to celebrate".

"You're such a weirdo!" Beca burst into laughter, real laughter that rang through the kitchen. Jesse looked at her, breaking into an even bigger grin. Courtney and Brody started to giggle, exchanging glances between the two of them.

"What's goin' on?" Rosie bleated sleepily from the doorway.

"We're makin' pancakes! Wanna help?" Brody said cheerfully, waving to the older child from the countertop. "Do you like pancakes, Rosie?"

"Mmm". She flopped onto a chair sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry Rosie, did we wake you up?" Beca said sympathetically. "Sorry, Ro".

"It's 'kay". She yawned, resting her head on the table. "I like pancakes".

Slowly, one by one, Natalie, Dean and finally Ben shuffled into the kitchen, woken by the giggles and smell of pancakes.

(They were becoming so domestic. The thought both thrilled and terrified Beca.)

"What's your favourite kind of pancake topping?" Jesse asked Natalie, and the little girl grinned at him.

"Strawberry jam".

"I love strawberry jam", he pronounced, taking the jar from Beca and helping her to smear it across the pancakes. "Strawberry jam and cream, have you tried that?"

"Yeah, but I like just strawberry jam better". Natalie shrugged, stabbing a pancake and hacking at it with her knife.

"What about you, Ben?" Beca asked, as the eldest of the six scanned the table.

"Nutella", he declared.

"That's Mum's favourite", Rosie said quietly, as she drizzled honey onto her pancakes.

(It amazed Jesse that while the six kids they had between them were so alike in so many ways, they were so incredibly different. Not one child had the same topping on their pancake as another.)

"Thank you for having us Beca", Dean said politely, and Beca grinned at him, ruffling his hair.

"You're more than welcome".

Jesse pecked a kiss to her cheek, making her grin.

"Enjoy the walk of shame". Her eyes twinkled, and Jesse beamed at her.

He leaned towards her, so close that his breath tickled her ear. "I'm not ashamed", he whispered, and she shivered. He kissed her cheek and Beca turned her head, pressing her lips against his.

"Hey Mummy?" Courtney said, once Jesse's car had disappeared out of sight.

"Yeah baby?"

"Let's do that again", she decided and Beca lifted her to her hip, kissing her cheek and cradling her gently.

"I think we might". She hugged Rosie and Natalie tight, before herding them inside.

"Can someone get my phone?" Beca called, as she braided Natalie's damp hair back later that night. "Rosie, can you get the phone for me?"

There was a moment of silence, before Rosie's voice rang down the hallway.

"Hey Mum!" Rosie hollered. "Uncle Michael's on the phone".

Beca groaned. "Come in here, Ro, gimme the phone".

Courtney laughed, rolling onto her back but not peeling her eyes off her mother's television (fixated on a Disney Junior program). Accepting the phone, she tucked it in between her head and her shoulder, continuing to tie back her middle child's hair.

"What do you want, Michael?"

"Hey Bec-key", Michael said, the grin on his face audible in his voice. "How was dinner with the parental folk?"

"For your information, Michael", Beca said hotly. "My father and your mother thoroughly enjoyed dinner and had a very enjoyable time making conversation. We had a very good time".

"Why do I think you're lying?"

"I'm not", she informed him. "We had a great time. Dad and Sheila loved him".

"When are you meeting his parents?" Aubrey called.

"One step at a time, people". Her eyes widened, and Rosie chuckled.

"Listen, Bec", Michael said gently. "I'm sorry for telling Mum and Will about Jesse, I seriously thought they knew. That was an accident".

"Just like you accidentally told them about Luke?"

"No, no, this is an accident. That was not, that was purely to get back at the fact that you screamed 'he's dating my tormentor' at them", he said sheepishly (and although Aubrey had assured Beca that she had forgiven her for that outburst, because at the time the two tolerated each other and might have even gone as far as to say they were friends, Beca was still sure that Aubrey held a grudge). "But you're happy, and I'm happy. But just be careful, alright?"

"I am, Michael".

"I know, but be careful".

"I will. I've got to go; it's the girls' bedtime. I'll talk to you later".

"Bye Becs".

Putting the phone down, she faced her three daughters. "Alright, time for bed".

"Aw, Mum", Natalie grumbled.

"Hey, first of all we've got to have a little chat", she informed them, flicking off the television. "Now, I'm sure Aunt Chloe or Aunt Amy or Aunt Stacie will bring it up, but you've got to make Mummy a promise. You can't tell them yet that Jesse and the boys slept over, alright? It's a secret".

"Why?" Natalie questioned.

"Because if we tell them, Aunt Chloe might have a heart attack", she said honestly. "You've got to wait until Mummy tells them. We've got to ease them into the news; we don't want to kill Aunt Chloe".

(She didn't even want to imagine the outburst that would follow.)

"No", Courtney said seriously, and Rosie chuckled (because, being the eldest, she had seen a few Chloe Beale outbursts in her time. Rosie was old enough to remember the wedding of her beloved aunt and uncle, and that was an event and a half).

"Promise?" Beca checked.

"Promise".

And the four of them locked pinkies.

"So, if Uncle Donald, Uncle Benji, Hat or Uni ask, what are we gonna tell them?"

"We watched movies and had dinner at Beca's", Dean recited.

"What aren't we going to tell them?" Jesse prompted.

"That we had a sleepover with Rosie and Natalie and Courtney", Brody said cheerfully.

"Good boys. Promise?" Jesse checked.

"We already promised, Dad", Ben reminded him.

"Humour me Benny". They locked pinkies and Jesse patted their backs. "Good boys. You make me proud. I love you".

Hey weirdo, thanks for a really great weekend. The girls and I had a great time.

Jesse smiled, as the text came through to his phone. He had had a great day. Somehow, hanging out with Beca felt natural.

Brody hasn't stopped talking about it either, we all really enjoyed ourselves. Were you okay this morning? You didn't seem yourself.

Beca sighed heavily (because of course he would bring up the topic that she did not want to talk about).

I'd rather not talk about it through text. Want to grab a coffee once the kids are at school on Monday?

Checking his work schedule to make sure he didn't have any meetings, he sent a reply back to the brunette.

Absolutely. See you on Monday Becs

Once Natalie and Rosie were at school, Beca took Courtney by the hand and the two of them walked down to the park. Courtney chatted the whole way (because apparently he had inherited Aunt Amy's need for incessant conversation, regardless of topic), occasionally looking up at Beca with a look that could only melt her heart of stone (Aubrey's words in their freshman year of college).

"When's Jesse gonna be here?" she questioned suddenly, as she cheerfully swung her mother's hand a little higher.

"I don't know babe, we've just got to be patient".

"There's Jesse!" Courtney shrieked excitedly, her bionic vision catching sight of the pair in the distance. "There's Brody too!"

She snatched up Beca's hand, all but hauling her mother towards the father son pair.

"Come on, Mum!"

"I'm coming, hold your horses!"

"Hi Jesse!" Courtney hugged Jesse quickly, before turning to Brody.

"Let's go!"

"Let's go!" Brody agreed.

Brody gave Beca the quickest hug in the world, before grabbing Courtney's hand and hauling her off towards the playground.

They were the best of friends. They were the best of friends and Beca found it adorable.

"Hey", Jesse said with a grin, handing her a coffee and kissing her cheek.

"Hey". She gave him a small smile, cradling the coffee with both hands.

"So, what's up?"

"I'm sorry", she blurted out. "It was just… it freaked me out, you know? I mean, Luke was the only person who ever slept over. Like… um… it just freaked me out. I mean, I like you, I really like you… and I think that was what scared me".

(She loved him, but what was she going to do? Just going to blurt out that she loved him in the park? Yeah, that was totally not going to happen.)

(The unbreakable Beca Mitchell had just admitted that she was scared. If one of her friends' heard that, they might have dropped dead.)

"I like you too". And Jesse's face turned even pinker than Beca's. "I, just… want to go out again next weekend?"

"Sure". She nodded, her heart thumping in her chest.

(Luke had never looked at her the way Jesse looked at her.)

(Jesse hadn't felt that way since he was a freshman in college, seeing Katherine for the first time.)

The two sat on the park bench, hand in hand, watching Brody and Courtney play (occasionally shouting an instruction like 'put the stick down before you take her eye out Brody!' or 'get down before you fall down Courtney!') and talking. They didn't realise how late it was until Brody approached them, querying what they were eating for lunch.

An elderly woman approached them on their way out of the park (Jesse and Beca holding hands, with Brody's hand firmly attached to Beca's and Courtney swinging Jesse's arm cheerfully). "You have beautiful children", she complimented them. "You must be very proud".

Beca froze, and Jesse smoothly took over.

"Yes, we are", he said with a smile, and Brody and Courtney, not realising that she had thought that they shared the same parents, beamed cheesily up at her.

"Beautiful", she said softly.

"Guess what?"

They heard Chloe's voice before they saw her.

"Hi Uncle Tom!" Natalie said brightly.

"Hey rugrat!"

"Beca, you didn't guess", Chloe reminded her, grabbing her by the shoulders and beginning to jump.

"What?" Beca asked curiously.

"Guess!"

"Chloe we are not playing this game".

"I like that game", Courtney protested.

"No, no, we are not playing this game". Beca eyed Chloe curiously. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Lily has a date!"

"Does she? With who?"

"Donald!"

Beca screwed up her nose. "Who the hell's Donald?"

"Jesse's Donald!"

"Don't say it like that Chlo", Tom advised.

"Oh my God!"

"I know!"

"I thought he was going to hook up with Stacie!"

"Don't say it like that Bec".

"Okay, who brought you?"

"I could organise a double wedding!"

"What?" Beca bellowed, all excitement for her quirky little friend vanishing. "Excuse me?"

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Chloe questioned, and Rosie nodded.

"Yep".

"Oh well! This is so exciting!" and Chloe began to jump again, making Beca laugh.

When Jesse texted Beca a photo of Brody all but passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor, Beca laughed and laughed.

When Jesse received a photo of Courtney in the driveway, clad in her dancing gear, mid-twirl, he broke into an ear to ear grin.

Dean took the drawings that he had made with Rosie to show his class teacher.

Natalie took a photo of her and Ben with the giraffes at the zoo for her themed show and tell.

(Jesse's boys were seemed to be adjusting to the prospect of the girls acting as their sisters, and vice versa.)

When Donald suggested he and Lily babysit the kids together, Jesse wasn't sure how to react.

Sure, he was the boys' beloved Uncle and he knew how much the girls adored their aunt, but having the two of them watch six kids under eight seemed a bit much.

"It'll be like a party!" Donald said, pacing Jesse's kitchen. "Come on, they'll love it!"

"I'm sure they would, but there's six of them!" Jesse protested. "There will be six kids under eight here or at Beca's, and that's a lot of kids. That's double the amount of small bodies than usual".

"They're kids!" Donald said breezily, waving his hand.

(He could handle the kids, he was a cool uncle. He had bath crayons and rubber ducks. And he never once showed them any tricks with fire. That had been all Benji.)

After much discussion (where he and Beca actually made a list of the pros and cons of Donald and Lily watching their offspring for the night) and a few phone calls (to question where about in proximity to Jesse's house would Fat Amy, Stacie, Unicycle and Hat be on the night, in case of an emergency), they relented.

"You are not going to regret this, this is gonna be the best night ever", Donald told Beca, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"Okay", she said uncertainly.

(She was kind of regretting it already, but that was neither here nor there. Donald wanted to prove he was the fun Uncle, and she'd let him to that. As long as her three children were alive when she returned, that was what mattered.)

You're a lucky girl flatbutt ;) a piece of man candy like that doesn't come along often ;)

I am so jealous right now! Who would have thought that the kid with an earspike be out on a romantic date? Don't do anything I wouldn't do! ;)

Have fun tonight ;)

(She had the worst friends ever.)

It took everything he had not to blurt out over Thai food how much he loved her. Instead, he rattled off his movie trivia (trying to convince her to allow him to show her the Star Wars movies and ET, and she was firmly objecting), grinning at the beautiful woman across from him.

There were certain things that Jesse did that reminded Beca of Luke. When she reached towards Jesse's plate of chocolate mud cake with her spoon, he didn't bat her hand away like Luke had. Instead, he brought his spoon towards her crème brulee, laughing.

(Luke didn't share. Jesse was all for sharing.)

"Hey", Jesse whispered, leading Beca into the kitchen, and Lily looked at him with her big unblinking eyes.

"How was your date?" she whispered, and Beca smiled at her.

"Good. Thank you for looking after the kids".

"They were really good", Donald said, nodding. "How was the date?"

"Good". Jesse nodded, wrapping an arm around Beca's shoulder. She leaned into him, and he kissed the top of her head.

Jesse, thanking Lily and Donald again, walked them down to Donald's car, while Beca went into the living room to adjust blankets and make sure they were all comfortable. From what she understood, they had been sleeping like soldiers, watching the movies, but their formation had become morphed.

Rosie was curled in a ball, and Natalie was sprawled out. Courtney and Brody (the best of friends) were lying just far enough apart so their fingers touched (which Beca thought was the cutest thing she had ever seen in her entire life), while had worked himself so his feet were next to Ben's head. And Ben was lying on a diagonal, stretching out and making his lanky body look even longer (the same way Courtney did when someone shared a bed with her- and not only did she hog the bed, she kicked).

When Jesse motioned her into the kitchen for a drink, she gladly accepted.

"Thank you, for a really great night", she said quietly.

As the night drew closed, they found themselves moving closer and closer to each other. she took his hand in hers, squeezing gently, and Jesse put an arm around her shoulder.

He initiated the first kiss.

But she never stopped him.

Sparks flew throughout the kitchen, as tongues tangoed and Beca wrapped her arms around Jesse, his hands getting lost in her dark curls. She pushed him back so he was leaning against the kitchen wall, and he nipped at her earlobe, making her shiver.

Breathily they made their way down the hallway to avoid waking their children, closing Jesse's bedroom door with a click.

"Are you sure?" Jesse whispered hoarsely to Beca, as she tugged at his shirt.

She nodded. She'd never been more sure of anything in her life.

The night air was cold.

But Beca and Jesse were steaming hot.