"Beca!"
"Don't you have work?" Beca protested, as she twisted the hair tie around the end of Natalie's braid. "We've got to go, why are we running so late? Courtney! Shoes, now".
"What's this I hear about a sleepover?"
"I don't know what you're talking about". Her cheeks flushed pink, and she yelled down the hallway again. "Rosie Ryerson, we have to go! We are running late!"
"Oh my God!"
"Get to work Chloe".
"No, you're not getting out of it that easily". Chloe grabbed Beca by the hand, pulling her towards her. "Spill!"
(She had the worst friends ever. Who did they think they were, breaking into her house and demanding to know about her sex life? Stacie and Fat Amy had paid her a visit the night before and Stacie had taken one look at her before declaring 'Beca had sex last night!'.)
(It had taken her three hours to get them out of the house. She needed new friends.)
"Rosie!"
"I'm coming!"
"Natalie, where are your shoes? Why aren't you wearing them?"
"I dunno".
"Put your shoes on and get in the car".
"I don't feel well", Courtney informed her mother.
"I'm sorry, baby. We're just going to have to work with that for the day, Courtney, Mummy's got a meeting and you've got school".
The little girl frowned, her shoulders deflating. "My tummy hurts, Aunt Chloe".
"Does it baby?" Chloe frowned, holding her arms out. Courtney slipped off her chair, her shoelaces still untied, sliding into the redhead's arms. Chloe hugged her tight, putting her hand to her forehead.
"Rosie Jane!" Beca sighed heavily, before picking up all three backpacks and marching them out to her car. "She doesn't have a fever, Chlo, I've already checked.
"Are you sure?" Chloe checked, resting her hand on Courtney's forehead. "She feels a little warm".
"I'm coming!" Rosie bellowed from the other end of the house, stomping down the hallway with her shoelaces untied.
"Good Lord, finally. Get in the car, Natalie, get in the car, Courtney, come here".
Courtney slid of Chloe's lap, stepping towards her mother. Beca put her hand on her forehead, frowning a little.
"You're a little warm", she said uneasily. "Are you gonna be okay to go to school? Mummy will try and come and pick you up early, okay? I can try and call Aunt Amy, what do you think?"
"Call Aunt Amy", Courtney advised.
"Can you pick me up early?" Natalie called cheerfully from the front veranda.
"Are you in your car seat?"
"No".
"Then no".
It was at that moment that Courtney projectile vomited over the kitchen floor. Beca jumped back, letting out a groan.
"Oh my God!"
Chloe, seeing the look on Beca's face, picked up her car keys. "I'll get those two to school and then I'm going to work. Want me to get anything for this one?"
"No, no". Beca directed her youngest down the hallway towards the bathroom, surveying the vomit splattered kitchen floor. "I've just got to call my boss… this is gonna be a fun phone call. Be good for Aunt Chloe, guys, I'll see you when I come to pick you up, alright? Have a good day, I love you".
"Love you", Rosie and Natalie echoed.
"Hi Jesse!" Natalie said brightly, as she pecked a kiss to Chloe's cheek. "Thank you for taking us to school today Aunt Chloe".
"Hi Jesse", Chloe said smoothly, hugging Rosie quickly. "Have a good day Rosie posie, love you".
"Love you too".
"Where's Beca?" Jesse asked curiously, as Brody leant up against him.
"Oh, she's got a big meeting at work and Courtney projectile vomited on the kitchen floor as they were leaving", Chloe said. "So I took the girls for her".
"Is Courtney okay?" Brody asked worriedly, his best friend's name making his ears prick up.
"Poor thing", Jesse said softly. "I'm gonna give her a call, she said she can't miss this meeting. Maybe Courtney can spend the day with us, hey Brody?"
"Yeah". Brody nodded. "We can play".
"Maybe just watch some movies".
"Maybe we can just watch some movies". Brody nodded, and Chloe almost melted.
"You're a sweetheart", she declared and Brody blushed bashfully, wrapping an arm around his father's leg. Waving to Natalie and Rosie, she plucked her keys from her bag once more, before grinning at Jesse. "I'm really happy you met Beca, you know? She's happier than we've ever seen her. It suits her".
(Had Beca told her about what had gone down that weekend? He doubted it.)
"Hey Bec", Jesse said brightly.
"Hey Jesse, love to chat but there's no time. Gotta call my father. And Aubrey. Or Stacie. Why the hell isn't Fat Amy answering?"
"I heard Courtney's sick".
"Yeah, she projectile vomited worse than Aubrey when she's stressed". And she would have laughed, if the situation hadn't involved her. "I'll call you later, alright?"
"Bring her around here", he offered.
"What?"
"Bring her here, get to your meeting. I know it's important, and you know Monday's my day off".
"No, she'll spread her germs and get you and Brody sick".
"Doesn't matter", Jesse told her. "If you're so worried, we could come to your place. She's not going to school, and you've got to get to work. Leave her with me".
"You're a lifesaver", she whispered.
"I'll be there in three minutes".
And three minutes later, just as Courtney had settled herself down on the lounge with a blanket and a bucket (because the last thing Beca wanted was vomit splattered carpet), there was a knock at the door.
"Hi Courtney!" Brody said brightly.
"Hey munchkin, heard you're feeling sick!" Jesse said gently, brushing her hair back.
"Yeah", she said quietly.
"I am so sorry to do this", Beca said in a rush, as she scrambled to collect all her things. "I owe you so big for this, Jess, you're a lifesaver".
"Good luck!"
"Thanks weirdo!"
And just like that, she was gone.
"Wanna watch The Little Mermaid?" Brody offered, hopping up onto the lounge beside her. "Daddy says that you'd like that movie".
"I love that movie". She nodded sleepily, and Jesse took the disc from Brody (who, at hearing that his best friend was sick, had grabbed a handful of DVDs and jumped in his car seat). "Let's have a movie day", he declared.
She scooted over, offering him part of the blanket, and Jesse grinned.
"Hey Ben!" Rosie appeared beside him and Ben looked at her.
"What's wrong?" he said immediately, seeing the panic in her eyes.
"Some kid- he shoved Natalie and she's really hurt herself!"
Ben took off, Rosie following him. "Ro, who was it?"
"That kid you hate".
"Adam?"
"Yeah, him!"
"Ben!" Dean said in relief, one arm around Natalie.
"Ben!" Natalie said, her voice wavering.
"Are you okay?" he checked, scanning his eyes over her. "What did you do to her?"
"Yeah, I'm-" she didn't even get to finish, before Ben jabbed the offender in the chest, making the surrounding kids gasp.
"You hurt my little sister!" he bellowed, jabbing him in the chest.
"She's not your sister!" he sneered.
"She's like my sister!" Ben protested, balling his fists.
"Ben, don't", Dean warned.
"Ben!" Rosie snapped, and Ben flung his fist at the other boy, making Natalie scream.
"Ben!" Dean hollered.
"What's going on here?" a voice boomed, and the guilty party looked up at the teacher on playground duty, trying their best to look innocent.
"Do you think we're gonna get in trouble?" Rosie said quietly.
"I don't think so", Dean said uneasily.
Natalie had tears in her eyes, as she looked at Ben. "My mummy's gonna be mad".
"Dad's not gonna be mad", Ben said confidently.
"He might be", Rosie said, her voice barely a whisper. "If he was my daddy he would be mad".
"Hey Daddy", Brody called. "Can I have some juice?"
"Hey Jesse, can I have some juice too?"
"You two are as thick as thieves", Jesse chuckled, taking two plastic cups from Beca's cupboard. The two were tucked under the same blanket on the couch, having spent the morning napping on and off.
"Can I answer the phone, Jesse?" Courtney questioned, as the house phone started to ring.
"I'll get it kiddo, it's alright". Reaching for the handset, he set the juice down. "Hello, Beca Mitchell's house".
"Hello, my name is Mrs Campbell, I'm the assistant principal at Barden Elementary-"
"I'm Jesse Swanson", he said in confusion.
"Oh, Mr Swanson! I was going to call you next", the woman on the other end said in a rush.
"What happened?" he said suspiciously.
"Hello?" Beca said in confusion.
"Hey, it's me", Jesse said brightly. "Now, I'm not sure what happened-"
"Wait, are the kids okay? Is Courtney okay?"
"Oh yeah yeah, she's fine. She's watching a movie with Brody. They're fine. I think it's our other kids that are the issue".
"What did they do?"
"Well the school called your house and I answered, and they said it was a good thing that I was here, because they were calling me next. Firstly, Natalie fell at school and she's fine, they think she's just lightly sprained her wrist-"
"Oh my God!"
"She's fine, she's fine. Anyway, it turns out she was pushed and Ben punched some kid in the nose because he pushed her".
"What?" she bellowed.
"Anyway, to cut a long story short, we apparently need to see their teachers after school. Natalie's fine".
"Good God".
"Hey there baby girl", Beca said softly, kneeling down beside her daughter. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay". She shrugged. "Me an' Brody have been watching movies. But Brody fell asleep".
"You both fell asleep", Jesse chuckled. "Did the school call you?"
"Unfortunately, right after I got off the phone". She frowned slightly. "This is gonna be an interesting little chat".
"Look at them!"
Beca would have laughed, if it weren't for the looks on their faces. They were sitting in a row in age order, Ben and Rosie talking seriously among themselves.
"That's probably the first and last time Ben and Rosie will ever be like that", Jesse murmured, biting back a chuckle.
"Hi Mummy", Natalie said quietly.
"Hello", Beca said with her eyebrow raised.
"Hi Daddy", Dean whispered, and Ben took his hand, reaching for Natalie's. Rosie squeezed Dean's free hand, and Brody and Courtney looked at them suspiciously.
"Hello", Jesse repeated,
Ben stepped forward. "Are we in trouble?" he questioned.
"Depends". Jesse shrugged. "Are you gonna tell us what happened?"
"It wasn't Ben's fault", Rosie said quickly.
"Yeah, it wasn't Ben's fault!" Dean agreed.
"I'm sorry". Natalie's bottom lip quivered, and Jesse lifted her into the air, letting go of Brody's hand to take Dean's.
"We're not talking about this here", Beca told them, squeezing Ben and Rosie's hands. "We're going back to our place, and then we're going to talk about it".
As they made the walk back to where Jesse and Beca had parked (looking like they wre making their way to the electric chair), they never let go of each other's hands.
(Beca wanted to capture the image with her phone, to chuckle about when they were teenagers. But she stopped herself, because the thought of the six of them growing up as siblings to the point where there would essentially be six teenagers scared the hell out of her.)
"I didn't think I should be in trouble", Ben said, once he was seated at the kitchen table with a glass of juice in front of him. "Rosie told me that some kid had pushed Natalie and I hate Adam, and he was hurting Natalie!"
"Yeah!" Dean spoke up.
"And Dad told me to look out for the girls, especially Nat because she was scared of starting school and she's the smallest, she's only in kindergarten, and some kid was hurting her! And Rosie told me". He nodded.
"Yep". Rosie nodded.
"You aren't in trouble", Jesse said carefully. "But if you do it again, I think you might be".
"but Dad, I was just listening to what you told me!"
"Yeah, you always tell us that you've gotta defend yourself", Rosie reminded Beca.
"Hey!" Beca held her hands up. "Jesse just said you're not in trouble, didn't he?"
"Yeah". Natalie nodded.
"Just don't let it happen again. But Benny?"
He looked at her suspiciously.
"Punch 'em even harder next time, alright?"
He broke into a grin. "Okay!"
"Beca!" Jesse protested.
"Go". Beca chuckled and the four kids fled (Brody and Courtney deciding that their siblings getting in trouble, whilst interesting, wasn't interesting enough to draw their attention away from Finding Nemo).
"If he had punched someone for anyone else, I probably would ground him", Jesse said quietly, putting an arm around Beca and kissing her cheek. "But I'm proud of him".
"I'm proud of all of them", Beca echoed, leaning into his embrace. "They're good kids".
(The next day, Brody spent the day with Beca and Courtney, his stomach aching and his temperature sky high. But the little girl was right there to nurse her best friend back to health.)