Jesse wasn't sure what to do.

The daughter of his girlfriend had just referred to him as 'daddy'. What did he do? Jump up and down with excitement, because he wanted nothing more than to be her daddy? Apologise profusely and remove himself and his children from her life? Pretend he hadn't heard her and continue on with their night?

(Jesse was honestly lost; he'd never been in that situation before.)

The two silently exited the bedroom, stepping awkwardly into the hallway. Beca never met Jesse's eyes, and her expression was still blank.

"Bec", he said carefully, wringing his fingers. "I-"

"Don't", she cut him off. "She's a kid, and I'd rather she call you that than her sperm donor". She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he squeezed her tight. "I love you", she whispered (where had those words come from? Oh right, since the moment she saw his face at the bar that night), and Jesse felt his heart explode.

"I love you too".

When they fell into Beca's bed that night, Beca was sure that Jesse was the man for her.

(But there was still that niggling at the back of her mind that told her that something wasn't completely right.)

"Hey Rosie!" Jesse poked his head out the back door, to find the seven year old swinging her legs back and forth, trying to get the swing moving. "Want a push?"

She shook her head, and he advanced towards her. "No thanks".

"Hey, what's up? Why aren't you inside with all the other kids?"

"Don't want to watch a movie".

He gasped. "You aren't taking after your mother, are you? Don't you like movies anymore?"

"I don't like Toy Story 3". She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes.

In the time that Jesse had known Beca and her kids, he had worked out that Rosie was the most like her mother. Beca had her walls from being hurt, and slowly but surely he was breaking them down. Rosie, on the other hand, had walls from when her father left- and she didn't let them show often. When she did, Jesse had noticed, it was almost impossible to get through to her. Like mother, like daughter, Beca had sighed once, and Jesse knew what she meant.

"You know, I went to see that at the cinema".

"With the boys?" she said quietly.

"No, by myself". He shrugged, and she looked at him. "What, a grown up can't go and see a Disney movie?"

"No, they can". She kept her eyes on the ground, kicking her feet a little harder.

"Hey, what's up, Rosie posie?" Jesse gently pulled the seat of the swing back, giving her a slight push to get the swing moving.

"Nothing".

"Are you sure? If you don't want to talk to me about it I can go and get your mum".

"No, I don't want to talk to my mum". She shook her head with a firmness that had to have been inherited from Beca Mitchell. "I don't want to talk about it".

"You know, sometimes just blurting it out can make you feel better". He grinned at her and she frowned, looking on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?"

"My daddy left when Courtney was a baby", she said, her voice as audible as her aunt Lily's. "He left and never came back and he made my mum cry and she was sad for a long time. And then she met you and she's really happy all the time now and I like it, but I miss my dad. Do you think he misses me?"

Jesse felt his heart break a little, for the little girl that was too young to understand what had happened. "I'm absolutely positive he still loves you, Rosie", he assured her. "What's not to love? You're funny and smart and so, so beautiful. You're one of the coolest girls I've ever met, you know?"

She met his eyes for a second. "Jesse?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that my mum met you".

"You know what, Rosie? I'm glad I met your mum. I'm so glad I met your mum and you girls".

Hopping off the swing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he squeezed her tight, holding her for a moment. She buried her head in his neck, tears staining the collar of his shirt, but he didn't care.

"Thanks Jesse", she whispered, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I love you, Rosie".

"Love you too", she mumbled.

"Hey Rosie, where's Courtney?" Beca wanted to know, tying her hair up in a loose bun.

"She's on the front step". Rosie shrugged, turning the page in her book. Beca's heart skipped a beat, as she moved to the open front door. Little Courtney was sitting on the top of the wooden steps, her chin resting in her hands.

She looked so much like her big sister, three and a half years earlier.

For two weeks after Luke left, Rosie sat on the front steps of their house, waiting. Waiting for her daddy that never came home. For six months, when Beca tucked her in at night, she would question. "When's Daddy coming home?"

Beca knew that Rosie missed her father. Despite putting on a brave face most of the time, she did. She was a daddy's little girl, just like Beca had been when she was younger. When Luke left, it hit her the hardest.

Beca had tried to contact him after the initial blow up. Her heart was in pieces, but she had three children with the man. She wasn't going to let her kids' life end up like hers had, she wasn't going to deny him access to the girls, and she wasn't going to deny the girls access to their father.

But Luke had blatantly ignored her.

(She had cried to Chloe night after night, cradling her newborn Courtney to her chest, sobbing about how broken her girls would be. Just because she hated him for what he did to her, she didn't want her girls to suffer. She had pieces of her heart walking around outside her body, and seeing them upset made her cry even harder.)

It had made Beca's heart ache, and seeing Courtney sitting the same way Rosie had caused a lump to rise in her throat.

"Hey Courty, what are you doing?" she wanted to know, sitting beside her youngest daughter. Courtney grinned at her.

"I'm waiting for Jesse", she told her.

Beca wrapped her arms around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I love you".

"I love you too, Mummy". Courtney hugged her back, leaning against her. "Is Jesse gonna be here soon?"

(Beca wasn't sure, but it was probably that moment where she realised how deep her relationship with Jesse was. If they broke up, it wouldn't just be her getting hurt.)

"Yeah baby, he will be", she assured her.

(And if he wasn't, Michael and Tom would kick his ass.)

"Jesse's my favourite guy", Courtney said conversationally. "I love it when he pushes me on the swings".

"What about when I push you on the swings?"

"Yeah, I love that too, but Jesse pushes me really high!" she threw her arms in the air dramatically to show her exactly how high Jesse pushed her. "And when we went to the pool he threw me up even higher than Uncle Michael and Uncle Tom".

Beca grinned, kissing the top of her head again. "I love you, Courtney Mae".

Just then, Jesse's car pulled into the driveway and Courtney sprang up from the steps.

"Jesse!" she called in excitement, running down and launching herself at him. Jesse caught her and lifted her into the air, holding her tight.

"Hey munchkin!" he laughed and she wrapped her arms around his neck (in exactly the same way Rosie had done when Luke came home). "Hey Beca!"

"Hey Jess".

They weren't sure when, but somewhere between the first zoo trip and their movie night, they had become so much more than two people dating with kids. Their two families had merged into one, and Beca was sure that was what scared her the most.