In the two weeks since Luke signed the papers of the house to solely be in Beca's name (Beca chose not to tell Michael and Tom of her exchange with her ex fiancée, as the boys would hunt him down and kill him), Beca's house went on the market. And in those two weeks, Beca and Jesse narrowed their options down to six, reasonably priced houses in Barden that would suit their family of eight.
(They were so not having more kids; Beca didn't care how much she knew Jesse wanted it.)
"Pile on in, kidlets!" Jesse opened the back door of Fat Amy's van (while they knew they were getting a bigger car, that hadn't actually happened by the time they were going house hunting), pointing inside. "Choose your seats wisely, because that's where you're going to be sitting for the rest of the day".
(The six kids, while excited about finding a new house for their family, were no excited about spending the day in the car. Brody's face told it all.)
"I'm not sitting next to Ben!" Rosie shrieked.
(While the two were significantly nicer to each other, there was only so much that they could handle.)
"As if I'm going to sit next to Rosie", Ben scoffed, and Beca pointed.
"Get in the car".
Once seats were chosen (reluctantly), Jesse strapped the car seats for those who still needed them into the van, and seatbelts were clicked in.
"Everybody ready?" he called.
He was greeted with silence.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way!" he sang brightly, turning around to face the six kids. "It does gonna be a very long day, clearly".
"Where's the house gonna be?" Natalie said finally.
"In Barden, babe, we aren't going too far". Jesse grinned.
(They were settled in Barden. The kids had school, the girls had their dance studio and the boys had their soccer teams. All their aunts and uncles lived there, and they were more than comfortable. And taking them out of Barden would be more hassle than it was worth.)
"Can we get a puppy?"
"Or a pool?"
"What about a treehouse?"
"Maybe, maybe, and we'll see", Beca amened.
(Sweet Lord, she was becoming her mother.)
"How about a little music for our house hunting journey?" Jesse questioned, and Beca turned on the radio.
"Hey ma, what's up, let's slide, all right, all right", Jesse sang along with the radio and Beca broke into a grin, joining him.
"And we gonna get it on tonight".
"You smoke".
"I smoke".
"I drink-"
"Me too". Beca laughed.
"Well good! Cause we gonna get high tonight!"
"Got drops, got Coups, got Trucks, got jeeps, all right!"
"Cause we gonna take a ride tonight!"
"So ma, what's up, let's slide, all right, all right".
"And we gonna get it on tonight".
By the end of the first verse, the kids were laughing along with their parents, and Jesse just grinned at Beca, reaching over and squeezing her hand.
The first house did not look like the photos advertised. The photos on the pamphlets Beca was holding showed a large, cosy home.
The house in front of them looked haunted.
Courtney clung to Jesse's hand, taking little steps. "Jesse… I don't like this house".
"Do we have to go inside?" Dean asked uneasily, and Beca took his hand in her own.
"It might not be so bad", Jesse said brightly, putting an arm around Ben and Natalie and pulling them close.
(Jesse Swanson, oozing optimism all the time.)
"It's creepy looking", Rosie argued. "Do we have to go in?"
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Rosie".
But as soon as they walked through the front door, Beca turned on her heels.
"Nope. This is so not happening".
"Becs-"
"Nope, not superstitious but this place is haunted. Get in the car kids, this is not ours".
(Badass Beca Mitchell wasn't superstitious in the least but wasn't about to go and live in a haunted house. That was off the list.)
"But Beca-"
"Daddy, this house is creepy", Brody informed his father, taking Rosie's hand. Rosie pulled him a little closer to her, frowning.
"So this house is out".
And they traipsed right back out of the house, Beca giving a little shiver. "That is not our house".
For the house that had been advertised to look big enough for the family of eight, it was smaller than their houses now.
"It doesn't look very big", Dean said, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's smaller than our house, Daddy".
"Looks can be deceiving, my man".
But apparently, looks were not deceiving. The house was even smaller than the houses they owned, and there was no way that six kids were going to be able to fit in the two little bedrooms.
"We could get bunk beds", Dean shrugged, and Natalie's eyes lit up.
"I've always wanted bunk beds!"
"Dad-"
"Absolutely not", Jesse called from the top of the stairs.
"There is no way this house is big enough for eight people", Beca said firmly, as Jesse came down the stairs. "Goddam false advertising…"
"There's always the next one", he shrugged.
There had to be a house in Barden that fitted them. Jesse was sure of it.
"Too small", Ben announced, and Beca nodded.
"I think so too, bud", she agreed. "Let's go".
"Next house", Natalie sighed.
"We should buy a zoo", Courtney said absently, as Jesse swung her hand. "Just like the movie".
"That would be awesome, wouldn't it?" Jesse agreed, grinning at Beca.
Ignoring the four older kids' tittering and Brody's enthusiastic grin, Beca turned to Jesse with a look of disgust on her face. "You've corrupted my baby".
"What does that mean?" Brody said quickly.
"Nothing, buddy, Beca's just being silly".
Beca let out a gasp, and Jesse started to laugh, scooping up Brody and Courtney and lifting them onto his shoulders. Natalie laughed, latching onto Beca's hand as Jesse spun around twice, making Brody and Courtney shriek.
House three was no good. It was a decision made by all eight of them.
House four wasn't either.
And house five gauged similar reactions.
When looking at their kids for confirmation, they got five negatives. But there was still one more opinion to hear.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah Brody?" Jesse said hopefully.
"This house is gross".
"Get in the car, guys". Jesse frowned, pointing.
The six of them shuffled off, but upon seeing Jesse's face, broke into a jog.
"Get in; get in, Daddy looks cranky".
As Jesse moodily climbed into the driver's seat (internally ranting how there were no houses in Barden that suited their price range or family's needs), Beca leant into the back to buckle car seats. Once she was buckled into her own spot in the passenger seat, she flicked through the glossy photographs.
"There's one more house", she said, turning around to face them. "If it's not this house, we're going to have to look outside Barden".
"I'm not leaving Barden, Mum!"
"All our friends are in Barden!"
Jesse held up his hands, silencing the six protesters. "Let's go".
They drove in almost silence, the kids exchanging silent conversation with the occasional murmur in the backseats.
"This is it, guys", Jesse announced, pulling over and shutting off the engine. Reaching into the back to unbuckle the car seats, they piled out the open door, landing one by one on the footpath.
The kids cautiously walked in front of them, staying in a group. They headed one way, and Beca and Jesse headed the other, hand in hand.
(Beca didn't want to get her hopes up, but she had fallen in love with the front of the house, and was hoping that the inside would be just as good. And that Jesse and the kids agreed.)
"Alright, go, be free, don't touch anything", Beca called in warning, as the kids headed for the stairs. They called a general acknowledgement, disappearing out of sight. While their kids toured the house, Beca and Jesse perused.
"Four bedrooms and master bedroom", Jesse said, as they walked around the upstairs level of the house. "Two and a half bathrooms and an ensuite. Built in closets and an office".
"A living room and a rumpus room- that's where the kids could keep all their junk".
"The rumpus room is freaking huge, we could have our own cinema".
"We are not doing that".
But her eyes were sparkling and Jesse knew that her words were merely for principle. She'd let them turn the rumpus room into a cinema.
(Seven against one, he had the kids on his side.)
Unlike the previous five houses, the kids travelled in a pack, surveying and commenting on the house.
"I like this room", Brody said, as he surveyed the area.
"There's four kids rooms, right?" Natalie checked.
"Mum and Jesse said that me and Ben get our own rooms but you and Dean and Natalie and Courtney get to share", Rosie reminded them. "Brody, Courty, what do you think?"
"I like this room".
"If we get this house, I want the room next door", Ben said. "which one do you like, Ro?"
"The one across the hall".
They didn't allow themselves to get too excited, as they stepped bac down the stairs, Courtney's hand in Ben's.
"We could have sleepovers in here, its big enough for everyone", Natalie commented, surveying the rumpus room.
"Big backyard", Dean said cautiously. "We could get a cubbyhouse".
"And a trampoline", Courtney almost whispered.
"We already have a trampoline you goober", Dean giggled.
"A pool?" Brody checked, and Rosie surveyed the land.
"Maybe", she shrugged.
"We could get a puppy", Ben said quietly. "The backyard is big enough for a pool and a puppy. What do you think, Ro?"
"We could fit a puppy". Rosie nodded. "Jesse said maybe".
"I like this house, Ro", Natalie said.
"Me too", Dean agreed.
"If Dad and Beca ask, what are we gonna say?" Ben checked.
"I love it", Beca said honestly, hand in hand with Jesse as they came down the stairs.
"Me too". Jesse squeezed her hand tight, moving towards the back door to rally their troops. "Hey guys!"
The six walked solemnly towards them, looking way too serious.
(Jesse's heart sunk. They hated the house.)
"Beca and I like this house", he told them, "But it's not just up to me and Beca".
Their faces were more serious than Beca had ever seen, and she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that they were going to shoot down any chance of buying that house. She internally said goodbye to what she now considered her dream home (she was That Woman, it was official), looking forlornly at the six children they shared.
"We need a group decision", Jesse said seriously, kneeling down so he was eye to eye with Dean. "What do you guys say? Is this our new house?"
Ben turned to Rosie, conferring in the same silent way that Beca and Jesse spoke. The two then glanced at Natalie and Dean, before looking at Courtney and Brody. Six tiny nods followed and Jesse leapt to his feet, picking up Dean, Natalie, Brody and Courtney in a bone crushing hug. Laughing, Beca wrapped her arms around Ben and Rosie, and the two didn't fight her.
"Can we get a pool?"
"Can we get a cubby house?"
"Can we get bunk beds?"
"Can we get a puppy?"
"Can we get this house?"
"Maybe, maybe, no, maybe and YES!"