A shrill scream broke through the night, making both Beca and Jesse jolt out of their sleep.
"Who is that?" Beca said sleepily, looking at her fiancé.
"Bec-ca!" Brody hollered, and Beca sleepily rubbed her eyes.
"Daddy's coming!" Jesse called, two steps ahead of his fiancée.
"No Daddy I want Beca!" Brody wailed.
"Ooh!" Jesse flopped back onto the bed. "I've been replaced. Good luck Becs".
Beca quickly stepped down the hallway, to find Brody sitting up in his bed, his face stained with tears. "Hey, hey buddy", she said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed and gathering him in her arms. "Shhh, shhh. It's okay. Beca's here now". She rubbed his back as his chest shuddered violently. "Shhh, we're going to wake up Dean".
Brody wrapped his arms around her neck and she picked him up, carrying him towards the stairs to avoid waking up the middle Swanson boy (who wasn't as a heavy of a sleeper as Ben and Brody were- Jesse wondered where that child had come from- and once he was awake, he was awake for good). Brody put his head on her shoulder and she took a seat on the lounge, still rubbing his back.
"What's wrong?" she questioned him gently, and Brody hiccupped.
"You aren't gonna leave me, are you?"
"What?" Beca's eyes widened and she pulled back, facing Brody. "Why would you think that?"
"I had a nightmare", he whimpered, "And you left me and Daddy and Ben and Dean like my real mummy did. Beca I don't know my other mummy, and I don't want you to go away!"
"I'm not, Brody", Beca murmured, cradling him close to her chest, like she had done night after night with her eldest daughter when Rosie had the same fears. "I promise that I'm not going to leave you, alright? I'm never leaving you or your daddy or Ben or Dean. I love you".
"I love you too", Brody said drowsily, his chest shuddering. Beca cradled him close, rubbing his back.
When Luke first left, years earlier, she had understood where Rosie's fears were coming from. She had had the same fears as a child, when her father left. She hadn't understood why, and she had been too young to truly understand. Just like Rosie.
"I'm not leaving you, baby boy", she whispered, as his breathing grew deeper. "I promise".
Once he was truly asleep, she carried him back upstairs to his bed, before joining Jesse in their bed. He shifted as she crawled under the blankets, wriggling closer to her fiancé.
"What's up?" Jesse questioned, running a hand through her messy curls.
"I'm not leaving, Jess", she murmured into his side. "I love you. You're stuck with me now".
He grinned, rolling over and smashing his lips against hers. "I wouldn't have it any other way".
"You guys are such a family!" Chloe cooed, as she walked into the house. Jesse was sitting at the table with his laptop and Beca was standing by the stove, stirring somethin in a pot. "What's happening in here?"
"Beca's making pumpkin curry", Brody informed the redhead from where he was standing on a stool beside the little brunette. "And I'm helping".
"This is the most complex recipe I've ever attempted", Beca complained.
"Aunt Chloe!" Courtney came running in from the yard, her wet pigtails flying. Chloe braced herself for the slip on the kitchen tiles, holding her niece out at arm's length.
"Hey Courty! Why are you all wet?"
"We were playing in the sprinkler", Ben laughed from the doorway. "Hi Aunt Chloe".
"Hey Benny!
"What's going on, Chlo?"
"Oh, the girls told me to make sure that you were ready to go shopping tomorrow", Chloe said breezily, and Beca nodded.
"Yep. Jesse promised that he'd take the kids to the pool".
"With Uncle Benji!" Brody added. "And Uncle Michael, probably".
"Did Uncle Michael agree to that?" Beca questioned, and Brody shrugged.
"Courtney said he prob'ly will".
Chloe laughed.
(Those kids had Beca's brother wrapped around their little fingers.)
"They're all asleep", Jesse said, coming down the stairs, and Beca's eyes widened, as she shoved the last plate into the dishwasher.
"All of them?"
"Yep". Jesse nodded smugly.
"You drugged my children", she accused, grinning. "My kids would never go to sleep this early!"
"I wore them out", he said with a grin. "I've decided that we need to invest in a slip and slide. They'll love it".
She grinned. "They'll love it".
"Want a drink?"
Beca nodded, and Jesse pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge, before getting down two glasses.
They had just settled down on the couch (Jesse trying to convince Beca that she would love the movie Grown Ups, and was she serious when she said she'd never seen it? And they had 30 Rock on DVD, it wasn't necessary to watch repeats) when they heard frantic hammering on the front door.
"It's not Chloe and or the girls", Beca said, hauling herself to her feet. "They never knock".
Jesse trailed after her, as Beca opened the front door.
"Luke", Beca said, taking a step back. "Holy fuck".
"Luke, what the fuck are you doing here?" Beca demanded, as he swayed slightly on the porch. "You are so drunk! How did you find out where I live?"
"I came to see our kids", he said with a grin. "It's good to see you, Becky".
"Get out". Beca pushed him backwards, as he attempted to step inside.
"But Becky-"
"No. my kids are asleep and it'll kill Rosie if she sees you".
"Oh, my little Rosie. My little Rosie", he crooned.
"Get out!" she snapped, and Jesse pushed him out the door.
"Beca, I want you to call Michael and Aubrey, okay?" Jesse said gently. "The kids can stay at their place; I don't want them seeing this".
Beca nodded, as Jesse manoeuvred Luke into the backyard.
"Becs?" Michael said in confusion.
"Hey, I need you and Aubrey to come over right now. I need you to take our car and our kids to your place, alright?" she said quietly.
"What?"
"Please, Michael, I don't want my kids around this".
Michael grabbed his car keys, before hurrying Aubrey towards the door. "We'll be there in thirty seconds".
"Mummy, what's going on?" Rosie said blearily, as Beca lifted Courtney out of her bed.
"Shhh, it's alright. Come on, downstairs guys. We're all going downstairs and you're going to go to Aunt Aubrey's tonight", Beca said softly, as she opened Ben's door. "Benny, up. Come on, change of plans".
Ben groaned, pulling the pillow over his head.
"Come on, we're going to Aunt Aubrey's and Uncle Michael's. Up up, let's go!"
"Beca", Brody whimpered sleepily, "What's going on?"
"Come on, let's go!"
"Beca, what the fuck is going on?" Michael demanded, as Beca herded their six kids down the stairs.
"Language!" she snapped, passing Courtney to Aubrey, who cradled her gently. "Go and hop in your seats, alright? In our car, Aunt Aubrey's is too small. Come on, go go go".
"Mummy, I'm scared", Natalie voiced quietly, and Beca knelt down.
"It's going to be okay, baby", she whispered. "Alright? Mummy promises it's going to be alright. You're going to sleep at Aunt Aubrey's and Uncle Michael's and maybe Aunt Chloe will come too, okay? Mummy and Jesse will be there soon, alright? I love you".
"I love you too", Dean said softly, and she pushed their sleepy little bodies out the door.
"What the hell is going on?" Aubrey snapped at her, and Beca closed the door of the car once they were all inside.
"Luke's here".
"What?" she roared, and Beca saw Ben lean towards the window.
"I don't want them here. It'll shatter Rosie's heart, he promised when he signed the house over that was it, I'm calling the fucking cops. They are not his kids, they're Jesse's, I don't care what genetics have to do with anything", Beca growled. "I'm not fucking afraid to take him to court, Aubrey".
"I know, Bec".
"Something bad happened, Ro", Ben said, and Rosie put her arm around Brody protectively.
"Mummy and Jesse promised it'll be okay", Rosie said unsurely, and Ben climbed over the seat to squeeze beside her.
"Where are we goin'?" Dean grumbled.
"Aunt Aubrey's".
"Where's Uncle Michael?"
Beca opened the back door of the car, poking her head inside. "Daddy and I will see you in the morning, alright? I love you. Ben Swanson, back in your seat. I love you".
"Beca, is everything gonna be okay?" Brody wanted to know, and Beca nodded.
"Promise", she whispered, and Brody leant back into his car seat.
"Call me", Aubrey warned, as she climbed into the driver's seat. "No, actually, I want you to come over. You're coming back to our place with Michael, got it?"
Beca nodded shakily.
"I love you". Aubrey hugged her, before starting the engine.
"Look after them", Beca voiced. "Love you too".
As Aubrey trundled down the street with her six nieces and nephews in tow, Beca made her way back to the house, knowing what was going to go down in her backyard.
But what Beca wanted to know was why was he there?
"It's none of your business what goes on with my daughters", Luke slurred to Jesse and Michael, and Michael lunged towards him.
"Michael!" Beca snapped, grabbing the back of his shirt.
"Beca, call the cops", Jesse said, holding an arm around to stop her.
"You're not their father", Luke informed Jesse, and Beca bristled.
"The fucking nerve!"
"You're their father, are you?" Michael sneered at him. "Where the fuck were you when Rosie had chicken pox and would only eat mashed potatoes for a week? Where were you when Rosie and Natalie started school? She'll fucking take you to court, you are not seeing those kids!"
"Where were you when she woke up night after night after night wanting to know why she'd been abandoned?" Jesse growled. "Rosie and Natalie both have trust issues and are scared they're going to be abandoned because-"
"They're mine and Beca's daughters, MATE, not yours!"
"But I'm with Beca".
And Beca let out a shriek as Jesse punched Luke square in the face, Michael gasping.