My Fake Husband

A Pitch Perfect Story

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.

Author's Note: So, this was intended to be only one chapter, but it was way too long. I'm bummed that I will probably have to wind up having 21 chapters instead of 20 (I do love even numbers), but chapter 20 was 19 pages long, and I still had a ton to go on it. I had to cut it in half. So, without further ado, here is part 1 of what is likely a 2-part ending. Enjoy!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Chloe Wharton parked her car outside of the Swanson house on her way home from work. She climbed out of the car and walked up the front walk, grabbing the three days' worth of newspapers from the front yard as she went. She tucked the rolled newspapers under her arm as she unlocked that was hanging on the wall beside the front door, pulling out the stack of mail that had accumulated since the last time she had stopped by their condo. She shoved the mail under her arm with the newspapers. She relocked the mailbox before unlocking the door to her good friends' home. She walked through the entryway to the dining room, dropping the mail and newspapers on it. She began flipping through the mail, dividing it into piles: the bills pile, the letters pile, and the random circulars and fast food take out menus pile, and the junk mail pile (as in do they want this kind of credit card with only four percent interest).

After sorting the mail, she walked into the kitchen to dampen a cloth, which she used to wipe down the furniture throughout the house to keep the dust bunnies at bay. She went to the hall closet and pulled out the vacuum. Beca and Jesse had been gone for two weeks already, and they weren't due to return until late Saturday night, so she wanted to make sure that the house was ready for their return. After she finished vacuuming the living room and dining room carpets, she lugged the vacuum up the stairs to vacuum the upstairs hallway, the master bedroom, and the nursery. She brought the vacuum back down, emptying it before putting it away. She then grabbed the broom to sweep the rest of the rooms in the house. What little dirt or dust there was, she bagged up in a plastic grocery bag, which she carried out the backdoor to put into the trash. After finishing up the last minute cleaning of the Swanson, she grabbed her things and made her way back out of the house.

"Excuse me, Miss." Chloe jumped as she was locking the door to the condo. She finished the job, turning to find a short man with graying hair, glasses, and a mustache. He was dressed in a pair of khaki slacks, a white dress shirt, a pair of dark brown loafers, and navy blue tie. Under his arm, he had shoved a manila folder and a clipboard.

"May I help you?" She asked the man, staying by the door, unsure who this man could be. She tucked a red lock behind her ear.

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me if the Swansons are in." She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. Who the hell was this guy?

"And you are?"

"Oh, right, my name is Edward Danielson, and I am the INS agent that has been assigned to Mr. Jesse Swanson's case. It is customary for the agents to stop in every now and again on the individuals whom we've been assigned following a marriage, especially with the individuals who we have suspected fraudulent marriages with in the past. You know, to make sure that they are actually having a real marriage." Her eyebrows rose as she took in that information. She couldn't believe that it was ever suspected that Beca and Jesse weren't a real couple. She took a calming breath (gingers were notorious for their bad tempers, or, rather, at least hers was...) before she said anything to him.

"Well, I can tell you that Beca and Jesse's marriage is in no way fraudulent." Chloe said taking a step forward as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. "Beca and Jesse aren't in; they're actually away. Jesse's composing for a movie that's being filmed in London. Since he was going to be gone for their anniversary, Beca and the twins went with them." She told the man, squeezing her phone in her palm tightly.

"The twins?" It was Edward Danielson's turn to look shocked, and Chloe couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for being the one who put the look on his face.

"Yes, they had twins. They were born on Sunday, January twenty-sixth. A little boy named Alexander and a little girl named Abigail. I can show you pictures. They look like the perfect combination of their parents. Jesse's chin, dimples, and dark curls; Beca's blue eyes, nose, and smile."

She quickly unlocked her phone and found a picture of Beca, Jesse, and the twins from Valentine's Day; she and Dean had hosted dinner for the Kellers, the Swansons, and the Allens (she had invited Stacie and Cole to dinner, but they were still very new in their relationship, and Cole wanted to take Stacie out for a huge, elaborate date night). In the picture, Beca gently rocked a droopy-eyed Alex to sleep after yet another nighttime feeding and burping. Her eyes were locked with his face, and she was smiling softly. She looked so unbelievably happy. Jesse was seated beside her, holding a writhing Abby to his shoulder as he burped her, but his eyes were on Beca, and the love he felt for her was evident all over his face. It was one of Chloe's favorite pictures of Beca and her family.

Chloe couldn't help but think that she had never seen Beca happier in her life than when she was with Jesse and the babies. On their girls' afternoons while Jesse and the boys had the babies, Beca wouldn't be able to sit still or go a few minutes without talking about her husband or her twins; she looked positively miserable without them near her. The redhead showed the picture to Mr. Danielson, a satisfied smile on her face as she took in how his eyebrows shot up even further (so that they practically disappeared into his receding hairline). The man swallowed and then nodded his head, lifting his gaze to meet hers.

"I didn't know that they had children. I will pass along my congratulations to them when I phone Mr. Swanson next to let him know that I was sorry that I missed them. Thank you for your assistance, miss…uh…"

"Mrs. Wharton. Chloe Wharton." She said, extending her hand to the man. He nodded his head again, returning her handshake.

"Yes, of course. Mrs. Wharton." He turned around and started down the walkway, pausing about halfway down. "Chloe Wharton. That name sounds familiar. What was your maiden name, Mrs. Wharton?" Chloe narrowed her eyes at him again.

"Beale."

"That's right. I remember the Swansons telling me about you and your husband. I remember that they chose not to tell anyone about their relationship out of fear of receiving an I-told-you-so from you. Is that correct?" She gave him a tense smile, laughing off the comment (and subtle inquiry). She might be bubbly and seemed kind of ditsy, but she wasn't an idiot. She knew that he was trying to weasel more information about Beca and Jesse out of her.

"Oh, they didn't tell us anything official, but looking back, I can definitely tell that there was something going on between them. They were extra nasty with each other in front of us, but I would catch the smiles and the occasional brushing past each other in ways that were most decidedly not how 'frenemies' act. Plus, whenever there was alcohol involved, they always got extra handsy." Chloe was lying through her teeth; Beca and Jesse had always been the same in the year that they were supposedly seeing each other prior to moving in together and getting married. She smiled at the man, digging her nails into her palm as she fisted it, hiding the said fist behind her back as she pretended to be standing in a relaxed way, with her right hip cocked to the side and resting on the toes of her left foot.

"Right. I know that saying, hindsight is always twenty-twenty, right?" Chloe nodded her head. "You have an excellent end to your day, Mrs. Wharton. Thanks for your help." The INS agent walked over to a car that was parked in front of hers. He climbed into it, turned the engine on, and drove away all before she was able to snap out of her confusion over the strange interaction and start moving again. She practically ran to her car, scrolling through her contacts as she went until she found the name she was looking for.

"'Ello." An Australian voice came through on the other line after three rings. "Wassup, Chlo?"

"Amy, we need to talk."

"Ooh! That doesn't sound good." Amy responded. "What about?" Chloe opened up her car door, climbing inside of it with her phone pressed against her ear. She shoved the key inside of the ignition, starting it up before she answered Amy's question.

"It's about Beca and Jesse. Meet me at my place in a half an hour." Chloe ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat before she pulled away from her friends' condo, not bothering to put on her seatbelt to make the three-and-a-half minute drive to her condo. So many thoughts were swirling around in her head, and she needed to talk it out. Who better than Amy to tell her crazy for thinking what she was thinking? Seriously, was she actually going to let that little pig of a man put it into her head that two of her best friends were lying to her for the last year? They had twins, for heaven's sake!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Beca woke up in a tiny hospital feeling like shit. Seriously, she felt like someone took a battering ram to her vag, and it really wasn't pleasant at all. Not to mention, she felt like someone had sawed her in half. Well, someone did saw her in half...sort of. Alex came out just fine. All it took was an hour of labor, a half hour of pushing, and then his big ass head popped out, and one push later, there was a tiny, wailing baby, covered in blood and that cheesy snot-like shit, lying on her chest. Two seconds later, he was ripped from her arms, and she was taken to emergency surgery for a c-section to get out little Abby, who was in a breech position and had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Her daughter turned out to be fine, even with the scare of the umbilical cord being wrapped around the baby's neck, though. Alex was six pounds even, which was rather big for a twin, and Abby was five pounds, one ounce. Moments after she was told this news and she got to see her daughter, Beca passed out as they were stitching her up.

She shifted slightly, sucking in a breath at the discomfort, and her eyes came to rest upon Jesse, sleeping soundly half bent over her bed with her hand squeezed tightly in his and his head resting on the bed beside her thigh. She smiled, reaching out with her free hand, brushing her fingers through his mussed hair. He hummed in his sleep, turning his head towards her so that she could take in the way his lips were slightly parted and his dark eyelashes brushed against his skin. He was beautiful, and her heart burned over how much she loved him. She wanted to pretend that it was the buildup of hormones that came from being pregnant and then giving birth that was making her feel that way, but that would be a lie. She knew it with every fiber of her being that she loved him. The tears burned in her eyes as she thought about how they barely had a year and a half left. It was going to beyond painful to spend her days wishing that they were together for real, and then to have their marriage end a few months after their second anniversary? That would probably kill her.

She stroked her fingers down his cheek, and his nose twitched as his eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times, smiling at her, sitting up. He groaned, yawning as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're awake..." he muttered, moving the chair closer so that he could give her a light kiss. She smiled into the kiss, raising her to rest on the back of his neck. She kneaded the back of his neck with her fingers, and he sighed, breaking the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. "I'm supposed to be comforting and taking care of you." He said sleepily. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," she told him honestly, stroking her nails lightly against the skin of his neck, smiling at the way he shuddered and his eyes flew open to lock with hers.

"Don't do that. It makes me want to do dirty things to you, and I can't do dirty things to you until Brian says it is okay."

"Fuck sex. I'm never having it again. You're lucky you still have a penis, because sex is bad. My vagina feels like someone took a battering ram to it, and I don't want anything in it ever again."

Jesse laughed, and Beca smacked the back of his head. He sat back, smiling at her, his cheeks flushed from his amusement and his dimples on display. His eyes were bright, and she could practically see the lame-ass twinkle in them. She rolled her eyes, yawning behind her hand. "How long was I out?"

"Nearly four hours. The nurses kept coming to check on you. I think they wanted to see when you were up so that they could bring the babies and the lactation lady in to help with your first time breastfeeding."

"Bitch should've been waiting in here." She muttered, fumbling for to hit the call button on her bed, ignoring his chuckle. "Have you seen them?"

"Not since you had them. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Her eyes locked with his, and she forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Jess," she said in a soft voice. She stopped herself before she could say the three words that she wanted to say to him so badly that it was almost painful. She reached for him, and he leaned close to her, letting her initiate the kiss that spoke with as much of the love she felt for him as she dared to share. He broke the kiss and pulled back to stare into her eyes.

"Beca, I want..." He started, but the sound of the door opening and the rolling of wheels across the floor caused him to stop talking. They both glanced at the door to see a nurse in green scrubs pushing one of the portable baby beds into the room. She could see the pink hat nestled over the head of the swaddled bundle lying in it. It was her daughter.

"Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy. How were your naps?" The nurse said as she stopped the bin next to the side of the bed that wasn't being occupied by Jesse. "This little girl is going to be so happy to see you. She's very hungry!" The nurse joked. She carefully picked the bundle up, and Beca immediately held her arms out, taking the baby from the nurse.

It was the strangest sensation to have the weight of her baby girl in her arms, lying on her chest. She was so tiny and so warm. She was perfect. Her blue eyes were locked with Beca's, her mouth parted slightly, as she just stared at her mother. Beca's heart burst in that moment, because she'd fallen so terribly in love with her baby girl after just one moment. "Hi, Abby," she whispered, leaning over to press a kiss against the baby's forehead. "Jesse, she's so perfect." She finally tore her gaze away from the baby to look at her husband. Jesse was hunched over the bed, and he leaned his cheek against her shoulder, smiling down at their baby. His hand rose to grab hold of one of Abby's flailing arms, and immediately her tiny hand latched onto the tip of it.

"Hi, baby girl." He whispered. He looked up at his wife and leaned forward to kiss her. "Thank you," he said, making her smile at him. He was constantly thanking her for having his babies. She definitely felt the same way, especially in that moment, when she was finally really holding one of them in her arms and they both were going to be coming home with her.

"She looks like you." She told him, looking back down at their baby. While Abby's eyes were blue, like her mother's, the baby had Jesse's chin, mouth, and eye shape. Beca held her arms out to him, letting him take the baby into his arms and hold her close. The baby's eyes latched onto Jesse's face, and she waved the arm that wasn't trapped against his body at him. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the baby's forehead, making the baby smack her hand against his cheek. They both chuckled.

Beca glanced at the nurse who had stepped back, allowing them to have their moment. "Where's Alex?"

"He was sound asleep before we left the nursery, but one of the other nurses was going to change his diaper and bring him here so that he would be here when he woke up." Beca nodded her head, looking back at Jesse who was gently rocking their daughter, whispering sweet things to her. She smiled at them, feeling like her heart was going to explode over how perfect the moment was. Already, Abby had her father wrapped around her finger. She let out a breath.

After a few moments, Abby began to fuss, and the nurse stepped forward to help Beca begin breastfeeding. The nurse instructed her on how to best get the baby to root, how to hold her, what to do when she had both babies nursing at the same time, and the list went on. Beca listened to the best of her ability, but she knew that she was going to need another lesson later, because she got entirely too distracted over how amazing and weird it felt to breastfeed her daughter for the first time. She couldn't take her eyes off of the baby, the way that Abby's eyes drifted shut as she ate or how she held onto her mother's chest. When Abby was finishing up, the door opened, and a second nurse came in, pushing the other basinet, this time with a wailing baby inside of it.

Abby started, her head jerking away from Beca's chest, and her eyes darted around. Beca shifted the baby, trying to get Abby to finish, but the baby wouldn't settle down. Jesse immediately took Alex from the nurse and began rocking him, humming softly, trying to get him to calm down. Abby began to whimper.

"Sorry, he woke up along the way, and he was very angry and very hungry." The second nurse said before she made her exit. The first nurse first tried to help Jesse calm Alex down, but she then returned to Abby.

"I don't think she can eat when he cries, so you might have to keep them in separate rooms when Abby is being fed first. The best thing to do is to switch breasts when you feed the baby. Like, the next time you feed Abby, you would do the other best. Maybe try feeding Alex first, too, so he'll be settled down by the time it is Abby's turn." The nurse was babbling, trying to help Beca to get Abby to finish eating.

"She needs her brother." Beca said. Jesse brought Alex over, sitting down on the bed beside his wife and daughter. The nurse helped to position a couple of spare pillows on Beca's lap. Jesse rested Alex on the pillows beside Abby. Immediately, the little boy started to settle down, and they watched in amazement as Alex and Abby's arms somehow interlocked. After a few moments, Alex settled down to only making a few murmurs, and Abby began nursing again.

"Wow. She was really upset that her twin was crying." Jesse whispered. Alex's eyes were locked on Abby's form as she finished up nursing and pushed her mouth away from Beca's breast.

"She's finished. Daddy, why don't you burp Abby while Mommy feeds Alex?" The nurse picked up Alex, and Beca passed Abby to him. The nurse demonstrated on Alex how Jesse should burp the little girl, and then she passed Alex to Beca, letting her breastfeed the little boy on her other breast.

At the end of the ordeal, Beca found that she was exhausted. She begged for them to let the babies stay in their room, and the nurse agreed. She settled back into the pillows, with Alex lying on her chest, closing her eyes. Jesse settled into the chair, with Abby curled up in his arms. She listened to the sound of their breathing, focusing on the feeling of her son rising and falling on her chest. After a few minutes, she turned to look at Jesse. "They're all waiting for us, right?"

"Yeah, they can't wait to meet them and to see you." He told her. "I had to turn my phone off, because it was vibrating so much, and you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you." She smiled at him, rubbing her hand down Alex's back.

"Would you go get them? I think I could handle them in groups of three or four. Send in the girls first, and then the guys, if they want to come in. We could each take a baby, too, if you want."

"Why don't you keep them both in here with you? Then, everyone can meet them at the same time when they visit with you."

"Sounds good." Beca smiled, shifting Alex so that he was tucked under her arm with his head resting on her shoulder. Jesse placed Abby in the same position before giving her a kiss.

"If you need me, send someone to get me." He told her as he pulled away. She nodded her head, giving him a tired smile. "Maybe we should wait until later. You look exhausted."

"No, I want to do it now so that we can send them home as soon as possible. I'm stuck in this bed for a few more days due to the c-section. I'm looking forward to it just being us." He kissed her again and then kissed both the babies.

"We'll take a break after the Bellas come to see you. Then, we'll send in the rest of the women, take a break, and then start the guys. I don't want you or the babies overwhelmed. We'll tell them they might have to come back for a visit later this afternoon or tomorrow if you or the babies need to stop."

"Jesse, go." She grinned at him, rolling her eyes. He was being such a worrywart. She wanted to get these meetings done with so that she could focus on resting.

"Okay, okay." He held his hands up and walked backwards to the door. With one last wave, he disappeared. She glanced down at her half-asleep babies, waiting for the first round of their friends to arrive.

Jesse felt like there was a bungee cord tied around his middle that was attached to Beca and the babies. Walking out of the room was so hard, and the further he got away from them, the slower he walked-like there was something resisting him from moving away from his family. He pushed through it, thinking about what she had said. The sooner they get through the round of congratulations, questions, oohs and ahhs over the babies, requests to hold the babies, hugs, kisses, exclamations over how sweet the babies are, claims that they would love to babysit, and the list went on, the sooner it could get back to being him, his wife, and his babies again. He blew out a breath.

He had planned on telling her right then and there that he loved her for real and that he wanted their marriage to be real. It was a welcomed interruption, though, to have his daughter brought into the room, and he really got to look at her for the first time since she was whisked away to be checked out after her crazy entrance into this world. Abby wasn't much tinier than Alex, but it was probably a good thing that Beca needed to stay in the hospital for a couple of days after the c-section so that the doctors and nurses could keep an eye on Abby to make sure she was completely healthy and safe.

Jesse sped up, walking down the hallway, rubbing a hand through his mussed hair. He probably looked insane. And, exhausted; he knew that he looked exhausted. As long as Brian said it was okay, and Beca was comfortable, he planned on climbing into the tiny hospital bed with her that night, because the thought of not sleeping next to her was killing him. There was no way in hell he was going to go home tonight and sleep in their bed alone. No way in hell.

He finally reached the waiting area, where he saw most of their friends, all asleep in the waiting area. At some point, they all had headed back home or to their hotel rooms, because they were all dressed in their pajamas. Chloe was even sporting a pair of fuzzy slippers. He smiled at them, because he wished that he had enough sense to tell them all to go home and that he would have texted when Beca was feeling up to visitors. It was barely eight in the morning, and they had been there all night long. The elevator doors dinged, and the doors opened, revealing a perfectly polished, well-rested Aubrey holding a tray of four coffees in one hand and another cup in the other hand (which Jesse assumed was tea, since she was pregnant). She smiled at Jesse when she saw him.

"Hi," she said quietly as she walked out of the elevator. Behind her, Rich and Ashley's husband, Tom, were carrying two trays with three coffees in each of them. Ashley followed with a tray of her own four coffees. They all grinned at Jesse before walking over to put the trays of the coffees down on the end tables. They began to gently waking their friends, pointing out drink orders in each tray.

"Hi, Aubrey. Please tell me you slept at the hotel last night." Jesse said as he grabbed the coffee from the tray that had his name written in a loopy scrawl on the side. He took a sip of it, reveling in the taste of vanilla. Fuck, he needed that.

"Yes, I did. I knew that you and Beca would have freaked out if I slept in a hospital waiting room, and Rich was on my ass about it, and I didn't feel like listening to him anymore. How's she doing? How're you doing? How're the babies?" He grinned, taking another sip of the coffee.

"They're wonderful, all three of them. Tired, though. Beca's ready for everyone to meet them, because she wants everyone gone soon. She just wants it to be us for awhile."

"I'm sure! I totally want that when I have my baby. I doubt that everyone will be there when he or she is born, but Rich's parents will be, and that is like ten Amys and Chloes mixed together."

Hat walked over, grabbing the rest of the tray of coffees from Aubrey. "Chloe's waking up, so we need her coffee ASAP." He joked, winking at Jesse. "I'll be back in a moment." He walked back over to the group of the slowly waking insane people that he and Beca called their friends and family. They were all sipping their coffees, rubbing sleep from their eyes, and yawning. They had yet to realize that he was even there.

Jesse's eyes fell on Cole, who was seated in a chair next to Stacie, looking completely uncomfortable. He was staring at his coffee cup, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees. Stacie was chattering away about something, stopping to occasionally toss her hair over her shoulder, take a sip of coffee, or to file her nails. What the hell was that asshole doing here? He quickly drew his gaze back to Aubrey who was sipping her tea, watching him.

"So, how do you really feel about Beca dating that Cole dude when you guys were together?" His eyes widened slightly, and he quickly took a big gulp of coffee while he scrambled to think of something to say. He decided to be honest, though. He didn't know that he loved Beca at the time; he just knew that he was developing feelings for her. It pissed him off (and it hurt) to know that she was with someone else. He swallowed the coffee and blew out a breath.

"Honestly, it sucked." He said, twisting the coffee cup around in his hands, not daring to look at the blonde. "I liked Beca. I always liked her. I liked her from the moment that Hat told me to 'sit next to the midget with the tattoos.'" He smiled at the memory. "She gave me a dirty look, rolled her eyes, and said that she wasn't going to fuck me, so I better not even try to hook up with her. Then, she muttered something about Chloe being a meddling bitch. I think I started to fall for her even then-even though she was being a total bitch to me. It took us three years to get together, Aubrey, and I thank God every day that I got another chance to see what could happen between us." Now it was time for him to lie to his friend. The lies tasted sour, and his stomach churned. He hated lying. It killed him that they were lying to their friends, their family.

"It really sucked for me to know that Beca was seeing Cole at the same time as me." He said, staring at the floor. "I was falling in love with her, and she was with someone else. I tell her that I get it, that I understood why she was dating him. He was here, and I was still in New York. I didn't have a job here. We left it open-ended, you know?" Aubrey cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, that's stupid." She told him, making him roll his eyes.

"I have no room to talk, though. I used Beca to cheat on my ex-girlfriend a few times, and I was still seeing her-well, I was trying to end the relationship with her during the first few months that Beca and I were seeing each other. The girl was crazy, though, so I don't feel all that bad about it." Aubrey narrowed her eyes at him. "She started planning our wedding a few weeks into our relationship! I hadn't even called her my girlfriend yet. Then, she kept freaking out when I would convert religions for her."

"Okay, so she is a bit insane, but cheating is never okay. You should have broken up with her."

"I did. Repeatedly. She would continue to show up at my work and my apartment. It was one of the reasons why I decided to move to LA. I needed to get away from her crazy ass." Aubrey shook her head at him, making Jesse chuckle. "You ready to go see the babies?" The blonde grinned, nodding her head. "You, Chloe, Amy, and Stacie go first."

"You're gonna say something to Cole, aren't you?" He ran a hand through his hair, not meeting her eyes. "He's dating Stacie now, and your wife just had twins. I don't think he's gonna try to go after Beca again."

"No, I don't think he's gonna go after her." He rolled his eyes. "You're not going to be allowed to go see the babies if you're gonna act like that." He pointed at her, walking over to tell Chloe and the other two girls to head back and visit with Beca and the twins. After getting through the series of congratulations and pats on the back from their friends, he sat down in the chair next to Cole.

The blonde man froze, sitting up straighter. He set aside his empty coffee cup and squeezed his hands into fists, leaving them balled up on his thighs. Jesse rolled his nearly empty cup back and forth in his hands, staring straight ahead. "We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about, Jesse." Cole said in a low voice.

"I think there is. I'm sure you have questions, so go ahead and ask them. I will answer them as honestly as I can." He responded in an equally quiet voice. "I only ask that you keep our secret until Beca and I are ready to tell them. We don't want this to be held over our heads anymore than it is normally. We just had our babies, and we want to focus on them."

Cole was silent for awhile. Finally, he spoke up. "Was it all some bullshit lie? Did she just feel like fooling around with someone one last time before she got married?"

"No, it's not anything like that." Jesse took a deep breath. There were only two other people who knew the whole truth, besides him and Beca. Now, Cole would be on that list. "Beca and I met three years ago. She and I got really drunk and made out that night. The next night, we went on a date, and I really liked her, but I lived in New York. The date didn't end well, so we parted ways as...well, we weren't exactly friends." He chuckled, taking a sip of coffee. "Basically, we insulted each other constantly, but we always wound up getting drunk and making out." He shrugged. "There was chemistry there, but things never happened between us, because I lived in New York. And, Beca is Beca. You met her at a weird time. Generally, she has two modes: she hates people or she needs to get laid." Cole gave him a dirty look. It was probably weird to hear a woman's husband describe her that way, but it was the truth.

"After this whole thing happened between us, Beca started to change. For the longest time she would only let these girls in; she built up so many walls around herself out of protection, and she only considered men to be essentially good for sex and that was it. Anything else was off the table. She didn't do relationships. That was exactly the reason why I thought of her when things with my visa got screwed up." He said the last of it as quietly as he could so that only Cole would hear him. He glanced around to make sure no one was listening.

"So, you asked her to marry you, because she isn't the relationship type, so no one would be surprised that it didn't work between you two. Sticking it out two years would have showed that you gave it your all, but Beca's relationship issues won out in the end, and you guys had to go your separate ways." Cole said, crossing his arms as he stared at Jesse. "It was just a perk that you would get to at least kiss the girl that you've been wanting to bed since you met her."

"Essentially, yes."

"So, why did Beca say yes? That all works well for you, but I don't see Beca jumping at the chance to help anyone by marrying them if she had such bad relationship issues."

"Stacie was helping her move into the condo, and she left the keys in the ignition and the truck unattended. Beca's stuff got stolen. She basically wiped out her bank account with the buying the place, so she couldn't afford to buy new furniture. I had an entire apartment's worth of stuff in storage, and I bought her a new bedroom set and a few other things, too, for the condo."

"So, did your friends think you got married after a few weeks of dating or something?" Jesse shook his head.

"No, we told them that we were in a relationship for a year before we moved in together. We didn't want to tell anyone, because we didn't know if it was going to work out and we didn't want to hear an I-told-you-so from Chloe, who had been trying to put us together since day one. Beca being Beca made the case stronger about us wanting to keep it a secret. Then, I did this whole elaborate proposal in front of all of our friends to really solidify that we loved each other and that we were a real couple." Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "Beca freaked out after the proposal. It finally set in that she and I were really going to go through with it, and we got into a massive fight, because she tried to call everything off. We both got drunk, I came back to the condo to fight with her some more, and we did what we always do when we're drunk. We kissed. Except, this time we didn't stop, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in her bed naked."

"Where did I fit in all of this? It was obviously after the proposal. Nice ring, by the way."

"Yeah, I had it made for her." Jesse said smiled. "We made a bet over it. I told her that I knew her better than she knows herself and would pick out a ring that was more 'her' than any ring she would pick out." Cole rolled his eyes at him, muttering something under his breath that Jesse couldn't make out. "As for you, Beca did what she usually does. She built up all of these walls again, saying that it was a mistake and that we need to keep distance and all that crap. Then, she met you, and you asked her out. I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything, but I think she jumped at the chance to start hanging out with you so that she could put some distance between what happened between her and I. Then, she actually started to like you."

"Until I found out about the marriage, and we broke up. I really thought that she was my girlfriend, you know?"

"Yeah, Beca's amazing. I would have thought the same thing. Hell, when I first met her, I was hoping for the same thing. I would have asked her to be my girlfriend at the end of that very first date three years ago if it hadn't have ended so terribly." Jesse shook his head. "She likes to blame everything that happened that night on me, but she's the one who got arrested for destruction of property because she threw a chair at some chick."

"What?!" Cole exclaimed, making Jesse chuckle at the memory.

"Yeah, she's insane. I had to bail her out, and she told me that we were done and nothing was going to happen between us again. The next time we hung out at a party, we wound up making out again, so that was bullshit."

"When did things change between the two of you? It's totally obvious that you've been in love with her from the first time you met her, but when did she start returning those feelings?" Jesse looked over at him. Shit, was it that obvious that he was in love with Beca?

"I don't know when I fell for her, exactly. I think I finally realized how much I cared about her when I found out she was pregnant. She was five months pregnant at that point. She didn't find out until she was thirteen weeks, and then I found out five weeks later." Jesse swallowed, staring at his feet. "I thought it was yours, and I freaked out. I was so angry, because the thought of her with you killed me, the thought of her with anyone else hurt. Then, I found out that it was my baby-we didn't know we were having twins then-and I was so relieved, because even though I knew that we were supposed to break up a few months after our second wedding anniversary, it meant that she was tied to me and that she would have to be in my life in some way for the rest of our lives, because we had this baby." Jesse rubbed the back of his neck. "We kept getting closer and closer, and suddenly, it wasn't like we were just best friends who were having a baby together, but we were a real couple. She's my whole world, Cole. I love her and the babies so much." He let out a breath. It was the first time her really admitted that he loved her to someone other than himself. The thing that happened in front of Brian didn't count. This moment was real.

"I won't tell Stacie until you guys are ready to tell her and the others the truth, but I'm not going to lie if she asks about it."

"You don't have to. Tell her the truth. Just leave out when you dated...just until we tell them the truth. I hate lying to them. I don't want to lie to them anymore, but..." Jesse trailed off. He didn't want to tell them the truth and to end it with 'we're getting divorced a few months after everything becomes legal for us.' He wanted to tell them the truth and then to say, but 'we're staying together, because we're in love and happy.' "But, what?" Cole asked, making Jesse start. He refused to look at the blonde man. "You've never told her you love her, have you? You guys are still going to get divorced?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Look, I love Beca, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I'm scared to tell her the truth. I'm scared to hear her say she doesn't feel the same way as me."

"Dude, you're kidding, right? The way that she looked at you last night definitely isn't platonic. She's just as much into you as you are into her. Tell her the truth."

"No, she's told me repeatedly that I'm her best friend and that she loves me only as a friend. She wants to make sure that we are always friends even after things between us end."

"Okay, dude, whatever. Believe what you want, but you should tell her the truth about how you feel." Stacie walked up then, frowning with her arms crossed, staring down at Jesse and Cole.

"What's going on here?" She said in a pinched voice. Jesse smiled at her.

"Nothing. We're just chatting. Did you guys send in the next round of girls?"

"Actually, Beca wanted us to send you back in. She wants breakfast, and she misses you or something." Jesse stood up, sending a nod to Cole and giving Stacie a quick kiss on the cheek as he walked past her, headed back to the room to see Beca and his babies. He had a lot to think about-Cole was right. He's needed to tell Beca the truth.

The next chapter is halfway done. It should be out soon. Gahh! I was working on this all weekend when I should have been working on an assignment that is due in 12 hours! GRAD SCHOOL SUCKS! Okay, it doesn't, but I'm tired and ready to be finished with it, and I still have so much more to go. I need a break. I'm burnt out.