7 Years Later. . .
Beca Mitchell sat at the sound table with her headphones on trying to tweak the latest Adele song. She had been at it for several hours and was getting frustrated because she couldn't get one part to sound the way she wanted it to you. She's in the zone and just about has the sound the way she wants it when someone taps her on the shoulder. Beca jumps, nearly falling out of her chair.
"What the fuck?," she yells jerking her headphones off.
"Sorry," Trish said. "But, I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. Aubrey's been trying to call you. Chloe's at the hospital."
"Is she okay?," Beca asks jumping up to start gathering her belongings.
"She's fine," Trish said. "Well as fine as someone in labor with triplets could be."
"Oh, my God," Beca said. "She isn't due for like 7 more weeks. Are they going to be okay?"
"Beca," Trish says grabbing her by the shoulders. "Breathe. Chloe and the babies are going to be fine. Mark and I will drive you to the hospital. I want to make sure she get there in one piece."
Just then Mark comes to the door. "You ready?," he asks.
"Yes," Trish says leading Beca out the door.
Mark hurries to the hospital and the paparazzi are already there.
"These guys are ridiculous," Beca says.
Mark lets Trish and Beca out at the door and goes to park. Beca and Trish push and shove their way to the door.
"Beca! Is Chloe is labor?"
"Beca, who's the father?"
"Beca, over here. Did you and Chloe do IVF or did she cheat on you and become pregnant?"
Beca stops and her shoulders tense. Trish grabs her and drags her the rest of the way to the door.
"They're not worth it, Beca," Trish says as she shoves Beca inside. "Chloe needs you now. Ignore them."
Beca and Trish hurry to the maternity ward and Beca is placed in scrubs. Chloe is already prepped for a C-secion and Beca rushes over to Chloe and gives her a kiss.
"Hey, mama," Beca says. "Ready to meet our children?"
"I've been ready since they told me were having triplets," Chloe says.
"I'm Dr. Monroe," the anesthesiologist tells Chloe. "We've already done the epidural. Can you feel anything, Mrs. Mitchell?"
"No," Chloe says. "My mouth is really dry though. My tongue feels like sandpaper scraping the roof of my mouth."
"I'm sorry," Dr. Monroe tells her. "But, I can't give you anything. I can wipe your mouth with a damp cloth to help ease some of the dryness."
"Thank you," Chloe says
"You'll feel some tugging," Dr. Monroe tells Chloe. "If you start feeling any pain, please let me know immediately."
Beca looks around and the room is crowded. In addition to Dr. Monroe and Dr. Taylor, Chloe's ob/gyn, there are at least 3 nurses and 3 pediatricians. She seems to remember that they were told to expect this with a C-section. They had actually had one scheduled in 3 weeks. Chloe going into labor just speeded up the process.
"Let's get started," Dr. Taylor says.
Beca stays up by Chloe's head and they are discussing baby names. They knew they were having 2 boys and 1 girl but were still undecided on the second boy's name. They had decided to use each of their initials, CAM for Chloe and RCM for Beca, to come up with their baby's names. The girl was going to be called Charlotte Aubrey Mitchell so they can call her Charlie, and the first boy was going to be Richard Charles Mitchell with plans to call him Rich. They decided to combine their initials for the second boy, and couldn't decide between Robert Adam or Ronald Alexander.
"Why don't we compromise and call him Robert Alexander," Beca said. "Since I wanted Robert and you chose Alexander."
"I like that," Chloe said and winced.
"Are you okay?," Beca asked seeing the wince.
"Yeah," Chloe said. "I just felt some tugging is all."
"Here is baby #1," Dr. Taylor said handing the baby to the first pediatrician. "It's a boy."
"Richard Charles," Beca and Chloe say simultaneously and laughed.
"Go be with our baby," Chloe told Beca.
"No," Beca said. "I'll wait until all three are out and then I'll go over. Okay?"
"Okay," Chloe said. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Beca said.
"Here we have baby #2," Dr. Taylor said.
"It's a boy," the second pediatrician told the new parents.
"Robert Alexander?," Beca asks Chloe.
"Robert Alexander," Chloe says.
A few minutes later and "Here's your daughter," Dr. Taylor says and hands her off to the pediatrician.
"Charlotte Aubrey Mitchell," Chloe says eyes drooping.
"Chloe?," Beca said.
"Hmmm?," Chloe says back.
"Just checking," Beca said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Chloe says. "Just tired."
"I'm going to go check on our babies," Beca said kissing Chloe and going over to the see the babies.
The first baby she came to was Rich. She took out her phone and snapped a picture.
"Everything is great," the nurse told her. "He's 7 lbs, 3 oz and the doctor said his lungs sound good."
The second baby she came to was Robert. She took a picture of Robert.
"He's 6 lbs, 12 oz," the nurse told her. "Everything is perfect"
She finally came to Charlie. She looked at the pediatrician and she was frowning as she listened to her lungs.
"Everything okay?," Beca said quietly so Chloe couldn't hear.
"She's a little on the small side at 5 lbs, 2 oz," the nurse told her. "And her breathing is a bit shallow. The doctor doesn't think there's any cause for alarm. He just wants to get her in an incubator to watch her for a bit."
"Could I get her picture real quick?," Beca asked and the nurse nodded.
Beca took Charlie's picture and walked slowly over to Chloe.
"How are our babies?," Chloe asks
"The boys are great," Beca said. "But, Charlie's breathing a little shallow so they want to put her in an incubator for a little while to keep an eye on her. The boys will be going to the nursery and Charlie will be in the NICU."
"She's going to okay, right?," Chloe asked tears coming to her eyes.
"She's going to be great," Beca said. "They're just being cautious is all. I'll text everyone and have them come to your room and I'll go with Charlie, okay?"
"Okay," Chloe said sniffling. "Take care of our girl."
"I will," Beca said. "Oh, wait. I took their pictures so you can see what they look like. It will be a little while before you'll be able to hold them but at least you'll know what they look like."
Chloe looked at the pictures of her three babies and couldn't but let a tear or two fall. They were so beautiful.
"Thank you, baby," Chloe said.
"You're welcome," Beca told her.
"We're ready to move the babies, Mrs. Mitchell," a nurse told Beca.
"I'll see you later," Beca told Chloe kissing her. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Chloe called after her as Beca ran to catch up with Charlie.
While the nurses were setting Charlie up in the incubator, Beca called Trish. Trish put her on speaker so Stacie and Aubrey could hear the news. Beca told them about each of the babies and how Charlie was going to the NICU. She asked that they be in Chloe's room when she got there so she wouldn't be alone. She told them she'd let them know more about Charlie as soon as she could. The girls all agreed to be with Chloe and Beca went into the NICU to see her daughter.
"Hey, Charlie," Beca said. "It's your mama. Your mommy and I love you so much and we're so glad you're here. You just get your breathing up to par and everything will be even better. Your mommy and two older brothers are patiently waiting to see you. Not to mention your aunts and Uncle Mark."
It was several hours later when Beca managed to get to see Chloe. She walked in and Trish and Aubrey were holding the two boys.
"How's our girl?," Chloe asked as soon as she saw Beca.
"Why don't you ask her," Beca said as a nurse was wheeling in a bassinette with Charlie safely tucked inside.
The nurse placed the bassinette next to the other two. Beca thanked her and reached in to pick up Charlie. Beca gently held Charlie and took her over to Chloe
"Hi, baby girl," Chloe said crying. "I sure missed you."
Charlie stretched a bit and puckered her mouth. Chloe touched her hair, her hand, everywhere she could.
"She's so beautiful," Chloe whispered to Beca.
"They all are," Beca said and kissed Chloe on the top of her head.
After a few minutes, Aubrey handed Rich over to Stacie and walked over to the bed where Chloe was still holding Charlie.
"Okay, I know you gave birth to her," Aubrey said. "But I want to hold my namesake."
"I don't want to let her go," Chloe said hugging Charlie closer. "But for her godmother, I guess I will."
Aubrey's hand went to her mouth and she gasped.
"You want me to be her godmother?," she asks quietly.
"Well, actually," Beca said. "We want you and Stacie to be all three of their godmothers."
"We'd be honored," Aubrey said tears in her eyes.
Chloe hands over Charlie and Aubrey looks down at the baby girl.
"She looks a lot like you, Chloe," Aubrey says. "Reddish hair, bright blue eyes. Let's hope they stay that way."
"It's funny," Trish says. "Robert actually looks a lot like Beca. What little hair he has is a chocolate brown and his eyes are a dark blue."
"Rich kind of looks like them both," Stacie says. "His hair is a light brown with some red highlights. His eyes are blue but I don't think they'll stay that color."
"Hey, can one of you take our picture?," Beca asked. "I want to send it to all the Bellas."
"Sure," Aubrey said. "Give me your phone."
Aubrey gives Charlie back to Chloe. After Chloe settles Charlie on her left side, Stacie gently lays Rich on her right. Trish gives Robert to Beca and she leans in slightly to make sure they are all in the picture. Aubrey snaps a few shots and give Beca her phone. Beca and Chloe are looking though the pictures trying to decide which one to send when Rich starts crying and the other two follow right behind.
"What's wrong with them?," Beca asks worried.
"They're probably just hungry," Chloe said.
She rang for the nurse and she brought in three bottles. Chloe fed Charlie, Beca fed Robert, and Stacie fed Rich. After they were done, each had a diaper change and were put in their bassinette's to sleep.
"Maybe you should get some rest, too," Beca told Chloe. "We'll just go to the cafeteria and get some coffee."
"Good idea," Chloe says with a yawn. "I'll text you if they wake up and I need help."
"Love you," Beca says giving Chloe a kiss.
"Love you, too," Chloe says.
Beca, Trish, Stacie and Aubrey walked to the cafeteria. The each got coffee and a sandwich since it had been a while since any of them had eaten.
"Hey, Trish," Beca said. "Where's Mark?"
"He went to pick up Dani and Mark, Jr," Trish said. "He was going to take them home until he needed to come back for me."
"How's the adoption process going?," Beca asked Aubrey.
Aubrey and Stacie had tried IVF but it didn't take so they had decided to adopt. The adoption process was long and the paperwork was ridiculous.
"Well, we decided to hold off on adoption for a bit," Aubrey said.
"Why?," Beca said. "I thought you were looking forward to having a child running around."
"We are," Stacie said. "We really wanted tell you guys all together, but we're pregnant."
"Oh, my God," Beca said. "That's fantastic. Which one of you is pregnant?"
"We both are," Aubrey said. "We decided to go one more round with the IVF. Since Stacie hadn't conceived before we both decided to give it a go hoping that one of us would get pregnant. Turns out, it worked for both of us."
Beca hugged Aubrey and then Stacie.
"I'm so happy for you both," Beca said. "Oh, God, I'm glad I don't live with you two. I love Chloe to death but having to deal with one pregnant woman was hard, I don't even want to know what it's going to be like to have two of you pregnant at the same time."
"Oh, don't worry," Stacie said. "You and Chloe are our best friends, so you'll be around us a lot. And I mean, a lot, during our pregnancy."
"Shoot me now," Beca said.
The girls all head back to Chloe's' room. Chloe and the babies are all still asleep so the girls talk quietly for a bit.
"Trish," Stacie said. "Aubrey and I are going to leave once Chloe wakes up so we can say goodbye. We can drop you off so Mark doesn't have to drag the kids out."
"That would be great," Trish said. "I'll text him and let him know. Thanks."
Charlie starts to stir and make some noises so Beca picks her up. Beca cradles Charlie in her arms and gently rocks her back and forth. Charlie quiets down and Beca puts her back in the bassinette. When Beca looks up she sees Chloe watching her with a big smile on her face.
"You're a natural," Chloe tells her.
Beca blushes slightly and smiles back at Chloe. The girls all kiss each of the babies and hug Chloe and Beca and take their leave. Beca will be spending the night at the hospital. She and Chloe spend time just holding their babies and talking about what's going to happen once they get the babies home.
"I can do a lot of work from home," Beca said. "So, I can be there most of the time."
"I'm taking a 3 month leave from the office," Chloe said. "Steve and Karen are fully capable of running things for me. As owner, I could even give up being the President and CEO. I'd still have my hand in everything and will have to attend meetings every now and then. And, I get to stay at home to take care of our babies."
"You'd really do that?," Beca asked. "I thought you loved working."
"I did," Chloe said. "But, we have enough money to live very comfortably and I want to be a part of our children's lives. I don't want to have to deal with nannies or babysitters or day care. I want to be the one to see their first steps, hear their first words. I want to be a mother first."
"I'm all for it," Beca said. "Are you going to tell Steve and Karen that you're not coming back now or are you going to wait until the 3 months are up?"
"I think I'll tell them now," Chloe said. "I'll make Steve the CEO and Karen the President. I'll have our lawyers draw up contracts so they know I'll still be a part of the company, but mostly in name."
"I'm glad you're doing this," Beca said. "I was fully prepared to do all my work from home so I could be there every day for the kids. Now, I can still go to the studio and not feel so guilty about it."
Beca gets up and take Rich from his bassinette. She hands him to Chloe and then picks up Charlie. Robert is still sleeping so they feed the two babies and Beca changes them and lays them back in their bassinette. Robert wakes up and Beca gives him to Chloe to feed.
It was four days later when the Mitchells were allowed to go home. Aubrey and Stacie came to help transport one of the babies since Beca's car wouldn't fit all three car seats. They arrived home and went into the house to find the Bellas and friends from the studio and Chloe's office there to greet them. The babies were oohed and ahhhed over, being past around from one person to the next. Chloe enjoyed the company and time out from taking care of the babies for a bit. She loved them, but the past four days gave her a taste of what her life was going to be like for at leasts the next 18 years and she was glad for the temporary reprieve. There were all kinds of gifts for the babies and Aubrey had created a calendar for the next six months of friends who were available to help alleviate some of the stress from taking care for three babies.
Steve and Karen were there so Chloe told them of her plan to be a stay at home mom. She also told them of her wanting to promote them and would be in the office in a couple of weeks to talk to the lawyers. They were very appreciative and hugged Chloe for her generosity.
Beca was holding Charlie and rocking her back and forth. Charlie fell asleep and Beca took her to her new room and placed in her crib. The nursery was set up for all three babies so it would be easier to handle them for sleeping and changings that needed to be done.
The party finally wound down and the only ones left were Trish and Mark, their two kids, 2-year-old Dani and 4-year-old Mark, Jr., and Stacie and Aubrey. Everyone pitched in to help clean up and made quick work of the job. Chloe tried to stifle a yawn and failed.
"I guess that's our cue to leave," Trish said. "We need to get our munchkins home and in bed, too."
"Thank you all for the party," Chloe said. "I love you guys."
"Love you, too," Trish said. "Come on kids, give your aunts a kiss so we can go."
Dani and Mark, Jr., did as they were told and ran to their parents. Trish picked up Dani, and Mark grabbed Mark, Jr. and they bid everyone a good night and left. Stacie and Aubrey offered to stay the night to help out but Beca and Chloe assured them they would be fine. And they actually did well their first night at home alone with their three babies. And for most every night after. They had developed a pretty organized system that worked for them and the babies.
Three months later and it was time for Beca to return to the studio. Beca fretted and stalled all morning until Chloe literally had to kick her out of the house. Once alone with the babies, Chloe stuck to the schedule that she and Beca had instituted. Beca hurried home to find Chloe in the kitchen with the three babies sitting in their bouncy seats on the counter while Chloe prepared dinner. She was singing a Taylor Swift song to them while she stirred something on the stove. Beca took a moment and just enjoyed the scene.
This was her family. Hers. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She had a beautiful, sexy wife. Three great kids. A great job she loved. The best friends anyone could ask for. She was truly blessed and she knew it.
She walked up behind Chloe and put her hands around her waist. Chloe jumped slightly before relaxing into the familiar arms of her wife.
"You're home early," Chloe said. "Dinner won't be ready for another 20 minutes or so."
"I couldn't stay away," Beca said. "All I kept thinking about was you and the kids."
"We had a great day," Chloe said. "I kept to our schedule and it works just as well for one of us as it does for both of us together."
"I'm glad," Beca said kissing Chloe's cheek.
She disengaged herself from Chloe and went to see the kids.
"How are you my lovelies?," Beca said looking at the three.
They just all looked at Beca and started waving and kicking their arms and legs causing their seats to bounce. They were only three months old but they were smiling and gurgling some nonsense that Beca listened to while tickling and kissing them all.
Chloe leaned against the sink and watched her wife interacting with their children. She smiled and her heart was so full. This is what life was all about. This is where she belonged and she didn't regret a minute of giving up her position in the company to be a stay at home mom. She was working just as hard and wasn't gettiing paid, but she wouldn't give up this job for the world.
"Phew," Beca said waving her hand in front of her face. "I think we have a triple threat here, mommy."
Chloe turned off the stove and moved the pan she was stirring off the heat. She took Charlie and handed her to Beca. She then handed Rich to Beca as well. She took Robert and they headed up to the nursery. Chloe put Robert in the crib and took Charlie from Beca. Beca changed Rich and Chloe changed Charlie. Chloe picked Robert up to change him, while Beca entertained Rich and Charlie. Their babies's laughter rang throughout the house, along with their mothers. This is the sound that would resonate for years to come as they navigated their way through the most rewarding job in the world, being parents.
There it is folks. Another story comes to an end. Happy family, happy life. Thanks for sticking around for the ride. Until next time, I love you awesome nerds.