Thank you for the response so far - so glad people are enjoying.
One question was asked about pregnant Beca - I'm not sure if that'll be in this set of one shots, but it might be. For a short glimpse of pregnant Beca, check out "They'll Learn Much More (Than I'll Ever Know)".
Cynthia Rose, Heart-Shaped Pizzas, and the Swear Jar
Beca's day had been long. She'd left before her kids were even awake – something she hated with a passion. But it had been inescapable – the president of the label had requested her presence at a day full of meetings. Vision and strategy meetings with board members and trustees that made Beca want to pluck her own eyes out before lunch. But she held strong, offered her opinion unflinchingly, and finally escaped just after five. The president himself had almost chased her to the door.
"Ms. Mitchell – leaving so soon? I want to introduce you to my wife over dinner. She's a big fan."
"Oh, that's so great. Thank you," Beca demurred as politely as possible. "You know, sir, I would love that. But I actually have to get home. My wife and daughters are expecting me. Another time?"
"I'll hold you to it," the man said with a nod. "Have a good evening, Ms. Mitchell. We valued your input today."
"Thank you," she said, forcing another smile before ducking out the door. She took the back stairwell - heels and all - to avoid being stopped again and then booked it to her car. She dialed Chloe from her hands free link while she drove, but there was no answer. Beca knew she was probably in the kitchen – while her phone was in the bedroom or still in her purse.
It unsettled her a bit to arrive home to not see Chloe's car in the drive. There was a vaguely familiar SUV on the side where Beca usually parked, so she parked beside it, lifted her bag from the passenger seat, and walked toward the back door. She could hear music emanating from the house several feet away.
Beca's frown lines deepened; Chloe loved music, but she wasn't keen on having it so loud. Opening the door, Beca's nervous spirits flew away and a smile graced her lips as she took in the sight. She set her bag down and hung up her keys, then leaned back against the closed door to watch. Cynthia Rose was dancing and singing around the kitchen to old-school Kelly Clarkson, wearing one of Chloe's aprons and rolling out pizza dough. All three girls were gathered around, dancing, singing, and watching the pizza crust creation very carefully.
Cynthia Rose, while singing along to songs she helped write for the ever-popular Clarkson, molded the first circle of dough into a puffy heart. One by one, she let the girls step up on the kitchen stool to make her own. Some looked like hearts, others not so much. But they were excited. They didn't even notice Beca until CR turned to get the jar of pizza sauce from the other counter.
"Hey, Cap," she said with a wave and a smile. She called for the house's music system to lower the volume, which it did.
"Mama!" All three of her girls came running, even Vera, who had to stumble off the step stood first. She knelt down to their level. Too late, Beca realized how covered-in-flour they were. And – after three happy, warm, loving hugs – so was her expensive black pants suit.
"You're paying for the dry cleaning," Beca teasingly warned her old friend, pointing at the now-white powdered fabric. Cynthia Rose chuckled. "Hey, my loves. What's going on?"
"Aunt CR is making a pizza party!" Poppy cried.
Beca put a finger to her lips, indicating the child lower her voice. It was something they continued to work on daily. Poppy was often exuberant; and volume came in tandem.
"Aunt CR is making a pizza party!" Poppy repeated, in a more moderate tone.
"Awesome," Beca responded with a smile. "It looks like you helped," she said, lightly tapping her flour-dusted nose. Poppy smiled and Bella nodded solemnly while Vera grinned mischievously. Beca knew, somehow, she had to be the reason for the excess flour.
"We're not done," Poppy told her. "We have to put the toppings on."
"Don't let me stop you," Beca said with a wave of her hand. "I'll be here all night. Go have fun." They all scampered back to the island counter and CR helped them top their pizzas with sauce and cheese. When they all refused any other topping she offered, Beca laughed.
She was standing at the sink, using a slightly damp rag to rub out the flour fingerprints from her pants and jacket. "Have you met children?" She asked. "Seriously, you're offering peppers and mushrooms?"
"I like mushrooms," CR defended. "And I'm sure Chloe will eat mushrooms."
"Chloe will eat anything that grows from the ground," Beca agreed. "Speaking of my beloved wife, where is she?"
"Last-minute parent conference," CR said. "Sent out an all-call to the Bellas for someone to pick up these munchkins from school."
"I was not included in the all-call," Beca told her, raising an eyebrow.
"She said you had an important meeting." The woman looked at Beca with appraising eyes. "And between the Louboutin, Armani, curls, and lipstick – I can see that she wasn't joking."
Beca rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Day full of meetings with the big-wig execs. I think sometimes they just want me dressed up to parade around for the more lecherous executives. I did not sign up for this," she whined, stepping out of her shoes and lifting them into one hand.
"Yeah, you did," Cynthia Rose reminded her. "Me? I write and go home. You make waves, Mitchell. I don't think you even know you're doing it – but you are." Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at her former captain.
"I just want to produce. Sing a little. I don't need these kinds of headaches. Board rooms and strategic planning and playing nice with awful troll-ish people. Ugh."
Cynthia Rose shook her head. "It might not be fun. But we need producers at that table. Otherwise, the executives are making dumb-ass decisions with no perspective on reality."
Beca smiled as all three of her girls widened their eyes at Cynthia Rose.
"Damn it, I did it again, didn't I?" Vera nodded and picked up a jar from a low shelf, bringing it to the counter. Cynthia Rose pulled a bill from her pocket and stuffed it into the decorated glass jar.
"You also said the D word," Bella said quietly. CR shoved another bill into the jar. Beca laughed with amusement. The pizzas were mostly topped, so Beca sent the girls upstairs.
"Go wash your hands and faces, please. Change into something not covered in flour. And pick out pjs and clothes for tomorrow. It's going to take a bit for the pizzas to bake."
CR pointed at one of the empty crusts. "What's your poison, cap?"
"Pepperoni, thank you," Beca said. Vera and Poppy started up the stairs but Bella rounded the kitchen island and grabbed Beca's hand. The young mother looked down at her and saw anxiety in her expression. She knelt down and hugged Bella again. She stoked the child's hair. "I'll be up in a few minutes, okay? Go do what I asked, please." Bella did.
Beca turned to her old friend, who was shaking her head. "You had to institute that fucking swear jar, didn't you?"
The brunette shrugged. "I had to. Chloe wouldn't stop using the f word. The first time I heard it out of Poppy's mouth, we had to do something. But you're now the largest contributor, at least when Amy and Bumper are on another continent." She paused. "Thanks, for this," she said, nodding at the disaster in the kitchen.
"This is a mess."
"They had fun," Beca said, smiling. She walked towards the stairs. "And, the mess – you're cleaning it up, my friend." Beca walked up the stairs to her bedroom and into the walk-in closet to quickly divest herself of the expensive suit and dark red silk blouse. They went to the pile that required dry cleaning. Her Louboutin's went into their appropriate plastic box in their wall of shoes. She threw on a pair of yoga pants and a long-sleeved Barden t-shirt before going into her bathroom and removing her makeup. She ran her fingers through her curls, loosening them from the holding spray, and yawned as she walked next door to Bella's room.
The child had been nervous for days – and the source was alluding her mothers. Beca found her sitting in front of her bookshelf, gazing absently at the titles. She sat down next to the little girl, folding her legs beneath her. "What's going on, Bells?"
The little girl shrugged but crawled into her lap, her ear resting against her mother's heart. Beca held her for a long time, until she heard Chloe arrive home and tell the other girls it was time for dinner. The redhead stopped in Bella's doorway, still wearing what she'd worn to work. A black dress, belted in red, with lovebirds, hearts, and vines embroidered in the bottom right corner of the skirt. Perfect for an elementary school teacher during the week of Valentine's day.
She met Beca's eyes over Bella's head and they exchanged concerned looks. "Bells, pizza's ready, sweetie," Chloe said gently.
"I'm not really hungry," Bella said, turning to hide her face against Beca's chest.
"Don't you want to show Mommy the really cool heart-shaped pizzas you helped make?" Beca asked. Bella shook her head, still clutching to Beca.
"Just come sit with us, then," Chloe said calmly. Beca squeezed her reassuringly and let go, almost lifting her daughter so she could stand. Given little choice, Bella followed them to the kitchen table and sat down in her normal space next to Vera. Beca and Chloe sat at either end of the table and Poppy across from her twin. Cynthia Rose sat next to her, in a seat that was usually vacant unless Stacie was visiting for dinner.
Bella grew more cheerful at dinner when Chloe fawned over the heart-shaped Pizzas and told them what a good job they'd done. She was also pulled in by her sisters' good humor. Both Poppy and Vera were giddy, a dangerous combination.
"What has you two so wound up?" Beca asked eventually, pointing her salad fork at Vera. She studied both redheads – cheeks pink from so much giggling. Her eyes moved to Cynthia Rose. "Dear Lord, how much sugar did you give them?"
"Enough that I'm getting out of here right after dinner," the woman answered with a cheeky grin. Beca shook her head.
"Yeah – you're off the babysitting list."
"Mama!" Poppy cried. "Aunt CR is fun!"
"See?" Cynthia Rose said. "I am fun."
"Your mama is just teasing. Of course Aunt CR can still babysit – but maybe we can lay down a few more ground rules about sugar," she suggested cheerfully. "Thank you, Cynthia Rose, for a lovely dinner. And for keeping an eye on our munchkins," Chloe said.
"Any time." They finished dinner and Cynthia Rose insisted on helping Chloe with the massive cleanup. Beca told the girls to get their shoes and sweaters and told Chloe they were going on a walk.
"Aren't you tired?" Chloe asked, sympathetically. Without makeup, the bags under the smaller woman's eyes were pronounced.
"I need them to be tired," Beca said, pointing after the girls. "I'm just going to let them run around the block a few hundred times. We'll be back." She winked and went in search of her own shoes and sweatshirt.
Vera and Poppy did run down the sidewalks on their way to the neighborhood park. They stopped at every gap in the sidewalk and waited for Beca and Bella – who were walking at a relatively quick clip – to catch up. They would all cross together – then it would start again. Bella held tightly to her mother's hand, but didn't seem as upset as she had before dinner. Once they reached the park, Beca walked them to one of the sections that held swings and more things to climb on than she could count.
"You stay in this area," Beca said, indicating the edges of the blue rubber square the play equipment was on. She stood under the monkey bars since she saw it was Vera's first plan. She spotted her daughter, but the little monkey needed no help getting from one side to the other. Bella and Poppy began climbing up the rope netting to the castle-type structure. Vera followed quickly after, giving Beca a blessedly smaller section of the world to watch.
After lots of climbing and sliding and running, they made their way to the swings. Naturally, they all wanted to be pushed. Beca obliged them, smiling as Poppy decided it was the perfect opportunity to sing the newest Beatles' Song that had appeared on her favorite Children's program – Good Day Sunshine. Her sisters, of course, decided to join in. Beca certainly wasn't judging her children on their singing abilities – or their natural gift with harmony. But if she were – even a tiny bit - she would have been proud. The sun was beginning to set once they finished Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Beca clapped her hands before slowing all three of the swings. Poppy immediately began whining.
"Mama, I wasn't done."
"Daughter, I am tried," Beca whined back. Then she grew more serious. "We've been here for quite some time. I'd say you had a very nice afternoon and evening."
"We did," Poppy admitted, lower lip still sticking out a bit. Beca leaned down to drop a kiss on her head and gave her a playful sway on the backside.
"Then stop pouting, my love. Come on, let's go." She held out her hands and Bella and Poppy took them. Vera latched on to Bella and they began the walk home.
Once they were inside, she told them to go upstairs and play. "Quietly," she added, smiling at them. In the kitchen, she found Cynthia Rose preparing to leave and Chloe sipping a cup of tea.
"Thanks again, Cynthia Rose," Beca said. "They had a really good time."
"So did I, cap. Your little mini-mes are pretty cool."
"We like them," Chloe told her, smirking over her mug.
"Eh," Beca said, shrugging. "They're hardly returnable, so they'll do," she teased. "Tell Mable we said hi."
"Will do. Good night and god speed to both of you. I don't know how you're gonna put those kids to bed."
"You better disappear before we make you stay and deal with it," Beca told her. Cynthia Rose was gone – leaving the two mothers looking at one another.
"Hi," Beca said softly, moving to the chair next to her wife.
"Hey," Chloe responded, leaning over to kiss her. "It's seven and we're just now saying hello. This is nuts."
"Yes it is," Beca agreed. "And it's only going to get crazier if we don't get them into bed soon."
"Second winds cannot happen," Chloe said, eyes wide.
"No," Beca agreed. "Definitely not. What's the plan?" Chloe's expression became one that Beca knew well from their years in the Bellas - she was formulating her plan of attack.
"They need baths. You take your mini-me – she's a slowpoke. I'll get the other two."
"Braids instead of hair dryers?"
"Brilliant," Chloe agreed with a nod and an approving look. She glanced at her watch. "We can be reading bedtime stories in half an hour."
"It's a plan," Beca told her, leaning in to kiss her one more time. They were up the stairs in minutes. Beca dimmed every light possible and closed the darkening shades in each bedroom. Natural melatonin production was her friend. Chloe gathered both redheads into Poppy's bathroom and threw them in at the same time.
Beca found Bella among a pile of stuffed animals. She had them acting out something. "What'cha doing, kiddo?" She asked, kneeling down beside her daughter.
"We're having a play."
"What play is that?"
"Romeo and Juliet."
"How do you know about Romeo and Juliet?" Beca asked. "And come on, it's bath time." Bella didn't argue – but Chloe was not wrong. She was a poke if there ever was one. She undressed slowly, putting each item into her hamper one at a time. She tested the water temperature three times with her little hand before finally agreeing to let Beca help her into the tub.
Once she was in the water, Beca began wetting and shampooing her hair. "Now, where did you learn about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Mrs. McBea is reading it to us this week for Valentine's Day."
"Interesting choice for first grade," Beca responded. "What do you know so far?"
"They talk funny. And Juliet's family doesn't like Romeo's family, so they won't let them be friends. Would you ever not let us be friends with someone?"
"That is an interesting question," Beca said, indicating she should tip her head back so she could rinse. "It would depend on why we weren't comfortable with you being friends with that person."
"Why don't Romeo and Juliet's families like each other? I don't understand that part."
"I honestly don't remember," Beca told her. "It's been awhile since I read it. But let me see what I can find out for you, okay? We could even call Grandpa tomorrow. I happen to know he'd love to talk about this." Bella nodded contentedly and was mostly quiet as Beca finished bathing her and then helped her out of the tub to dry. Pajamas donned, she towel-dried the little girl's hair as much as possible and they sat on Bella's bed, where Beca began to carefully comb out the long stands. "Two braids, or one?"
"Can you do the ones that go like this?" Bella asked, indicating braids that wrapped around her head.
"I can do that," Beca told her. "Those are called Heidi braids."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure. What else did you do at school today?" Bella went on about her day, describing what they'd learned in math, what she read during quiet reading time, and how she had her favorite centers that morning - music and building. By the time Beca was finishing with her hair, Bella was describing the point in the day when Cynthia Rose had picked them up after school.
Chloe appeared just as they finished, Vera and Poppy in hand. They two little girls crawled up on the bed and Beca and Chloe arranged themselves against the headboard. Vera in Beca's lap, Poppy in Chloe's, and Bella between them. Chloe reached for the book they had been reading and opened it. She read two chapters, voices and all, and paused frequently to answer questions – or to ask them. By the time she finished, all three girls were yawning.
The book was set aside and Chloe sent Poppy and Vera to their rooms. "We'll be in in a minute," she promised. Beca turned out Bella's light and helped her under the covers. She tucked her in – and she and Chloe lay on either side of her.
"Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, mama."
"We love you, sweetheart."
"Love you too, mommy." They both kissed her.
"Any requests?" Beca asked.
"Dorothy's Song."
"I suppose that's doable," she replied. She kissed Bella's cheek one more time. "Close your eyes." Beca hummed, finding the right note.
When all the world is a hopeless jumble/ and the raindrops tumble all around/ Heaven opens a magic lane; When all the clouds darken up the skyway/ there's a rainbow highway to be found/ leading from your windowpane; To a place beyond the sun, just a step beyond the rain. Somewhere, Over the rainbow...
Chloe joined her for the chorus, harmonizing with her until the end. The crept from Bella's room, closed the door, and moved on to Poppy, then Vera. They each requested their own song, which they normally did. On their way back through, they listened at doors to make sure everyone was actually staying in bed – then went to their own room.
"It's not even eight thirty and I could go to sleep right now," Beca told her wife as she collapsed onto the bed.
Chloe climbed up next to her and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. "Then you won't get to hear about my crappy day. And I won't get to complain about how I didn't get to see you all dressed up."
"You saw me this morning," Beca teased.
"That was before coffee. Totally doesn't count."
"How about this?" Beca offered, waiting for Chloe to meet her eyes. "Next weekend, we'll find someone to babysit the kids, I'll get dressed up just for you, and we can go do something fancy."
"Like a restaurant without crayons and paper placemats?" Chloe asked, feigning excess excitement.
"You dream big, Chlo," Beca said with a laugh. "How about the new restaurant in the cultural district – Nola? Something like that."
"You can get us in to Nola?" Chloe asked. "This close to Valentine's Day? Have I told you lately how sexy it is when you use your connections to woo me?"
"Woo you?" Beca laughed. "I've already got you. Unless there's something you're not telling me."
"You know what I mean," she responded with a smile. "But seriously, that sounds amazing. I love our kids – but I could totes use a break." Beca growled playfully at the purposefully silly shortening of "totally."
"Let me know what show you want to see – I'll get Turtle man on tickets tomorrow."
Chloe giggled. "Poor, poor Theo. How does he deal with you day in and day out?"
"I'm the only woman his wife isn't suspicious of," Beca told her. "So he has to put up with me. Plus, I make him a lot of money."
"A lot," Chloe agreed. She smiled as she snuggled closer to Beca.
"So, Mrs. Beale, tell me about your crappy day." They held each other and reviewed their less-than stellar daytimes – then basked in the blessings that they came home to.
Please review - it helps inspire me :-) Let me know favorite parts, questions, things you'd be interested in seeing, etc.