A/N - Huge thanks, as always, to my beta, I appreciate the time and effort in helping me make this each chapter so much better.
To those that have asked... I had a great weekend with my folks, family and friends in Spain. My lovely mum nearly fell over with surprise :)
.oOo. Chapter Thirty Two .oOo.
After a fretful night's sleep, Chloe was up before dawn and feeling worse than she did the night before. Although her talk with Beca hadn't been the worst they'd ever had, she didn't like the fact that things had gotten a little heated and ugly. Knowing she was to blame completely for the way she acted, sat heavy on her heart. That Beca hadn't responded to the half a dozen messages she'd sent in the evening didn't help her guilt. That the messages were still unread when she checked as soon as she had woken up, saddened her more.
She brewed a pot of bad tasting coffee, but was too tired to make anymore. With a resigned sigh, Chloe took a mug of the lacklustre drink back upstairs, to the balcony just off of her bedroom. She liked the spot in the morning, liked watching the sun rise against the roofs of the houses opposite and the flowers in her front yard wake up as the light changed.
Chloe pulled the thin cardigan that she kept by the balcony door around her shoulders as she tucked her feet underneath herself. She brought the mug to her lips, but baulked at the smell. Screwing her face up, she took a full sip of her drink. It was worse than she had feared.
With a sigh, she looked at it as a metaphor of where her life was at the moment. Everything seemed to be off right now; for example her work. She was due at the film set in three days time and had barely read through the script a couple of times. She was cross at herself, knowing that Tom and Meryl would be perfectly ready and she'd be letting the team down by being so unprepared. Even when the babies were small, she'd managed to learn her lines for whatever commercial or small part she was playing.
Wondering if Stacie would be free to look after the girls when Beca brought them back from the park later that morning, so she could focus on memorizing her lines. Chloe found herself instead beginning to daydream about the small brunette, again. She knew Beca didn't understand why she cared so much about her; they were different in that way.
She found herself throughout the day, much like Alex, wondering if Beca would like to try some new recipes with her, if she'd like to go and see a movie with her, or if she'd be interested in checking out one of the random pop up bars that would show up in Hollywood every now and then. It had been ages since Aubrey had slipped into her mind, as she was the one who would usually do those things with Chloe, and she felt a little guilty about that.
She was just contemplating her thoughts when a sharp gust of early morning wind blew the leaves of the large oak tree to the left of her house, parting the view. Narrowing her eyes, she caught the unmistakable sight of Beca's car parked out on the street, far enough away to not be seen from the front door but close enough that Chloe could just make out the dented side panel.
Checking her watch and noting it was only a little after five in the morning, Chloe couldn't understand why Beca was so early to pick up the girls. They'd arranged that she'd be at the house for eight, giving her time to get the girls washed and dressed in the morning. They usually had breakfast together before Beca took the girls out for the morning. Deciding whether to text her again, this time to see if Beca wanted an awful cup of coffee, Chloe slipped back into her bedroom and unplugged her phone from her nightstand. Her texts from the night before were still unread.
Something was niggling at the back of her mind, and she couldn't fathom what it was.
'Does Beca really think I won't let her see the kids?' She asked herself as she crept along the hallway to the girls bedroom. She opened the door and noted they were sleeping soundly, before making her way back downstairs. Picking up the spare baby monitor from the lounge, she tucked it under her arm as she pushed her feet into a pair of flats that were in the hallway and collected her keys from the kitchen. Tucking them into her pocket, she unset the house alarm and tugged on the front door.
Using the side gate, she quietly made her way out of her house and crossed the road. It was very rare for any of her neighbours to be up early and she hoped that a lone paparazzi wouldn't be lurking about in the bushes, knowing a photo of her with bed hair and her ratty, but comfortable pyjamas would definitely be front page news.
She approached Beca's car with a hint of cautiousness, not knowing why Beca was there so early or what mood she would be in. Beca had tucked the vehicle into the only real blind spot on the road, one that was usually bypassed by the security patrol and the Police, and under the high walls of her neighbours boundaries. Chloe came around the driver's side and saw Beca slumped over the wheel, her face turned inwards towards the passenger seat.
'That does not look comfortable,' Chloe thought.
She tapped on the glass and watched as Beca jumped, before twisting her head around and squinting at the bright light. Her whole demeanor shifted when she saw it was Chloe.
"Roll down the window," Chloe said quietly, making the universal gesture to the brunette. She was surprised when Beca popped open the door instead.
"What?" Beca mumbled, blinking rapidly as she tried to wake up.
"I said 'roll down the window'. You didn't need to open the door."
"The window's broken. Came off its roller about a year ago," Beca answered, quite defensively.
"Oh. Right."
"Is everything okay with the girls?" Beca asked, growing worried as she realised how early it was.
"Yes, of course," Chloe replied, unsure why Beca would think otherwise.
"Then why are you out here so early?" Beca pushed, confused as to why Chloe was there.
"I couldn't sleep," Chloe said sincerely, although somewhat sheepishly. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have acted the way I did and I'm terribly, terribly sorry about it."
"Don't sweat it," Beca yawned, trying to subtly stretch out her limbs. "Honestly, it's fine."
"What time did you get here?" Chloe stifled a yawn, still not understanding why Beca was waiting outside her house at dawn. "If you'd said you were coming early, I could have-"
"-Don't worry about it," Beca replied with a bit of defensive heat in her voice.
"What do you mean? Have you been here all night? Did you sleep in your car?" Now it was Chloe who felt her voice rising, unwilling to let this go.
"Yeah, I got to thinking about stuff and then it didn't seem to make sense to drive home for a couple of hours," Beca's eyes darted about the place.
"You couldn't have come in and done your thinking on my comfortable sofa?" Chloe mused, trying to lighten the mood.
"My car might not be much but it's fine to think in, thank you. It doesn't answer back when all you need is a quiet place."
Chloe nodded along, understanding and remembering, all over again, that Beca liked to do things her own way, and in her own time. She made a mental note to try and respect that better, in the future. She looked up and down the road before checking the baby monitor. As she looked back towards Beca, she noted how busy the back seat was.
"You look like you're going camping, with all those things on the back seat."
"I'm not going camping."
"Then what is all that duffel bags and boxes for?" Chloe asked.
"It's just... stuff. I've got nowhere to put it so it just stays in the car."
"If you need to store some things, you can always leave a few items in my garage. It's empty now that David has gone."
"It's fine. I need most of it on a daily basis so it's all good," Beca yawned. "This is pretty much my life."
"Wait, are you living in your car again?"Chloe asked, the realisation dawning on her.
"No, it's..." Beca trailed off, before sighing heartily. "... don't make a fuss, okay? I had to give up the apartment a few days early so the painters could get in."
"I thought you were looking for a new place?" Chloe asked, slightly exasperated.
"There's not much that I can afford, unless I want to live in Dodgeville, on top of a crack den, or rent with a woman with eighteen cats."
"Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you look for a place. For goodness sake Beca, I have spare bedrooms!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Good for you."
"Why are you being-"
"-Look, I hardly know you, okay? I'm not going to come running to you for help or advice because I've only known you for like a couple of months."
"I thought we were getting along okay?"
"We are," Beca said, nodding along. "You keep a lot about yourself out of the papers, right? You don't share your personal problems with the world and I'm the same."
"I'm hardly 'the world'," Chloe air quoted at the same time.
"No, I know that, but the principle is the same." Beca sighed.
"Will you at least come in for an early breakfast?"
"I can do that." Beca grinned and pushed open the door a little further. She picked up her backpack and laptop bag from the front seat and got out of the car, shutting the door quietly.
"And if you wanted to use the shower, or the washing machine, while you are here, you can-"
"-I'm fine, thank you." Beca said, hitching the bags up onto her shoulders and began to walk over the road towards Chloe's house.
"Why are you always so stubborn?" Chloe pressed.
"Why are you always trying to rescue me?" Beca countered.
"Why are we always arguing at the minute?"
"Honestly I have no idea! I know I'm tired and cranky and not myself."
"That's exactly how I am feeling too." Chloe said, opening the gate for Beca to walk though.
"Are you not sleeping well again?"
"You remembered me saying that?"
"Of course."
Chloe seemed genuinely surprised that Beca would remember a small throwaway comment about herself as they walked in through the front door of the house. Beca set her belongings down by the door and followed Chloe into the kitchen.
"This coffee..." Chloe began to explain. "...tastes like crap. I don't know why as it's my usual brand. Let me just brew a fresh pot and see if it's any better."
"Is the bag out of date?" Beca asked, watching as Chloe tipped the hot drink down the drain.
"No," Chloe responded, shaking her head and passing the bag of beans to Beca.
"How long did you roast the beans for?"Beca asked.
"I didn't."
"That's why it tastes bad. You forgot to roast them first."
"I don't..." Chloe said, looking confused. "... they are usually pre roasted."
"Well, this time you bought..." Beca turned the bag around to show Chloe. "... unroasted beans."
"I did?"
"Yeah. Where are the baking trays?"
"Why?"
"We'll roast some quickly."
"Trays are in the drawer under the oven. How do you know how to do that?"
"I worked in a McDonalds and I still work in a coffee shop. It might not be pretty work but I can make an awesome cup of joe." Beca grinned. "I do have some skills!"
Chloe, appreciating the change of tone in their conversation and feeling more like them again, laughed quietly as she switched on the oven.
"What temp?" She asked Beca.
"Four fifty, if you can." Beca replied, as she shook out the coffee beans onto the baking tray as quietly as she could.
"Yep, no problem. Oven heats up in less than five minutes. How long will they need to roast for? An hour?"
"Um, no!" Beca chuckled. "About ten to twelve minutes. Any more than fifteen, and it's considered baked, instead of roasted and you get a dull, earthy taste that no one likes. We keep a pot of shitty beans under the counter and if a customer is rude, we make their coffee out of that. Weird thing is, most of them never used to complain about it so I guess creamer and sugar does hide everything."
"That's hilarious!" Chloe snorted, the smallest of giggles following.
"It is pretty bad but some of those people deserved it."
"Think I deserve one after last night... oh wait, that's why my coffee was so bad this morning."
"No, you're okay. I should have said something about the job but I'm just used to doing everything on my own."
"I respect that, I do and I'll do better in the future."
"I'm sorry that I upset you," Beca added.
"No, please, it's all me. I'm very sorry. You don't have to tell me everything that's going on in your life and I shouldn't have gotten so worked up in the first place. I have a horrible headache that just won't shift and Tylenol isn't touching it," Chloe explained as she sat on one of the bar stools.
"Let's draw a line, okay?" Beca asked, a bit exasperated.
"Okay…"
"I don't want to be apologising all the time and I don't want you too either," Beca's tone grew more tired, then changed to caring. "I'm not used to seeing you upset though."
"It doesn't happen very often," Chloe's tone matched Beca's tired exasperation.
"Are you worried about anything?" Beca asked, checking the temperature on the oven.
'You,' Chloe thought.
"I guess the fact that I've not read through my script for my movie and we start filming on Wednesday."
"What do you need to make that happen?" Beca asked, as she pulled on the oven door and slipped the baking tray covered in beans inside.
"I need my bad head to go away, I need some sleep and I need some quiet time. Three things that just won't happen," Chloe said dejectedly.
"Well, while I don't have a cure for the headache, a strong cup of coffee should help," Beca offered, trying to sound upbeat and hopeful. This wasn't her strong suit at the best of times, and at the moment she was exhausted herself. Still, she wanted to help Chloe, so she tried to think of other good advice. "Why don't you go and do some yoga or something? Isn't that supposed to be good for stress relief?"
"I guess so," Chloe sighed, tiredly.
"I can take the girls today, all day if you need me to," Beca offered, feeling herself on firmer ground. "That way you can have some quiet time. I offered before, if you remember."
"I know, and you are so sweet to offer," Chloe smiled and Beca nodded her response back.
"Chloe?" Beca asked, after a few minutes of silence.
"Hmm?"
"When does David see the girls?"
"David?" Chloe found herself confused by Beca's question.
"Yeah, asshole ex..."
"I mean, he..." Chloe paused; she found herself having to think about the answer.
Beca fixed Chloe with a look.
"When did he last see them?" Beca asked, in all seriousness.
"When he moved out," Chloe answered sheepishly. She's actually embarrassed she had not really registered this fact.
"That was weeks ago!" Beca exclaimed, reaching over to pull on the oven door slightly to check on the beans inside. A delicious aroma enveloped them almost immediately. She picked up the oven mitt on top of the oven and reached inside for the tray. She laid it on top of the cooker and turned back to Chloe. "Does he want to see them?"
"We haven't sorted that out yet," Chloe admitted. "I guess he was busy settling in with Holly."
"Don't do that."
"Don't do what?" Chloe asked, truly perplexed by Beca's words.
"Make excuses for him. Sorry Chloe, but he really is an asshole." Beca growled, begin to fan the beans with a towel to cool them down quicker.
"I know."
"He should be here, helping out."
"Yeah, and he will do, when he comes to his senses."
"Hmmm." Beca hissed out.
"He's the one missing out," Chloe offered. In truth she hadn't missed David's presence, not with Beca around.
"I guess so. Lucky for me that I can have his slots," Beca mused, almost as if she could read Chloe's thoughts.
"It's not like that," Chloe assured Beca, not wanting the other woman to feel she's being used.
"Oh, I know," Beca breathed out, trying her best to offer Chloe a reassured smile. "Like I said, I am happy to take the girls all day if you need me to, to give you some time to yourself. Or I can hang out around here, if you'd prefer them close. And this evening, I can help read through your lines with you, if that would help."
"That would be a massive help, but I can't ask you to do that."
"You didn't ask, I offered. Sundays are my one day off in the week and it's my day to do with as I please and I'm happy to help."
"My friend Aubrey used to come round and read through with me."
"Well, ask her then and I'll get out of your hair."
"She's not been around for weeks; I think she's trying to give us some space. I could maybe invite her round for dinner... give you both a chance to get to know each other better."
Beca flared her nostrils at the thought.
"She's nice once you get to know her. She's just very protective of me. She doesn't usually trust someone new in my life."
"Why is she like that?"
"She always just assumes that everyone I know, other than her, is out for what they can get from me."
Beca scoffed.
"You okay?" Chloe asked, a look of concern at the noise that came out of Beca's mouth.
"Yeah... just... at the barbecue, a couple were trying to get me to ask you for something but Luke rescued me so I could get away. And then a guy figured out I worked at Universal and tried to get me to employ his nephew. As soon as he realised I was a nobody, he went off in search of Luke. Didn't realise until just now that it gave me an insight into what your friend means. And something you mentioned before about not knowing if people were really your friend."
"Someday, when you have your own crowd of devoted fans, you'll have to fend people off too. Your friend, Amy, will have to be your bodyguard!"
"God help us all... she'll sell my soul for me, that one."
"Luke then?"
"If I've forgiven him by then," Beca grumbled, picking up the tray of beans and giving them a shake. "They're ready to go."
"Awesome, thank you so much!" Chloe jumped off of the bar stool and collected the tray from Beca. She tipped the beans into the coffee grinder and switched it on, blocking the sound with her body as best she could.
"You're welcome."
"Forgive Luke, okay," Chloe said softly and with kindness. She looked at Beca warmly with hopeful eyes. "He only has your best interests at heart."
"I know," Beca shrugged, watching as Chloe transferred the coffee grounds to the pot for brewing.
"He lives in Santa Monica, right?" Hoping she had planted the seeds of reconciliation, Chloe decided on a different tact.
"Yes, that's right. Got an apartment about a mile from the pier. He took it over from his uncle."
"Sweet spot," Chloe said with a whistle. It was an area she would have lived in if she didn't have the girls.
"Yeah," Beca agreed while nodding. It is a great area, one she would love to be able to afford. "It's a really nice building."
"No apartments available near him?" Chloe asked, bringing the conversation back to Beca as she retook a seat on one of the kitchen bar stools, patting the one next to her for Beca to sit.
"Um, there's no way I can afford Santa Monica."
"You were in Los Feliz before... what you could save on gas driving to all the jobs you do could help with the rent…"
"Well..." Beca began carefully. "... not really as... my biggest expense used to be the medical bills for Jessie but the compensation settlement took care of that. But I've still got the court payments."
"Court payments?" Chloe was caught off guard by this response.
"Yeah, I'm paying five hundred dollars to you a month for Jessie for maintenance and-"
"-What? I never-" Chloe couldn't help interrupting Beca.
"-Courts take it straight from my pay at Universal," Beca continued. "At the moment they are taking the court fees so that's an additional nine hundred a month so it doesn't leave me much money for rent, bills, gas, food and anything else."
"I never realised they were actually doing that." Chloe baulked, her eyes going comically wide. "I'll have that stopped straight away. You shouldn't be paying anything towards Jessie's care. You do more than their father does so no, no more maintenance. It was wrong to have set that up in the first place. I thought we'd say no to that."
"You don't see it in your account?" Beca asked, truly finding it hard to picture someone not knowing what exactly is in their bank account.
"I don't check my account..." Chloe started, she was a bit embarrassed to admit. "…I mean, my accountant..."
"I get it," Beca sighed, admitting it even though she didn't mean it, "I have to check mine everyday to know whether I can buy food. But then I've only got a few dollars in my account so every cent matters."
"Oh Beca..." Chloe's voice cracked with emotion.
"No, it's totally fine. I'm trying to say this kindly but, I guess, five hundred dollars, maybe it doesn't affect your balance too much."
"I'll get you a check written today for what you already spent. I know it's only a couple of month's money but it might help a little towards a new place."
"No, it'll help a lot. It's half a deposit for a room in a house."
"Just a room?"
"Between my jobs, travelling here and spending time with the girls, I don't need a whole apartment. It's okay."
Chloe's eyes were darting about the kitchen, her mind in overdrive. Beca was right, she didn't notice the money in her account, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she checked her bank balance... it would have been a little over five years ago when they bought the house.
Trying not to cry, she glanced over at the coffee pot to check it was ready and slipped off the stool to reach for two mugs on the draining board. Filling them both quickly, she reached for the creamer on the tray and tipped a healthy amount into Beca's mug before steadying herself on the counter for a second. She didn't want Beca to see just how guilty she felt and gazed out over the back yard for a second.
An idea popped into her mind, and she snapped her head round to face Beca so quickly, the brunette drew herself backwards.
"Listen, and hear me out..." Chloe began, swiping up the two mugs and dumping one in front of Beca without looking at which one she had given her. Beca reached over and swapped the two drinks around. "... I have a whole mini house that you could use. My pool house. It's set up to live in any way, okay, it's small but it would be more comfortable than your car and more private than a room in a house."
"Yeah, um, I'm not living in your pool house. But thanks anyway."
"Why not?" Chloe's voice pitched higher in surprise. She truly believed this was a perfect solution.
"Where do I start?" Beca scoffed.
"It's got everything you need. There's a really nice bed; I'll get a new mattress for it, there's a full bathroom, television, pull down desk and a small kitchenette. You can use the main house for anything else you need; laundry, storage and you can use the pool but you'd get some privacy and could come and go as you please. You have a key to the back gate so you wouldn't have to come through the main house."
"Thanks for the offer but I'm not doing that," Beca used a tone that Luke had learned meant the discussion was over, and there was no changing Beca's mind.
Chloe unfortunately had not had time to learn and recognize this tone. Nor did she recognise Beca's visual cues.
"It's a great idea," she excitedly said instead.
"Yeah, I don't-"
"-You'll be close to the girls, no rent, it's safe around here, it's closer to Luke..." Chloe reeled off the good reasons.
"I agree, being that close to the girls would be awesome-"
"-Well, that's settled then."
"Um, no, it's not settled. How will it look?"
"What do you mean?"
"Homeless woman moves into star's pool house... the press will have a field day with it and then people will start asking questions about the girls and I thought we agreed that we'd keep them out of that as much as possible."
"My publicist can keep that out of the papers."
"Yeah, maybe, but the paps... we're already getting snapped together," Beca said, air quoting the word 'snapped'.
"That's not enough reason not to live here."
"I don't want to be indebted to you for anything else. I've got to do this by myself. I appreciate the offer, I really do but I'm not going to move in here."
"Just think about it, please?" Chloe asked and Beca nodded, despite having no intention of reconsidering.
"Yeah, okay."
.oOo.
"Five more minutes and then we're heading back home," Beca called out to Jessie and Kate as they played a game of chase in the field by the rec centre, not far from Chloe's house.
After their conversation that morning, Beca and Chloe had fallen into an easy silence and had spent an hour or so enjoying the peace and quiet before the girls got up. Beca charged her phone while Chloe made some banana bread for breakfast, showing Beca how to make it as she ran through the recipe.
Once the girls were up, with Alex as usual taking longer to wake up than the twins, it was wonderfully chaotic. What with the girls being excited to see Beca already there, and then breakfast, brushing of teeth and no less than eight discussions about what to wear, there was a charm to the morning bustle. Chloe insisted that Beca take the keys to her car to get the girls to the park and was quite proud of herself that it only took three attempts to coerce the brunette, citing that the girl's car seats were already set up in the car and it would be so much easier than trying to walk. Together, they packed a snack into one of Chloe's picnic baskets and far too many drinks for the four of them.
Chloe was grateful for the few hours to herself to start reading through the script again, knowing her girls were in safe hands. Beca was carefree as she drove the couple of miles to the park, already enjoying the time with the girls as they sang the Fancy Nancy theme tune, all at a different pace and out of tune but it was music to Beca's ears.
They'd spent the entire morning following the nature trail around the park, collecting all manner of paraphernalia to make a collage when they got back home. Jessie was beside herself to be able to show Kate and Alex how to do it, as the craft project had been a thing she'd done with Beca regularly. Beca wasn't entirely surprised to see that Alex and Kate had always had an organised craft to do and hadn't done any off plan creative work before.
They'd had their snacks and drinks around eleven, with Beca throwing down a blanket for them to all pile upon. She loved the chaos and a fleeting thought crossed her mind that if Jesse had lived, would he and Alex be doing this together on a lazy Sunday with her. She had no doubt in her mind that he would have adored the little girl who had stuck by Beca's side the entire morning.
She'd read them three stories as they'd each wanted their favourite, and they'd chased after at least half a dozen butterflies. The only downside to the morning was that Kate had spotted the ice cream seller on the edge of the park and had asked Beca for one, which had turned into a chorus of all three girls begging and making a fuss when she said no.
They were just beginning to cause quite a scene when Beca packed them up and moved them away from the area. She noticed a couple of people beginning to stare quite intently and didn't want any more attention on them. She'd settled them by a small group of trees and had organised a few games to burn off some energy. Now, as Jessie and Kate were playing chase, Alex was curled up to her side. She was smaller than the other two and didn't have quite the same energy.
"What do you want to be when you grow up Alex?" Beca asked her, as she gently drew circles on the little girl's back.
"A 'ragon."
"A dragon?"
"Yeah. Raaawwr!" Alex roared, putting up a perfect T-Rex pose with her little hands.
"Wow, you'd be super good at being a dragon." Beca said, trying not to laugh.
"Or I be a faerie."
"That's quite a difference. I guess you could be a dragon one day and a faerie the next. That might work?"
"Yeah!"
"What you want be when you is growed up?" Alex asked Beca.
"Well, I'm already grown up, aren't I?"
"No," Alex shook her head.
"I just want to play and make music. That's all I've ever wanted to do since I was a kid. Remember Uncle Luke?" Beca asked and Alex nodded. "We make music, like you hear on the radio."
"Dat's cool."
"It really is!"
"You take me wiv you to work?"
"You want to come to work with me?" Beca asked in surprise. The request truly caught her off-guard.
"Yeah. I wanna see," Alex answered excitedly.
"I'll have a word with Mommy but I'm sure we can sort that out."
"Cool!" Alex yelled, causing Kate and Jessie to come running over to see what she was getting excited over.
"Mommy, I need my puff puff." Jessie coughed a couple of times for good measure.
"Okay, baby." Beca reached into the picnic bag for Jessie's inhaler. She fitted the breathing mask to the inhaler and popped the mask over Jessie's nose and mouth and pumped the inhaler for Jessie to breathe in.
"You need to sit down for a minute," Beca said to the bright red face that was hopping about from foot to foot.
"Yeah Jessie, sit and breeeve," Kate said, pushing her sister down to the ground.
"Gentle hands Kate," Beca cautioned.
"Sorry," Kate pouted a little.
"It's okay, just use soft hands, okay?" Beca said kindly, as she straightened the mask over Jessie's face again.
"Yeah."
"Shall we pack up while Jessie sits for a minute?" Beca asked Alex and Kate.
"Can we stay?" Alex asked.
"We need to get home for Mommy. Make sure she's not feeling too lonely without you all."
"You stay til bedtime?" Alex tipped her head to one side as she posed her question to Beca, in a move that Beca recognised as her own.
"If Mommy says it's okay, then yes."
"Yaaaay!" Alex clapped her little hands together in delight.
"My Mommy likes you," Kate interjected.
"I like your Mommy," Beca said truthfully.
"She looks at your face on her phone," Kate continued. "She says you is pretty."
"Well, your Mommy is prettier than me," Beca countered, ignoring the light flush she could feel creeping over her cheeks.
"Nu huh, you has eyes like Lex," Kate continued, innocently.
"I do huh?"
"Yup, same blue."
Beca began to wonder whether she should change the subject before Kate mentioned anything else. She was wondering how much they understood about what was going on.
"My Mommy is on the television," Kate continued.
"That's right, Kate, she is. And that's why we are out here this morning so Mommy can have some time to do her reading," Beca tried to explain, but she could see that she wasn't making much sense to the little red head. She was used to talking to Jessie about everything that was going on, in a way that the little one could understand but she actually liked that Jessie and Kate were so different. Checking the time on the phone, she took the mask from Jessie, gathered up the picnic basket and called out to the girls. "Everyone ready to go home."
There was a collection of some good natured 'no's!' before Alex slipped her hand into Beca's. Jessie grabbed Kate's hand and they all began to walk back across the park, talking good naturedly about the art project they were going to start when they got home.
For the first time since the whole episode began, Beca allowed herself to relax as she watched Kate and Jessie skip on ahead, holding hands and giggling, without a care in the world. She tried to encourage Alex to join in with them, but she was perfectly content holding onto Beca's hand. While this hadn't been the life that she'd planned for herself and Jessie, she was slowly coming to terms with the new direction it was going, and she was content with the changes. As she began to load the girls into the car, she felt a sliver of something pass through her and she was surprised to find herself actually quite glad that Chloe was in her life.
She shut the car door, pulled a silly face for the four year olds inside and grinned at their raucous laughing. Turning to walk around to the driver's side, she felt someone brush up against her.
"Oh sorry," Beca mumbled, to the retreating figure who didn't even pause or turn around, as she tucked herself in towards the car. She stared at the female as she began to jog down the sidewalk. There was something odd about the encounter, and the hairs on Beca's neck stood on end for a second or two before she shook herself and pulled on the driver's door.
"You dudes ready?" She asked, as she settled in the seat and started the car. "Buckle up and let's see if we can make this car fly on the way home!"
She smiled at the loud cheering in the back as she pulled away from the kerb.
.oOo.