A/N - Hello all! Hope everyone is staying safe and keeping well. Just thought I should drop by with a quick update, before this story gathers too much dust and gets lost. Thanks for reading along!
Huge thanks to my wonderful beta - thank you for all you do. xx
.oOo. Chapter Forty Six .oOo.
*A Few Weeks Later*
"So Becs, I've been thinking." Chloe said, spinning around on the office chair in their now shared study. Beca had finally acquiesced and moved most of her equipment into the room a few days before. She had to admit that it was nice to have a bit more space in the pool house, and to be able to shut the door on her work for a while.
They'd also been able to spend more time together, both just the two of them and with the girls. One extra special example had happened when they had all gone out for a celebratory meal when Beca had received her first paycheck. Chloe hadn't stopped beaming with pride the whole night and Beca had felt such joy when she'd taken the girls to the toy store the following weekend, letting them each pick out a small gift.
Chloe had also caught Beca checking the banking app on her phone several times as she took in the fact that for the first time, she didn't have to worry about having enough money to cover her bills.
"Hmmm?" Beca mumbled.
"Christmas."
"What?" Beca muttered, not taking her eyes off of her phone. She was currently looking for any new music festivals for the following summer that she could apply for tickets for.
"Christmas," Chloe repeated.
"What about it?"
"Well, David has asked if he can have the girls."
"Um… cool. Wait, what?" Beca grunted, finally looking up at Chloe.
"We agreed with our impending divorce a few months ago that we'd split the holidays but that was really before you and Jessie came into our lives in the way you have now."
"He wants the girls over Christmas? No way," Beca shook her head, laying her phone down on the desk.
"We could take a trip. Go somewhere romantic, just the two of us," Chloe winked. So far their relationship hadn't evolved past a few heated make out sessions, both of them wanting to take the next step but reluctant to in case everything went wrong. There was more at stake than the two of them and they'd agreed to wait until Christmas before going any further, which was just a few weeks away.
"We could… but I'm not leaving the girls behind." Beca raised an eyebrow in Chloe's direction.
"Do you feel strongly about this?"
"Yes, I do. Think about it. It's my first Christmas with Alex and Kate, it's yours with Jessie. J and I have clearly never done Christmas Beale style and I have to be honest, I'd kinda like to see what Santa brings them this year."
"Okay…" Chloe said thoughtfully. Beca noticed the smallest of smiles on Chloe's lips.
"So you obviously knew I was going to say that," Beca sighed. "I've got to go to work in a few minutes. Either tell me quickly now what the plan is or you can spend the next ten hours plotting even more and you can fill me in when I get back over breakfast in the morning."
"You're working this afternoon?" Chloe asked, looking towards the calendar on the study wall. She quickly read Beca's carefully handwritten description of her evening's plans.
"Yes ma'am," Beca replied, pocketing her phone.
"It says 'studio'."
"It does," Beca confirmed.
"Why are you being so secretive?"
"I'm not."
"You aren't telling me what you are doing," Chloe said, using a playful whining tone.
"You haven't asked!"
"Okay, Ms Literal… what are you up to this evening?" Chloe asked, standing up from the chair.
"I can't say."
"Beca!"
"I really can't," Beca laughed, looking at the wall clock. "And I really need to go, or I'm going to be late."
"Beca!" Chloe repeated, this time stamping her foot in a huff. Beca couldn't take the protest seriously as Chloe was sporting a really sappy grin on her face.
"We can all have secrets Chloe. Two can play that game!"
"What time will you be home then?" Chloe asked.
"Late," Beca said. "Probably around two, three at the latest."
"Want me to fix you anything for when you get back?"
"No thanks." Beca shook her head. "I'll just crash when I get in and be up in time for breakfast with the girls at seven thirty."
"Or you could have a lie in and then we could all go out for a drive somewhere?"
"Where are you thinking?" Beca asked, reaching down for her messenger bag and starting to fill it with everything she needed for that evening.
"I'll come up with some suggestions. But seriously, get some rest. You've had lots of late nights and early starts the last couple of weeks."
"Yeah, well, it's that time of year. Everyone wants everything done before Christmas."
"Oh that reminds me… Thanksgiving."
"How does Christmas remind you of Thanksgiving?"
"It just does. Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?"
"You know I don't… but I really have to book right now. Catch you in the morning? We can talk everything through then."
"Sure," Chloe said, holding her arms out for a hug. Beca leaned in, used to Chloe's need to continuously touch her. "Have a good night."
"And you. Don't drunk dial Aubrey again."
"That was one time…" Chloe trailed off, watching Beca retreat out of the door.
.oOo.
"Yo Becaroonatron!"
"Jesus Amy, can't you ever just call me Beca, like everyone else does?" Beca rolled her eyes so hard, they almost hurt. She was just walking to her office and Amy had called just as she'd entered the building.
"Nah cobber, why be like the masses," Amy laughed. "I'm actually calling about Thanksgiving."
"Oh God, what has Beale said to you?"
"Who's Be All?"
"Chloe."
"Yeah, I know, I'm just pulling your leg."
Beca shook her head as she batted the light switch in her office. She set her bag down on the sofa, unzipped it and pulled out her laptop, clicking it into the docking station on the desk in one easy movement.
"Are you still there, Becsaboobaloon?" Amy asked.
"Yes... you said something about Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah, I did. I'm hosting."
"Hosting?" Beca questioned.
"Yup."
"Hosting what?"
"Thanksgiving," Amy said plainly.
Beca paused in what she was doing, "why?"
"Because I want to," Amy laughed loudly.
"But you don't celebrate Thanksgiving."
"I've decided to start," Amy declared.
"How do you decide to..." Beca sighed, knowing the conversation wasn't going anywhere sensible. "... what are you doing for your Thanksgiving?"
"Thought I'd do a dinner party. Invite a few friends. You can meet Bumper."
"Are you still seeing him?" Beca was slightly shocked, knowing the majority of Amy's boyfriends only lasted a few weeks.
"Yeppers. He's a whole hunk of man meat I just can't get enough of."
"Gross," Beca winced and tried not to gag. "Yeah, okay sure."
"You in?"
"Let me check with Chloe, and I'll get back to you. She was talking about Thanksgiving earlier and-"
"-She's invited," Amy announced.
"Huh?"
"Chloe's invited. Actually, she's already said she's coming. And all the girls too," Amy nodded.
"When did you-"
"-Yesterday."
"You asked her first?" Beca checked.
"Yeppers. Need me a guest of honour!"
"Oh Christ," Beca groaned. "You're not going all stupid again over her, are you?"
"No."
Beca shook her head, "Who else is coming?"
"Luke, Aubrey, Bumpy. That's nine so far," Amy lowered her voice a little. "You think some of Chloe's friends might come too?"
Beca noted the change in Amy's voice, recognising a hint of vulnerability. She knew, despite Amy's bravado, that she struggled to make friends.
"I can't say but it wouldn't hurt to ask. You've met them a couple of times now, haven't you?"
"Yeppers."
"Shoot them a text and see what they say. Where is it going to be?" Beca asked.
"When?"
"No, where?" Beca confirmed.
"Your place."
"My place?"
"Yeah, yours and Chloe's," Amy said nonchalantly.
"Why are you hosting at-"
"-Bumpy's only got a one bed and I'm still living in the van so..."
"Right, yes, of course. Have you asked Chloe yet?" Beca asked.
"No, thought you could?" Amy asked expectedly.
Beca shook her head, "Yeah, okay, I'll speak to her later."
"Could you put on some music for the event?" Amy asked.
"It's an event now?"
"Yeah, dinner and party games," Amy confirmed, sounding proud of herself.
"Okay, now I'm getting scared."
Amy heartily laughed, "Hey, my parties are always good!"
"Ames, someone usually ends up in hospital, you usually lose your phone, or your clothes or a person and something always catches fire at one of your parties," Baca sighs in exasperation.
"So?" Amy actually sounded perplexed by Beca's observation.
Beca closed her eyes, "Fine, if Chloe says yes to you borrowing her house, I'll do some music for it."
"Perfect, thanks. Can you also do the decorations?"
"Decorations. Why do we need decorations?" Beca was confused and not following Amy's thoughts.
"Because it's my first Thanksgiving."
"You're going all out, huh?" Beca snarked sarcastically.
"Yeppers."
"Okay, what do you need me to pick up?" Beca sighed.
"I'll send you the list."
"Christ, there's a list?" Beca grumbled.
"Yep."
"Fine, okay."
"Oh, and outfits for the girls please," Amy requested.
"Amy, this is-"
"-Please?" Amy repeated.
"Sure, okay," Beca rolled her eyes, looking at her laptop screen and seeing the work emails starting to pile up. "Just send over what you want me to pick up."
"I'll send you the money after I get paid. Might have to do it in two lots 'cos my gigs are a bit slow at the moment."
"No, it's okay. I'll just get what you need," Beca offered, feeling generous with the two pay packets she'd received from Universal and it being more money than she'd ever had in her entire life.
"You sure?"
"Of course."
"Thanks Becaraptor."
"Mmm hmmm."
"So, how's life treating you at the moment?"
.oOo.
"Hey!"
"Jesus!" Beca squealed, jumping up off one of the sun loungers on the deck.
"No, just Chloe," Chloe smirked.
"You scared the shit outta me!" Beca exclaimed, her hand covering the area above her heart as she sat back down.
"Sorry," Chloe grinned, looking anything but. "You are just so easy to scare sometimes."
"And you can be an asshole sometimes," Beca growled, but good naturedly. "What are you doing up so late?"
"I couldn't sleep," Chloe said, pulling the edge of one of the thin blankets she kept by the backdoor for the cooler evenings, around her shoulders.
"You okay?" Beca asked, moving along the sun lounger and making space for Chloe to sit next to her; a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.
"Yeah, just thinking of some stuff."
"Anything you need to talk about?" Beca offered.
"No," Chloe smiled sweetly.
"I hear you spoke to Amy yesterday... or the day before yesterday."
"I did," Chloe confirmed. "She called you too?"
"She did, yes. She's asked to have Thanksgiving dinner here, if that's okay. She's not got the room and-"
"-It's fine Beca, I'm happy to host here."
"I appreciate it. I know she's quite persuasive. She's put me on music and decorations. I think she sent me a list but I haven't looked at it yet. Are you sure you are okay with having Thanksgiving here? I know Amy can be a bit much sometimes."
"I think it is a lovely idea; not sure why I didn't think of it myself. Be lovely to spend some time with everyone and it's no hassle; we're set up for parties here."
"Think she's inviting some of your friends too."
"I don't mind!" Chloe giggled.
"She doesn't have many friends," Beca tried to explain. "She's hard work at times and people don't see past that."
"Good thing you do then."
"Yeah, guess so," Beca said wistfully, looking out over the garden.
"How was work today?" Chloe asked.
"Really good actually. I finished Twenty One's album. Just need to get the cover art approved then it's over to the band for final approval."
"That's amazing. Thought you had until Christmas to finish it?"
"I did, but I wanted to get it done in case they didn't like the changes I made and I've got time to amend it for them."
"I'm sure they'll love it," Chloe reassured Beca.
"Want to come meet them when they first listen to the album?"
"Can I do that?" Chloe's eyes went wide.
"Of course. You can be my date," Beca said, a little shyly.
"I'd love that!"
"That's settled then," Beca nodded.
"What does Luke think of the album?"
"He's not listened to it yet."
"Oh?" Chloe was confused, knowing that they both relied on each other with their work.
"Technically, I don't need to run anything past him anymore, plus he was being super weird on his phone today and took a couple of calls on it but walked away from me when he answered so God knows what's going on with him," Beca explained.
"You didn't ask?" Chloe's tone dropped a little.
"Nah, he'll tell me when he's ready. He knows I'm always there but he's got Aubrey now."
"Oh Bec, he isn't going anywhere."
"I know, but she should be the first person he goes to now. It's all cool with me," Beca scratched the side of her nose. "I mean, I'd come to you first, I guess, before him."
Chloe smiled broadly at the simple statement and snuggled in a little closer to Beca. "So, what was your big secret this morning?"
"Huh?" Beca said, noting she was starting to get a dead arm with Chloe clinging onto her like a limpet.
"Why wouldn't you tell me what you were doing in the studio? You were all cagey and coy earlier."
"Oh, it's nothing."
"Don't give me that!" Chloe laughed.
"You really want to know?" Beca asked, pulling back from Chloe a little to look at her properly.
"I want to know everything about you and your life."
"Weirdo," Beca paused. "Okay, so I've decided to go to circus school and become a dragon aerobic instructor."
Chloe playfully punched Beca's arm as skillfully as she could from underneath a blanket.
"Well, you'll be great at it," she deadpanned. "Will you tell me the truth?"
"I'm really not sure I should, especially out here... it's quite late," Beca gestured with her free hand, indicating the general outside of the house.
"Why?" Chloe was confused.
"You'll probably squeal."
"I won't."
Beca gave Chloe a knowing look. "Okay, but remember, it's two o'clock in the morning in your very respectable neighbourhood."
Chloe nodded happily.
"I was recording some vocals-"
"-You were?" Chloe interrupted.
"Yeah, for a sound track."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What for?" Chloe asked, a tremor of excitement running through her.
Beca grinned and braced herself for what was about to come. "A movie."
"A movie," Chloe repeated.
"Yeah."
"What movie?"
"It's called Battlestar Believer."
"That's my movie! Chloe shrieked, immediately clamping her hand over her mouth.
"Ssssh!" Beca whisper yelled.
"Why are you working on my movie?" Chloe mumbled from behind her hand.
"You know Universal has the music rights to this, yes?"
"I know that, but that's not your department."
"No, it's not but Bryant gave me the heads up that Mr Spielberg was after some guidance and so he put me forward for the vocal demo a month or so ago."
"You never said..." Chloe trailed off
"Wanted it to be a surprise," Beca shrugged.
"Tell me everything!"
"Not much more to say."
"Oh, you are so lying!" Chloe laughed.
"What? I'm not."
"Oh you so are! Alex pulls the exact same face when she lies about how much candy she's had!"
Beca laughed genuinely. "Yeah, okay. Well, they kinda liked my vocals, I guess, so I've been recording one of the pieces of new material that goes in the scene where your character, manages to get the ship-
"-Back into orbit."
"Yup," Beca nodded. "Those are the lines we were reading the day you tried to drown me in the swimming pool."
"Oh my goodness, this is so exciting!"
Beca shrugged, suddenly feeling a little shy.
"I know you said you'd take me along as your plus one to the premiere, but now I get my own invite so you can take Aubrey or Stacie if you want to."
"I'd still love to go with you. I'm so excited!" Chloe's smile was splitting her face in half. "But talk about stealing my thunder."
"What, wait?"
"No way anyone's going to come and see Tom, Meryl and me now. It's all going to be to hear the new vocal sensation!"
"Oh hush!" Beca giggled. "It was supposed to be a surprise! I know the movie is supposed to be released just before Christmas so it was going to be an early gift to you as you seem to like my voice."
"It still will be an amazing gift Bec! And yes, your voice is beautiful and..." Chloe leant forward and whispered in Beca's ear, "... it does things to me that it really, really shouldn't."
"Oh," Beca gulped hard.
"I'm so proud of you," Chloe said normally.
"Thanks," Beca ducked her head down, feeling shy.
Chloe pulled her arm out from under the blanket and wrapped it around Beca's shoulder, drawing her closer. "I'm so excited about what next year will bring for you. I'm curious to see what it holds in store for us together."
"Me too," Beca admitted, yawning lightly. "I'm sorry, I think I'm gonna call it a night. Leave you to dream about next year."
"Sure," Chloe pulled her arm away. "Night night baby."
Beca smiled sweetly at the pet name as she stood up, holding out her hand to help Chloe off of the lounger. She pulled the redhead closer to her, wrapping her arm around Chloe's waist before dipping her head and lightly kissing Chloe's neck.
"Thank you for waiting up for me," Beca whispered.
"You're welcome," Chloe whispered back, as she tucked a kiss onto the top of Beca's head.
.oOo.
The next morning Chloe awoke to the sound of merriment in the kitchen. Batting the top of her duvet for her phone, she squinted at the screen, trying to see the time, surprised when she saw it was already past eight.
Rapidly blinking away sleep, she swung her legs over the side of the mattress and stretched, feeling and hearing a couple of very satisfying clicks from her spine as she did so. She quickly padded to the door and sleepily made her way downstairs.
"Morning," Beca grinned as Chloe stepped through the kitchen door. "Cool hair!"
Chloe instinctively reached up and tried to smooth down her bed head as the girls rushed from the kitchen table to greet her.
"Morning my beautiful babies," she said, gathering them all close to her.
"Mommy maded breakfast," Kate announced.
"She did, huh?" Chloe looked over to see what they were having as the three little girls wandered back to their plates.
"It's just toast," Beca explained, seeing the flash of panic on Chloe's face.
"'Nd it's yellow toast, not brown burneded toast!" Kate called from the table. Chloe stifled a smile.
"Coffee?" Beca offered.
"Oh, please."
Beca reached for one of the larger mugs in the cabinet and quickly poured the freshly brewed coffee into it, before pushing it towards Chloe.
"Thank you," Chloe said as she accepted the drink.
"Mmm hmm," Beca nodded in response as Chloe took a sip, moaning slightly at the taste. While Chloe knew Beca couldn't cook well, she couldn't deny Beca's ability to make a really good cup of coffee. "If you are okay to take over, I gotta get to work."
"Oh shoot," Chloe gulped. "I'm sorry I overslept. You should have woken me."
"Kate came to get you twice!" Beca laughed.
"She did?" Chloe looked at Kate who nodded back happily around a mouthful of toast.
"You maded this face," Kate explained, imitating Chloe's passed out face perfectly, with slack jaw firmly in place.
Beca grinned and muttered, "She's your double, that one," under her breath, before reaching round and picking up her laptop off of the floor.
"See you around six?"
"Great!" Chloe smiled. "Sorry that I made you late."
"You haven't," Beca reached out her hand and laid it over Chloe's. Instinctively, Chloe leaned forward and planted a kiss on Beca's cheek. They both shot a look over to the girls but they were too busy working on their toast to notice.
"I'm going to the grocery store later," Chloe mentioned as Beca began to head out of the kitchen. "Need anything?"
"I'm all set, thanks. But do you need me to go, if you've got to get the girls to that Tutu Twirling Tuesday Together thing?"
Chloe smiled at the offer, "No, but thank you. Amy asked me to pick up the turkey for Thanksgiving."
"She did, huh?"
"Yes, and cook it," Chloe said simply
"Why can't she do it herself?" Beca shook her head.
"Well, she can't exactly cook in the camper, can she?" Chloe laughed.
Beca shook her head playfully. "She's also pretty persuasive in getting people to do things for her when she wants to be but, to be honest, she's a bit of a liability in the kitchen..." Beca paused and cocked her head to the side, "... more so than me."
Chloe chuckled, "It's really okay. Now go on, before you really are late."
.oOo.
*The Following Thursday*
"What time is everyone getting here?" Chloe asked, as she finished braiding Kate's hair into a single plait.
"Amy's coming at eleven to help set up. Everyone else is coming at noon," Beca called back, balancing gingerly on the top of a step stool.
They'd both been up since dawn, cleaning and tidying the house in preparation for Amy's Thanksgiving dinner party that turned into Thanksgiving lunch. Beca, put in charge of decorations by Amy, had spent the last couple of hours putting up paper chains that the three little girls had helped make, a blow up turkey she knew Amy would love and a beautiful table centrepiece made from Autumn flowers and foliage.
Chloe had commented more than once that where Beca lacked culinary skills - a trait that Beca couldn't deny - she certainly made up for it with her ability to work with flowers and make a stunning bouquet, or arrangement.
Beca had passed the comment that Amy was good at knowing who to ask to do certain things and clearly the reason why she hadn't asked Beca to organise the cooking, or even to help with the turkey.
Chloe had ordered the largest turkey she could and Beca picked it up on the way home from work the night before. She then spent the night complaining about shoulder pain since she'd carried the turkey into the house, estimating it to weigh 'at least a hundred pounds'.
Chloe had offered to massage her shoulder for her, and it had turned into a steamy make out session which made Beca completely forget about the ache in her shoulder.
Chloe, while Beca had been up and down the step stool decorating the kitchen, had prepared her own stuffing and dressed the turkey ready for the oven and Beca was quite overwhelmed by the neatness of Chloe's work and just how precise her timings were. She had felt a pang of guilt that Jessie had never had experienced a proper Thanksgiving before and that feeling had only passed when Chloe asked, upon seeing the look on Beca's face, if she was alright.
Upon hearing the brunette's concerns, Chloe reassured Beca that Jessie wouldn't remember missing out on anything, and all she would have cared about was having Beca close by with her all day. This helped bolster Beca's confidence, and rejuvenated her efforts at making this day perfect.
The morning passed quickly with everybody showering and dressed just before eleven o'clock. The girls were colouring in placemats for the table for everyone while Beca supervised the oven - in truth, she was loving opening the oven door for a second to let the food smell envelope her - and Chloe was setting the table when the doorbell rang.
Checking the front gate monitor, Beca quickly left her spot by the oven door and hurried to the front door to let Amy in, and to help with unloading the car. Beca was genuinely surprised to see Amy's arms suspiciously empty as she walked towards the entrance to the house, a blonde man in tow.
"Becarecka!" Amy called out.
"Ames," Beca nodded back, reaching the bottom of the steps at the same time as Amy.
"This is Bumper Allen," Amy theatrically swung her arms around to introduce the man behind her. "Bumpy, this is Beca."
Bumper stepped forward, offering his hand to Beca, who shook it somewhat reluctantly. Her cautiousness was correct as his hands could be described as clammy.
"Nice to meet you," Bumper said. "You may recognise me from my marketing commercials; I own Bumper's Sports Sandals Emporium. We make and sell-"
"-Sports sandals?" Beca deadpanned.
"Yeah!" Bumper's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You've heard of me? Well, let me know your shoe size and I... will... hook, " Bumper threw an imaginary fishing line and pretended to reel Beca in. "... you up."
Beca blinked her response back but Bumper was too busy laughing at his own catch phrase to notice. She turned to Amy, "Do you need help getting the stuff out of your car?"
Amy shook her head, holding out a grocery store cloth bag. "I got it, ta."
"Oh... um, where's the-"
"It's all under control, Becalugs. Now, where are me nieces?"
Amy grabbed Bumper's hand and led him into the house where Beca heard her shriek as soon as she laid eyes on Chloe. Taking a deep breath, she headed back through the front door and caught Amy throwing open the door to the playroom, announcing her arrival to the girls.
Beca pulled the lounge door closed to deaden the sound of the screaming as she joined Chloe back in the kitchen.
She found her pouring a light beer for Bumper who was almost drooling over the actress; something that irritated Beca. She didn't get the adoration that everyone seemed to bestow on Chloe.
"So, Mr Allen, what do you do?" Chloe asked innocently as she handed over the drink, not catching Beca's waving hands to get her to stop talking to him. She knew Chloe couldn't be rude to anyone she had just met.
"Uh, Chloe, can I have your help real quick... out here... in the laundry room please," Beca cut into the conversation. Chloe noticed the intense look on Beca's face and excused herself away from Bumper.
"What's up?" She asked as Beca grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the back patio door.
"Nothing, but that guy is a bit full on."
Chloe looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen, "He seems harmless."
"I don't trust him," Beca scowled.
"You..." Chloe reached out to gently grab Beca's chin. "... don't trust anyone."
"That's not... yeah, you're right."
Chloe let out a light laugh before asking, "Where's Amy?"
"She's in with the girls."
"Where's the rest of the food?" Chloe asked.
Beca shrugged her shoulders. "I thought she was bringing the sides or something. Good job you bought the world's largest turkey as I think that's all we're eatin'!"
"I have some things in the freezer. Don't worry."
"Who organises a dinner party... at someone else's house, and then doesn't cater for it?"
"Don't sweat it Bec," Chloe said calmly. "The fact we are all together is enough, Let's get some more drinks on the go, rescue the girls and finish getting the place set up."
Beca nodded, feeling a little annoyed at Amy, as she followed Chloe back into the kitchen. Bumper was standing at the French doors, looking out into the garden and turned when they entered the room.
"Your back yard is lovely."
"Thank you Mr Allen," Chloe almost purred.
"Bumper, please."
"Is that your real name?" Beca asked.
"No," Bumper lightly laughed. "My grandma dropped me when she was walking down some stairs when I was about one, and I bounced down to the bottom. Got called Bumper ever since. Real name is Travis."
Chloe chuckled politely, "I wonder if I might trouble you to help me move the dining table away from the wall a little. We extended it this morning but it needs to come out a bit."
"Of course," Bumper agreed, setting his beer down on the counter. He flexed his muscles a couple of times before grabbing the end of the table.
"Beca?" Chloe nodded to the spot next to her. "Help me with this end?"
Beca hurried to her side and the three of them lifted the table a couple of feet over.
"You're welcome!" Bumper announced, before he'd even been thanked, looking out at the garden again.
"Would you like to go and look at the pool area?" Chloe offered, stepping forward to open the door for Bumper in such a manner that he felt compelled to oblige.
"Yeah thanks," Bumper stepped through the door and onto the deck as Chloe gently closed the door behind him.
Laughing, she turned to Beca, "He's adorable!"
Beca shot Chloe a look that said she didn't agree.
"Oh come on Bec, he's harmless," Chloe looked over the table, a mischievous glint in her eye. The girls had also decorated place names that morning and she'd picked up Bumper's name and swapped it with Beca's.
"Funny," Chloe laughed, setting her hands down on the back of the nearest chair. "I was going to torture you today and place you between Lilly and Aubrey, but I think that pleasure can be Mr Allen's now."
"Why were you going to torture me? What'd I do?"
"Nothing darling," Chloe chuckled.
"Hmph," Beca huffed and was about to respond when the lounge door was flung open and the girls ran into the kitchen screaming, all three faces flushed and their eyes sparkling.
"Aunt Amy is chasing us! She wants to eat us!" Jessie screamed in delight as Amy rounded the corner, looking equally as red in the face as the girls.
"I'm hungry!" Amy bellowed. "Where's me snacks gone!"
"Arrrgh!" Alex squealed, running behind Beca and holding onto the bottom of her shirt with such ferocity that Beca thought the seams would rip.
"It's not even eleven fifteen, and you've already wound them up Amy," Beca shook her head. "This is possibly a record for you."
"Me job is done... you're welcome!" Amy laughed good naturedly, bowing slightly.
"Lord help you if you ever have kids," Beca said, trying to unpeel Alex's grip on her shirt as Amy started running round the kitchen island.
Amy paused, shooting a look to the floor in such a way that Beca immediately jumped on it.
"Amy?"
"Yeah, so, about the erm..." Amy looked up at the ceiling.
"Amy!"
"What?"
"Are you pregnant?" Beca asked, her eyes wide.
"Oh God, no!" Amy looked horrified.
"Then why-"
"-But we... are thinking about it."
"Jesus..."
"I'm just a bit scared though," Amy said honestly.
"Why?" Beca felt her face soften at the hint of vulnerability in Amy's voice.
"My kid would be so awesome. What if someone pinched it?"
"No one is going to pinch your kid, Ames," Beca scoffed.
"Swap it then, for a less awesome one?" Amy hunched her shoulders.
"Why would someone swap your kid? Amy, that's not going to happen?" Beca asked, shaking her head. "Who would do that?"
"She did!" Amy pointed at Chloe, who was innocently rearranging the cutlery on the table, pretending not to listen.
"Nah, that was just a one time thing!" Chloe laughed, looking at Beca who looked horrified for a second before collapsing on top of the counter, joining Chloe in the giggles.
.oOo.
Beca was upstairs trying to calm the girls down a little from their morning spent with Amy, when the rest of the guests arrived. She heard Chloe greet everyone cheerfully and smiled as she remembered how much Chloe loved hosting parties.
She thought back to their conversation a couple of weeks previously when Chloe had brought up Christmas and wondered if the redhead wanted to throw a party over the holidays.
Deciding that she should go downstairs and help, Beca finished the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle the girls were playing with.
"Okay gang, are we going to be on our best behaviour today?" Beca asked.
"Nooooo!" Alex laughed out as Kate and Jessie fell into a fit of giggles.
"Being good is borrrrring!" Kate announced, hoping from one foot to another.
"How about I promise you a new toy if you are good today?" Beca attempted to bribe them.
"I'm listening," Alex suddenly interested, cocked her head to one side.
"We can go to Zonko's and you can each pick out something, within reason, if you are all on your best behaviour for Mama and Mommy today."
"But what if Aunt Amy makeded us laugh again?" Kate asked, all serious.
"Then Aunt Amy doesn't get anything from Zonko's," Beca answered solemnly.
The three girls laughed as Kate launched herself into Beca's arms,
"I love you!" Kate pecked Beca on the cheek.
"I love you too," Beca kissed Kate back before looking at Jessie and Alex. "And I love you two as well."
Beca gathered them up into her arms for a second before they squirmed away.
"Come on, let's go downstairs," she said, standing up. "Last one downstairs doesn't get any of Mama's turkey!"
That threat had the girls up, on their feet and racing towards the stairs.
"Careful!" Beca called out, following the girls downstairs and ran into Luke at the bottom of the steps.
"I was just coming to find you," he said, holding out a fist for Beca to bump. "Chloe said you might need rescuing; something about Amy winding the girls up."
"Yeah, but it's all okay now," she grinned at him. "Everyone here?"
"Think so. It's quite a crowd," Luke said, knowing Beca wasn't keen on big groups, but he had noticed that she was getting better with people as she spent more time with Chloe.
"Unfortunately, I think we're just eating turkey for dinner. Amy, the planner of this event, hasn't brought anything else to eat with her."
"Bree and I brought macaroni cheese, green beans and corn with us," Luke smiled. "I think I saw Stacie and Cynthia Rose come in with ham, cranberries and gravy. I know Lilly bought a pie as she said something about putting a hex on it."
"Oh God..."
"Emily had some mashed potatoes and Benny-"
"-Benji, I think it is."
"Oh, okay,, sorry... well, he was carrying dinner rolls."
"Ah ha..." Beca laughed out, starting to walk towards the group, "I see what Amy did now!"
She entered the kitchen and received a warm flurry of greetings from everyone.
"Dinner will be in about five minutes," Chloe announced. "If everyone would like to take their seats."
Beca noticed that everyone had a drink in their hand, no one was wearing a coat and there was a small tray of appetisers on the kitchen counter that had already been picked over. Realising Chloe had organised all of that while Beca had been upstairs, she felt a little guilty; though truthfully Chloe looked to be in her element.
"Can I help with anything?" Beca asked, sidling up to Chloe.
"All under control," Chloe beamed.
"Sorry, I should have helped more."
"Not at all. Thank you for calming the girls down.'' Chloe squeezed Beca's hand out of everyone's eyeline and it sent a jolt through Beca that she hadn't felt before.
Clearing her throat in an effort to not go too red in the face, she called out to Amy who was holding court at one end of the dining table.
"Hey Amy?"
"Yeah Becsywecsy?"
"Gotta ask a question," Beca grinned.
"Yeah?"
"You've organised today, right?"
"Yeah, I did!" Amy mockingly bowed to everyone.
"What did you actually do for today?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Well, Chloe organised the turkey and drinks, I've sorted out some stuff too, the others have all brought sides and dessert... what did you bring?"
"Duh, I brought napkins," Amy picked up the serviette in front of her, to prove her point.
"Napkins? Is that it?"
"They've got turkey's on them Beca," Amy took her seat while Beca shook her head, turning to see Chloe giggling into her shoulder.
"Is she for real?" Beca asked incredulously.
"No harm done Becs," Chloe grinned.
.oOo.
Dinner was almost over and the atmosphere at the table was light and comedic. Amy was regaling tales of van life with Beca and Jessie and had everyone roaring with laughter. Cynthia Rose had tears running down her face and said at least four times that she was definitely going to Amy's stand up comedy show as soon as she could get tickets.
The mood settled for a second and Luke collected his glass, raising it to give a toast.
"Thank you Chloe for hosting this wonderful meal. Thank you Amy for organising us all..." Luke chose his words carefully, earning a well timed snort from Beca. "I understand it's tradition to go around the table and say what we are thankful for, so I'd like to start."
He paused for a second or two while everyone else picked up their glasses.
"I'm thankful for days like this, good food, great company and the sense of love in the air," Luke said, shooting Beca the quickest of looks before turning his gaze to Aubrey. "Kate, your turn."
"I thankful for pie," Kate said simply.
There was light laughter around the table as Luke looked to Jessie, "Jessie?"
"I'm thankful for... red things," Jessie looked at Beca who rolled her eyes lightly but smiled adoringly back at the little girl.
"Alex?"
"I fankful for Mommy and Mama," Alex grinned and there was a collective 'awwww' around the table.
"Beca?" Luke looked to his friend.
"I guess I'm thankful for right now. I'm thankful for my girls. I'm thankful for my job. I'm thankful for friends..." Beca looked at Luke as she said it, "... all of you. I'm thankful for understanding," Beca looked at Chloe, hoping she knew that was for her. "Chloe?"
"I'm thankful for you Beca. I'm thankful for your acceptance, your friendship, your creativity, your love... for the girls and for me-"
"-Get a room, you two!"
"Amy!"
.oOo.