Thank you for commenting or reviewing. I love reading your feedback. Several people have mentioned wanting to see Vera's birth and the twins meeting her for the first time. I have been working on that - but it's not quite right yet. But I think you may enjoy this installment.

Backstage with Mama

"Mama, may I go see what's out there?" Poppy asked, staring at the door to the hallway.

"No, you may not. But thank you for asking nicely." Beca said, reaching for her finishing powder. She was finishing her makeup. She normally had someone to do it – but she was not really in the mood for someone in her space that much this evening – so she opted to do her own.

"Mama," Poppy whined.

"Well, don't start whining. You'll ruin all your nice, grammatically correct words." Poppy rolled her eyes and walked away to join Bella, who was coloring at the coffee table. Chloe walked in from the other room in time to see.

"Why is our seven-year-old rolling her eyes?"

"Because she's had to deal with me in close quarters for three hours," Beca said. "How's Vera?"

"Better. I just think she's tired – she didn't have a nap this morning. So, I got her to go down now. How much time do you have before you go on?"

"A little less than two hours." She moved over to kiss Chloe on the cheek. "Do you need anything?"

"No," Chloe said. "But we should probably try to feed them now." Chloe pulled out the dinner she'd brought – nothing fancy, just sandwiches and fruit. She spread everything out and called the twins over.

"I'm not hungry," Bella told her.

"You will be, if you don't eat something. Just try, please," Chloe told her. She put a half-sandwich and a small serving of carrots in front of each child. Beca broke open an orange and gave a quarter to each of the girls, taking a section from the other half and popping it into her mouth.

"I don't like oranges," Poppy said.

"Since when?" Beca asked. "I swear you just ate one yesterday. I watched you." She paused. "I peeled it for you, actually."

"I changed my mind," Poppy said.

"Fine," Beca answered. "I will eat your orange. But you need to pick something else," she said, pointing to the container on the table. Poppy offered a pout, but reached for a bunch of grapes and moved them to her plate. They were almost finished with the food when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," Beca called. Theo entered then. He grinned.

"You might want to be careful. Last week you spilled a juice box down your dress."

"Solved it. I'm not dressed yet," Beca said, pointing to the robe she wore.

"Hi, Theo," Chloe said.

"Hi, Theo," the girls

"Hello, lovely ladies," Theo said, moving across the room to kiss Chloe's cheek, then each of the twins.

"I get no kiss?" Beca asked, mocking offense taken.

"I see you all the time," he said, waving a dismissive hand to her. She glared at him and turned to her last section of orange. Theo grabbed a few grapes and began partaking. "How are you ladies doing today?"

"Good," Bella said.

"Good, but Vera's crabby." Poppy said.

"I am sorry to hear that," Theo said sincerely. "But are you excited to see your mom sing?"

"We have to stay down here," Bella said, sullenly.

"Are you sure?" Theo asked.

"Theo," Beca warned. "We have talked about this. We don't want them in the audience. It's crowded – and—"

"I am aware of your arguments, Mama bear. But how would you feel about a private box?"

"Is that available?" she asked, hesitantly. This was a new venue for her, she truly didn't know.

"Of course. Otherwise, I would not be telling you this in front of little ears."

"It will be well past their bedtime when I start," Beca said.

"Please, Mama. There's no school tomorrow," Bella told her.

"Chlo?" Chloe's eyes were bright and smile amused.

"If it's okay with you, I think it's a great idea."

Beca turned back to Theo. "Someone will walk them to and from – and there will be security?"

"Absolutely."

"Is that necessary?" Chloe asked.

Beca opened her eyes wide. "Do you not remember crazy stalker lady from just a few months ago?"

Chloe shrugged. "Figured it was a one-time thing."

"Nope. Crazies all over," Beca quipped. She took a deep breath and blew it out, clearly giving herself time to think. "Okay," she said. "As long as there is security – and you don't try to ditch them, then yes, they can come." Poppy and Bella both flew at her to hug her. Beca hugged them close.

"Just no whining when you're tired tomorrow. I don't do whining."

"We know," Bella said. "You tell us that all the time."

"It doesn't seem to be 100% effective."

"No," Bella agreed. "Mama, you're silly."

"Yes, indeed. I'm sure you're not wrong." She clapped her hands. "Okay. You are currently wearing your pajamas – what is the solution for that?" She asked, looking up at Theo and then Chloe.

"We don't go anywhere without additional clothing," Chloe told her. "You know that. Come on, ladies. Let's go dress." Twenty minutes later, Beca's stylist was touching up her curls when her family returned from the adjoining room. Dressed extremely well. Her eyes widened.

"Chlo, those are quite the spare clothes to carry around," she said. There were sparkles, there was tulle, there were flowers in their hair. They were totally and adorably dressed for a night out. And so was Chloe. And Vera, who was now snuggled into her mom's arms.

Beca looked between Chloe and Theo. She pointed at them both. "You two planned this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Chloe said, smoothly. Theo just grinned. Beca turned to the twins.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. You ladies look fantastic."

"You look very pretty too, Mama," Bella told her, scanning Beca's new ensemble – the black dress and jacket she planned to wear on stage.

"Thank you, my love." She knelt down so they came to her. "You girls have to be really good for your Mommy, okay? There are three of you and one of her. That is an unfair advantage – so you need to be extra good."

"We're always good," Bella said.

Beca frowned and moved her hand in a gesture of "somewhat." "Debatable," she responded. "But I will trust you this evening to be extra, extra good. Okay?" Both twins nodded. "And Vera is sleeping, so we're just going to assume she's not going to be a problem." She looked around to see that everyone was ready. "Okay, it's almost time. Who needs to go potty? Because I know I do."

"Mama, you always ask us that," Poppy said, rolling her eyes again.

"Am I wrong?" Beca asked. "And stop rolling your eyes at me, Poppy Alexandra." Poppy went to do it again and stopped just in time.

"I hav'ta go." Bella piped up.

"Well, then, second child first," Beca said, motioning to the single bathroom. Bella hurried over. She needed a bit of help with her stockings. Then Beca went, then Chloe. Then Poppy gave in to the power of suggestion and took her turn. Once they were all ready, Beca hugged and kissed all of them.

"Have fun and be good."

"Sing good, Mama," Bella said.

Beca nodded at her, a twinkle in her eye. "I will try, love. Okay. Theo is going to show you were to go. And you stay with your Mommy the entire time."

"Can we go with you?" Poppy asked, trying her luck.

"No," Beca said. "I have to work. And you have to be this tall to go on stage," she said, putting her hand about four inches above the twins.

"That's rude," Poppy said.

"It's definitely discriminatory," Beca agreed. "But I don't make the rules."

"Are you teasing us?"

"What do you think?"

"Mama, stop teasing."

"I don't think I'm capable of that. But I promise, one day, you'll be able to tease right back."

"Promise?"

"Of course. It's in your DNA." Chloe shook her head as she laughed at the exchange.

"Stop harassing our daughters and go perform," she said, kissing Beca one more time. "Have fun." Once Theo took Chloe and their daughters to the private box, Beca walked to the backstage area.

The concert was amazing, if she did say so herself. Once she was on stage, everything else melted away and she simply offered her best. When finished, she had to do a short meet-and-greet with fans who had paid lots of money for the privilege. When she returned to her dressing room suite, the girls were back. The twins were sleeping on one sofa, Chloe and Vera on the other.

Beca quietly dressed in her street clothes and gathered their things. She sent most of it to the car with her assistant and asked her to pull it up to the door. Then she knelt next to Chloe.

"Chloe," she said, softly. "Chlo. Come on, I can't carry everyone. Too many trips."

Chloe smiled as she opened her eyes. She reached over and stroked Beca's face. "Beca, that was amazing."

"I'm glad you liked it," she said, grinning. Her face fell a bit and she gritted her teeth. "Were they bored? I was worried about that after we made the decision."

"Not for one second," Chloe promised. "I have video to prove it. They were so happy to see you sing. We are very lucky ladies."

"I would say I am the lucky one in this situation."

"Why don't we call it a tie?" Beca smiled warmly and kissed Chloe again before standing up. She took Vera and helped her wife up. Chloe lifted Bella just as Beca's assistant returned.

"Julie, can you keep an eye on Poppy for minute?"

"Sure," the young woman said, smiling. She adored the girls, even when they made her job a little bit harder. Chloe and Beca settled the girls into their carseat. Bella woke slightly, but went right back to sleep once she was in her seat covered with a blanket.

"You stay here," Beca told Chloe, "and I'll be right back with Poppy." That was the last trip, once her assistant handed both women their purses and cell phones.

"Thank you, Julie," Chloe said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Amazing job tonight, Beca."

"Thank you. And thank you for everything. I'll see you next week." Julie nodded and stepped back towards the building, waving as they drove off. Forty minutes later, they arrived home. With a bit of juggling, everyone was soon in pajamas and in bed.

When Beca finally crawled into bed, makeup washed off and in extra comfy clothing, Chloe had her phone out and showed her a video. All three girls, in their pretty dresses, pressed up against the railing of the private box, watching their Mama. They were enchanted – there was no other way to describe it. Beca wiped away tears and smiled.

"Thank you," she said, leaning over to kiss Chloe. "I don't know how I got so lucky."

"No luck to it, Becs. You deserve every good moment you get – and more. Good night." Chloe offered one more kiss and a final, "Love you."

"Love you too."

Thank you for reading! Please let me know your thoughts! Happy New Year to you and yours.