Chapter Text
It's been a pretty damn good day today.
You've managed to finish everything you wanted to get done; the shopping for the weekend was now hours finished, and your mashup work is finally done.
You've been working on something incredibly special; your three studio albums all went platinum, and you can't seriously release another now -not when you have a rather large family on your hands.
So, you decided that you'd do what you do best; you'd remix this business. A fine picked assortment of tracks that you'd written, produced and sang; some of them also including Emily, Laila and Chloe - even Jesse. You'd asked Aubrey, but it had never been her type of music - you respected that, but you'd always ask when you were thinking of collaborating.
And so, you made mashups.
You're onto number 18, the second last one.
You had always planned to do 19 - it was the number of years you'd lived on this earth before your life changed. When you were 19, you met her. It was like each year represented a year of your life, but something was missing.
Her.
And now, you realise, everything that happened; falling for her, telling her when you did, losing her and getting her back again - it's all led up to this perfect moment.
You're such a fucking sop these days, but you don't really care. Most of the world still thinks you're badass.
She wraps her arms around your neck from behind, and she can hear the mashup through the other side of your headphones. She smiles in your neck.
'Almost done?'
'Yeah. One more to go.'
She stands up straight, and you turn and smile at her from your seat.
Spinning it around, she pulls you out of the chair, and then reaches to unplug the headphones and slowly pulls them off your head.
You dance to the music, slowly, to the half beats, and you can't quite believe it works but it does.
It's been years, but you still grow more and more in love every day.
As you look at her, her teeth shining in the small bit of sunlight seeping through the part open curtains, her eyes glinting that cerulean that you drown in every time you dare to look, you still wonder why it took you so long to tell her.
But it doesn't matter.
You have her now.
And she has you; for some reason, that's good enough for her.
Just as you think you'll have more than one minute of peace and quiet, a little girl runs in, not more than two years old, and grabs at your leg.
'Jessica Aubrey Beale-Mitchell, what did we say about disturbing Mommy when she's working?'
You eye Chloe as your young daughter instantly looks contrite.
'Sowwie Momma.'
'It's okay munchkin, just make sure to knock, okay?' You pick her up, flicking her chin softly and looking at her.
She's as beautiful as your wife, and you love them both with a fervour you never thought you had.
It's not just them, either.
'Mom, Momma! Auntie Laila and Auntie Em are here!'
A five year old boy comes running through the door into the studio, closely followed by Laila carrying a very sleepy one and a half year old.
'He was fast asleep for the whole half an hour. '
'I doubt he'll stay like that for very long,' Chloe quips, squeezing your hand before wandering over to Laila, taking the sleeping boy out of her arms.
'God, dude he's getting so big,' you say quietly, resting a hand on the side of his head.
'They all are, aren't they?' She replies, looking at your children wistfully.
It's been a real whirlwind, you remember.
Your eyes wander and find Laila's hand, where her wedding ring sits comfortably on the third finger.
You recall the day she called you, freaking out as Emily looked for a dress for the Infinity War Premiere.
'Hey, this one's pretty cute,' she says, fiddling with a shortish white dress that has one shoulder.
You eye it thoughtfully, then realise it's absolutely perfect for what you want.
'This would be perfect for what Chloe could wear at the album shoot,' you muse, finding her size on the rail and pulling it out.
You smile, reminding yourself how special that day is going to be.
'I'll see if she likes it. It is almost perfect, isn't it?'
'Well I can't see why you'd be complaining at Chloe walking -'
You shoot her a look of panic.
'Shut up, dude!'
Emily smirks at you, taking the couple of items she wants and following you to the cashier.
'Why? It's all planned, what's the harm in saying it?'
'Because it means it's actually gonna happen. I'm too nervous to say it out loud yet. I'm not saying I'd chicken out, I wouldn't, of course I wouldn't, it's Chloe, but it's still huge for me and I need to just psych myself up for it. I'm gonna marry the love of my life. I'm marrying her. I'll be ok -'
You stop.
Your eyes shift to Emily, who's stifling a beaming smile.
'I think you'll be okay, Beca.'
You watch her for a moment, as she goes up to pay, and then smile a little to yourself.
You'll be okay. You have Chloe.
You follow her then, paying for the dress quickly and packing up your purse at the counter with Emily behind you.
'I'm starving, do you want Chinese food? I could kill for some orange chicken from Ming's.'
Your mouth almost waters at the thought.
'Sounds awesome.'
Suddenly your phone chimes in the shop, and you scramble to get it out of your purse, answering it after a few rings. You don't bother to look at caller I.D.
'This is Mitchell.'
'Are you on your way home?'
'Oh, hey dude. We will be in a sec, why?' It's Laila, and she sounds a little...stressed, for lack of a better word.
'Stall her.'
'What?'
'Dude, stall her! I'm having a major crisis here.'
You look at Emily, who's not really paying attention to you, so you wave at her meekly.
You cover the phone, telling her it's work, and walking outside. 'Two minutes,' you whisper, putting the phone back to your ear.
'Emily is dead set on coming home now, why are you so mad?'
'I'm not mad. I'm bloody panicking.'
'Why, Laila? Tell me why.'
'Why? Because everything is perfect and fine and I was going to propose to my girlfriend tonight but now I can't because I can't find where I hid the ring for safe keeping!'
Your mouth falls open a little, but you snap out of it soon enough.
'I can give you half an hour. Find the ring, ok? Go. Half an hour.'
You hang up and file away some crap that you actually now really want those jeans you were looking at in Zara.
You do, so it works out quite well, but you can at least help Laila out at the same time.
~()~
It's been forty five minutes, because you stopped for Chinese, and you hope for the best when Emily unlocks the door to their studio apartment and you shout that you're back louder than you usually would.
'Babe? Where are you?'
Laila runs out of the bedroom then, terror written all over her face.
'You okay?'
Laila doesn't really move, just looks at you desperately, and you can tell she hasn't found it.
'I'm not, not really. Sorry, I had a whole night planned and everything and it was going to be wonderful and I was -'
'Hey, Laiz, just calm down. I have a couple of movies we can bring up to watch, I brought Chinese food...I got us some chopsticks too,' she says, smiling at her fool of a girlfriend. It's so endearing.
It's weird though, because you know you have something just as special.
You never thought you'd be that lucky.
You look at Laila, and it's like a light bulb has gone off in her head.
'Chopsticks.'
She runs into the kitchen with a small smile on her face.
The cutlery draw. Of course.
So that's when you take your cue.
You walk up to Emily, taking yours and Chloe's order out of your bag and quickly giving her a peck on the cheek. After all, you know that in about 30 seconds, her whole life will change.
'Enjoy,' you say, a small grin adorning your face, before turning around and walking out of the door back to the comfort of your own home, where Chloe is waiting for you.
Your smile gets bigger and bigger.
You're snapped out of memory lane when you see your older child walk up to you, with a grin as big as the Colorado river.
'Mom, can I have a pudding cup please?'
'Really? Now? You had lunch like an hour ago man!'
'But I didn't gots dessert.'
'We don't have dessert every meal, sweetheart,' Chloe chimes in.
'I think if you wait a little while, you guys might get an ice cream instead,' Laila says, and without warning she picks up Louis, your five year old boisterous little tike (with surprisingly wonderful manners thanks to Chloe), and swings him over her shoulder, going out of your office and heading to the back porch of your ocean side villa in Santa Monica beach.
Emily walks through the front door then, shaking her head fondly at her wife picking up your son, and you put down your daughter so she can run at her other Aunt.
'Aintie Emmy!'
'Hello trouble!'
She picks her up and hugs her tightly.
'I've missed you, cutie! You doing okay?'
'Awesomesauce!'
Emily is a little taken aback by this, giggling somewhat at her niece's strange language.
'One of the kids in her kindergarten class heard it off his parents. The Aldrin-Erisken kid, I think? The latest one, anyway.'
Chloe shakes her head at what you say, walking to set Emily's little boy down out on the deck with Laila before returning to the kitchen.
'Oh okay. Well, at least she's not saying bad word yet,' Emily remarks, putting her bag down while still holding Jessica comfortably in her arms.
'Stay for a drink, before you go? We haven't seen you in ages babe. One drink, then we can let you off for your weekend,' Chloe implores, winking quickly before pulling out a bottle of Diet Coke.
'Why not, start the weekend off with a little pizzaz, huh? You have Bacardi?'
'You know it,' Chloe replies, before glancing your way and raising her eyebrows. You shake your head once, and Chloe smiles fondly at you before reaching for the Bacardi in your drinks cupboard, pouring two before stopping and popping out to see if Laila wants one.
'Thank you for doing this,' she sahs with a puff of breath, 'I love him more than my life, but...'
'You don't get any time to yourself. That's motherhood for you, trust me. I know. But this weekend, you guys just relax, have a bit of time together. You'll come back fresh from it and you'll be begging for your kid back. I know how weird that sounds, coming from me, but it's true.'
Cole Milardo was born on the 22nd July. When Emily Milardo, who'd opted to take Laila's name at the first opportunity (despite her wife's insistence her own wasn't that bad), was having breakfast with Chloe in a beautiful promenade restaurant in West Hollywood, her water broke.
You were going to join them after you'd dropped your children at Luisa's for a few hours. Luisa had insisted on taking who she described as 'your little angels' for the morning, was going to bring them to the afternoon party at your villa, but Emily's little boy just couldn't wait.
So Luisa kept them all day, with no fuss. You think she has a soft spot for smaller people; after all, she's best friends with you.
Chloe Beale helped Emily deliver her cherished baby boy, on her own birthday, right there in the car on the way to the hospital - he wasn't going to hang around.
So when they finally arrived at the hospital for checks on Mother and baby, naturally, Emily asked Laila if they could name their baby, as closely as they could, after the woman who helped her bring him into the world.
It was nice; you'd coined Jessica's full name from Jesse and Aubrey, and you'd named Louis after Luisa, but you'd given him the middle name Emmett after your 'acachild'. Which was little weird, considering she was now having a kid of her own.
As you sit outside the ward, Chloe signing the paperwork at the front desk and Emily and Laila formally meeting their little man, a very familiar face walks in from the car park elevator.
'Theo,' you breathe, knowing how awkward this moment might be.
After all, it has been a while since you last saw him, properly.
Over four years to be exact.
You saw him at Laila and Emily's wedding, but they made sure you didn't really have to interact. After all, it was still a little bit of salt in the wound.
'Beca. How are you?'
'I'm good, I'm...yeah. Here to meet your nephew?'
'Laila and I were on the way from the airport when Chloe rang about Emily, so I came straight here.'
'Good timing.'
'Yes, I suppose...listen, Beca - I've wanted to apologise. For a hell of a while now.'
'For what?'
'For hitting you. That was literally the most uncalled for thing I could have done.'
'I professed my love to your fiancée, Theo. I think that's going to get me some bad karma, and it was four years ago. I think we can call it water under the bridge.'
'I apologise nonetheless.'
You take a moment to process what's just happened.
After everything, Theo felt he had to apologise to you.
'I owe you an apology too. If I'd have kept my mouth shut it could have ended differently.'
'Shit like that happens because it has to, Beca. I accept it, and we're both happy now.'
'Yeah, what's actually going on with you? I heard you're back in England.'
'Yeah, I'm actually writing for the BBC. I changed career path. Modelling got rather tedious, so I used the degree in English I got to try and get a journalism job.'
You notice the ring on his finger, but you don't pry. At least it worked out well for him.
'I'm glad you're happy, man.'
'And you. I'm glad Chloe ended up with the right person. I can see that now.'
You both smile at each other shyly, not really sure what to say.
You smile to yourself when he awkwardly excuses himself, going to get a coffee.
You see him bump into Chloe, and him offering a small smile and walking calmly away before Chloe can utter a word. You know they'll talk.
But it's not like you have to worry, as you see Chloe look at you with a rather gobsmacked look, and her eyes flickering with curiosity sets your heart on fire in the best way.
You smirk at her, and you know she's about to bombard you with questions. But you don't care.
You'll answer her. You'll always be honest with her. Why wouldn't you be?
You love each other.
You still can't believe you got here.
'There's a word I'm trying to think of, to describe you. Like, when I met you you were so closed off and alt girl like, it was so intimidating. You're still a little like that now, but you're just...you're not different, but...'
You get up, finishing the two drinks as you heard Laila say she's driving and she'll not bother this time. You hand Emily hers, and mix Chloe's a little, but not too much, just how she likes it.
'Grown up? Evolved? Changed irrevocably?'
She puts Jessica down before taking the drink from your offered hand, and smiling, biting her bottom lip a little.
'I think you've blossomed. Between your kids, your career,Chloe - you've blossomed.'
You smirk widely, looking out of the double doors onto the back porch where Emily is headed, Jessica hot on her feet. Chloe's giving Cole back to Laila, who in turn is guessing all the different Marvel superheroes in Louis' comic as he sits and listens intently.
You've always loved how transfixed Louis is by Laila. You always knew she'd be good with kids. She just had that aura - even if it didn't show at first.
You never thought you did; but in light of what Emily says, maybe, you were meant to be a Mom, someday. In the midst of your whirlwind career and marrying your perfect wife.
It was just waiting for the right time.
And the right person to do it with.
Chloe comes back in, about to take the drink from the counter, before you take her hand and lead her back to your music room. You go via the back porch, asking the other two if they're okay for a few minutes. They wave you off, and you drag Chloe softly behind you into the soundproofed studio.
When you close the door, Chloe's about to ask what you're up to, you know she is; so you just put a finger up, sucking your lips. You're a little nervous; you don't know how she's going to react.
You go to the computer, talking as you open up files and load them.
'Now I know I said,' you begin, clicking a file from 2017, 'that I hadnt finished the album yet.'
'You had one more song to go.'
'Yes.' You click the button so it's loaded onto the audio player. 'The truth is, I'm done already. I made track nineteen before I started on anything else. But I need your opinion.'
'Of course, babe,' she says with a beaming smile, about to take the headphones when you unplug them, plugging the speaker in instead.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
You press play.
Instantly, emotion hits you. The first piano notes ring out through the small room, the acoustics bouncing to off the walls into your waiting ears.
You see Chloe's face bloom with recognition.
Sunlight comes creeping in
Illuminates our skin
We watch the day go by
Stories of all we did
It made me think of you
It made me think of you
When you see Chloe's eyes fill rapidly, looking at you with a look in your eyes you can only describe as raw emotion, you explain.
'I was working way too hard one night in New York, sorting files, and I saw this come up. It was a little grainy, voices needed amplifying, so I optimised it and added in a few harmonies I'd recorded. I'd forgotten to turn my recorder off when you'd come to see me in the studio, the day before the wedding. You sang it so well. I just wanted to hear it from you, and because I forgot...I got this. And I can keep it forever. I can keep it for us, we can show it to the world...it's up to you, Chlo.'
Chloe's covering her face with her hands, and you're so apprehensive. You're shaking, your hands gripping the chair with steel force and your eyes filling up with tears you didn't even know you had.
The song continues, and Chloe's shoulders start wracking with sobs. You can't help it any longer - seeing Chloe in such violent pain is simply too much for you. You take the few steps towards her and softly take her wrists into your hands, pulling ever so softly to coax them away from her face.
You see the glinting pain in her eyes, but it's mixed with sheer love. It's a complicated feeling, and it's not one you've seen Chloe feel before - not many times, anyway.
'I can make something different. If this is too much I can take it out, Chloe, I can, there's plenty more mixed I could make -'
'Becs.'
The chorus rings through for the second time.
Oh lights go down
In the moment we're lost and found
And I just wanna be by your side
If these wings could fly
Her answer comes, and it's enough to make you break in the best possible way.
'You couldn't make a better track nineteen if you tried.'
Oh damn these walls
In the moment we're ten feet tall
And how you told me after it all
We'd remember tonight
For the rest of our lives
She takes your face in her soft, pale hands and kisses your tenderly, then kisses your tears away one by one, and you don't think you've ever looked at her with so much love apart from when she promised herself to you on your wedding day.
She's an angel. She's a marvel, a masterpiece of human creation that you just cannot even fathom being yours, but she is.
'It's perfect.'
The last part comes through the speakers, and it's you singing. You forgot that you'd put this change in, a few days after your wedding, sitting by the pebbled beach on the island of Madeira.
Lights go down
In this moment we're lost and found
And I'll always be by your side
Cause these wings can fly
For the rest of our lives
She recognised the lyric amendment instantly, and stifled another sob.
'Okay now it's even more perfect.'
You giggle a little at her comment, and lift a bent finger up to stroke her cheek softly. She lets you just do that, just for a few seconds, and then she simply takes your hand and kisses it, almost screwing her eyes shut as she does so; as if she's trying to imprint it on her brain forevermore.
She doesn't have to, though.
You can make new imprints every day, touches, sweet nothings, acts of kindness and love that only you can provide each other with. It's so special, and once again you're overwhelmed at how goddamn lucky you've managed to become.
It's a blessing, this life.
'I love you' is the only thing that can really tell her all the incredible things you're feeling right now.
When she tells you she loves you too, you know it's just a fraction of what she feels for you. That's just an amazing feeling.
At that moment, there's a soft knock at the door, and when Chloe quietly offers a 'come in', Emily's head pops through the door.
'You guys okay?'
You both laugh a little, knowing she can see your tear tracks in the sun peaking through the office window.
'We're aca-awesome,' you quip, and Emily offers you a thin lipped smirk.
'Is it group hug time? I think it's group hug time,' she says, amidst your groans of displeasure at such a terrible thing.
Chloe just laughs and opens her arms, and despite your earlier protests you welcome Emily into the hug as easily as you'd welcomed her into the Bellas fold 14 years before.
Your little aca family.
She squeezes you both hard one more time and then releases you, walking back to the back porch after throwing back a sincere grin.
Chloe makes to follow her, and she looks back at you, noticing where your focus is.
You're looking down at your left hand, at the ring shed given you to signify your marriage.
And at the one on your thumb.
By chance we met
By choice we'll never forget
She glances at her own, then back up at you.
'You coming, Becs?'
You look at her, and see her smiling at you in that subtle little way.
You love her and your children more than anything in the world.
You'd always told each other you deserved the world, and now you have each other.
That's more than the world.
'Yeah, Chlo.'
You walk forward, grabbing her outstretched hand and you both saunter hand in hand outside to your dear friends, and your incredible children.
What a wild ride it's been.
What an incredible one it'll continue to be.
Fin.