Work Text:
Don't Make The Wife Jealous
Bailey 15; Blake 2
It was bring your daughter to work day at Beca's studio. Beca was nervous. She had tried on several outfits before groaning miserably and angrily taking her clothes off to try a different outfit. Chloe had a late shift that day, so she was able to stay in her PJs for awhile. She had been sipping her coffee in bed watching Beca stomp nervously around the room. She couldn't help but be amused.
"Honey, I don't think you were even this nervous when we had our first date." Chloe shook her head.
"Of course I wasn't." Beca smirked and Chloe's jaw dropped, her eyes demanding an explanation. "What? We were practically dating for four years by the time you gained the courage to ask me out."
"Unbelievable!" Chloe nearly squealed. "You totes asked me out!"
"No." Beca said patiently. "I kissed you when we got back from Copenhagen. You then asked me out."
"You asked me to move with you to New York, and I quote 'If...uh...you know...uh, you don't have plans...and, uh, have nowhere else to go...uh, you know, we could be like...roomies." Chloe lowered her voice and intentionally stuttered, re-enacting the scene of Beca asking them to keep living together after college.
"First of all, the impression is uncanny." Beca deadpanned, showing her lack of amusement. "Second of all, I may have asked you to move to New York. But you asked me on the date."
"Well, whatever, you still made the first move." Chloe huffed, not sure what or why they were even bickering.
"Best decision I ever made." Beca smirked and gave Chloe a quick kiss, making the redhead grin proudly.
"Do you remember that first date?" Chloe grabbed Beca by her collar before she could move back to the closet.
"Very memorable." Beca nodded slowly.
"What do you say we do a little re-enactment this morning?" Chloe brushed her lips against Beca before pulling her in for a full kiss. Beca had always been powerless to Chloe, but she knew she and Bailey would be late...really late...if Beca took Chloe up on that offer.
"You don't play fair." Beca groaned as she forced herself to get up and find a new outfit. Chloe knew Beca didn't have the time, but she always enjoyed getting her wife a little flustered.
"Not that I'm not enjoying your little strip show." Chloe resumed drinking her coffee. "But why are you so nervous? Just pick an outfit. They're all very similar."
"I want Bailey to have fun. I want the day to be perfect. And...I don't know, I want her to think I'm cool." Beca emerged again shrugging on a blazer.
"Oh, baby, you have nothing to worry about." Chloe looked at Beca with sympathy. "Bailey will never think you're cool."
"I don't know why I ever married you." Beca sighed dramatically as she looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the door. Chloe just giggled as she finished her coffee and watched her wife get dressed nervously.
Bailey was pretty excited. Not only did she get an excused absence from school, but she was going to get to see the inner workings of a Grammy winning music studio. She might even bump into a famous artist. It was a relief to both Beca and Chloe that Bailey took after both of them in her interest and talent when it came to music. She was in the school acapella choir, because Chloe had basically begged her to give it a try. And she also had her own band on the side that mostly played in her best friend's garage because she was too embarrassed to have them play at the Mitchell-Beale residence.
Beca was planning to surprise her for her 16th birthday by letting her and her band record a song in her booth. It was killing her keeping it a secret, and she was worried about accidentally spilling the beans while showing Bailey around. But Chloe had told her that morning in no uncertain terms to not even think about telling Bailey without her or there would be consequences. So she had faith she could keep her mouth shut out of fear from her wife if nothing else.
"Do you want a coffee?" Beca asked as they exited the elevator to her floor.
"Can I?!" Bailey's face lit up.
"Yeah. One cup won't kill you." Beca grinned at the enthusiasm over something so small as a cup of coffee. She led the way into the break room where there were several different keurigs lined up. It gave her flashbacks to her first internship and how she was basically just a coffee girl and now she's basically running this place. "Just don't tell your mom."
"This is awesome." Bailey scanned the different flavors and types while Beca fixed her own.
"Beca!" A young, brunette with legs for days that reminded Beca a little of Stacie, came floating into the breakroom. "You know I don't mind getting you coffee from your favorite place. You shouldn't be making your own."
"Its fine." Beca scoffed. She never got into the whole better than you persona some of her colleagues adopted. "I'm here with my daughter anyway."
"Hi." Bailey raised her hand slightly, making erratic eye contact with the trademark Mitchell awkwardness.
"I'm Hailey." The brunette held out her hand for Bailey.
"Bailey."
"Oh my God that's so cute. Hailey and Bailey." Hailey beamed at Beca who gave a quick smirk before focusing on her coffee dripping too slowly into her mug. Hailey heard her name called and spun out of the room with promises to come back.
"You know Bailey, when I was a senior in college I got my foot in the door being an intern at a record studio. It was where me and your Aunt Emily produced Flashlight."
"The one that saved the Bellas?" Bailey asked excitedly.
"The one and only." Beca nodded proudly. "I remember having to get everyone their coffee and burritos and just run all sorts of stupid errands. And now, I'm one of the top people. But its nice to remember where you came from. I like to remember when I was just an errand girl and how hard I had to work to get where I am."
"Did mom work with you?" Bailey leaned against the counter as the keurig's wheezed and hissed. She always enjoyed a good college story about her moms before they got together.
"No." Beca laughed, remembering that year clearly. "She did not. I actually kept it a secret from her. I nearly gave myself an ulcer doing so. But it ended up blowing up in my face and your Aunt Amy spilled the beans in front of everyone. Me and your mom had this awful fight and the bellas just sat and watched. We were their leaders and we had a screaming match by a lake." Beca chuckled softly to herself. "I tried to run away but ended up in a bear trap. I thought I was going to die so I quickly apologized and came clean about everything."
"Sounds like you never were good at keeping stuff from mom. Even before you were together." Bailey giggled.
"Hey I kept it from her for months, thank you very much." Beca scoffed in offense.
"So how'd you make it from errand girl to producer?" Bailey asked.
"Luck and guts, really. I spoke up in a meeting even though I was terrified and it made my boss finally see me. He liked my ideas and gave me my shot. It wasn't smooth sailing but it worked out. I wouldn't have been able to get here without the bellas that's for sure." Beca laughed. "But its still nice to remember being the coffee girl."
"Oh, I can't imagine you just being a coffee girl!" Hailey appeared back in the break room, disrupting the mother daughter moment. "You're so talented, I'm sure no one would have been able to keep you from the booth for long."
"We all start somewhere." Beca shrugged, laughing awkwardly at the praise.
"What do you do here?" Bailey asked, letting some of the awkwardness drift aside.
"I'm your mom's assistant. I basically make sure she has everything she needs and take care of her so she can earn those Grammy's." Hailey shot Beca a wink that went unnoticed, but not by Bailey.
"Well, we should get going." Beca grabbed her and Bailey's mugs. "See you later."
"Bye, Beca!" Hailey waved with a flirtatious grin on her face. Bailey silently followed Beca into her large office. The walls were covered with either photos or gold and platinum records. Two photos that sat directly behind Beca's chair were a picture of the Bellas with the World A Cappella Championship trophy. Beca and Chloe held onto it victoriously while the other Bellas were cheering like madwomen. Beside that photo was her and Chloe dressed to the nines holding Beca's first Grammy award. There were various photos on the other walls with some artists, other producers and songwriters, or the bellas. But her desk held photos only of her family. Bailey grinned when she saw her and Blake's baby pictures side by side. A few pictures of Beca and Chloe being goofy or Beca kissing her cheek. There was one of Bailey kneeling with a soccer ball in her uniform. She remembered how she was both embarrassed and proud when she was the only kid on the team that had a parent by the most expensive picture package. Her favorite was probably the one of all four of them at the water park last year. They were all soaking wet but grinning massive smiles. Beca's arms were spread as wide as they'd go holding onto Chloe and Bailey. Her mom was such a softie it was disgusting.
"So, I got you some creams and sugars. Obviously I don't know how you like it and I doubt you'll like it black even with the flavor." Beca emptied the contents of her pockets for Bailey to choose from.
"You know you're in trouble when mom gets here, right?" Bailey smirked as she tested the coffee after a cream and sugar.
"What? Why? She won't have to know about the coffee." Beca's voice nearly squeaked in shock.
"Your assistant is totally crushing on you." Bailey rolled her eyes at her mom's shocking ability to be completely oblivious.
"What? No she isn't! She's just a suckup trying to become a singer or get a promotion." Beca plopped down in her chair with a quizzical look directed at her daughter.
"You're too oblivious to notice but she sent like five signals in the break room alone. Its totes obvious." Bailey leaned back, sipping on her coffee smugly.
"You're a teenager. You guys think being friendly is flirting." Beca rolled her eyes, but still felt uneasy. Chloe was known to be jealous. She once boycotted a little sandwich shop because the girl wrote her number on Beca's sandwich wrap. Chloe had even asked Stacie, a lawyer now, about the chances of filing a lawsuit. Thankfully Stacie was able to talk her down off that ledge. "Do not tell your mother about your little theory."
"I doubt I'll even have to if she runs into Hailey." Bailey giggled and Beca tried to shake the nervous feeling.
The rest of the day was a lot of fun for both girls. Beca was completely stoked that Bailey showed such an interest in her job. But she tried to keep her excitement tamed, didn't want to scare her teenage daughter off. Bailey was asking question after question, soaking it all in. The best part of the day for Beca was when she took Bailey into the music booth and showed her how she worked on certain tracks. She even showed Bailey how to do a few things and let her use the soundboard on a track.
"This is so cool!" Bailey exclaimed as she slid the headphones off. Beca just smiled proudly as she retook the reins to finish working on the track.
A less fun part of the day for Beca was when a band she was working with showed up to do some recording. It was one of her small projects. The kind where she really got to focus on the music she liked for a no-name, giving them their shot. The band consisted of a female drummer, male bassist, and male guitarist/lead singer. They were young, in their early twenties. They reminded Beca of herself at that age.
The lead singer saw Bailey standing behind Beca and immediately introduced himself.
"I'm Hayden." He shook her hand slowly, flashing his cocky grin.
"Bailey." She shook his hand smiling shyly up at him. Beca could practically see the heart eyes popping out of her daughter's skull.
"So how come I haven't seen you around here before? I'd remember a face like yours." He tilted his head flirtatiously. His band members just rolled their eyes, knowing Hayden to be the player of the group, and waited in the booth.
"She's my daughter." Beca stepped forward before Bailey could respond. "And fifteen."
"Oh." The words were like a cold bucket of water dumped on the musician. He quickly tucked his head and followed his band mates into the booth. Bailey blushed furiously as she took a seat on the couch to watch how the music gets made. She was surprised by how much work went into it. The band had to restart several times. Beca would bark orders here and there. It wasn't as smooth as Bailey thought. It was the first time she really saw how much work went into making music. And she was pretty impressed by her mom. Not that she'd ever admit that to her of course.
The day was winding down and Bailey was pretty exhausted, but she hadn't been bored at all. It was a pretty great day. They were sitting in Beca's office talking about school and soccer when Chloe peeked her head in the door, saying "knock! Knock!"
"Mom, today was so awesome!" Bailey sprung out of her seat before Beca could greet Chloe. Beca just sat back and watched Bailey animatedly tell Chloe about their day. Chloe smiled ear to ear as she listened while batting away Blake's hands from her hair. They were really trying to work on his hair pulling.
"So you had a good day?" Chloe looked back and forth between her girls.
"Yes! This place is so cool!" Bailey literally couldn't contain her excitement.
"Ha, I'm the cool mom." Beca said smugly.
"I said this place is cool. Not you." Bailey playfully corrected her and Beca shot her a scowl lacking any sincerity.
Then Hailey suddenly came into the office, unknowingly interrupting family time and gave a look to Chloe. Beca swallowed nervously, hoping Bailey's assumptions were wrong.
"I'm sorry, did you have an appointment?" Hailey paused as she glared at Chloe.
Chloe looked Hailey up and down with a slightly incredulous look on her face. She did not appreciate the tone she was getting. Bailey bit her lip and returned to her seat across from Beca. They exchanged nervous glances.
"No." Chloe said slowly. "The wife doesn't need an appointment. And you are?"
"Oh." Hailey's eyes ran up and down Chloe, studying her. She returned back to Chloe's stare with an unimpressed look. "I'm Hailey. Beca's assistant. You're married? Happily?" She looked at Beca.
"18 years." Beca flashed her left hand like it was obvious. She didn't miss the slight narrowing of the eyes when Chloe glanced at her.
"Well, all guests, even spouses, need to sign the confidentiality form when they come to the studio." Hailey turned back to Chloe, speaking flatly.
"She doesn't need to sign the form." Beca said quickly before Chloe could respond.
"Okay, then." Hailey smiled fakely at Chloe before exiting the office. When the door shut, Chloe turned slowly towards Beca.
"Bailey? Could you take your brother down to the car and get him strapped in?" Chloe set Blake down. He toddled over to Beca first and she gave him a hug and a kiss before handing him over to Bailey.
"Good luck." Bailey mouthed to her mom as she walked out the door with Blake.
"So why didn't you tell me you hired a hot, young assistant?" Chloe folded her arms when she heard the door click shut.
"Okay, first of all I didn't hire her. I only said yes or no to resumes." Beca stood up and walked around the desk to sit in front of Chloe. "Second, I didn't think to say anything because I don't see her like that."
"She doesn't know you're married? Happily?" Chloe continued her questioning, her voice mocking the young assistant with a measure of disgust.
"I mean, I guess she's a little dense. I mean look around." Beca waved at all her pictures. "Its not like I'm hiding it. I just don't formally announce it to everyone I meet."
"I didn't appreciate little miss thing's attitude." Chloe mumbled as she stepped closer.
"I'll talk to her about it." Beca said quickly. "And Chloe, trust me, I only have eyes for you."
"I know." Chloe sighed as she lightly grabbed onto Beca's blazer that was rolled up to her elbows. She smiled thinking about how nervous Beca was just picking an outfit that morning. When her eyes looked back up, Beca was clearly lost in thought.
"You better not be thinking about your hot young assistant." Chloe gave her a little shake and Beca just started laughing.
"No, I was thinking about senior year in college. When I had that internship."
"That internship you hid from me." Chloe muttered under her breath, still holding on to a little bitterness over the subject after 20 years.
"Yeah, yeah. I was telling Bailey about it this morning. It was one of those moments my life flashed before my eyes in bits and pieces. I just...I can't believe I got so lucky."
"Luck had very little to do with it." Chloe tsked as she wrapped her arms around Beca's waist.
"Do you ever wonder if we still would have made it if we started dating before we graduated?" Beca's question clearly caught Chloe by surprise as her eyebrows shot up and she wore her thinking face.
"I don't know." She finally answered. "I think it might've been a bit much for us to handle. Being co-captains. You keeping your little internship secrets. All on top of dating? We might've crashed and burned."
"That's a scary thought." Beca sighed. "I'm glad then that you could keep your toner in your pants until after graduation then."
"Oh, shush." Chloe gave Beca a slap on the shoulders. "It didn't help that you were dating that human version of a puppy dog for most of the time." Chloe gave Beca her look of disapproval.
"Gross. Please don't remind me of that." Beca grimaced. "We were hardly even dating by senior year."
"I know." Chloe giggled. "It was actually a running joke among the bellas that you and I acted like more of a couple than you and your boyfriend."
"God." Beca just rolled her eyes, knowing many of the stories of the bellas mocking her and Chloe behind her back for years.
And then, suddenly ruining the moment, Hailey entered the room again, and Chloe's jaw clenched firmly.
"Beca, I just wanted to give you a pick me up before your 4 o'clock." Hailey set down a steaming mug of coffee on Beca's desk, leaning low enough to show some cleavage. "Just the way you like it."
Chloe never wanted to be the type of girlfriend or wife that had to "mark her territory" but sometimes she couldn't help it. She grabbed Beca by the shirt and yanked her forward to capture her lips with her own. She wasted no time licking aggressively into Beca's mouth. Beca was clearly caught off guard and had to slam her hands down on her desk to stop herself from falling over. She let out a little moan and gripped onto Chloe's waist, trying to keep her hands from going inappropriate places with someone else present. Chloe tilted her head and let her tongue roam Beca's mouth one more time before pulling away and planting one more small kiss on her lips. She smiled proudly at the dazed look on Beca's face.
"Well…" Chloe licked her lips and gently brushed her own lipstick off of Beca's lips. "Have a good meeting. See you at home." She gave Beca a wink that she knew could turn the little brunette to jello. Even after all these years, she loved that she could get that reaction out of the little brunette. Then she stood up straight and smiled brightly at the assistant.
"Bye, Hannah." She waved a hand in the air as she sauntered out of the room. Hailey huffed as she stomped out of the room once Chloe was out of sight. Beca was still trying to regain control of her mind and motor function after an insanely hot and far too short kiss. It took all of her willpower to not cancel her 4 o'clock and join her wife at home to finish what Chloe started.