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My Wife, The Child
The Water Works
Bailey 12; Blake in the womb
It was a scorching hot day in the middle of summer in L.A. After Bailey had whined one too many times about being bored, Beca decided to set up a water fighting arena in their spacious backyard. Bailey came sprinting down the stairs in her one piece swimsuit and shorts, literally unable to contain her excitement and energy. She had apparently forgotten something as she quickly turned around and raced back upstairs.
"No running in the house, Bailey!" Chloe called calmly from the kitchen. She was working on dinner, which would take about four hours to be ready. She was making her girls' favorite meal, pot roast. She had a feeling they'd be occupied for a while from the looks of Beca's backyard setup. She had just put the lid on the crockpot when Beca jumped inside impatiently, dressed in her plain white t-shirt, running shorts, and bikini underneath.
"Bailey! Let's go!"
"Who's the adult in that relationship?" Chloe asked with a hand on her hip.
"Oh hush." Beca put her hands on Chloe's hips and gave her a kiss. "You sure you don't want to come out to the great Mitchell-Beale Waterpark Madness Event?"
"Very sure." Chloe gave her a quick kiss back. "I don't want to risk slipping or anything." She placed a protective hand on her growing belly.
"Yes, we don't want to hurt little peanut in there." Beca traced her fingers along Chloe's belly, looking lovingly at the bump when Bailey came storming back through.
"Mom! Let's go!"
Bailey and Beca were having an all out water balloon fight. Beca had spent most of the morning filling up balloons and loading them in the kiddie pool. She had set up some old boxes and patio furniture throughout the yard as a makeshift obstacle course. And in the middle she had set up the sprinkler for them to run through when they were moving from obstacle to obstacle. The backyard was filled with laughs and screams and Chloe was watching from the kitchen window, feeling like her heart couldn't possibly be any fuller.
Mr. Snuggles sat on the window sill watching curiously at the duo. His ears twitched and his tail flicked whenever Bailey let out a scream or a giggle.
"Our girls are something else, huh, Mr. Snuggles?" Chloe grinned when he let out a little murmur as she stroked his back. Her gaze was stuck on Beca running around the yard with their daughter. Her white t-shirt was getting soaked through and it was starting to cling quite tightly to her. Her damn pregnancy hormones suddenly attacked her and she felt a wave of heat flow through her. She took a deep breath and moved away from the window, feeling like she couldn't keep staring at her wife and entertaining certain thoughts that she wanted to do to her when their daughter was right there.
She had set herself up on the couch reading a book when she heard a loud shriek from the backyard, louder than the other giggles and squeals from the rest of the afternoon. Her mom mind kicked in and immediately thought Bailey had hurt herself. After a minor struggle getting up from the couch, she sprinted to the kitchen and let out an amused sigh of relief when she saw Beca chasing Bailey around with the hose.
"My wife is literally a child." Chloe whispered to the cat, grinning stupidly at the two brunettes running like mad around the yard.
After a long water war, Beca and Bailey returned inside.
"Go shower and change." Beca gave Bailey a little swat on the backside as the girl went upstairs tiredly to clean up. Beca had performed a minor miracle. She wore their daughter out.
"You two looked like you were having fun." Chloe grinned at Beca who leaned against the counter as if it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.
"That was epic." Beca smiled. "We're so doing that again."
"It was a little distracting looking up and seeing that wet t-shirt cling to you, though." Chloe's voice lowered as she wrapped her hands around Beca's waist. Beca's eyebrows tilted up, intrigued by the tone. "I could think of something even more fun that gets you just as wet."
"Oh my God." Beca laughed at the cheesy pickup line. "I see your hormones have come out to play too."
"Well I didn't get to play in your little water park." Chloe pouted. "Maybe I want my own playtime."
Beca's eyes widened slightly. No matter where or when or what state of appearance either of them were in, when Chloe was turned on, Beca was turned on. She didn't say anything else and pulled Chloe in for a kiss. Chloe wasted no time deepening it. It turned quickly into a heated makeout session in the kitchen.
Beca wasn't sure how long they stayed in their intense liplock, but was quickly jolted back to reality when their 12 year old appeared in the doorway.
"Gross!" Bailey groaned dramatically and Chloe quickly detached herself from Beca. "Don't you guys have somewhere private you could do that." She covered her eyes as she turned back around to the living room. Beca let out a frustrated sigh and Chloe smiled apologetically.
"Don't you love having a kid?"
After Beca had cleaned up and taken a short nap, she ventured downstairs. Bailey was sitting on the couch reading. Bailey actually hated reading, but their school was having a summer reading competition. The winner got a free pizza at the end of summer. And Bailey definitely inherited the competitive gene, so she had been going through books like a regular bookworm. She was going to win that pizza.
"Hey, Bales, enjoying the book?" Beca asked, leaning on the back of the couch.
"Not really." Bailey shrugged as she turned a page.
"Dinner's ready!" Chloe called from the kitchen as she lifted the crockpot lid to let the aroma fill the area.
Bailey and Beca entered shortly after, both sniffing the air like hound dogs.
"It's pot roast." Chloe smiled widely.
"Yes!" Beca and Bailey both cheered, did a fist pump, and high fived each other. Chloe went about transferring the food into a serving dish. Beca started up a chant of "Pot! Roast! Pot Roast!" that Bailey quickly joined in. Her wife was a dork, but Chloe always felt flattered when they got that excited over her cooking, especially when the meal didn't even require much effort.
They filled their plates, Beca and Bailey looking ravenous. Chloe remembered she forgot the salad and left the dining room to go grab it. The brunettes took their first bite and grimaced. They quickly exchanged confused glances. But Beca had a flashback to when Chloe was pregnant with Bailey. She over-salted, over-seasoned everything due to her pregnancy throwing her taste buds out of whack. Beca had made the mistake of asking her to let Beca put salt on her own food and it sent Chloe into a fit of sobs where she ultimately locked herself in the bathroom for most of the evening. This time Beca would handle it differently.
"Don't say anything." She whispered out of the side of her mouth as she pushed a chunk of meat to the other side.
"Mom, this is terrible." Bailey looked dejected at her full plate of her usual favorite meal.
"Just pretend you like it." Beca gave her a nudge on the arm just before Chloe returned.
Chloe set the salad bowl to the side and glanced at her two girls. Chloe was known to be observant, just as Bailey and Beca were extremely predictable. Every pot roast night they would be moaning and fawning over the food for a solid five minutes. Bailey would always make a comment on how shocking it was to make carrots taste so good. And Beca would always find a way to whisper to Chloe it was almost as good as sex.
But tonight? The girls chewed slowly and silently. They had their heads down so Chloe couldn't see their expressions clearly.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked worriedly.
"Nothing!" Beca's head shot up and her eyes went wide. "Its delicious!" She said with her mouth full.
"So good!" Bailey nodded along.
Chloe eyed them suspiciously as she took her own bite. It tasted good to her. Her pregnant body clearly having a passion for saltiness. Bailey swallowed her first bite and then moved the carrots and potatoes around on her plate like she was nervous to eat anymore.
"Okay, seriously, what's wrong with you two?" Chloe set her fork down, waiting for an explanation. Beca cursed her and Bailey's poor acting skills as she set her own fork down.
"It just…"
"Its bad, mom." Bailey leaned back in her chair with a defeated look on her face. "Like really bad. It tastes like we poured the ocean on it. It-"
"We got it, Bailey." Beca said sternly, shooting her a warning look. Chloe nodded slowly, swallowing hard trying not to cry in front of Bailey.
"Hey, Bales, why don't you go up to your room for a bit. I'll order us pizza, okay?" Beca gave her a smile and Bailey quietly did as she was told. As soon as her footsteps could be heard on the stairs Chloe broke down in sobs. Beca took a deep breath, reminding herself not to laugh and quickly jumped up to sit by Chloe and wrap a comforting arm around her.
"Chlo, its okay, baby. This happens when you're pregnant. Its not the end of the world."
"I can't even feed my wife and child without poisoning them!" Chloe exclaimed as she slammed a frustrated hand on the table. Beca flinched at the outburst and accidentally let out a snort. "I'm glad you find this so funny." Chloe shrugged Beca's arm off of her and put her head in her hands.
"Baby, you didn't poison us."
"I just wanted to make your favorite meal after you two had such a good day. You had so much fun and I loved watching and listening to you two laugh and scream and play in the water. And if I wasn't a freaking whale I could've joined you. And I just wanted to make the best dinner to complete the perfect day. And I just ruined everything." Chloe rambled on through choked sobs. Beca waited a moment before wrapping Chloe in a hug and kissing the side of her head.
"You didn't ruin anything." She whispered as she brushed a strand of red hair behind Chloe's ear. "Every day I get to spend with our kid and my beautiful wife is a perfect day. And I would eat overly salted pot roast every night if it meant I got to wake up to you every morning and have our beautiful daughter and her soon to be little sibling. You didn't ruin a thing today, Chloe. You make every day perfect."
"Shut up." Chloe sniffed as she leaned into Beca. "You're going to make me cry for a whole other reason."
"I love you. And you are not a whale. I know you don't feel very attractive right now, but sweetie, when I see your belly grow, knowing that its growing our baby, I swear you've never been more attractive to me. Its pretty amazing that you're carrying a whole freaking human inside of you. And I can't wait till this little peanut gets old enough for me to get into trouble with them too." Beca smirked as she rubbed a hand on Chloe's belly.
"Oh, God. Its going to be three against one." Chloe let out a laugh as she wiped her tears, feeling a little silly for her emotional and watery outburst. Beca might be an extra child to deal with sometimes, but Chloe wouldn't have it any other way, she loved that woman.
Gamers
Bailey 15; Blake 3
Beca sneaked through the front door with a cardboard box in her hands. She glanced around and saw no sign of Chloe. See, Chloe hated video games. She thought the majority were based on violence which she wouldn't let her children play. That, or they weren't stimulating enough to provide anything meaningful to them. And she'd read one two many articles about how they slow brain development or turn kids into serial killers. She'd rather them read or do something active or something that involved family bonding. Video games? Chloe was just not a supporter. And Beca knew this after she had tried to get Bailey an xbox for her 13th birthday, which Chloe saw straight through as Beca wanting a gift for herself.
But today Beca thought she had a good compromise. She had found someone selling an old Nintendo 64, which she had grown up playing herself. The only games with it were kids games: Banjo Kazzoie/Banjo Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and a wide assortment of Mario Games. No guns, no fighting, and minimal cartoon violence. Beca was pretty pleased with herself.
"What's that?" Bailey jumped up from the couch with curiosity.
"Shh!" Beca hissed, looking around for Chloe. "I need to tell your mom first."
"Oh, geez." Bailey sighed. "What'd you do?"
"Nothing bad." Beca gave a look admonishing her for her lack of faith. "Just some innocent video games."
"Video games?" Bailey tilted her head, knowing Chloe's stance on them. Bailey actually really enjoyed them when she would go over to her friends' houses. But she was smart enough to not let Chloe know about that.
"They're innocent!" Beca argued. "And besides, I don't need your permission."
"Nope. But good luck getting the one you need." Bailey smiled smugly as Beca stuck out her tongue before hiding the box in the linen closet before finding Chloe.
"Honey, I'm home." Beca popped into the kitchen with her goofy smirk planted on her lips.
"You're such a dork." Chloe giggled softly before planting a quick kiss on Beca and returning to peeling potatoes over the trash can.
"What's for dinner?" Beca asked as she snaked her hands around Chloe's waist, grinning at how it made Chloe falter for a brief second.
"Cheesy chicken and veggie casserole." Chloe stated proudly.
"Hmm...how many veggies?" Beca asked nervously, famously opposed to vegetables that aren't either slathered in butter or mixed in with pot roast.
"Don't worry, there's cheese and chicken, you'll hardly know they're there." Chloe rolled her eyes. Beca was about to continue her vegetable protest when she remembered she needed to be in Chloe's good graces for what she wanted to ask.
"So, I was thinking." Beca pulled up a stool to watch Chloe peel. "You know how you said when we first were pregnant with Bailey how you want to incorporate as much of the positive and fun times from our childhood in her life?"
"Yeah." Chloe glanced up for a moment, wondering where this line of questioning was headed.
"Well, as you know, my childhood wasn't the greatest. But there were some parts that were good. And I was thinking about introducing a certain part that I remember loving a lot that brought me a lot of joy. And I want to share it with Bailey and Blake."
"Beca, that's great. What is it?" Chloe smiled hopefully as she stood up straight, pausing her peeling. Beca bit her lip and tapped her fingers nervously on the counter.
"Nintendo 64." She said quickly as if she were ripping off a band-aid.
"A video game?" Chloe sighed in disappointment.
"But its a good video game. And I only got the kid-friendly games. No guns or fighting or war. And most of them have multiplayer so it can be a family activity. Lots of laughs and hand-eye coordination. And some of them require some problem solving skills so-"
"Alright, don't try to make it sound educational." Chloe put her hand up, scoffing internally at the idea of video games bringing her children actual intellectual stimulus.
"And we'll have time limits so we're not glued to the screen all day." Beca continued on, making her best case to keep the system.
"No violence?" Chloe was clearly ready to give in and Beca grinned widely.
"Nope. I mean aside from cartoon monkeys slapping the bad guys and Mario shooting bananas to make the other cars crash, no violence."
"Fine. But only 1 hour a day."
"One?" Beca whined, knowing she shouldn't push it, but pushing anyway. "How bout 2?"
"One."
"Fine one for the kids and as long as I want." Beca winked.
"Beca." Chloe tilted her head in the way that communicated so much and Beca sighed in defeat. Or compromise, she supposed, but compromise still felt like defeat sometimes.
"Fine. Thank you, baby!" Beca hopped up. "I'm going to go set it up!"
Beca let Bailey have the first turn, to prove that she didn't just buy the system for herself. Blake crawled into her lap, engrossed in the bright colors and animations on the TV. Bailey was selecting a character in Diddy Kong racing. She looked at her little brother and asked which one was his favorite.
"Kitty!" Blake pointed at the orange and white Tiger character. "Mr. Snuggles!"
"That's Timber." Beca corrected. "And he's definitely not the fastest." She glanced at Bailey who just rolled her eyes as she chose Timber.
Blake was thoroughly engrossed in the video game as Bailey completed race after race. He kept shouting voom voom! And Beca started bouncing him in her lap and tilting him side to side dramatically as if her lap was the car on the screen. Chloe heard the loud giggles and couldn't help but chuckle herself at the scene before her. Maybe Beca was right that video games could actually lead to some family bonding. In moderation of course. She hated to break up the entertainment, but she had to feed her family after all.
"Alright, pause the game. Time to eat."
"Aww...five more minutes?" Bailey and Beca said in unison before looking at each other like the other was crazy.
"Five minutes and then we eat. If you take longer the game stays off the rest of the night." Chloe said as she decided to slice up some bread while she waited.
"Yes, ma'am." Beca said and then started bouncing Blake again who just squealed with delight.
After dinner and some angel food cake for dessert, Bailey and Beca raced to the living room to see who would get the first turn. Chloe just rolled her eyes as she started the dishwasher and took a fussy Blake upstairs for a bath who cried on the way upstairs because he wanted to watch the TV games.
After Blake's bath and bedtime story she made her way back downstairs to see Beca tapping away violently on the buttons on the gray controller. Bailey was sitting beside her watching the screen intently. Chloe was trying not to regret her decision. She found a spot on the couch to scroll through her various social media pages and glance every once in a while to the cartoon animals driving around courses in various goofy vehicles. What is the draw to this game? She wondered.
After going down a black hole of memes, Chloe was startled when Bailey whined loudly.
"Mom! Its my turn!"
"Just let me beat this race!" Beca whined back, holding the controller away from Bailey's grasp.
"You've tried three times already!"
"One more try."
"That's what you said last time."
"Beca." Chloe interrupted with her mild scolding tone. "Let Bailey have her turn." Beca was about to protest but she turned to see the look Chloe was giving her. It was akin to her "no sex threat" face.
"Fine." Beca grumbled and handed the controller over to a nearly bouncing Bailey. Beca deep down was happy to surrender the controller over. Bailey was going through her moody teen years and rarely found anything to be this excited about. It was like she was five years younger, and Beca was happy to be partially responsible for the bright smile on her daughter's face.
Bailey used her turn for the full hour until Chloe finally told her it was time to shower and get some sleep. It was a school night, after all. Beca snickered as she took the controller back and loaded her own game back up. Chloe watched her for a moment before standing up and stretching, letting her shirt rise over her stomach slightly, making the brunette's gaze turn from the TV for a moment as expected.
"You can play your video game as long as you want tonight." Chloe leaned down to run her hands slowly along Beca's shoulders. "Or...you could come upstairs with me and we can play our own game." She planted a lingering kiss just below Beca's ear before turning to walk up the stairs. Beca swallowed hard and once she regained motor control she tossed the control aside and jumped to turn the console and TV off before sprinting upstairs after Chloe.
"Still got it." Chloe smirked to herself as she entered their bedroom just before Beca caught up.
D&B's
Bailey 17; Blake 5
It was Beca's 42nd birthday. She had finally accepted being in her forties. But she wasn't going to let her age change how much fun she had. Chloe had offered to get them a hotel room for the weekend and let Bailey babysit. Shockingly, Beca had said she'd rather do something as a family.
"You're turning down a kid free weekend with all this?" Chloe ran her hand up and down her body as Beca looked on from their bed.
"I'm not turning it down, per say." Beca stuttered as she forced her eyes to move back up to focus on Chloe. "I just want to spend my birthday with my whole family. You know, while the kids are still at home and like me."
"Aw, they'll never not like you." Chloe slid into the bed and gave Beca a kiss on the cheek. "I think its sweet that you want to spend your birthday with them."
"We could go to Dave and Buster's. Good food and lots of games. Blake would have so much fun." Beca's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"You mean you would have so much fun." Chloe giggled, seeing right through Beca.
"Yes, but it'd be even better being with my family."
"So a night at Dave and Buster's. That's what you want for your birthday?" Chloe asked to make double sure. Because she knew her own wishes would be a bit different for her own birthday.
"But maybe we could do that hotel thing Saturday night, too?" Beca grinned as she leaned in closer.
"Still can't resist me, can you?" Chloe smirked as she pressed her lips firmly against Beca's.
"Have you seen you?" Beca looked her wife's body up and down before guiding her down and hovering slightly over her. "Maybe birthday sex can come a day early?"
"You want to have your cake and eat it too?" Chloe looked at her with a wicked grin.
"You have no idea." Beca quipped before kissing Chloe hard and letting her hand wander up and down her side.
Just as their kisses were heating up and about to lead to something else their door swung open.
"Oh, God, my eyes!" Bailey quickly spun around with her hands over her face.
"Oh, calm down, we're fully clothed." Chloe pushed herself up on her elbows as Beca rolled over to her side in frustration.
"What did we say about knocking?" She tried not to glare too hard at her daughter.
"It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I thought you guys had some control." Bailey peeked out of her hands to make sure she was safe.
"What did you want?" Beca asked, hoping she didn't sound as impatient as she was.
"Could I go to the beach with Mason tomorrow? His uncle is taking out his yacht and we were going to watch some fireworks for the end of summer."
"Bailey, its your mom's birthday tomorrow." Chloe said. And Beca ignored the small ache that her daughter didn't remember.
"Oh, right. Well...is it a big deal if I miss this one?" Bailey asked hopefully.
"No, its not okay. We already have plans for the whole family." Chloe said quickly.
"But, its not even one of the big ones." Bailey whined. "This is one of the last times we can go out on the water before school starts."
"We put family first, you know that." Chloe's voice had that edge that meant she was about to get upset.
"How long is the birthday thing going to last then? Maybe I could still meet up with Mason after." Bailey asked as she folded her arms with her pleading eyes on.
"This isn't let's make a deal, Bailey. You can hang out with Mason another night." Chloe seemed to close the book on the conversation. Beca felt her insides twisting with disappointment and sadness and she suddenly felt the urge to cry. She tried not to be annoyed with herself for getting emotional that her teenage daughter didn't want to spend Beca's birthday with her. She wondered guiltily how many times she made her own mom feel this way. She watched her daughter sigh with frustration.
"You know, its fine." Beca interjected as she waved her hand with a forced smile that Chloe noticed, but Bailey couldn't tell. "Its my birthday, so I'm not going to keep you from being happy. Go spend the day with your boyfriend. There'll be other birthdays." Beca shrugged, keeping her smile on.
"But, Beca…" Chloe started when Beca held up her hand.
"I'm not going to hold my daughter hostage on my birthday." Beca forced out a laugh and ignored the way Chloe was looking at her. "Go have fun, sweetheart." She smiled brightly at Bailey, silently praying the tears she could feel wanting to break loose would wait.
"Thank you, Mom! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Bailey bounced up and down and ran to Beca's side of the bed and nearly tackled her with a hug. "I love you!" And she went skipping out of the room, full of joy.
Chloe looked at her own hands, knowing Beca's heart was probably hurting a little. She was considering her words carefully. Beca never liked to be pitied or coddled when her feelings had been hurt.
"Becs-"
"Its fine." Beca interrupted quickly as she sniffed. "Its fine. I didn't want to hang out with my mom when I was 17 either." She laughed sarcastically as she swiped at her watery eyes.
"She doesn't have to go out with Mason that night."
"Chloe, I said its fine." Beca stood up and started walking to the bathroom before it became even more obvious she was crying. Chloe watched her with sympathy, wishing she could take Beca's hurt away. Her wife was far more sensitive than she'd let anyone know, but Chloe always knew. She had been able to read Beca better than anyone even back in college. "I'm just going to take a shower."
"Want me to join you?" Chloe asked playfully, hoping she could take Beca's mind off of things.
"You know I always do. But I just want to take a quick shower." Beca smiled sadly as she gave Chloe a quick peck and disappeared into the bathroom. Chloe stood there for a moment, staring at the door, knowing Beca was crying in the shower, hoping the water would help wash away the evidence. She bit her lip in thought before hurrying downstairs.
She found Bailey in the kitchen scrolling through her iPhone..
"You made your mom cry, do you know that?" Chloe folded her arms as she stood across from her daughter.
"What?" Bailey set her phone down and looked up at Chloe with surprise.
"She was so excited about spending her birthday with you and Blake. We could go on a fancy vacation or stay in a five star hotel or go on a cruise. But what did she want? She wanted to go to Dave and Buster's with you and Blake. And then you come in an act all put out about spending one night with us and broke her heart. She's in the shower right now, crying. And she'd be mortified if you knew that because all she wants is for you to be happy. And right now, even if its not true, she feels like she can't make you happy anymore. You're her little girl who couldn't wait to play with her in the backyard with water balloons and the hose. You're her little girl who would get all competitive playing with her on that nintendo. She bent over backwards just to make you smile your whole life, and you can't give up one night to be with her." Chloe finished her rant, not realizing just how frustrated she was until the words came flying out of her mouth.
"I…" Bailey paused. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"If you decide you want kids someday and they grow up to be teenagers you'll understand." Chloe sighed sympathetically as she remembered what it was like to reach the age she didn't want to hang out with her mom.
"I'll tell her when she comes down that I changed my mind." Bailey shrugged.
"It can't be that simple." Chloe moved to sit beside Bailey with her tone suggesting she was plotting something.
"What do you mean?"
"You need to act like you really actually want to go."
"Well, I do. Now that I know she was so upset."
"But she can't know you know she was upset. We need to come up with a story and make it sound like you really want to go." Chloe pursed her lips, looking deep in thought as she devised a plan.
"Seriously?" Bailey deadpanned, thinking that this was a little insane, and waited for Chloe to tell her what to do, she knew it was coming.
"Pretend that Mason called and the boat trip got postponed. Not cancelled, but postponed. But say something like how you're actually relieved so you don't have to worry about feeling guilty all night. And add how you're excited to kick her ass at air hockey or something."
"I can say ass?" Bailey smirked.
"Yeah, but then I'll slap your arm and say 'language!' and she'll totally buy it." Chloe raised her eyebrows real quickly as if she was proud for thinking this up.
"So this is a whole skit now?" Bailey scoffed. She was sure she had the most ridiculous mothers sometimes.
"Well, we need to be convincing. Your mother can spot a pity invite or a pity request from a mile away okay?"
"Alright." Bailey sighed. "Can I bring Mason to dinner?"
"To your mother's birthday?" Chloe asked incredulously.
"What? She likes him now. They play video games together while I get ready for our dates. I purposely take an extra ten or fifteen minutes to let them have some time to bond." Bailey giggled thinking about how happy she was when she first walked in on them playing mario brothers.
"Aww, you do?" Chloe jutted her lip out. "That's adorable. And actually that's a good addition to the plan. Tell her that he was so disappointed about not getting to go on the boat, that you'd like to invite him along. But if she says no, don't push it."
"Fine. So, should we practice?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Chloe scoffed and then thought about it. "Actually, yeah, a little rehearsal couldn't hurt."
Beca appeared downstairs a little later looking fresh faced as if she hadn't been crying thirty minutes prior. She greeted Chloe and Bailey with a wide smile as she grabbed a water before turning to the living room to see if Blake wanted to play. She needed one of her kids to want to be with her.
"Hey, mom?" Bailey asked, feeling suddenly nervous. She didn't even get this nervous before she had to sing in her performances. Beca turned around on the spot and looked patiently at Bailey. "I know its your birthday and all, but could Mason maybe join us tomorrow?"
"What?" Beca asked as she slowly stepped back into the kitchen. "I thought you were going on some boat."
"We were." Bailey sighed heavily as if she were disappointed, but not too dramatically. "But his uncle said there's some problem with...I forgot what he called it, but its some boat part. So he has to get it repaired before we can go out. But he said we'll probably have a day next week to go."
"Hmm...that's a shame." Beca glanced quickly at Chloe who was working on seasoning some chicken breasts.
"So he was pretty bummed out. But I'm actually sort of relieved. I feel like I would've spent the whole night feeling guilty." Bailey bit her lip, hoping she was acting her part successfully.
"You know its not a big deal." Beca shook her head as if Bailey were crazy for feeling guilty.
"I know. But this way I can kick your ass at some air hockey." Bailey grinned.
"Hey, watch your language." Chloe threw a carrot at Bailey and tried not to laugh.
"Like you could kick my ass at air hockey." Beca scoffed at the preposterous statement. "So you want to invite Mason?" She asked, serious again.
"I mean, if its okay. His night got ruined and I figured we could show him a good time. And I thought you guys were starting to get along. You play video games when he comes here. You could have one of your little competitions at D&B's too." Bailey looked at Beca hopefully.
"Yeah, he can tag along." Beca agreed quickly. Ideally it would just be the four of them. Family only. But if inviting Mason meant she got to have some fun with her daughter on her birthday, she'd take it.
"Yes! Thanks, Mom!" Bailey popped up and wrapped her arms around Beca, whose arms were now pinned at her sides. As Bailey stepped back she gave Beca a quick kiss on the cheek. "This is going to be fun, I'm excited." She said without thought. It was one of the only things she said that hadn't been scripted by her and Chloe earlier.
"Yeah." Beca nodded, biting back a beaming smile that was threatening to escape her lips before leaving to play with Blake. Though now she was in a far better mood.
"You just made your mom super happy." Chloe whispered as she gave Bailey a high five.
"Good." Bailey smiled as she watched Beca plop down beside Blake who was playing with one of his hot wheels race tracks.
"Mason won't be too disappointed will he?" Chloe returned to fixing dinner.
"Crap." Bailey dropped her head into her hands. Through all the worry about convincing Beca, she had forgotten she'd have to tell Mason about the change of plans.
Mason was a good sport about it. In fact, he was practically giddy that Beca would allow him to come to her birthday dinner. He had tried so hard for nearly a year to get her to like him. Chloe was fairly easy, but Beca was a challenge. So he wasn't all that disappointed to miss out on the boat and fireworks when Bailey profusely apologized and begged him to go with the family.
They all finished and sang happy birthday to a frowning Beca. She loved her birthday, but she didn't like being sung happy birthday by strangers, with a bunch of other strangers staring along while their dinners were interrupted.
"You know I don't like the whole happy birthday thing in restaurants." Beca whispered over to Chloe once the wait staff had dispersed.
"Yes, I know. But I love your little scowl, its cute. And you love cake, so its a perfect compromise." Chloe waved her off as she started cutting off slices of the small cake for everyone.
Once cake was over and Chloe helped Blake wipe the icing off his face, he grabbed Beca's hand.
"Mommy! Can we play games now?!"
"Yes!" Beca hopped off her chair. "How impressed would you be if I won you the most expensive prize?" Beca asked Chloe as she held onto Blake, before he took off running for the game zone.
"I'm not a teenage girl out on her first date. I won't be that impressed. Sorry, sweetie." Chloe gave her a patronizing pat on the cheek.
"Well, I'm going to win you that massive stuffed dolphin anyway." Beca said defiantly as she let herself be dragged to the game zone by an eager five year old.
"I'm a teenage girl, and even I wouldn't be impressed." Bailey giggled to Mason.
"You Beale women are hard to impress." He gave Bailey a little nudge and then blushed when he realized that Chloe was watching them with a sweet, but slightly creepy smile. "Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Beale." Mason said once Beca had left. He always seemed to relax just a little bit once the brunette mother was gone.
"Don't mention it. And thank you for going along with our little white lie."
"I was happy to." Mason looked over at Bailey who was just smiling sweetly at him. It was like they were in their own little world. Chloe looked happily between the two, remembering when she and Beca used to be nauseating like that. Although, she supposed, they still were sometimes.
"Well, you two go use up those tokens. I don't want my wife trying to cheat in getting those tickets." Chloe waved the teenagers off as she waited for the check, enjoying the overwhelming happy feeling she had felt throughout the day and especially dinner.
"Ma'am, you can't do that." A nervous looking boy, maybe in his early twenties came shuffling over to Beca. She was currently holding Blake up like an airplane as he shot ball after ball into the hoop, scoring higher than Beca ever could have normally. Beca looked at the boy with disdain.
"I can't hold my son while he plays a game?"
"You know that's not what you're doing." The worker whispered, not wanting to embarrass the older woman. Beca made no move to put Blake down and thankfully Chloe had a sixth sense about all things related to Beca and suddenly appeared at her side.
"Becs, what's up?" Chloe asked sweetly, flashing a kind smile to the worker.
"I'm just holding our son while we play games." Beca turned to look at Chloe innocently.
"Baby, put Blake down." Chloe whispered as she casually rubbed Beca's back.
"We're just playing." Beca maintained her position.
"Don't get us kicked out of Dave and Buster's on your birthday." Chloe said again with a sweet but pleading smile on her face. Beca reluctantly set Blake down and not so scarily narrowed her eyes at the worker who smiled nervously and walked away.
"Spoil sport." Beca grumped as she grabbed the tickets that were coming out of the machine. "We could've doubled this."
"Its less impressive when you cheat." Chloe winked and gave Beca a kiss on the cheek. "Now, what's something the three of us could play."
"Hmm…" Beca bit her lip and looked around the room. "Oh, I see three ski-ball lanes open."
"Let's go, then." Chloe smiled down at Blake and held out her hand that he grabbed excitedly to follow behind.
After a few rounds of ski-ball, and Beca being disappointed with the amount of tickets they won, they found Bailey and Mason near the air hockey tables.
"Alright, daughter of mine, want to put your money where your mouth is and take me on in air hockey?" Beca grinned cockily when she leaned against the machine that Bailey was grabbing tickets out of.
"You ready to get embarrassed on your birthday and lose to your daughter who's less than half your age?" Bailey shot back, trying not to burst into laughter at the face Beca made.
"I'm going to own you, pipsqueak."
"We'll see. And don't blame early onset arthritis when I'm about to beat you." Bailey shrugged a shoulder as she brushed past Beca towards the air hockey table. Beca followed quickly. Mason and Chloe stood behind watching the encounter.
"Should I be worried about this weird competitive thing?" Mason gave Chloe a worried look.
"Do you plan on being in Bailey's life for a significantly longer amount of time?" Chloe asked, eyes still focused on her wife and daughter.
"I do." Mason said immediately, not really thinking about the magnitude of the question.
"Then maybe be a little worried." Chloe gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder before guiding Blake to watch his mom and sister battle it out.
"You can't keep trapping it on the table!" Beca hit her right hand on the edge of the table in frustration. "You have to hit it as it comes."
"Oh, I didn't realize we were playing in the air hockey Olympics." Bailey rolled her eyes and hit the puck as hard as she could towards Beca's goal. They shot back and forth, both focused on the table. The whole game room could go up in flames and they wouldn't realize because they were so focused on the puck and winning the game.
"Hey! You can't cross the center line!" Bailey slammed her mallet on the table as the puck slid easily into her goal.
"I thought we weren't playing in the Olympics." Beca mocked as she happily looked at the score which now read 5-3, her lead.
"Fine. We'll play by the rules." Bailey conceded as she grabbed the puck from under the table. Beca pulled out her phone and proceeded to list all the major rules that they agreed to abide by.
"Mama, I'm bored." Blake tugged on Chloe's shirt. Chloe smiled sympathetically down at her son, ready to take him away from this embarrassing display of his family.
"I can take him to play a game." Mason offered. "Gotta admit, I don't like watching this side of Bailey." He whispered so his girlfriend wouldn't hear.
"I've been married twenty years, it only gets more embarrassing." Chloe gave him a consoling grin as Blake happily took his hand.
"Let's do the race cars!" Blake bounced up and down as he dragged Mason to arcade racing games. Chloe was grateful the room was spaced enough that she could pretty much see the whole place. Not that she didn't trust Mason, but she liked having eyes on her youngest who had a tendency to bolt at any given minute.
"Ha! Sucker!" Beca raised her hands victoriously and pointed mockingly at her daughter who just stared angrily.
"Best of three." Bailey challenged and Beca readily agreed.
When the second game was won by Bailey with the same margin of victory Beca had, Chloe intervened and convinced them to make it a tie. She really didn't want to give them any more time to garner looks from people with their trash talk and shouting.
It was getting a little late and they let Blake use the last of the tokens on a game he wanted. After Beca had mentioned the dolphin earlier, he had had his heart set on winning it all night. So they all pooled their tickets together and got the dolphin that was only slightly smaller than Blake himself.
Beca was tucking Blake in while Chloe was downstairs asking Bailey to babysit him the following night so they could have a night together in a hotel.
"Did you have good birthday, Mommy?" Blake asked sleepily as Beca pulled the covers around him.
"One of the best." Beca grinned as she gave him a kiss on the forehead. "You want to snuggle with Finny?" Beca held up the oversized dolphin and Blakes eye's widened.
"Yes!" He held out his hands and pulled the stuffed animal close under the covers. It might as well have been a full body pillow.
"Goodnight, munchkin. Love you." Beca stood up and turned on his night light and then turned off the main light.
"Love you more, Mommy." Blake mumbled sleepily. Beca smiled happily, watching her son cuddle into the massive dolphin. Definitely one of her best birthdays, she thought as she closed the door.
Downstairs Bailey was hemming and hawing about having to give up her weekend to watch her little brother.
"Can Mason come over?" Bailey, as always, was working on making a deal.
"Unsupervised? I think not." Chloe let out a laugh at the gumption of her daughter.
"We won't do anything. He'd just keep me company and play with Blake." Bailey continued. "I wouldn't do anything while being responsible for Blake."
"I don't know." Chloe sighed as she thought about it. Bailey was smart and kept her mouth shut, letting Chloe consider giving in.
"He needs to leave by 9. And no alone time or time in your bedroom. I'll ask Blake and he won't hesitate to rat you out."
"Fine. Agreed." Bailey nodded happily.
"This is a test for you, missy. Screw up and I'll let your other mom decide about how often you get to see Mason." Chloe raised an eyebrow, letting Bailey know she meant business.
"Okay, okay. I promise. You won't regret trusting me."
"And you'll call if anything happens. And I mean anything."
"Yes, I'll call, I promise. You and mom deserve a nice night out. I'm happy to help you with it."
"Thanks, sweetie." Chloe grinned as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. "Now, I'm sure you want to go call or text Mason even though you spent the whole evening with him."
"Love you, Mom." Bailey gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and scurried up the stairs.
Chloe went about her nightly routine, knowing Beca was already in bed. She wasn't sure if Beca had enough energy for sex, but it was still her birthday, so Chloe hoped she would. She walked out of their master bathroom they had finally renovated after too many close calls with a young Bailey nearly walking in on them. She was wearing a short silk robe and nothing else as she peeked around the door. Beca was scrolling through her phone, leaning against the headboard, obviously waiting to see what mood Chloe was going to come out in. Chloe smiled to herself, proud of how well they knew each other.
Chloe walked slowly toward the bed as Beca swung her legs around to sit on the edge. Chloe easily stepped into the empty space that Beca's opened legs provided.
"Not sleepy yet?" Chloe softly ran her hands through Beca's hair. Beca only shook her head, keeping her eyes glued on Chloe's as her hands roamed the smooth material of Chloe's robe. "Good. I thought you might want to open your last birthday present."
Chloe guided Beca's hands to the loosely tied belt around her waist and gave her an expectant look. Beca didn't take long to undo the knot and smile happily as Chloe let the robe slide off her now naked body.
"Happy birthday to me." Beca whispered as she pulled Chloe in for a heated kiss, perfectly content with enjoying...ravishing...her last birthday present the rest of the night.