Title: Trouble in Paradise
Author: slacker_d
Pairing/Characters: Aubrey/Beca, Casey Mitchell-Posen, Jamie Mitchell-Posen, Chloe
Rating: PG
Summary: Worried that her moms are going to get a divorce, Casey Mitchell-Posen seeks some outside help.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Word Count: ~2,595

Casey Mitchell-Posen is worried. Her momma is sleeping on the couch again. She only does that when her and mom are fighting. It usually only lasts a night or two, but this time it's been five nights in a row. Casey's been counting.

It's Saturday morning and she really wants to watch cartoons, but with her momma on the couch, Casey's not sure if she still should. She's looked tired all week and the house has been kinda tense because her moms have been fighting.

Casey almost wishes Jamie was up. Her older brother thinks just because he's ten and she's eight, he knows everything and she knows nothing, which she hates, but she could really use someone else's opinion right now.

"Hey kiddo."

Casey looks over at the couch and finds her momma blinking sleepily at her.

"Is it morning already?"

Casey nods.

"Should we watch some cartoons?"

Casey nods again.

Her momma sits up and stretches before lifting the blanket and patting the couch. "C'mon kiddo."

Casey finds the TV remote before joining her momma on the couch. She tries to enjoy the cuddling and not worry too much about her moms fighting.

She's apparently not very successful.

"What's bothering you kiddo?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?" her momma asks. "You usually laugh more."

Casey shrugs. Her momma does that a lot when she doesn't know how to answer one of mom's questions.

"Okay," her momma smiles. "But I've been told I'm a very good listener."

"By who?" Casey asks. "Mom always says you never listen to her."

Her momma chuckles. "She does like to say that a lot, doesn't she? Even if it's not true."

"It's not?"

Her momma shakes her head. "Nope. I do listen to your mom. All the time. I just don't always do what I'm supposed to."

Casey giggles. "You're naughty a lot, momma."

"Hey. Only occasionally."

Casey's feeling a little bit better. Her momma doesn't seem too sad like she did all week. Maybe things will be okay.

Jamie comes down and joins them eventually, though he lays on the carpet on his stomach and waves his feet in Casey's eye line; which she knows he does because she hates it.

Her momma knows this too.

"Jamie," her momma says. "Put your feet down. It's too early for that."

Jamie looks over his shoulder and sticks his tongue out at Casey.

Her momma sighs. "Jamie."

"Sorry momma."

"I shouldn't be surprised," her momma says. "You are your mother's son."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Casey's mom has just come downstairs, ready for the day and looking angry.

"It was a joke, Bree," momma says.

"A joke," her mom replies. "Of course."

Momma sighs again. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"I'm sure you didn't."

As her mom goes into the kitchen, Casey, still snuggling with her momma, feels her tense up again. She tightens her arms around her momma. Maybe a hug will cheer her up.

"Thanks kiddo," her momma says and then kisses the top of her head.

Casey's not sure how long it is before her mom comes out of the kitchen, but a new cartoon has come on, so it was probably a while.

"I'm going to work."

Momma's eyes don't leave the TV. "It's Saturday."

"I'm well aware of what day it is, Beca," mom replies. "But not all of us have the luxury of being able to laze around all day."

"It's eight in the morning, Bree."

"I'll be back in a few hours."

"Fine."

"I'll you guys later? Jamie? Case?"

Jamie jumps up and gives their mom a hug before laying back down and gluing his eyes to the screen.

Casey doesn't want to stop cuddling with her momma, but the blanket is lifted and she knows she's expected to go say good bye. Her hug is quick and she doesn't say anything. She hears her mom sigh as she walks back to the couch.

Her moms don't say good bye or I love you to each other, which is a sure sign that the fight is serious.

Her momma waits until they hear mom's car pulling out of the garage before speaking.

"Don't be too hard on your mom, kiddo. She has every right to be mad at me right now."

"She does?" Casey asks. "What did you do?"

Momma sighs and Casey notices that Jamie has spun around, wanting to hear the answer too.

"Something stupid."

"But you do dumb things all the time," Casey protests.

Her momma chuckles. "Thanks kiddo."

"It's true," Jamie adds. "Mom says so."

"I'm sure she does," momma agrees. "But this one was really dumb."

"Did you say you're sorry?" Casey asks. "Mom always says you should apologize if you make a mistake."

"I tried," momma replies. "But it was so stupid that it's probably going to take more than one apology."

"Well at least you have a lot of practice at it, momma," Jamie says.

Momma lets out a gasp and then throws a pillow at Jamie.

"No throwing things in the house," Jamie quotes.

"And she wonders why I call him Aubrey junior," momma mutters.

"Is that a bad thing?" Casey asks, whispering.

Momma sighs again. "No, kiddo, it's not a bad thing. Your mom is the most amazing woman I know. I'd be really happy if both of you took after her."

"Don't you want us to take after you?"

"Well, hopefully you'd take after both of us," momma tells her.

"Oh," Casey says, thinking. "Can we both be tall like mom then? I don't wanna to be short."

Momma snorts. "I'm not sure if you have a choice kiddo. But since I gave birth to Jamie and your mom gave birth to you, there's a good chance that you won't be too short."

"But Jamie might be?"

Momma shrugs. "I have no idea. Maybe ask your Aunt Chloe. She'd know better than me."

"Cause she's a doctor?"

"Exactly."

...

It's Saturday morning again and Casey's momma is still sleeping on the couch. Casey's really starting to feel afraid now. The past week, the house has been quiet and tense, her moms barely talking to each other, except about practical thing like who's making dinner or picking Casey up from school.

Normally her moms are constantly talking, well more like bickering. It's usually about small things like momma's habit of not closing cabinet and cupboard doors while making dinner or how mom always leaves stacks of papers on the kitchen table. But they never seemed super mad.

Still it had worried Casey and so last year, she'd asked Aunt Chloe about it. Her Aunt had laughed and then assured Casey that she wasn't laughing at her.

"Your moms have been fighting since the day they met," Aunt Chloe explained. "I'm not sure they know any other way to communicate. Nowadays it's normal for them; we expect it. It's when they're not talking at all that you should really worry."

Which is why Casey is currently worried; there's been no teasing, no banter, no silly threats punctuated by their last names. That's how she knows her moms are in an extra silly mood, they call each other Mitchell or Posen. It's usually followed by them kissing and Jamie groaning because he's grossed out. But nothing even close to that has happened this week.

She's in the kitchen eating cereal when Jamie comes in. He looks worried too; Casey can tell because he came into the kitchen first. He must have seen their momma on the couch too and decided to let her sleep a little longer. Momma always says that the couch isn't that comfortable to sleep on.

When Casey once asked why it's always momma on the couch and never mom, she received two different answers. Her mom said it's because momma goes to bed later than mom while her momma said it was because mom was too tall to sleep comfortably on the couch.

Another reason Casey knows that Jamie is just as worried as she is, is that he doesn't pick on her. He always says as the older brother, it's his job to constantly tease her. Today, he hasn't spoken once and even sat next to her at the table without kicking, poking, tickling, pushing or licking her. If Jamie's worried, then Casey is really scared.

...

By Wednesday night, it doesn't look like her moms are any closer to making up and so after dinner while they're supposed to be working on their homework, Casey tries talking to Jamie. She knows it's bad when he doesn't just ignore her like usual. Instead he tells her about the fight that he overheard the night that their momma started sleeping on the couch.

"I was going downstairs to get a drink of water, but I stopped when I reached the bottom step because I could hear them arguing in the kitchen."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Honestly? Probably not."

"You are astounding."

"I didn't see the point, Bree. I already told her I was happily married, had two awesome kids and more importantly, wasn't interested. But she's the owner's daughter. There wasn't much else I could do without pissing off Grayson."

"Who cares? It's just a temporary job anyway."

"Because I promised JJ I'd cover for him. If I pissed off Grayson, he would have taken it out on JJ just because he recommended me."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Well Charles Grayson is a dickhead, but he pays really well."

"So money is more important than your marriage?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Am I? You were awful eager to take that job."

"JJ was in a real bind. And I owe him. The sizable paycheck was just a bonus."

"I was there Beca. I saw her; she was all over you."

"I know. And I'm sorry you had to see that. But I swear to you that I did everything I could to discourage her."

"If you didn't do anything wrong, then why weren't you going to tell me?"

"I didn't see the point. It would have just upset you and made you hate JJ even more for being the reason I was even around her."

"Oh, so it wasn't because she was a vivacious red head?"

"Why would that matter?"

"You know why."

"Still?! It was over fifteen years ago. And it was just that one time."

"Oh, so just once is okay then? Is that what you're saying?"

"You are fucking unbelievable. You and I weren't even together then."

"But then I slipped and banged my knee on the railing and they stopped, so I quickly ran back to my room," Jamie finishes. "But it sounded bad."

"Momma never swears," Casey adds. "She has to be really angry."

Jamie nods because it's true. "So now what?"

"Maybe we should talk to Aunt Chloe," Casey suggests.

...

This is easier said than done since Aunt Chloe is super busy with her own family and being a doctor. They're not able to talk to her until Saturday when their mom drops them off at Aunt Chloe's to play with the twins, Derek and Dani. Once their mom is gone, they ask Aunt Chloe if they can talk.

She looks amused. "About?"

"Our moms," Jamie replies. "We're worried."

The expression on Aunt Chloe's face says that she already knows about the fight. She sighs and the three of them sit at the kitchen table while the twins watch TV.

"So what's up?"

"Our moms are fighting a lot," Jamie starts.

"Are they going to get a divorce?" Casey asks.

"What? Of course not," Aunt Chloe replies. "Your moms are too stubborn for that."

"But momma's still sleeping on the couch," Casey protests. "It's been nineteen days. I've been counting."

"I know."

"How come mom's still mad if momma already apologized?" Jamie asks.

"Who told you that?"

"Momma," Casey says. "But only cause she doesn't want us taking sides."

"That sounds like Beca," Aunt Chloe agrees. "Look, I know it probably seems bad. This is one of their longer fights. But arguing with each other is like their thing, so I'm not too concerned yet."

"But they're not," Casey tells her. "They aren't talking to each other at all."

"At least not in front of us," Jamie adds.

"Oh." Now they have Aunt Chloe's attention. "They both failed to mention that."

"You look worried now, Aunt Chloe," Jamie says.

"It's more that I'm annoyed with them for not being honest with me," Aunt Chloe replies. "I'll talk to your mom when she picks you guys up later, all right?"

"Okay," Jamie says.

"Promise?" Casey asks.

"I promise."

...

Casey's using the bathroom when her mom arrives to pick her and Jamie up. She hears Aunt Chloe offer her a drink and knows they're going to talk. Tip toeing out of the bathroom, Casey listens in.

"I thought you said the fight wasn't that big of deal."

"It's not."

"Then why is Beca still sleeping on the couch?"

"Who told you that Beca is still sleeping on the couch?"

"The kids."

Her mom sighs. "I see."

"Don't be mad Bree. They're just concerned. They said you guys aren't even talking to each other, either."

"We're not."

Neither says anything and Casey wonders if the conversation is over.

"You just need to forgive her."

"She lied to me, Chloe. She lied right to my face."

"Under the circumstances I think it's understandable."

"So you're taking her side now?"

"Aubrey. She didn't do anything wrong. She didn't cheat and she didn't flirt. Yes, she probably should have told you about her, but considering how you're reacting now, do you blame her wanting to avoid that?"

"She still should have told me."

"Are you sure this is just about Beca and some skank in a club? It's not about anything else? Some unresolved jealousy?"

They're both quiet again.

"I know I have no reason to be upset with either of you. It's my fault for not saying something sooner. I know that. I guess seeing that... thing all over Beca... I just lost it. Maybe I over reacted a little."

"You guys have been married for fifteen years now. Perhaps it's time to let that go?"

"I just get scared that she'll wake up one morning and realize I'm not what she wants."

"Well then you're still the same idiot from eighteen years ago, Bree. Because you and those kids are Beca's entire world."

"Yeah..."

Knowing that someone's going to come looking for her soon, Casey sneaks out the front door and runs around to the backyard to join the others. She just hopes that Aunt Chloe got through to her mom.

...

When Casey creeps downstairs Sunday morning, the couch is empty and the blankets that have been sitting in a neatly folded pile at one end are gone. She lets out a soft squeal of delight and quietly climbs back up the stairs. She tries her moms' bedroom door and finds it unlocked. She slowly turns the knob and peeks her head inside. Her moms are curled up together; momma has an arm around mom's waist. One of her mom's hands is clasped tightly around momma's that is wrapped around her and they both seem to be smiling in their sleep.

Closing the door gently behind her, Casey lets herself grin. It seems like talking to Aunt Chloe really helped. She bounces back downstairs and turns on the TV. It's harder to find cartoons on Sunday, but she's going to try anyway.