One Step At a Time

Aubrey straightened her top before walking into the building. Today was the reunion she had been dreading. Chloe wanted everyone to get together and catch up, but Aubrey had tried her hardest to start her life over. She went to law school just as her father had instructed. Turns out, it wasn't that bad, and she was actually decent at it. Chloe wouldn't let her miss.

If I have to come up there and kidnap you myself to make sure you're there, I will.

Aubrey knew she wasn't kidding. If she didn't agree, she could most definitely expect to see Chloe Beale standing at her front door with a pillowcase and duct tape.

She took a deep breath and walked in with her head held high. Everyone was there. She looked around and flashed a smile towards people who caught her eye. Beca was there, as arrogant as ever, but she seemed happy. Stacie was there. She didn't seem to have anyone with her, but if she was the same as she was five years ago, she'd be taking someone home. Jessica and Ashley were talking with Denise and Cynthia Rose who still seemed to be together. I guess you could thank Beca for that one. Chloe was walking around the room talking to everyone. Tom was attached to her side. She looked so happy to see everyone. Aubrey didn't really understand that.

"Aubrey, hi!" Chloe squealed from across the room. Heads turned and looked towards her. Aubrey grinned sheepishly and hugged the redhead.

"Hey Chloe. How are you?"

"I'm great now that everyone is here!"

"I didn't realize you had invited the guys too." Aubrey admitted, a little confused as to why her old enemies were mingling with everyone.

"I thought it would be fun! Come on! Everyone's waiting to see how the famous Aubrey Posen turned out!" Chloe squealed, dragging her to the first table.

Aubrey greeted Beca and Stacie along with Benji, Donald, and Unicycle. They briefly chatted before Chloe dragged her to the next table where Jessica, Ashley, Denise, and Cynthia Rose were. Chloe walked past one of the Treble tables, and she led her to the last table.

"Aubrey, you remember Jesse, right?" Chloe asked bubbly.

Aubrey's attention turned towards the familiar face. Her heart sank a little when she saw him.

"Hi." He said quietly.

"Um...hey."

"Who's that daddy?" a small voice asked from behind Jesse.

"It's just an old friend, princess." He told her softly.

"You have a kid?" Aubrey asked with surprise in her voice.

"Aubrey, meet Rosie. She's Jesse's little girl." Chloe interjected, waving towards the little girl who was hiding behind her dad's arm.

She had his eyes. Actually, she was an exact replica of him. Her brown hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, and her soft, brown eyes were full of life.

"It's nice to meet you Rosie. I'm Aubrey."

"Are you an Aunt, too?" she asked curiously.

Aubrey was a little confused at first until Chloe straightened it out.

"She calls me Aunt Chloe since I helped Jesse out for a while at first."

Aubrey nodded in understanding. "No Rosie, I'm not. I'm just an old friend of your daddy's."

"Why don't you sit here?" Chloe suggested, ushering her to the seat next to Rosie.

Jesse had yet to hold eye contact with Aubrey. It hurt too much. The memory came flooding back, and he didn't know if she remembered or not, but he sure did.

"Hey Aubrey!"

"Hey Jesse! What's up?" Aubrey asked cheerfully.

"Well I, uh, I was, um, I was wondering if maybe you for some reason wanted to possibly go out with me one night for dinner or something?" Jesse stuttered. His hands were shaking, and his stomach had butterflies.

Aubrey didn't say anything for a minute or so. "Jesse, I'm sorry, but I can't. I swore that I wouldn't get attached to anything from college. I only have one thing on my mind right now, and that's school. I don't need any distractions. I'm sorry."

A "no" would have been sufficient. Jesse didn't want excuses. He knew he was taking a risk by just asking her.

With that, Aubrey was gone. She left for Boston the next week, never to be heard from for five years. Jesse was heartbroken. She was the only thing he could think of for the longest time. It hurt. Everywhere he went, he heard her voice or saw her face, but she wasn't there.

His first night out with an open mind, he drank. He drank more than he would ever drink in his life. If he ever thought of the night, he swore he could taste the alcohol from that night. That's when he met Kristen, Rosie's mom.

"How old are you, Rosie?" Aubrey asked bubbly.

She held up four fingers with a huge grin on her face.

"Four? Wow! You're getting to be a big girl!"

"Daddy still calls me his little girl!" she whined.

"I think all daddy's call their daughters their little girls, even when they're my age!" she whispered.

Rosie giggled and looked over at Jesse. He was watching them carefully, almost as if he were studying Aubrey.

"Are you a princess?" Rosie asked with wide eyes.

"Sadly, I think you're the only princess in the room!" Aubrey told her, earning a big, toothy grin. "I help put away bad guys. That way you can be a princess without having to worry about bad guys!" Aubrey added.

"Daddy, I have to go potty." Rosie told him.

"I'll take you sweetie! Your daddy and Aubrey have some catching up to do." Chloe chimed in. She got up and escorted her to the bathroom.

"So…you have a kid." Aubrey said, looking down at her glass.

"Yeah."

"She's adorable. I'm sure you're a great dad." Aubrey admitted, finally making eye contact with him. Truth be told, she remembered. She remembered being so cold with him. Seeing him now, and with a daughter, made her feel terrible.

"She's a great kid."

"I like the name." she said quietly with a wink.

Jesse blushed a little bit at her remark. Aubrey only told Chloe and him her middle name, Rose. When he got the call that Kristen had given birth and wanted Jesse to have all of the responsibilities of being a father, he panicked. When he got to the hospital, she refused to see him to talk about it. He was a father now. The nurse asked what her name was going to be, and he only had one name permanently burned into his mind at the time.

Rosie. Her name is Rosie. Rosie Grace Swanson.

"I panicked." He admitted.

"Do you mind me asking? She's four which didn't leave a lot of time from, well obviously you remember."

Jesse looked away and took a sip of his scotch. "Drunk one night stand gone wrong." He sighed.

Aubrey nodded her head slowly and took a sip of her drink as well. "Well she's got a father who loves her and a great aunt, too."

"Yeah Chloe was a big help. I didn't know what to do. She and Tom really stepped in when I didn't know what to do."

"You can always count on Chloe." Aubrey assured him.

"Daddy! Daddy! Aunt Chloe said Aubrey's staying with her for a couple of days!" Rosie squealed, hopping into his lap.

Aubrey laughed at her actions and then looked up at Chloe.

"Well, maybe we can all get together again if she would like to." Jesse told her, looking up at Aubrey and Chloe.

"What do you think, Rosie? Would you like that?" Chloe asked her.

Rosie nodded her head. Aubrey thought it was going to fall off of her little body.

"I tell you what, if it's okay with your daddy and Aubrey, we can go out tomorrow after school."

"Please daddy!" she begged.

"It's not up to me, princess."

Rosie snapped her head and looked over at Aubrey who was observing the young girls shenanigans. She stuck her bottom lip out slightly and looked at Aubrey with her warm brown eyes. Man, she could do a mean puppy-dog face.

"How could I say no to you?" Aubrey laughed, rubbing her thumb across Rosie's chin.

"It's settled! Tomorrow we will all go out before Aubrey returns back to work." Chloe exclaimed.

"Yay!" Rosie cheered.

For the rest of the night, Aubrey tuned the rest of the world out. She talked to Rosie and got to know her. She loved kids, and she wanted a family at some point. Mister Right just hadn't come along yet.

Jesse watched as Aubrey talked to Rosie. It was a new side of her most people would never get to see. He couldn't help but smile as he watched his daughter ask her so many questions. Rosie typically stuck with the people she knew, but she instantly warmed up to Aubrey for some reason.

"Well Rosie, it was a pleasure to meet you. I will see you tomorrow right after school!" Aubrey told her, wrapping her in a hug.

"See you tomorrow!" Rosie squealed.

"Nice seeing you, Jess. I'll see you tomorrow." Aubrey said quieter.

"You too, Aubrey. Take care!"

"So, what do you think about Rosie?" Chloe asked her as they were curled up on her couch in their pajamas.

"She's a sweetheart. He is doing a great job."

"Did he tell you?" she asked softer.

Aubrey nodded and picked at a loose string on her pants. "It's good that he had you and Tom for help. It means a lot to him."

"Well, if you didn't move away, he could have had you for help too." Chloe added.

"If I didn't move away, he wouldn't have a kid." Aubrey mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked with confusion in her voice.

"Obviously you don't know the full story. He asked me out, but I said no because all I wanted to do was leave. I guess he just handled it a little differently than I expected he would." Aubrey explained.

"So basically, if you hadn't have left, he wouldn't be a father, and you'd be dating him if not married already?"

"I don't know, Chloe. Let's not think about the 'what if's'. Don't live in the past, but the present."

"Alright, Bree. I think I'm going to call it a night. I have to work tomorrow."

"Okay Chloe. Thanks for letting me crash here!"

"Girl, I would let you live here if you were to move back." Chloe told her.

Aubrey woke up to an empty house and a note on the coffee pot.

Hey Bree. Feel free to help yourself with whatever. My place is your place. I should be home by 11:30, so we can go out since R is done with preschool at noon. I'll see you then.

-me

Aubrey poured herself a cup of coffee and went to get ready for the day, starting with a shower.

At around 11:00, Chloe called her.

"Hey Chlo! What's up?"

"Hey Aubrey! I'm sorry, but I'm going to be stuck at the office for a while. Apparently there's a board member here for some big meeting that they decided not to tell us about. I already called Jesse, and he said he'd swing by and pick you up at 11:30."

"Oh, alright then." Aubrey muttered. She was expecting Chloe to be there to break the awkwardness between her and Jesse, but now she wasn't going to be there. "I'll see you tonight, then."

"See you tonight, bree. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Chlo. I know how busy work can get sometimes. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you later."

Aubrey finished getting ready and was waiting on Jesse. On the dot, he pulled in and honked the horn. Aubrey locked the door with the key Chloe had left and walked out towards his car. Jesse got out and opened up the door for her. Even though she broke his heart five years ago, he still acted like a complete gentleman.

"Good morning Aubrey!" he greeted her with a grin.

"Morning, Jess." She said kindly.

"Rosie has been looking forward to this. She couldn't stop talking about it. She really likes you."

"That's good, right? I mean, you never really want to be on the bad side of a child."

"I guess so. I'm still learning all this stuff about kids and parenting."

"You seem to have the hang of it so far!" Aubrey assured him.

"As long as it seems that way, I guess I'm doing well." He joked.

Jesse and Aubrey walked into Rosie's school to pick her up, just as he had done every day so far this year.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she squealed and ran into his arms as soon as she saw him walk in.

"Hey princess!" He said, picking her up in his arms and kissing her forehead. "Look who's here!" he said, turning around so she could see Aubrey.

"Aubrey! You came!" she squealed.

Rosie squirmed out of Jesse's arms and ran over to Aubrey. She latched her in a bear hug and wouldn't let go. Aubrey picked her up and looked over at Jesse with a small grin on her face.

"Hey kiddo! How was your day?" she asked, adjusting her weight to one side.

"It was fantabulous!" She exclaimed.

"Fantabulous?"

"Yeah! Daddy made it up! It means so much more than fabulous!" she giggled.

"Oh, I see!" Aubrey laughed. "Well let's get going!" She added, following Jesse back to the car.

Rosie held on to Aubrey as they walked. She played with her hair. She seemed to have found it fascinating.

"You have pretty hair!" she told Aubrey.

"It's not as pretty as yours! You have beautiful hair. It's just like your daddy's!" she giggled.

"You think daddy has pretty hair?" she asked with excitement.

Aubrey blushed at the four year old's question for some reason. "Your daddy has very nice hair." She admitted, earning a fit of giggles from Rosie.

Aubrey sat across the table from Jesse and Rosie in the restaurant. She couldn't get over how much they looked alike, seeing them side by side. It was uncanny.

"Aunt Chloe couldn't make it this time, princess. She'll be here next time though." Jesse told her once Rosie noticed it was just the three of them there.

"Okay. Can I have chicken fingers?" she asked, looking up at him with her big beady eyes.

"Of course, princess." He told her.

"Man, she's got you wrapped around her pinky." Aubrey pointed out.

"Stay long enough, she'll have you too. It's her gift." Jesse laughed.

"What does that mean daddy?"

"It means we would do anything for you."

"Oh! Okay!" she squealed.

After lunch, they drove around the city for a little bit until Aubrey pointed out that Rosie was asleep.

"I figured it wouldn't take long today." He admitted. "Her nap time is right after lunch, and there was a lot of excitement for her these past two days."

"I miss nap times. If I could take naps after lunch before going back to work, I probably wouldn't stress as much." Aubrey told him.

"Why don't you just take time off? That way you can relax!"

"I don't know. I've never really thought of it before. I'm so used to going into work every day. It was weird for me to not be there yesterday or today." She admitted.

"Well, everyone deserves a little time off at some point." He told her.

Aubrey watched as Jesse carried his daughter to her bedroom and put her in bed. She never thought he, of all people, would be the first parent from their little group at college. It tugged on her heart a little bit, seeing how he was around her. He loved her more than anything in the entire world, and he would do anything for her. It was sweet.

Aubrey sat down on the couch next to Jesse. They hadn't talked in five years, but it felt like they hadn't really been apart, minus the whole him having a kid thing.

"So, what's going on in your life? You know mine now." He laughed.

"Not a lot. Just work work work." She sighed.

"What? No guy yet?"

"Nope! I've been so busy with cases that I haven't had time for any dates."

"You really should leave time for yourself while you have it. One day, there's going to be someone who takes up all your time. Even though you love it, you still miss having that time set aside just for you."

"I don't think I've ever given it much thought. I've always been work focused or school focused."

"So I've learned." He mumbled.

"I'm really sorry, Jess." She tried.

"Don't worry about it, Aubs."

Aubrey's heart sank. She hadn't been called that in over five years. That was his nickname just for her. He said she needed a unique nickname that no one else called her like "bree" or whatever. So he called her Aubs from then on.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have Rosie, and she's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"She's a lucky girl to have a guy like you as her father. You make sure that if you ever find someone to be like a mother to her, that she will be the best thing for her."

"I promise." He sighed, looking over at her.

Aubrey was struggling to keep her eyes open. These past few days had been exhausting even though she didn't do much. It was so new to her, that it wore her out. Eventually it got to the point where she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She laid her head on the couch and just fell asleep.

Jesse laughed at her quietly. He pulled a blanket up over her and let her sleep in peace.

Aubrey woke up to the faint sound of a tv running in the background. She wasn't exactly sure what it was or even what time it was for that matter. She got up and followed the sound. She slowly opened the door and saw Rosie curled up with Jesse with her eyes glued to the laptop screen. Of course.

Jesse's eyes popped up and so did a smile on his face. "Well good morning sleeping beauty!" he teased.

"Aubrey! You're awake!" Rosie squealed, fully focused on her now.

"I guess I was just overly tired or something!" Aubrey told them.

"Come here! We're watching Finding Nemo!" she exclaimed, patting the spot on the bed next to her.

Aubrey looked up at Jesse for an answer. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do. Jesse sat up and adjusted himself. He pulled Rosie closer to him, creating more room, answering her silent question.

Aubrey took her seat next to Rosie as they continued to watch the movie.

"It's my favorite movie in the entire world, and I've seen a lot of movies with Daddy!" she told Aubrey.

"I'm sure you have. Your dad is quite the movie watcher."

"We love them so much! He has so many of them! Oh my goodness, it's nuts!"

Aubrey laughed at her little expressions. "I bet it is!"

"You could watch the ones I'm not supposed to watch with him. That way he doesn't have to watch them alone!" she exclaimed, earning awkward laughs from both Jesse and Aubrey.

"Rosie, she doesn't want to watch movies. She's got a lot of work to do, okay princess?"

"Why do you have so much work to do? Don't you ever take a break?" Rosie asked her curiously.

"Not really. I work a lot. It keeps me busy."

"But then you can't watch movies with Daddy if you're busy."

"I suppose that's true." Aubrey admitted

"Okay, Rosie. That's enough. Leave Aubrey alone. She's just visiting for a little bit." He said, his voice a little bit firmer.

"Where do you live then, Aubrey?"

"Oh, I live in New York."

"Really? That's so cool!" she giggled, her eyes full of excitement.

"Yeah, but I think I might stick around for a bit longer than planned." She said, shooting a wink towards Jesse.

"Really?" he asked with a hint of happiness in his voice.

Aubrey nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm enjoying myself. A wise man once told me to save some time for myself." She smirked.

"What a wise man, indeed." Jesse smirked.

"Now you can watch movies with Daddy!" Rosie squealed.

"Yes, now I can watch movies with Daddy." Aubrey assured her, rubbing the top of Rosie's head.

Rosie looked up at Aubrey with a huge grin on her face. "Maybe you can be like a mommy too!"

"One step at a time, kiddo." Aubrey whispered.