"You're such a weirdo." Beca had whispered, before jumping Jesse in the fifth row during finals.
Beca was the kind of girl who liked to be distant, and the unintentional walls she put up had tried to push Jesse and others who care about her away. And once the walls were up, Beca was a stubborn girl, and Jesse knew that. But when they were down she was brutally honest.
Beca knew she had pushed him away, but had cared enough to try and win him back. As she had sung "...Will you call my name?", she glanced at Jesse and he looked up, almost smiling in disbelief. And as she jumped him, he held her and kissed her back with an equal amount of enthusiasm, while the other Bella's and Treble's watched their friends unknowingly, and Beca ignored them as the Treble's gave Jesse a hard time. Aubrey groaned at the site, but her ginger friend smiled and patted her on the shoulder whispering, " Leave them, it's okay." as she pulled the blonde with her through the theater crowds.
That fall, Bella auditions were being upheld, and Beca spent two agonizingly long hours listening to the same song again and again, before going to work a night shift at the radio station with Jesse, missing out on initiation night.
The two often liked to work in silence. Not the awkward silence like when Jesse had bailed Beca from jail and called her dad, which made her mad, but actual content silence.
As Beca stacked CD's, Jesse would grab her from behind and kiss her neck. She would smile and push him off as he would try and flirt some more. He was her weirdo, and he knew it. Shamelessly, time after time, he would flirt with her and make stupid jokes, which seemed to break their happy, content, silence. At least for most of the time. Jesse still liked to goof off, trying to force a smile out of Beca, but Beca knew holding in the smile was most of the fun.
"I love you, Million Dollar Baby." Jesse grinned up from the main floor.
"You're such a weirdo." She smiled.
Jesse slid a CD back onto the shelf, then rolled the cart forward. Beca came down and Jesse pulled a CD back off and pushed it in her hand.
"The Breakfast Club?" She asked amused.
"The endings are the best part." He smirked.
"Jesse," She smiled and sighed loudly, only slightly irritated with his usual work ethic.
Jesse reached over and opened it in her hand. She looked in and pulled out a note from inside. As she read it, strangely her eyes welled up with tears, a rare sight.
"You always say the endings are too predictable, unlike real life. I think they are the best part and so to prove it to you, will you be my wife?"
Beca looked up from the note, smiling sheepishly as she wiped her eyes.
"Don't you think that was a bit corny? You're such a weirdo."
"But I'd bet you didn't see that coming."
"Because endings are the best part." She finishes, rolling her eyes and moving closer.
"So is that a yes?"
Jesse laughed as he drew a ring from his pocket and pulled her in closer as he slid the ring up her finger and kissed her.
After months of planning between Bella rehearsals, and dragging Aubrey with her, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine, Chloe managed to pull off a small ceremony and all the Bella's attended.
It was a given that the Treble's and Bella's would be there and even Dr. Mitchell and Sheila made it too.
Cynthia Rose had positioned herself in the front row right next to Beca's bridesmaids and Stacie mistakenly sat right next to her. Fat Amy stood behind the rows of chairs by the dessert table, with Lily watching her silently and Jessica and Ashley giggled at her, as she struggled to stuff the little candies in her bra.
At the end of the night, Fat Amy had stuffed her purse with the entrée. She later disappeared with Bumper, only to return three days later, her hair in a mess and her pajama shirt backwards. But it was what no one assumed.
xxx
"Hey Bec, what's the date?" Jesse asks as he shuffles through CD's.
Beca looks up and glances at the calendar above the desk.
"The seventeenth."
"Ooh, four months spent shuffling CD's with my million dollar wife." He says to himself, smiling at his own remark.
It took a few seconds after glancing at the calendar before Beca felt the need to look again. The seventeenth. She stared wide eyed at the calendar, then gasped, keeping in a nervous smile too big to contain from Jesse.
"Bec?" Jesse asked looking up.
"Everything alright?" He asks, moving toward the staircase to the upper level.
"I'm fine." She says plainly, not looking up at him.
"No, no. You're putting up walls again, and you promised you wouldn't do that! We're a couple now. We are supposed to talk about things." He panics.
Beca meets Jesse at the bottom of the stairs and he lifts her chin, forcing her to look up and takes her hands in his.
"Bec?"
"Jesse, i'm fine. Promise." She smiles.
"Don't do that to me, alright?" He scolds.
Beca smiles and pulls her hands from his. Kissing him she nods, and grabs her keys from the hooks.
"I'm just gonna go take a lunch, alright?"
"Love you baby."
"You're such a weirdo." She responds.
xxx
"Shoot Chloe! How could this happen? We've only been together four months! I'm not sure I'm ready for this!"
Beca paces inside the grocery store bathroom, the ginger staring worriedly at her as she studies the test.
"Maybe you peed on it wrong?" Chloe said, trying to comfort the small brunette.
"How can you pee on a stick wrong? It's idiot proof." Beca retorts.
"Well, nothing's one hundred percent accurate. It could be a false positive."
"Oh great! So I tell him i'm pregnant and get his hopes up just so we can find out at the doctor's six weeks later that it was a false positive?"
"Beca, Jesse wants children. So why does it matter when? You guys will work something out. "
"So how do I tell him? He thinks I'm on a lunch."
"Everything will be fine, I promise. Things will work out."
Chloe wraps Beca in a hug, rubbing her back and smiling.
"I love you, awesome nerd." Beca says.
Chloe pulls herself away and looks at her friend, smiling happily as she places her hand on Beca's stomach and squeals excitedly.
"Oh, I'm so excited for you! Can he or she call me Aunt Chloe?"
"Well, you saw me naked so..."
Beca laughed at her friend's excitement, a feeling she began to share herself after realizing that what Chloe said was true. Jesse did want children. In fact, aca-children were inevitable.
xxx
"Hey, is Jesse here?" Beca asks as she storms in uninvited into the Treble's house.
The few minutes before this occurred, Beca had spent in the bathroom, staring down at yet again another positive pregnancy test.
"Holy cr... I'm a mom." She whispered stunned.
"Hurry up there, Shawshank. I've got the runs!" Fat Amy exclaims, pounding her fist against the bathroom door.
Beca wraps the test in toilet paper, filling her cheeks with air and blowing it out, annoyed by the Australian's impatience.
"I'm coming, good grief." Beca muttered as she shoved her way past Fat Amy.
"What crawled up her bum?" Amy mumbled to herself as she closed the bathroom door.
Beca was searching the Treble house in hopes of finding someone who could direct her to Jesse.
"Um, I think he's in there." Benji says, pointing towards the kitchen.
"Hey Bec! Bec-caw!" Jesse calls, gesturing her over to him.
He grabs her waist, leaning in for a kiss, then holds her hands in his.
"What's up, million dollar baby?"
Unlike her usual blush and laugh, Beca avoids eye contact as she nervously gathers her words and tries to comfortably fit them into her mouth. She knew she couldn't prolong telling him, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone would know. Besides, it was Jesse who really wanted children in the first place, even though Beca wasn't quite so eager, right?
"Jesse, i'm pregnant." She whispers, anxiously picking at her nail polish.
"Woah, what?"
"You heard me. Don't make me say it again."
"Pregnant? Beca this is great!"
"How so? I thought you wanted to wait?"
"No, I was like, 'Yo Beca, let's have a baby.' and you were like, 'Nah, I'm busy trying to be or something.'."He mocks her jokingly.
"Jesse," She warns.
"Oh Beca, lighten up. Why wouldn't this be great? I mean we both wanted children, just at different times. But now we are having a baby, so why are we complaining? We're Beca and Jesse; We've got this!"
"But Jesse, i'm scared. I mean, four months into our marriage?" She confesses.
"Beca, do you remember what I told you at initiation night?"
"That i'm an a Capella girl, you're an a Capella boy…"
"And we're gonna have aca children. It's inevitable." He finishes, smiling at her as he squeezes her hands.
"Well, what are we gonna do? Aren't you scared?" She asks, wringing her hands together.
"Yeah, but you and I are gonna be the greatest aca parents we can be and an aca baby can have. Don't worry, it'll all play out in time."
Beca looks up again, this time gleaming up at him as Jesse pulls her into a hug. Beca just stands there, comfortably leaning into Jesse, the warmth of his body and arms around her, providing a sense of relief as she rests against him.
xxx
Three months pass and telling the other Bellas that Beca was pregnant almost became unavoidable. Beca had been excited since her first doctor's visit to tell the others her news, though she was unsure how the Bella's and Treble's would react.
Everyone sat at a table on the porch around the back of the house. The Bellas and Trebles ate everything they could, enjoying every bit of the barbeque Jesse invited them to without suspecting a thing that was suspicious.
But it was when they sat down to eat that Beca's stomach turned, and she fought down bile, that some of their friends occasionally looked suspiciously at her.
"Jesse", she whispered, leaning into him and burying her face in his shoulder.
"We've gotta tell them." She finishes.
Jesse, sensing her discomfort, moved the platter of barbecued meat further down the table knowing it wouldn't solve the situation but hopefully be able to prolong the morning sickness,then kissed the top of her head.
"What are you whispering about Shawshank?" Fat Amy wanted to know, leaning over Lily to see the couple.
"Yeah what's wrong?" Donald asked.
Chloe looked at Beca, mischievously smiling, and it was only the ginger who knew where this was headed. Chloe nodded to her in encouragement and bit down hard on her lip, with a smile she could barely restrain. She couldn't contain her excitement for her friend much longer, especially since she was the only one who knew.
Jesse reached over his chair and grabbed Beca's hand, nodding to her. She smiled and took a deep breath, looking around the table at all the anxious and curious looks from her friends.
"I'm...pregnant!" She says, sounding more enthusiastic than she intended.
Delightful mutters and expressions from their mouths rang out and Beca sighed relieved as Jesse rubbed her leg, smiling.
"We did it." Beca whispered to Jesse as he looked around in disbelief.
"We sure did." He said winking.
"I'm gonna be an auntie!" Aubrey said excitedly.
Chloe came behind Beca, hugging her around the neck and smiling. All the Bellas curiously watched Beca, waiting for her to tell them more.
"I like to watch babies cry." Lily whispered.
"Ahh! I'm so glad I don't have to keep it a secret anymore!" Chloe exclaims.
"She knew?" Stacie asks surprised.
"Um yeah," Beca mutters.
"...And now that I told you guys, i've gotta go throw this back up." Beca groans, letting go of Jesse's hand to cover her mouth.
"She's gonna blow chunks!" Fat Amy screams, waving everyone back.
Beca scooted her chair out with force, knocking Chloe backwards as she ran into the house, Cynthia Rose following behind her, hoping to hold her hair. When Beca came back out and wiped her mouth, she stared back terrified at the Bellas.
"Sorry." She muttered.
xxx
"Beca! Are you ready now?" Jesse yells from the front room door in the Bella's home.
"I'm coming, jeez." Beca grumbles.
"Wow Bec, you look um.."
"Don't even say it. I feel irritable, none of my normal jeans fit me anymore, I pee when I laugh, and i'm only like...five months pregnant."
"Hey Beca, are you ready?" Chloe asks, standing next to her smaller friend and grabbing her elbow to help her walk.
Beca nods, shrugging Jesse and Chloe off as they try to help her out the door. Beca was even more moody now than ever and the winter layers she wore outside made her feel warmer and heavier than before. Beca climbs into the passenger seat and Jesse slams the door, then walks around to the driver's seat, and Chloe climbs into the back.
"Turn down the heat, i'm dying." Beca says, reaching over to turn it down.
Jesse reaches over and pats her stomach, smiling at her. He could barely contain his excitement as he was fifteen minutes away from finding out the sex of their child. The little aca baby they made was soon to be determined a him or a her. Chloe rode along, offering to be as a support to Beca because Jesse was only dropping them off.
Beca climbs out of the car and smiles in at Jesse, and he returns the look.
"Call me when you find out what it is."
"It? You mean the baby, right?" Beca glances at him amused.
"You know what I mean. I wish I could be there."
"Jesse, rating movies with the best critics in the country is an amazing opportunity."
"This, is why I love you." He smiles.
"You're such a weirdo." She responds smiling, as she slams the door and walks in.
xxx
"Hey Amy." Beca says as she climbs into her bed in the room she shares.
"What up shawshank? Did you and Chloe find out the gender?"
"Yeah, we did." Beca says plainly.
"You don't sound too thrilled. What happened?"
"It has nothing to do with what happened today or the gender. It's about the fact Jesse missed finding out with me, and I feel guilty for being upset because he had an opportunity. "
"Okay, you know how we do that thing every month where I take twenty dollars from you every month so I can buy us " Lady things" and you pretend not to notice?"
"You took twenty bucks?" Beca asks.
"Nevermind. The point is, you pretend it doesn't bother you because you know you are doing me a favor. And you should do the same for Jesse."
"But he wants me to always be honest with him."
"You are Beca Freakin' Mitchel, and you should do whatever makes you both happy, even if the truth hurts. But be honest with him, then pretend to be happy if you can't really be. Just like the twenty bucks."
"You're very wise, you know that?"
"No, I just have a lot of confidence and high self esteem, but I also don't give two dingos what other people think." Fat Amy boasts.
Beca laughs, smiling at the obnoxious blonde. Fat Amy crawls in her own bed, and sinks under the covers, turning out the lights, leaving only the glow of their phones in the dark.
"So, you never did tell me what the little shank is gonna be." Fat Amy whispers, turning over.
"It's a little aca-bella." Beca says, amused by her little play on words.
xxx
"How are my two favorite a capella girls?" Jesse barges in the Bella house and pats Beca's stomach, grinning.
"Hey!" Beca gleams, wrapping herself happily around Jesse as he drops his suitcase.
The other Bella's greet him from the couch and then Jesse turns to Beca, holding her arm as he escorts her up the stairs.
"I'm gonna go shower then you and I will talk." Jesse says winking.
"Why here? Oh...okay." She says quickly.
Jesse shuts Beca out of the Bella bathroom and she hears the faucet turn on. His belting voice echos in the bathroom, and Beca plugs in headphones to her computer, tuning out the sound.
Beca falls asleep before Jesse comes out. Waking up, she hears the shower still on at looks over at her phone and only a few minutes have passed. Beca lifts her blanket off of her and stands, but looking down in horror, she strokes the sheet, her breathing becoming choked up.
"Jesse? Jesse, get out of the shower! I'm... bleeding!" She cries out in between sobs.
Aubrey and Fat Amy rush upstairs and stop to stare from the doorway of her room in horror, witnessing the horrible experience along with Beca, and watching as Jesse came out of the bathroom, oblivious to everything happening around him.
"Beca, you're bleeding!" Aubrey says in shock.
"Oh really? Where?" Beca asks sarcastically.
"Hold on Beca!" Fat Amy screams as she runs over and grabs twenty dollars from her pillow case.
"Stay in there little Dingus! Fat Amy has a twenty!" She says, waving it in front of Beca's stomach.
"You can't bribe the baby to stay in!" Beca yells in all seriousness.
"Amy, it's too late. She's gone. " Aubrey whispers, trying not to state the obvious and hurt Beca's feelings.
Aubrey walks over and pulls Amy, moving her back as Jesse grabs Beca's arm, escorting her out.
Beca later returns to the front door of the Bella house, the time barely going on one in the morning. She sees her friends waiting up for her in the living room as she walks through the door and tries to stifle another tear from slipping.
"Hey Beca, we're so sorry..." The girls say as sympathy began to spread.
The Bella's gather around Beca as she sits on the couch,all of them with empathy to offer.
"She had...she had no heartbeat two days ago already the doctor predicted. She's gone." Beca stops and bites her cheek on the verge of tears.
"One time my doctor said that..." Stacie says trying to offer comfort but is interrupted.
"Not right now Stacie, baby." Chloe says, rubbing the tall brunette's shoulder and shaking her head.
"Can we not talk about this? I'm gonna just go lie down. I don't wanna face anyone right now; I just want the pain...to go away." Beca chokes, and stands up.
The Bella's exchange concerned looks at each other but no one moves to follow her. And that's the way Beca wished it would stay for the next week and a half.
"Beca, are you alright?" Chloe asks as she knocks on the door of the room.
"No, this... is so not okay." She mutters, her face pushed in her pillow to muffle her crying.
"Oh Bec." Chloe says in her motherly tone and walks over to comfort her.
"I brought you some hot cocoa and popcorn. " Chloe offers.
"Just leave it over there. I don't wanna talk to anyone. But it's nothing personal so don't take it that way."
"Jesse has been trying to get ahold of you all week."
"Let him. I don't wanna talk. I just lost a baby." She grumbles.
"So did he."
"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't aware that he was able to give birth too." She says, unintentionally being difficult.
"Beca, he's the dad. I'm sure he's just as hurt as you are. But it doesn't help if you put up walls and just refuse to talk to anyone."
"You don't understand! It's my fault! One day she was here, and now she's gone! I'm so selfish for even wishing I would have waited to get pregnant. And now I understand appreciating what you do have while you have it! So yeah, right now this is just easier to try and forget."
"Beca, you just feel guilty. But Bec, this was not in yours or Jesse's control. There's nothing you could've done, so it doesn't help you if you sit around feeling sorry. Talk to Jesse because I'm sure he's feeling the same way you are. But you won't feel better if you don't talk."
"I hate that you're probably right." Beca grumbles, sniffling and wiping her face.
Chloe sighs and sits on the bed, forcing Beca to roll over and Chloe sits her up. She rubs Beca's back and gives her a side hug, then pulls back.
"Ugh! You need to shower." Chloe scuffs, lifting her up.
"You can't wash away the pain." Beca murmured wearily, resisting Chloe's help.
"Beca, I'm calling Jesse." Chloe says as she helps her up and leads her to the shower.
Chloe pushes Beca inside and closes the door, eventually hearing the faucet turn on and the curtains open. "Titanium" rings off the walls of the shower, but in the weariest and saddest tone Chloe had ever heard, the words being mumbled through the tears.
Weeks pass and Beca and Jesse rarely speak. The long nights they spent snuggling in Jesse's bed were in silence, with crying being the only audible sound between the two. One night Beca, who was snuggled against Jesse, peered up at him, and wiped her tears.
"Jess, we can't live like this. I don't wanna be, whatever this is."
"Whatever this is?" Jesse asks kinda hurt.
"All we have been doing is snuggling every night for the past month since she's passed away."
"And what's wrong with that?"
"We aren't communicating. Amy's right." Beca sighs.
"What do you mean?"
"We have to be open with each other. We can't keep pretending this didn't happen even though we know it did and we're both miserable because of it. You don't think that the Bella's and the Trebles haven't noticed we've been a bit checked out?"
"Well we can't get anywhere if you keep putting up those darn walls every time someone who cares about you tries to help."
"You think that's what i've been doing?" Beca asks incredulously.
"Well, you've been kind of distant. Beca, I wanna talk, but we can't do that it you're not open to it. So what do you say?"
Beca looks away and takes a deep breath, holding back what she thought would be another crying spell. Jesse turns her toward him and strokes her hair.
"Bec? You okay?" He asks concerned.
"No, i'm hurting Jesse." She answers honestly.
"I know. I've been feeling so empty."
"Yeah, me too." She whispers.
"Beca, I miss talking to you."
"You too. And I miss feeling so full of life inside me. I just can't believe how all this happened so fast! And now I'm afraid to even think of having another baby because I don't want to feel this way again."
"But it happened and it's over and now we can work on being even closer as a couple. We can't be afraid because of one time. So are you ready to try and move ahead with this?" Jesse insists.
"Yeah." Her voice wavers after a long pause.
Beca curls into Jesse further and rests her head against his chest. They both cry silently as they lie in the dark, falling asleep.
xxx
Beca walks down the stairs and into the Bella kitchen, where all the Bella's gathered to hang out. Freshly showered and dressed, Beca stared into the kitchen, the Bella's surprised looks anticipating what Beca had to say. Everyone watched her, and then greeted her with excitement.
"Beca!" Chloe said smiling, running over to wrap her smaller friend in a hug.
"Hey Beca, did you get yourself back together?" Cynthia Rose asked.
"Did some of my confidence finally rub off on you?" Fat Amy asked.
"We're happy to have you back." Chloe smiled, releasing her friend from her grip.
"I love you guys." Beca exclaimed, giving her friends hugs all around.
"And you know, I shouldn't have shut you guys out. Thanks for being there for me." Beca adds.
Jessica and Ashley smiled and started a chain reaction of smiles. Beca back to normal, shyly looked away after that, blushing.
xxx
"Jesse, ow." Beca cries from the couch as Jesse paces back and forth, stopwatch in hand.
Chloe walks through the door of the empty Bella home and looked at Beca with all seriousness and concern in her eyes.
"How far apart are they?" She asks.
"A few minutes." Beca responds in between breaths.
"Help her up." Chloe demands to Jesse as she grabs one of Beca's arms.
Jesse stops nervously pacing to help grab Beca and walk her to the car.
Skipping their plans for the a Capella only party that night, all the Bellas gather to wait nervously in the waiting room instead, in support of their fellow sister. Aubrey who likes control, was anxiously wringing her hands at the loss of control in concern of her friend. Chloe sat next to her, hand on Aubrey's shoulder, and looking down at her feet. Soon Jesse comes out and smiles boldly at the Bella's.
"It's a girl!" He exclaims and the Bella's rejoice excitedly.
Beca looks around at all of her Bella roomies and Treblemakers, and gleams back with unspeakable joy. Her baby girl, whom they named Maisie, was only minutes old and was already being passed around by the jealous Bella's, sick with envy over their beautiful new member. A new member has joined, and she had yet to learn of her amazing, and crazy new Bella family and her crazy Bella future.