Chapter 12
"I-"
"If you make a joke I swear I will punch you in the throat, Beca" Aubrey warned when Beca opened her mouth
"Noted" Beca nodded and started buttoning up her shirt and helped Aubrey with hers when her hands were shaking too much to even hold it, "Babe, calm down"
"This is a travesty" Aubrey whispered, dropping onto the couch and covering her face
"Maybe" Beca said, dropping to her knees in front of Aubrey and put her hands on Aubrey's thighs "Maybe she's going to explode and yell and whatever else"
"You're not helping" Aubrey's voice was muffled by her hands
"But maybe she won't" Beca continued, "Maybe she's going to be fine with it. Either way I swear to you that I'll stand by you, no matter what"
"Can we just sneak off?" Aubrey asked, "Ignore this until it goes away?"
"If that's what you want, yeah" Beca gently pulled Aubrey's hands away from her face and held shaking hands in her own, "Whatever you want, Bree"
"I love you" Aubrey whispered
"I love you too"
"Let's just get this over with" Aubrey stood and wiped her face before straightening her shirt
Beca kept her grip on one of Aubrey's hands and let Aubrey lead her into the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table with her hands folded together
"Hello, mama" Aubrey's voice broke as tears gathered in her eyes
"Hey Mrs P" Beca grinned before wincing when she felt Aubrey elbow her, "I'm Beca"
"Nice to meet you, Beca. I'm Grace" Grace smiled politely, "Would you mind terribly if I had a moment with my daughter?"
"Sure" Beca said slowly when she looked to see Aubrey nodding and stood on her tippy toes to kiss Aubrey's cheek, "Love you"
"Mama..." Aubrey whispered
"Does she make you happy?" Grace asked
"Tremendously" Aubrey nodded, "I don't think I've been this happy before"
"I'm not going to pretend I understand this, baby, because I don't" Grace shook her head, "It's going to take a little while to get used to"
"Do you hate me?" Aubrey asked, looking at the table instead of meeting Grace's eyes
"Oh baby, of course not," Grace reached across the table to hold Aubrey's hand, "From the minute I knew I was pregnant with you I've loved you. I've loved you for twenty two years and that's not going to change because you have a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend"
"But daddy-"
"I love your daddy with all my heart, but the man can be an idiot sometimes. All I've ever wanted since you were born was for you to be happy. If a girl with tattoo's and piercings makes you happy then so be it. I would prefer you to be with a man, but only because it would make your life easier. This world is cruel to those who are different, baby, and the thought of you being hurt for any reason breaks my heart."
"I love you, mama" Aubrey sniffed, wiping the tears off of her cheeks
"I love you too, baby. Just give me time to get used to the idea, okay?
"Okay"
"I suppose it's better than you going out and doing god knows what with young men"
"Mama" Aubrey exclaimed
"I'm far too young to be a grandmamma, Aubrey"
"That's not - I didn't -"
"I was young once, too. I know what college is like, I know what college boys are like. I had my fun with them until I met your daddy. He started off as a one night stand"
"I don't need to know this, mama" Aubrey groaned
"Do I need to have the birds and the bees talk with you again?"
"No. No, I'm good"
"Well, if what I seen earlier is any indication, I'd say you are"
"Oh my god"
"Okay, send Beca in"
"Hey, how'd it go?" Beca shot to her feet and met Aubrey half way
"She doesn't hate me" Aubrey laughed even as more tears slipped down her cheeks
"How could anyone?" Beca wiped the tears away and left her hands cupping Aubrey's cheeks
"She wants to speak to you" Aubrey turned her head and kissed Beca's palm
"Should I be worried?"
"I don't know" Aubrey admitted, "I'll wait for you in my room"
"I'll send you a text if I have to leave the country" Beca joked, leaning up to kiss Aubrey "Love you"
"Love you too"
"Hey, Mrs P" Beca smiled nervously and sat across from Grace
"Call me Grace"
"Okay, Grace"
"How did you meet Aubrey?" Grace asked
"Chloe invited me to join the Bella's and Bree called me an aca-bitch after I insulted acapella accidentally" Beca laughed, "I said acapella was lame and the next thing I know a gorgeous blonde was calling me a bitch and glaring at me rather aggressively"
"If you don't like acapella, why did you join an acapella group?"
"I didn't actually want to go to Barden, my dad's the English Lit Professor there so he made me go. I wanted to move to LA and get a job at a record label and he made me a deal. Go to Barden for one year, actually try in my classes and join one group and he would help me move to LA" Beca explained, "I thought acapella would be the easiest one to join, it's just singing right? What could be so hard? Turns out the scary blonde that called me a bitch happened to be the dictating captain that made you run up and down stairs"
"How did you two end up together?" Grace asked
"I'm not sure to be honest" Beca admitted with a shrug, "Between all the arguments and glares, I started to fall for her and I guess she started to fall for me too"
"Do you love her?"
"Yes" Beca nodded before taking a deep breath, "I'm bad at relationships. I'm not good at expressing my feelings and I push people away when they get too close. I hurt people when I start getting too close to them. I shut down when I feel something too strongly because I don't know how to deal with it. I'm not good at the whole talking about problems thing."
"Why are you telling me this?" Grace asked with a raised eyebrow, "It certainly isn't making me approve of Aubrey being with you"
"Because" Beca said, "Despite all of that, I love your daughter more than anything. I can barely believe how much I love her. Aubrey makes me better. She doesn't let me push her away, she understands what I'm trying to say when I have to fight to get the words out, she helps me deal with everything I feel when it gets too much and she makes me talk about my problems."
"I'm not okay with this." Grace admitted, "The world isn't the most accepting of anything or anyone different and it's going to be cruel to her because of her relationship with you. I want my daughter to have the easiest life possible and this certainly makes it harder. But above all, I want nothing more than her to be happy and she said you make her happy so who am I to argue with that?"
"I try my hardest to make her happy and I'll continue doing so for the rest of my life"
"That's all I ask" Grace stood and walked around the table to pull Beca into a hug, "But if my baby ever rings me crying because of you, just remember I know how to use a gun and my husbands a really good lawyer"
"Noted" Beca laughed nervously
"Go find her then, I'm sure she's worn the floor out with all the pacing" Grace chuckled
"Good news, I don't have to leave the country. Bad news, I'm pretty sure your mum just threatened to kill me if I make you cry" Beca said, walking into Aubrey's room
"Don't make me cry then" Aubrey said, wrapping her arms around Beca
"I'll try not to" Beca promised, leaning against Aubrey "How are you?"
"Terrified. Nervous. Upset. Happy. Confused" Aubrey admitted, "Everything at once"
"I feel that. Does your mum keep guns here? If she does I'm totally using you as a human shield" Beca joked
"Some girlfriend you are" Aubrey glared playfully, "You're lucky you're so pretty"
"I know" Beca flipped her hair over her shoulder, "You got lucky with me"
"So modest" Aubrey rolled her eyes before leaning down to kiss Beca and jumped when she heard a knock on the door a second before her mum walked in
"Are you girl's hungry?" Grace asked
"No thank you" Beca replied
"No thank you, mama" Aubrey said
"Alright" Grace clapped her hands, "I was only coming here to tidy the place up so I'll head off now"
"We'll visit before we leave if daddy still isn't home" Aubrey promised, kissing her mums cheek
"Daddy's never home" Grace rolled her eyes, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you to have safe sex?"
"Mama" Aubrey exclaimed, her face turning beet red
"I love you, baby" Grace kissed Aubrey's cheek before turning to Beca, "I hope to see more of you. Don't hurt my baby."
"I'll try not to" Beca smiled nervously
"Today's been exciting," Beca said, laying down on the couch "Your mum's hot"
"Beca" Aubrey exclaimed, slapping her shoulder
"What? Dude, she's basically an older version of you. She keeps it tight." Beca laughed, pulling Aubrey onto her
"Can you not compare me to my mother while I'm on top of you? It's weird"
"You're weird"
"Shut up" Aubrey said and plucked her phone from her pocket, "How is it only three in the afternoon?"
"Time flies when your mum finds you half naked on the couch with another girl"
"You're not funny"
"I think I am" Beca wrapped her arms around Aubrey's waist
"Whatever" Aubrey rolled over so she was laying on her back on top of Beca and unlocked her phone, "Chloe's scolding me for taking the snapchat while I was driving"
"Good, that was dangerous Bree-Bear"
"Shut up. Stacie said that you're absolutely adorable and she wants to pinch your cheeks, Beca-Boo"
"I'll fight her"
"Doesn't Beca-Boo like to be called adorable?"
"I'll fight you too, Blondie, don't test me" Beca poked Aubrey's side
"Don't even" Aubrey said, elbowing Beca "Anyway, we need to go shopping if we don't want to starve in the morning"
"No" Beca whined, tightening her arms around Aubrey's waist
"Are you being serious right now?" Aubrey asked, folding her arms across her chest
"Yep" Beca replied with a smug smile
"You're being ridiculous"
"You're just mad because you didn't think of it first"
"This is so embarrassing" Aubrey groaned
"Get over it, Bree-Bear" Beca was currently sitting in a shopping trolley with her legs hanging over the ends with a satisfied smile on her face, "Push me, bitch"
"Beca, people are looking" Aubrey hissed when she started pushing the trolley inside
"Oh well" Beca shrugged
"How are we going to fit anything in there with you taking up most of the space?"
"We'll make it work"
"I hate you" Aubrey said and pushed her down the first aisle and deliberately dropping things on her harder than necessary
"What's with all this healthy shit?" Beca asked
"Our metabolisms aren't going to stay with us forever"
"Exactly. We should eat junk food as much as possible while we still have one"
"You say that and can barely run up and down the stairs twice"
"Hey, I'm getting better" Beca defended herself
"You don't get a stitch after one lap anymore, congratulations" Aubrey said monotonously
"Thank you, it was a long and hard journey"
"You're a grade A pain in my ass"
Beca woke midway through the night and rolled over to pull Aubrey back to her only to find empty bed sheets
"Bree?" Beca called out, sitting up
Not getting a reply Beca stood and slowly walked around the house, jumping at every creek and shadow until she finally found the bathroom with the light shining from beneath the door
"Bree?" Beca popped her head in the door and found Aubrey laying in the tub, "What are you doing? It's two A.M."
"Couldn't sleep" Aubrey murmured, keeping her eyes closed
"You okay?" Beca sat on the floor next to the tub facing Aubrey
"A lot happened today"
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not particularly. Do you?"
"Nah" Beca shook her head, "Your mum is terrifying for a lady that looks and sounds so sweet"
"You should have seen her when she found out I lost my virginity" Aubrey laughed, "She was not impressed with me, let me tell you"
"What happened?"
"I somehow managed to send a text to her that was meant for one of my old friends telling them that I just lost it to Preston. I think her exact words were 'You let that country club, daddy's boy, boat shoe wearing son of a bitch touch you, Aubrey Posen? How dare you? Do you have no self-respect?' I think she forget that I too was a country club, daddy's girl, son of a bitch at the time" Aubrey said, "She then went around his house, told his mother and then gave him a verbal lashing after his mother did. He didn't speak to me again after that."
"You lost your virginity to a dude called Preston?" Beca laughed, "Did he wear khaki shorts, short sleeved polo's with sweater vests to match his boat shoes?"
"He did" Aubrey smiled, "He even had the same haircut as his granddaddy"
"You are a cliché wrapped in a stereotype, m'lady"
"To be fair, all the boys I knew at the time dressed like that"
"I guess that makes it okay then" Beca rolled her eyes with a smile before standing up, "I'm going back to bed. Don't spend too much longer in here, okay?"
"I'll be there soon"