The Military Connection

Chapter 6

On April 8th, 2018, in Beca, Chloe, and Amy's apartment, Beca was making chili when Amy walked into the kitchen.

Amy smelled a wonderful spicy aroma in the air, "I'm starving. When's dinner going to be ready?"

"Chili's almost done," Beca said as Chloe walked in.

"Hey, guys. I'm home," Chloe said.

"Hey, Chloe. Dinner's almost ready," Beca said.

"Ooh, it smells delicious," Chloe said.

"I found this chili recipe online, and I thought I'd try making it," Beca explained.

"Well, I hope it comes out well," Chloe said as Beca put a spoon into the chili to taste.

"Here, Chloe; care for a taste?" Beca asked, stopping herself when she noticed Chloe was in her old Bellas uniform. "Uh, why are you wearing that? Did you wear that to work? I thought we got rid of those old uniforms years ago."

"Well, I kept mine because it reminded me of a special time. Also, because tonight's the Bellas reunion at the Brooklyn Aquarium," Chloe reminded them.

"That's tonight?" Beca asked.

"Yeah. I figured we'd head over there after dinner," Chloe suggested.

"Alright, well, I'll go ahead and serve up the chili. We'll leave in about an hour," Beca said.

She got three bowls out of the cupboard and poured the chili in each bowl before placing them on the kitchen table.

Later that evening, Aubrey and Chad met up with the other Bellas at the Brooklyn Aquarium. Aubrey couldn't wait to tell the other Bellas that she and Chad were now engaged. After she showed the Bellas her ring, they had a lot of questions.

"So, how long have you two been engaged?" Flo asked.

"He proposed to me on New Year's, right after we counted down to the start of 2017. We shared a midnight kiss, and then he popped the question," Aubrey said.

"And we couldn't be happier," Chad added.

"So...when's the wedding?" Beca asked.

"Three months. I'm really excited about it, and I know she is too," Chad said.

"I'm so happy for you two," Chloe said. "Can I be a bridesmaid for your wedding? PLEASE?"

"Well, funny you should bring that up; I was hoping I could get five of you Bellas to be my bridesmaids," Aubrey replied.

"Well, you got me," Chloe agreed. "What about you, Beca?"

"Hmmm...why not. It'll be great," Beca said.

Stacie, Amy, and Flo also agreed to be bridesmaids.

"Great. Thank you all. I can assure you that this will be a wedding to remember," Aubrey said. "Now, one last thing - since the wedding is only three months away, we'll need to hurry up and pick out bridesmaid's dresses."

Beca nodded her agreement. "True, we don't have much time. How about we all go dress shopping tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan," Stacie replied, and the rest of the Bellas agreed.

At that point, Emily arrived with the new batch of Barden Bellas. Before the new Bellas took the stage for their rendition of "Sit Still, Look Pretty." Emily clarified that the invites she sent were not for the graduated Bellas to reunite on stage but to watch the new Bellas sing.

After the performance, the Bellas met up at a bar, and Emily came to find them.

When Emily found them, "You guys," she said. "I'm so sorry. I realized I shouldn't have said 'reunion."

"Hey, don't worry about it; you girls sounded great out there tonight," Beca said.

"I miss the days when we all sang together. I would KILL to get that back again," Chloe said.

"Well, look at the bright side; at least we got to see each other again," Beca pointed out.

"We could look for a place that has an open mic night," Flo suggested.

"As much as I like that idea, I think Aubrey and I might have a better one," Chad said.

"You know how my dad's a big deal in the Army?" Aubrey asked. "I could try to get us on the USO Tour to entertain the troops."

"This year, DJ Khaled is looking for an opening act for his summer tour, and he'll be choosing ONE of the acts from the USO tour," Chad added.

"I'm definitely on board with this idea," Beca said.

"Me too. It'll be great to sing with all of you again," Chloe agreed as the other Bellas agreed.

"I wish I could go with you," Stacie said, disappointed.

"Why can't you?" Beca asked.

"I'm eight months pregnant, don't you remember?" Stacie asked.

"Oh, yeah...I guess it's not safe to travel so close to your due date. Well, if Stacie's out...Emily, you in?" Beca asked.

"Totally!" Emily said, feeling excited.

"I hope you ladies won't mind Chad coming with us," Aubrey said.

"Are you kidding?! Of course he can come with us," Chloe said.

"Yeah. He's your fiance. If he wants to come, we should be good sports and include him," Beca said as the other Bellas agreed.

"Thank you so much, ladies. I couldn't STAND the idea of being away from my fiance for a month," Chad said.

"So if we get chosen for this tour when do we leave?" Flo asked.

"Chad and I will get the details and get back to you all," Aubrey said.

"I have a feeling this will be a month to remember," Chad added as the Bellas gave a toast.