Shannon had known she made a huge mistake when she decided to have sex that night at the movies, and she made an even bigger mistake not telling Chloe because she really needed her there in the situation she was facing now. She had just taken a few pregnancy tests that all came out positive and she was so upset that she was sobbing when Chloe got home from picking up lunch. "Shannon what's wrong?" Chloe asked as she set the bag of food on the counter.
"Chloe I don't know what to say," Shannon said, wiping her tears. "Remember the date I went on last month?"
"Yeah..." Chloe said hesitantly.
"Well..." Shannon stared hesitantly. "We had sex and I don't even know how it happened. Like one second we were making out and then we were in the backseat of his car and I don't even know why I did it but...."
"Shannon oh my god...you're not....." Chloe said.
"Chloe I'm pregnant," she sobbed.
"No you're not, you can't be," Chloe said in disbelief. "Mom and dad are gonna kill me."
"And me!" Shannon said,
"But why didn't you use protection? How could you be so fucking stupid?" Chloe asked, raising her voice.
"Chloe I'm sorry, I didn't think anything would happen." Shannon said.
"Why...how could you Shannon? Just....get out for now, I need to think this over," she said, sitting down at the table.
"Ok fine," Shannon said, walking out the door. She walked over to Beca's house and knocked on the door, but of course she wasn't there. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialed her number. "Beca where are you? I need you right now."
"Where's Chloe? Are you hurt? What's wrong?" Beca asked.
"Chloe's really mad at me, I need you Beca, where are you?"
"I'm at the party store getting a Halloween costume for Devin. Where are you?"
"I'm by your house, when are you gonna be home?" Shannon asked.
"Come to the party store, it's like 2 minutes away," Beca said.
"Ok Beca, thank you so much," Shannon said.
When she got to the party store, Beca wheeled up to her and gave her a huge hug. "Hey kid, what's wrong? Why is Chloe upset?"
"Beca I made a huge mistake," Shannon said, taking a deep breath. "I had sex on my date last month and I just found out I'm pregnant and now I don't know what to do because Chloe basically kicked me out of the house and she's really upset with me."
"Oh god kid, you fucked up big time," Beca whispered.
"I know, but Beca please don't be mad. You're all I have left. I can't move back home."
"I'm not mad," Beca said. "But wow, this is a huge deal."
Shannon nodded. "Chloe's never gonna forgive me, will she?"
"Oh she will, I'll talk to her as soon as we get home. My mom drove down from Dalton to hang out with us, so she's taking Devin to a movie in a few hours and he's gonna spend the night with her."
"Oh ok," Shannon said. "Thank you so much Beca."
"It's ok, honey, you'll be fine," Beca said. Devin ran up to them with a costume. "Mommy I'm going to be Darth Vader!"
"Great buddy!" Beca said. "Let's go pay for it, ok?"
"Ok. Hi Shannon!" He said happily. "Where's Chloe?"
"Chloe's at home," Shannon said. "She's busy today."
"Aww," Devin said.
"That's ok though, I heard you're going with your grandma tonight?"
"Yeah!" Devin said. "I'm spending the night at her hotel!"
"Fun!" Shannon replied.
When they got home, Beca made some lunch for her and Shannon when her mom knocked at the door. "Hey mom!" She said happily, reaching up to give her a hug.
"Hey honey!" Her mom replied.
"Do you want to come in for a few minutes? My friend's sister is here to spend the night because she had a party to go to tonight and she didn't want to leave her alone."
"Oh ok," her mom said, following Beca into the kitchen.
"Hey Shan, this is my mom, Sheri. Mom, this is Shannon."
"Hi honey," she said, shaking her hand.
"Hi Mrs. Mitchell," she replied with a smile.
"Oh sweetie just call me Sheri," she replied.
"Ok," Shannon said.
Devin came into the room and his eyes lit up the second he saw Sheri. "Grandma!" He squealed, jumping into her arms.
"Hey cutie!" Sheri replied, giving him a kiss. "Are you ready to go?"
"Uh huh," he said.
"Ok buddy, go get your shoes on," Beca said after Sheri put him down.
He came back a minute later with his shoes on. "Let's go grandma!"
"Ok!" Sheri replied. "We'll see you later Bec! Call if you need anything."
"Oh yeah, let me just grab his suitcase," Beca said, going to his room and returning with a suitcase. "Thanks mom."
"No problem," Sheri replied. "We'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
"Yep!" Beca said.
After they left, Beca rolled up to the table across from Shannon and sighed. "I hate to have to be an adult with you but we have to have a serious discussion about this."
"I know," Shannon sighed. "I'm so terrified Beca."
"How did this all happen?" Beca asked.
"While we were at the movies. After the movie we had sex and I didn't think anything would happen but I freaked out yesterday and bought pregnancy tests and all 3 of them came out positive."
Beca sighed again. "I'm not gonna scream at you, I'm not even mad. I had sex when I was fifteen too and I probably would've gotten pregnant if it wasn't for the fact that I'm capital G gay."
"Chloe's gonna make me move back home isn't she?" Shannon asked sadly.
"I'm gonna call her, ok? And you can stay here for tonight too."
"Ok Beca, thanks," Shannon said.
Beca left the room to go call Chloe and she picked up almost right away. "What the hell are you doing kicking Shannon out?" She asked.
"She's with you? Thank god," Chloe said.
"Well no shit, I'm all she has besides you and your parents," Beca said. "Chloe we have to figure this out. She's been crying on and off for 2 hours."
"I know," Chloe said. "I called my parents and told them and they told me she's having the baby and its up to me and her what she does with it. They told me they want me to have full custody of her."
"So basically adopting her?" Beca asked.
"No, they'd still be her legal parents but I'd have full control of her."
"Then do it, she's better off with you if they don't want the responsibility," Beca said.
"I'm going to," Chloe replied. "They're sending the papers for me to sign, but the pregnancy is a whole other issue."
"She's gonna be fine, you just have to decide what to do with the baby and you have to decide whether or not to keep her in school."
"I decided to save her the humiliation and pull her already. She's gonna be doing online school until she has the baby and then we'll figure out what to do after that point."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Beca said. "I think she should stay here tonight. You both just need some time to cool off."
"Yeah I think so," Chloe replied. "Can you tell her I'm not mad? And that I love her?"
"Of course," Beca replied. "You're a good sister Chlo. It's not your fault."
"I know," Chloe said. "You're the best."
"I know I am. I love you." Beca said.
"I love you too," Chloe replied.
Beca went back into the kitchen. "She's not mad at you kid, and she loves you so much. She wanted me to tell you that."
"But what did my parents say?" Shannon asked.
"They want to give Chloe full custody of you," Beca said. "Basically they'd still be your legal parents but Chloe would be your legal guardian."
"Beca why don't they love me?" Shannon asked. "What did I ever do?"
"I don't know, kid. It doesn't really make sense to me either, and I feel awful. But I love you and Chloe loves you and Devin loves you too."
Shannon smiled. "You're the best Beca."
"Chloe literally just said that to me," Beca laughed.
"Am I still going to school?"
"No, Chloe enrolled you into online school," Beca said. "She figured it'd save you a lot of humiliation."
"It would," Shannon said. "Knowing Justin, he'd probably tell everyone and really screw up my social life."
"Aww I'm sorry," Beca said. "Hey speaking of Justin, you gotta call him and tell him."
"Like...now?" Shannon asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, honey," Beca said. "You just gotta get it over with."
Shannon signed and picked up her phone off the counter before dialing his number. "Hey babe," he said the second he picked up.
Shannon freaked out and handed the phone to Beca before bursting into tears again. Beca wrapped her arm around Shannon and held the phone to her ear. "Um hi," she said awkwardly. "This is probably kind of weird. I'm Beca, Shannon's friend. Well her sister's friend, but I guess I'm her friend too."
"Oh yeah, she's mentioned you before," Justin replied. "Is she still there."
Beca glanced up at Shannon and Shannon shook her head. "Tell him for me," she whispered.
"Uh...Shannon wanted me to tell you something..." Beca started. "And it'd be much better coming from her, trust me, but she's really upset right now and she wants me to tell you...anyway...she's pregnant." Beca cringed hearing the words come out of her mouth because she was anxious about his reaction.
"Is she ok? Can I come over so she and I can have an actual discussion about this? Is she at home?"
"Actually she's at my place," Beca said. "Do you want the address?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," Justin replied.
Beca gave him the address and hung up, sighing dramatically. "It's gonna be fine, kid," she said, hugging the young redhead. "How far does he live?"
"Like a 5 minute walk," Shannon said. "I'm gonna go fix my makeup. Shit I don't have any makeup," she sighed.
"There's stuff in my makeup bag," Beca replied. "It's in the bottom drawer in the bathroom."
Shannon came back a few minutes later. "Beca?"
"I'm getting the door, you ready?" Beca asked.
"Yep, I'll be in the living room."
Beca answered the door and smiled at the boy standing in front of her. "Hi! You must be Justin, I'm Beca."
"Hi," he said anxiously.
"Oh, do you want to come in?" Beca asked so Justin could come inside.
"Listen, I know you're probably really mad at me. Shannon said you're like a sister to her and I know I made a huge mistake."
"I'm not mad," Beca said. "Both of you made a mistake and I'm willing to overlook it because of how much I love Shannon."
"Is Ms. Beale mad?"
"Chloe? No, she's not mad at Shannon, but I'm not sure if she's mad at you. Shannon's just staying here for tonight because Chloe needs some time to think things through."
"Can I see Shannon?" He asked quietly, glancing down at her.
"Of course," Beca replied, moving out of the way so he could get through. "I'll be around," she called, wheeling away.
Justin came back 20 minutes later. "Thanks Beca, for letting me come over."
"No problem," she replied. "How is she?"
"She's fine, I managed to calm her down. I told her I'm gonna be there to help her through everything."
"Me too," Beca said. "I'll talk to Chloe too. I'm sure she's not mad."
"Thanks," Justin replied. "Well I should go."
"Ok," Beca said. "It was nice having you."
"Yeah, thanks," Justin said before leaving. Beca closed he door behind him and sighed. This was going to be a long 9 months.
**********
"Beca come on we're gonna be late!" Chloe called.
"Do you know how freaking long it takes for me to put on pants, Beale?" Beca grumbled from behind her bedroom door. "I look stupid," she said.
"Can I come in?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah," Beca sighed. "Chloe come on this is stupid."
"No way! You're the cutest little red panda!" Chloe said. "Now come on! We're already late."
Beca rolled her eyes at the redhead. "You're a very hot monkey if it's any consolation."
"Am I showing too much cleavage?" Chloe asked. "Maybe I should zip it up a little more."
"No, it looks fine," Beca said. "Come on!"
"Shannon, we're leaving!" Chloe said. "We'll be back at 5."
"Sounds good!" Shannon said.
Devin ran up and jumped on Beca's lap. "Bye mommy!"
"Bye cutie!" Beca said. "What are you guys gonna do while we're gone?"
"I was thinking we could watch The Nightmare Before Christmas if that's ok with you?"
"Yeah totally!" Beca said. "It's our favorite! Right little man?" She asked.
"Yes!" He said happily.
"Okay buddy, we gotta go!" Beca said.
"Love you guys!" Shannon said.
"Love you too kid!" Beca replied.
Once they got in the car, Chloe dramatically sighed. "I don't know what to do with Shannon."
"Chloe it's gonna be fine," Beca said. "She wants to keep the baby."
"Oh great, so now I'm gonna have 2 kids to raise," Chloe rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna be there," Beca said. "It'll be harder but you'll have my help."
"Not to mention she fucked up my career," Chloe muttered.
"Do your coworkers know that you pulled her?"
"Yeah, they don't know why though," Chloe said. "And I'm kind of hoping it won't be brought up tonight, so please don't mention anything."
"Oh of course not," Beca said.
Chloe pulled into the parking spot and Beca carefully got out of the car. "Sorry it's so tight, we didn't have your handicap card."
"It's ok, it should be fine," Beca said. Once they got inside, Chloe asked the hostess what room the party was in and she led them to it. "This is a crazy nice restaurant," Beca said.
"I know right!" Chloe said. "Oh did I tell you I made a friend?"
"You did? That's great!" Beca said. "I wanna meet them!"
Chloe opened the door and Beca went in first anxiously looking around at everyone there. Chloe laughed. "You seem a little overwhelmed. Let's go find Stacie."
Beca smiled and followed Chloe over to one of the tables. "Stacie hey!" Chloe said, getting the tall brunette's attention.
Stacie turned around and gave Chloe a hug. "Hey Chlo! This is my husband Steve she said, wrapping her arm around the tall man.
"It's nice to meet you!" Chloe said. "This is my friend Beca."
Beca finally glanced up at the brunette. "Stacie? Stacie Conrad?"
"Oh my god Beca! It's been so long!" Stacie said, giving the small brunette a hug.
"Wait you guys know each other?" Chloe asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, we were best friends I'm high school," Beca said with a laugh. "And then we kinda lost touch."
"Yeah," Stacie sighed. "I missed ya shortie."
"I missed you too," Beca laughed. "Chlo, I'm gonna get something to drink. Do you want anything?"
"Just a water is fine," Chloe said. "Thanks Becs!"
After Beca left, Chloe sat down next to Stacie. "You guys have have some weird romantic thing going on there," Stacie said. "I wouldn't call it sexual tension but I know Beca and I know when she has a crush on someone."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "We're just friends, Stace. And plus, you haven't seen Beca in like 6 years, how do you still know what she's like when she has a crush."
"You can see it in her eyes, like she's so in love. Now I kinda see fear too, I wonder why."
"Maybe because her last girlfriend died in the car accident they were in," Chloe shrugged. "Did you hear about that?"
"Yeah I did, she was gonna come to my wedding but she was in the hospital," Stacie said sadly. "I visited her once but it was just too much for me so that's why we haven't seen each other in so long."
"Aww Stace," Chloe said softly. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok," Stacie shrugged as Beca came back. "Bec, how did you and Chloe meet?"
"That's a funny story actually," Beca laughed. "I was at a coffee shop with Devin and-"
"Devin?" Stacie asked.
"My kid," Beca said with a laugh. "He just turned 3."
"Damn I missed a lot," Stacie laughed. "Go ahead though."
"Anyway, I was bringing our drinks back to the table and I slammed right into Chloe and I spilled Devin's smoothie all over her."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "That's not true, I slammed into you."
Beca rolled her eyes. "Let her believe what she wants. So we got to talking and then she came over for dinner that night too."
"Aww that'd be a cute love story," Stacie replied.
Chloe laughed. "We went to Disney world last month."
"What? Okay you guys need to give me your Instagrams because I'm missing out on some really cute pictures.
Beca laughed. "Mine is @becamitchh and Chloe's is @chloeb90."
Stacie followed both of them and started looking through their pictures. "Oh my god the Disney ones are so cute."
Beca smiled. "The only reason I survived that trip was because of Chloe. There were so many times I couldn't reach a counter or something or couldn't fit through the lines for food and she was right there to help."
"Aww that's sweet," Stacie said.
Chloe stood up from the table. "I'm gonna get some food. Do you want anything Becs?"
"Uh maybe just some pasta," Beca said. "Something with red sauce though."
"Ok," Chloe said, walking away.
Stacie turned towards Beca. "Spill sister. You have a huge crush on Chloe."
"What? No I don't," Beca said anxiously.
"You totally do!" Stacie said. "I know you Becs, I know when you like someone."
"She's just a friend," Beca shrugged.
"A best friend who you went to Disney to world with. I mean come on Becs, Disney world is so romantic."
Beca shrugged. "Like I said, she's a friend...a best friend actually."
"Did you guys hold hands and stuff?" Stacie asked.
"Well....yeah," Beca said. "And we accidentally shared a bed but it's not a big-"
"You accidentally shared a bed? How do you do that?"
"Well Devin fell asleep on the couch and Shannon sprawled out on her and Chloe's bed and we were both really tired, so yeah," Beca shrugged. "I woke up and she was snuggled into my side it was so cute."
"You have to tell her," Stacie said. "She likes you too."
"No she doesn't, and even if I did, I wouldn't say anything. She doesn't want the responsibility of another kid."
"You two are gonna end up together," Stacie said. "I know it."
Chloe came back and set a bowl of pasta down in front of Beca. "They had some garlic rolls but I wasn't sure if they were lactose free so I figured you could check it out for yourself."
"Oh ok, I'm not even that hungry anyway," Beca said. "Thanks!"
"No problem," Chloe said, sitting down next to her. "What time is it?"
"4," Beca said.
"Ok we have to leave in like 45 minutes so we can be home for the kids," Chloe said.
"Aww you're gonna miss the drinks!" Stacie said.
"It's alright, I'm driving, I shouldn't be drinking anyway," Chloe said.
Beca held Chloe's hand under the table and smiled at her. It was so sweet that Chloe always thought of things like that to make her feel comfortable and safe. "Yeah, and plus I have to take Devin trick or treating," Beca said. "So Stace, how's the marriage going? I never thought you'd settle down with one guy."
"It's great, I just love him so much," Stacie said, wrapping her arm around Steve.
Steve smiled. "I love you too baby."
Stacie smiled. "Becs I gotta meet Devin soon!"
"Yeah you definitely do!" Beca said. "Maybe we all can hang out at my place next week. I mean Chloe's pretty much always over anyway."
"Yeah! We should do a girls day soon," Chloe said. "The soonest would probably be Christmas break."
"Yeah same with me, I'm slammed until then," Beca said. "Maybe we could do some Christmas shopping and dinner or something like that."
"Yeah!" Stacie said. "It'd be so fun!"
Chloe glanced at her phone. "It's almost 5, Becs, we should get going."
"Yeah, we should," Beca replied. "Stace it was so good to catch up with you. I missed you."
"I missed you too," Stacie said, giving the small brunette a hug. "And Chloe it was so great to see you!"
"You too!" Chloe replied happily. "I'll see you Monday Stacie!"
Once they got back in the car, Beca smiled at Chloe. "Hey...thanks for not drinking or anything. I get so paranoid now. It's kinda like a ptsd thing I guess."
"Oh of course!" Chloe said. "I want you to trust me."
"I do," Beca said. "I'm so happy Stacie was there tonight!"
"It's so cool you guys knew each other!" Chloe said. "She and her husband are cute together."
"Yeah," Beca said. "They really are. Honestly though I didn't think she'd ever get married. She never had a solid boyfriend in high school."
"Oh?"
"She fucked pretty much half the guys at school," Beca laughed. "People called us 'the slut and her gay best friend."'
"Oh my god that must have been awful," Chloe said.
"We didn't take it too seriously," Beca laughed. "How was high school for you?"
"Ugh it was awful," Chloe said, shaking her head. "I got bullied and I had anorexia and depression and I was in the hospital for like a month of my senior year."
"Aww Chlo," Beca said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Chloe shrugged. "I've had some amazing people come into my life and I'm doing so great now."
"Like me?" Beca asked with a smile.
"Especially you," Chloe replied. "Oh hey you gotta meet my friend Aubrey sometime!"
"Cool! Where does she live?" Beca asked.
"You know that retreat place in Gatlinburg? The Lodge of Fallen Leaves?"
"Oh yeah!" Beca said. "I see so many billboards for it."
"She owns it and lives there," Chloe said. "We should go up there sometime!" She said.
"Camping? In the woods?" Beca asked.
"There's cabins," Chloe said. "And I think they're accessible too. I can ask her to make accommodations. Or she could just drive down here. It's only about 4 hours."
"Yeah, maybe that'd be better," Beca replied. "Nature wasn't really my thing before I got hurt, and now it's even worse for me. I'm just hesitant."
"Yeah I get it," Chloe said. "Don't do anything you're not uncomfortable with."
"Yeah, thanks Chlo," Beca said.
"No problem," Chloe shrugged, pulling into the driveway. "Ready to go back into casa de crazy?"
Beca laughed. "Ready as I'll ever be. This was nice though! We should totally go out more nights."
"Yeah," Chloe agreed. This had definitely been a fun night and she was glad to spend it with her best friend. Stacie was right though...maybe there was something more.