A/N: Let's just do ourselves a favor and pretend the Grammys are in November, okay? And I apologize to those of you who hate me after this chapter.
**********
"What do you mean I'm not coming to the Grammys?" Shannon asked Beca sadly when the brunette told her the news.
"They only sent us 2 invitations, for me and Chloe," Beca said. "I was gonna tell you when I got them, but I didn't want to make you upset."
"I was looking forward to it," Shannon sighed.
"I know," Beca replied. "My mom is gonna stay here with you guys while we're gone. It'll just be 5 days."
"Alright," Shannon sighed. "I'm really proud of you though, it's amazing that you were nominated."
"It still feels crazy," Beca laughed. "Thanks though."
"You're welcome. I can't wait to see you on tv," Shannon said with a smile. She was so proud of her big sister in law.
**********
"Thank fuck they put us on 1st class," Beca said dramatically as she transferred out of her wheelchair into the plane seat, which happened to be more of a couch. "They let me keep my wheelchair with me, I'm so relieved."
"How do they get you on the plane without it?" Chloe asked as she sat down next to the brunette.
"They strap me into this stroller thing. It's really embarrassing," Beca sighed. "That's why I hate flying."
"You never have to worry about being embarrassed with me," Chloe said. "We've seen each other at our best and our worst, and we always get through it all together."
"It's just hard," Beca shrugged. "I know I shouldn't be embarrassed, but it's just weird for me."
"I know it is," Chloe said. "I'm gonna make everything on this trip as normal as possible for you."
Beca smiled and snuggled into Chloe with her legs on the redhead's lap. "I can take my leg braces off if it's too uncomfortable for you."
"It's perfect baby," Chloe said reassuringly. "None of this bothers me, it never has."
Beca nodded. "It's late, we should try to sleep."
Chloe nodded and pushed the button on the couch to transform it into a bed. "You're nominated for a Grammy, I'm so proud."
"You were my inspiration for it," Beca said sweetly.
"Am I in your speech?" Chloe asked.
"You're basically the majority of my speech," Beca laughed.
"Can you read it for me?"
"No way, you'll hear it if I win. If I don't, I'll consider reading it to you," Beca smirked.
"Well I'll be hearing it tomorrow then," Chloe smiled. "You're gonna win, I just know it."
Beca yawned and snuggled closer into Chloe. "That's a hell of a lot of faith to have in someone like me," she laughed.
"You're my fiancée, I have every ounce of faith in you," Chloe shrugged. "We should try to get some sleep, we have a long few days ahead."
"Night baby," Beca yawned.
**********
"Sheri, I have a huge favor to ask you," Shannon said as she walked into the kitchen carrying Ella.
"What's up honey?" Sheri asked.
"I'm meeting a guy to study at the library. Could you watch Ella for like 2 hours?"
"I can't, I'm sorry hun," Sheri said. "I have a work thing so I'm dropping Devin off for a play date."
"Oh okay, no problem," Shannon said.
"Have you talked to Chloe or Beca about this?" Sheri asked.
"Not yet, but I have to call and ask if I can borrow Chloe's car, so I'll mention it then."
"Okay good, because as much as I want you to have a good high school experience, our girls would probably kill me if I let you go on a date without asking them first."
"It's not a date. We're just friends as far as I know, but I'll talk to them," Shannon said.
"Sounds good honey," Sheri smiled. "Shan, I'm really glad you're enjoying high school and that you were able to have a fresh start."
"Me too," Shannon smiled. "Thanks."
Shannon picked up her phone and dialed Chloe's number before hitting call. "Hey Chlo! Make it to the hotel okay?"
"Yep! We got here last night. Beca's still asleep."
"It's only 7 in LA so that makes sense," Shannon laughed. "Hey can I borrow your car today?"
"Sure, what do you need it for?" Chloe asked.
"I'm meeting someone to study later," Shannon said.
"Oh fun! Who?"
"Oh, this guy Matt," Shannon said hesitantly.
"He's in my English class, he seems like a nice kid," Chloe said happily.
"He is. I like him a lot but I think he just wants to be friends," Shannon sighed.
"You should ask him out," Chloe said excitedly.
"No way," Shannon scoffed.
"Why?"
"I'm not you," the younger girl laughed. "I don't just start conversations with random people. And plus I have Ella to worry about. She and all of you guys are going to come first. I can't believe you trust me after everything."
"You've grown up so much since then," Chloe said sweetly. "And you gotta get yourself out there too."
"Alright, I'll think about it," Shannon sighed. "Let me know how the rehearsal goes today! And wear your heels so you're used to them by tomorrow."
"Alright Shan, tell everyone we said hi!"
"I will, love you Chlo."
"Love you too! See you on Tuesday." Chloe hung up just as Beca was waking up. "Hey sleepyhead," she said softly.
"Hey, who was that?" Beca asked.
"I was talking to Shannon, sorry if I woke you," Chloe said.
"You didn't, come back to bed though," Beca said. "How is everyone?"
"Good. Shannon's going on a study date but not a date. And no, you have to get up so we can get some breakfast."
"What do you mean a date but not a date?" Beca asked, sitting up in bed and holding her arms out so Chloe could help her transfer since the bed was taller than her chair.
"She's studying with this guy she likes, but he thinks they're just friends, Chloe shrugged.
"She's going out with a guy we haven't met?" Beca asked incredulously. "Oh my god, no."
"Babe it's fine, I trust her."
"I trust her too, I just don't trust the guys. Justin fucked up big time with her, I'm not going to let her get hurt again," Beca said seriously.
"We'll meet him at some point," Chloe shrugged.
"Tell Shan I want him over for dinner on Friday night," Beca said. "I'll order a pizza."
"Oh my god, we're gonna embarrass her," Chloe sighed.
"I don't care, I don't want her going out with a guy we haven't met before."
"Don't you think it's a little extreme?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know, is it?" Beca asked, suddenly worried.
"Baby if you want to it's fine by me. It means a lot that you want to protect her," Chloe said seriously.
"She's like my little sister, I'm not letting her get hurt again," Beca said. "I'm not letting anyone in this family get hurt."
"C'mere," Chloe whispered, giving Beca a kiss. "You're hot when you're protective," she mumbled in between kisses.
Beca quickly deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck. "You're beautiful."
They continued making out for a few minutes before they both pulled away. "Baby, we have to get breakfast," Chloe said.
"I know," Beca sighed. "Come shower with me."
"Sounds great," Chloe smiled.
After some very steamy shower sex (which was well overdue), the couple headed off to find a breakfast place.
**********
Shannon walked into the library carrying Ella in her baby carrier and met Matt at the front. "Hey, sorry I'm late, she wouldn't stop crying."
"Hey, who's this cutie?" Matt asked sweetly, bending down to smile at the baby.
"Oh...you don't know?" Shannon asked and Matt shook his head. "This is my daughter," she finally said with a sigh. "I understand if you don't want to hang out anymore. I know it's kind of a shock."
"No, it's totally okay. I don't mind." Matt smiled. "How old is she?"
"5 months now," Shannon smiled.
"She looks just like you," Matt said sweetly, tucking a strand of hair behind Shannon's ear.
Shannon tried to hide that she was blushing by lifting Ella out of her carrier and onto her hip. "Could you do me a favor and carry that?" she asked, pointing to the carrier.
"Sure," he said. He picked it up and led Shannon to one of the study rooms. "So how are things?" He asked.
"Good! My sisters are in LA getting ready for the Grammys," Shannon said with so much pride in her voice.
"I thought you just had one sister," Matt said.
"I do," Shannon said. "Do you know who Beca Mitchell is?"
"The producer? I've heard of her," Matt shrugged.
"She's engaged to my sister," Shannon said, "I just consider her a sister because we're really close."
"Aw that's awesome," Matt smiled. "Shannon, would you maybe want to go out with me?" He asked nervously.
Shannon smiled. "Sure, but there's a few conditions considering the circumstances," she said hesitantly. "My family, especially my daughter, is always going to come first. Beca and Chloe have done so much for me, and I'm not going to take advantage of that. Also, I need you and your family to be accepting. We're not an average family or anything, but they mean the world to me."
"I understand," Matt said.
"And Beca and Chloe are going to want to meet you before we make anything official," Shannon laughed. "Chloe's pretty chill, but Beca's super protective of me."
"You're their little sister, I get it," he laughed.
"Thank you for understanding, I just want to make sure they're okay with me being in a relationship."
He nodded in understanding. "Can I see some pictures of everyone?"
Shannon smiled and unlocked her phone and went to her Instagram. "Beca's mom took that one when we first moved here. We have it framed somewhere," she smiled.
"That's sweet," Matt smiled. "Where are you guys from? I'm getting a little bit of a southern accent from you. Not as much as your sister though."
"We're all from Atlanta, but I lost the accent when my parents and I moved down to Florida. Then I moved back to Atlanta to live with Chloe but my accent wasn't as thick as it used to be," Shannon explained.
"Why did you move in with Chloe?" Matt asked.
"It's a long story, but my parents pretty much hate me for no reason and sent me to live with her. And then they found out she was gay and stopped talking to us. So she adopted me."
"That must have been really hard."
"It was at first, but I'm so much happier here with them. I finally feel like I belong."
"That's really awesome," Matt smiled.
**********
"And the producer of the year goes to Beca Mitchell!" The presenter said, and Beca's eyes lit up. Chloe shot up from her chair and wrapped Beca in a huge hug, giving her a kiss.
"I'm so proud of you," the redhead said through watery eyes as she wiped a stray tear from Beca's face.
Beca smiled. "This is because of you babe."
She went up the ramp to get to the stage and accepted the award from the producer. "Thank you," she smiled into the microphone. "I want to say this was a surprise, but I could kind of tell that I was winning when they attached the wheelchair ramp," she laughed. "I want to start by thanking my fiancée Chloe Beale. Chloe, you are the inspiration for everything I do. You encourage me, inspire me, and help me more than I can even explain and I'm so lucky to call you my fiancée and the stepmother to my son." She looked down at Chloe who had a huge, proud smile on her face and was crying. "I also want to thank my family, who has been here for me all 26 years of my life, and really stepped up to help me when I broke my back 5 years ago. They have supported me through everything and I'm so lucky to have them. I also want to thank my son for pretty much all of my happiness before I met Chloe. I never thought I could love a human being so much until I brought him into this world. Devin is the brightest, smartest little human in the world. I love him with all of my heart. And finally, I want to thank one of my best friends, Jesse Swanson. Although he is not credited on this album, I worked on it after I had a really painful surgery and he helped me a lot in the 3 weeks I wasn't able to go in the studio. He's been there for me since college and through all of my back injury stuff, which I know I'm referencing quite a lot, and I apologize for that. But I'm so lucky to have a friend as great as him. Thank you all for this award. It means so much to me and my family." She went backstage and went up to a man who looked like one of the tech guys. "Do you know where I'm supposed to go now?" She asked.
"Yeah, you just wait back here until the commercial and then you can go back out," he said. "Hey Beca? You used to live in Atlanta, right?"
"Yeah..." Beca said hesitantly.
"Your son is four right?" He asked.
Beca nodded, slowly getting an idea of what he was implying. "You don't think..." she started.
"I think I'm his father."
Beca felt like the world had stopped. In that moment she felt so vulnerable and heartbroken, and she just wanted Chloe there to hold her hand. Just as things were finally on track, she felt her whole world crashing down around her again...