"Chloe can you hold her for five minutes while I fix my hair. She won't stop crying."
"Becs, I can't I have to fix my own hair."
Beca put down the curling iron and picked her daughter up for the crib. "It's ok munchkin. Mommy's here baby." Beca fed the baby and put her back down in the crib.
"I can watch her now, Becs." Chloe popped her head in the bedroom.
"She's ok, can you curl the back for me."
"Yeah." Chloe curled Beca's hair, and Beca drew the temporary tattoos on her wrist and collarbone.
Anna met them in the arena, and she set up tables with Chloe while Beca sang to the baby. "Hey, girls," she said when the girls walked in.
"Oh my gosh is this the baby?" Quinn asked, running over and giving Beca a hug.
Beca sat down at the table. "Yep!"
The girls had a million questions.
"What's her name?"
"Harper Jade Mitchell-Swanson."
"When did you have her?"
"Last month, which was January 17."
Eryn smiled. "I didn't know you were married, Beca. Where's your husband."
Chloe glanced up from the papers she was reading. "Ummm. Eryn, I don't think..."
"Chlo, it's fine. I'm going to tell them."
Eryn looked at Beca intently. "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it."
"It's ok. I have to tell you guys." Beca paused. "Remember my boyfriend Jesse?" The girls nodded. "He proposed to me, and I said yes. Then I became pregnant and one night, when I was 6 months along, we were planning the wedding and I was bitching about how I wanted everything he didn't want and he left me."
"I'm so sorry Beca. I didn't want to make you upset."
"It's ok. It's just been really hard on me. He didn't show up for the birth, and that killed me. I moved back in with Chloe because I couldn't afford to keep the house."
"Has Jesse met her?"
"He came by yesterday, and he met her. He asked me if we could start over. I turned him down. I can't get hurt again, especially not now. I have a child I need to care for, and I can't do that if I'm upset all the time. I've been upset for 4 months. It's just so hard. How am I going to explain to her that her father left us, and that he's not a part of our lives any more. How am I going to explain to her that we live with her Aunt Chloe because I can't afford a house and she's my support system. I don't want her to grow up knowing her mom's dreams didn't work out. I want her to be happy." Beca had tears running down her face.
"Beca, look at her. She's your child. She loves you. She has a gorgeous mom, and you love her. You have a great support system, and just look at Chloe. She loves both you and Harper." Eryn gave Beca a hug. "Wait...aunt Chloe? Are you guys sisters?"
Chloe laughed. "No, but it's an inside joke with me and Beca, because when I took her to the hospital, they asked for the dad and I said he wasn't there, but I was her sister so I could stay with her. I mean it wasn't a total lie. We spend all our time together. Plus, we didn't want Harper to have to call us Ms. Beale and Mrs. Richardson, so it's Aunt Chloe and Auntie Anna."
"Awh that's cute. We should probably go find our seats. It's already 6:30."
"Thanks for the talk girls. You make me feel so much better. I'll let you know about the next concert."
Beca took the baby from Chloe's arms after the girls left. "Mommy's gonna go on stage for a little while. She loves you more than life, ok?!?"
Harper giggled when Beca tapped her nose. "Hey Chlo, here she is. The diapers are in the diaper bag, as well as extra formula, toys, and if she gets tired, sit on the couch with her."
"Ok, good luck!"
Beca played a few songs, then Chloe rushed on stage "Becs, she won't be quiet. She needs you. She hasn't stopped crying since you went on stage."
"Ok. Umm...ok...I'll take her. Just stay here cause if she quiets down, I'll give her back to you."
Beca took her daughter with her to the turntable. "So guys. This is my daughter, Harper. Her Aunt Chloe was supposed to be watching her, but she wanted her momma."
Beca was embarrassed, but the feeling quickly went away when the crowd started clapping. "You guys are the most supportive fans."
She played the rest of her concert with Harper on her hip. "Thanks so much guys, I had a great night."
Beca walked backstage with Chloe and smiled. "Way to get her to shut up."
"I'm so sorry Becs, I tried so hard. She wanted you so bad."
"Chloe it's ok. Everything went fine. I know you tried. But what happened to Anna?"
"She wasn't feeling good, so she went home. I told her I would come over tomorrow."
"Ok. I'll text her. Let's go home. I'm exhausted."
Chloe drove home, and Beca fell asleep in the backseat next to her child. "Becs, wake up. We're home." Chloe gently shook Beca awake. Beca took her baby out of the car seat, but Chloe took it out of her arms. "Go get in bed. I'll put the baby to bed for you."
"Thanks Chlo."
