a teeny tiny band ✧

b

cast

"Thank you for doing this, guys," Stephanie stated, shouldering her bag. "I'm so sorry that I have to bail on our girls night."

"No big deal, Steph. Vivienne's gonna probably miss you, though." Betsy bounced Vivienne, Stephanie's daughter, in her arms, making funny faces. The baby giggled.

"She's just like Seb. Really sweet and energetic." The mother laughed.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Don't worry." Tracie smiled before wrapping Stephanie in a hug and then showing her to the door where her husband, Sebastian, was waiting for her. After one more wave at their daughter, the couple left, off to deal with a sudden family emergency.

Tracie shut the door to Stephanie's home before walking back to the living room. Betsy was having the time of her life, raising Vivienne up in the air and swinging her around.

"You better be careful, Betsy. You're gonna drop her!"

The blonde shook her head. "Yes, yes. Calm down, Trace."

"Since our movie plans for tonight are now scrapped, what do you want to do?"

Betsy set Vivienne down on the floor, helping the baby stand up properly before she walked around in her little legs. "Run some lines?"

Tracie sighed. "Bets—"

"I know, I know... I said we wouldn't talk about work tonight but can I help it? I'm worried about Steph. It must've been really urgent that she had to leave Viv with us."

"I'm worried too. Really. But Falsettos is another thing."

"But it helps—"

A crash from the kitchen. It took the women a moment to realize that Vivienne was no longer in the living room, and their eyes went wide. The two scrambled into the kitchen, gasping when they saw the child on the floor with a bowl of fruits scattered around her.

"Mommy!" The baby cried.

"Oh, honey," Tracie immediately picked her up and cradled her as Betsy cleaned the mess up, feeling mortified. "We're horrible parents."

"No kidding. Even my presence here right now makes me a horrible fiancée because I left my fiancé in my apartment!" The taller woman laughed as she spoke, putting the bananas back in the bowl. That's when she noticed that there were carrots on the floor as well. "Damn, even Stephanie's brings her work home. The stuff in the bowl were for her banana-carrot surprise!"

"Okay, first," Tracie chuckled. "No cussing around the baby. Second... Oh my god."

"I know. I mean, like, I've tried making hors d'oeuvres before but—"

"No way."

"What? Like you haven't done something Charlotte-like."

"No!"

Betsy raised an eyebrow. Vivienne watched intently.

"Well... I might've done a lot of research and read a lot of articles about the AIDS crisis but—"

Betsy burst into fits of laughter, seeing Tracie so distressed. "We all do a nit of method acting sometimes."

"Oh, God."

All of the sudden, Vivienne started crying. The women were confused as to why she was, but she wouldn't calm down.

"Viv? Viv, what's wrong?" Betsy rubbed the baby's back as Tracie wiped her tears away. "Viv?"

"I think it's me, Bets, she probably just doesn't like me. Here," The brunette handed over the child to Betsy, watching as she shushed the baby as they walked back to the living room. Eventually, the cries tuned down and Vivienne yawned.

Tracie sighed. "You're much better at this than I am."

"No no no no, Tracie, don't be like that. You're wonderful. Don't let the baby get to you."

"Children just don't like me. Did you see how me and Anthony talked earlier? He's never liked me! So does Viv!"

Betsy wanted to comfort her friend with an embrace, but she didn't want to drop the baby. "No he doesn't."

"How do you know that? And how can you say that? You're the natural here. Just look!" Tracie pointed to the yawning child, frowning when Betsy frowned as well.

"Carry Viv for a bit, will you?"

The shorter woman reluctantly obliged, watching Betsy pick her phone up and press a few buttons. In a matter of seconds, Anthony appeared facetime.

"Hi Anthony! Quick question: do you hate anyone in the cast?" Betsy was sure to keep Tracie off-screen as she asked her question.

"Uh, hey, and, that's so random!"

"Just answer. Please."

"Um, okay. No, of course not!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! You're the sweetest, Christian's the nicest, Brandon's the funniest, Steph's the wisest, Andrew's the caring-est," Betsy laughed at this, "and Tracie's just the awesomest. If that's even a word. I'd make that a word for her."

Tracie covered her mouth to stop a happy sob from escaping. She couldn't believe that the night was hitting her with the most random and best things.

"Thank you, Anthony. Sorry to disturb."

"It's okay. I was just editing my new vlog."

"Kids these days," Betsy giggled, and before Anthony could think of a sassy comeback, she ended the call, knowing that they'd just meet up the next day anyway. "See, Tracie? You got nothing to worry about. He loves you, I love you... Don't doubt yourself."

"I can't believe our girls night turned into therapy."

"Is this therapy?" Vivienne suddenly spoke up, surprising the women and making them splutter with laughter.

"Right! This is therapy!" They played along, ruffling the baby's locks as she giggled along. Her little mind didn't know that what she said was a reference to the show her mother was in, but it just felt like the right thing to say.