Forever

18. Family Values

CHLOE

The day of the Welcome Spring party was crazy. Beca had a meeting she couldn't get out of in the morning. So I helped my family set up. Matt arrived early afternoon with his girlfriend, Elise. They both immediately started helping. Matt helped Dad in the kitchen while Mom, Elise, and I set up the backyard. There were streamers and balloons and floral everything. Once family started arriving, Matt and I switched. He went out back and I went to the kitchen.

"Beca still in her meeting?" I asked Dad.

"I don't think so. I saw her go to the backyard a few minutes ago."

"What?" Sure enough, when I looked out the window Beca was outside talking to my family. She had on a burgundy top that had small pink and blue flowers on it. She paired it with some black jeans and combat boots. Her hair was half up half down. She looked beautiful.

"Get out there and socialize alongside your wife. I got this covered in here."

"Okay. Have fun." I headed out back to say hi to everyone. Beca was talking to my cousin Owen and his wife, May. Owen had their 2-year-old daughter, Ivy, on his hip.

"Hey Chloe, how are ya? We were just talking about kids." Owen said.

"Beca says you haven't found out the gender yet. Are you guys waiting till the birth?" May asked me.

"We haven't really discussed it. But our next appointment isn't for a little while so we have time to decide." I took Beca's hand and started to rub circles on the back of it.

BECA

Chloe took me around the party so I could meet most of her family. After a bit, she basically told me to go sit and chill at one of the tables and she'd be over in a bit. I did as I was told for once in my life. Mainly because I was already tired. Chloe's grandmother came and sat next to me.

"How are you dear?" she asked handing me a bottle of water.

I smiled. Grandmas always knew exactly what you needed. "I'm alright. Would be better if I didn't currently have a little foot in my ribs."

She just smiled. "How far along are you now?"

"21 weeks. We have an appointment when we get home to find out the gender."

"That's lovely. Do you have a guess to the gender?"

"Chloe thinks it's a girl. I feel like it's a boy. But either way, we will both be happy."

"Of course. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. As both Beales and Thompsons are very generous. Especially to family."

"Thank you." I was using my hand to prop my head up.

"You're very welcome." She placed a hand on my leg. "My dear, you look done in. You should go rest."

"I don't want to miss the rest of the party."

"Trust me. The party won't get good till later. Nap now during all the small talk time."

As if on cue, Chloe bounced over to us. "Chloe, please help me convince Beca here to go take a nap."

Chloe looked at me, took my hand, and lead me inside.

CHLOE

Beca slept for about 45 minutes which to me was better than nothing. The rest of the party went well. My cousin, Daisy, and Beca seemed to hit it off. I came to find out later that Dasiy was actually a big fan of Beca's music. Daisy was a few years older than me. She was born the same year as Matt. I wandered around the party saying hi to everyone. My cousin, Stella was playing with Beca and my dog Billie. Both of them completely content. Her brother Ben was talking about all of the plants with Ethan my youngest cousin. Both Ben and Ethan were autistic. Ben's special interest was plants. While Ethans's was statistics and numbers. Ben would rattle off facts about a plant and Ethan would tell him some statistical facts about it. They'd been doing that for as long as I could remember. Mark stood against the fence with a beer. He was antisocial so he just hung out on walls watching. My cousins on my mom's side were a little crazier. Eloise and April were the most chaotic together. Eloise was the oldest. She once crashed a wedding just because she could. April was just as chaotic but in a darker way. Eloise once told her that she wouldn't drive her somewhere and April retaliated by cutting Eloise's bangs while she slept. Andrew was pretty chill. He either didn't talk or didn't shut up. There was no in-between. Their dad, my Uncle Rick, was the same way. Just very chaotic. My dad's siblings, my Aunt Julie and my Uncle Grant were much more chill. My mom's family was just generally kind of crazy while my dad's was overall very calm. I guess opposites do attract. I wondered what Beca's family was like. She didn't talk about her extended family. I didn't even know if she had any. I knew better than to ask. But that didn't mean I couldn't be curious.