More Bechloe Short Stories

Playground

Parker and I went to the playground one Saturday afternoon. He was only four years old but when he wanted something, he got it. I felt bad for him. He would never have a dad, with Jesse gone and me realizing I've been a lesbian this whole time. I kind of spoiled him. Not as bad as some moms did though, since I wasn't wealthy. I spoiled Parker with the cheap things. Like we went to the playground a lot, sometimes we went to McDonald's and every time we went to the grocery store, I bought an entire gallon of ice cream and we challenged ourselves to finish it before our next trip.

Parker didn't have all of the nicest toys but he loved Chubs, who was a stuffed bear. Chubs had an extremely complicated backstory. During college, my best friend, Chloe, had a stuffed bear that she slept with every night. His name was Chubs. She wasn't embarrassed about Chubs, and that's why I admired her. She didn't let anything embarrass her. How did I get Chubs? You might ask. Well, on the way out of the Bella house on our last day together, Chloe must've put Chubs in the backseat of my car while I wasn't looking, because when I arrived at home, he was sitting there with a note.

"Hi Becs,
Chloe wants you to always remember her so she decided to give you me. Don't forget about her and don't get mad, but she took some of your perfume to remember you.
Love and hugs!
Chubs"

A few years later, when Parker was born, I decided to finally make use of the toy. I gave him to Parker and Parker loved Chubs. He took Chubs everywhere he went, even the playground.

So there I sat, on the swing, all alone, watching the kids run and play. My son, the only one with a stuffed animal, sliding down the slide and giggling. One little girl caught my eye. She was adorable. She was the tiniest of them all and had the cutest little smile on her face. She didn't have any hair though, and looked frail, but she was still smiling away.

"Hey, you look lonely." A voice said from beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"It's fine you don't have to sit here." I said without looking up.

"Come on Becs." She said. I looked up immediately. How did she know my name? "It's me, Chloe. From Barden"

I didn't recognize her at first. She looked exhausted and was thinner than she used to be. Her beautiful blue eyes were red and puffy from crying and her hair greasy. She was not the Chloe I remembered.

"Hi Chloe." I said, softly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She said and looked towards the kids. "Which one is yours?"

"That one." I said and pointed to Parker. "His name is Parker."

"That's an adorable name for an adorable boy." She smiled. "Is that Chubs?!"

"Maybe..."

"Oh my God! You still have Chubs!" She laughed. "You're such a dork."

"Thanks, by the way. Parker loves him."

"I'm glad."

"What about you? Which is yours?" I asked, not expecting what came next.

"Mama!" The small, bald girl ran up to Chloe.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked frantically as the girl started to cry. "Sweetie, tell Mommy what's wrong."

"I can't reach the monkey bars!" She whined and Chloe sighed in relief.

"Honey, you can't make such a big deal out of little things. Mommy was scared you were hurt. You scared me." Chloe said.

"I'm sorry Mama." The girl said. "I know you get scared."

"I do because you're not as strong as you used to be. Maybe the monkey bars aren't the best option for today." Chloe said.

"Okay." The girl said. "Who's that?"

"This is Beca." Chloe said. "Beca, this is Rachel."

"Hi Rachel, it's nice to meet you." I said and reached for her hand.

"Are you the Beca my mommy wishes she could have married?" Rachel asked and I laughed.

"Rachel Rose!" Chloe scolded and blushed. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." Rachel said.

"Is it?" I asked.

"Maybe a little bit." Chloe confessed.

"Aww." I said.

"Rachel, go play while I talk to Beca, okay? Be careful though." Chloe said.

"Okay!" Rachel said before she ran off.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked before Chloe could mention the marriage thing.

"I don't know." She sighed. "Nobody knows."

"She seems tough." I said.

"She is. I just don't know if she's tough enough." Chloe said. "I'm worried."

"She'll pull through." I said.

Sadly, I was wrong. She tried and tried. She fought for another two years before the cancer beat her. Rachel passed away the week after Chloe and I got married. We were heartbroken, but we were glad she was able to attend our ceremony. Chloe would not have been able to cope alone and I'm glad that she came up to me that day in the playground.

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