Chapter Text
Stacie’s happily engaging in the lively conversation, Bella in her lap, legs swinging happily, occasionally brushing Stacie’s calves as the girl watches the women with interest. Stacie opens her mouth to counter something Ashley’s just said when Fat Amy runs in, huge grin on her face.
“Who was at the door?” Chloe asks, and they can all hear heels clacking down the hallway and Amy looks like she’s bursting with excitement. Chloe ends up answering her own question, loudly yelling “Aubrey!” with a squeal when the blonde turns the corner into the dining room and Chloe’s already out of her chair and launching herself at Aubrey.
It’s a little unnatural how quickly Stacie’s head snaps up at the name, surprise evident as her words die on her lips.
Aubrey’s smiling widely, arms around Chloe who’s stuck to her like an octopus. “Hi everybody,” she says to the group over Chloe’s shoulder.
There’s a chorus of welcomes and hellos, and Stacie looks down at the girl in her lap.
“Do you remember aunt Bree?” she asks and Bella looks up at her with wide eyes, thinly-veiled panic more than obvious.
Stacie knows Bella doesn’t remember Aubrey because she can’t even remember the last time she’d seen Aubrey, let alone the last time Bella had seen her.
“It’s okay,” Stacie reassures, rubbing the girl’s leg softly. “She’s really nice.”
Once Chloe lets her go, Aubrey makes her way around the table to hug each of the Bellas, and Stacie feels like she’s having a little trouble keeping her breathing even in anticipation. Stacie notices she’s holding a bright green gift bag as she approaches them, and Stacie wants to get up to give the blonde a proper hug but Bella’s showing no signs of budging.
She shoots a wry smile at Aubrey, who softly shakes her head.
“Hi,” she says, leans down to hug Stacie and the angle is awkward but they hold onto each other for a little too long anyway.
“Hey,” Stacie says, tries to swallow down the thickness in her throat. “We didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I couldn’t miss Bella’s third birthday,” she says, and it’s a little loud and Stacie knows she’s saying it more for Bella’s benefit than for her, because they both know Aubrey almost would have missed the girl’s birthday due to work.
Aubrey drops down into a crouch to be at eye level with the almost-3-year-old.
“Hi Bella,” she says, smiles sweetly.
The girl smiles back and squirms in Stacie’s lap to face Aubrey. “Hi!”
“This is for you,” Aubrey says, and there’s that green gift bag again. She hands it to the girl, whose eyes open wide with surprise and excitement, quickly glancing up at her mother before taking the bag.
“Her birthday is tomorrow,” Stacie tries to chide, puts a hand on the bag before Bella can get her hand in it.
“I know that,” Aubrey says, still smiling at Bella who’s buzzing with joy. “This isn’t her birthday present.”
Aubrey finally looks up and Stacie can’t help but shoot her an admonishing look.
“Bree…”
“Let’s call it a Christmas present,” Aubrey says with a coy smile.
“Christmas was four months ago,” Stacie points out and Aubrey rolls her eyes.
“Mama…” Bella whines pleadingly, small fingers flexing against the shiny green material where Stacie still has her hand.
“It’s nothing big, I promise,” Aubrey whispers, and their gazes are heated as they stare at each other.
Bella whines again and Stacie acquiesces, lifts her hand slowly and Bella squeals with delight, hand shooting into the bag, completely oblivious to the staring contest happening between the two adults.
Aubrey smiles coyly, and Stacie can’t help but flit her eyes down to look at the blonde’s lips before looking away at Bella.
The girl’s eyes are wide and she’s quiet when she pulls out the gift, and when Aubrey laughs softly, Stacie sees how awestruck Bella is.
She’s holding a purple-trimmed white sash with the words “birthday girl” emblazoned across the front, staring at it with wide eyes and then there’s tears and Aubrey’s eyes go wide with panic.
She looks up at Stacie with a concerned frown, looking nervous and Stacie softly shakes her head.
“You like it, huh?” Stacie says, rubbing Bella’s back and the girl nods, holds the sash against her body. Stacie can see Aubrey breathe a sigh of relief, small smile tugging at her lips.
“Are you going to thank aunt Bree?” Stacie urges, smiling at Aubrey.
Bella nods, hops out of Stacie’s lap and wraps her arms around Aubrey in a tight hug. “Thank you aunt Bree!”
“You’re welcome, Bella,” Aubrey says, cradles the girl against her with a soft smile.
Stacie’s putting the sash back into the bag when Bella turns to her with a deep frown that Aubrey catches.
“It’s not your birthday yet,” Aubrey explains, hand on Bella’s back and then the girl is turning to her with a soft pout. “You can wear it all day tomorrow,” Aubrey says with an encouraging smile, reaches out to tuck some of Bella’s hair behind her ear.
“Even to bed?” she asks and Aubrey glances up at Stacie who nods.
“Even to bed,” Aubrey confirms and then Bella is smiling widely again.
The words seal Aubrey as Bella’s clear favourite and it’s noticeable all afternoon.
Beca grumbles under her breath later when Bella flat out turns down her offer to watch Anastasia together and instead chooses to sit in Aubrey’s lap as the blonde catches up with Chloe.
“She has a bedroom here, how is Aubrey her favourite?” Beca whines and Stacie laughs at how miserable she sounds, sees as Beca shoots an unsuspecting Aubrey daggers with her eyes.
“Aubrey is new and shiny. She’ll come back to you,” Stacie tries to explain but Beca doesn’t seem convinced and Stacie pats her shoulder with pity.
Beca seems distracted by her temporary dislike of Aubrey, so Stacie takes advantage of it to pursue her own agenda. “So, how long is she staying?”
Beca shrugs. “I don’t know, she just told me she’d be here and to not tell Chloe.”
Stacie’s quiet for too long and Beca drags her eyes away from where Aubrey and Bella are cuddled on the couch to look at Stacie with a furrowed brow.
“Why?”
“Just wondering,” Stacie says with a nonchalant shrug, but Beca narrows her eyes in disbelief. “Just want to know how long I’ll get to enjoy your torture,” Stacie teases and Beca’s back on her jealous streak, glowering at Aubrey from across the room.
“Are you staying?” Chloe asks.
“Yes,” Aubrey says, then looks around the room with a wry smile. “If you have the space.”
“For you? Always,” Chloe says, waving off the woman’s concerns. “You have best friend privileges.”
That makes Aubrey laugh and catches Bella’s attention, who looks up at the two women with inquisitive eyes.
“I’ll be here until Monday afternoon,” Aubrey explains, fingers softly rubbing across Bella’s back.
“Awes,” Chloe says, and then her gaze falls down to the girl in Aubrey’s lap. “Did you hear that, monkey? Your aunt Bree is here all weekend!” Chloe says excitedly and Bella smiles back, matching Chloe’s excitement.
“She’s gotten so big,” Aubrey says softly, wistfully as Bella smiles up at her before returning to playing with the fabric of Aubrey’s shirt.
“When did you last see her?” Chloe asks, watching Aubrey closely.
“Last year?” Aubrey says but she doesn’t sound too sure about it.
“Why is that?”
Aubrey looks up at Chloe sharply, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“You’re here a lot and they don’t live too far,” Chloe explains, but she’s not meeting Aubrey’s eyes.
“I don’t know,” Aubrey whispers, runs her hand over Bella’s hair. “Stacie and I aren’t very close.”
“Hm,” Chloe hums, but doesn’t elaborate.
Aubrey’s about to ask her what she’s very obviously trying not to say when Chloe sits up abruptly and whistles loudly to get everybody’s attention.
Bella flinches at the loud sound, and so does Aubrey, holds the girl closer to her body protectively.
“Room arrangements!” Chloe calls out loudly and the women spread around the living area all turn to Chloe. “The couch comfortably sleeps four so Jessica, Ashley, and Emily you’ll sleep here. Fat Amy and Lilly in one of the downstairs guestrooms, Flo and CR, you’re in the other guestroom down here. Stacie, you’re with Bella in her bedroom and Aubrey you’re upstairs.”
She claps her hands to indicate she’s done, smiles when everybody nods in understanding.
“Hang on, why does Aubrey get her own room?” Amy calls out, can’t resist.
“Because Chloe loves me more than you,” Aubrey shoots back, narrowing her eyes at Amy playfully and the woman mirrors the expression, but Chloe’s shaking her head in exasperation.
“Because that’s not a guest room, that’s Aubrey’s room,” Chloe says strongly, leaving no room for more argument. When Amy turns to look at Beca, the woman nods in confirmation.
“I wouldn’t have minded sharing with Emily,” Aubrey whispers to Chloe once Amy goes back to her conversation, but Chloe waves away her concerns.
“You’ve seen the couch, it’s more than comfortable and you’re such a picky sleeper,” Chloe quickly says and then Aubrey’s frowning at her. “What?”
“I am not a picky sleeper,” Aubrey argues.
“You so are,” Chloe says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Just because I don’t like being suffocated by your koala sleeping cuddles does not mean I’m a picky sleeper,” Aubrey says and then Chloe’s the affronted one.
“Picky. Sleeper,” Chloe says before getting up with a smug look and joining Beca in the kitchen.
Aubrey barely has time to roll her eyes before Stacie’s dropping onto the couch next to her.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Aubrey says softly with a smile, looks away from Stacie to look down at Bella, who’s curled up in her lap and very close to falling asleep. Bella’s head is pressed against Aubrey’s chest and the blonde is slowly running her fingers across the girl’s back.
“Is it bedtime?” Aubrey asks softly, glancing up at Stacie and doing a double take when she finds that Stacie had been looking at her and not at Bella.
Stacie shakes her head, shrugs one shoulder.
“Convincing her to go to bed is a lot easier when she’s already half asleep,” Stacie says and Aubrey chuckles, the movement jarring Bella who frowns but doesn’t shift away.
As an apology, Aubrey runs her fingers through Bella’s hair and the girl sighs softly, cuddling more into Aubrey.
Stacie can’t help but think that the two look adorable together. Aubrey’s still in her pencil skirt and work blouse and Bella’s in unicorn-patterned pyjamas and together they look like they belong in a catalogue.
“Did you come sit here just so you can stare at me?” Aubrey says, and her voice is low as she tries to keep it quiet so as to not jar Bella again, and there’s a teasing lilt to that low voice that Stacie can’t help but engage with.
“I could stare at you just fine from across the room,” she teases back and Aubrey’s response is to roll her eyes but Stacie sees the corners of her mouth tick upwards in a badly-suppressed smile.
“So, no?”
“I wanted to ask if I could sleep with you.”
Aubrey frowns deeply, and it confuses Stacie until she reruns that line in her head and understands the alternate interpretation.
“What?” Aubrey whispers, flits her eyes across the room.
“No! Not like—” Stacie takes a deep breath before continuing. “Just sleeping!” she insists but Aubrey still looks suspicious.
“I know your room has a queen sized bed but Bella has a single and I love her but she kicks in her sleep and I’d like to keep my shins intact,” Stacie rambles and it soothes Aubrey’s frown.
Stacie’s not sure why Aubrey looking relieved makes her feel a certain way — not great, that is — but she elects to push that thought to the back of her mind for now.
Aubrey looks across the room again, finds Chloe looking at them before quickly averting her gaze and Aubrey suddenly understands why Chloe had let her have the room to herself.
“Sure,” she says, turning back to Stacie.
“Thank you!” Stacie says, relieved. “My legs will be eternally grateful.”
There’s a quip on the tip of her tongue, and Stacie can see how hard Aubrey’s working not to say the words and she’s a little disappointed when all Aubrey ends up doing is smiling coyly.
“How have you been, Stacie?” Aubrey asks, venturing into safe territory, and they fall into an easy, light conversation.
Stacie’s already showered and ready to go to sleep, and she’s reading when Aubrey walks into the bedroom.
“You’re on my side,” Aubrey says when she glances over and finds Stacie lounging on the left side of the bed.
She’s rummaging through her bag for something, has her back to Stacie so she misses the way Stacie glances up and rakes her gaze down Aubrey’s body slowly.
“What?” Stacie asks when she registers Aubrey’s words.
“You’re on my side,” Aubrey says, looks over her shoulder and gestures for Stacie to move to the other side of the bed,
“No, I’m not,” Stacie replies indignantly.
Aubrey finally finds what she’s looking for — her phone charger — and moves towards the bed, on the side that Stacie’s laying.
“Yes, you are,” Aubrey says, “Scootch.”
“You always sleep on the right,” Stacie says, but she suddenly doesn’t sound too sure about it.
“I sometimes sleep on the right.”
She crosses her arms, arches an eyebrow when Stacie still won’t move.
Stacie is staring at her with a peculiar look on her face, but then she groans softly and shifts to the other side of the bed.
“Thank you,” Aubrey whispers teasingly and Stacie rolls her eyes.
“You’re welcome for the pre-warmed bed,” Stacie teases back and then Aubrey laughs.
Stacie bookmarks and closes her book, places it on the nightstand next to the bed before turning to face Aubrey, who’s typing something on her phone.
“I’m glad you could make it,” Stacie says softly and Aubrey turns to her and returns Stacie’s smile.
“So am I. It’s been too long.”
Stacie nods and there’s a moment there, but then Stacie looks away to yawn and Aubrey’s smile widens.
“Do you need me to turn off the light? I have to finish this,” she says, gestures to her phone.
“No,” Stacie says, shakes her head as she squirms down to settle into bed, takes off her glasses and puts them next to her book. “You can keep the light on.”
Her voice sounds sleepy and Aubrey smiles down at her. “Good night, Stacie.”
“Night, Aubrey.”
When Stacie wakes up pressed against Aubrey, arm flung over her waist and Aubrey’s hand anchoring Stacie’s arm there, her first thought is that it’s almost worrying how easily they fall back into familiarity.
She closes her eyes, keeps her breathing even so as to not wake Aubrey and she blames the early morning for her weakness as she revels in the feeling of being wrapped around the blonde.
Aubrey’s still fast asleep so with a deep sigh Stacie slowly starts disentangling herself from their embrace, carefully sliding her leg out from between Aubrey’s, careful not to jar the woman too much before completely pulling away.
She’s becoming restless and she doesn’t want to wake Aubrey, silently curses her internal clock that doesn’t allow her to sleep in anymore as she quietly slips out of bed and tiptoes out of the room.
Bella’s bedroom isn’t completely dark, her moon nightlight giving the room a soft glow, so when Stacie leans over the bed, she sees that Bella’s already awake, eyes wide open as she’s lying on her back.
“Happy birthday, baby girl,” Stacie whispers, not wanting to break the quiet peace of the room.
Bella doesn’t answer, just smiles widely up at Stacie, eyes going wide as if suddenly remembering it’s her birthday.
“You’re getting so big,” Stacie whispers as she reaches down and lifts Bella out of bed, settling the girl on her hip and cradling her close to her body.
She leans in and presses her lips against the crown of Bella’s head when the girl cuddles into her, and Stacie’s eyes slide closed as she takes in a deep breath, eyes unwittingly filling with tears.
“You’re growing up too fast,” she whispers shakily but Bella doesn’t hear her, just burrows her face into Stacie’s neck and yawns. “Why are you up so early?” Stacie asks a little louder so Bella can hear her.
“Wanna cuddle,” Bella mumbles and it makes Stacie smile. She reaches up and quickly wipes away her tears as she laughs silently.
She knows that had she stayed in bed for a little bit longer, Bella would be crawling into bed with her for their usual weekend morning cuddles.
“Come on, then,” Stacie says, even though she’s still holding the sleepy girl.
It’s not until she’s closing the bedroom door behind her that she remembers that she’s sharing a bed with Aubrey — or, that Aubrey’s sharing her bed with her — and she’s not sure how the blonde would feel about having Bella in bed with them.
Aubrey has shifted onto her back since Stacie left and Bella sees her, lights up and squirms to be let out of Stacie’s embrace. Aubrey still looks deeply asleep so Stacie moves closer and lower Bella onto the bed.
The girl clutches her blanket closely as she crawls to the middle of the bed, and Stacie grimaces when she lays down right next to Aubrey. Stacie’s expression eases when Aubrey sighs in her sleep and shifts sideways, almost curling around Bella and Stacie’s filled with relief as she slides into bed next to Bella.
Aubrey wakes up to soft fingers tapping across her cheeks.
She slowly opens her eyes, and comes face to face with a pair of bright green eyes.
“Good morning,” Aubrey says, and Bella cracks a wide smile, still hovering above Aubrey’s face.
“Hi!” she says cheerfully, staring down at Aubrey with a toothy grin. “It’s my birthday!”
“I know that,” Aubrey teases, reaches up to tickle the girl who then collapses on top of her in a heap of giggles.
Bella’s laughter is pure and infectious and Aubrey can’t help but also laugh. She glances around the room when Bella finally settles to catch her breath and frowns when she finds the curtains drawn but no sign of Stacie.
“Where’s your mommy?” Aubrey asks, and Bella twists in bed to look at her and shrug.
“Dunno.”
“Should we go find her?” Aubrey suggest and Bella nods, already squirming to get out of bed. She waits patiently by the door as Aubrey slips out of bed and pulls on her robe, grabbing her phone and putting it in her pocket.
Aubrey can’t help but smile when Bella slips her hand into the woman’s as they walk down the hallway.
It’s still early and the house is quiet, but she can hear someone moving around downstairs and when she follows the sound, they end up in the kitchen.
“Good morning birthday girl!” Stacie says happily when she sees them and Bella lets go of Aubrey’s hand to run towards her mother, and Stacie’s already crouching down with her arms open when Bella crashes into her for a hug.
“That’s me!” Bella says excitedly.
“Yes it is!”
Stacie stands up while still holding Bella, settles the girl against her and Bella happily wraps her arms around Stacie’s neck.
Aubrey watches the interaction from where she’s leaning against the entryway, doesn’t want to step further and ruin their bubble, but then Stacie turns her wide smile onto Aubrey, her expression earnest and open as she gestures the blonde closer.
“Morning,” Stacie says with a lopsided smile.
“Good morning,” Aubrey says, returning the smile.
“Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Aubrey says, watches as Stacie walks around the kitchen island to deposit Bella on one of the bar stools there before easily moving around the kitchen, filling a mug with coffee and dropping two sugar cubes into it.
“Alright, munchkin,” Stacie announces, hands the coffee to Aubrey. “Breakfast time!”
“Pancakes?” Bella asks hopefully and Aubrey has to hide her smile with her coffee cup when she sees Stacie grimace.
“We can try,” Stacie says and that earns her a soft pout from Bella.
Stacie starts looking through cupboards for the ingredients and Aubrey slides onto the bar stool next to Bella. She looks up when Stacie softly proclaims “a-ha!” while holding up a pancake mix and she meets Aubrey’s eyes and grins. Aubrey smiles softly in return, heart warming at how easy it is to sit and just watch the woman.
“Mama?” Bella interrupts, and both adults turn to her. “Can I have juice?”
“Of course, baby,” Stacie says, already opening the fridge and pulling out a carton of orange juice. Bella wiggles in her seat excitedly and Aubrey instinctively puts her hand on the girl’s back, nervous about Bella falling off the high stool.
Once Bella has her juice, Stacie goes back to the pancake mix, squinting at the instructions as she collects a bowl and mixing spoon.
“How’d you sleep?” Stacie asks, looking up from the mix at Aubrey and the blonde is startled out of her thoughts by the words.
“Hm?”
“Sleep well?” Stacie repeats with a grin and Aubrey doesn’t look away from her twinkling eyes, an eyebrow arching playfully.
“I did.”
“Good.”
“How are your legs?” Aubrey teases.
“Better than ever,” Stacie flirts and they stare at each other heatedly.
Stacie looks away first and Aubrey lets out a small laugh, sips from her coffee again. She watches as Stacie measures out the mix and adds milk.
Aubrey sees as she reaches for an egg and lifts her hand to crack the shell against the edge of the bowl and she has to intervene, but she knows it’s a little too loudly when she says, “No!”
Stacie’s hand hovers in the air, egg still intact and staring at Aubrey with wide eyes. Even Bella’s looking at her in surprise.
“Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and beat them before adding them,” Aubrey says quickly and Stacie slowly smiles.
She doesn’t say anything but she does follow the instructions, and when she’s done beating the eggs she looks at Aubrey for permission before adding them to the pancake mix. The blonde nods but doesn’t say anything, a soft blush making its way onto her face when Stacie won’t stop grinning at her.
“You have to let the batter sit for a couple of minutes,” Aubrey pipes up again when Stacie finishes mixing and moves to turn on the stove.
“Do you want to do this?” Stacie teases.
“No, thanks,” Aubrey says primly, smiles as she sips her coffee.
Stacie shakes her head in exasperation but doesn’t fight it, instead reaching for her own coffee and taking a large gulp. “Did you go into the living room yet?” she asks, eyes twinkling with mirth.
“No, why?”
“Go have a look,” Stacie urges and Aubrey’s initially suspicious of Stacie’s giddiness but her curiosity wins out and she slides off the barstool to go to the living room.
She doesn’t have to move far, eyes falling on the couch that’s been transformed into a large bed and she smiles widely.
She’s not sure what she’d been expecting, but Emily in the middle with Jessica and Ashley on either side sandwiching her tightly between them is definitely not what she’d imagined.
“That’s amazing,” Aubrey says with a smile when she’s back in the kitchen.
“They were even more squished together when I first came downstairs,” Stacie confesses.
“Did you take a picture?” Aubrey asks, even though she knows she did because Stacie takes pictures of everything.
“Of course,” Stacie scoffs, reaches for her phone to show Aubrey the picture.
“How are they even breathing?” Aubrey asks, tilting her head sideways when looking at the photo to try and figure out how that amount of cuddling could be comfortable.
Stacie shrugs, turns back to the stove and turning it on. Bella’s playing with an apple and banana that she’d grabbed from the fruit bowl in front of her and Aubrey watches the girl play quietly.
When Stacie pours the batter onto the grill, it sizzles a little too loudly and Aubrey snaps her eyes towards the stove but doesn’t say anything.
“Flip it,” Aubrey instructs after a while and Stacie turns to her with a spatula in her hand and a frown on her face.
“What?”
“Flip the pancake.”
“No, the instructions say the top needs to bubble. It’s not bubbling,” Stacie argues, points to the box on the counter.
“Stacie. Flip. The. Pancake,” Aubrey says strongly.
Stacie opens her mouth with a rebuttal but then Aubrey glares at her with a really potent glare, the one they’d all become intimately familiar with during Aubrey’s reign as Bellas captain and Stacie turns to the griddle and flips the pancake and Aubrey relaxes, sipping the last of her coffee to hide a smile.
Aubrey can see Stacie glare at the pancake a little later, spatula ready to plate the pancake but hesitating and she rolls her eyes.
“It’s done.”
Stacie doesn’t argue with her this time, plates the pancake and reaches for the syrup before turning and depositing both in front of Bella.
The girl drops the fruits immediately, sitting up straighter with excitement as Stacie hands her a child-friendly fork and knife.
She makes the mistake of letting Bella pour her own syrup, and when the pancake is half covered, her hand shoots out to grab the bottle of maple syrup.
“Whoah there young lady,” Stacie says quickly, pulling away the bottle and Bella grins with mischief and Aubrey has the sudden thought that it’s such a Stacie-smile.
Bella struggles to cut the pancake into pieces, but when Aubrey looks up and meets Stacie’s eyes, the brunette shakes her head and sure enough, Bella manages to cut the pancake into oddly-sized pieces. When Stacie turns back to the stove, Bella sneakily shoves one of the syrup-covered pieces into her mouth with her hand instead of her fork and Aubrey snorts softly, quickly schooling her features when Stacie turns back and narrows her eyes at them.
“What happened?” she asks suspiciously but Bella’s blinking up at her innocently, mouth closed as she chews and Aubrey’s face is completely blank.
Her suspicion falters and her expression eases.
“Is it good?” Stacie asks and Bella’s nodding enthusiastically and it surprises her.
She reaches for Bella’s fork and steals a bite, moaning softly at the taste. Aubrey watches her with an arched eyebrow and Stacie turns to her with a soft smile, the silence lingering between them heavily.
The moment is broken when they’re interrupted by Chloe walking into the kitchen and saying, “Ooh, I thought I smelled pancakes!”
Bella’s birthday party goes off without a hitch, even if Beca grumbles that Bella sticks to Aubrey like glue and doesn’t even play with Beca. When they’re singing happy birthday and cutting the cake, Bella has a tight grip on Aubrey’s hand and Stacie laughs at how disgruntled Beca looks.
Later that night, when all the party guests have gone home, Stacie lets Bella open her presents and Bella happily sits in Aubrey’s lap when she does so, and Chloe has to wrap her arms around Beca to soothe the woman and convince her that at least somebody in the house still loves her.
Beca gets Bella a colouring set, but Aubrey gets her playdoh and it’s clear which gift is the favourite when Bella ignores the fancy colouring book in favour of squishing her hand into the playdoh.
“When do you leave?” Beca says a little too loudly that night, after Bella’s been put to bed and the women are all gathered in the living room.
Aubrey laughs and so does the group, but Beca just crosses her arms petulantly.
“Oh, you’re serious?” Aubrey says, but she’s still laughing and Beca knows she’s being childish, knows she’s pouting when Chloe won’t stop rubbing her arm. “Not until Monday.”
Beca grumbles, scowl deepening when they all laugh at her.
“Hey, don’t be a stranger, okay?” Stacie says after hugging Aubrey goodbye.
“I’ll try,” Aubrey says, but Stacie’s hands are still on her shoulders and their gazes are tense as they look at each other, and it feels like they’re talking about something else entirely.
Bella crashes into Stacie’s legs, and Aubrey tears her eyes away from Stacie’s as she drops down into a crouch.
“Bye sweetheart,” Aubrey says, running a hand over Bella’s hair tenderly.
The girl pouts but then she throws her arms around Aubrey’s neck.
“Bye aunt Bree,” she mumbles and Aubrey genuinely thinks she’s going to miss this tiny girl, had gotten used to having her stuck to her side for three days. “‘m gonna miss you.”
“I’ll see you soon, okay?” Aubrey says, and when she looks up to glance at Stacie, the brunette looks hopeful. “I promise.”
She’s looking at Stacie as she says it and Stacie’s smile widens. Bella nods and finally lets go of Aubrey but hovers nearby as the woman stands up.
“Let us know when you get home safely?” Stacie says and Aubrey nods.
“It was really nice seeing you again.”
“It was.”
Aubrey wants to say something else, do something else, but they’ve already hugged goodbye and she doesn’t want to make this awkward, but Stacie is staring at her like she wants her to take that leap.
“Bree, you ready to go?” Chloe calls out from the hallway and Aubrey turns her head towards the sound.
“Have a safe flight,” Stacie says, but her voice is less soft, more formal and Aubrey tries not to think about it too much.
“Thanks.”
“Say bye, sweetie,” Stacie says, hand on Bella’s shoulder.
“Bye sweetie!” the girl says and Aubrey laughs at that.
“Bye Bella,” Aubrey says with a final ruffle of the girl’s hair. She quickly glances at Stacie, who’s smile is a little reserved as Bella finally steps away from Aubrey and moves closer towards Stacie.
“Bye Stacie.”
“Bye Aubrey.”