#pitchmas

Beside her, Chloe sniffed a little louder, and if Beca had turned her head she’d have seen Chloe’s chin start to wobble the way it did when she was trying her best not to cry.

“So this is our last Christmas here. Together.”

“I guess so, yeah.”

Beca squeezed Chloe’s hand, and Chloe squeezed back.

They wouldn’t mention this later when they left the movie theatre and Chloe wiped her eyes and laughed and gushed about how much she had loved the movie.

It wouldn’t come up on the subway ride back to their apartment, or when they ate dinner in front of the TV.

But maybe when they were lying back-to-back in that tiny bed they shared.

Maybe Beca would roll over onto her back, and maybe Chloe would do the same.

“I don’t want you to go.”

Chloe’s breath would fog up the air. Their apartment was always in the extremes of temperature. Too hot or too cold but never comfortable.

“I know,” Beca would reply. “I don’t think I want to either.”

Some things are easier to say in the dark.

“But you have to.” A statement, not a question. Beca had to go.

“Yeah.”

The rays of the rising morning sun would chase away those words spoken into the cold night air, and they’d both pretend it never happened. 

Besides, it wasn’t even December yet. They had time.

The next time Beca’s impending move was brought up it was the first weekend in December. 

Beca was on the sofa typing at her laptop while Chloe searched for the decorations that had been haphazardly tossed into their storage closet the year before. 

“Bec? Can you give me a hand?”

“Uh huh, just a sec.”

She hit a few more keys, closed her laptop, and then joined Chloe at the closet.

“I thought you came out of that?” Beca asked, smirking as Chloe handed her a box of tangled lights.

“Funny,” Chloe said. “Did you finish what you were working on?”

“I was just ordering something,” Beca said, taking the bag of baubles that Chloe handed her next.

“A Christmas present? For me? Beca, you shouldn’t have.”

Beca laughed but dropped her eyes to her sock-covered feet. “I was just getting some boxes, you know, so I can start packing.”

“Oh.”

“I probably shouldn’t leave it last minute,” Beca said, already regretting saying anything. 

“No, that makes sense,” Chloe said, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach. “Um, can you put those down somewhere and help me grab the tree?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Beca had avoided talking about the move ever since she’d told Chloe about it last month, but it was like a third person living in their apartment. They kept bumping into it.

It was all Beca could think about, mostly because of how much she didn’t want to go. 

But L.A. was calling. Her future was calling. Everything Beca had ever wanted was calling. Beca had to answer. She had to go.

And anyway, it was only the first weekend of December. They still had time. 

A few  weeks later Chloe dragged Beca along to Christmas drinks with her colleagues. It had become a bit of a tradition which Beca went along with because she had never been very good at saying no to Chloe.

Besides, who was she to turn down an open bar?

Beca was ordering herself and Chloe another drink when one of Chloe’s work friends, Abbie, joined her.

“So I hear you’re moving?”

“Oh, yeah,” Beca said. “I got a new job in L.A.”

“Exciting stuff!”

“Yeah.” Beca took a drink of her beer, and cast her eyes around the room for Chloe. 

“Well don’t sound too happy about it,” Abbie said.

Beca laughed. “No, I am excited, obviously it’s just…”

“Chloe?’

“Yeah.”

Abbie laughed and shook her head. “Have you ever thought about maybe just telling her how you feel?”

Beca felt her ears get hot and she whipped around to make sure she wasn’t overheard. “What are you talking about?”

“Look, me and you aren’t exactly friends, right? We see each other once a year at a holiday party, or when Chloe gets me to tag along to one of your sets. We hardly know each other and even I can see how you feel about her.”

Beca took another drink. It seemed pointless arguing.

“Say I tell her, then what? We spend our last week together in awkward silence?” Beca shook her head. “It’s easier this way.”

Abbie nudged her in the ribs and nodded to where Chloe was standing. “She’s looking for you. That’s what she does when you’re apart. She looks for you. She talks about you. I don’t think this is as one-sided as you think it is.” 

As if on cue, Chloe’s eyes found Beca’s and her face broke into a grin.

“It’s Christmas,” Abbie said. “What do you have to lose?”

Everything.

The party lasted a few more hours and Beca and Chloe stumbled into their apartment after midnight, both closer to drunk than tipsy.

“I might have one more,” Chloe said, already reaching for the bottle of wine on the counter. 

It seemed like a bad idea to Beca, but she was past the point of making sensible choices. She grabbed a beer out of the fridge and popped it open. 

“What was Abbie talking your ear off about?”

“Huh?” Beca asked, not looking up from her phone. With one eye closed she scrolled until she found a suitable Christmas playlist and hit play. 

“Abbie,” Chloe said, tapping Beca on the head to get her to look up. “You guys looked like you were having an in depth discussion about something. 

“Oh, that. It wasn’t anything interesting, she just asked about the new job.”

“Oh,” Chloe said. 

“Let’s talk about something else,” Beca said. “I’m sick of thinking about L.A. and the new job and…” 

And leaving you. 

Chloe finished her glass of wine and took hold of Beca’s hand, tugging her to her feet.

“What are you doing?” Beca asked.

“We’re dancing,” Chloe said, pulling Beca closer. “We never got the chance at the party.”

Beca reached for her phone. “Let me put a better song on.”

“No, I like this one,” Chloe said.

Beca shrugged and turned up the song before setting it back on the counter.

Mud’s ‘Lonely this Christmas’ played out of their bluetooth speaker as Chloe set her hands on Beca’s hips.

Beca put her hands on Chloe’s and they swayed awkwardly on the spot until Beca started to laugh.

“I feel like we’re at a middle-school dance or something.”

Chloe laughed too. “That’s because you’re so stiff.” 

She took hold of Beca’s left hand with her right, and pulled her closer.

They fell into a more natural rhythm, their bodies fitting together like they were made to be there. Everything was quiet, save for the music, and their faces were centimetres apart.

Beca could feel the heat rising to her cheeks despite the near freezing temperature of their apartment.

“I’m so proud of you, you know?” Chloe said.

Beca swallowed and cleared her throat but couldn’t find the words to respond. 

“You’re going to be amazing out there,” she continued as they continued to slowly dance around their tiny living room. “The world is going to see how brilliant and talented-”

Beca cut her off with a kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Beca said, a little out of breath when they broke apart. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Don’t,” Chloe said, her fingers touching her own lips as if checking they were still there. Checking if that had really just happened. “Don’t say sorry.”

Chloe closed the gap between them again, and soon they were tripping over themselves as they tried to get to the bed without separating.

Chloe’s dress was unzipped and discarded and Beca lost some shirt buttons as it was pulled off her, and they fell back onto the bed in a haze of wine and beer and things that had been unsaid for too long.

Chloe kept murmuring Beca’s name and Beca answered each one with a reassuring “I’m here.”

When it was over they lay tangled in bed sheets and each other’s arms.

“I love you,” Beca said, her voice so quiet Chloe might have missed it.

“I love you, too,” Chloe replied. Her voice cracked and soon tears were spilling down her cheeks.

The shadow of L.A. and Beca’s new job - new life - hung over them. It was so heavy it almost blocked out the moonlight. 

They woke up the next morning with hangovers and hickeys and pits in their stomachs.

It was Christmas Eve, and Beca had a little over a week left in New York. They were running out of time.

Beca watched as Chloe walked into the kitchen pulling on one of Beca’s old t-shirts. She felt almost breathless with longing and grief of the life she could have and the one she was moving away from.

“Coffee?” Chloe asked, not turning back to look at her.

“Please.”

Beca didn’t know what to say. 

How was she even going to begin this conversation?

“Look,” Chloe said. “Last night…” She trailed off. Beca knew she was giving her an out. She was leaving space for Beca to say it was a mistake. They were drunk and emotional and it didn’t have to mean anything. Chloe was giving Beca the chance to walk away.

But Beca didn’t want that. 

She was still leaving for L.A., but that didn’t have to mean the end of this thing that was only just beginning.

“Last night was everything, Chloe. I meant what I said. I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time. That isn’t changing because I’m moving to L.A.”

Chloe swallowed and her eyes shone with tears again. “I meant it too. But I don’t know where we go from here. You’re leaving, and I’m… I’m not.”

Beca shuffled forwards and sat at the edge of the bed, still wrapped in the bedsheet. The bruises left by Chloe’s mouth shone against her pale skin. 

“What if you did?”

“What?”

“What if you came to L.A. with me?”

“Beca, are you serious about this? About us?”

“You know I am,” Beca said, holding out her hand for Chloe to take. “Chloe, I don’t want to do this without you. I can’t do it without you.”

Chloe crossed the room and took hold of Beca’s hand. 

“Come with me,” Beca said. “They’re paying for me to move. There’s an apartment waiting for me - for us - and I can afford to cover you until you can find a new job.”

Hope seemed to blossom and grow in Chloe’s chest. 

Beca swallows down the lump in her throat and feels her stomach drop. Her heart hammers hard in her chest and she feels a familiar pain, one she didn’t know was still settled in there. People walk in between them and the burnette hardly registers that she’s in the way until someone bumps her shoulder, snapping her out of her spiralling haze. 

“Sorry-” The other woman apologizes, bending down to pick up a knit glove off the ground.

“No, it’s okay…I’m sorry.” The brunette replies, picking up the other one that had landed right at her feet. “Here you go.”

“Thank you!” The woman says, taking her glove and disappearing into the crowd.

When Beca redirects her focus back to the redhead, she realizes she’s already noticed her and the pair meet eyes for the first time in five years. She rises from her place on the bench and adjusts her crossbody bag.

“Beca?”

Beca maneuvers through the herd of people separating the two of them, until she’s a mere foot away from her.

“Chloe…hi.”

“Hey.”

The two women hold each other's gaze before Beca breaks eye contact to turn her head downward. 

“It’s been…a while.” She looks back up at the redhead.

“Yeah. It has.”

“I uh…didn’t know you were back in New York.”

“I moved back a few months ago.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Where are you heading?”

“My parents' place in Portland. What about you?”

“Seattle. Denver first, though.”

“Wait, Denver?”

“Yeah,”

“My layover is in Denver, I think we’re on the same flight!”

“Oh, seriously? Same gate?” Beca says, flashing her pass in Chloe’s direction.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Chloe says, checking her boarding information on her phone.

“Huh. Coincidence.”

Chloe gestures down the terminal. “Are you heading there now?”

“Yeah.”

“You want to walk together?” Chloe tries carefully as she readjusts her crossbody strap.

“Sure.” 

 The pair begins to walk down the long hallway, silence lingering between them as the bustle of the airport seems to swallow them whole.

“I really need to find coffee and-”

“Not the airport kind.” They both say simultaneously.

“Exactly,” Chloe finishes, chuckling at Beca. “You read my mind.”

“I was always pretty good at that, wasn’t I?” Beca speaks the thought before she can catch it. She bites her cheek, overthinking it before Chloe eases the worry.

“You were.”

Another pause.

“You- you look good,” Beca says, glancing back over at the redhead.

Chloe flashes a delicate smile, one that doesn’t quite meet her eyes.

“You do too, Bec.” She says, nudging Beca with the elbow holding her jacket.

“New York’s always looked good on you, though.” She follows, “Something about it.”

‘It’s you.’ Beca wants to say, because it’s true. But she doesn’t.

“It might just be all the fatigue. Don’t be fooled.” She settles on instead, earning another giggle from Chloe.

She ignores the way Chloe’s laugh makes her feel.

“There’s a Starbucks up here, if you want to stop.” Beca points.

“You already know I do.”

The two continued walking ahead to where the end of the line was. 

“Are you still in Brooklyn?” Chloe asks when they finally come to a stop, wheeling her carry-on suitcase to stand upright beside her.

“Yeah, I uh…moved out of the apartment though.”

“I mean, I figured you would. That place was a shithole. I’m glad you got out of there.” 

“Yeah, me too. I have a real bed now, which is… 

‘Lonely.’ She thinks.

“a step up.” She swallows, shifting forward as the line moves.

“Totes,” Chloe says with an awkward chuckle, following her forward. 

Beca can sense the tension radiating somewhere between them.

“How are you? How’s vet school?” She says when the silence feels too long.

“I finished Vet school, last year actually,” Chloe says.

“You finished?!” Beca says excitedly, a wide grin on her face.

“Yeah! I actually did pretty well Bec, you would’ve been proud of me. It was really hard.”

“Dude, I am proud of you! That’s huge, congratulations!” Beca says, gently bringing her hand up to squeeze Chloe’s elbow, falling into an old natural habit.

“I knew you would do well.”

“Thank you!” Chloe says bashfully.

“That’s seriously so cool Chlo, I’m really, so happy for you.” Beca smiles at her genuinely. “So you’re officially a vet now?”

“Yes! I’m at a general practice in Park Slope.”

“Ohhh, so you’re in Brooklyn again?”

“I’m over in East Village! So I’m not too far. I always loved Brooklyn. I had hoped I would come back to the area eventually.”

“Yeah, you were overseas for a minute, right?” 

“I was supposed to be. Some last-minute thing happened, and they needed Chicago in Atlanta. So we were there for a while. I actually ended up going back to Barden for Vet School.”

“Oh, seriously?” Beca questions, trying to ignore the tiny sting of hearing Chicago’s name.

“Yeah, it was kind of a last-minute decision for me, and they definitely weren’t my first choice for Vet School, but you know, you go where life takes you.”

“Yeah, no, for sure.” Beca nods as they inch forward again in the line.

“What about you, though? Are you still with Khalid?”

“Yeah, yeah. Mostly producing. I do have some of my own stuff in the works again. I took a break from it for a while but, now it’s almost done.”

“Beca, that’s awesome. I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks, Chlo.” Beca smiles gently, holding the redhead's gaze.

“I can help whoever’s next!” The barista at the counter interrupts their swirling thoughts.

“Could I please get a name for the order?”

“Chloe.”

“Okay, and what can I get for you?”

“Can I please get a grande soy caramel brulée latte, no whip?”

Chloe turns to the brunette.

“You still drink americano’s, right?”

The corners of Beca’s lips turn up as she looks at the redhead, surprised, and then she turns toward the barista. “Yeah, uh…tall iced americano please.”

Chloe unzips her crossbody bag and pulls her card from her wallet.

“I can get mine,” Beca says, pulling her phone from her hoodie pocket.

“I’ve got it,” Chloe says, reaching over to the terminal to tap her card.

“You don’t have to-”

“I know.” Chloe shrugs, lowering her voice a little.

“It’s just coffee.” She says, looking back up at Beca after putting her card away.

“You’re all set.” The barista says, smiling at the pair.

“Thank you,” Chloe replies, as Beca continues to look at her.

“You really didn’t have to do that,” Beca says softly, as they both walk towards the end of the counter to wait for their drinks.

“It’s fine, I still owe you about a hundred coffees from when we lived together.”

“You really don’t…I-”

“It’s fine, Bec. I wanted to.”

Chloe turns to retrieve her chapstick from her bag, and Beca purses her lips, trying to hide her smile as she looks down at the floor.

Once their drinks are ready, they continue making their way through the terminal, sleeves brushing as they walk in tandem with each other. The terminal only seems to get louder as they approach their destination, with the sounds of overlapping conversations, rolling of luggage and a small child crying somewhere in the distance filling the air.

“So,” Chloe says as she uses her eyes to navigate, “how long are you home for?”

“Just a few days. Long enough to visit with my mom. Long enough to remember why I was willing to move down to Georgia.”

Chloe chuckles. “Makes sense.”

The pair passes a wall of windows. Planes sit idle, wings dusted with what little snow was falling from the gray sky.

“I always forget how weird airports feel around the holidays,” Beca says after a beat.

“Don’t you still travel for work a lot?”

“Yeah, but this is different. There’s just so many people and every space feels like the busiest place on earth.”

“Well that’s true. You still hate crowds I take it?”

“Yeah. Some things never change.”

They slow just before reaching their gate, the overhead sign with their flight number glowing back at them.

“Guess this is us.” Beca says as she scans the crowd of people also waiting at the gate. 

“C’mon.” Chloe says as she guides them through the crowd to a little space back by the window. “Feels less claustrophobic when you’re by the window.”

“It does.” Beca says, taking a sip of her americano.

After a few minutes, the plane begins boarding, and a voice calling for the different groups keeps interrupting their small talk as it crackles over the loudspeaker. The two women gaze out the window as a plane takes off down the runway. The snowflakes seem to fall in slow motion, scattering themselves on the ground and the hats of the ground crew.

“I forgot how magical a New York winter feels.” Chloe voices after a moment. “It feels like a movie.”

“Yeah, when the temperature isn’t in the negatives,” Beca replies, stuffing her hands into her hoodie pocket.

“Remember that holiday market a few blocks down from the apartment? Ugh, they had the best boozy hot chocolate.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. That’s the only reason I went with you every year.”

“Oh c’mon. You loved looking at all the little craft booths! You even found that little cardinal ornament thing for your mom one year.”

“Yeah, okay. They had some interesting stuff, I guess.”

“Do they still do it every year?”

“I don’t know I haven’t been since…”

‘You left.’

“...it’s been a few years.” Beca lands.

Before Chloe can respond, another announcement is made over the loudspeakers. “Now boarding Main Cabin Two. Main Cabin Two, now boarding.”

Beca checks her phone and glances up at the group as they begin to move towards the gate entrance.

“That’s me.” She says.

She adjusts her backpack strap up onto her shoulder and looks at the redhead, who is clearly a little disappointed. 

“See you in Denver?” She asks, flashing a small smirk at Chloe.

“Jesse…”

“I wouldn’t ask, but there’s literally nobody else. I just found out she’s down with norovirus, and there’s no way she can come. Even if she stopped throwing up, she’d expose all of those kids.”

“I don’t even like Christmas,” said Beca.

“I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas, and I feel like I missed out. Hanukkah was cool and all, but not really the same.”

“Well, my holiday memories generally involved a lot of family drama, especially after my parents’ divorce.”

“This is an event for kids. Can’t you just throw on a Mrs. Claus costume for a couple of hours and put smiles on the faces of underprivileged children?”

“Stacie and I had plans for tonight.”

“So, invite her to come along. She can be an elf.”

“Stacie is almost as tall as you are, Jesse.”

“Okay, then she can still help out. I’m sure we’ll find something, and we could use as many hands as we can.”

“Let me text her.”

Beca texted Stacie, who agreed to come along, especially after reading that Beca was going to dress as Mrs. Claus. Beca suggested Stacie wear the costume instead, and all Stacie sent back was a laughing emoji.

Beca sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, Stacie’s on board, probably so she can take embarrassing pictures.”

“Excellent,” said Jesse. “I’ll text you the address.”

About an hour later, Beca found herself in the women’s bathroom at a nearby department store holding up a Mrs. Claus costume that was definitely going to be too big. She sighed as she held it up in front of her, hoping someone had safety pins or that she’d be sitting down the whole time. The dress was way too long and was going to drag on the floor.

Before Beca had managed to try to get the costume on, an adorable redhead entered the bathroom, holding up an elf costume.

“Hi!” She said upon seeing Beca. “I’m Chloe. Jesse said your name was Beca. Is that right?”

Beca froze for a moment. Chloe was so beautiful she’d forgotten her own name for a second or two.

Clearing her throat, she replied, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Awes,” she said.

“Awes?” Beca asked.

“Awesome. I started shortening words back in college, and I guess I didn’t get out of the habit.”

Beca nodded.

To Beca’s surprise, Chloe immediately began stripping in the middle of the bathroom rather than going into a stall.

Beca glanced at the stalls and realized she was going to have to do the same thing; she didn’t want any part of her costume, or worse, her own clothes, landing in the toilet. The stalls were very small. She tried not to stare at the beautiful woman in front of her in her underwear and started stripping.

However, Chloe seemed to notice her staring.

“Yeah, I’m pretty confident about…all this,” she said.

“You should be,” Beca mumbled back, her cheeks flaming.

Once she got into her costume, she discovered it was worse than she thought. It felt like it was a foot too long, but it probably really was only half of that. Thankfully, it had an elastic waist, so at least the skirt wasn’t going to fall.

“I guess the original Mrs. Claus was taller,” Beca said sheepishly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how to sew. I don’t even own a sewing needle or thread, much less a sewing machine.”

“It will be fine,” Chloe reassured her. “I have some safety pins. My grandmother taught me how to sew, and she taught me how to hem. I don’t have my machine, but I think I can strategically place some pins so it looks like it was hemmed.”

“Okay, I guess. I don’t exactly have a choice. I mean, I do, but I promised Jesse. He kind of suckered me into it.”

“He said it was ‘for the children,’” Chloe said, doing air quotes.

“Exactly.”

“That’s him.”

“He got me with the puppy dog eyes.”

Chloe winked. “Good to know those work.”

Beca groaned internally. Chloe was adorable, and the wink already had her hooked.

She followed Chloe out of the bathroom and into the store’s stockroom. It was cramped, but it was better than doing all of this in the bathroom. Chloe pulled a pack of safety pins from her purse and asked Beca to stand still. She folded the bottom of the dress and asked Beca to look down and see if she was okay with the length. It was a couple of inches above the floor, so Beca agreed. In a few minutes, the dress was off the floor. She looked down at the dress and saw that Chloe had been true to her word. She could barely see where the dress had been pinned. She reasoned that everyone would likely be looking at Santa, rather than the bottom of Mrs. Claus’s skirt, anyway.

Stacie walked in at that moment and practically doubled over with laughter.

Beca folded her arms. “Stacie, that’s not helping. You know, this costume is probably the right length for you if we take the pins out of the bottom of the dress.”

“Yeah, but you can’t convince me to wear it.”

Beca opened her mouth to say something and then shut it. She’d been friends with Stacie long enough to know that she was right. Stacie had never been one to do anything she didn’t want to do, and it was nearly impossible to change her mind.

“Fine. So, what are you doing?”

“Jesse has me in charge of keeping the kids occupied after their turn to see Santa is over.”

Beca looked and saw Stacie had put on an ugly Christmas sweater and had a festive headband in her hand, figuring she’d put it on when things started.

“Okay, it’s picture time!” Stacie declared, holding up her phone and already beginning to snap pictures.

Chloe soon put her arm around Beca and posed.

“Shouldn’t you be taking pictures of Jesse as well?” Beca asked.

“Already did,” said Stacie. She showed Beca the photo gallery on her phone. Beca had to admit Jesse looked surprisingly at home in the Santa suit.

Beca sat next to Jesse in her Mrs. Claus costume. She tried her best to smile, but the costume was itchy and uncomfortable. She wasn’t comfortable in large crowds, and she wondered how and when to make Jesse pay for this. She figured she’d start with insisting he bring her some coffee first thing Monday morning.

Jesse did an excellent job playing Santa. He had the “Ho Ho Ho” laugh down, and he took the time to listen to the children as they told him what they wanted. Beca’s job was to walk the child to the elf, and she’d direct them to the correct toy bin. Chloe helped each child select a toy and gave them a candy cane if they wanted one. To keep the magic of Santa alive, Santa and Mrs. Claus made a point to tell the children that they could choose an early gift for being on the “Extra Nice List.” Parents were then allowed to choose an unwrapped toy or two to take home to give to their child on Christmas, while Stacie kept the children occupied with Christmas specials, snacks, and crafts in another area of the store.

One quiet, shy girl caught Beca’s attention. She’d spoken so quietly when Jesse asked her what she wanted that Beca had to strain to hear her. Jesse asked her to repeat herself, but even he didn’t seem to be able to understand her. When Beca caught the little girl’s eye, she thought she’d try to take over.

“Hi, sweetie. What’s your name? I need to help Santa make sure you’re on the ‘Extra Nice List.’”

“It’s Amelia,” she mumbled.

“Amelia, right?” Beca asked.

The little girl nodded.

“I see you’re on the list!” Jesse exclaimed. The girl gave a small smile, but she looked directly at Beca.

“That’s wonderful,” said Beca. “What would you like for Christmas?”

The girl shrugged. “I don’t know. Mommy said you might not make it to our house this year.”

“Why is that?” Beca asked.

“Because my daddy left us, and she said Santa might think we live with him.”

Beca’s heart broke in two. She remembered how sad she’d been when her father left, but she’d still received Christmas presents. The girl’s poor mother must have been dirt poor.

“Well, now we know that’s not true,” said Beca. She glanced at the crowd and caught the eye of a young woman who appeared to be signaling the girl to stop, looking embarrassed.

“I’ll help Santa make sure he knows where you are on Christmas Eve,” Chloe added.

Jesse said, “You get to choose a gift early because you’re on the list. What would you like?”

“A Labubu doll,” she said. “And, some Legos and a Barbie doll. But, Mommy said that’s too many gifts.”

Beca looked again at the young woman and tried to express with her eyes that things were okay.

“It’s not too many for someone like you on the ‘Extra Nice List.’”

“Let’s go look at the bin. I have some dolls over here,” said Chloe, leading the girl to the bin of dolls. It warmed Beca’s heart to see the girl’s face light up.

“Excuse me,” she said to Jesse.

She walked over to the young woman and pulled her aside. “You’re Amelia’s mom, aren't you?”

The woman nodded and looked at her feet. “I’m Stephanie. Just a few months ago, her father left me with nothing. He had an affair and left me so he could raise a baby with the other woman. I stayed home with Amelia before that, so I have no money. We had to move in with my parents because the house was in his name only.”

“My dad left when I was young, too,” said Beca. “My mom worked, so we got to stay in the house. But it really sucked. My dad moved across the country with his affair partner. We still talk, but it’s never been the same.”

“Amelia’s father doesn’t even talk to her anymore.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway, we are letting parents take a few brand new toys home to put under the tree for later. I’m sure Amelia will be okay with the other children for a few minutes. Why don’t I show you what we have?”

Stephanie followed Beca to the unwrapped toy area, and Beca encouraged her to take a few toys for Amelia. She smiled when she saw her choose a Lego set Beca would have loved as a child. She chose President Barbie, and she said she’d chosen a career Barbie with big dreams.

Beca headed back to the main event and took a seat with Jesse, explaining that she’d had to take a little break to use the “little girls’ room,” making a lot of the young children giggle, several of whom reminded Mrs. Claus that she was a grown-up.

Beca really hit her stride as Mrs. Claus after that. She listened and engaged more with the children after that, instead of mostly sitting back and letting Jesse and Chloe do it.

As the event wrapped up, she saw Stephanie and Amelia leaving the children’s area. They stopped her on the way to the back of the store.

“Mrs. Claus! Mrs. Claus!” Amelia called, taking Beca by surprise, as the child had barely spoken above a whisper earlier.

“Yes, Amelia?”

Amelia turned to her mom. “She remembered my name!”

“Of course I did.”

She thrust a craft made mostly from green construction paper at Beca. “I made this for you.”

Beca swallowed hard when she looked. The girl had made a Christmas tree, and she’d carefully written “Thank you Mrs. Claus” on it. She’d drawn a picture of herself holding Mrs. Claus’s hand on the back.

“Miss Stacie helped me with the spelling. I wanted to do my very best.”

Beca cleared her throat before responding, trying to avoid openly crying and possibly frightening the girl.

“You did an excellent job,” she said. “May I take this back to the North Pole?”

Amelia nodded vigorously. “Yes!”

“I’m going to put it in the workshop. I am going to be so busy with the elves when I get back that this will remind me to keep doing my best.”

Chloe appeared behind her. “Especially this elf!” She winked at Beca.

Chloe, again, stripped in front of Beca.

“Thanks for your help with my costume,” Beca said.

“It was no problem,” said Chloe. “You were so sweet with that little girl.”

“Amelia?”

“Yes.”

Beca sighed. “I saw myself in her. My dad left when I was a little girl. I never had to worry about getting presents, but I missed him terribly at first. He tried to keep in contact at first, but he was on the other side of the country, so it was tough. I was also really angry and shut him out. And I never did accept Sheila the Stepmonster.”

“Stepmonster?”

Beca shrugged. “She tried to replace my mom when I’d go to my dad’s. She even tried to convince me to move in with them. I wasn’t having it, and I’m pretty sure I remember hearing some rather heated exchanges when my mom was on the phone with my dad. I made amends with my dad when I begrudgingly started college. He taught at Barden, so my tuition was free. He’s still with Sheila, and I’m polite to her, but I’m much happier when she isn’t around when I spend time with my dad.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

The two looked at each other for a few beats.

“So…” Chloe trailed off.

“So….?”

“I…this is probably too forward.” Chloe took a breath before continuing. “I hope my gaydar is correct. I’m bi, so maybe it’s not great.”

Beca smirked as she realized what was happening. She let Chloe stammer for a moment before gesturing to her to continue.

“Would you like to go get drinks after this? Or, maybe a coffee tomorrow if you’re not busy? Wait, are you with Stacie?”

Beca chuckled. “I’m not with Stacie. We’ve been friends for years. We met at Barden, actually. I do have plans with her tonight, but I’d love to get that cup of coffee with you tomorrow.”

“Awes.”

“Yeah, awes.”

They exited the store bathroom and headed to the stockroom to return their costumes. They found Jesse looking at them and grinning. He held up something green and motioned for them to come over to him.

“Okay, you two. I have a mistletoe here that I’m not using, so…”