#her father and stepmother never stopped looking for her but im sure a fair few thought they were simply deluding themselves.

[eclipsecrowned]

i said that and then i remembered per personal lore the in-universe assumption was that hel couldn't be found after loki's children were cast out because odin killed her. possibly strengthened by games of telephone with mortals furthering the belief that she dwelt within the mists as a euphemism for her no longer being alive. two sons bound, and the blood of the daughter on her uncle's hands.

it isn't until the baldr incident that the rumors are rectified and it's made clear that hel was not killed but simply locked away, alive and well, in another realm.

i'm sure debate rages endlessly about which decision would have been more cruel on odin's part: killing a child in cold blood to spare her having to face the world alone, or having forced that same child to an eternity in endless darkness and restraint.

[beca-mitchell]

@stuck-in-the-now​​ replied to your post “feeling very On The Brink™️ tonight and im struggling; can you guys...”

beca has a baby half sister, and she likes to blow raspberries on her. chloe thinks it’s the sweetest thing.

Oh my god, this is adorable. WHY ARE EVERYBODY’S HEADCANONs ADORABLE.

I feel like it’d be a little bit of a surprise to Chloe (maybe even to Beca too), the kind of affection that rises up in her whenever she sees her new baby sister - and I took the liberty of writing up a little something during my lunch break...hope you don’t mind:

baby steps

summary: Beca learns she’s getting a new baby sister. Thank you again @stuck-in-the-now for the headcanon and thank you twice for letting me borrow it. 💕

word count: 1050

Read on AO3 or read below.

Everything you do I want to do it with you Don't ever want to miss

– Floating by Alina Baraz, ft. Khalid

------

Beca never thought she’d ever experience being an older sister. Or even just ever experiencing being a sibling, period. It always felt like part of her identity was grounded in being an only child. When her father remarried, Sheila had an older son, but he was hardly around, so Beca barely recognized him as being an older brother. 

Now, however–

“You’re having a what?”

“Beca,” Chloe says softly, mild reprimand in her voice. Her voice is quiet and she smiles at Beca’s father and stepmother, clearly willing to give them more patience than Beca. “That’s amazing, congratulations. I didn’t realize you were trying to adopt.”

“They–how old?” Beca asks stiltedly. 

This is new territory to her. She’s twenty-four years old, sitting in front of her father and step-mother, holding her girlfriend’s hand. And her father and step-mother have just informed her that she’ll soon be an older sister. 

Chloe squeezes her hand in support. 

“By the time she comes home with us, she’ll be just under a year.”

She, Beca thinks. A new baby sister. 

“How long have you been thinking about this?”

Beca doesn’t intend the question to be harsh or laden with consequence, but not for the first time, Beca sees her father hesitate, like he doubts her or doubts his relationship with her.

She falters, knowing she hasn’t made it easy over the years, but she had thought that they had overcome some obstacles previously thought to be insurmountable. 

“A while,” he admits quietly. “We wanted to be certain before telling you.”

Beca supposes that’s fair enough, but it doesn’t stop the streak of white-hot hurt and mild jealousy run through her that she isn’t necessarily immediately privy to a potential new sibling’s life.

Consciously, she slips back into a state of awareness, focusing on the way Chloe’s hand feels in hers. “That makes sense,” she admits. Even quieter. “I can’t wait to meet her.” 

 ------

She kind of bothers Chloe about what it’s like to have siblings, knowing that Chloe grew up as a middle child. She’s not sure what to expect at all.

Okay, so she bothers Chloe a lot.

Chloe is patient and accommodating. 

“You’re going to be an amazing sister, Bec,” Chloe assures her, sleepily in the middle of the night. Her tired eyes track the way Beca feverishly reads blog after blog, trying to find some semblance of an identity.

But what if I’m not? 

“Okay,” Beca says instead, finally closing her laptop and placing it on her bedside. “Okay,” she repeats.

Chloe pulls her into her arms, pressing a kiss against the back of her head.

------

 Beca is nervous. 

She is nervous all the way to the airport. She is nervous for the entire flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Nearly five hours of shaky legs and sweaty palms. Nearly five hours of resisting the urge to bury herself into Chloe’s side and sleep the rest of her life away.

“Babe,” Chloe calls softly. “We’re here.” 

Their Uber stops outside her father’s familiar porch. Beca recalls many a vulnerable night, standing in front of that door too nervous to speak. Too uncertain of her own relationship with her father. 

“You guys are good, now,” Chloe continues. “Your sister’s waiting for you.”

Beca nods, allowing Chloe to pull her out of the car. She helps Chloe carry their weekend bags from the trunk, finally feeling the oddest sense of calm.

“I’m not even sure why I’m so nervous,” Beca says, speaking quicker than she originally intends. “It’s…it’s a baby. I’ve dealt with your niece and nephews before.” 

Chloe stifles a grin, thinking of her ten-year old niece and her five-year old nephews. “Yes, same thing.”

Beca’s father greets them immediately, almost like he had been waiting for them right by the front room’s window. “You made it,” he says, looking both nervous and exhausted. “Can I get you guys a drink? Tea, Chloe?”

“I’d love that,” Chloe agrees, depositing her bag by the door. Beca does the same, then immediately stuffs her hands in her pockets.

“I guess the little munchkin’s asleep,” Beca says casually like she didn’t just drop the cutest nickname with more than a bare hint of concern in her voice. 

“She’s awake, actually,” Sheila murmurs from behind them, surprising them all. She descends the stairs with a small bundle in her arm, from which Beca can see the smallest of fists reaching out into the air, mid-stretch. 

“Oh,” Beca says softly. 

“Meet Natalie,” Warren says. “Your sister, Bec.” 

Natalie has a shock of black hair and light brown eyes. Her cheeks are round with the faintest natural blush. She’s practically grinning at Beca already.

Chloe can tell she’s going to love her.

(Whether that’s Beca loving Natalie, Natalie loving Beca, or Chloe loving both of them with her entire heart.) 

“She’s cute,” Beca murmurs, looking embarrassed at her own words. The embarrassment fades almost instantaneously however and the transformation happens right before Chloe’s eyes: Beca’s entire demeanor softens, her shoulders hunch, and she bends right over Natalie, not caring how close she gets to Sheila’s personal space.

“Really cute,” Chloe says, very nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet to resist from getting too close.

“Do you want to hold her, Beca?”

“I…yeah, I do.”

Beca’s not sure exactly what opens in her heart the moment Natalie settles into her arms, but something shifts in her and she embraces it wholeheartedly. 

------

 “That’s something, huh,” Warren comments, noting how intently Chloe is watching Beca play with Natalie on the floor. Beca is playfully holding a little stuffed lion above Natalie’s head, both of them laughing delightedly when Natalie’s arms fall short of the stuffed toy in her attempts to grab at it.

“It’s something,” Chloe agrees. She blinks the sudden tears – happy tears – out of her eyes. “I’m really so happy for you and Sheila,” she says quickly. “You guys…this is perfect for both of you. All of you, actually.” 

“We were skeptical about raising a child so late in our lives, but we’ve got more than a few good years left and we knew when we saw the adoption papers that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give Natalie a better life.”

“Yeah, that’s…that’s amazing,” Chloe says, not trusting herself to speak more. 

Their conversation is interrupted when Natalie blows a raspberry right up at Beca’s face, startling them all into a brief silence. 

Chloe waits to see what Beca will do or say, now that she has baby spittle all over her face. 

(She’s waiting to see if Beca will notice if she pulls out her phone to take photos.)

Beca continues to surprise them all however because she begins tickling Natalie’s sides and then she leans down to blow a raspberry into her stomach, causing the baby to emit squeals of delight and ensuing giggles.

The burst of noise warms the entire room.

God, I love you, Chloe thinks, letting her mind wander a little to think about Beca holding children of her own. Children she’d ideally share with Chloe.

Beca’s eyes are bright and playful as she turns her eyes upwards so she can smile at Chloe. It is, without a doubt, the most in love with Beca that Chloe has ever been. She doesn’t care if in that moment, her love for Beca shines across her face as clear as day.

Beca is more sunny and vibrant than ever before. Chloe has always known this about Beca - about how loving and caring she can be, even if she is slow to show it to strangers or people she is distant from.

But now – now Beca is everything.

Chloe wants to bask in this warmth forever.

fin.