Chapter XXVII

                                    

                                          
Chloe's POV
                          
"Okay, so what you want to do is take the left cord and loop it under the right one then pull it through," Beca explains.
                          
"Like this?" Emily checks.
                          
"Yep! Now, just pull both the cords and tighten them."
                          
Emily follows Beca's instructions carefully. "I did it!"
                          
"There you go! Excellent. Now, do that again but on the other side."
                          
"Okay..." Emily grabs the cord and repeats the motion as Beca watches carefully.
                          
My girls... Beca is such a good mom to Emily. They get along so well. It's so good to have Beca back. I've missed her terribly and so has Emily who has brightened up ever since Beca returned home. We're a family again and it's how it should be. Emily and I have agreed that Beca isn't allowed to go anywhere without us again. We miss her too much when she goes.
                          
"Becs? Em? Do you girls want a hot chocolate?" I call out from the kitchen.
                          
"Yes, please, babe."
                          
"Yes, please, mommy!"
                          
"Alright."
                          
I make two mugs of hot chocolate and take them to Beca and Emily before I make my own and sit on the couch as they make bracelets.
                          
"Look, mommy!" Emily shows me a half-made bracelet.
                          
"Amazing, baby! Well done!"
                          
"Mama is showing me how to make a braid!"
                          
"Clever girls!"
                          
"I'll give this one to Benji!"
                          
"Who's Benji?" Beca asks.
                          
"Do you want to tell her, Em?" I say.
                          
Emily blushes and shakes her head.
                          
"Who is he?" Beca asks again.
                          
"Well, Benji is Emily's first little crush."
                          
Beca's face falls. "What?"
                          
"He's a cute little boy who Emily plays with all the time. They're really sweet on each other."
                          
"What's his full name?"
                          
"Benjamin Applebaum."
                          
"Applebaum... Can't say I have heard of that one before. What are his parents like?"
                          
I look up at Beca and see that she has totally lost interest in her bracelet making with Emily and is looking at me with an intense gaze.
                          
"They're sweet. In fact, Benji has asked Emily for a sleepover this weekend."
                          
"A sleepover? At his house?"
                          
"Yep!"
                          
"I want to meet his parents first. Where does this little punk live?"
                          
"Becs," I giggle. "It's okay."
                          
"No, I want to know who his parents are and where they live."
                          
"Becs, come with me to the kitchen."
                          
Beca purses her lips then stands and follows me to the kitchen.
                          
"Babe, I love it when you get protective of Em but this is a very delicate situation. This is her very first crush. Benji is a sweet boy and so are his parents. If I had one slither of a doubt that his parents weren't good, I wouldn't have agreed to send Emily over."
                          
Her eyes widen. "You've already agreed to it?"
                          
"Becs, it's just an innocent sleepover. They don't even know what crushes really are. They don't understand anything about crushes. All they know is that they like being together and they think that one another are cute - that's it. They would have no clue what it means to be in a relationship or be in love. They're just kids."