Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 50th cycle. Now cycle 51!

"Step Forty-Three, Never Give Up"
(Kurt &) Brittany, Rachel
Paper Heart series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

A/N: This week is dedicated to dear chazzaf for her birthday.
She asked for a 'Rachel week' and that is what she shall get!
Today Rachel and... Brittany [as a friendship]

She was literally due any day now, but she still wanted her lessons. Sitting there, waiting for labor to happen to her, she would have lost it. So today she still waited for Schuester to arrive. She had all her things lined up and waiting for her teacher. Everything had just been… so much better for her, ever since she had started her lessons with him. Some days she wished she had tried this hard before, not just now when life threw her one serious reason to do it. But it did happen, and for all the work she still had to do, she felt confident she would be returning to McKinley in January with much more of a handle on things… And that was worth everything.

When the bell rang, she was in the process of trying to fix them a snack, which was starting to come off like piling up a whole lot of food on one plate. She made her way to the door, pulled it open… only to find it wasn't her teacher standing there, but the petite brunette co-captain of the Glee Club.

"Rachel? What are you doing here? Do you need private lessons, too?" Brittany asked, surprised.

"No, I'm here actually because Mr. Schuester couldn't make it today. He came to me and asked if I would take his place, just this once."

"You're going to teach me?" Brittany hesitated, letting her in.

"Not exactly. Mr. Schue said you could get a special lesson today, just music. He said you earned it," she smiled, and the blonde smiled back, touched.

"He said that?" Rachel nodded. "Nice…"

"Here, come on, let's go sit, okay?" Rachel led the pregnant girl to the dining room so they could sit.

"Everyone always wants me to sit…" Brittany frowned. "I'm fine, really, he's sleeping, I think… Getting ready for when he has to be born," Brittany declared, looking down to her belly.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Rachel told her after a beat, and Brittany looked back up with a smile. "Ready to start?" she asked and got a nod. "Okay…"

"You guys still get to go to Sectionals in a few weeks, right?" Brittany cut her off before she could go on.

"We are," Rachel assured her. "We should be finding out who we'll be going up against pretty soon," she revealed, sensing she just really missed being with them, and hearing about them helped. "I don't want you worrying about us, okay?"

"I know, just focus on the baby," she spoke like she'd heard this countless times already. Rachel just smiled and nodded.

"Ready to start your lesson?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Brittany breathed, so they got to work. In the weeks since Will had started teaching her at home, as he had promised her, whenever they had some extra time, he would give his lone pupil vocal lessons. When Rachel had heard her that day, she had been properly stunned for the progress she could hear.

"Brittany…" she blinked, and the girl smiled.

"He loves music, I can tell… He moves and kicks like crazy when one of us sings…" she couldn't help but smile, recalling times like this… Kurt had been talking to the baby, like he would absorb his voice… So after a while, Brittany had suggested maybe he should sing, and he had. And then there had been the time when, waking from a nap, she had pretended to still be sleeping, the better to listen in as she discovered Santana, who continued lying by her side through her naps, was humming/singing to what could only be the baby. She had kept trying to pretend she was asleep, but eventually Santana had figured her out.

She herself had been singing, around if not at the baby, when she'd have her lessons. And just as with Kurt, and with Santana, with her, too, her son would react inside her belly… Now she couldn't wait to sing to him when he would be in her arms…

By lesson's end, Rachel gladly took her student's offer of a snack, so the blonde returned to the kitchen, while she walked about. She had followed the trail of pictures on the wall, and it had led her up to the second floor, to the nursery that was to double as Kurt's room when he stayed here. From what was hanging around, she could see all the signs of his being with the Pierces these days. He wasn't staying apart from her, not now, not when they were so close anyway.

"Rachel?" she heard from below and she blinked, walking back out of the room and to the stairs.

"Sorry, I wasn't snooping…" she promised.

"It's okay," Brittany just shrugged, indicating for her to follow. On the dining room rested the revised platter, still an impressive sight to take in.

"Wow… Thanks." She hesitated a moment before asking what she had to. "Are you guys really okay? If you need any…"

"We're okay, Rachel," Brittany nodded with a smile. "We're just… getting ready… It's hard to be scared, really… He's not even here yet. But I know Kurt is scared. I thought I would be, but… I'm kind of not," she admitted. "Not anymore."

"Can't imagine what I would have done in your place," Rachel shook her head.

"You would have done fine," Brittany smiled to her. "You would have been you, and that's… stronger than you think."

"Well, I don't know…" Rachel bowed her head.

"I do," Brittany maintained.

"You know, a year ago, I wasn't even sure I could remember your name…"

"That happens to me a lot," Brittany commented, and Rachel smirked.

"A lot's changed," Rachel summarized. "I just want you to know, if you ever need anything, you can call me. That's what friends are for, right?"

"That, and other things," Brittany agreed. "But you and I should probably just stick to that part of it," Brittany went on, and Rachel restrained from asking further.

When Rachel was gone, Brittany had taken to her usual post-lessons tasks, which involved picking up after the snack, and then putting her books and other school things back in their places. These days it seemed her little routines made her feel better… occupied.

Telling Rachel that she wasn't scared anymore wasn't a complete lie… It wasn't a complete truth either. Although right now the remaining fears had to do with actually giving birth. Ever since they'd shown her a video of how it would all happen, she couldn't shake the thought of it, especially as everyone reminded her again and again that it was almost time… Maybe she could sing him out and he'd be at ease… or not…

So long as they'd be with her though… Kurt, and Santana… then she could tell herself she had nothing to worry about. They would keep her safe.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!