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 60th cycle. Now cycle 61!

This is a shift day. There are two updates today.

"To Hold You Again"
Rachel, Sam & Nell, Samchel
Sam & Nell/Samchel series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

He would hold Nell safely in his lap as the train pulled up to the station. Her face was already glued to the window, trying to spot Rachel who would be waiting for them. He carried her down from the train car, carrying her past the milling groups of people until he could see the one they had come all this way from, and then he put Nell on her feet.

"Look who's there," he pointed, and she was gone like an arrow, running into the waiting arms.

"Mommy!" she squealed, throwing her arms around Rachel's neck.

"Hey, you!" she closed her arms in, holding her tight as she stood back up. "Did you grow again, look at you!" she pulled back, observing her. "Yep, definitely did, definitely bigger," she declared, and Nell looked very proud of the assessment. "You grew, too," Rachel turned to Sam as he approached. He leaned in and kissed her, holding perhaps longer than his daughter might have liked, as she started thumping at his face, but he just smiled and carried on for a beat more before pulling away. "You want one, too, is that it?" Rachel asked, pecking little kisses on the girl's cheek. Nell giggled up at this.

He could see how happy it made her, to have them here with her in New York. The whole way back to the apartment, she kept hold of Nell, reached out to him every so often, as though to prove he was really there.

Nell always liked arriving at the apartment. She knew it well now, from having spent the summer there with them. It was her favorite place to be, she had said as much. If anything, it helped to ease any concern they had about relocating her here after he graduated from McKinley. She would go to her room, finding the surprises Rachel had left her there. She would be busy for a good long while, which was exactly what they wanted.

Later as they would lie in bed, he would look at her, this amazing person who had come into his life so suddenly and taken his heart so suddenly. After what had happened with Summer, with Quinn, he didn't think something like this could happen to him, or that he even deserved it. Rachel had been a complete surprise. Now here they were, as strong as ever, with a girl he proudly called not just his but their daughter, off in her room. He loved these visits as much as both Rachel and Nell loved them, and he hated the goodbyes as much as they did, too.

Now here he was, in bed and holding on to the woman he loved, and he had to look at her, to see her eyes, because he knew for sure, this would be the moment they remembered, or he hoped it would be.

"Rachel?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"Yeah?" she asked. He smiled, stroking the side of her face.

"You know it won't be long now, we're almost halfway out of this year."

"Bad year, awful year, yes, go on," she agreed, and he rested his forehead to hers for a moment before looking back into her eyes.

"When it's over, and Nell and I we move here for good, there's something I'd like you to do."

"What's that?" Rachel asked.

"Marry me?" he smiled. If she'd expected this at all, she was making a good show of acting surprised.

"Sam…" she breathed.

"I was going to do it better than this, got the ring and everything. But I was looking at you and I just thought… I had to do it now. So the ring's back in Lima right now," he admitted.

"That's okay," she promised him, just shy of tearing up.

"So is that a yes?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Yes, it's a yes," she nodded, kissing him.

They'd decided to keep the engagement to themselves for now. With how crazy everything was, with him at McKinley, and Glee Club, and then her with NYADA, adding the news that they were getting married would have thrown in more wrenches than they needed. They would plan the whole thing after they were all in New York, in this apartment, as they wanted to be, although Sam had a sneaking suspicion Rachel would be scouring the bridal magazines almost as soon as he was off back to Lima with Nell. As to their daughter, being that she was only three and prone to repeat whatever she heard, they had to keep her in the dark as well. She was only content to have her mother back for now, and they wouldn't take that from her.

The weekend went on like nothing special or life changing had happened. Life hadn't actually changed all that much, and it wouldn't, not really. The one difference would be the rings on their fingers.

As quickly as their weekend had started, it was just as quick that it had come to an end again. Nell was asleep by the time they'd gotten back to the train station, and maybe that was just as well. Rachel held her close in her arms, careful not to wake her.

"Just so we're clear, that first day when you guys are back here for good, I'm not letting her go, not once."

"I'll remember that," he told her, and she chuckled, though her face only told him how sad she was. "You know every time we have one of them, we're that much closer to it being over."

"I know," she promised.

"And next time we come, I'll have a ring for you."

"Even if I can't really wear it yet," she reminded him.

"You do whatever you want to with it, so long as you're careful. It's not much, but the moment I saw it I thought it'd be perfect for you," he smiled, and she smiled back.

"Then I'll love it," she declared. They had to board the train now. She looked to Nell, letting out a long sigh as she pressed her lips to the side of her head and finally let Sam take her. They had to let go, but only for a while, and after that, he would let her hold on to them forever.

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!