A/N: If you've chosen to be here reading this story, welcome and thank you very much for deciding to read it. Each chapter or few chapters will be from the point of view from a different character. This will be stated at the beginning of each chapter. Here we go!

Chapter 1: Leroy

It was early on a rainy Thursday morning. It was oppressively grey out, the clouds hanging low over Lima. As if they knew something bad was coming. It was still dark out, but the street lamp outside our bedroom window had switched off, resigning itself until that night rolled around once more. The call came, the phone ringing loudly on Hiram's nightstand, interrupting our sleep-filled silence.

He sat up; flicking on the matching ugly lamp his mother had given us as a wedding present, by his head. Rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, he answered the invasive call.

'Hello…'

'Hello sir, are you Mr Berry?'

'Yes, that's me.'

'Mr Berry, my name is Officer Green. I'm calling from the Lima County Police Department…'

I stirred hearing a distant male voice. Hiram tapped me quickly on the thigh, making sure I was properly awake. He sat up fully, his face shrouded in confusion. Rachel and Quinn weren't due to be getting into Lima until later on that day.

'What can I help you with Officer…?'

'I'm afraid I'm contacting you with some bad news Mr Berry. Are you sitting down?'

He nodded even though the disembodied voice couldn't see him. I guessed it was more to steady himself than anything else.

'Yes I am.'

'Mr Berry I'm afraid there has been an accident.'

Hiram shook my leg more forcefully and silently flapped his arm in the direction of the television set stood on top of the small cabinet across the room.

I switched on the television quietly and flickers of coloured light waltzed along the bedroom walls. A dark haired female news anchor stared gravely at camera, in front of images of some kind of wreckage.

She cleared her throat with a quiet cough.

'Breaking News: A plane has crashed just north of Lima Allen County Airport. Officials say of the hundred and thirty passengers on board flight B157, departed from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, only six have survived. Four of the survivors are said to be in critical condition in Lima Memorial Hospital. We will keep you updated as soon as we receive more information on the situation.'

'…Mr Berry…?'

Hiram's mouth gaped open. 'Yes…'

'Mr Berry there has been a plane crash. I'm very sorry to inform you, but your daughter Rachel Berry and her fiancé Quinn Fabray have been killed…'

The phone slipped instantly out of Hiram's gasp. It tumbled with a quiet thump down into the cream comforter draped across our laps. His face immediately crumpled, tears beginning their journey down his gentle face.

I quickly picked up the phone, speaking with a shaky voice. 'Thank you for calling Officer.'

'I'm very sorry for your loss.'

I hung up the phone and left it lying between us on the bed. Sobs wracked Hiram's body, gentle wails slipping out from between his lips. I just sat there. Unable to move. Instantly my head began to throb, unable to process the news.

They're…dead.

I sat frozen, as if the world had finally stopped turning. It was only two days ago we sat at the laptop screen, seeing their bright smiling faces on Skype. They were so excited to come and see us, Rachel said she had some news to share with us. Quinn excused herself politely mid-way through our conversation to stop Charlie from chasing Harmony around in the background.

And then I felt my heart go cold. The kids.

I wrenched open the drawer to my side table and fished out our address book. I quickly flicked through to L finding Santana's cellphone number. Quinn had always joked I should have put it under S for Satan.

With shaky fingers I dialled the number.

'Santana…'

She replied with a weak voice, lacking her usual gaudy confidence.

'Leroy…' it was obvious she had heard the news of the crash.

'Are Charlie and Harmony with you?'

'Yeah, they're safe.'

I breathed an audible sigh of relief and said a quick thank you to Moses. The girls said they were thinking of leaving them behind in New York. The kids didn't like travelling too much, they both got sick often from it. They only ever left them with two couples – Santana and Brittany or the Chang's.

Santana sniffed. 'Are they…?'

I knew instantly what she meant. I looked over to Hiram, still sat with his head fixed into his palms.

I removed myself quietly from the bed. I couldn't even believe that we were having the conversation. I headed into the bathroom and shut the door. I sat on the lid of the toilet seat with a heavy sigh.

I reluctantly spoke again, the words not wanting to leave my lips. 'Yeah Santana. They are. We just got the call.'

A muffled sound and a choking sound came from Santana's end. All I could make out was a faint whispered 'Oh my god…'

My whole body began to ache as I tried to block out the news and the realisation that this all was really happening.

Santana finally spoke again. 'How's Hiram?'

Thinking of Hiram sitting just a few rooms away, hunched over and distraught finally broke me. I let out a small wail and the tears took over my body. Santana paused, listening to the progression of me falling apart.

'Come to New York. The kids want to see their grand-papis. Britt and I do too.'

Thinking of their small beautiful faces provided a little solace for me. I nodded. 'Thank you Santana. I'll talk to Hiram and we shall consider it.'

I heard a noise in the background coming from Santana's end. She sounded a little distant, as if she were walking around. 'I'd better go, I think Harmony is waking. We hope to see you both again soon.'

I nodded again. 'Me too Santana, me too.'

We both hung up the phone at the same time, and I sat for a moment in the bathroom, alone in the perfect silence. I'd never understood how anyone could find silence comforting, but I began to understand it sitting alone in that room. I felt the calm of the silence, what I'd imagine sitting in the eye of the storm would feel like. I finally and reluctantly pulled myself up from the black lid of the toilet and relied on my legs to carry me back to Hiram. They felt shaky and unsteady as I walked, like toddler just beginning to discover what it feels like to walk from one parent to the other. And then I thought about the fact that Rachel and Quinn would never see Harmony walk and it nearly drop-kicked me like a hundred kilogram anvil like the ones in the cartoons Quinn would watch with the kids.

I pushed open the door to our bedroom and found Hiram in the same position as I'd left him, he hadn't moved at all. I kneeled softly beside his side of the bed. Like a reflex, my right hand reached up and stroked soothing patterns up and down his hunched back.

'Hiram…' my voice came out so soft it was almost a whisper.

I felt his body take a large breath in and he turned to look at me, the side of his head still resting in his palms. His eyes were so red and swollen he could hardly open them.

'Let's go to New York.' Hiram's eyes instantly closed, but I knew he was still listening to my words. 'I've just talked to Santana. We should go and see the kids.'

His eyes remained closed but he nodded in response to my suggestion. He only verbally responded with one word. 'Yes.'

He turned his top half and I embraced him in a tight hug. His chest pressed against mine and I could feel his heart beating. It was so slow it was hardly beating at all.

It both took us a few days to come to terms with the fact the accident was even real. We barely slept those nights. The whole town felt as if it had come to a grinding halt, somehow the news of Rachel's death spreading like wildfire around the small community. It wasn't until she began to become successful on Broadway that the town began to appreciate her, which I secretly hated. I hated the way after the news of her death spread, the people who bullied her in high school talked about her as if they actually new her and cared about the fact she had gone.

One night I'd managed to pass out from pure exhaustion. I woke in the darkness, my hand stretched out to find nothing but cold, empty sheets next to me. I rose from my side of the bed, my limbs heavy with the weight of sleep deprivation, walking as if I were still asleep. I heard light snoring from the room next door and I pushed the door open to find Hiram passed out in Rachel's bed. We'd never got round to decorate her room from when she moved out to go to New York for college. I found myself thankful that we never changed those awful pink and yellow walls she chose when she was twelve or thirteen. I decided to leave him there; he finally looked so peaceful lying in her bed after countless days of being in so much pain he barely moved.

At the end of the week, I was finally able to convince him to come with me to New York. It had been days since I told Santana that we'd consider coming to see them. We packed enough of our belongings to be able to stay for a little while longer than we normally would on a typical visit. Although Santana would never admit it, I knew it wasn't just us struggling with it. Call it father's intuition. She'd been Quinn's best friend since they were kids; of course it would be hitting her harder than most people we knew. I was reluctant to call Judy Fabray, scared it would push her tumbling back into the drinking problem and the demons she'd finally managed to overcome only a few years before.

We boarded flight B859 headed for John F. Kennedy New York City. I'd called Santana the day before I convinced Hiram that it was the right time to go and her relief in our decision to visit was obvious. I knew that we would be staying in Rachel and Quinn's old apartment but I chose not to tell Hiram, I knew he wouldn't come if I told him the inevitability.

I positively heard her smile. 'The kids will be so happy to see you. Britt and I are so glad you're coming. I'll pick you up from JFK.'

'It's fine Santana, we know where you live, we'll just get a cab.'

'Britt loves playing with them, she can handle them. I'll come get you guys.'

I smiled, thankful for her offer. 'I'll call when we land.'

'Yes sir.'

We were about ten thousand feet in the air when Hiram finally fell asleep against the window next to him. He always loved sitting in the window seat, he always smiled when we finally broke through the clouds. He said it made him imagine what a bird must feel like. I reminded him of the story of Icarus and every single time he nudged me in the ribs and would pretend not to hear me.

I plugged my white headphones into my iPod and inserted them into my ears when I knew Hiram was asleep enough that my music wouldn't disturb him. My iPod was a present four Christmases' ago from Quinn. Whenever we saw each other we'd always talk about music. She'd be eager to learn about bands from my generation, and I would always be interested in hearing in the new music she'd discovered each time we met.

Before Quinn came along, we never celebrated Christmas and just stuck to Hanukkah. Rachel never complained – being an only child could often have its perks. Once the kids came along, they decided to combine the two holidays and Christmukkah was born. Charlie particularly loved it, as he got older and he realised he'd get more presents than most kids he knew around the holidays. As Hiram and I grew to know how important it was to both Rachel and Quinn to embrace each others religions, we couldn't help but join in on the festivities. Hiram grew to love Christmas decorations more than any of us, insisting that he was head of the 'Decorations Committee'. Little did he know he was the only one on the 'Committee'. I smiled to myself as I knew where Rachel got a lot of her characteristics. I smiled at the memory, and then I felt the dull ache in my heart as I slowly recognised that I'd never talk to Quinn about music again. We'd never gather all together again, Quinn stressing out about the cooking and Rachel attempting and failing at dressing the kids in their Christmukkah outfits; while Hiram was up stepladders trying to make sure the tinsel wouldn't keep falling down from the ceiling.

I turned up the volume on the iPod, trying to block out the knowledge that they would only be memories from now on. I flicked through the small amount of albums, mostly from Quinn – she'd always update my iPod for me. I'd never been good with computers or technology. I'd grown to like some of the artists and bands she loved, so I decided to listen to her favourite band the last time I saw her. They were an Icelandic band, peculiarly named Of Monsters and Men. (Quinn could never explain the choice of name either.) I flicked play, and their album My Heart is an Animal gently filled my brain, soothing me and my tense muscles into the ugly backrest of my navy and white chair.

It hadn't felt very long before I felt a gentle hand against my left shoulder, gently shaking me.

'Sir…?'

My iPod headphones had somehow slipped from my ears as I'd managed to be lulled into a slumber by the music. My eyes peeled awake and I turned to see a stewardess in an outfit that was very unflattering for her gangly figure.

'Sir we're about to begin our descent, please remove and store any electrical devices.' Her eyes flickered to the iPod sitting on the tray table. 'Please also fold up your tray table.'

I nodded in recognition. 'Thank you.' I croaked, my voice not quite awake as the rest of my body. I lightly jolted my other shoulder, waking Hiram. He slowly looked up at me with those puppy dog eyes.

'We're landing now honey.'