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 33rd cycle. Now cycle 34!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

"Personal History"
Sam & Nell, Sam/Rachel
Sequel to 'Deep Breaths'

On Friday, they'd both left school separately, but still there was something about the last moment they'd looked at one another before parting ways… They knew what they had planned for that night, and they were both so very excited for it. Rachel had offered to come pick him up. He'd wondered if he shouldn't be the one doing that, and then she'd pointed out that there was nothing wrong with switching things around… He didn't let show that he'd figured her out: if she came to pick him up, then she could say hi to Nell. He wasn't wrong about it, that much he knew, and the fact alone that she was so wanting to see his daughter, even just a minute or two… it was all the better for it. So he had consented, playing to her scenario and keeping his smirk for when she couldn't see his face.

He'd hurried on home, finding his mother had just finished giving Nell her bath. She was still wrapped in the hooded towel, the duck hood pulled over her head, which guaranteed she'd be smiling. Sam took a moment to get her changed up before he took care of his own change of outfit. It wouldn't be anything too formal – they were going to Breadstix – but he didn't want to be wearing the same clothes for a first date with Rachel as he'd been wearing while he had to dissect a frog… When he was ready he just sat on the ground with Nell as she played with blocks, talking to her about this and that, like she'd understand him somehow…

Before he knew it, Rachel had arrived, and Sam's mother had let her in. When she came into the room and Nell saw her, the little girl's face lit up like a Christmas Tree… so did Rachel's. She sat for a moment and spoke with her, much in the way that Sam had done. Eventually they had to go, if they had any hopes of getting a table. Still the subject of Nell was hanging about, and it would return, later…

They got to the restaurant just in time, getting the last table, with the complimentary glares from Santana who, waiting with Brittany, would now have to wait for the next table to be freed… Now they wouldn't hear the end of it on Monday… One thing was for certain: whatever anonymity they'd managed to hang on to, that would be gone now… Rachel could swear she'd already seen Santana texting about it. Either way, it didn't really matter. They were here, now, together… So they sat, and though they had known each other for a while now, through Glee Club and through their hanging out in the last little while, they came to realize there was no doubt so much more for both of them to discover about the other. Rachel had been the first to begin laying out her 'biography.'

A lot of it he knew already… Two gay dads, big musical dreams, lots of talent, lots of practice… Glee Club… He also knew she'd dated Finn, and then Puck as well, for a very short time. Then she'd told him about this guy Jesse, whoever he was… Sam didn't like the sound of him. Then he learned other things… It had sprung out of their talk of Jesse, of the other Glee Club, Vocal Adrenaline, and then it had turned to talk of her mother. He'd already seen how she identified with Nell in her ruptured connection to her mother. He couldn't imagine what that was like for her. Even if he'd felt part of it, he knew that the way it touched him could never compare to the way it had been for Rachel… how it would be for Nell…

The conversation had turned to him now, but already with how Rachel's side had ended, it had picked up right on to Nell, again… and he found himself telling her about Summer. He told her how she went to the sister school of his old high school, how they'd met, started dating, and then one thing had led to another, or in this case, to Nell. He told her how he'd begged for Summer and her family to let him raise the baby, as they would have given her up, provided they would let the pregnancy be carried to term. He told her about the day she was born, or at least the night she was born… How dazed he'd been when he'd gotten that call… All of a sudden, what he'd prepared to see happen was finally a reality: he was going to be a father. He told her of frightening first weeks, mistakes, and panic, and fear… so much fear that he'd mess it up. And then he told her about the day he'd gone and, on impulse, bought her a towel. It had a hood, with a duck for the head… And when he'd brought it home and wrapped her in it after her bath, she'd smiled at him… and he knew, really knew… that no matter how hard things were, there would always be those times to show him how it could be good, how he'd made the right decision.

He'd looked back up to find Rachel weeping silently… She hurried to brush those tears away when he saw her, but still he smiled. He'd moved from his side of the booth over to her side, reaching to help and erase the wet streaks. It got her smiling now, too, and it got her looking in his eyes. Without a hint of contact he could feel how fast her heart was beating at that moment… Maybe it was out of recognition, from the beat of his own heart, over to hers… They knew what was going to happen, and they weren't afraid for it… With the last tear gone, he'd let his finger trail up, pushing a fallen strand of hair back behind her ear before placing his hand at her neck, leaning in.

They kissed, slowly, deeply… Dessert came, melted, abandoned… He could feel the smirk in her cheeks, and she could probably feel the same in his. He never would have imagined this was where he would end up, the year before when he'd been with Summer, or even earlier this year when he was with Quinn… But now he was here, with Rachel, and with his daughter back home, and everything felt absolutely right.

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!