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 56th cycle. Now cycle 57!

"Pinch Me"
(Older) Rachel, Sophie (OC), Chloe (OC)
Red series
(no listing yet; sequel to "Mothers Know")

With her daughter's help, Rachel had given the guest bedroom a bit of an 'upgrade' in anticipation of their guest's arrival. It was hard not to get carried away, and Sophie said she was behaving like she was awaiting the arrival of a new child. She guessed she really was nervous and excited, but it was normal. From the moment she'd met Chloe Clarke, she'd had the instinct to help her, in one way or another, because the two of them were so alike in some ways. And with their paths being brought back to cross once more, leading to this opportunity of admitting Chloe into her summer workshop, there was no doubt in her mind she could do so much more for the girl with the mad red hair.

"Hey, Mom, I think they're here," she heard Sophie's voice from the living room window. Rachel joined her, and they saw the cab, where Chloe climbed out after her parents, staring up at the house like she would pass out, she just couldn't believe she was there. "Man, you weren't kidding about the hair," Sophie commented, while her mother was already off to go open the door.

Chloe's parents wouldn't stay long. There was a brief conversation outside, as although they had spoken several times in the past weeks, this was the first time they met face to face, but that was as far as it went. They said their goodbyes to their daughter, and Rachel could see it was still hard for them to let her go after her fugue of months ago. Only the fact that she would be put in Rachel's care had allowed for them to let her go. It was hardly one way, and for how dazed she'd been a moment ago to realize she was in front of Rachel Berry's house, now she was crying as she said goodbye to her parents.

But now they were gone, and she looked back to the smiling face of her idol, and she was good and ready to make this summer happen.

"Welcome," Rachel had told her, moving to go help her with her bags.

"Oh, I'm good, I can…"

"No, no, it's alright," Rachel promised her. "Follow me."

"Yeah, okay," Chloe was back on dazed mode.

They went into the house, the bags being deposited for the time being in the hall. After closing the door, Rachel had turned around and been about to call out to her daughter, but then there she was. "Chloe, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sophie." She had been the one to reach out and their guest had eventually reached back to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you, heard a lot about you," Sophie told her.

"Y-You did?" Chloe asked. "I mean… It's nice to meet you, too," she seemed to get back some of her self-control.

"Yeah, she wouldn't shut up ab… uh…" Sophie had started with a chuckle, but then at her mother's reprimanding look she had cleared her throat and done her own share of shutting up before putting on a smile. "Want to see your room?"

The three of them had climbed up to the second floor, carrying Chloe's bags as they went. She had been stunned by the room. It wasn't like the place was tricked out, but it was tasteful, and Chloe would cherish it, no question.

"Alright, I'll let you settle in," Rachel told her, "I'll go check on dinner."

"She cooked?" Chloe couldn't help but ask, and Sophie laughed.

"No, and she'll kill me if she finds out I told you this, so it stays between us," she told the girl, who nodded immediately, "She's been so nervous about you getting here that she couldn't make up her mind, so we're going to order in. She went to check on the menus is what she did."

"She was nervous? About me?" Chloe had yet to come off her cloud.

"Okay, there's something you have to understand here. I know when you look at her you see 'Rachel Berry, Broadway Legend,'" Sophie mimed a marquee, then gave a smile and a shrug. "I look at her and I see the woman who fixed scraped knees, made all my costumes for Halloween, recitals, whatever, who still gets lost going around the city sometimes… She's my mother, and she's just a woman, a great one so I can understand why you'd admire her, but a woman, human, normal. And she looks at you like someone who reminds her of herself, and that's a good thing. You need to let that shock sink in and start talking to her like she doesn't actually have a halo over her head. You're so breathless right now you look like you're about to pass out," she chuckled, coming to tap her shoulders. "Okay? This is your home for the summer, get used to it," she mimed a deep breath, and Chloe did as instructed.

"Thanks, I think I needed that," she spoke after she'd let out that breath. "I don't want to look like I'm just some weirdo or…"

"Honey, we're all weirdoes here," Sophie told her, and Chloe laughed. "There, that's better. Come on, she'll probably let you choose what we order since you're new and everything."

Just as Sophie had predicted, Rachel had presented Chloe with an assortment of menus, telling her to pick whatever she wanted. She had made her choice, they had ordered, and Rachel gave her the 'official tour' of the house while they waited. They had eaten, with Rachel asking after Chloe's Glee Club back in Indiana. Chloe had had a long and eventful day, so they'd let her go and shower before she continued to settle in, unpack…

Rachel had knocked at her room later on in the evening, and once she'd been told to come in, she opened the door and peered in. "Got everything you need?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Chloe smiled, and Rachel could see she had been scribbling in the notebook she had carried so protectively the day they had met. "I'm still waiting to wake up and realize this was all a dream," she admitted, and Rachel nodded to herself.

"Well if you're still here in the morning, I might be out by the time you wake up, but Sophie will be here, alright?"

"Got it," Chloe breathed.

"Alright then," Rachel smiled. "Good night, Chloe."

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!