A/N: Hey all. This idea just came to me. Please R & R.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
Background Info: Rachel and Finn live in a suburban home outside of New York. Finn, 29, is a newscaster for a local news station where he covers sports. Rachel, 28, has continually tried to make it big. She has been in a few productions, but she hasn't hit it big yet. They have two girls. It's been a year since they lost something special and they are still dealing with it.
"Rachel! I'm home!" He dropped his keys on the small table at the entrance and slowly made his way into the house.
The living room was clean. The kitchen was sparkling. She had been cleaning.
Finn knew where to find her. She was always in the same spot when he came home.
He made his way up the stairs and to their room stopping only once to look at the closed door near the top of the stairs. When he got to their room, he lightly knocked on the opened door before entering.
When he didn't get an answer, he went ahead and entered the room. She was usually quiet when she got like this.
He stepped into the room and noticed how dark it was. The blinds were down and the curtains were shut. If it hadn't been for the light from the hallway, he wouldn't have been able to see at all.
He walked over to the bump in the bed. He knelt down so that he could see the top of her forehead. Everything below was covered.
"Rach, the house looks nice. I can tell you've been cleaning." He whispered to the comforter.
She doesn't even move. She just lies there wrapped up under the covers. Her body is shaking from the ever so present sobs just like every other day.
"Come on, Rach. Get up. The girls will be dismissed in 30 minutes. I thought it might be nice if we both picked them up today. What do you think?" He asked, hoping that she would be up for it.
"I'll be down in a few minutes." Was all she muttered and then she slowly started to move around, still under the covers.
Finn thought it would be best to leave her to get ready. He knew she'd be ready quickly. Even when she was down, she was still prompt when it came to time.
He went back downstairs to grab two juice boxes and two granola bars. The girls loved their snacks. They were going to be so excited that Rachel would be there. He heard her come down stairs and he tried to put on a smile. She returned it with a weak one of her own. He handed her her purse as he led her out to the car. She actually looked excited to see the girls. He opened the door for her and helped her in before walking over to the driver's side door and getting in.
The ride to the school was complete silence until Finn turned on the radio. Don't Stop Believing started playing and to his surprise, Rachel didn't turn off the radio. That song along with a few others usually brought back too many memories for her. And him, too. She just sat back and looked out the window.
When they arrived at the school, Finn pulled into the circle where the car riders were supposed to be picked up. He looked around, but he didn't see his girls. He noticed that Rachel had sat up. She must have noticed, too.
One of the teachers they recognized as Kelly's old first grade teacher noticed them and waved them down to a stop.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson." She greeted.
"Hi." Rachel greeted quietly. "Where are our girls?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you. They are in with the principal." She noticed Finn's brow crease in concern. "Don't worry. They're alright. Mr. Kilter just wants to speak to you. If you could just pull into the visitor's parking lot, you can go in a meet with him."
Finn gave his thanks and then drove over to the parking lot and parked. They got out of the car and started toward the main office.
"What do you think is wrong?" Rachel asked as they fell into step together.
"I don't know. At least the girls are okay, though." Rachel nodded in response. "I don't think we should start worrying until, there's something to worry about."
Once they got to the office, they saw their daughters. Abby, 5, was sitting in a big cushy chair crying. Kelly, 6, looked to be in deep conversation with the principal. The couple entered the office and shook hands with the principal.
"Mommy! Daddy! You're here!" Kelly yelled running up and hugging Rachel's leg and pulling on Finn's at the same time.
Finn walked over to Abby and knelt down. He wiped her tears off her face and kissed her forehead. She looked at him with the biggest brown eyes which just made him melt.
"Hey, Abby girl. What's wrong, baby?"
"I… I… think I'm in trouble." She then let loose another round of waterworks.
"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. We'll take care of it."
He lifted her face and held it till she finally smiled at him.
"Girls, could you please wait outside the office while I talk to your parents." Mr. Kilter asked.
Right away, Abby looked like she was going to burst into to tears again as she looked at her daddy. He just smiled and gave her a little wink that usually told her everything was going to be fine. She must have trusted that because she got up and left with her sister.
Finn and Rachel took their seats opposite Mr. Kilter.
"Mr. Kitler, what has Abby done wrong?" Finn asked.
"Well Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, it seems that the problem has more to do with what hasn't she done. Abby refuses to do any work in the classroom. She also refuses to go outside during recess. We normally do not mind if children her age refuse to do certain activities as long as it does not happen on a regular basis. Abby seems to be unwilling to do anything at all for most of the time."
"Mr. Kitler, I'm sorry for that. We had no idea. She seems fine at home." Finn replied.
"Most students like Abby do seem fine at home, but when they are transitioned into an environment where they are expected to be doing something productive at all times they have a problem with it. Now, we have two options here. One, Abby can be pulled out. This is kindergarten we're talking about. It is not required for children to attend. And from what I hear from the little bit of work that she has done, Abby is smart. She understands everything. She just refuses to show us that. It might do her some good to stay home another year and then come back next year."
"What is the other option?" Rachel asked.
"She could stay and you could adjust the routine at home. Have her occupied at all times. Not letting her watch a lot of TV or spend much time alone. The more interactive you are as parents, the better she will do in school."
"Do you mind if we have a moment to talk about this before we make a decision?" Finn asked, getting a nod of agreement from Rachel.
"No problem. I'll just step out for a minute and go check on the car riders." Mr. Kitler said as he made his way outside.
"Rach, we can't just remove her from school. Can we?"
"I don't know. I feel like since she doesn't like it very much, it might be worth considering. She can just stay home with me. I can try to teach her enough so that she won't be behind when she comes back next year."
"Yeah, but don't you think we might just want her to try and stick it out. Maybe we could change the routine at home. Or maybe we could get her involved in a sport or something."
Rachel thought for a moment. "Well, we could just ask her what she wants to do."
"That's true. Let's go see what she says." Finn stood up and went out of the door to get Abby.
When she entered, Abby looked like she wanted to go hide in a hole. She was scared, there was no denying that.
Finn pulled her into his lap as he sat back down.
"Abby, we have something we want to discuss with you." Finn started.
"What?" Abby said. She was almost too quiet to hear.
Rachel reached over and grabbed Abby's hand. "Mr. Kilter says that you aren't enjoying kindergarten very much. Is that true?"
Abby half nodded and half shook her head. Over the years, Finn and Rachel have learned that that means maybe.
"Well, he says that you aren't doing any work and you don't even want to go outside and play."
"I.." Abby started, but lost her words. "I'm sorry." And then she lost it. The waterworks were about as bad as they had ever been.
"Oh, it's okay, sweetie." Rachel said reaching for Abby. She took Abby into her arms as Finn grabbed some tissues from the desk.
"Abby, we didn't mean for you to cry. We just want to know why you don't want to participate."
"I don't know." Was her response.
Finn waited for Abby's tears to dry up a bit and then said, "Well, you've got two options. You can stay and maybe join a club or do a sport."
"Or you can stay home with me for the rest of the year and come back next year." Rachel finished.
Abby looked up at Rachel with her tear stained face. "Really?" She said with hope in her voice.
Rachel nodded. "Yes, but you do have to come back next year. It won't be all fun and games while you're home with me. We'll be doing some work so that you won't fall behind. Okay?"
"Yeah." Abby said with a real smile.
"Just remember, Abby, you do have to come back next year and you have to work and participate and everything." Finn said. "Promise?"
Abby held out her pinkie finger. "Pinkie swear."
Finn linked her pinkie finger with his and they shook on it.
Once Mr. Kilter came back, they signed the papers and got everything in order. Abby was now a kindergarten drop out.