Prolog

Maddisen Puckerman may only be 9 but she knows three very important things about life:

NEVER use the bathroom after Daddy.

Calling Mommy the names Daddy calls Aunt Santana get her and Daddy in trouble.

It's not good to be alone.

Out of all her aunts and uncles, Maddisen loves Rachel the most. Her Aunt Rachel is the best person she knows. She's the bravest, kindest, most talented one in her family. But Rachel is always alone, whenever she comes home for holidays or breaks in shows she always comes back by herself. Once Maddisen asked her Mom how come her aunt doesn't have friends like Aunt Santana? (Quinn makes a mental note to talk to Santana) But she explains to her daughter this;

"Rachel decided back when we were in high school that a relationship would never help her leave Lima."

Although her Mom thinks that this has to do more with her on again off again boyfriend than anything else. Maddisen presses her Mom for more information, but lets it go when she notices the sadness in her parent's eyes.

Even if her aunt is alone, the one thing that Maddisen knows for sure is that Rachel can sing. She loves Rachel's voice, so when Rachel extends invitations to them to see her on opening night, Maddisen begged her Mom and Dad to go.

Maddisen and her parents leave for New York three days before the show opens to see Rachel. When she finally sees New York she pesters her mother to call Rachel, ignoring the "she's not near phones" and the "she's rehearsing", it wasn't till her dad told her to stop or they would go home did she finally calm down. They stay at Rachel's apartment; Maddisen and her mom get the spare bed while her dad gets the couch. The first day they didn't see Rachel at all, her family spent the day sightseeing, Rachel returned to her apartment after Maddi went to bed and was gone before Maddisen woke up. The second day they only saw her for lunch, and she was very flustered, muttering to herself about late notes and last minute costume fittings. Maddisen was hurt that Rachel couldn't spend time with her. Her mom and dad explained that Aunt Rachel was very busy right now and would spend more time with her after the show opened.

Opening day Maddisen was pleasantly surprised to find Rachel sitting at the table.

"Aunt Rachel!" Maddisen yelled launching herself at the woman.

"Hi Maddi Moo."

"Wanna watch Funny Girl with me?"

"Sorry Moo I have to get going." Rachel kisses Maddi's cheek. "I'll see you later" and leaves.

Later that day after much convincing Maddi finally gets her dad to send Rachel a dozen tulips for opening night and talks him into wearing slacks and a button down shirt. When they arrive at the theater Maddisen is thrilled to find that they have front row seats. Maddisen bounces in her seat as she waits for the lights to dim.

After the show Maddisen can't stop talking about how great Rachel was. She insists of waiting for Rachel to come out. Soon it is very late way past her bedtime and a curly haired man steps out. Her head begins to lull and her eyelids droop. Her dad picks her up and begins to walk toward the street when a cheer goes up from the crowd. Her aunt walks through the crowd toward the curly haired man and takes his hand. As the pair snake their way through the crowd they never let go of each other's hands. Rachel finally spots them, as soon as she reaches them she starts babbling at 100 miles a minute, then she sees Maddi's face. She hugs Maddi's parents and kisses Maddi's forehead. The last thing she hears before she sleeps in a "thank you for the flowers Moo."

.

The next day is Rachel's day off. Maddisen can't wait to spend the whole day with Rachel. In the morning the girls make pancakes. As they clean the kitchen Rachel puts on her iPod. Soon the dishes are abandoned and all 4 of them are bouncing around the living room in their pajamas. They spend the rest of the morning watching movies, in the middle of Funny Girl the phone rings. Rachel turns down the movie and answers the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi!"

"Really? I don't know…."

Maddisen could hear the person on the other end laughing and talking.

"No! I didn't say that!"

"Let me ask?"

"Hey Q would you mind if we met a friend for lunch?"

"I don't see an issue."

"Hey, no they said that fine. In 30? At Lugi's? Bye!"

,

The ride to the restaurant was different. Maddi kept looking at Rachel; she was bouncing in her seat and was humming nervously. She saw the look that her parents shared as they too stared at Rachel. Maddi had a sinking feeling that things were going to change.

When they got to the restaurant Rachel's eyes swept the tables.

"Rachel!"

Her aunt's eyes snapped toward the curly haired man from last night. The man approached, he kisses Rachel on the cheek and gave her a hug and the extended his hand toward her parents.

"Hi, I'm Jesse…."