Loosely based on the film Instant Family but with darker themes. Warning: some self harm, mentions of rape, abuse and neglect. To make it clear, Rachel has been through some horrific abuse so the self harm and suicide attempts she copied from her mother since she is only four years old. Shelby is alive but her whereabouts are unknown and will send letters to Dani and Rachel begging for forgiveness bu it just upsets them more, feel fee to ask any questions if something doesn't make sense, see you on the other side :s
Why do people adopt?
Brittany knew from a young age she wanted to be a parent. But she also knew from a young age she wasn't like the other girls in her class who would talk about boys and have sex with boys and then end up pregnant.
She was different.
Brittany liked girls.
She also liked helping people. She had such a warming heart that would literally open for anyone.
So that's why she wanted to adopt.
And at the age of just 23, her and her wife decided to adopt from the orphanage 45 miles away from where they were living.
"You ready?" Santana asked parking the car in a nearby parking spot.
"Yeah" Brittany said taking in a deep breath and smiling "I've always been ready"
Which was true, the blondes' dream to become a mother was about to come true.
"Hello mrs and um..mrs Lopez Pierce" the lady greeted them at the door. Santana and Brittany exchanged looks about the hesitation but said nothing.
"Are you two here looking for children to adopt...together?" the woman continued.
"Yes" Santana snapped.
"Sorry I didn't mean..."
"It's fine" Brittany said nudging Santana. Santana just glared at the lady but nodded "Yeah, no biggie"
"Alright, let's look around"
Eight months later...
It was the best part of her day. Back in the day it was glee club but now it was coming back home to her children.
She locked the car door and carried her bags inside. Fiddling around with the keys until she found the right one and unlocked her front door.
"Mom" Quinn greeted giving her mother a quick hug before gluing her eyes back to her phone.
"Hey Quinn how was your day?"
Santana asked but got no reply as Quinn continued walking away.
"Okay then" Santana sighed putting her bags down and taking off her coat. The house seemed unusually quiet today but that suddenly changed when she heard shouting coming from the living room. Quickly she raced it in there and saw her eldest daughter holding a bat and Santana noticed the TV had been smashed.
"What is going on here?" Santana asked trying to act calm but her voice was shaky.
"She grounded me for no reason" Dani shouted but soon changed her story when Brittany shook her head "Okay fine! I didn't go to school today because I went out with Finn"
"You what!" Santana snapped "You skipped school to be with that ogre!"
"So what if I did?" Dani snarled.
"Oh you are more then grounded girl, no phone, no laptop" Santana stated.
Dani puffed "No way, if you want my phone you're going to have to get through me first, and anyway, you can't take property off adopted children"
"Thats a load of shit Dani and you know that" Santana stated rolling her eyes.
Dani held up the bat causing Santana to step back.
"I dislike you more then I care about that TV. So watch yourself when it comes to my phone" Dani smiled wickedly but then dropped the bat. Brittany quickly picked it up before anyone else could.
"Go to your room" Santana said without making any eye contact with her daughter.
Brittany watched Dani stroll out the room and then walked over to the Latina "She doesn't mean it San, she's just an hormonal teenager and we can replace this TV anyway"
Santana just shrugged and wiped the tears that swelled up in her eyes "If I said that to my mother I would have got one hell of a whipping"
"I know" Brittany sighed.
"Anyway, where's little one?"
"She's asleep" Brittany answered.
"What? It's four in the afternoon"
"Yeah that's what I needed to talk to you about" Brittany sighed and beckoned Santana to sit down.
"The school said Rachel's had a very hard day. She had another meltdown"
"What? I told them if she had another one to call me and I'd come get her" Santana huffed looking pissed off.
"I know but they thought they could deal with it themselves and didn't want you to miss anymore time off work"
"I don't care. Rachel comes first" Santana stated putting her head in her hands "Oh what are we doing so wrong?"
"What do you mean San? Everything is fine" Brittany tried to comfort her.
"No, we have an insane teenager smashing TVs and threatening her own parents over boys and a stupid phone. Then we have a little one who can't stay in a single school for more than a month-"
"San, Rachel's complex we knew that before we adopted her. But we still have Quinn and Marley" Brittany tried to look on the bright side.
"Quinn defiantly has a dark side that we haven't seen yet. And Marley, I feel like I barely know her"
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang.
"I'll go" Santana and Brittany both said at the same time standing up. They both looked at each other but instead of arguing who shall go up both mothers made their way up the stairs.
The two people Santana thought it could be was either Dani or Rachel.
Santana went to check Rachel and Brittany checked Dani.
"Knock. Knock. Dani? Are you alright in there?"
Dani quickly jumped up "Shit. Get under the bed" she ordered to her boyfriend who slowly got up.
"Hurry!" Dani snapped.
Finn hurried under the bed and Dani neatened up the sheets before replying "Yes. I'm fine"
"Can I come in?"
"No"
Brittany opened the door anyway.
"What part of no did you not get?"
Brittany looked around "What was that bang?"
It was Finn climbing through the window, but no one was telling that.
"Dunno now can you get out please, pretend mom" Dani snapped.
"Don't call me that"
"I said GET OUT!"
"Dani I know he's in here. I'm not silly" Brittany stated "He has five seconds to leave before your mother comes in here and sees him and trust me, you don't want that"
Dani weighed up the options.
"Can't he stay?"
"No. Five, four, three-"
"What the!" Santana noticed the large figure under the bed as she walked past Dani's room with Rachel "Oh my god I am going to go all Lima Heights get the fuck out of my daughters bedroom now!" Santana shouted storming into the bedroom causing Finn to roll out from underneath the bed and rush to his feet.
Santana passed Rachel over to Brittany and then went over and grabbed him "You come into this bedroom again and I will-"
"Oh my god! Let go of him!" Dani shouted quickly getting up and peeling her mother off of her boyfriend who had wide eyes and was speechless.
"O-Okay, I-I'll go I'll go" Finn stuttered "Can I go out the door?" He asked realising the window was a long way down and it wasn't as easy getting down than in.
"No" Santana barked "You get out the way you broke in"
Finn begrudgingly turned to the window and jumped out of it. Dani turned around to Santana "You're destroying my happiness"
"You are never going to be happy with that guy, Dani"
Before Brittany could stop her; Rachel ran towards the window.
"Outside!" Rachel squealed.
"Rachel no!" Brittany shouted causing Dani and Santana who were still arguing to whip around and see the tiny girl running for the window.
"Rachel!" They both shouted and all three charged over to her. Before she could flung herself out; Santana caught onto her.
"Rachel look at me" Santana ordered sharply "Don't ever go near a open window like that again, you don't know how high it could be. Do you understand?"
Rachel didn't answer but Rachel never usually answered to questions or looked at people when they talked to her. She was a little different like that.
"I'm sorry San, I should not have put her down" Brittany admitted feeling the guilt.
"Damn right you shouldn't have" Dani snapped.
"Hey, this isn't Brittany's fault, we were only in here to get that ogre out your bedroom"
"Stop calling him an ogre now get out! Get out now!" Dani yelled.
"Okay, we're going. See you at dinner" Santana said calmly and walked out of the room. Dani slammed the door shut after them and Santana really had to bite her tongue from saying something.
But teenagers had to be teenagers.
Brittany looked around the table.
This was all she wanted.
A family.
Especially with Santana.
"Can you pass the salt?" Quinn asked. Brittany quickly snapped out of her thoughts and passed her the salt.
"Rachel come on, you need to eat something" Santana told the young girl who was just sitting there playing with the ketchup.
"Put the ketchup down and eat your food please, Rachel"
Dani smirked when Rachel started to squeeze the ketchup onto the table.
"Rachel" Santana snapped leaning over to grab the ketchup, Rachel pulled at it and the two had a tug of war to get it off each other.
Santana, being a lot bigger than the four year old won the fight and stood up and put it on the shelf Rachel couldn't reach.
"NO!" Rachel screamed, and then tears started coming down her face.
"Rachel stop" Santana ordered over the screaming but Rachel was in floods of tears now and everyone went quiet.
"Hey Rachel where's baa baa?" Marley asked.
"Good idea, can you go get him please Marley?" Santana asked.
Marley nodded and left the table to get the stuffed animal. It wasn't a sheep, it looked more like a bear, but Rachel always called it 'baa baa'
Marley came back down and handed it to Rachel whose cries started to fade down.
"Well done Marley, always knowing what to do" Dani commented.
Brittany shook her head at Santana to tell her not to rise to it.
Santana picked Rachel up and put her in her lap "You okay now baby girl? How about we eat now and then we can do some drawing, yeah?"
Rachel nodded and then let Santana feed her her dinner.
Brittany smiled.
It was a dysfunctional family, but it wouldn't be the same any other way.
"Quinn for fuck sakes move your elbow"
"Your elbow is in my space bitch"
"Oi, both of you! Rachel is right there!" Brittany scolded.
"Rachel swears more than I do!" Quinn pointed out.
"Bastard!" Rachel shouted.
"Hey!" Santana snapped and without thinking turned around and slapped Rachel's leg "Rachel, do not use that language again do you understand me?"
Rachel didn't answer, but tears swelled up in her big doe eyes.
"Hey Rachel it's alright we know you're sorry" Quinn assured her little sister "Just hug baa baa" she told her and Rachel nodded and hugged tightly her stuffed animal.
"Shit" Santana cursed to herself turning around back into her seat.
"Don't worry San, she's at that stage now where she can tell discipline from abuse" Brittany reminded her quoting what the social worker had told them.
Santana nodded but didn't miss Dani's disapproving tut. Brittany shook her head and whispered "Shall we stop the car so you can talk to her?"
"We do need to stop for toilet break" Santana reminded her so Brittany nodded and once she found the service station she drove in.
"Can we get a snack?" Quinn asked.
"What would you like?"
"Uh, a snack"
"Yeah but which one"
"A snack"
Brittany huffed and Santana sighed "Quinn you're so annoying sometimes"
"I know" Quinn stated proudly.
Santana got out and opened Rachel's door and unstrapped her. Then Rachel jumped out not realising she was on the road.
"Rachel! Road! You cannot just jump out like that what the hell are you thinking!?" Santana yelled at her grabbing her by the hand and pulling her onto the pavement.
This time Rachel couldn't hold it in and burst into tears. She dropped baa baa on the floor and cried out like she was in pain
"Rachel" Marley rushed over to help. She got down on her knees and tried to calm her sister down. Marley and Rachel had a strong connection, only Marley was allowed to bath her and get her changed. It must be a sister thing.
"I can't do this Britt" Santana whispered to her wife realising she had lost it with her again. Brittany shook her head.
"Don't be silly. Rachel, mommy only yelled because she got worried, she didn't want you getting hurt" Brittany explained getting down on her knees next to Marley.
But Rachel was properly hyperventilating now and Marley realised she needed to do some breathing exercises with her.
"Look Rachel follow my breathing" Marley ordered putting her hand on Rachel's chest and taking Rachel's hand and putting it on hers.
Quinn and Dani watched painfully as well as most people in the car park.
Santana put her head in her hands and then walked off.
"San, where you going?"
"I gotta go bathroom"
"You can't turn your back on her now, that's not how parenting works you know"
"Don't worry, didn't expect anything else from her" Dani snarled.
"Dani don't be like that. Why don't you and Quinn go with your mom while we calm down Rachel okay? Maybe the less people the better"
They protested at first but then Marley told them it was fine and so they followed Santana into the station.
"Can I have a snack now? I'm starving" Quinn asked. Santana just nodded. She paid for Quinn to have a double chocolate chip cookie and dispensed drink while Dani had a latte.
"What do you think Marley and Rachel will have?" Santana asked them.
"Juice for Rachel and sparkling water for Marley" Quinn answered, knowing her sisters well.
They all used the bathroom and then got back to the car. They were just twenty minutes away from their destination now which was Kurt and Blaine's house. They wanted to see them to congratulate them on their first son. They had two girls already but had just adopted a son recently.
Quinn gave Rachel and Marley their drinks and Santana got in and handed Brittany her hot chocolate "Thanks babe"
Santana asked her "How is she?"
"She's okay. I think she just gets scared you know" Brittany tried to make her wife feel better.
"But I would never hurt her like he did. What happened to discipline? Does it just go out of the window with past abused children?"
"No it shouldn't" Brittany informed her "But Rachel's just really delicate right now, don't worry, she'll grow out of it"
They started the car again and drove the last twenty minutes in silence as the girls were on their phones while Rachel napped.
They reached Kurt and Blaine's house on the time they thought they would.
"Remember girls, off your phones inside" Brittany told them getting out "Play with the other kids"
"Play? What are we, four?"
Brittany rolled her eyes "You know what I meant"
"You meant play with the kids who are half my age why did you make me come here?"
"Because we are family and we do stuff like this together"
"Hey sweetheart" Santana cooed gently waking up Rachel. Rachel sleepily moaned but didn't protest when she saw her.
"Look hunny, I'm sorry I slapped you and I shouldn't have shouted at you but mommy loves you okay, more than anything in the world, do you hear me?"
Rachel nodded, she seemed a lot more awake now. Santana smiled and then picked her up and carried her to the door.
"Quinn. I said phone, away, now" Brittany ordered.
Quinn huffed but put the phone in her pocket.
"Hey!" Kurt answered the door and hugged Santana and Rachel "It's been so long!" He smiled at Rachel "Hello you. Do you just get cuter and cuter every time I see you?"
Rachel hid her head in Santana's shoulder shyly.
"Hey, you're never shy" Santana laughed lifting her head up "Say hello"
"Hello" Rachel repeated.
Kurt smiled and then welcomed them all in. The place was all done out so perfectly and it was so tidy, a lot tidier than theirs back home.
"How do you keep it so clean with three kids?" Brittany questioned.
"Oh, the kids are just tidy" Kurt answered.
"Hi Aunty San and Aunty Britt" Kitty greeted. Kitty was Quinn's age and Unique was a bit older than Rachel.
Blaine was sitting with Sam in the living room when they walked in. They all greeted the two girls and then walked into the living room where Blaine was sitting with Sam.
And that's when Quinn saw him. Tall, pouty lips, handsome as hell.
Sam.
"You didn't tell me he was older" Dani asked Brittany. Brittany replied "I didn't think I needed to"
Sam smiled at Dani who smiled back.
"Sam this is Santana and Dani, my best friends" Kurt introduced them "And these are their daughters, Rachel, Marley, Quinn and Dani" Sam smiled "Hello girls"
"Hi" they all replied.
"She's adorable" Sam commented about Rachel. Blaine smiled "She is isn't she"
"Can we go outside?" Kitty asked. Kurt nodded so the girls went outside excluding Dani.
"Marley, call me if Rachel gets upset okay?" Santana made sure to tell her. Marley nodded and then joined the rest.
Dani couldn't stop staring at Sam and vice versa. But she knew she had Finn so she couldn't act on any of her urges, she would never cheat on him, but Sam was incredibly hot.
After sitting down and just staring at one another while their parents talked, Brittany sent Dani out to check on the kids and Blaine did the same to Sam. They walked out and Dani followed Sam to the garden.
"So what school do you go to?" Sam asked casually.
"McKinley" Dani answered "What about you?"
"I've just moved here, I use to be in a different area but when I was adopted I was moved here so I'm moving schools too" Sam told her.
"Do you know which one yet?" Dani asked.
Sam shook his head.
"Oh great, the kids found the junk food" Sam sighed.
Dani sighed too "My fake mom is going to love that"
Sam looked at her when she said fake mom but Dani didn't notice.
Marley walked over to them "I'm going to have to get mom, she's eating too many sweets"
Dani rolled her eyes "Just let her be Marley, you don't have to tell that woman everything"
"She's now are mother Dani, accept it or go back to foster care, I'm telling mom, m-o-m" Marley snapped "So stop being so damn childish and grow up and stop pushing people away like you always do"
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Dani got into Marley's face.
Sam looked nervous now and tried to break it up by saying "Look guys the kids are watching let's not do this now"
"You may think you have everyone wrapped around your finger but I ain't scared of you Dani. You're scared though, I know you are, all of this is just an act and behind that mask is still a scared little girl"
Marley didn't mean it in a bad way but Dani took it that way and then pushed Marley and Marley fell to the ground.
"Ow" Marley looked up with tears in her eyes "I'm trying to help you Dani"
"No you're not just stop! Stop!" Dani yelled, as soon as they heard shouting Brittany called out "Everything okay out there?" But got no answer so went to check.
"Marley what's wrong?" Brittany asked. Marley wiped her tears "Nothing"
"Why don't you go cry to your FAKE mother about your REAL sister" Dani snarled.
"Dani" Brittany snapped "Get inside right now, if you can't leave your sister alone"
"You don't get to tell me what to do, nobody gets to tell me what to do!"
Santana, Kurt and Blaine all walked out now wondering what the shouting was about "Dani what are you shouting about?"
"None of your business" Dani snapped.
"Come on guys, let's not argue" Kurt tried to make peace. Blaine agreed "Yeah, it's not fair on the little ones"
Sam looked awkward and Dani instantly felt embarrassed.
"Come on girls, come inside, let's figure out what we want for lunch" Kurt tried to brighten the mood.
"Look Dani, I'm sorry" Marley said.
Dani thought about it and realised that arguing with her sisters was not going to help anybody, they could never stay angry with each other. Not after everything they'd been through together "I'm sorry too" Dani told her, and then the two hugged.
Rachel and Quinn both ran over and Dani picked up Rachel and Marley put her other arm around Quinn and the four of them had a group hug.
Brittany smiled but Santana frowned.
She felt like her and Brittany were never going to feel like family.
"Quinn, phone"
"But I haven't been on it all day" Quinn complained.
"You need to do your homework" Brittany told her "Now off"
Quinn huffed and mumbled under her breath but did as she was told.
Not too long after Dani strolled in, she looked at the new TV and smiled "See, much better than the old one"
"Dani have you done your homework?" Brittany asked completely ignoring her first statement. Dani sniggered "I'm not five, I can do homework when I want to"
"Dani you're already falling behind I just wondered if you would like some help"
"I don't need your help"
"Okay I was just offering no need to bite my head off"
Dani rolled her eyes and walked out, colliding with her other mother "Dani, there's a letter here for you"
Dani snatched the letter from Santana and then ran up to her bedroom.
"That girl" Santana mumbled to her wife "Is really pissing me off"
Brittany just stroked her wife's arm to calm her down "She's a hormonal teenager, it's normal"
Santana went through the letters and then realised there was one for Rachel too.
"Hey tiny, you have a letter here too" Santana said to Rachel.
Rachel stopped colouring and excitedly ran over and took the handwritten letter from her mother, similar to Dani's. She walked off with it and Santana and Brittany carried on talking amongst themselves assuming the letter was from a friend.
The four year old ripped open the envelope and took out the letter.
"So where is Marley?"
"She's in her room. I asked her if she needed any help but talking to that girl is like talking to a brick. She gives nothing away, but I know Marley is upset by something"
"I'm sure she'll work it out. She's a smart kid-Rachel!" Both Santana and Brittany ran to the four year old who was on the floor stuffing the letter into her mouth and choking on it.
"Oh my god" Quinn gasped "Marley! Dani! Rachel's doing that thing again!" She shouted up to her sisters.
"Rachel stop" Santana ordered panicking as she tried to grab Rachel's hands to stop her from shoving the paper further into her mouth, but Rachel was kicking out at them making it difficult.
Immediately Marley came running down the stairs followed shortly by Dani.
Santana finally managed to get grips on Rachel's arms while Brittany tried backslaps on the young girl to get the letter out.
"Marley, do the thrusts" Dani ordered. Marley quickly pushed past Brittany and wrapped her arms around Rachel and as gently as she could gave her thrusts to get the letter out of the back of her throat. Eventually it came out and Dani wiped away all the tears from Rachel's eyes and hugged her tight while Santana and Brittany looked on in shock and horror.
"Rachel..." Santana started "Don't you EVER do that again, do you understand me?" Santana couldn't help but snap at her before taking her from Dani and giving her a tight hug, tears were flowing down her face and Dani admittedly felt bad for her adoptive mother.
"Look, it's not your fault. She does that when she gets scared" Dani told her.
"What is she so scared of?" Santana asked sadly sensing Dani already knew.
"I know" Brittany stated as she held up the soaked letter.
"Dani and Rachel both got these letters" Brittany explained to Mercedes, the social worker. Mercedes shook her head "That's bad. Real bad. I don't know how that has happened"
"And then. Rachel tries to choke herself and she's only fucking four years old" Santana snapped "I want answers. Where did she get that from? What aren't you telling us? Because this doesn't seem like a family that just had to go into care because their mother couldn't cope with them anymore"
"I did tell you there was more to that. But before adopting them you said you didn't want to judge the kids on their past and you took them in anyway. I told you Rachel had her issues, and Dani was tough but you seemed so happy I didn't think I needed to burden you with anything else"
"You're a social worker, you're suppose to burden!" Santana snapped and then realised what she had just said "I'm sorry, so sorry, I don't know why I just said that
but I just need to know more"
"I understand, I'll get one of the detectives involved in the case to speak to you both"
But Brittany and Santana were not prepared for what they were about to hear.
When they got home, they were still trying to process the information they had just gotten.
"Mom?" Quinn questioned snapping Brittany out of it. Brittany looked up "Quinn" and hugged her "How are you honey?" Quinn just shrugged "Meh, where have you been?"
"To see Mercedes" Brittany answered.
Santana came around and hugged Quinn too "Whenever you need to talk Quinn, we're here"
Quinn looked a little confused but then realised that they'd been to see Mercedes, so now they knew everything.
"Mommy" Rachel squealed and Santana and Brittany ran towards the girl running towards them. Brittany lifted the little girl into the air and Santana planted loads of kisses on her head "My baby, how was today?" She asked. Dani stood up and walked over "She had another meltdown so they called me like I asked them too"
"What?" Santana questioned "When I said could you drop her to school it didn't mean take all responsibility"
"I know. But I knew where you two were going so I thought it would be easier if I did it" Dani explained.
Santana nodded "Dani do you know why we went to see Mercedes?"
Dani nodded "Because of them letters me and Rachel got from our biological mother and also to dig up the past"
"You can talk to us about any of it you know Dani" Santana told her.
"I already said my piece to the investigators, I think it's the girl in your hands that you should be talking to about that" Dani stated and then grabbed her school bag "Call me if you need anything squirt" Dani told Rachel before walking out and heading up the stairs.
Santana and Brittany looked at each other before looking back at Rachel who was playing with Brittany's hair.
Brittany took Rachel into the living room passing Marley who came out of the downstairs bathroom "Marley, how are you, honey?" Brittany asked.
"Okay" Marley answered shortly.
"What were you doing in there?" Santana questioned.
"What do you think I was doing in there?" Marley said confused.
Santana shook her head "Never mind"
"Is this because of what Mercedes said about me?" Marley defended.
"No..well..yes but I didn't mean it like that"
"Don't worry, I'm not like that anymore" Marley assured them, Santana hugged her "We're here for you, always remember that" Santana assured her back. Marley smiled, apart from her sisters, she never felt like anyone was there for her.
Rachel wiggled out of Brittany's grasp and then ran into the living room. Santana sighed and chased after her "Rachel wait, before you start playing, me and mommy have to talk to you"
"No talk" Rachel said grabbing the crayons to colour.
"Yes talk" Santana stated trying to take the colours off her. Rachel screamed and Santana immediately let go. After hearing everything Rachel went through, why she screamed so much and always got scared made sense.
Santana heard Brittany assure the other girls Rachel was okay while Santana sat down next to the small child.
"Fine. We can talk here while you colour" Santana decided. Too long this girl has kept quiet about the abuse but it was time she was heard.
"Rachel, do you remember when you were younger how you had other parents?" Brittany asked as she sat down. Rachel continued to colour and not answer.
"Rachel, answer mommy please" Santana told her.
Rachel nodded "Yeah I remember"
"What do you remember about them?" Brittany asked her.
"My daddy use to hurt me and my other mommy" Rachel answered "I hardly saw Dani, Quinn or Marley, he would lock me and my other mommy away and hurt us. They would sometimes sneak in to see me when they heard me scream"
"Why would you scream, Rachel?" The detective asked.
Finally, Santana and Brittany had managed to get Rachel to speak to the detectives, all they had to do was let her colour while she did.
"Because daddy would touch me in places that hurt and climb on me and punch me and cut me and burn me" Rachel was so upset talking about it but the colouring kept her calm, she kept on colouring as they continued.
"Did he hurt your other mommy in the same way?" the detective asked.
"Yes" Rachel answered "She hurt herself too" Shelby was a self harmer while the abuse was going on and Rachel saw it all. Shelby almost killed herself ingesting stuff but the dad wouldn't let her get away that easily and force it out, that's where Rachel had seen it from.
"I know this is hard for you to answer this Rachel but did he ever take his penis out on you?"
"Yes. He put it in my mouth"
"I can't do this" Santana cried and ran out the room and threw up in the nearest bathroom. She wiped her face and then braced herself before walking out. One of the officers was waiting outside and put her arm around the Latina "I know its hard to hear, but you don't have to hear anymore if you don't want to. Brittany said she's got it"
"No. I promised Rachel I would be there" Santana stated and then went to walk back in but the officer stopped her to ask "Do you think Rachel would agree to have a body examination?"
"Have you asked her?"
"Not yet. But as her parents I wondered if you and Brittany would ask her"
"Well we got her to do this, I guess we could try something"
Santana went back into the room and Rachel was still colouring while answering questions. Brittany, who was silently crying, held onto Santana's hand tight. These was the hardest things she's ever had to hear.
They always wondered why Marley always had to bath Rachel and get her changed. They didn't question it, they thought it was just a sister thing, but now they knew.
"Oh god" Brittany gasped and Santana's eyes widened. The bruises and cuts and burns to the little girls body were so bad. It was honestly the most horrific thing they'd ever seen.
"So we're all going for ice cream after this?" Rachel asked as she let the forensic detectives take picture of her body.
"Yeah baby" Brittany forced out, she felt like she couldn't speak properly she was in that much of shock.
"Is this why only Marley bathes and changes you Rachel?" Santana asked.
Rachel just nodded "Is it done now?"
"Almost" Santana assured her.
Once they had everything they needed, Santana and Brittany went over and gently hugged Rachel. Santana picked her up and the detective and officers thanked her and gave Rachel a soft toy for being so brave and then they left.
"Let's go pick them up from school and go for ice cream" Brittany said as promised as she started the car, Santana sat in the back with Rachel not wanting her to be alone. The girl was a lot quieter then usual but Santana wasn't surprised, after reliving all of that she must be terrified.
"You were so brave" Santana praised her.
Rachel just hugged her new soft toy and hid her face in it. Santana sighed and lifted Rachel's head up. She had to make her feel better "So what ice cream are you and you're new friend going to have?"
Brittany beeped the horn and Quinn rushed over and opened the passenger door seat "Yes, I'm at the front!"
Brittany just rolled her eyes and then started the car and drove to Marley and Dani's school.
Dani had the most awkward day of her school life. She was walking down the hallway with Finn when a gorgeous blonde boy caught her eye and then she realised she recognised him.
It was bloody Sam.
Shit.
"Hey Dani"
"Oh, hey Sam"
"Do you two know each other?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, we met a few days ago"
"His my mom's friend's boy" Dani explained to Finn. Finn just nodded "His on the football team as well. Great player"
"Yeah" Dani smiled. But now she felt so torn.
—
"So...how are things?" Kurt asked
"I can't believe what Rachel went through" Santana told him "It was horrific and she remembers it"
"Did he ever hurt the other girls?" Kurt asked.
"No, apparently he just left them there to rot. He would occasionally give them a few beatings but he hurt Rachel more seriously. Marley ended up collapsing from malnutrition and when they were all found she developed an eating disorder. Quinn and Dani ended up building walls and putting their guard up so much that most people who tried to adopt them wouldn't so much as give them a second glance. I just can't believe we didn't check all over this first. I didn't even know Rachel had been abused like that and her body I can't even bring myself to look at it again"
Kurt interjected "If you knew all of this you still would've adopted them though right?"
"Of course!" Santana snapped "I know I use to be that heartless bitch but I would never put children who just need some love down just because they'd been through shit"
"How did you get Rachel to talk about it in the end?" Kurt questioned.
"Colouring" Santana answered "I don't know how but it just helped her talk about it. Anyway, how's yours?"
"Oh, they're fine, apart from the odd fights Unique and Kitty have been getting into. But Sam was really nervous starting his new school but he said his made friends"
"Yes. I know"
"Is that why you called?"
"Not entirely"
Kurt just sighed "Look, I'll tell him to stay away from Dani if you want me to"
"No, it's just that I don't want anybody to get hurt. Although I hate him Dani already has a boyfriend"
"Don't worry. I think he just wants to stay friends with Dani anyway, no harm in that, right?"
"Right"
"Knock. Knock"
"What? Oh, it's you"
"Hey, no 'get lost' today? Are you ill?"
Dani just rolled her eyes.
Santana sat down on the edge of Dani's bed. Dani looked at her and then looked away "Look, I hope you're not here to talk about-"
"No. I told you, we don't have to talk about that. What I want to talk to you about is that now you're going to be turning 18 in a few months I guess you want to know what your rights look like"
"You want me to move out?"
"No of course not don't be silly, you will always have a home here, always. I just want to have that 'talk' with you about boys and well...sex"
"You do realise I'm turning 18 not 16, right?" Dani laughed.
"I know but we never had the pleasure of knowing each other then so I'm doing it now. Unless I'm too late"
"No. Me and Finn haven't got that far yet" Dani told her "And that was my choice"
"I guess as a parent I have to say this so I'm saying it; always use protection!"
"Yes, I know" Dani sighed "Shouldn't you be having this conversation with Quinn?"
"What do you mean, Quinn is too young for this talk" Santana brushed her off.
"I'm talking about you, so if Finn ever tries it and you don't want to you say no and make sure you never go through with something you don't want to"
"I said no" a voice came from the doorway and Santana jumped. Dani's eyes widened "Rachel, is that blood?"
Brittany came running up the stairs "San, her nails, she opened up her scars"
Dani quickly ran over and picked Rachel up and carried her into the bathroom to get her washed up.
But Rachel went at it again. She started to viciously dig her nails into her wounds and peel them open.
"Rachel stop!" Santana shouted.
Dani grabbed Rachel's hands "Stop it!" she ordered.
"I said no, Dani, I did but he didn't listen!" Rachel cried to her sister. Dani hugged her not caring she was getting blood on her clothes "I know squirt, I know. But hurting yourself isn't the answer"
Brittany came and sat down next to them "Rachel, let me wash you now"
Rachel shook her head "Only Marley"
"Don't worry Rachel, they'll be just as careful, I promise. I'll show them everything they need to do" Dani assured her and then explained to Brittany step by step about how Rachel would be washed by Marley and how to wash her the same way. After she finished explaining, Santana and Dani left them to it. They walked into Dani's room and Dani couldn't help bursting into tears. This was the first time Santana had ever seen her cry.
"Hey, it's alright" Santana tried to comfort her.
"No, it's not. That girl is too fucked up she should be getting real help, I've let her down" Dani cried.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, all her life she's been hurt, even before she was born"
"What do you mean?" Santana questioned.
"He just wanted to hurt mom, not us. That's why he locked mom away from us so he could hurt her, but then he raped her and it got her pregnant in that room and so he started to hurt Rachel as soon as she was born because she was a product of that. She was his prize"
"Did you tell the investigators this?" Santana asked.
"No" Dani admitted "But I assumed they would put the pieces together as it all started five years ago and Rachel is only four"
"It must've been really hard for you Dani, and if you ever want to talk about it I'll be here" Santana assured her.
"I just remember her screaming, and crying. It wasn't even what he was doing to us, starving us, sometimes gassing us until we almost pass out, little torture games like that, it was what he was doing to her that hurt the most"
Santana sighed sadly "But look, she's here now. She's safe. And she's happy, to a degree. Did you see the look on her face when that woman brought the ice cream to her? That's what you should be thinking of. We are going to give that girl the best possible rest of her life she can have and also we're going to make sure that everyone of you will have a better future than your past. You're all going to grow up here and I promise you, me and Britt will try and give you the life you deserve, a happy one. And we can only do that if you let us in, so, can we maybe give this thing a go?"
Dani smiled, taking in everything the Latina said "Yeah, I think I can"
"Mommy" Rachel moaned "Are you done yet?"
Brittany continued trying to clean the blood "Not yet sweetie. I think we need to get them bandaged up, can we do that?"
Rachel just shrugged, not really knowing what that meant. Brittany dried her and then lifted her out of the bath. Brittany carried the youngster into her and Santana's bedroom and then went to fetch the first aid box.
"Okay, so these dressings will go over them" Brittany decided getting the dressings out of the first aid box they handily kept in the house.
Rachel sat there in just a towel watching with big doe eyes as Brittany carefully placed dressings over the wounds. Marley would clean them but never cover them, none of them knew first aid and never had the right equipment, the doctors were never successful at trying to get to them because Rachel would scream if anyone went anywhere near her.
"These will keep them out of sight out of mind" Brittany told her and then realised she was probably too young to understand that saying.
Once she was done, she got her dressed and then asked her whether she wanted to colour or do her numbers for school. Obviously she chose to colour.
"After dinner though, we have to do numbers ready for school tomorrow, okay?"
"Otay" Rachel nodded before grabbing her crayons and laying down on the floor as she coloured.
Santana came down shortly after to check on Rachel. She smiled as she saw the girl cleaned up and dressed, colouring happily. She left the room without disturbing the girl and joined Brittany in the kitchen.