"Mommy, when is Daddy going to be done with my swing set?" A newly four year old Alianna asked her mother. Rachel who was sitting at her kitchen table with Kurt looking through pictures from her daughter's birthday party looked at the four year old.
"Sweetie I don't know when he and Uncle Blaine will be done, it's really big remembering how many pieces there was? Ali nodded at her mother, "Why don't you go out on the deck and ask him." Rachel told her and opened the sliding glass door that led to the deck that overlooked the backyard. Finn had suggested for safety that the kids stay out of the yard until the swing set was built.
"Daddy," she screamed from the edge of the deck, behind the rails. "When is my swing set going to be done?" Finn looked up from what he was doing and smiled at is anxious daughter. He walked over the right below his deck so did not have to yell.
"Soon baby girl, why don't you go get mommy for me." He told her from below.
"Ok," she nodded. Ali turned around while she walked towards the sliding glass door she screamed, "Mommy daddy said it will be done soon! And he wants me to get you."
"Ok Ali, but you didn't need to scream. I was right there." Rachel told her daughter walking out onto the deck as the little girl walked back into the kitchen. "Hey baby, what do you need?" Rachel asked leaning over the deck to look down at her husband.
"Well I'm never going to get anything done on this monster if every five minutes Ali is asking me when I'll be done." Finn told her, the play set was more than just a swing set it was wooden and had swings and a mini rock wall that went up to a wood tower, and a big slide, with a play-house off the side. They had been talking about getting one since they moved into their house 3 years ago. "How about you take the girls and the twins out with Kurt so Blaine and I can finish the play set," He told her.
"Sure, Kurt wanted to go shopping anyway," Rachel told him. "Do I have permission to spend money sir?" Rachel asked him.
"Rachel, you know you don't have to ask to spend our money," Finn told her. Finn may have made a comment about how much she spent on Ali's birthday party, Rachel had been, in her nature, not letting it drop and giving him grief about the comment.
"Sooo, then do we have enough in the bank to buy laptops for the girls to play their games on?" Rachel asked him with a grin
"Rach, you can be serious," Finn groaned.
"I'm not," she smirked turning around and walking into the house.
Rachel was pushing Lola in the baby swing while Ali repetitively ran up to the tower and went down the slide, she was having a ball with the completed play set, they had been out since after breakfast, and it was nearly noon . Finn completed it last night before Rachel arrived home with dinner, and the little girl did not have much time to play on it with her sister and cousins before it was too late to play. Finn was at work, and Rachel was enjoying being with her girls on the nice summer day. There were no errands to run or playgroups or birthday parties or dance classes just the summer day. "Look mommy; see how fast I get up the rock wall."
"I know Ali bear, your very fast maybe you will be a good sports player like daddy when you get bigger." Rachel smiled, Ali took dance but when Rachel watched her with the other girls in class it was clear Ali had inherited Finn's dance ability or lack of. "Do you girls want to eat lunch outside?" Both girls nodded yes.
"We can eat in the play house it has a bench and you will fit mommy, it's too small for daddy but it can fit you!" Ali told her mother reminding Rachel of her short height.
"I'm going to go make some sandwiches," Rachel told the girls leaving them out to play. She ran up the steps to her back door, and into the kitchen where she made sandwiches while watching Ali try to push Lola who was still in the baby swing, through the back window, she turned around to get some vegetables and fruit, she had just grabbed three yogurts when she heard the wail.
"Mommy!" Ali screamed from the backyard, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mooooommmmmyyyy." Rachel knew that voice, Ali saved it for when she was really upset not upset because Finn had put the girl in time out or because Lola took her favorite toy. The last time she heard it was when she fell at the park and bumped her heard on the metal bar. Rachel being a mother, who was still pretty new at this all recovered from her heart that she sure stopped beating and rushed out the backdoor, and ran down the stairs off the side of their deck to her children still at the swing set.
"Ali what's wrong?" Rachel asked her daughter who was sitting lying on her back clutching her arm.
"I-I-I was showing Lola," Alianna said through crying and wails. "How, I could j-jump offff the top like jumping at gymnastics and I-I f-fell on my h-h-and." The little girl sobbed.
"Oh Baby girl where does it hurt?" Rachel asked sympathetically trying to stay calm, Finn was much better at these situations.
"R-r-right here." Ali told her mother pointing to her lower arm and wrist. Rachel tried to move it which caused more tears and Ali to wince in pain.
"Sweetie, mommy is going to go get her bag and then we will go to the doctor ok? I want you to stay right here." Ali nodded a yes, while Rachel stood up, and took Lola with her to get her phone keys and wallet. Once Rachel had everything she needed, including her insurance cards, and Lola buckled into her car seat, Rachel went down the hill their property was settled on to the play-set to retrieve her daughter.
"Mommy will the doctor give me a shot? Like they gave me last week?" Ali whimpered sitting in her own car seat while Rachel pulled out of the driveway.
"I don't know sweetie, we are not going to see Dr. Lucy; we get to go to a special doctor's office where they will make you all better." Rachel told the scared girl who was sitting in her seat cradling her limp hand. "But they'll make you all better," Rachel reassured Ali while dialing Finn's work number on the car phone. Rachel had put on the entertainment system for the girls, so she could talk to her husband without little ears.
"Hey babe, what's up? I thought you were spending the day at home." Finns voice played through the front speakers, while the girls continued to watch their movie.
"Hey Finn, Ali jumped off the play set, she landed funny on her arm, so I'm taking her to the ER at the children's hospital."
"Oh," Finn breathed into the phone. "wow"
"Yeah," Rachel said slightly annoyed at his lack of response. "Finn she scared to the crap out of me."
"I bet," Finn said lost for word. "Do you think it's broken?"
"I've never broken anything besides my nose, I guess it might be. You're much better at this than I am." Rachel told him sighing wishing she could just ignore the red lights so she could get to the hospital so they would fix her baby.
"You sound pretty calm," Finn told her encouragingly.
"I'll lose it eventually. Right now I'm just focusing on fixing the crying little girl in the backseat." Rachel said her voice a little on edge.
"Well I am going to leave early so I'll see you in an hour baby then I'll let you lose it" Finn assured her. "Can I talk to Ali?" Finn asked.
"Yeah sure, let me switch the car phone to full speaker." Rachel told him, she turned her head around to look at Ali, who was still sniffling. "Daddy wants to talk to you." Ali nodded her head yes.
"Hey baby girl what happened?" Finn asked his daughter, and Rachel listened to the little girl explain what she had already told Rachel.
"Hey guys," Rachel's head snapped up to look at Finn who had just arrived in the waiting room of the children's hospital er.
"Daddy," Ali exclaimed from her mother's lap. They were currently reading a book while Rachel was trying to keep the little girl busy. Lola was asleep in her stroller next to them.
"Hey Ali bear, can I see your hand?" Finn asked crouching in front of the two. Ali put her arm out, and Finn looked at the swollen and slightly disfigured wrist and arm. Finn went out to touch the arm but when he put his fingers around Ali's tiny wrist she pulled back.
"Daddy that hurts," Ali whined.
"Baby why don't you go pick out a book and daddy will read it too you," Rachel said to her daughter and put her down off her lap, while the little girl went over to the Rack with children's books.
"Hi," Finn said sympathetically to his wife who looked like she had aged ten years since this morning. "I'm not going to lie, you look horrible," he kissed her on the cheek.
"Well, I'm still in my yoga pants and a t-shirt, I've been sitting her for over an hour because apparently if your child is not defiling the waiting room with some type of bodily fluids, or unconscious you're not as high priority, and both our daughters have had a lunch of granola bars and fruit snacks, that I found in Lola's diaper bag. Oh yeah and my little girl is broken." Rachel sighed resting her head on Finn's shoulder between the arm rests of the blue chairs.
"It looks pretty bad, where were you?" Finn asked because he still hadn't figured out why Rachel hadn't stopped the little girl from jumping off the top of the play set.
"I was inside making lunch," Rachel told him, her lip quivering a little. "I thought I was watching them but obviously I wasn't enough, I should have made them come in and eat inside but no I had to try and do something special."
"Hey, hey you know our daughter. If she hadn't got past you she would have got past me, or Kurt, or Blaine, or Grace when she comes over to babysit." Finn told her trying to calm down his wife. "We leave them out to play while we run in and get something all the time. It's not anyone's fault we just have a little daredevil."
"I feel so horrible you didn't see her lying helpless clutching her arm for dear life." Rachel told him.
"I can imagine." Finn told her, once Ali returned Finn sat with her on his lap until they got called back eventually.
The doctor chuckled once Ali told him the same story she had told Rachel and Finn, about jumping off the play set like in gymnastics. Finn and Rachel were currently waiting for Ali to return from getting ex-rays. They sat in the small ER room when the nurse wheeled Ali back in in a wheelchair. Ali did seem to enjoy that they were carting her around in a wheelchair. Once the doctor returned with the ex-rays he confirmed that what Finn and Rachel both knew, Ali had a sprained wrist and a fracture in her lower arm. He let her pick out the color of her cast, and she of course picked pink. They were currently watching the little girl get her arm wrapped with the pink fiberglass. The doctor was explaining to Finn and Rachel the general care and that they would need to take Ali to follow up visits etc. etc. Ali was no longer in pain as the doctor gave her some medicine and scribbled out a prescription to be filled. Rachel had sent Finn with Lola to get something for the little girl to eat since she was whining after waking up from her nap.
"Now once it is dry you can have mommy and daddy write their names on your cast, if you want to you can draw pictures on it or have all your friends help you decorate it." The doctor told Ali.
"I can? Mommy says I'm not allowed to draw on anything but paper. One time she got really upset because my sister Lola and I drew pictures on the wall in the playroom." Ali told the doctor.
"This is different sweetie, Ok?" Rachel told the girl. "When we go to the store to get your medicine you can pick out some colorful markers, and then tonight daddy and I will help you." Rachel told her daughter, from her seat next to the bed. Ali nodded, while Rachel played with her hair that was sprawled out on the table.
"Mommy, can I get some ice cream before we go home?" Ali asked, unintentionally using her mother's weaknesses against her. Rachel sighed nodding at the little girl who squealed in delight.
"but we will get dinner too, you haven't ate anything since breakfast," Rachel told Alianna.
"Mommy," Ali whined. "I'm not hungry for dinner. I'm just hungry for ice cream," Ali pleaded.
"The medicine does cause a loss of appetite Mrs. Hudson, but I don't recommend ice cream on an empty stomach, Miss. Ali, so I want to you eat something yummy, not a lot, then you can have ice cream." The doctor told the mother and daughter duo.
"Hear that Ali, the doctor say you got to eat something first." Rachel smiled, while Ali tried to cross her arms in frustration until she realized the doctor was still working on her arm. They sat in quietness until Finn arrived back with Lola, and a bag with what Rachel assumed was food.
"Hi mommy," Lola exclaimed, jumping into her mother's lap. Finn sat down in the chair next to Rachel.
"Hi girlie, did daddy get you something nummy to eat?" Rachel asked Lola. Lola nodded and relaxed into her mother.
"I only got her a little bit to hold her over until dinner." Finn told his wife. "So Ali bear your arm looks very pink." Finn told his daughter. Ali nodded at him smiling.
"I like it! Mommy says we can get ice cream, I'm going to get cotton candy!" Ali told Finn.
"But first we are getting dinner." Rachel reminded Ali. Ali nodded in agreement.
"Lolaboo and I found you something in the gift shop." Finn said pulling up the bag he had been carrying; he pulled out a small pink stuffed bear with its own cast on its arm.
"He gonna make Ali feel better." Lola exclaimed.
"Thank you daddy! He's so cute!" Ali said reaching for him with her good arm.
"Your cute!" Rachel cooed poking Ali in the nose.
"Don't touch my schnoz!" Ali giggled, at her mother. Using the term the Hudson girls nicknamed the nose that all three had been blessed with. If it wasn't for that nose you would never know that Rachel was their mother as every other feature belonged to Finn.
"Daddy is my tongue blue?" Ali exclaimed. "Ahh" she said sticking her tongue out from across the table to her father. Rachel giggled while sticking her spoon into her own cookie dough ice cream.
"Very blue," Finn nodded, while trying to keep Lola from making a mess of her chocolate. "Your tongue, your lips, even your teeth are a little blue. First your arm is pink, now your tongue is blue! What's next? Will you wake up with green legs?" Finn teased.
"Nooooo," Ali shook her head. "I think they will be," she paused "purple!" She giggled loudly.
"Your silly," Rachel teased.
"I am not!" Ali gasped, even at four she was a drama queen.
"It's ok Ali bear mommy just doesn't get us." Finn teased, "Ow, did you kick me mommy? I thought we didn't kick?" Finn said feigning hurt.
"Mommy needs a time out!" Ali stated.
"No I don't think that will teach her enough, Ali. I think mommy needs to give daddy her ice cream. Then when we get home it's straight to bed!" Finn said eyes narrowed, as Ali nodded.
"Does that mean that Daddy is in charge of bath and bed time tonight?" Rachel shot back with a smirk.
"Well, I guess you can do that." Finn told her sheepishly.
"But Daddy, you said." Ali exclaimed.
"Yeah Daddy you did say straight to bed, and who am I to go against that?" Rachel teased. That night Rachel laid snuggly in bed flipping through an issue of Cosmo, when Finn collapsed into bed with a soaked t-shirt, and ruffled hair.
Well, I did not have time to update before I left for Mississippi. I wrote this thinking it would be really cute but I'm not sure if I like it what do you think? I'm going to update later today so don't worry ;) .
Mady
