Bonjour! I'm so so glad that you guys are liking this so far! Makes all the research I'm doing worthwhile. Fun fact: My background is in child development...I'm actually revisiting an old text book to help with this story. I knew I saved it for a reason! Anywho, to answer your questions...you will find out more about Nathan in due time. And you will see Finn..in due time. As an aside, this weekend marks a year since we all lost Cory. RIP our awkward Canadian. We love you, we miss you, we'll always remember you
Anyways...now the show must go...all over the place or something!
Chapter Two
Somewhere In New York, May 2022
Her father's called two days later, at the worst possible time. They called once a week to check up on her and Camden, catch up with their lives and to lend whatever support they could. But today, wasn't a good day.
Saturday's were busy, there was really no way around it. It was one of two of her days off, and by default she always tried to jam too much into the few available hours she had on Saturdays. She had an idea of what she could do and not do as Camden could only handle so much and tried as much as she could to work within those restraints. And today it just seemed like even a simple trip to the grocery store and farmer's market for fresh fruit and vegetables were going to be well out of her reach.
Camden woke up in what could only be described as the worst case of moodiness known to man. When she'd entered his bedroom to liberate him from his crib, the cranky look that crossed his features all but startled her. She felt his forehead, and while it wasn't perfect, it definitely wasn't the warmest it had ever been, even a few days ago. When she picked him up he immediately wrapped all of his limbs around her body, clutching her to himself.
"Mamamamama" He babbled into her ear, the irritated grumble in his voice evident. She placed him on the change table and changed his diaper quickly before letting him down with his feet on the floor. He stood shakily, looking at her. He had just recently started walking 3 months ago, and was still quite shaky on his legs. His muscles were underdeveloped and it took him extra long to master certain milestones. She'd cried when he took his first steps, her heart swelling what felt like ten times its normal size when he'd tentatively stepped towards her. But now he stood looking at her, his knees shaking a little bit as he stared at her. She tossed his dirty diaper in the diaper pail before heading for the door of the small room.
"Come on Camden" She smiled, turning to him to encourage him to follow her. "Let's go get breakfast!" She called. She was working on independence with him, trying to let him do things for himself that he could do. And that included walking to the kitchen for breakfast.
"Mamamamama" He babbled, his voice raising an octave. He took a step towards her before falling over frustratingly onto his bottom. He let out a grunt of frustration and dropped his hands against his legs before letting out another frustrated squawk. "Mama!" He grunted, his eyes squeezing tight as he looked at her.
"Come on Camden, you can do it baby. Let's go have some cheerios!" She exclaimed. She squatted down to look at him. "Come on Camden!"
"No!" He grunted, his face showing how completely frustrated he was. She took one look at his face before walking over to him and helping him stand up again. He immediately held up his arms to be picked up, but when she only took his hand to help him walk out of the room, he went into a full blown tantrum.
She felt herself counting to ten, taking a deep breath before scooping him up so his kicking feet were away from her body and bringing him to the kitchen, where she sat him in his high chair as he continued to throw his tantrum, banging his hands against the plastic tray. She had just put some dry cereal on his tray and was going to grab him some fruit and yogurt when the phone rang. When it didn't quit after a few rings, she dropped the container of vegan yogurt she was holding in her hand and grabbed the receiver.
"Hello?" She sighed into the phone as Camden slammed his fists on the tray, making the Cheerios jump as well. He was also grunting his frustration as he went, making his anger known.
"Rachel, darling, how are you?" Hiram's voice penetrated through the speaker of the phone. She could barely make out his voice over Camden's theatrics.
She swallowed as she looked at her son. She cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder before ripping the lid off the yogurt, grabbing a spoon and bringing it to Camden. He stopped his tirade for a minute, and she felt herself blow out a sigh of relief.
"I'm...good now..." She chuckled tiredly, as she watched Camden pick up the plastic spoon and immediately trying to get into it.
"Sounds like you've got a lot going on over there. Should I call you back?"
"I don't really foresee a better opportunity." She sighed as she watched Camden try and bring a spoonful of yogurt to his mouth. She cringed when most of it missed, but landed on his tray. He immediately slapped his hand down into the pile of yogurt with crushed up cheerios. "He's quiet right now..."
Hiram chuckled on the other end of the phone. "What's on tap for you guys today?"
She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, the plan is to hit the grocery store and the farmer's market..." She trailed off. "But we seem to be having an off day so we'll see how much of it we get done..."
"I see."
They made small talk while Camden entertained himself with the yogurt on his tray. Rachel chatted with her Dad while she moved around the small kitchen, grabbing Camden a sippy cup of almond milk and handed it to him. He immediately grabbed it from her and greedily sucked it down. She smiled as her father filled her in on some things going on at work and she pretended to listen. She set about grabbing her own breakfast together, mixing the same yogurt she had given Camden with some granola.
"So your Papa and I ran into Quinn Puckerman last night at Breadstix." She dropped the spoon she was using to mix the two, it falling to the counter with a clang.
"Did you now." She said softly. She picked up the spoon again and rested the phone on her shoulder as she made her way over to the table. Camden seemed to follow her with his eyes, watching her every move before going back to making a mess. "She asked about you." Her father added. Rachel's heart began to pound. Her father's were well versed in what to say and what not to say to the people of her past about her life in New York. And even though they didn't agree with it most of the time, they respected her wishes.
"Yes. Her and her little family were there." She heard the hesitation in his voice. "Your Papa stopped to say hello, and Quinn mentioned that the invitations for the reunion were put in the mail two weeks ago and that they were starting to get responses. She asked if you had gotten yours, because she mailed it out herself."
Of course Quinn had something to do with the reunion. Seemed like something she would be involved in. Her father's had a knack for running into her and her husband Noah often, between Temple and the fact that Noah was a mechanic at the garage her father's had frequented for years. When she was silent, her father continued. "Did you get the invitation yet?"
She sighed audibly. The truth was the best. "I did. It came the other day."
"What do you think? When is it? Are you and Cam going to..." She interrupted him.
"I'm not going Dad. Maybe you and Papa can come up tha..."
He cut her off."Why wouldn't you go Rachel?"
She wished she could see her father's face as she was talking to him. Instead, she turned and stared at her son.
"Dad, it's a lot of work to..."
"It's your high school reunion Rachel. By the end of high school you loved..."
"Dad, why can't you just accept that I don't want to go? I said no. I don't want to put myself in that position..."
"Is it because of how you and Finn left things?" Her father asked.
"Dad...wait, what? Why would he have anything to do with this? It's been ten years Dad...ten, long years where my life has been thrown upside down..."
"All the more reason to reconnect with your friends from high school..."
"They were my friends then Dad, not now. I haven't talked to anyone or seen anyone in years...they all have lives, just like I do..."
"Quinn was saying her and Tina get together every week for a playgroup with their kids..."
"Why are you telling me this? Better yet, where are you getting this information and why should I care about their damn playgroup?" Camden chose that moment to slam his sippy cup down on the tray of the high chair while signally to her that he was done. Hearing that her once supposed friends saw each other weekly hurt her somewhere she hadn't realized it would. She tried to push away the feeling, as she hadn't really been trying to keep their relationships up after she left as well.
"Rachel. I didn't mean to..." She cut him off, just as Camden began to make a bunch of noise, alerting Rachel to his discomfort.
"Dad, I have to go. As you can hear, Camden is over being in the high chair and we really need to get on with our day..."
"Alright. I'll call you later. try and have a good day Rachel. Give Camden a kiss for us" She heard her father sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Yeah. Will do. Talk to you later." She said softly as she walked towards her son, who seemed bent on making his miserable mood known loudly. She clicked off the phone and threw it on the counter just as Camden began to whine loudly. She picked him up out of his high chair gingerly and immediately took him to the bathroom to clean him off. She'd thought she'd give him a bath, but when he began to scream as they entered the bathroom she decided against it. Yep, today was going to go so well.
They didn't make it to the farmer's market for the first time in awhile, as by the time they had left the apartment building the market that was held in Central Park had closed for the day. Instead, she opted to just pick up what fruit she could get at the grocery store a few blocks away. She got Camden ready, and everything was calm until she went to strap him in his stroller down in the foyer of their building. He immediately began to scream like she was hurting him, and arched his body making it nearly impossible for her to strap him into the harness.
"Camden, please. We really need to go get some groceries baby. Please." She begged, knowing it would be lost on him. When he didn't calm, she pulled him out of the seat and held him against her in an attempt to get him to calm down. He curled into her and laid his head on her shoulder, sticking his two fingers in his mouth. When he was sucking on them happily, she attempted to get him into the stroller again. He whined, but didn't fight her as she put him in the seat. When he was finally successfully and safely strapped in, she slung her purse across her body as they finally left the building. She breathed a sigh of relief as the sun hit her face and adjusted the sun visor on the stroller before trekking off for the grocery store a few blocks away.
She hadn't made a long list, she could pick up more fresh fruits and vegetables on her way home from work one day during the week if she had to, and she just stocked up on the necessities. They were just making their way towards the cash registers when Camden began to make his irritability known again. He babbled loudly, almost yelling at the top of his lungs. She pulled out his stuffed elephant and tried to give that to him as they waited in line, and he threw it to the ground. She took a deep breath and reached for his sippy cup to hand to him, just as they took a step closer to the cash. She could feel the stares of the people behind her as she tried to calm her son down, her attempts falling short of calming the toddler. She wasn't one to get embarrassed easily, but it was days like today that really tested her patience. His sippy cup clanked to the floor and she picked it up, trying once more to give it to him. When he threw it down and shouted no, she felt herself losing her cool. The stares she was getting felt like they were burning a hole in her back. Finally, she got all of their purchases up on the small belt and paid for them, in between kicks to the back of her legs as she stood in front of the stroller. The cashier smiled softly at her as she passed her the credit card. She'd seen that look many times over the last two years, the I feel so sorry for you look. At least she was keeping the comments to herself.
He fussed the entire way home, so much that Rachel abandoned the stroller in her storage locker with anything that wouldn't spoil and hiked it up the stairs to their apartment. She sighed with relief when she entered their own space, and immediately set Camden down in his playpen. She walked away from him as he began to scream once more, taking all of the grocery bags she had brought up with her to the kitchen. Once everything was put away, she leaned against the countertop and closed her eyes tightly as Camden continued his tirade. She grabbed a bottle of water and chugged half of it, before getting him a clean sippy cup and filling it with the rest of her water bottle. His voice lowered when she walked closer to the playpen, and he looked up at her with watery eyes. She handed him the sippy cup and she crouched in front of the playpen, running her fingers through his unruly hair as he sipped his water. He pulled it away from his mouth for a moment and hiccupped, before going back to drinking from it.
"You okay Cammy?" She whispered, looking at him. He whimpered as he looked at her, his blue eyes staring into hers. She ran her finger under his eye, collecting the tears that had collected there.
"Mahmeee" He whimpered, dropping his sippy cup into the playpen and grabbing for her head. She immediately stood up and grabbed him, walking over to the couch with him and cuddling him into herself. He whimpered, but not as high pitched as she settled in her lap. He yawned as she held him in her arms, his breathing becoming heavy as he finally settled against her. She played with his hair as he stuck his two fingers in his mouth and eventually fell into a deep sleep in her arms.
"I love you Camden" She whispered as she leaned down and kissed his head. He sighed in his sleep, turning into her more. She waited a few minutes to make sure he was asleep before slowly slinking off the couch and bringing him to his bedroom. She changed his diaper quickly before settling him in his crib for a nap. She watched him for a moment, and turned the baby monitor on before leaving the room.
She waited a few minutes to make sure he was alright, before grabbing the other monitor and the keys to the apartment before leaving and running down quickly to her storage locker. She grabbed the rest of her groceries that she had abandoned earlier and put the stroller away properly before running back up to her apartment. After she dumped the bags in the kitchen, she checked on Camden again and smiled when she saw he hadn't even budged. She smiled before closing his door a little bit and walking out to the kitchen. She put the rest of her groceries away before grabbing the phone and heading to the living room. Now that Camden was sleeping, it was as good a time as any to call her father back. She felt bad about the way she had left the conversation, but that much was beyond her control.
She held the phone to her ear as she waited for someone to pick up, and was about to hang up when her father Hiram answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Dad." She sighed softly.
"Rachel, I was just telling Papa that I talked to you this morning" She heard her Papa's voice in the background.
"I'm sorry about that this morning." She mused. "We had a bit of a hard morning that just finally settled..."
"It's okay sweetheart" Hiram assured. "Everything okay?"
She sighed. "I think he's still fighting the fever he had earlier this week. He was just cranky as hell today and he's finally asleep so I have a few moments to myself..."
Hiram made a noise on the other end of the line. "Poor boy."
"Yeah" She agreed. "We'll make it through. We always do. Just worried about him, you know"
"Of course baby. That's what makes you such a great mom Rachel."
"I try." She allowed her voice to trail off.
"So tell me again why you don't want to come down for the reunion? When we had ours it was so much..."
"Dad..." She hesitated. "I just...what do I have to gain by going to the stupid reunion, aside from a bunch of stress that I really don't need..."
"A vacation?" Hiram offered. "A chance to rekindle friendships. Everyone needs friends Rachel."
"I have friends, Dad." She argued. "Like me, their busy with their lives and their kids. I just don't think traveling is such a good idea. I've never flown with Camden and..."
"So bring Jenna..." Hiram exclaimed. "We'll pay for the plane tickets for all of you, if money is an issue..."
Rachel chewed her lip thoughtfully. Why was her father pushing this so hard? Why did it matter if she came home for the reunion?
"We worry about you sweetheart. And both your Papa and I think a trip home would be a great idea. A great way to have a vacation without overdoing yourselves. Every time we run into Will and Emma they ask about you. Same with the Puckerman's...and as a matter of fact Carole Hummel told me to say hello from both her and Burt..." He paused. "Plus, we would love to see you and show off our handsome grandson around town..." He chuckled.
She sighed. "Can I get back to you? I just need to think about it some more..." She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes.
"Sure" She heard her father sigh.
She continued to talk with her Dad, telling him a little bit about work and life in New York. When she hung up, they left the conversation in a better spot then this morning. She tidied up the apartment quietly, humming to herself. She came across the invitation where she had left it two days ago when she dusted the unit. As she held it in her hand, she stared down at the information once more.. It was three days. An extended long weekend. She could probably get the week off. She still had plenty of vacation time to use.
"Just make a decision Rachel." She mumbled to herself as she stared at the details. Could she really do it? Could she fly home and introduce her past to her present?
Thoughts?
