"Oh darling, don't you ever grow up,

Wish you'd never grow up,

Just stay this little..."

"Mom. Mom. Mom." Rachel groaned and positioned the pillow over both ears. "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy."

The bed dipped slightly and then the pillow was gone.

"Oh mommy." Rachel growled and jumped up, spitting hair out of her mouth.

"Yes?"

"Oh good, you're up." Her five year old daughter grinned and Rachel rolled her eyes before jumping forward to tickle her sides.

"What did I say about mommy needing her beauty sleep?" She teased as her daughter laughed uncontrollably beneath her.

"But mommy's already beautiful." Lea gasped and Rachel's face softened.

"Come on then Le. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Uh…Can I have the star cereals?" She wondered, as she took Rachel's hand.

"Sure can. Chocolate or honey?"

Lea made a face. "I don't even like honey."

"Chocolate it is." As Rachel switched the kettle on, she turned to look at Lea more closely. Whilst Lea had defiantly inherited some of Rachel's strongest qualities, the determination, the stubbornness and the need to be right, she had hardly any of Rachel's physical features at all.

Her nose, thank God, was normal sized and dainty, her mouth was nearly always set in a crooked grin and her eyes, her beautiful eyes, were the exact same shade as Finn's.

Finn. She'd often wondered what would have happened if she'd stayed that morning. If he'd had known she was pregnant. Would he have tried to help her? Or would he have been the type of guy to flee? She'd made that choice for him.

Yes, Rachel did feel guilty that Finn was missing out on the talented, beautiful girl that Lea was becoming or when Lea would make a father's day card and have to give it to Noah or one of Rachel's fathers. However, she knew it would have been selfish to tell Finn. He had been training to be the next big football star and if she'd told him, if he'd stuck around, he would have been forced to give all that up for a one night stand.

Finn wasn't the only person she'd left behind in Lima. When she'd said goodbye to Kurt, she never expected that to be the last time she'd ever see him. She'd thought they would stay in touch but after she found out she was pregnant, she knew she had to cut all ties with Lima because if Kurt knew, Finn would have found out. So, she had changed her number, email and address and never looked back.

"Shall I get ready for school, mommy?" Lea's voice dragged her out of her memories and Rachel wiped her eyes, to get rid of the tears that were forming at the thought of her old friend.

"Yea baby, but be quick. I need to run into the restaurant quickly on the way." Lea nodded and slipped of the kitchen stool before disappearing into the bedroom and Rachel threw the dregs of her drink down the sink before going to get ready herself.

She stood in front of her wardrobe, debating what to wear. She'd like to say her style had improved since high school (now she only owned one sweater with an animal on) but her best friend and cousin-in-law, Santana would beg to differ.

Smiling to herself at Santana's latest rude comment about her clothing choice, Rachel picked out a pair of blue skinny jeans and a white tank top before throwing her boyfriend cardigan over the top. Adding one layer of pale lip-gloss and running a brush through her wavy hair, she was ready to go.

"Sweetie?" She called as she picked up the car keys.

"Coming!"

Rachel had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing when Lea entered the room because she had dried toothpaste on her chin and where she had obviously tried to do her hair herself, it was all scraped into a messy side pony.

She smiled and gently took the band out of Lea's dark, just below shoulder length hair.

"Did you do this all by yourself?" Rachel exclaimed as she ran her fingers through it, trying to get rid of some of the knots Lea had created.

"Yes but it didn't go how you do it." Lea pouted, nose scrunching up in distaste.

"That's because mommy's magic." Rachel teased, as she tightened the ponytail. "Now grab your bag and let's go say hi to Auntie Santana before school."

Lea grinned and grabbed her bag before skipping out the door and waiting patiently for Rachel to join her at the side of the road.

Rachel hated Lea's school. The moms were a tight knit and so obviously looked down on Rachel's young age of twenty three. It was something she had always suffered with, especially when she was seventeen and pregnant. Looking back now, Rachel's ashamed to admit that at first, she did consider giving Lea up but found that she was unable to after viewing the first ultrasound.

Lea may have forced Rachel to give up her dreams but there wasn't one day when Rachel regretted it.

"San?" She called as the bell rang above their heads, signalling their arrival. Santana's head poked around the door, before straightening up and wiping the sugar off her hands onto her apron, in order to give Lea a hug and kiss.

"Alright there, squirt?" Lea nodded and ran off to the kitchen, probably to find Noah. "What are you doing here? I told you Noah and I would be fine taking care of the place today." Santana glared, hands on hips and Rachel held up her hands as if in surrender.

"I know. I know but I left my folder here and it's got all my sheets in." Santana's hands dropped and gestured to the stairs.

"Now that you say it, I think I saw it. Come on up." Rachel glanced at her watch.

"Okay but it needs to be quick. Lea's got to be at school in fifteen minutes."

"How are you?" Rachel asked as Santana rooted in a cupboard. "Any luck?"

"No, not yet but it's gotta happen soon right?" Santana joked but Rachel could see her facade breaking.

"Yea. Anyone can see how amazing you both are with Lea." Rachel encouraged and Santana shot her a grateful smile as she handed over the folder.

Santana and Noah had been trying for a baby for over a year and with each negative they received, the more strain was being put on the relationship and the guiltier Rachel felt.

It wasn't her fault but she didn't miss the longing in Santana's eyes whenever Rachel was playing with Lea.

"Anyway, I better head off." Rachel told her awkwardly and Santana nodded. As she made her way downstairs, Rachel could pick out Lea's distinct voice.

"And in ten days, I'm going to to be six. Mommy says this makes me a big girl but Noah says.."

Rachel frowned. She had assumed Lea was talking to Noah but if she was talking about him…Rachel rounded the corner, her eyes immediately looking for Lea to find her sitting on the counter, talking to a man who's face Rachel couldn't see as his back was turned.

"Lea," She hissed. "What have I said about talking to.." Her voice trailed off as Lea glanced up and the man spun around to look at her, causing Rachel to gasp at the all too familiar amber eyes….

A/N: I know it was short but the back story had to done so I hope I didn't bore you too badly. I debated a lot between which character to have as Santana but decided that I prefer a Santana/Rachel friendship to a Rachel/Quinn one.

Please ignore any errors as I didn't have time to reread it. Thank you all so much for your reviews.

What do you think is going to happen next?

Review!

Paige ;)