'Bye Beth' Noah said, standing at the doorway of the apartment 'you just give us a call when you are all packed up and we'll come round and pick all your stuff up. Then we'll go out for lunch' he said glancing at his fiancée.

'Yeah that sounds like a good idea, Noah' Rachel remarked in agreement 'I don't think I'm quite up to cooking yet!' she said gesturing to the organised mess which filled their apartment. 'What do you think Beth?'

'That sounds great!' replied Beth excitedly. She could not believe she was staying with them for the rest of the week before they moved back to their home town of Lima. They actually wanted her to stay with them, even though she knew it was not a good time for them, she had the potential to get in the way, they were welcoming her into their family. A smile formed on her face, a family and a home. 'See you soon Rachel, Dad!' Then she turned and hurried down the stairs of the apartment block with Mrs Frost, leaving very happy couple behind.

'Did you hear what she said Rach?' Noah asked grinning 'She called me Dad!'

'I heard Noah' she answered also smiling. She had known how much Noah wanted to be a dad to Beth and how heartbroken he had been to give up. Now she was back in their lives for good. 'Come on, I need help sorting out the spare room, so Beth can stay there for this week.'

'Right' Noah replied. To say he was very happy was an understatement, he could not put his joy into words. His baby was staying with them, hopefully permanently. Rachel had sorted it all out with Mrs Frost. Beth would stay with them this week before they all move back to Lima, a sort of test run. Then when they ahd moved and settled, they would have to sort out Beth's living arrangements through the courts, however Mrs Frost said she could see no reason why Beth would not be allowed to live with them. Noah felt that the only hard thing would be telling Quinn.

Quinn was also living in Lima, having married Sam straight out of college. She was now an elementary school teacher and had a little girl two years ago called Aimee. Rachel, Noah and Quinn had all developed a strong friendship during senior year and they had kept in touch after graduating High School. Quinn would have to know about Beth. Lima was a small town, where nothing could stay secret for long, especially when Noah and Sam would be working together – Sam was WMHS' football coach. Yes, it would be better to tell it to her face, rather down the phone or worse, Quinn finding out via someone else. Going only on what he had discovered about Beth in the two hours, he could sense she would want to ask about and meet her biological mother. She was very inquisitive, asking Noah about nearly every CD, Playbill or piece of sheet music in the music room. They did not get much packed away, but Noah could not resist answering his daughter's eager questions.


'...and then Rachel stood on the stage and belted out flawlessly, without much practise, Don't Rain on My Parade'. Noah was telling Beth about the Glee club's first experience of nationals.

'Wow' Beth turned to Rachel who was sitting next to her in the booth, in the local diner where they were eating lunch. 'You really did that? That song is so hard!'

'Well Beth' Rachel replied smiling 'Your Dad forgot to tell you that I had been practising that solo since I was four.'

'Mom said you needed to be really good to sing Barbra' Beth commented playing with the end of her straw, 'she used to hum all her songs under her breath'

'Well the first time I met Shelby, she sang Barbra' Rachel said putting her arm around Beth and gave a comforting sweeze, 'I was hiding at the back of the rival team's auditorium, spying on them for regionals. Then their coach, Shelby, came onto the stage and sang Funny Girl. She was amazing' Rachel commented, smiling. Whatever her Mother had done to Rachel, there was no denying that she was an amazing singer.

'Come on let's get back to the apartment' Noah announced to the girls 'Beth, I'm sure Rach is dying to show you around the flat and show you pictures of our new home back in Lima'


'So this is the front room, bathroom, kitchen, mine and Noah's bedroom...' Rachel said to Beth holding Beth's hand and dragging her around the apartment, giving her a quick tour. She then carefully opened the spare bedroom door and led Beth in '...and this is your room Beth while we live here'. It was quite a small room with a single bed in the corner. A cupboard was against the opposite wall and there was an empty bookcase next to it. The floor was covered with boxes, filled with assorted items. 'Is this OK?' Rachel asked hesitantly 'I'm sorry about all the boxes on the floor, it's just we have been using this room as storage space since we don't normally have people staying over' she added apologetically.

'Oh, Rachel it's great!' Beth exclaimed, throwing her arms around her older sister. Beth moved into the room, carefully stepping over the boxes and sat down on the bed, looking around her new bedroom. She was so glad that she did not have to share a room with anyone anymore. She had to share one with two other girls in the home she was staying in. They were not really cruel to Beth, but she felt that she never had a sense of privacy when she was there and some of her possessions seemed to go mysteriously missing.

'I'm glad you like it' Rachel replied moving to sit next to her 'when we move into our new house in Lima, we'll make sure your room is nice. It will be bigger than this one!' Rachel promised her sister. 'Look I've got a picture of the house on my phone, what you think?'


Beth had gone to bed early, the exciting day had worn her out and she was tired. Rachel and Noah were currently curled up on the sofa in front of the TV, watching RENT-Rachel's choice. Rachel's head was on Noah's lap and he was casually stroking her hair.

Suddenly they heard a cry, Noah and Rachel immediately jumped of the sofa and headed to Beth's room.

'Beth, are you OK?' Noah asked racing over to the crying child, holding her to his chest and stroking her hair, in the same gentle manner he had just been doing to Rachel's.

'Sorry, nightmare' Beth replied somewhat shakily 'I was alone, everyone had abandoned me.'

'Beth sweetie, look at me' Rachel said gently 'Beth I promise you that you will never be abandoned again, Noah and I are here now, you are family and we will never leave you'

'Never?'

'Never, I promise.'

'I just miss my Mom, she used to sing to me before I went to sleep, she had been doing as long as I can remember, even when she was ill, she still whispered it to me and now I'm never going to hear her voice again. She made all the bad dreams disapear.' Beth broke down again.

'shhhh Beth, it will be OK, give me a second' Rachel said, before standing up and hurrying out of the room, leaving the crying child with her father. She reappeared a few minutes later with her ipod and speakers in hand. 'Will this be alright?' she asked Beth as she plugged in the machine and pressed play. The opening phrase of a well know song, came quietly out of the speakers.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by...

'Is that Mom?'

'Yes' replied Rachel 'It's Mom.'

'Thanks so much Rach, Dad. I think I'll be able to get to sleep now.'

'Well sleep well, Beth' Noah said kissing his daughter tenderly on the forehead.

'Yes, have a goodnight's sleep' Rachel added smoothing Beth's covers. 'We have a busy day tomorrow.'


Hi! thanks to everyone who has been alerting, reading and reviewing.

Sorry for not updating, had little writers block with this chapter, which has now finally cleared!

I hope you liked, more members of New Directions will be appearing soon!

Please if you have the time please leave a review!

Thanks again!~Cherry :D