AN: Thank you for the reviews here's another chapter.
Elizabeth Berry-Fabray, Beth for short, didn't want any siblings. She adored being the sole focus of mothers' attention and their affection. She wasn't thrilled to find out she had a cousin, because a cousin meant that she'd have to share the attention. Especially since she was some long-lost cousin or whatever. It also meant that soon she wouldn't be able to guilt her aunt Charlie into huge presents. So to her, this Isabela was an interloper. An interloper that she had to be nice to when she really didn't want to. It was unfair, especially since all her parents could talk about was Bela this and Bela that. "Why can't I go to Jennifer's place?" She asked for what was probably the millionth time that afternoon.
Rachel groaned inwardly, unsure how many times she'd need to repeat it before Beth finally understood that this wasn't something that was optional. Quinn had said the prognosis wasn't good and if that was the case—if the worst happened, then Bela would need family, and that's what they were. "Because we're going to be meeting your cousin for the first time, and I'm going to be seeing a—well Santana and I aren't exactly close enough to be friends. But she was a big part of my life, and I want to see her and catch up with her. So you will be polite Beth, and you will be welcoming because she is your cousin."
"But why do we have to meet her today!" Beth said. "Jennifer got a new puppy and I wanted to play with him. She's bringing him home today and I really wanted to go see him." Beth whined, poking her mother.
Rachel shook her head, "Beth, she's your cousin and you're going to end up seeing a lot of her. Jennifer's puppy will still be there tomorrow." Rachel sighs and looks at her daughter, she understood her perfectly. "I know you don't like it when the spotlight isn't on you, but family is important. Bela is looking forward to meeting you."
Beth crinkled her nose, she didn't really care if Bela wanted to meet her. "I don't—" she began only to be interrupted by a firm knock on the door.
"She's here, which means you have to be a gracious host. Who knows, the two of you may have plenty in common. Just make sure you both do your homework before you play." Rachel reminded her, she would definitely need to have a talk with Quinn about Beth's entitled behavior. Rachel put on her best stage-smile and opened the door to their apartment. The perfected smile that had enchanted and captivated audiences broke when she saw even the hint of hesitation in Santana's eyes. Rachel's lips quivered ever so slightly and she leaned forward despite Santana trying to escape and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "Santana."
"Hobbit, get off of me. I don't want to get dragged to the shire." Santana said, what was with people and hugging her today. She knew it was her first chemotherapy session but she didn't need hugs. She needed people to pretend that everything was normal and she wasn't pumping her body filled with toxic drugs that would all but devastate her insides. The hugging made her generously close to crying and she was Santana fucking Lopez. She only cried when drunk.
Bela watched quietly and looked over at Beth who immediately slapped on her own stage smile. But she saw right through it and Bela reaches for her mom's free arm. "You can take me to Charlie's now."
Santana glanced at her daughter sympathetically, "You're right, this was a terrible idea. The answer is still no by the way, we aren't going to Charlie's, but if you really don't want to stay in a shire I suppose I can have you sit in the waiting room?" Maybe Quinn could keep her company for now.
Bela crinkled her nose at that idea and looked at Beth, which would be the lesser of two evils. She was about to decide to just go wait in the waiting room when Beth speaks up. "I have Dance Dance revolution and my mom made sugar cookies," Beth says, trying again. Waiting for her parents was boring and took forever. She hated sitting in the seats because her mom had an audition or because her mum had to work.
"You aren't going to drag me into your shire are you?" Bela asked wrinkling her nose as she walked towards Beth.
"What's a shire? What's a hobbit?" Beth asked.
"You've never heard of Lord of the Rings?" Bela said flabbergasted. Her mom had read to her the books and did the voices.
"I only watch movies with Barbra Streisand in it," Beth responded haughtily.
"Who?" Bela asked.
"You've never heard of Barbra Streisand?" Beth asked horrified. This was a travesty of the highest order.
Santana stared at Beth and then at Rachel and then at her daughter. This had been a terrible idea. Rachel smiled at her and leaned in close. "She looks just like you Santana, and she's like a miniature version of you." Rachel smiled. "I wish you would have told me. You shouldn't have been alone. I know how difficult it is raising Beth even with Quinn's help."
"It is what it is. I managed just fine on my own," Santana said not wanting to talk about it. "Look its two hours and I'm not sure how I'll feel after it. So it might—be a bit longer till I feel up to driving."
Rachel nodding in an understanding fashion, knowing how difficult it must be for Santana to need her help. "Take all the time you need Santana. Does Isabela have any allergies? Quinn didn't mention anything."
"No, she's fine just don't let her have too much candy or bacon."
"Fabray genes?" Rachel says nodding sympathetically.
"Damn Fabrays," Santana mutters under her breath. "Thank you Rachel—for this. I just—I need her close by."
Rachel smiles, "You don't have to thank me Santana. You're family." She's quiet for a moment, resisting the urge to hug Santana and tell her that she'd beat this thing. Santana probably would gut her and she liked her intestines very much in her body. "If I can make a suggestion Santana, perhaps if you're not feeling up to it you should get Charlie to help out a bit. She's been clean for nearly ten years Santana." Rachel said gently.
This was news to her but she didn't let it show. "Fuck. No. Quinn doesn't even trust her with Beth and they're family. I don't have time for this Rachel, I seriously don't and I don't want Charlie as a god damn taxi service." Santana said.
Rachel sighed, this thing with the Fabray treating Charlie like the red-headed stepchild that nobody wanted to deal with was getting tiring. Before Quinn had even let Charlie see Beth to begin with, Russell had hired a private detective for three months to make sure that Charlie wasn't doing drugs. She hadn't been allowed anywhere near Beth for five years. At first she had understood, she got the worry. Charlie hadn't been in a good place. But by the time Beth had been born Charlie had been clean, her family should be supporting her recovery, but she had been turned away after showing up. All this had caused Charlie to withdraw, generally refusing to spend any time with the family, which they used as proof that she was still doing something elicit it was a vicious cycle that needed to break. Which was why she was going to ship Santana and Charlie hard, Charlie needed a family. "Quinn and I don't agree on everything Santana. While Quinn doesn't trust Charlie with Beth, I do. She has never done anything to put Beth in any danger."
Santana arched a brow at this and shook her head, she didn't have time to deal with this right now. "I'm fine Hobbit, we're taking the Amtrak, and I have someone pick me up on the other end." Santana informed her, knowing that Rachel would probably push the issue if she could. Santana relaxes when Rachel finally nods, but that fades when Rachel throws her arms around her again. Damn hugs, and damn Fabrays.
"We're going to need to turn on the main stopcock," Noah Puckerman said and looked at Charlie, usually that elicited some type of reaction from her. Usually a roll of her eyes or something but there was nothing and she'd been like this for weeks. The guys were getting worried and he was the one that had pulled the short stick. She was a good boss, paid better than other guys in the area, so long as they did it right and on time. Sure delays happened, but they were pretty good at not wasting the clients' money. "Seriously Charlie what's up? You've been off and the guys are getting worried."
Charlie looked at Puck for a moment, "Sorry—I've just got a lot on my mind—we should start getting the drywall ready." Charlie said putting down her power drill and getting up dusting her knees off. She's about to go see if the rest of the guys are ready to start dry walling when Puck places his hand on her shoulder.
"Talk," Puck said, and he watched Charlie slump a bit.
Charlie eyes him, Puck out of all the people in the world hated people who couldn't bother to take care of their kids. "I have a kid—I just found out," she mumbles under her breath and flinches waiting for him to smack her. When she doesn't feel pain she opens her eye and looks at him, but he's waiting for her expectantly. "She's ten—I didn't know about her."
Puck's face twisted at this. He wasn't liking where this conversation was going. "One night stand? Are you sure she's yours? Like, you aren't exactly the poster child of sleeping around. Hell I don't even know when you last had sex. Half the guys think you're still a virgin."
"I've had sex—it's just it's difficult to find someone who wants to be with you when they find out you were a drug addict," Charlie admits and runs a hand, that has paint flecks all over it, through her hair. "Santana wouldn't lie about it. She was my ex-girlfriend and the timeline fits. She left I guess when she found out and I was too busy getting high to go after her to make her stay." Charlie's quiet, for a moment and looks at Puck. "Plus she's got Fabray genes," Charlie says with a small smile on her face.
"She looks like you?"
"God no, her mother is well—" a smile appears on Charlie's face. "The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She's going to be gorgeous when she grows up. Santana will have to invest in a bat or something." Charlie says. "I knew she was mine the moment she asked for another bacon cupcake." Charlie rubs her hands for a moment. "I denied it though. I panicked I mean—I'm not parent material. She should have someone she looks up to, and she's smart and quick just like Santana. Inquisitive—Santana's done a great job. She doesn't need me in her life mucking that up."
"Bullshit," Puck said and looks at her. "All because you weren't there for the first ten years doesn't mean you don't have shit to offer her. That she doesn't need you too. She's your responsibility and you need to own up to that!"
"Santana doesn't want me anywhere near her. She found me, travelled from Philadelphia to NYC just to find me. I don't even quite know how she did but she did. And what am I supposed to do Puck? I'm a stranger to her? For fucks sake I'm an addict! I don't want her to learn any of that from me." Charlie runs a hand through her hair again and looks at him. "I don't know what to do, I think she's better with Santana. I mean I'm not really allowed to be with Beth for a long period of time, I'm not good with this kind of thing. Like Quinn expects updates every fifteen minutes." Charlie rubs her head.
Puck watched the panic flicked across Charlie's face and sighed. "Speaking as someone whose dad made a million promises and never followed through. I think it's best if you pick one, and stick with it. Don't be that shitty parent that promises and promises but never does. So if you're going to stay out of her life, stay out of it. If you want to be part of her life even if some limited capacity then I suggest you get to know her."
"I don't know how to be a parent though," Charlie admits after a moment. "She's my kid—I want to see her grow up and graduate and all that stuff. But I don't—know how to and I don't want to step on Santana's toes. She doesn't even want me around, and I don't know how to convince her to let me be in her life."
"Who cares what Santana thinks?" Puck said patting Charlie on the back. "It's not Santana you should worry about it's the kid! Santana will just have to deal. So when do I get to meet my new god-daughter?"
"I do, she's a force when she's pissed off!" Charlie pauses for a moment and crinkles her nose. "Santana is her mother she did all the work I can't just go in there and stomp my feet, and treat her like she's a toy, and I'm pretty sure she has godparents."
Puck leans in and throws his arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Then I'll be her honorary godfather. It'll be our secret and we both know that I'm simply better than whoever Santana chose. I mean I'm totally awesome." This finally causes Charlie to roll her eyes and Puck grins his job is done. Now all they needed to do is get her a cake for her then year anniversary and everything would be right with the world. "So you need to get her a present of sorts, we can all chip in."
"I got her a gift certificate—" Charlie began.
"Dude no one reads books anymore! Get her one of those big iPhones!" Puck said smacking her on her back.
Santana: Remember what I taught you about Hobbits. Don't trust them! I love you.
Bela smiled at this as she read the text carefully. She didn't really understand why her mom called her aunt Rachel a hobbit, she didn't have hairy feet. She was short though, and it was cool that she was now related to someone famous. No one at school was going to believe her. Now she could do the family tree and Tiffany would be so jealous at school. She looked up at Beth who was staring at her phone her nose crinkled. "What?"
"That's your phone?" Beth asked, she bit her lip her mom had reminded her that not everyone had money for all the newest gadget, but that thing had a keyboard. What phones had keyboards? Her mum told her of a time when phones didn't have touch screens, but she was pretty sure that was just a joke.
"It's my phone, my mom got it for me last year," Bela said not quite understanding what was wrong with it. It was from Samsung, and it worked just fine for her. It was a phone it was supposed to call people. That's what her mom reminded her of all the time. Besides she had her Nintendo 3ds if she wanted to play games.
Beth crinkled her nose, "You should have asked for an iPhone or at least a Samsung Galaxy," Beth said and then tilted her head. "Or a smartphone." Beth pulled out her new iPhone and showed it to Bela. "I can play games and text my friends and facetime them. It's really cool. Plus it's super big so I can put my music on it. I have all the latest show tunes on it, well not with my mom singing because Jennifer says that's lame."
Bela's eyes widened, she wasn't really jealous but her mom had said that it was pointlessly expensive. "Your parents bought you that? You're so lucky!"
"No, I made Charlie feel bad about forgetting my birthday," Beth said. "So she took me shopping and I got one, I was going to ask my grandad for one, but he was busy. My grandma is going to be me the new watch to go with it. She's your grandma to so when you meet her she'll probably take you shopping and get whatever you want."
"Charlie missed ten of my birthdays—does that mean I get ten big gifts?" Bela asked wondering if that meant that Charlie was going to give her ten huge birthday gifts. "I mean she got me a gift card to the bookstore, but I ate her cupcake does that count?"
Beth stared at her cousin and wrapped her arms around her, "No. That's not good enough. Ten birthdays? That's like—you get a pony! Call her and ask for it. Wait make a list of the things you want then call her and ask for it. Ten presents for ten missed years." Beth said knowledgeably. She pulled away and brought out one of her star notebooks. "You should write them down. A new iPhone like mine so we can facetime each other all the time."
Bela blinked and smiled at Beth and nodded, she was right Charlie did owe her ten gifts, "I don't have her number though."
"She's your mum! How can you not have her number?" Beth asked crinkling her nose as Bela decided to work on her list.
"I just met her a few weeks ago, I got on a bus and found her after I found out where she lived. We come to the city so I knew which train to take and I stole my aunt's credit card, and I gave the taxi the address. Charlie didn't know I existed though, so she was really surprised."
Beth stared at Isabela. That was really weird. This whole thing was weird, she now had a cousin and her aunt Charlie had a daughter. This whole thing was weird. She still didn't understand what was going on quite yet, and she was going to ask her mom for all the information. "It's fine, I have her number in my phone," Beth said dismissively. "What's on your list?" Beth asked peering over Bela's shoulder.
"A new iPhone. A Playstation 4. I've always wanted a TV in my room!" Bela said eying Beth's television that hung on the wall. "Some new video games to go with my new ps4. Skateboard, with like Spiderman on it."
"Don't forget an iTunes gift card!" Beth said helpfully.
"Right, what else should I get?" Bela asked tapping the pen on the table.
Beth thinks for a moment and then shrugs, "I think it's best to keep your options open Bela. Charlie was only a day late and she bought me a brand new phone. I think if you play your cards right you can get more than just ten big gifts." Beth smiles and pulls out her phone and dials, pressing the speaker button on her phone.
'Beth? What's wrong?' Charlie asked, over the sound of hammering and what sounded like a power drill.
Beth held the phone out so Bela could speak but her cousin immediately clammed up and she sighed. Well she had only met Charlie a few weeks ago, so she probably didn't know how to handle her just yet. "What's wrong Charlie, is that I just found out that you missed ten of Isabela's birthdays! You owe her ten gifts, not to mention all the plays that you missed and everything else!"
'But—' Charlie said looking around her work site, suddenly feeling very guilty. She didn't know what to get Bela for gifts. Maybe Puck had been right.
"Don't worry, I'll help you Charlie," Beth said with a smile as she leans back on her bed and kicks her feet. "And since I'm your favorite niece, who is helping you out, you should totally get me a new Karaoke machine." Beth said with a smile.
'I—okay but I don't know what to get her.' Charlie says after a moment.
Beth's smile only got bigger, "I'll text you a list Charlie, and I'll get some pictures, but you don't have long she's going back to Philadelphia with her mom tonight, so you should totally hurry."
'Okay—you can send me the list and I'll think about it?' Charlie says scratching her head.
"I'll see you in an hour Charlie," Beth said with a grin ending the call. She glanced at the list and quickly typed everything into a text and sent it to Charlie.
"When my mom says she'll think about it, the answer is usually no," Bela pointed out frowning a bit.
Beth smiled and reached over to wrap her arm around her cousin's shoulders, even though she was older there was so much that she could teach her cousin, and she'd get a bunch of stuff from it as well. "Just stick with me Bela. You'll get whatever you want."
"Bela wants all this stuff and you're like—the closest person to a child I know," Charlie said holding the phone up for Puck to see. "I don't even know where to get all this," she said frowning a bit and scratching her head. Or how much it was going to cost her. "I owe her ten birthday presents. This is a good place to start right?"
Puck stuck his tongue out at Charlie but took the phone and glanced at the list and grinned, "Dude your kid is awesome. Let's go get her birthday presents, pretty sure we can find most of this shit at Best Buy. How long do we have?"
"An hour I guess," Charlie said looking at her phone again.
Puck nods at this, "Alright I'll put everything on order so all you have to do is go into the store and pay for everything and then come back out. Let's go man, you don't want to be late. And your kid should get to know her uncle Puck."
Charlie's nose crinkled at the idea of Puck and Bela meeting. Puck was a good man but she didn't know if she was allowed to just introduce him to Bela. She had no idea what the protocol is for this situation. "Puck I think you're going to have to go through Santana first. Just so she doesn't kill me." She said following him.
Rachel frowned ever so slightly it was a bit early for Santana to be back as she opened the door to their apartment and stared at Charlie and Puck who were standing there with a pile of boxes and bags from Best Buy. Puck was balancing two large boxes one had a television on it and the other looked suspiciously like the karaoke machine that Beth had been pestering them for. Rachel turns her attention to Charlie who has all the bags at her feet and is looking at her rubbing the back of her neck a guilty look on her face. "What did you do?" She knew for a fact that Charlie couldn't afford this, just like she suspected that she couldn't really afford to buy Beth the new phone several months ago.
"I missed ten of Bela's birthdays and Puck and Beth told me that I should make it up to her so I did." Charlie said nudging the boxes. She had maxed out both of her credit cards. She'd have to take some extra side jobs to pay it back, and she'd definitely be eating ramen for breakfast and dinner for a few months, or years. Maybe she'd have to go build her mother that damn gazebo to pay off her debts.
"Charlie?" Bela asked poking her head out from Beth's room and grinning when she saw her other mother. She quickly left the confines and rushed to see what she had gotten. Beth had certainly not been joking when she said that Charlie would get her everything on her list. Bela grins and wraps her arms around Charlie's waist tightly. "Thank you."
Charlie tenses at the contact and glances at Puck who flashes her a huge grin and sticks his thumb up at her. With a bit of effort Charlie wraps an arm around Bela and pats her back. "Happy—um—belated birthday." Charlie says. "I hope you like it."
"Is it okay if I put your number in my phone?" Bela asks her. She wanted to be able to call Charlie whenever she wanted just like Beth. It wasn't just about the stuff, even though that was super cool. She just wanted to be able to talk to Charlie.
"Um if it's okay with your mother," Charlie said when Rachel gave her a look. She swallowed. "I have to get back to work Bela—"
"Charlie did you get it?" Beth asked as she finally left her room and grinned when she saw her new korokke machine.
"Aunt Charlie," Rachel corrected immediately but when Charlie shrugged it off she sighed. "Elizabeth, what have I told you about demanding things from Charlie? It's not nice to mess with her like that, let alone demand expensive items, after I've told you no!"
Charlie flushed. "It's okay Rachel, she helped me," Charlie said quickly not wanting Beth to get in trouble. "It's just a gift."
Bela frowned ever so slightly suddenly feeling guilty for asking for expensive stuff. "Can you afford to get me all of this?"
Charlie glanced at her daughter for a moment and frowned seeing the guilt on her face, "I'm fine, I just need to build a gazebo. I got all these presents for you, so you have to have fun with them."
"Don't forget the helmet," Puck whispered to her reminding her. They had this parenting thing down. He was going to be an awesome godfather.
"And you have to wear your helmet when you use your new skateboard." Charlie says nodding at him as he put the boxes down on the ground of Rachel's apartment.
Rachel sighed she was going to have a very stern talk with Quinn and she was going to pay for all the things that Charlie bought for her daughter. And she was going to ground Beth for the foreseeable future. She smiles at Charlie, "Thank you for the gifts Charlie, I'll bring over a plate of sugar cookies. Oh and congrats." Rachel said and Charlie blinked. "Ten years?"
Charlie relaxed and nodded. "Ten years," she said with a smile. "Anyway I've got to make sure the guys aren't playing around with the nail gun again. Bye Bela," Charlie said. She wasn't sure if she should hug her again. So instead she just shakes her hand. She quickly realizes how silly she looks and flushes grabbing Puck and dragging him with her.
"Hey Rachel can I get some of those sugar cookies to?" Puck calls out to her.
"Of course Noah, I'll bring some by the work site tomorrow," Rachel said shaking her head.
AN: Another chapter down, 26 more to go. Reviews are like my addiction.