Title: This is thirty
Rating: R for adult situations and drug use
Tagline: And you thought being 16 was bad
Summary: Rachel Berry made rash decisions in leaving Broadway and heading to L.A. to become a failed TV star. She ended up back at McKinley teacher Drama and coach Glee Club, funding the art programs with the money she made and heft donations from New Directions Alumni. She's not unhappy but she's not happy then Quinn Fabray rolls back into town with a teenage daughter, three year old son, and a job at McKinley.
Universe Info: Quinn and Puck never gave up Beth and raised her. She would be about fifteen if I'm correct if not...I meant to do it because it's AU. Quinn and Puck get a divorce before Quinn moves back to Lima. Rachel and Finn got married before Rachel went to college and he went to the military. Finn returned and moved in with Rachel and Kurt, Rachel became pregnant shortly after her nineteenth birthday. Finn became a stay at home dad while Rachel was at school then when she hit Broadway. Finn passed away from a mysterious illness when their son was seven months old.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Lauren it is so not weird. I look for your name in every story I write because I look forward to your reviews
A/N: Quinn has the photos with Finn because there are mostly pictures of him with Beth and even though he's an ex he was still her friend. It would be more inappropriate to have pictures of them as a couple but that isn't the case. I also believe that Quinn is very much like her mom in an unfortunate way when it comes to Puck. Even as a grown woman her daddy issues are wrapped up in Puck in a pretty bow but I think you'll like Rachel's reaction.
A/N: I misspelled casualty. I did mean to use "casualty of war" using the definition; "a person or thing being affected by event or situation" not referring to someone actually getting injured in a war or an accident. Sorry for not being clearer with that.
A/N: Every time Finn and Rachel broke up, minus 'Roots before Branches' is still canon. In my head canon for this he goes to New York with her, and the in between time of their relationship is Faberry. The Finchel break-ups will be longer in time for the sake of this story and the development of Rachel and Quinn's relationship over the years. We will learn more about Faberry as time goes on. Venturing into college a few times.
A/N: We will see more of Puck in this chapter with Beth and maybe Quinn. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I know my writing style can be a little hard to follow but I'm trying to work on it =]
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Rachel POV
Sunday
After the best date of my life I wasn't having a good morning and not because Charlie demanded to sleep with us and somehow ended up with his feet in my face, it's not because I was awaken by the sounds of screams and chainsaws, and it's not because Quinn screamed because Charlie surprised her by jumping out of the fridge. It's because Quinn asked me to check her text and I saw one from Noah saying, 'Good morning, beautiful. I would really like to see you today.' I replied, as Quinn, and get his address and where the hideaway key is. Apparently Kitty is in New York doing some press for some shit movie she did before getting a role in Space: A Galaxy Lost which is supposed to be Noah's next great movie. I deleted the messages and told Quinn she didn't have any. Of course Beth caught me because the child is a freaking ninja and she sees and hears everything that's going on. I could have sworn that she was downstairs but no she was walking into the room to tell us she was starting her first day at Sam's comic book store to take one of Quinn's credit cards to buy lunch. It's kind of like we silently understood each other because she just nodded at me and didn't mention anything to Quinn when she got out of the shower Beth just said her goodbyes and left.
I park in the driveway and walk up to the fake bird feeder and open it to take out the key. I unlock the door and walk inside, pushing it closed. I can smell pancakes, bacon, and eggs so I walk into the kitchen and just lean in the doorway watching Noah cook. I cross my arms and don't say a word just watching him closely and resisting the urge to stab him in the back of the head with my keys or call his name and mace him.
"Baby mama?" He turns around and stops, "Rachel, Quinn invited you?"
I shake my head, "She's not here. You kissed my girlfriend, Noah."
"You're fucking my wife, Rachel."
"I'm pretty sure that's not true." I stand up straight, "she sent me a picture messaged of her smiling beside the finalized document."
He walks toward me, "you know she loves me more than she could ever love you."
"You're delusional, Noah. It's really pathetic that you think Quinn is that stupid."
He rolls his eyes, "We're too old to keep doing this."
"Then stop acting like a child."
He takes out his phone and answers it, his tone changing into friendly as he says the name of a studio exec that I remember meeting. We've done this before. Finn and I broke up quite a bit in high school, way more than she and Noah. She was either with me, single, or Noah was trying. She didn't give him a real chance until senior year when Finn and I became engaged. It was odd, going to see her while she was living with Noah, before they got together when she had a bed in Beth's room. She was always moving out because he was always bringing girls home or they were always fighting, it was always worse when we started dating. But I learned a lot more about competition competing with Noah for Quinn's affections than I ever did in any other contest.
"You're only with her because Finn is dead." Noah walks into the room, "if he was around you would still be married to him and have a punch of clumsy giants and tiny Jewish princesses running around while he ran his glee club."
I look at him, "That may very well be true, I don't know. But I do know that in any universe you're not good enough for her and that she settled for you."
"We've been together for fifteen years."
"No, you've been raising a child for fifteen years. You were nothing more than Beth's father."
He sits down, "you're ruining my family!"
"You ruined your family!" I finally lose my temper, "stop blaming everyone else for your problems! You think you're the only that's lost someone? I'm sorry about your mother and I know that the world is so much darker without Finn in it but it doesn't give you a license to be an asshole."
He glares and stares away so I move to sit on the coffee table so I'm in front of him and I grip his face, turning it into my direction.
"You need to grow the fuck up. You need to sober up and you need to be a better father. And if you ever in your miserable life call Beth a train wreck again I will kick your nuts into your stomach." I stand up and start walking to the door, "oh," I turn around, "if you kiss my girlfriend again you're going to wish all I did was kick your nuts into your stomach."
I storm out, slamming the door and it feels good. I look at my watch, I'm only twenty minutes late for glee practice when means I'll only be forty minutes early instead of an hour. I walk down to my car and slide into the driver's seat and start heading toward the school. I just hope practice goes a lot smoother.
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It's going a little smoother with Lila running the girl's dance lesson and Matty helping with the boys. Duke is practicing scales with Michele since they both have a solo in the second number. I decided to give the closer to Matty and Beth, I like their chemistry and Beth doesn't ham it up nearly as much as Michele. I cringe when I think if my faces were as bad and behavior was as extreme. It was. I was an annoying child. I apologize to Will every time I see him.
"You guys move like you're sinking in quicksand. Five minute break."
I listen to them mutter how much they hate me as they fall to the stage out walk out the side door. Matty pulls his shirt off and ties it around his head as he jumps down and walks over the first two roles to crawl into a seat me.
"What's up, Miss B?"
I look at him, "you're doing a very good job, Matty."
"Thanks." He raises his hand as Andy throws him a bottle of water, "he's going to be just like that one armed pitcher just blind, ya know?"
I nod, "right. What can I do for you?"
"Right, where's Beth? I was going to text her but I forgot to charge my phone." He smiles, "she's okay right."
I smile at his concern, "she's fine. Her nose is fine, she's still pretty bruised but she's fine."
"That's great." He stands up, "The show must go all over the place, right?"
I just nod, the kids are always quoting the pictures on the wall. I make it a point to them all who they are and how important were to the arts program in this school. I remember Artie saying how no one would know who they are and I just can't let that happen. Not while I'm still here.
"Slow down."
I look over my shoulder as Quinn walks down the aisle while Charlie runs right for the stage then right to the guitar starting to make noise. I watch Matty take the guitar from him and sit on the ground getting Charlie to sit beside him. There's a divide in my group; Duke and Michele along almost everyone else at one side while Matty, Lila, Heather, and Andy sit on the other side. I blame Duke and Michele, I'm not sure what to do about it.
Quinn sits down and kisses me on the cheek, "hey baby, how's it going?"
"They're so talented." I place my head on her shoulder, "How are you?"
She rests her cheek against the top of my head, "I'm alright. Had a long talk with Charlie about no longer drawing on the walls and putting him in a private head start program so we can try and improve his social skills."
"Did you say it that way?"
"No, in a way." She starts playing with my fingers, "I said in a way that he can understand. He's very happy. Can you believe it? My baby is happy about leaving me."
I laugh and she moves, sitting up, and punches me in the arm lightly. I smile and lean over pressing my lips against her cheek.
"He needs to be around people his own age. His best friends are eleven and fifteen."
She pouts, "He panics so bad around large crowds some times. What if he has a panic attack?"
"Sweetie," I place my hand on her knee, "if he panics we can pick him up and if he doesn't we can pick him up. After school."
I hold my megaphone up and press the button letting the horn echo so they can start practicing again. I turn Quinn's face toward mine and kiss her lips softly.
"I love you." She stands up, "I'll see you at home. Are you staying the night?"
I smile, "Of course."
I lean my head back and pucker my lips and she leans down kissing me before walking away. I watch her pick up Charlie and leave the auditorium. I turn back to the stage and cringe as the group tries to do the dance together. I bring the megaphone to my lip and stand up.
"I have never been more pained in my life and I gave birth in a taxi!"
Sue Sylvester would be proud of me.
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Beth POV
Sunday Afternoon
My job is pretty sweet, I'm in charge because Sam is like my uncle and I'm the only one here besides the small group of nerds standing in the corner around the new releases. I swivel around in my chair as I read the newest issue of Superman written by Sam himself. It's the best job in the world, I work a few days a week, I get paid to read comics, and when Sam isn't here I'm boss. Sam isn't here, he left for Ireland after giving me a quick three hour training. He gave me the keys and told me his wife would handle the payroll because he wouldn't be back for a month because he's filming some Indie movie about hipster Clark Kent. It sounds lame but if it's anything like this comic it'll be the best thing about Superman since the first movies. I put the magazine down as the group of basement dwellers come to pay then leave. I smile and look toward the clock before going over to the door to close it up and to count out my drawer. When I start to lock the door my dad walks up and holds a super big gulp cup and a box of donuts. I sigh and open the door letting him come in and he doesn't smell like liquor when I hug too tight. I step back and close the door, twisting the lock all the way around then I pull down the black shade. I take the cup and go behind the counter to start counting out the drawer.
"Hey kiddo, your mom told me you were working here. I went by the house looking for you."
I look at him, "thank you for the drink."
I take a long sip before going back to counting, separating the bills and the coins because it makes me feel better. He leans on the counter and opens the box taking out a powdered jelly filled donut. I put the money in a pouch then print out a receipt and sign it.
"What do you want?"
He sighs, "I'm sorry for being a dick."
"Daddy, you are a dick." I look at him and take a donut out, "But I'm not mad at you for that."
I hold the donut in my mouth and grab the money bag then the slushy and walk to the back room. I put down the cup and unlock the safe and toss the money inside and shut it with my elbow. I sit down on a chair and he sits across from me putting the donuts down. Dad and I have a lot of problems, we argue a lot, he gets mad at me, and I get mad at him but I love him so much. The good things about daddy far outweigh the bad, I once had this really bad ear infection and I almost went deaf. Daddy came all the way home from Australia with a stuff koala and stayed in bed with me until I was better. Yeah, there are few times when he's been MIA or when he's broken his promises but I know that if I can't go to mom I can go to daddy or I use to. Now, I don't know. He thinks I'm a train wreck and that hurts more than anything else, not to mention he's always hurting mom when she doesn't deserve it. Mom isn't a bad person and she doesn't deserve to catch the shit storm of daddy being moody.
He looks at me, "hey, look at me." He smiles when I look at him, "I'm sorry for calling you a train wreck. I shouldn't have done that. You're a great kid, I love you for who are and I wouldn't change a thing about you."
"Then why did you say it?"
"I don't have a reason."
I angrily wipe my eyes, "You said it to hurt mom! Why do you want to hurt her more? What did she ever do to you?"
He runs his fingers over his hair and I sigh as I reach across the table dusting the powder off his forehead.
"I didn't…I didn't think we would really divorce." He puts his hand up to stop me from talking, "I know, it's stupid. We weren't happy but we were family and I never wanted you or Chuckie to come from a broken home."
I look at him, "Daddy, you and mommy keep trying to keep me and Charlie from coming from a broken home but I'd rather you guys be divorced than miserable."
"I'm a fuck up, kiddo."
"Yeah, you're a huge fuck up and you piss me off and you piss off mommy but we love you." I smash my donut in his face, "And we're even now."
He smiles at me and I grin back, I have the best daddy. I know I do. I just know it.
"You still love me, right?"
He walks around the table and knells down in front of me, "I love you, and I will always love you. You're my baby girl." He kisses the tip of my nose, "come on, I'll take you home."
I get up and grab my drink as he grab the donuts and we go out the backdoor. If he was anyone else I wouldn't even bother trying to forgive him. But a girl needs a dad, if not I could end up with some serious daddy issues. Just ask my mom.
I get in the car as my dad puts my bike in the trunk then gets behind the wheel and pulls off starting to head down the street. I toss the top of my slushy out of the window and start to drunk the donut into the slushy, laughing as he makes a face.
"So, your mom's girlfriend stopped by this morning. Lost her shit on me and threatened to kick my nuts into my stomach."
I smirk, "That's my line. Why'd she do that?"
"Uh, I may have sent a flirty message to your mom. I didn't really mean anything by it, I was just being me."
I slurp my drink, "I don't know, daddy, if you were hitting on my girlfriend I'd be pretty pissed off."
"I'm going into outpatient rehab so I can get the drinking under control." He looks at me, "I just wanted to let her know."
I lean over and kiss his cheek, "see? You're already doing better. Now we just need to kill Pussy."
"Kitty and stop it. I know you don't like her and you don't have to. All I ask is that you be the bare minimum of respectful."
I scoff as I start eating another donut thinking about my options, I don't have to do anything because at the end of the day no one is going to be mad at me for hating the woman that kicked the last leg of foundation from under my parents. They could have had a civil divorce or they could have worked it out but we'll never know.
"Daddy," I look at him as he pulls into the driveway, "I think that by Thanksgiving we can be sitting around the table together. You know? Not Pussy. But me, Chuckie, Alfie, mommy, Rachel, and you."
He smiles, "And what about Kitty?"
"You won't even be with her by Thanksgiving. Come on, daddy." I get out the car and close the door then lean in the window. "You know as well as I do Kitty is a cheap knock off of mommy and the sooner you accept that the sooner you can begin your recovery. I love you."
He laughs, "I love you too, kiddo."
As he pulls off Rachel pulls up and gets out of the car, coming over to stand beside me. I look at him, pushing my hair back staring until daddy is out of view,
"Reign it in, Rach. He was here for me."
Her expression changes from anger to excitement, "how did it go?"
"Fine, we're best friends again. Where's Alfie?"
"He's with his grandma. " She reaches out and moves her fingers over my cheek, "you're healing up so well. Your mom broke her nose once and her entire face was bruised for over two weeks."
I move my head, "stop it, it hurts."
"Don't whine, Beth. Come on, let's going inside."
"Wait," I stop her, "I just want to say I'm sorry for being such an ass to you at first. I had to be sure you weren't just trying to finger my mom and leave. But I can tell you love her as much as she loves you and that's what matters and you're not so bad yourself."
Rachel smiles at me, putting her hand to her chest, "that was the sweetest and most vulgar apology I've ever gotten."
"It's a Puckerman gift, Rach." I start walking toward the door, "we're fucking poets."
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Matty comes over and we're lying in my bed watching a movie with the door cracked, my mom insisted and she's been bringing up cookies and milk and napkins and she just brought up sandwiches. Matty looks incredibly happy about all of the food, I gave him my sandwich and told him that she'd be back up soon with apple juice and she came right up with apple juice. I heard Rachel tell her to knock it off and I'm glad for it. What does she think I'm going to do? Matty is really nice and really understanding. He doesn't try anything and I can lie on his back and he told me I could do it any time I want. I wanted to put my head on his chest but my mom came in while my hand was on his chest and we were looking at each other. I was just asking him if I could put my head on his chest he really, really, wanted me to but I made him roll on his stomach instead. This way we both win.
"You weigh nothing."
I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my chin on his head, "You have really soft hair."
"Thanks."
We don't say much, we just lie together and I like it. It's very comfortable, the silence isn't awkward and I don't feel the need to constantly be a smart ass around him. The door opens again and Rachel comes into the room and walks over grabbing the cookie and sandwich plate then the glasses, putting them all on a tray.
"Beth, you're giving your mom a heart attack."
"Oh yeah?" I sit up with a smile, "close the door and we're going to jump in the bed while I scream obscenities."
Matty shakes his head quickly, "we are not your mom owns a gun."
"Fine, big baby." I start rubbing his shoulders, "tell her to knock it off."
Rachel walks to the door, "Just don't drink any wine coolers."
I watch Rachel leave the room and I look at Matty until he looks over his shoulder at me with a smile.
"Are you hiding wine coolers, Matthew?"
He grins wider, "How did you know?"
I move and get out the bed as he sits up and takes his phone out, standing up slowly.
"I have to go," He slides into his shoes, "my mom's plane just landed."
I nod, "what does your mom do?"
"I don't know." He answers honestly, "I think she was in Europe or Japan or something. I think she consults."
It makes me sad when I see his eyes go blank before he looks in the mirror starting to tuck his shirt in. Matty doesn't dress like most of the other football players, his shirts are always tucked in and his jeans are always neatly pressed, and he wears a tie every Monday and Friday. I think it's very cute, I've never thought that someone who looks likes their mom dresses them would be cute but he is.
"Do you want to come back for dinner?"
He smiles, "if I can, sure."
He steps close to me and I feel nervous so I take a step back. He takes both of my hands softly giving me one of his smiles as he laces or fingers.
"I just want to kiss you on the cheek. Is that okay?"
I nod slowly, "Y-yes…yes…okay that's okay…yes."
He laughs as he leans in letting his lips brush against my cheek before pressing a soft kiss against my skin.
"See, harmless?" He smiles at me, "like a koala."
I just watch him and follow him down the stairs, keeping his hand in mine with our fingers laced together. We walk to the door and he opens it then turns back to me to lean down and kiss my cheek again.
"I'll call you tonight."
I smile at him, "Okay."
I watch him walk across the yard and get into his car before I close the door and lean against it.
"She's so cute when she has a crush."
I glare at my mom and Rachel, "You really know how to ruin a moment. Jerk offs."
"Go to your room." My mom points up the stairs.
Rachel shakes her head, "send her to our room, there's nothing fun in there."
"Go to our room."
I mock them as I go upstairs. I'm going loosen the screws in mom's bed so it falls apart on them because they're jerk offs.
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Alfie POV
Sunday
I love hanging out with my grandma, she's pretty cool and Burt is really nice to me. He hugs me way too much and I love their dog, they named him Finn which is kind of weird but I like him. He's a huge dog, he looks like a bear and he runs sideways. I've seen him run into doors and roll down the steps. He's the greatest but he's really hard to walk because I'm so skinny and he's so big, he really ends up walking me. I stumble down the street as a truck pulls up and it's Duke Anderson. I watch him pull over and get out the car, running his fingers over his hair.
"What's up, Alf?" He smiles at me, "cute dog."
I look at him, "What do you want?"
Beth doesn't like The Duke because he kissed her and she didn't like it and since I'm her brother I don't like him either, not to mention he kissed her without asking. Beth told me to never kiss a girl without asking first and that sounds like really good advice to me.
"I wanted to talk to Beth…can you give her a letter for me?"
I shake my head, "nope."
"Why not? I thought we were friends, dude."
I put my hand against his chest and I push him, "Because you kissed her and she didn't want you to, she doesn't like you."
He walks close and I squeeze my eyes shut while holding the leash tighter. I've never been hit before and he looks like he wants to hit me.
"Hey!"
I open my eyes watching a big black SUV pull up on to the sidewalk and Beth's dad gets out of the car. He walks up to Duke and pushes him roughly against the truck and sneers in his face.
"Tell me why I shouldn't throw your punk ass over a bridge?"
I hold grandma's dog in place, "he's underage, sir. I think you'll go to jail."
"Get in the car." He releases Duke, "go home, next time I won't be so nice."
I put the dog in then I get in the car watching as Mr. Puckerman pokes The Duke in his chest over and over before walking over. He gets in and looks at me as he backs off the sidewalk.
"Thanks Mr. Puckerman, I was trying to take Finn home so I can show mom and maybe convince her that we can have a dog."
He looks at me, "You don't have to call me that. What the hell were you thinking pushing someone twice your size? You're lucky I was over here dropping off Beth's bike."
"I had to, I was defending Beth's honor."
"Did he do something to my little girl?"
I smile at how angry he looks but I don't say anything because if Beth wants him to know then I guess she'll tell him. When he pulls up Beth is sitting on the roof smoking and holding a book in her hands. I get out and grab the dog by his collar to hold him in place.
"Beth! Look!"
She looks over the top of the book, "MOM!"
I watch her jump up and run across the roof and jump into the tree. It doesn't long for her to come running from around the house and over to the dog. She jumps on top of dog so I jump on top of them and start rolling around in the yard. When the door opens I watch Charlie squeal and run right up to us and jump onto Beth's back. This is the best day of my life, there's nothing like blind happiness while playing with a dog. This kid I go to school with is always talking about how much he hates his brother and sister, I don't see how he can hate them because having a brother and sister is the greatest thing in the world.
"Get out of the grass." Quinn walks up, "Get up off the ground."
I sit up, "Quinn, this is Finn. See how awesome he is? Can we have a dog?"
"We?" Quinn raises an eyebrow, "ask your mother."
Beth sits up, "I want a dog. Charlie, you want a dog?"
"Yeah!"
Quinn sighs, "We can go tomorrow and look for a dog."
"Baby, a pet is reward. Make them earn it." My mom walks by us, "Off the ground."
Charlie and I get up as she goes over to Noah starting to talk to him quietly. Quinn starts going over to them then stops looking over her shoulder.
"Go in the house."
Beth stands slowly, keep her eyes on them as she scoops up Charlie and puts him on her shoulder and starts walking into the house. I watch Noah, mom, and Quinn stand by the car talking to one another while my mom holds Quinn by the hand. I stop walking and just watch, waiting to see what's going to happen. Beth was really sad, very sad, and I hate seeing how sad she is.
Beth pokes her head out, "Hey, come in the fucking house."
I walk into the house and let the dog off the leash. Charlie runs up and grabs his collar and starts pulling him into the kitchen muttering about cereal. Beth sits down on the couch and I flop down beside her, she moves and puts her head in my lap while point the remote at the music player then turns it up. Charlie comes back in the living room and pours cereal into the floor then gets on all fours and starts eating beside the dog.
"Should we let him do that?"
Beth looks over, "Chuckie! What are you doing, boy?"
"'M a puppy." Charlie starts barking then eating the cereal again.
Beth closes her eyes, "I tried."
"You didn't." I smile as start moving my fingers over her hair, "how was work?"
She smiles, "It was great. Hey, I got you something."
Beth crawls over me and the arm of the couch and runs up the stairs then comes back down tossing me a brown bag then drops back into the same position. I open the page and pull out the newest issue of The Flash and almost jump up. I lean down and kiss her forehead.
"Thanks Beth!"
She smiles, "I just want to say thank you."
"For what."
She shrugs, rolling her eyes like I've asked her to solve world hunger, "For promising to stand by me."
"I love you."
She closes her eyes, "Blah, blah, blah," A small smile creeps on to her face, "love you too."
"What 'bout me?" Charlie looks up, "love me too."
I grin at him, "I love you too."
"Bethie?"
Beth glances at him, "I love you too, Squirt."
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Quinn POV
Rachel and Noah are not friends anymore, their body language gives it away and the way their standing here arguing like I'm not here is a clear indication of that fact. I run my fingers over hair and cross my arms with my jaw clenched. This is not my idea of a family discussion.
"Rachel, go in the house."
"We're talking."
I kiss her cheek softly, "Go in the house and let me talk to him. Go. We left Beth in the house Charlie, Alfie, and a dog."
"Dammit."
I watch her walk inside and I listen to her start yelling as she closes the door. Rachel is stricter than me and Puck combined, Beth needs that and so does Charlie. I don't want them to grow up reckless and wild because I let them get away with murder. I look at Puck and get into the car as he walks around gets behind the steering wheel. We sit in silence until he turns on the radio and turns the music up, a trick we use to use so we could argue in the car while Beth played in the yard. I look toward him and he keeps staring down before raising his head and looking at me.
"I'm sorry."
"I don't care." I rub the back of his head, "You need help, Noah."
He nods, "Yeah, I told Bethie about rehab. Outpatient and I just want to come let you guys know. I'll be in town for a few more months…I just…I want to be part of my family."
"Noah," I speak softly letting my fingers move in his hair, "you are part of this family but you will never be my husband again. And I will never be your wife again but you're the father of my children and they love you."
I put my hands on either side of his face and hold his head in place to stop him from looking down at the ground. I move my thumbs over his cheeks and lean in kissing the top of his nose softly.
"I love you, okay? No matter how much I want to hate you I do love you and I will be here for you but I can't control Rachel if you kiss me again."
He smiles a little bit, "I love you too, baby mama. I promise I will not get on the Jewish spitfires bad side again."
"I should go see what Rachel is so angry about." I get out the car and close the door then lean in the window looking at him, "Chuckie starts school on Monday. Vander Academy. Kitty is not invited."
He smiles, "I'll be there."
I turn around and walk to the house and open the door to the sight of Charlie lying on the floor on top of the dog, Beth watching TV with her head in Alfie's lap, Alfie reading a comic book, and Rachel muttering to herself while sweeping cereal into the dustpan.
"What happened?"
Rachel looks at me, "They let Charlie pour cereal into the floor and eat it with the dog."
"I tried to stop him, didn't I Alf?"
He nods, not looking up from the comic, "she made a very valiant effort."
"Valiant."
"Mommy on TV."
I look at the screen as I float across the ocean on a sheet of ice as the trailer dances from scene to scene the closer the special Directors cut release which makes each movie about four hours long. I hate Apocalypse Forever, it's the best career decision I ever made and one of the greatest movies of all time but I'm honestly so sick of it. I'm sure Elijah Wood is sick of still getting called Frodo, I'm equally sick of being called Queen Atlantis.
"Okay, pause that." I walk around and sit in the recliner, "we need to talk."
Beth pauses the show and sits up, running her fingers over her hair to look at me, she keeps her eyes on me and doesn't look away from me. It use to unnerve me when Beth would keep a steady gaze on me, when she was five was the first time she did and threw the worse temper tantrum I've ever seen. The older she got the more it went from being a warning about a temper tantrum to her just being ready to receive really bad news. I love it because it shows how strong she is, even when she's incredibly upset she holds my gaze until just can't.
"Come here, Chuckie." I stretch my arms out as he runs over and sits in my lap, I move my fingers over his hair, "so I talked to daddy and he's going to be checking into a special hospital to make him feel better."
Charlie looks at me, his curls failing into his face, "is daddy sick?"
"He's not bad sick," Beth looks at him as she moves to the floor and scoots over to my legs and places her face against my thigh, "he's a different kind of sick."
Charlie looks at Beth, "what you mean?"
"Baby boy," I speak as he looks in my direction, "it means that daddy's favorite drink is hurting him."
He put his thumb in his mouth, "Daddy's gonna stop his favorite drink?"
"Yeah, you know what that means?" Beth leans up on her knees, "Daddy is going to be nice all the time now."
He looks at Beth then at me with wide hopeful eyes, "Is that true?"
"Yes."
Charlie moves to Beth who picks him up as she stands, he wraps his legs around her waist, and she places her hand on the back of his head as she looks at me.
"You promise…he promises…right mommy?"
I inhale when she calls me "mommy" for the first time in nine years, "Right."
She smiles and walks to the basement door then stops and looks over at Alfie slowly raising an eyebrow. He stands and grabs the dog by his collar starting to pull him over, Beth let's Alfie go down first then Beth walks down, closing the door softly. Rachel leans over the chair and wraps her arms around my neck starting to kiss my cheek.
"Are you okay?"
I bring my hand up to hold her hands, "my kids are way too grown up."
"Most kids are." She moves around to sit in my lap, "Kids are very receptive to their surroundings, you know? They're like dogs. They can pick up things we think we can hide from them."
I lean my head against her before I let her take my face in her hands and starts kissing me all over my face stopping at my lips.
"I love you. Those kids are going to be just fine. Okay? They have an amazing mom and they'll have an amazing dad again soon."
I smile at her, "did you hear Beth? She called me mommy."
"I heard that. She's so cute." Rachel smiles, "come on, let's go cook dinner. I was thinking of maybe making something Beth will actually eat for once."
I get up with her and wrap my arms around her, pulling her back to my front. I press a kiss to her cheek, holding her body close to mine.
"Maybe, doubt it though." I smile as I pull her closer to me, "But you try and that's so cute."
She looks over her shoulder, "You're lucky you're cute."
[][][][]
Matthew comes the door wearing black jeans with a white long sleeve button down shirt tucked in and a skinny tie. He's a very handsome young man, very tall, and I can see why my little Bethie likes him so much. He moves his hand from behind his back and holds up flowers. I take them and move aside as he steps into the living room.
"Beth doesn't like flowers," He starts with a smile, "but I figured she wouldn't mind if I said they were for the table."
I smile him, "That's a good idea."
Beth hurries down the steps wearing a white dress that clings to her with a yellow ribbon around her waist and her platinum hair is held in place with a headband. She looks beautiful and she doesn't even notice me. She walks by me and stands in front of Matthew reaching for his hand.
"Hi."
"Hi."
Her head tilts to the side, "You look nice, Matthew."
"So do you Beth."
I watch them just look at each other as they go upstairs, I roll my eyes and wonder if I ever gave Rachel the same look around my mom and I know I did. I remember the first time Rachel came over for dinner as my girlfriend, we stood in front of the door holding hands and making lovey eyes for at least ten minutes. My mom had the hardest time accepting it and took a very long time for her to even be more than just civil to Rachel. She invited Finn over for several meals and even Puck a few times, somewhere between Finn eating his food and having no idea he was on a date and Puck not hiding his sexual desire my mom decided that she liked Rachel much better even if her energy made her uncomfortable. Though I can honestly say that I'm pretty sure mom preferred to catch me with mussed hair around Finn versus her walking in and seeing me on top of Rachel with my head under her sweater. She said that seeing me as the aggressive almost gave her a heart attack….
"Open the door!" Just in case.
I hear a knock on the door so I call Rachel in and give her the flowers to put on the table before I go over and open the door. I look at The Duke standing there in jeans and a t-shirt looking unimpressive in his attractive stance. I look at him, raising an eyebrow because last time I checked my daughter hated him.
"What?"
He smiles in a stupid way, "Is Beth here?"
"Why?"
"I need to talk to her."
"She's not here."
"Baby, I have extra icing guess where you can lick it off?"
I blush, "Rachel!"
"That's an acceptable answer but I'm looking for body parts."
I put my hand on my forehead, "Rachel, please."
"Fine! I'll come show you." She walks in with her skirt around her finger before she drops it, "Duke!"
He looks very stiff, "I…I swear I'm not thinking about it!"
"Go home, Duke." I start to close the door then stop, "And if this gets around school I'll ruin you."
I close the door and turn around to glance at Rachel's bright red cheeks.
"You know he's going to fiddle with himself in the car right?"
Rachel grimaces, "Why didn't you say he was in here?"
"I thought you could take a hint." I smile at her and press my lips against hers, "I bet an orgasm The Duke will be back right when dinner is served."
Rachel grins at me, "I see that and I raise you two."
[][][][]
"I hate that shit eating grin."
I smile as Rachel whispers in my ear while sitting my plate in front of me before moving to give everyone including The Duke a plate. I knew it was going to happen because this happened with Puck and Rachel in the eleventh grade when Rachel came over for dinner. There was a mysterious knock while Rachel I were making out then the door slammed. As soon we came downstairs for dinner the knock came again and there he was, standing there with a cocky grin and holding Beth and my mom wasn't going to push him out with her granddaughter in his arms. Dinner was awkward for everyone but me and Beth, we had fun but my mom was swirling her drink around muttering about wine while Rachel and Puck were fake friendly. Finn and I use to sit together in glee with Beth and laugh at them, Finn was so in love with Rachel but he was surprisingly mature about our relationship and it never put a dent in our friendship. It did sophomore year but a large part of that was me getting pregnant by his best friend and lying to him about it. But over that summer while Puck was being an asshole and leaving me to raise Beth alone I saw a lot of Finn. He was so good with Beth. I wish he could see her now. He would be so proud.
"Mother, why is The Duke here?"
I shrug, "I don't know, dear. He's not a friend of mine."
"He must be, I didn't invite him in." She glares at me, "You invited him in."
I look at her, "well, he wouldn't get off the porch. What would you have me do?"
"Shoot him. Obviously."
Alfie, Matty, and even Rachel start laughing. I don't laugh and neither does Beth and Charlie is too busy with his face in his plate. I listen to the door open so I look over my shoulder watching Brett and Ben run into the room and sit at two empty chairs followed by Britt who pulls a chair up then Santana saunters into the room hanging up her phone.
"The boys broke our oven." Santana runs her fingers over her hair, "what did you and Hobbit Berry make for dinner?"
Rachel glares at her, "We're thirty years old, Santana. Stop calling me that. Italian turkey Sausage, peppers, and onions and tofu shrimp scampi."
Santana sits down and Rachel starts making their plates while Beth glares at The Duke who is blissfully enjoying his meal, even though it's the tofu because Beth wouldn't let him have any sausage and peppers because it's hers.
The Duke looks up, "This is really amazing you guys."
"Why are you in my house?!" Beth shouts at him, "get out!"
"I just wanted to say sorry for kissing you but…you kissed me back."
Beth starts laughing, "that is a sorry….kids cover your ears….that is a sorry fucking apology. Leave."
Matthew stands and walks over grabbing him by the back of his shirt and jerks him roughly until he stands. The Duke tries to get free but Matthew just takes him to the door.
Santana shakes her head, "never a dull moment."
"Go crawl on your broom." Beth glares at her then stands up, "I'm done."
Beth leaves the room and Alfie follows her then Charlie then Brett and finally Ben. I roll my eyes and just poke at my food as Santana starts eating.
"These family dinners are the greatest."
I give her the finger, "Sit on it, Santana."
"Uhh Quinn, Duke is gone." Matthew stands there, "would you like for me to clear the table?"
I smile at him, "You're such a sweet boy. I can take care of it later. I'm not sure Beth is still in the mood for company but you're welcomed to try."
"Oh," He holds his phone up and shakes it, "she said she'll call me later." He looks toward Santana, Brittany, and Rachel, "it's been a pleasure seeing you again. It was quite eventful."
Matthew nods his head before walking away and I watching my girlfriend and two best friends swoon over him. Santana runs her fingers over her hair, licking her lips.
"He is so handsome." Santana fans herself, "Beth's boyfriend? Does your daughter get down with the swirl?"
I laugh picking up my wine glass, "Shut up, Santana. I think she likes him and he is beautiful."
"Beautiful is one way of putting handsome son of a bitch." Santana adds, pushing her plate away and grabbing another one and putting sausage and peppers on it, "stop serving people tofu Rachel, no one wants to eat it."
"Alfie likes it."
"Alfie didn't have….babe where are you going?"
Brittany leans down and kisses Santana, "I'm going to talk to Beth. I'm good at it."
She squeezes my shoulder before going upstairs. Brittany was around a lot, spending time with me and Beth. Beth took to Brittany quicker than I had ever seen her take to anyone. When Beth was about three or four she was getting better at remembering people and faces. She ran to Brittany and stayed by her side, any time she saw Brittany she was by her side. If Brittany moved then Beth moved and Brittany carried Beth until she was seven. Something that drove all of us crazy because Beth was already spoiled but she also expected to be carried everywhere for quite some time. Puck put a stop to it.
"I might eat all of this."
I look at Santana, "You're always eating my leftovers."
"I've never touched Rachel."
[][][][]
Beth POV
I watch the boys jump in my bed while Alfie plays catcher because one of them almost falls out because they keep getting to close to the edge of the bed. My door opens and I look at Brittany who puts her eyes on the bed until everyone stopped jumping then she smiled widely.
"Go play with mommy."
Brett jumps out the bed, "come on, mommy is so fun to play with."
Ben steps down then Charlie jumps out, falls, and rolls across the floor then jumps up and heads out the room. Alfie just stands there so I point towards the door and he smiles like a light just went off then happily leaves the room. Brittany closes the door then walks over and sits beside me on the floor so I place my head against her arm.
"I missed you."
She kisses the top of my head, "I missed you too. You're very hard to get ahold of."
"I'm a rolling stone." I hug her arm, "Is that really a song?"
"The Temptations. Papa was a rolling stone."
I smile, "You know everything."
"I've been telling people that for years." She places her face against the top of my head, "What happened?"
I sigh, "Do I have to tell you everything?"
"You tell me what you need help with."
I sit up and move to sit in front of her trying to figure out what she needs the most help with. I frown, biting my bottom lip then moved my fingers through my hair.
"I'm asexual." I look at her, "And it's so confusing because Matthew makes me want to just be as close to him as I'm capable of being with…like I want to kiss him but I'm really scared and I really like to cuddle with…but what if he meets someone that wants to kiss him and do all of that stuff?"
She gives me a soft expression, "I'm a unicorn."
"I know."
"It's okay being who you are and he seems like a very nice boy, I don't think he'll do that. If he does then you deserve someone better and patient enough to understand." She ducks her head with a smile to keep our gazes locked when I look down, "Look at me."
It takes me a second to do it but I do. I look at her and she leans up on her knees reaching forward to her put hands on either side of my face.
"You are beautiful, you are kind, and you are special." She moves her fingers over my hair slowly, "And any boy or girl will be the luckiest person in the world to feel that special connection with you."
I sniffle, "I'm not broken?"
"No, baby." She hugs me, "You are so far from broken. I promise that once you love yourself everything will fall into place. Everything."
I bury my face in the crook of her neck, "I always believe you."
"It's because I'm always right." She kisses my forehead, "me and Mighty Mouse."
[][][][]
I wake up at midnight and my mom is sitting on the couch drinking coffee and reading from a very thick packet that reminds me of a script. I go into the kitchen and grab my cereal then I come back in and sit beside her opening the box. When I was a kid I noticed that mom doesn't sleep very often at night so I would rig my alarm to flash a light in my room so I could wake up and go spend time with her. She use to make me go back to sleep but I would only go back to sleep if she would hold me. I place my head on her shoulder and look at the script on her lap.
"What are you doing?"
She sits down her mug and flips to the next page, "I'm reading, sweetie. Why are you awake?"
"Because you are. I thought you didn't want to act anymore."
"I'm not acting anymore. I'm just reading. This script was sent to me. It's really bad. I'm sorry for not shooting Duke."
I sit up and start eating from the box, "Then why are you reading it? It's fine. He really likes me and he thinks he can give me a half-assed apology because he's cute."
"Because someone I went to college with wrote it and they asked me to." She flips to the next page, "You should be the bigger person. Be the bare minimum of respectful. Give me that pen."
I reach forward and grab the red ink pen and hand it over to her. I watch her pull the top off with her teeth and I take it and put it on the coffee table as she starts writing on the script. She's always in English teacher mode.
I reach over her and take the mug to take a drink before putting it on the table, "Is it their first one? And I am doing that by not hitting him. He totally attacked Alfie or he tried."
"When?" She looks at me over her glasses, "Why didn't he say anything?"
"Because everyone in town knows you pulled a gun on the star football player." I scoot to the edge of the couch and pour cereal on to the table, "And when Alfie was on his way back with the dog."
She looks at me, "Are you going to handle it or should I?"
"I'll handle it, mom."
"Make him regret it without getting suspended."
I smile at her, "The principle really likes me. I'll be perfectly fine."
"She's much more understanding than she looks."
I close the box and sit it on the floor starting to eat the cereal separated in piles by color with a few of the mash-up colors off to the side. While I eat the blue pile of Crunch berries I smash the multi-colors because they're either too blue or too red or too purple with a splash of some random color on the side. I don't like it. I watch Rachel come down the steps and go into the kitchen, this time she's wearing one of mom's Yale shirts instead of just her underwear. She walks out with milk in one hand and a bag in the other. She walks over and puts the milk on the table and the bag beside me before curling up on the couch and lying against mom.
"What's with you two? Why are you always awake?"
"Beth's been doing this since she was little. She doesn't like me being awake alone."
I look at her, "I never said that."
"Yes you did. You were nine and you crawled into my lap and said, 'mommy, I don't like you being alone', and you've been doing it ever since. Same time every night." She smiles at me then at Rachel, "it's one of the last times she was really, really adorable. Minus the door swoon over Matthew."
I resist the urge to give her the finger because with Rachel around I get sent to my room a whole lot more than I use to. I don't think I was ever really sent to my room before Rachel. I turn around holding my milk in my hand, taking a long drink from the glass.
"Why haven't you moved in yet?" I lean back when she starts wiping milk off my face, "stop that."
Rachel grins at me then looks at mom, "why do we live separately?"
"I don't know Rachel, why do we live separately?"
I stare at them, "you're so annoying. Ask her."
"Beth, stop pushing." My mom nudges me with her foot, "We've been on one date."
I roll my eyes, "And it's like you guys never married someone else, you've been here every night, and Alfie has slowly been moving in anyway. You haven't even noticed because you've been here. Every day, all day."
I watch them stare at each other with these love sick smiles. I sweep the crunched cereal crumbs into the bag and stand up holding my milk in my grip. I take a long drink and wipe my eyes, I'm pretty sure the milk is a trick to make me sleepy because I always go to bed after it.
"I'm going to bed. I love you both as much as I hate your stupid loving faces." I hand Rachel the cup and she pulls me into a hug, "let me go."
She squeezes tighter laughing, "Love me! Love me Beth!"
"Mom stop it."
She freezes and I stand up, looking at her and mom's face. I nod and turn around going upstairs.
[][][][]
Beth POV
Monday morning
I sit on the roof outside my bedroom smoking a joint and avoiding the family scene in the kitchen. I called Rachel 'mom' and that was weird for me because I don't call anyone mom but mom. Besides, if I do call her 'mom' what will I call my mom? And why do I even like her at all? Why does she make me like at all? It's really, really annoying the things that dance around in my head about Rachel. I told Matty I would see him at school, he's been texting me and checking on me all night and all morning. He's the sweetest guy and he seems to really care about me.
"What are you doing out here?"
I look at Rachel, "You should be careful."
"If you can be up here, stoned, then so can I."
I watch her and move over to grab her when she almost falls, "Just stop."
"See, piece of cake."
I roll my eyes and sit back down as she carefully sits down and wraps her arms around her legs.
"I didn't have a mom when I was your age. I did meet her when I was your age and she decided that I didn't need a mom."
"Sounds like a bitch." I look at her, "What's your point?"
She rolls her eyes, "You're just as rude as your father."
"Grandma says I'm more like mom. Nana agreed with you though." I blow smoke out of my nose and put the joint out and hand it to her, "Stop staring at me. Take it."
She tears it open and lets it blow in the wind, "Why did you call me mom?"
"Don't know. Felt right. Accept it."
Rachel throws her arms around my neck, holding me close to her, "That makes me so happy. I love you Beth."
"Get off of me." I nudge her away, "You're alright. In very small doses."
She grins, "You love me. I just knew you would. I suggest telling your mother immediately. She is rather worried that you have no love for me. I suggest doing it through song, a show tune is always the best route to take."
"Oh my God." I cover my face, "if I say it back will you go away?"
She smiles at me, "No. And just think about it, soon we'll be living together and we can do all kinds of fun things together. We can do scales, warm-up, pitch match
I walk across the roof and jump into the tree then swing down. I walk around to the front of the house and stare at my mom as she grins at me.
"You look flustered." She looks up, "Rachel! Come on." She looks at me, "Isn't she great?"
"You need help."
