New chapter, so excited because Rachel gets to go home! Oh and someone reviewed that they were confused about Vincent's age, he's a year old in the last chapter but he's about the size of a year and a half old, because he's a big boy.
It's been a few months since Rachel woke up; she's still tired most of the day so she sleeps a lot but Doctor Mather said she can come home in a few days if she wants to and thinks she's ready for it. That made Rachel super excited because she is tired of all the disgusting hospital food there. She says the vegetables are cooked inadequately and taste like rubber.
She still has to exercise a lot too. Her arms are strong enough now so she can pull herself up into a sitting position and she can walk to the bathroom with help also. She'll still have to attend physical therapy and people will stop by the house throughout the days to show her exercises she should be doing and make sure she is okay at home.
"So what's on your mind Quinn?" I snap out of my reverie to see Puck stacking another of my boxes into the moving truck. He leans against the truck and wipes some sweat from his brow as he looks at me.
"Nothing really, just thinking." I say and he eyes me for a moment.
"Are you going to tell me what happened at the coffee shop?"
"I told you Puck, that's my business. Lay off of it." I snap at him and he shakes his head.
"Quinn, whatever happened made Finn leave the shop and get hit by the van. I need to know what happened to have closure." He says and I feel my lip sliding into my mouth so I can chew on it. And once again I'm reminded that Finn dying is all my fault. Rachel hadn't said much about it but she does know he's gone. And asked if I would take her to his grave once she's strong enough, although that'll be awhile from now because he's buried in Lima.
I walk away from him and head back inside my apartment to grab another box. Vincent is watching TV with Hiram and LeRoy while Puck and I put everything in the truck. I had invited the two older men over to watch Vin Vin but they had insisted on helping me and I worked out a deal with them. They would help put things in boxes and Puck and I would do the heavy lifting, I didn't want them to strain themselves. I actually didn't want help at all but they kept insisting.
"Mama!" Vin Vin shouts and I smile as he waddles to me. I pat him on the head and go to pick up another box. I put it on my kitchen table and grab my water bottle. I take the cap off and take a long drink before sighing and Vincent mimics my sigh. I smile down at him and walk back into the living room where cartoons are playing.
"You can change the channel you know, he'll watch whatever as long as it isn't a scary movie. He doesn't like those." I say and they nod.
"Thank you, are you sure you don't need any help?" Hiram asks and I shake my head.
"No you two sit and watch him and relax, your plane is coming tomorrow and I want you two to relax with your grandson before you leave for a long while." I scold and they both pout. It's a bit funny to see two older men pout because I tell them they can't help me and that they are to stay put. But they do as their told and watch TV and Vincent.
I'm in dire need of a shower once I get the last of my stuff packed up. Puck has left to go back to his place and Hiram and LeRoy are crashing on my bed since I refused to let them sleep in the living room. Those two are just as bad as Rachel when it comes to being stubborn; luckily Vincent stepped in and fell asleep on my bed, automatic submission for them. Who can resist a little baby sleeping?
I grab a glass of water from my sink and in the corner of my eye I see Hiram standing in the doorway.
"You should be in bed." I turn and he scoffs.
"I'm in my fifties I don't have to be in bed yet. You on the other hand should definitely be in bed; it's one in the morning." He scolds and I chuckle. His feet shuffle on the linoleum until he's standing next to me. "I actually wanted to ask how you feel about Vincent calling you mom." And I tense up. How do I feel?
I didn't really think much of it after the first day. I mean surely he knows Rachel is his mother; we have been visiting her in the hospital almost every day since the accident. So he must remember her.
"I thought it was just a nice term of endearment." I say and he hums.
"That's what I thought too; maybe he just heard it on TV and keeps repeating it."
"Yeah we watch some baby network and it's probably on one of his shows. I'll show him tomorrow who Rachel is." I assure him and him smiles.
"Thank you Quinn, not that you aren't a good mother. You're extraordinary actually, but Rachel did wake up."
"This means once she's able to move on her own she'll get full custody. I know the drill." I tell him and he chuckles before turning to go to bed.
"Have a good night Quinn." He says and I stop him. He turns to me and I part my lips.
"I think he recognizes her, but she's been lying in bed all this time maybe he doesn't understand? I don't know how to explain it but I think he knows who she is but isn't sure why she isn't getting up." I fumble over my words, trying to explain what I think is happening. But the words seem like the wrong ones and I sigh.
"Don't worry about it Quinn, he'll learn." He says and I exhale in relief.
I sit in the airport at four thirty in the morning. Kurt insisted I take them so he can watch Rachel which I thought was total bull crap. But I agreed and now I'm here watching the two men give their last goodbyes to Vincent who is half asleep.
"You be a good boy for Quinn and your mother, you hear?" Hiram says as LeRoy walks to me. I smile up at him as best as I can for someone who wants to fall asleep right then and there.
"Take care of him and Rachel, make sure they call and Skype us whenever they can. And if you need anything, money, anything at all you give us a call and we'll have it sent right away. Take special care of my babies… we're off." LeRoy kisses the top of my head before stepping back to hand Vincent back to me.
"I sure will Mr. Berry's, you call too if you need anything." I tell them. Hiram kisses my cheek before walking toward their plane. Vincent waves bye to them and so do I before watching their plane take off.
"That's your mommy." I say and he points at Rachel's sleeping form. I nod and he looks back at her, like he's thinking on what I just said. "Can you say mommy?" I ask him and he makes a few gurgled noises.
"Mm." He smacks his lips together but doesn't quite get the word out.
Hiram and I's conversation really got me thinking. Before Rachel woke up I didn't really care he called me Mama but now that she's awake I feel a bit weird about it. She is his mother, and I would like him to see her as that. Not me, but as Hiram and I realized maybe he does see her as his mother.
He points at her pictures a lot when we pass in the hallway and I put one up in his nursery room and he seems to look at it constantly. I think he just calls me that because it's an easy word for him and doesn't truly understand the meaning.
"Mommy." I whisper and he looks back at her. His brown eyebrow rises as he grasps at her bed sheets.
"Mommy." I feel my breath leave my body as the word leaves his mouth and float around the silent room. He points to her and I nod. "Mommy." He says again and I place him on the bed.
"Good boy, that's your mommy." I say and he looks at her again.
"Course I am, I pushed him out my vagina." I look up to see Rachel rubbing at her left eye and lazily looking over at us. I wonder when she got so crude.
"Thanks for the visual Rach."
"Welcome, it's also on tape at my house if you want to see." I watch her pull herself up into a sitting position to pull Vincent to her. I push him forward as he tries standing and he instead crawls into her lap. He latches onto her brown locks and I wince as he gives a particularly hard tug. Rachel grunts but pays it no mind before pulling him close.
"You never did say what I should tell him to call me, you know. In the letter you never mentioned it." I say and she shrugs.
"I didn't mention it because it didn't matter."
"What do you mean, why did you even give me rights to him if anything happened to you guys?"
"Are you not happy with it?"
"What? I love taking care of Vincent, it just doesn't make since because you have dozens of other people who could take care of him. Like your parents, Burt and Carol, Kurt, and even freaking Tina. She has a kid she'd know exactly what to do." I say and she scowls.
"Nice to know the one person I trust doesn't like taking care of my baby, Quinn. I'll have you know that all those people you listed are more than capable, however," She intensifies her heated glare at me and I shrink. "They aren't you." She reveals sighing and dropping her gaze to Vincent who is again messing with her apron.
"I don't have experience with children Rachel and I didn't say I didn't like it. I do."
"Then what's the problem?"
"You still haven't answered my question, why did you leave me custody?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No."
"I'm sure my five month long sleep has not affected your feelings for me. If I had died you'd still have a part of me with you. Maybe not how you would want but at least a little bit of me would be able to love you. Vincent loves you now and he would even if I had died. I gave you custody just in case you lost me." I look straight into her eyes, trying to figure out if she is lying or not.
"We aren't supposed to have this conversation yet." My voice is a whisper and I feel so small, I'm not having this conversation with her in the hospital where people are most likely listening to us.
"You're the one who asked the question you big baby." She rolls her eyes at me and I lean back in my chair.
"Whatever."
"Oh grow up." I scowl and thank goodness Doctor Mather comes in at that moment or we would begin a shouting match. He shuts the door behind him and takes the clipboard off the end of the bed.
"How are we doing today Ms. Berry?"
"I'm doing swell, swell enough to go home actually." She winks and he chuckles.
"Perhaps you may, Lincare went and checked your house out yesterday and said it had the Okay from them you'd be able to live there. However they are concerned about where you will be sleeping. Will you be able to walk all the way upstairs?"
"I plan on sleeping in the living room actually, Quinn can have the futon down there and I'll sleep in my chair." She says and he nods.
"Okay, well let's try some of your exercises and see how well you're doing."
"It's so weird to go home." I glance over at Rachel who is staring up at her house. It's squeezed between two other homes and has a dark coloring to it.
"It's going to be weird not visiting you in the hospital every day."
"I never did thank you for that."
"You don't have to, everyone did it and it's my-"
"Oh my god, you blame yourself for the accident. Quinn Fabray!" I jump at her loud shrill voice used to scold me and I shrug.
"You wouldn't have been in that car if I hadn't upset Finn."
"Just shut up Quinn, you told me when we were in High School I couldn't blame myself for you getting hit by that truck. Don't be a hypocrite, because you did not in any way cause my crash." She's glaring at me and is inches next to my face despite being about a head shorter than me. I stare down at her and she pokes at my chest.
"This is another conversation I do not want to have." I hiss and both our heads turn when we hear a squeal from the car. Vincent is looking at us with his hands outstretched. Rachel turns back to me to roll her eyes and I grudgingly lead her to the steps of her house so she can sit down while I get him.
I turn around, being blinded by flashes as several reporters point there cameras at Rachel and I block there way.
"That was a heated argument moments ago, are the Bff's of the century having trouble?" A female reporter asks and I groan.
"Get away from us I'm not in the mood." I push past several of them and open the car door to take Vincent out. I take his large bag of toys out too and close the door behind me. I lock the car and throw my scarf over Vincent's face before walking back to Rachel.
Their still asking questions as I open the door and place Vincent's bag inside before setting him down too. I tell him to stay put and help Rachel up the few steps before we both go inside and I shut the door behind me.
"You need to get a body guard." I say and she shrugs.
"I do have a bodyguard, for when I'm working."
I grunt in reply as I help walk her to her chair and set up the baby gate for Vincent. Her house is a medium sized home and is just down the street from Kurt's. There are about five rooms in all and three bathrooms.
I place his bag down in his room before taking some of his toys out and placing them in front of him to play with. Rachel has the remote in her hand and is switching the channels while Vincent leans against her and points at the TV.
I walk past the living room and go outside again to get the rest of the stuff from the hospital before going back inside and placing everything on the table. I take her dirty clothes bag and set it in the laundry room before sitting down on the couch which will turn into my bed at night.
Come night time Vincent is asleep on the floor surrounded by his toys and Rachel is half asleep on the chair. I stand from my place on the couch to get ready for bed. Walking up the stairs to my room I pass by the room that was turned into an office. The door is cracked, in that crack is a picture of Finn and I feel that shiver up my spine again.
"Shit." I say as I speed up to walk away. Luckily the adrenaline pumping moment passes with nothing happening. I exhale and smile that I didn't hear that voice again and go to my room.
I leave the door open and dress into my pajamas before brushing my teeth and grabbing my pillow and blanket. I turn off the light and shut my door behind me. I walk down the dark hallway toward the stairs when I hear it.
"You killed me Quinn, just admit it." My palms are sweaty and I feel a lump in my throat as tears swell in my eyes. "You lost your chance to have her the day you first called her Man hands Quinn." I feel my knees falter and I crumple to the floor.
Tears make a trail down my face and onto the floor, I remember that day all too well. It was one of the worst days of my life. Some would say that's an exaggeration but its true.
When I first saw Rachel, I hadn't thought anything of her really. I was curious really because the girl had been quite outspoken and friendly with everyone. She'd asked me for a piece of paper in the library and for some reason I had been stunned or shocked. Back then I had no idea what feelings were since I had been teased and never been on a date before high school. So when she looked at me with those big brown eyes I was feeling overwhelmed.
Of course she was only asking for a piece of paper and I had given it to her, I'm pretty sure Santana was laughing at me and Brittany had the largest smile on her face ever. Back then I had no idea what was going on, no idea what I was feeling was love.
I learned later that she was a big dork and was basically ostracized by everyone in school. My feelings grew for her every day, since we had History and English together. I didn't talk to her but I did watch from afar. I'd seen her smiling at me and even one time she waved at me.
I'd even thought of talking to her one day when I'd given into the pressures of High School. Not wanting to be teased and manipulated like when I was in Middle School I had gone with the group of kids I was with and teased her. Well we had passed her in the hallway when she'd waved to me; a jock threw a slushy at her and asked why she was talking to me.
And then I did it, after a few more comments were made she asked me to tell them to stop.
"Why should I man hands?"
The memory puts a bitter taste in my mouth. It makes me want to hurl and scream all at the same time. God I was such a bitch back then I'm surprised the people I call family today even look at me. Luckily Rachel is a forgiving person, she's sweet and doesn't fall low like I do and give me what I deserve.
"Hey Quinn, are you alright?" I hear her downstairs, she must have woken up.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." I call out and brush off my cheeks. I pick myself up off the ground and wipe at my eyes so I don't look like I was crying just now. I grab my blanket and pillow off of the floor and walk downstairs.
I place my pillow and blanket on the couch before helping her go to the bathroom and placing Vincent in his crib in the small room downstairs. I leave the door open so I can hear him and leave his room. Then I unfold the Futon so it's a queen bed and spread my blanket on the bed.
I lay down after turning off all the lights and making sure Rachel has water. Then I wrap the blanket around me tightly and close my eyes.
"Hey Quinn?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for helping you know, and I'm sorry we keep having those conversations you don't want to have."
"It's alright Rachel; I just need a bit more time. Then we can talk."
"Ok, good night."
"Night Rach."
Yay Chapter seven is finished, so how was it?
I wasn't sure if I'd ever touch down that far back into their high school year but I did. I also took a scene from another story I'm writing and used it for the whole Man Hands thing. Anyway next Chapter is mostly a flash backs scene although there is present scenes too.
Also for the whole Vincent and his mother scene, I'm trying to write it as Vincent seeing Quinn as his Mama and Rachel as his Mommy. But he also see's Quinn as less of his mother in a sense, he's just confused because Rachel was sleeping the whole time if that makes any sense. I'll probably go into that later but not right now. I'm trying really hard not to rush things but not make them seem super slow either.
Anyway, please Review with thoughts and critizism.
Love to you all.