'Rach!' Beth shouted 'I've unpacked the last of my boxes'
'Great' Rachel replied tiredly. The move had been exhausting, the removal men just did not follow orders easily and had put everything in the wrong rooms. How, could a box clearly labelled 'Berry's Barbra Collection', have ended up in the kitchen?
'Hey, Rach' Noah, her fiancée, said coming off the phone. 'That was Mrs Frost; she wants to meet up sometime this week, to discuss about Beth's living arrangements and Shelby's house'
'Her house?'
'Yeah, it still has not been sold and all her possessions and some of Beth's are still there'
'Oh' Rachel sighed, there seemed so much to do, decorate the house, plan the wedding, find a new job and now clean out her dead mother's house.
'Hey come here' Noah said opening his arms and giving her a comforting hug and a quick kiss on her lips 'calm down everything will be fine.'
'I know' she replied moulding herself into his arms 'It seems that there is so much to be done, the house is a mess, Beth needs more clothes and your mother needs visiting'.
'Right...' Noah said hesitantly 'I forgot about that'
'Why don't you go now?'
'How am I meant to tell her about Beth?' he asked suddenly.
'She'll be thrilled to hear about her granddaughter.'
'That reminds me' Noah added, recalling his resent conversation with Mrs Frost. 'Mrs Frost wanted to know whether we were still in contact with Beth's birth mother...'
'Damn it!' Rachel remarked 'I need to call Quinn.'
Rachel had been staring and Quinn's number for the past five minutes. The house was quiet now. Noah had left her, gone to visit his mother and Beth was upstairs sorting out her room, making a list of all the things she needed and was listening to her iPod, a gift from her newly discovered godfather. Rachel knew she could not put it off any longer. After muttering a quick prayer in Hebrew, she picked up the phone a dialled Quinn Evans' number.
'Hello, Quinn Evans speaking'
'Hi Quinn its Rachel'
'Rach!' How are you? You're back from New York?
'Yeah got back today's ago'
'That's good.'
There was an awkward pause
'Umm... Quinn, I need to talk to you about something'
'What, is it about the wedding? Aimee is really looking forward to being a bridesmaid'
'No it's about Beth'
'Beth?'
'Maybe you should come over, you know our new address?'
Of all the things Quinn Evans expected to hear on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon, it was not the name of her first born daughter, the one she gave up for adoption, just over ten years ago. She had been a scared sixteen year old, still in high school and was not ready to look after a child. She had loved Beth, and was almost inconsolable over the summer after she was given away. Since then Quinn had moved on with her life. She had grown up and become a better person. She was now happily married to Sam and had a lovely three year old daughter, with another on the way in six months time. She wondered why now, after all these years, Rachel mentioned her.
Thankfully Sam was at a football coaches convention and Aimee was with her grandmother, so there was no one there to ask questions about where she was about to go. She carefully got into her car and drove across Lima to Rachel's new house. After parking her car, she made her way up to the front door and nervously rung the door bell. Patiently she waited.
'My Grandbaby is living with you' a delighted Mrs Puckerman exclaimed as she threw her arms around her son. 'Oh Noahie, that is such good news!'
'I know Ma' Noah replied, recovering from his mother's enthusiastic rib cracking hug.
'So what is she like? Has she been raised in our faith? When will get to meet her?' she babbled, dancing around the small living room with excitement.'
'She's wonderful Ma' Noah replied proudly 'I think she got the best bits of me and Quinn'
'Does Quinn know?'
'Not right now'
'Come in, come in' Rachel said as she welcomed Quinn in through the door 'sorry about the mess' she added apologetically as she showed Quinn into the living room. 'Can I get you something to drink?'
'No' Quinn replied. 'Why did you call me about Beth?' she asked
'Shelby is dead' Rachel replied sadly sinking into the sofa next to Quinn.
'What? Is Beth alright?'
'Shelby died from cancer around six months ago, Noah and I found Beth in New York last weekend, she is now living with us'
'Oh my ...' Quinn said. 'Can I meet her?' she asked
'Beth!' Rachel called up the stairs 'There's someone here who wants to meets you'
'Coming Rach!' came Beth's reply, followed by the thump thump of a child running down the stairs.
'Beth this is Quinn your...'
'My Biological mother' Beth said finishing off her older sister's sentence.
'You know about me?' Quinn asked, looking at the child in front of her. She was the perfect blend of parents.
'Of course I do' Beth replied walking steadily 'You're in Rachel's old Thunderclaps and Rachel and Dad also spent nearly the whole journey back to Lima, reminiscing about their high school years.'
Rachel recognised that this was the point at which she should exit the room, leaving the newly reunited mother and daughter alone to talk. 'I just remembered I need to check if Mrs Puckerman wants to come over to dinner' she announced before hastily leaving the room.
Quinn laughed nervously, Rachel was many things, but being subtle was not one of them. 'So Beth...' she started to say, trying to break the tension in the room. What did one say to their daughter when you were meeting them for the first time in ten years?'
'Why did you give me up?' Beth asked curiously staring at her biological mother for the first time in ten years, 'Didn't you want me?'
A/N Thanks for all your reviews, sorry about the delay in updating. I hope you like this chapter even though it is a slight filler.
I'm just about to start some important exams now so I'll try to update in between revision :(
~Cherry :D
