This idea was left in a past review and I had to go with it. I hope you are still enjoying where this story is going. I'm not writing chapter 11. Thank you for all the support and I hope you will do so in the coming chapters. It is so good to hear your thoughts on the story. Enjoy!
February 6th, 2013
It was a little less than two weeks before Finn was to be coming back to New York and staying. Rachel was so excited to have some extra help with the babies. She was so thankful for Quinn, but it wasn't the same as having Finn.
Rachel woke up at three to the sound of Penelope crying. It wasn't her normal cry. Rachel jumped out of bed and went over to the bassinet. She picked her up in her arms and said, "Shh… What is the trouble, princess? What is the matter with mommy's little princess? You just ate an hour ago. You can't possibly be hungry. You don't need to be changed. What is the matter?"
Rachel stood up and paced the room with her. She rocked her. She was singing to her and nothing was helping. Rachel held her up to her face thinking the closeness would calm her, but that didn't help her either. Then Rachel felt her head and she could tell she had a fever.
Rachel yelled, "Quinn! Help!"
Quinn came running in the room and asked, "What is the matter?"
"Penelope has a fever. I need you to move Palmer out of the room so he doesn't catch whatever she has. I can't handle two sick babies. Could you bring me the baby thermometer?"
Quinn did as she was asked. She came running back in with the thermometer. Rachel took it and checked Penelope's temperature. She said, "It's a 101.2. We have to get her to the hospital."
Quinn told her, "Stay calm. She will be able to tell that you are upset and that will only make her more upset. We will make sure it all works out. I'll stay with Palmer in the waiting room and you go with Penelope. I'm sure she is going to be just fine. Let's get them bundled up and go get them checked out. They will probably want to take a look at Palmer to make sure he isn't sick, too."
Rachel just nodded and got to work getting Penelope ready to go. Quinn went to do the same with Palmer. Rachel called Finn not wanting to leave him out.
Finn was sound asleep when he was woken by the sound of his cell phone chiming with Rachel's tone. He answered it quickly, "Hello? Rach, what's wrong?"
Rachel was sobbing as she said, "It's Ellie. She has a fever of 101.2. Quinn and I are going to take her to the hospital. I just wanted to let you know. I'll call you as soon as I know something."
"I'm getting up and getting dressed. I can be there in a couple of hours."
"No. Stay where you are. I don't want you to come unless it is really bad. You have classes that you need to graduate. I promise I will call you as soon as I know what is going on."
"Rachel, I'm coming."
"No you aren't! Quinn and I can handle getting her to the hospital. It is just going to be waiting. I'll call you as soon as I can."
"But I want to be there!"
"I know you want to be here, but you can't! We have to get her to the hospital now. I love you and I know you don't like me telling you that you can't come, but you are so close to graduation. You can't miss any more classes. I'm not going to let you miss anything big. I have told you that time and time again. I can't deal with fighting with you right now."
Finn was in tears at this point. "Take care of my baby girl."
"I have been for the last month and a half. That isn't going to change."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
The two of them hung up. Finn curled up in bed and sobbed. His little girl was sick and there was nothing he could do to make her better when he was miles and miles away. It was killing him inside, but he knew Rachel was right. He was so close to graduation. He just had make it through the next eight days and he would be with them.
Rachel and Quinn walked into the hospital. Penelope was now screaming. It was no longer just a cry, she was screaming as if she was being tortured. Rachel didn't know how much more of this she could take. She didn't want to see her little girl in pain or ill in any way.
Rachel walked up the receptionist and said, "My daughter is a month old. She needs to see a doctor. She has a temperature of 101.2."
The receptionist said, "If you will sit down, a doctor will be with you shortly."
That just rubbed Rachel the wrong way. She said, "Listen here, lady. My daughter is a little over a month old. She is sick and in some kind of pain that she can not verbalize to me. You are going to get me a doctor right now. There is no one else in this waiting room waiting for care. This is an emergency room and this is an emergency. Hence the reason why we are here and I didn't wait to take her to her doctor that she is comfortable with. Now, get someone to care for my daughter or I will make an even bigger scene than I already am. I'm a new mother who is lacking on sleep; I can do so much worse than this."
The receptionist gulped. "I'll go get someone right now."
Rachel walked over to where Quinn was sitting and chuckling with Palmer asleep in her arms. Rachel asked, "What?"
Quinn told her, "I think I like new mommy Rachel. That was too awesome the way you did that. You will have to teach me that someday when I have a kid of my own and need something done."
"Well, when you see your child is pain you will do anything you have to do to make sure that they are taken care of. I'm not going to let them put my little princess aside and have us sit here for hours waiting for someone to check on her when they are probably back there getting sleep. I have had about two hours of sleep. I'm irritable, stressed and lonely. I will get her the care she needs."
"That is what makes you such a great mom. Rach, you are doing great."
"I called Finn and told him what was going on. When we go back to get her checked out will you text him for me."
"Sure. How are you and Finn doing?"
"We are losing each other."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't think he sees me as me anymore. Now I'm just the girl taking care of his kids. We don't talk about anything other than the babies. I love them. I really do, but I miss when Finn and I used to be Finn and Rachel. Now we are Finn and Rachel the parents."
"Hey. I'm sure that isn't true. I'm sure the two of you talk about other stuff."
"No. The last time we talked, Finn spent more time on speaker phone talking to the babies than he did talking to me. All we have in common right now are the babies. I just don't know what to do. What if they are our demise? What if they tear us apart? He isn't going to love me when he gets here. He will think he has to stay with me just because of Palmer and Penelope. I would never force him to stay with me. I just want them to have a father. That is what matters."
"Rach, Finn loves you. That isn't a secret. He does love those babies though. I know this is hard, but it is only for eight more days. You are in the single digits! He will be here before you know it."
"I don't know if I can do. I can't risk losing Finn. He is the only guy I have ever truly loved and ever imagined loving the rest of my life."
"Are you thinking about giving up the babies?"
"I can't do that either. I don't know what I am going to do. They are my world, but so is he. Can I really have the best of both worlds?"
Before Quinn could answer a nurse came out to get Rachel and Penelope.
Finn was sitting on his bed waiting for a call from Rachel. When his phone rang and he saw it was Quinn he answered it quickly, "Hey Q! How is Ellie? How is Eli?"
"A nurse just took Rachel and Penelope back. Palm is doing good. He's asleep right now. He's being such a good brother and being easy for us while we figure all of this out."
"That's my boy."
"We need to have a talk."
"Okay…"
"What have the last five conversations you have had with Rachel been about?"
"How much I miss the babies. How I wish I could be there to help her. How many days I have left of school before I'm able to be in New York. How cute the latest picture she sent me was. About wanting to be there for sick Ellie. Why?"
"Do you see a theme there?"
"I miss the babies?"
"Think about what you just said and answer me this. Have you taken the time to ask Rachel how she is? Have you talked about anything other than something baby related? How often do you tell her you love her now?"
"Uhh…"
"That is what I thought. Finn, she is stressed out to the max. I think she has some kind of depression going on. She is terrified that the babies are tearing you two apart. She loves you more than anything in the world. She is afraid that you are only with her because of the babies."
"No! I love her. I really do. I have to do something to show her how much I love her."
"You really do. It doesn't help that Ellie is sick, but she has so much stress going on in her life."
"Q, I am the worst. How can I just forget her like that?"
"You are a new dad. You love your kids and you are away from them. They are new to your life while you think and know she will always be in your life. Sometimes people just take advantage of the things in life that they are used to."
"I guess you are right. I'll call Rach later and we'll have a talk. I can't lose her, Q. She is special and I love her more than anyone in the world."
"Let her know that. Finn, being away from you and taking care of the babies all the time is wearing on her."
"Thank you for being there for her."
"No problem. I'm going to get off here. Palmer is starting to wake up a little bit."
"Okay. I'll be seeing you soon."
The two of them hung up and said goodbye.
Rachel walked out with Penelope. Quinn came over with Palmer and asked, "So, how is she doing?"
"She has her first ear infection. I have to give her some medicine for the next week and everything should be fine. It was so scary."
"I know it was. Let's get these two home and back to sleep. Then you can call Finn and let him know what is going on."
"That sounds good. I'm hoping that they will go back to sleep for me for a little while."
"Even if they don't, I'll watch them. You need to catch up on a little bit of sleep. I mean I am here to help anyway. You have been doing most of this on your own. Let me help. I want to spend some time with the munchkins."
Rachel smiled. "You are the best. Let's go."
The two girls walked out with the babies and the things they brought with them.
After picking up the medicine and getting the babies to sleep Rachel laid down on her bed and called Finn. He answered, "Hello?"
Rachel told him, "I just wanted to call and let you know that Penelope is fine. She has an ear infection. It is nothing life threatening. They gave her some medicine that she needs to take for a week and she will be healthy as before."
"I'm glad. Rach, I'm sorry."
"There is nothing either of us could have done to stop this."
"That isn't what I was talking about."
"Oh?"
"I have taken advantage of the fact that you are in my life. Rach, I love you so much. I don't tell you that enough. I want you to remember that. You aren't just the mother of my children; you are the love of my life. I would be lost without you."
Rachel sniffled. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Finn, I'm so tired. I feel like I'm doing a terrible job."
"Oh, babe. Like you keep telling me, it won't be too much longer. Then I'll be there to take up half of the work. Then it won't all be on you."
"I promise I'm not complaining. I love them. I love the two of them more than anything in the world, but I'm tired."
"I'm sure you are, babe. I'm going to skip my graduation ceremony and then I can get to the three of you sooner."
"Finn Hudson, you are not skipping your graduation! You have worked so hard for it. We will still be here when you get here. I want to see pictures of you from your big day."
"But…"
"No buts, mister."
Finn chuckled. "Yes ma'am. I love you so much. Knowing that you believe in me is what makes everything worth it."
"Of course I believe in you. I have and always will believe in you."
"Thanks, baby. Now, get some rest. I will talk to you soon. Just know that I love you more than anything in the world and no matter how much I say it, it will always be true."
Rachel smiled. "I love you too, Finny. I will talk to you soon."
After saying goodbye, Rachel fell asleep easier than she had in weeks. She couldn't wait to see Finn and have their little family together just knowing that it was all going to work out. She spent the next couple of hours in sleep before getting up and spending the rest of the day with her tiny angels and Quinn.
