Hi everyone. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. I really enjoyed reading them. This time of year is always tough, with the anniversary of Cory's passing coming up. I hope that by writing fanfics, I can help keep his memory and character alive, though I wish he were still here. Anyway, hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend. Enjoy this chapter and review if I should keep going!
Chapter 11: For Sale
Finn was glad to be going back to Lima for a few days. He loved New York, but there was lots of stress there right now, with the upcoming trial and with the drama with the glee club. Going to Lima would be a nice break from all of that and it would also be great to see his parents, Mr. Schue and the glee club. Rachel's sister would be playing the lead in the musical, so Finn knew Rachel was excited for that.
The New Yorkers sat in the waiting area at the airport, waiting for the announcement for their plane back to Toledo. Finn's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familiar voice. "Hey!"
Finn looked up and saw Puck and Quinn. "Hey guys!" Finn said.
"So you're going to see the musical, too?" Quinn asked.
"Of course we are," Rachel said. "I can't miss seeing my sister playing Christine."
"Sorry we haven't been able to come out to New York yet this fall," Quinn said.
"Hey, I know how busy being a senior in college is," Rachel admitted.
"It is," Quinn agreed.
"So, this is what I have to look forward to next year?" Finn asked.
"Yup," Rachel told her husband.
"It's crazy to think you guys and Kurt and Mike are graduating college in the spring," Santana said. "It feels like we all just graduated high school."
"I know," Kurt said. "I'm just glad that I have a position with Vogue already so I don't have to worry about job searching after graduation."
"Yeah, that's something I'm not looking forward to," Quinn admitted.
"I'm hoping I can get a job at the high school that I direct the glee club at after I graduate," Finn said.
"You will," Puck said. "I know you will." He looked at Finn. "I'm actually thinking of transferring from the community college to a four-year college."
"That's great," Finn said.
"How's Jake liking University of Lima?" Marley asked Puck.
"Oh, I think he likes it," Puck said. "Unfortunately, it sounds like he's making the same mistakes Finn and I made during our first few weeks there..."
"Yeah, that's what I've heard," Ryder said. "He's always telling me about all the hot girls there. At least he's not trying to break up me and Marley anymore."
"I can ask Brittany to keep an eye on him," Santana offered. "Well, Brittany and Lord Tubbington The Second."
"That would be good," Puck said.
"Is Brittany coming to the musical, Santana?" Quinn asked.
"She is," Santana said. "She's pretty excited to see all of us."
"And Mike's coming too," Tina added. "So it's going to be the first time all the graduates from the first two years will be together since Puck and Quinn's wedding."
"Yeah, that doesn't happen often enough," Rachel said. "I miss seeing everyone who doesn't live in New York."
"Unique's coming in from LA to see it, since she's on fall break," Marley added.
"Our love child," Kurt joked, looking at Mercedes.
"Do you guys think any of this year's seniors will be in New York next year?" Quinn asked.
"Well, I know that Kylie wants to go to school here," Kitty said.
"She's planning to come stay with us for Thanksgiving to visit some schools," Rachel said. "She said that Jack is looking at schools in New York, too."
The announcement came over the loudspeaker that the flight to Toledo was boarding, alerting everyone it was time to get on the plane.
x
The plane landed in Ohio, and Rachel had to admit, it was nice to be home. The Tony nomination was a nice surprise, but she was almost always on the go back in New York. The weeks she was performing, that took up much of her time, and when she wasn't performing, she was working on things for school. She was working even more at the diner during her weeks off, and she'd also been helping Finn out a lot with the musical. With the stress with Christopher and at the school, she thought that it would be good for Finn to get home, too. It would be nice to see the members of the glee club and the alumni she hadn't seen in a while as well.
As Rachel walked into the terminal, she saw her dads waiting for her. She ran up to them, feeling so happy to see them again. She didn't know if they'd be able to go to New York for Thanksgiving, so she was glad to see them now. "I missed you guys!"
"It's our Tony nominee!" Hiram declared.
"You always said you'd win a Tony by 25," LeRoy said.
"We don't know if I won it yet," Rachel said.
"You'll win it," LeRoy said.
"I've read great things about the other actresses who are nominated, and the other Fanny is amazing, too," Rachel told her dads.
Hiram looked over at Finn. "Aren't you proud of her?"
"I am," Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel. "I hope you're already planning your trip to New York for the Tony Awards."
"We are," LeRoy said.
Finn turned to his parents. "Do you think you'll come for the awards, too?"
"I hope so," Carole said. "It depends on Burt's schedule for Congress."
"Well, we have dinner reservations, so we'd better get back to Lima with the boys," Burt told Hiram and LeRoy. "But we can have another Hudson-Hummel-Berry dinner again soon."
"I'd love that!" Rachel said, turning to Kurt. "Maybe you can come, too."
"Yeah, but I'd want to bring Blaine, too," Kurt said, looking over at his husband.
"You can," Rachel said. "Have a good family dinner."
Rachel and her dads got in their car and begun to drive back to Lima. "Rachel, now that you're home, your dad and I wanted to tell you something that we wanted to tell you in person," Hiram began.
Rachel wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that. "Okay..."
"We're moving," LeRoy said. "I got a promotion with the ACLU, but it's not here in Ohio."
"What?" Rachel asked. Her dads were going to be moving away from the house she'd spent her life living in?
"I'm sure your dad will be able to help find me a new position," Hiram said. "So don't worry about that. New York is a much more liberal state than Lima, so we'll probably get accepted more..."
"Wait, you're moving to New York?" Rachel asked. She was happy for her dads for getting the promotion and it would be nice to see them more, but she still felt a very strong connection to Lima. She loved getting to come back here and sleep in the room she'd slept in as a child and be in the house she'd grown up in.
"We thought you'd be happy," Hiram said. "You always talk about how much you miss us. We'll get to see you so much here..."
"But I like getting to come home here," Rachel said, feeling close to tears.
"We didn't think it would bother you," LeRoy said. "You always talked about how you wanted to just go to New York after graduation and not come back."
"I like living in New York," Rachel admitted. "But it's nice to have my hometown to come back to..."
"Your in-laws are still here," Hiram said. "I'm sure they'd let you and Finn stay with them if you ever come back to visit..."
"I know they're here, but their house isn't the house I grew up in!" Rachel protested. "Why didn't you talk to me before you decided to move?"
"We thought you wouldn't be upset," LeRoy said.
Rachel didn't want to make her dads feel bad, but she felt horrible right now. She considered texting Finn to tell him, but she knew that he probably wanted time with his parents right now. She sat quietly in the car, not wanting to say much.
x
"Are you sure you're doing okay?" Carole asked Finn.
"I'm okay," Finn sighed. Well, he was doing as okay as he could be doing. "I think it's going to be good for me to be home. All of us who live in New York came, and Puck and Quinn are here too. Mike's in from Chicago and Unique's in from LA, and Jake and Brittany go to University of Lima anyway, so it'll be like a big glee reunion."
"That's nice," Burt said. "I really hope you know that things look good for us in court. Your mom is going to most likely get her child support money back and your mom and I can get remarried legally."
"Good," Finn said.
"I hope Christopher's son said something to him about seeing a guy who looks like he could be his brother," Kurt said. "If that boy was Christopher's son. Because he deserves the truth. So does his other son and his daughter."
"They do deserve the truth," Carole said. "But there is a possibility Christopher sent his son looking for Finn."
"I don't think so," Finn said. "He looked so shocked... there was no way he knew who I was." He paused to think. "I do feel a bit bad for him and his siblings. Every kid deserves good parents... even though Christopher wasn't a father to me, that role was filled by Burt, but those kids are living a lie, just like I did for 21 years."
"I find it pretty shocking that his wife is okay with all this, to be honest," Burt said. "The other congressmen have pretty much seen it all, and they're pretty shocked by everything Christopher's doing."
"So now Christopher has a bad reputation in congress," Kurt smirked. "Not a place where you want that."
"I just hope in court he apologizes," Finn admitted. "But I don't think he will."
"He should apologize," Carole agreed.
x
Rachel lay on her bed in her bedroom at her dads' house. Her dad's new position would take effect in the spring, but with her show schedule, she didn't know if she'd be able to come back here again. There were so many memories in this room. This was where she used to make her myspace videos. This was where she would listen to her Broadway recordings. This was where she and Finn would have their early makeout sessions. This was where she'd had sleepovers with Kurt and Mercedes in high school. Even though she had wanted to move to New York, she would always love Ohio and this house, and she would always want to have it to come home to.
Rachel heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called, not sure if she wanted to talk to her dads.
But it wasn't her dads. It was Finn. "Hey," Rachel said, smiling up at her husband.
"Hey," Finn said. "Is it nice to see your dads?"
"Yeah," Rachel said.
Finn looked at Rachel. "Are you okay?"
"My dads are moving to New York," Rachel told Finn.
"Really?" Finn asked. "That's great! You'll be able to see them more."
"They're selling my childhood home," Rachel said sadly. "This is the house that I grew up in. I have so many memories here. I know I always wanted to go to New York, but this house is special to me... and now it's going to be someone else's. I won't have it to come back to. Is it dumb that I'm upset?"
"No, of course not," Finn said. "I was sad when my mom and I moved out of the house we lived in when I was little so we could get a bigger place with Burt and Kurt."
"I was worried it was dumb," Rachel admitted.
"It's not dumb at all," Finn assured Rachel.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'll get to see my dads more, but I'm sad to be losing my childhood home," Rachel sighed. "This house means everything to me... and this might be the last time I'm here. My dad got a new job in New York, and they're going to be starting up there in the spring."
Finn put his arm around Rachel. "Well, we can plan some more visits here before they move."
"I'd like that," Rachel said softly.
"I can even ask my parents if it's okay if we come here for Christmas, even though they were planning to come to New York originally," Finn offered.
"I love you," Rachel whispered. She really did have the best husband ever.
x
Rachel was glad to be going to McKinley today to visit with everyone before the show. It had been an emotional evening for her, and getting to be at McKinley would take her mind off things. As she arrived, she went up to Kylie. "Excited to be playing the lead in the musical?"
"Yeah!" Kylie said. "Especially since it means getting to sing romantic duets with my boyfriend."
"Those are always good," Rachel said.
"Mr. Schue's really happy that you guys all came back," Kylie said.
"I'm glad he's back," Rachel said. "So, you're still planning on coming to New York to visit schools here, right?"
"Of course!" Kylie said. "Shelby said I can stay with her while I visit."
"Well, you can stay with me, too," Rachel said. "It's really great to have so many of our friends here, but I definitely wish you and I lived in the same city."
"We will next year," Kylie said. "How's Finn doing?"
"He's doing as well as he can," Rachel admitted. "His birth father is still acting like none of this is his fault and trying to get out of court."
"Well, he's probably going to get his ass handed to him in court," Kylie said.
Rachel laughed. "That's what we're all hoping."
Rachel felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Finn holding a baby. "Oh my gosh, is this Mr. and Mrs. Schuester's baby!"
"Yeah," Finn said. "This is little Caleb Schuester."
"He's so cute," Rachel said, noticing her former glee club teacher and counselor standing a few feet away. "It's so nice to finally get to see him in person."
"And both your boys have red hair, despite it being a recessive gene," Finn pointed out.
"My parents are thrilled about that," Mrs. Schuester said.
x
The musical was great that weekend. Finn could tell that Kylie was Rachel's sister while watching the show because her voice reminded him so much of Rachel's. The glee club members who'd joined after graduation were very talented, especially Roderick, Spencer, Jane, Mason and Madsion. After the show, there was a cast party at the twins' house, which the alumni were invited to as well.
"So, what do you think of this year's crop of glee kids?" Puck asked as some of the alumni watched some of the new kids perform on karaoke.
"They're good," Finn said. "Your sister was good tonight."
"She was excited to hear that the New Yorkers were coming," Puck said.
"Oh gosh," Finn groaned. "She's still got a crush on Kurt, doesn't she?"
"Yeah," Puck said.
"Wonder what Blaine thinks of that?" Artie asked. "After all, he does know all about that." He smirked at Tina.
"Hey!" Tina said. "I was really missing Mike, okay?"
"Well, now we realize a long distance relationship isn't that hard," Mike said, hugging Tina. "Daily skype chats are a good thing."
"You should come dance in New York sometime soon," Sam said to Mike.
"I'd love that," Mike said. "Plus it would be nice to see everyone."
"Yeah, we're staying in New York for Thanskgiving this year," Finn said.
"But you'll get to see us at Christmas," Artie told Mike. "And at the wedding..."
"Wedding?" Tina asked. "Are you asking Kitty..."
"Good job, Artie," Sam interrupted. "You know how she is at keeping secrets."
"I'll keep this one," Tina declared.
"You'd better," Artie said.
Spencer, Roderick and Mason came over to the group of alumni as Kurt and Blaine took over the karaoke machine. "So, how did this compare to musicals when you were here?" Mason asked.
"It was good, though it wasn't directed by Artie Abrams," Artie said.
"Please, you wished that you'd directed this one," Spencer said.
"So how do you guys like Mr. Schue?" Sam asked.
"He's great," Roderick said. "I can see why you all like him so much.
"Yeah, he is pretty great," Finn agreed.
x
"How did you like your sister as Christine?" Kitty asked Rachel as some of the girls watched hung out at the refreshment table.
"She was pretty good," Rachel said, smiling at Kylie. "If you were applying to performing arts schools, that would definitely look good."
"Our mom got her performer with you," Kylie said. "But I'll photograph your shows."
"This was a lot better than University of Lima's fall production," Brittany said.
"Were you in it?" Santana asked Brittany.
"Yeah, I was the best part of it!" Brittany said.
"Tina's going to be the lead in the musical at Juilliard," Mercedes announced.
"Oh, she finally got a solo," Brittany said.
"Hey, she got a pretty good amount her senior year," Kitty said.
"At least none of you have to share the spotlight with me in LA," Unique said. "I'm going to be playing Angel in my college's production of Rent."
"Finn's glee club is doing Rent, too!" Rachel said.
"LA is nice, but at least New York has all four seasons," Mercedes admitted.
"Oh, and Rachel, before you leave, I'll have to have you on Fondue for Two to talk about that award you might win," Brittany said.
"That would be cool," Rachel said. Looking around the basement, she was reminded of the party she'd thrown in her basement with the glee club five years ago. She could go home to Lima still, but she might not get to return to the home she'd loved so much.
"Are you okay?" Kylie asked Rachel.
"Yeah, just kind of tired," Rachel said. She didn't want to talk about her dads selling the house right now. She wanted the attention to be on the glee club.
Chapter 12 preview: Finn takes his glee club to Sectionals as the drama at the school worsens. The other gleeks try to help while some of the others have a huge moment of their own.
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