Disclaimer: If I had owned Glee, its characters or the used songs I wouldn't be still living in the Netherlands and Glee wouldn't have ended.
Thanx for your patience, the follows, Favs and reviews.
I know nothing about Jewish traditions or the witness protection program other than what my extensive research has taught me.
English still isn't my native language. For that and to kick my ass every once in a while to get it into gear and update I have jenmer61977 as my amazing beta.
"I made you a doctor's appointment for this morning. We're leaving after breakfast," Shelby informs Rachel when she comes downstairs Monday morning.
"Do we really have to? Can't that wait until we're at our final destination?" The girl whines.
"Rachel, you're fifteen and pregnant. If you really want to keep that baby we need to make sure you both are and stay healthy, so yes, we really have to," her mother firmly states, setting a plate with pancakes in front of the diva. "Now eat."
After they have eaten and cleaned up they're off to the hospital. Once there a nurse takes Rachel's blood pressure and draws some blood then they're sent to wait for the doctor.
"Good morning ladies. My name is Dr. Stickley, what can I help you with?" They are welcomed by a young blonde doctor when they're finally called in.
"Good morning. I'm Salma Ackermann and this is my daughter Rebecca." Shelby introduces them. "My daughter here took some pregnancy tests last week, all of which came out positive. Since she is only fifteen and wants to keep the baby we want to make sure everything is alright. We don't know how long we will stay here in Hawaii so we brought her here."
"Okay, let me see if the results of the blood test are back yet." The doctor looks at her computer. "The blood test confirms that you are indeed pregnant. When was your last period?"
"It was the end of the month before last."
"Okay, that makes you around seven weeks along," the doctor determines. "Having a baby and raising it are hard, especially when you're fifteen. Are you sure you understand your options?'
"I know I have options," Rachel having trouble to stay polite. "Suggesting my options after my mom told you we're keeping them is highly unprofessional don't you think?"
"I'm sorry if it came off that way" the doctor apologizes. "I just wanted to make sure you knew all the options out there. You are very young and I was just making sure."
"I know but we're moving from Ohio to Texas and in both states abortion is illegal and I don't agree with it anyway," Rachel explains showing the doctor that she'd done her homework. "And there is no way in hell I'm giving my baby up for adoption. I couldn't live with the thought of not knowing whether they're safe and well cared for or not. Seeing that I'm here with my mom should tell you that I do have a support system to help me with the baby. This baby is mine and I want it."
The doctor looks at Shelby for confirmation who nods. "If my daughter sets her mind to something she'll move heaven and earth to make it happen and work. We've been through a lot the last few months. With losing her father and boyfriend I don't think she can handle losing her baby too. So yes, my wife and I will be there for her every step of the way."
The doctor nods smiling at Rachel. "I was just making sure you had a support system and made your decision for the right reasons. I can see this baby will be well cared for and loved. That was all I needed to see. Now let's do what you came in for, to see if everything is alright. If you hop on the examine table and lift your shirt a little bit we can do just that."
Rachel climbs on the table and does as she's asked. "This might be a little cold," the doctor warns before putting some gel on the girl's stomach and starts moving the wand.
"When I was pregnant with this one I didn't get an ultrasound this early," Shelby lays a hand on Rachel's shoulder.
"When was that and how old are you?" The doctor asks.
"That was sixteen years ago. I was twenty-one at the time," Shelby answers after quickly counting back the years.
While searching the doctor nods and explains. "Normally we don't do an ultrasound this early unless the mother has had health problems in their past. With girls as young as Rebecca the chances of an ectopic pregnancy are higher simply because they're not fully grown as for example a woman above their twenty's. That's also why girls under eighteen are being monitored more strictly. Normally the time between appointments is six or eight weeks which will be shortened as the pregnancy prolongs, with problematic pregnancies, multiples or girls younger then eighteen it is 4 weeks. But this one nested itself where it should as far as I can see," she smiles pointing at a little blob on the screen turning up the volume of the machine. "Look, there's your baby. The sound you're hearing is its heartbeat."
"Wow, that's going fast," Rachel looks open mouthed at the monitor.
"As it should," the doctor wipes the gel of Rachel's stomach. "Everything seems to be in order. Do you have any questions?" she looks at the two stunned women still looking at the monitor with tears in their eyes.
Shelby tears herself out of her stupor first. "I'm sorry. No I don't think so."
"In that case you can choose. Either you make a new appointment and cancel if you have to leave or you can make an appointment in three and a half weeks if you're still on the island." The doctor sticks out her hand to say goodbye. "I printed three pictures for you and a prescription for prenatal vitamins."
"I think it will be easier if we make an appointment in three and a half weeks," Shelby shakes the doctor's hand. "Thank you, doctor."
Rachel stares at the picture the whole way back to the house, caressing it gently with her thumb. Coming into the house they find Sue sitting at the kitchen counter talking to someone.
"Sue, I didn't know we were expec…" Shelby starts to say until the 'stranger' turns around. "EM," both Shelby and Rachel scream, running to the FBI agent and hugging her tightly while firing questions at her like, how are things in Lima, did you catch the people who started the fire yet and how are Noah and Santana holding up.
After a few minutes Emily steps out of the embrace looking at her niece. "I'll answer all off your questions but first things first. Sue tells me you had a doctor's appointment. Is everything all right Hummingbird?"
The girl looks at her mama who shakes her head, silently telling her that she hasn't told why they were at the doctor's. "Uhm, yes everything is alright." She answers looking meaningful at Sue.
"Okayyy," the aunt looks confused. "If everything is alright then why did you need a doctor?"
Rachel blushes under the investigating eyes of her aunt. "Because I'm pregnant," She mumbles under her breath looking down at the ground.
Emily shakes her head, doing a double take if she heard that right. "Excuse me? Did I just hear my niece of fifteen years old say that she is pregnant?" Not able to give a verbal answer Rachel just nods her head.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Emily asks looking at Shelby and Sue.
"Besides supporting Rachel through it all nothing," Shelby shrugs.
"What?" Emily can't believe what she's hearing.
"Calm down Em," Shelby knows her best friend well enough that if she doesn't calm down she won't be able to listen to reason.
So when she finally sees that Emily has calmed down after a few minutes Shelby starts to explain. "Firstly, as Rachel explained to the doctor earlier we're moving from Ohio to Texas and in both states abortion is illegal and none of us believe in that anyway. There is no way in hell we're going to give it up for adoption either. And secondly, next to losing her fathers, boyfriend and best friends, losing her baby too will probably kill her. I will not push my baby to do that when I know how much she wants this baby." She steps next to her wife who hugs her to her side. "So we're going to do what every parent should do, support our daughter in the decision she made."
Silence fills the room for a couple of minutes until the dark haired agent smiles nodding. "You're right, as always. I'm sorry Hummingbird, I was just shocked by the news."
"It's alright Aunt Em. Guess how I felt when I saw those positive tests," the girl smiles gently. "Now tell us, how are things in Lima? How are Noah and San holding up?"
"The first couple of days were rough. As expected seeing the house collapse after an explosion just after they arrived at the scene was very hard on them. It was a good idea hiding that gas tank from the grill in the kitchen," Emily smirks. "It couldn't go off at a better moment. Anyway, after being informed that there was nothing left, not even your bodies, Noah took off and was AWOL for about a day until Santana brought him home drunk of his ass and gave him an ear full that he wasn't the only one who lost the most important person in their life."
She swallows, deciding it would be best not to tell at least Rachel what happened with Quinn. "I was planning on giving them the letters a few days after your funerals but after your lawyer read your 'will' they were planning on doing some investigation of their own since they knew you didn't have any family in Texas and jeopardize the whole operation, I had to give them the letters right then. This caused Noah to lose it again and lock himself in his room. It took Deborah two days of talking in to him for him to come around. After that they literally picked themselves up and started planning. Deb had Paul Karofsky remodel the basement into a hangout for the kids and a recording studio. Noah and Santana with the help of coach Beiste and Dave set up a whole new glee club named The Trouble Tones. A few members of your old glee club also changed clubs so they are already with nine and I heard Santana say something about creating a wall of sound to crush the old glee club. When I left they even had a few sponsors already lined up."
"Dave as in David Karofsky?" Rachel looks stunned.
"Yes," Emily confirms. "Turns out he is gay himself but was blackmailed by Quinn Fabray that if he didn't start bullying especially you and Kurt Hummel she would out him in front of the whole school."
"That bitch! We took her in when everybody was picking on her for being fat, calling her Lucy Caboosy. She comes to high school after a summer of strict dieting, exercising and a nose job and she thinks she's the queen of Lima all of a sudden. If I ever get back to Lima I kill her." Rachel fumes before softening her tone. "I knew something was up with Dave after we met Kurt. At least he has Noah and Santana now to protect his secret."
"Yeah, he and Santana are now each other's beards," the aunt debates with herself for a moment, deciding to wait a little longer before telling the girl literally everything. "You would have been so proud Hummingbird. The way they all stood up to defend you, your parents and Dave against that man who calls himself a teacher and some of your old teammates was really impressive."
"I bet I would," Rachel nods to herself. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to excuse myself for an hour or two. I'm exhausted, I'm going to take a nap."
Shelby kisses her forehead as she walks by. "You do that sweetie. We'll wake you when dinner is ready."
Shelby waits until she hears her daughter's bedroom click shut before addressing her best friend. "Okay, you were not telling her everything. Now spill. Tell us exactly what happened."
"You know me too well," the agent sighs. "You're right, I didn't tell her everything. If I had she would not be in her bed taking a nap but on her way to the airport to actually kill Ms. Fabr…"
She is interrupted by Rachel running down the stairs, hyperventilating with panic written all over her face.
"Honey, what's wrong? Is it the baby?" The girl shakes her head, gasping for air.
"You have to calm down sweetie. You know the drill. Slow, deep breaths," Sue takes control, always being the one to be able to talk their daughter through a panic attack. Kneeling before her she places Rachel's hand between her breasts on her chest. "Copy my breathing. Come on, you know you can do it. Breath… in… out… in… out…" After a few minutes the girl calms down. "Good, now tell us what has you spiraling in a panic attack?"
"I… I n… need to get t… to Lima. N… Noah," Rachel answers, tears streaming down her face, still gasping for air. "I h… have t… to tell him about th… the baby."
Realization dawns on the three older women. Emily crouches beside Sue, resting her hand on Rachel's knee. "You can't Rae, it isn't safe."
"Then let me at least call him." She looks desperate at her mothers and aunt.
"He'll be at the first flight out of Lima. We don't know if he, his family or Santana are being watched." Shelby shakes her head. "We can't risk it honey."
"But he'll never speak to me again when he finds out, this is his baby too," the smallest brunette cries.
"He'll understand honey," her mother steps behind her, laying her hands on the girl's shoulders. "And if he doesn't I'm sure either Deb or Santana will beat some sense into him, making him understand."
"You think so?" Rachel's not convinced they would after leaving like she did.
"I know so," Sue holds out her hand to pull her up. "Let me take you back to bed. You were exhausted before and this panic attack didn't make that any better." She leads the girl back upstairs and into bed.
Five minutes later she's back. "Out like a light." She turns to Emily. "Now why would our violence loathing daughter jump on a plane back to Lima to kill one Ms. Quinn Fabray?"
"Because aside from blackmailing Dave Ms. Fabray took advantage of Noah while he was drunk because he saw his girlfriend 'die' in a fire, just because she was jealous of everything our little Hummingbird was and had."
"You're kidding right?" Shelby whispers in horror.
Emily shakes her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. She didn't even have the decency to feel guilty about it after finding out what happened, claiming that he should get over it since they were both drunk. However, I have witness statements saying she knew exactly what she was doing when she took Noah upstairs making it very clear to her that what she did could be considered rape. When they found out that San and Noah were starting a new glee club and some called Shue out on his behavior she even tried to out Dave."
The room is silent for a while. "You're right, Rachel can't know about this. Let's just hope little Ms. Not so perfect at least used protection," Shelby sighs. "Is there any positive news?"
"Yes," Emily smiles. "The Trouble Tones, that's what they call the new glee club, threw together an amazing memorial for Rachel and Sue. I managed to snag a copy of the recording they made." She takes the DVD out of her bag and slides it towards the women across from her. "Show it to her when you think she's ready. Noah wrote a beautiful song he sung with Santana. They also used a recording of a song Rachel wrote and sang for him."
By the time the table is cleared after dinner Emily disappears to her room for a few minutes, only to come back with a very thick manila envelope and her carry-on in her hands.
"Now we come to the reason for my visit," she starts, pulling a stack of papers out of the folder. "I hope you all practiced signing papers with the names I gave you because those will be your names until we catch those responsible for the situation we're in." All three women nod.
"Good, I changed your last names into our grandmothers maiden name so your initials stay the same. So as of now Shelby is Salma Coleman," Emily looks through the papers, when she finds the right stack she slides it over to her best friend. The stack contains a passport, driver's license, birth certificate, her teachers credentials including fake letters of recommendation with a phone number redirected to Emily and even their marriage license. "Sue will be Sonia Ria Coleman," Sue receives the same stack of papers. "And our little Hummingbird will be Rebecca Beatrice Coleman." Rachel's stack included her coaching certificates, vocal, dancing and horse riding, and her school transcripts. "Hummingbird we'd prefer you don't do any competitive extracurricular activities." She holds up her hand when Rachel tries to protest. "But I know your competitive streak so I don't want to keep you from doing something. The one thing you can't do, under any circumstance, is show choir or any other competition on National level you're known for in Lima."
"I have to give up music and singing?" Rachel's widen in shock.
"In order not to get recognized and to stay safe you can't enter a competition where you could be recognized. Especially show choir," Emily's heart breaks for the girl. "Look, I know how important your music and singing is for you so maybe you could build a new studio in your new house so you can at least keep writing songs and record them. Because that song you wrote for Noah was amazing."
"You saw it?" The singer asks surprised.
"Yes, he showed it to us." The agent confirms.
"Good thing I didn't go with my initial plan to record it accompanying myself on the piano naked," Rachel blushes.
Emily chuckles. "Yes I guess it was, but I doubt he would have showed it to us if you had."
"Is everything clear so far?" She looks at the three other women at the table.
"No, not yet," Shelby says. "Did you enroll Rachel in a new school?"
"No, we didn't. With everything that has happened over the last few weeks I figured she didn't need the stress of adjusting to a new school just yet and might like to get homeschooled so I left that up to you." She takes another stack of papers out of her bag. "I had Garcia do some research for you on what route to follow if you wanted to be homeschooled. All the information is in here."
"Now if that is everything I'd like to go over to where you are going to be living." She looks around the table.
"Our guess was that you're thinking of sending us to Burleson," Shelby answers making her friend nod. "Okay. Were you able to send the stuff we managed to save?" Emily nods. "What about the horses?"
Emily shakes her head. "We haven't been able to transport them yet. Wicked has been extremely restless ever since the fire and up till now has been refusing to be lead into the trailer. Fact that Rachel isn't around and hasn't been taking care of him hasn't helped either. The only ones able to get him to eat were Noah and Santana and only if they brought something that had Rachel's smell on it. Luckily for them your gym bag was still in the car and your riding clothes were in the barn."
"I was kind of expecting that would happen," Shelby sighs. "Can you arrange something so that we can get them ourselves?"
"Actually I can but you can, under no circumstance, let anybody know," Emily looks sternly at Rachel who nods hesitatingly. "I already made arrangements to fly you guys to Burleson whenever you like and take the truck with the horse trailer to make the drive to Lima to get them. Only stipulation is that you don't tell anybody you're coming and that Shelby and Rae wear blonde wigs and you, Sue a dark one with long hair."
"I'll go pack," Rachel stands up to go upstairs.
"No wait," Sue stops her. "If we leave now you'll want to hit the road as soon as we arrive at the ranch. And I understand that but if I have to make the drive from Burleson to Lima I want to have a good night's rest. You can pack your things but we're not leaving until tomorrow morning at the earliest."
They agree on flying out early Friday morning to give them time to see what path to follow for Rachel's schooling and leave for Lima early in the morning on Saturday, so Emily makes some calls in order to have a car waiting at Spinks Airport to drive them to the ranch and to have a protection detail ready to drive behind them all the way to Lima and back.
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