Chapter 29
Abby pressed her nose against the cold plastic window as the plane descended into Columbus.
"Mommy look, I see a car!" Rachel smiled and looked over Abby's shoulder from her middle seat.
"Believe it or not honey, they have cars in Ohio." Quinn grinned at Rachel's words from across the aisle as they approached their destination. Abby hadn't been to Ohio since she was 2 so Rachel and Quinn were pretty sure she didn't remember much. They were coming back for a reunion of sorts with everyone but also to watch New Directions at the Regional competition this weekend.
"Momma where are we sleeping?" Lily asked, looking out her own window. Whenever they went into Ohio they would stay at Hiram and Leroy's. However, just a few years ago they move to upstate New York to retire and be closer to their granddaughters.
"We're staying at Uncle Kurt's dads house. With a whole lotta people," Quinn replied.
"Who?" Ella chimed in as she flipped through her magazine.
"Well," Quinn began. She started counting names on her fingers. "Uncle Blaine, Uncle Kurt, Trevor, Auntie San, Britt, Maddy, and then a few other aunts and uncles you haven't met."
"Why do we have so-o many aunts and uncles?" Abby asked. Rachel smiled and ruffled her hair.
"You don't. You actually don't have any real ones. So we gave you fake ones."
"I like them," Lily added.
"Me too," Quinn smiled. The plane inched closer to the ground and touched down, clearly surprising Abby as the young girl let out a gasp as the wheels touched the ground. After getting off the plane they made their way to the baggage claim. Lily was the first to spot Carole, Blaine, and Finn at the top of the escalator and ran ahead to greet them. She jumped onto Blaine and tackled him in a hug. It had only been oh, 24 hours since she had seen him.
"You remember Uncle Kurt's mom right Lil?" Lily nodded and gave a shy smile. "And this tall guy of course." Finn took off his sunglasses and smiled at Lily.
"Uncle Finn!" she hobbled out of Blaine's arms and gave the significantly taller man a hug. The rest of the family came up and greeted the crew.
"Hi Carole!" Quinn smiled, giving the woman a hug.
"Hi honey," Carole replied in the hug "And who is this little cutie all grown up?"
"This is Abby," Quinn replied, putting a hand on the girls shoulder. "Abby this is Carole, Uncle Kurt's mom."
"Abby the last time I met you, you were itty-bitty," Carole said to the little girl who giggled in reply. The family exchanged their greetings and went to collect their bags. 20 minutes later they were on the road to Lima.
"Mommy where did all the big tall buildings go?" Abby asked staring out the window.
"Lima doesn't have buildings. They hardly have anything. We're going to the middle of no where," Ella called from the back of the car.
"Woah, excuse me," Rachel said turning around to the blonde. "Let's be grateful that mommy and momma take us on vacation as much as they do and letting us miss school." Lily nudged Ella in the arm when she heard the words 'miss school' in fear that Ella's words would cause their moms to never let them miss school again.
"Mmkay…whatever," Ella replied quietly rolling her eyes. Carole and Quinn exchanged a smile from the front seat. Finn and Blaine were with the luggage in Finn's truck right behind them.
. . . .
"And here is where the little ones will sleep, Trevor and Charlie, Mike and Tina's son will be in that bunk, and Ella you'll be in the office on the pull-out couch alone, if that's okay." Ella nodded happily at Carole. She would rather be alone than sleep with a bunch of little kids "But Hannah will be around this weekend, Emma and Will's daughter, so you can hang out with her. I think she's just a few years older than you." Ella smiled at those words. Older? Maybe someone who can actually treat her like a 14 year old instead of having to hang out with her little sisters all day? She was content.
"Is everyone else here?" Quinn asked as Lily and Abby set their backpacks down on their respected beds. Carole nodded.
"They all went down to watch the last rehearsal, which unfortunately you guys just missed with your flight," Carole started. "But Burt's gonna cook up some burgers and hot dogs and chicken and we'll have a BBQ outside when they all get back."
"Perfect," Rachel said walking in. Abby carefully made her way around the room and looked out the window. She let out a small gasp.
"Mommy they have a trampoline," she turned, mouth agape. "Can I go on it? Pleeeeease?" she ran over to Rachel and almost jumped up and down with excitement. Rachel and Quinn let out a small laugh.
"If its okay with Carole, yes you may." Abby looked to Carole with a hopeful glance and when Carole nodded the little girl squealed and ran out of the room.
. . . .
The family sat in the brisk afternoon sun sipping on some iced tea and catching up with Finn and Carole. Finn was living in Columbus and owned an incredibly successful car repair shop. They were all impressed that Rachel was still thriving on Broadway and Quinn was the number one pediatrician in Manhattan. Abby and Lily were bouncing on the trampoline and Ella was attempting to sunbathe…in a sweatshirt and jeans. It was the only direct sunlight she had seen in a few months.
"RACHEL! QUINN!" Rachel jerked her head around and screamed, running over to Tina and enveloping her in a huge hug. Quinn grinned and ran up to join them and greeted her, Mike, Mercedes, Puck, and Brittany. They began immediately catching up and they all agreed it had been too long since they were all together.
"Is the little flipper yours, Quinn?" Mercedes asked as they all sat around the patio table eating some snacks and having some drinks. Quinn and Rachel both turned around and saw Abby pounding on the trampoline and doing front flips and back handsprings.
"ABIGAIL." Abby jammed her knees down and froze at her mother's words. She hadn't been flipping earlier but the second Quinn turned her back she whipped out the skills she had been working on in gymnastics. Quinn walked over to the trampoline and pulled her off, setting her on the ground.
"What? I got my double front!"
"Do you know how dangerous that is? There is no net on that trampoline and you could have fallen off and hit your head."
"But I didn't! And I won't fall! And its just grass," Abby countered.
"Abby, no flipping, end of discussion." Rachel called from the table. The little girl huffed and pouted, stomping over to the table and hoisting herself on Brittany's lap.
"Where's Charlie?" Abby asked reaching across Brittany's legs to reach a chip. She was struggling so Brittany just grabbed it for her.
"He and Trevor and Maddy are grocery shopping with San and Kurt so we aren't eating all of Carole and Burt's food," Mike replied.
"Oh nonsense, its been years since I've had a bunch of hungry teens in the house. And now you're all just hungry adults," Carol said bringing out a plate of fruit.
"We're here!" Kurt's voice rang throughout the kitchen and into the backyard. He entered with Trevor, Charlie, Santana who was holding Maddy, Will, Emma and their daughter Hannah.
"Ahhh!" Rachel squealed jumping up to give Will a hug. She hadn't seen him in a few years; their schedules just never worked out when she came to town and vice versa. Quinn and Rachel both gave Will and Emma a hug before looking at the poised teenager standing beside them.
"This cannot be little Hannah," Quinn said. Hannah smiled and nodded.
"You're about to age me… how old are you now?" Rachel asked.
"I'll be 17 next weekend." Rachel groaned.
"Yep, I'm officially old," Rachel replied. I don't think you've had a chance to meet our eldest. El? She's 14." Ella's head shot up at the sound of her voice and she made her way over from the lawn chair she was sitting in.
"Ella, this is Hannah. Hannah, Ella."
"Hey," Hannah greeted. Her eyes shifted away from Ella almost immediately after the introduction.
"Hi," Ella replied.
"Well you two go hang out and talk about whatever it is you teenagers talk about. Boys… clothes…" Will said. Hannah gave her father a slight nod before adjusting the bag on her shoulder.
"Um yeah actually can I go freshen up in the bathroom? I'm kinda gross from rehearsal." She didn't really wait for a response before bolting away and leaving Ella with the adults. Quinn watched Ella's face turn from excitement about having a friend to disappointment as she got away as fast as she could.
"She's in Glee club?" Rachel asked.
"Of course, not to brag or anything but she's kind of my star… reminds me a lot of you," Will replied. Rachel smiled and continued talking to Will and Emma about Evita and how it was going.
"Come sit with me," Quinn said quietly to Ella, grabbing her hand. "Let's have a snack." Ella shook her head and Quinn could sense the girl closing up and getting self-conscious.
"Yes," Quinn said gently. Ella conceded and followed her mom over to the table.
. . . .
Lily used all the strength she had to slap Trevor with the pillow as hard as she could but he had Charlie on his side. It had somehow turned into a battle of boys against girls and while Abby's strength was a good match, Charlie's was just as good. He did karate and was basically a miniature ninja in Lily's eyes.
Charlie hopped on the bed and whacked Lily on top of the head, causing her to scream. Abby took this as her sign to jump onto Charlie's back and tackle him to the ground.
"LILY GO! GET HIM!" Lily reciprocated Charlie's attack on her before Charlie held up his hand.
"I surrender," he spat out. "Fine, you win."
"NO! CHARLIE!" Trevor yelled in protest. When Charlie faked being dead on the ground Trevor threw his pillow back onto his bed and slumped against it. "Fine…" he sulked quietly. The door opened a few moments later and the 4 kids heads bolted to it so fast you would think they thought they saw a ghost.
"What are you doing…?" Ella asked, holding Maddy in her arms.
"Nothing," Trevor replied. Ella rolled her eyes.
"Okay well Maddy has to go to bed so I need you to stop yelling so I don't have to get up and get her." The baby leaned her head onto Ella's shoulder in tiredness.
"What's Hannah doing?" Lily asked. Ella shrugged.
"She went out with her boyfriend like an hour ago," Ella replied. The adults had gone out to a nice dinner and asked Hannah and Ella to babysit. Hannah clearly had other ideas.
"I thought you were going to hang out," Lily replied. Ella gave her sister a sad look for a second.
"I did too." She closed the door and was glad when they didn't erupt in screaming. She put Maddy in her crib and made her way back to the living room where she was enjoying her movie and Facebooking her friends. So what if Hannah didn't want to hang out with her? Her loss. She said something about having to perform tomorrow and she needed her boyfriends help to prepare. Ella knew the seriousness to focus so she wasn't going to hold it against her. However Hannah had barely acknowledged Ella's existence all evening and made little to no effort to befriend her. She saw headlights approach the driveway and stared out the window a little longer until she saw Hannah almost stumble out of the car and the car drive away. A few moments later the front door opened and she came back in.
"They aren't back yet, right?" Hannah asked as she entered the living room. No you idiot, that's why there are no cars in the driveway, Ella thought to herself.
"Nope," she politely responded. Hannah smiled.
"Good. And if they ask, I was here the whole time. Okay?" she asked. Ella hesitated for a moment before nodding "Oh is this Napoleon Dynamite? LOVE. THIS. MOVIE." Hannah hopped down on the couch adjacent to the big chair Ella was sitting in and began to watch the movie with her. Every time Ella would laugh at a funny line or scene, Hannah would laugh harder. Ella couldn't tell if the girl was genuinely enjoying the movie or just trying annoying her.
"I'm so thirsty," Hannah said once the movie was over and Ella switched over to TV. Hannah walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water and downed it in a second. Ella was getting very confused and just went back to her laptop. Hannah returned with another glass of water and continued to watch TV with Ella, laughing almost obnoxiously at anything that was a smidge funny.
Ella was getting ready to go to bed herself; Hannah was just becoming annoying. She was so excited to hang out with her before but now she was being a pest. The front door opened and a multitude of voices filled the foyer.
"Hi sweetheart," Rachel said walking in and ruffling Ella's hair. She placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Did you and Hannah have a good time tonight?" Ella shot Hannah a look before older girl looked up at Rachel with a sweet smile.
"We had a great time," she grinned, laughing a little.
"How were the kids?" Rachel asked taking off her coat.
"Fine, I think they are watching a movie in the den or something. They've been pretty quiet."
"Hi mommy!" Abby said. Rachel reached down to pick her up and was happy to see she was already in her pajamas. Quinn walked up and kissed her on the cheek. "How was your date Hannah?" Hannah's eyes shot up at the little girls words.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Ella said you went out with your boyfriend," Abby replied. Ella swallowed a lump in her throat as Hannah's eye drifted towards her.
"Hannah?" Emma asked walking towards the girl on the couch.
"Um… can we go home? I'm so tired and tomorrow is such a big day," Hannah stood to grab her stuff but was stopped.
"Not so fast," Will approached the two. He looked into Hannah's eyes. They were bloodshot. "Did you meet Brett tonight?"
"No, no of course not," Hannah said quickly.
"Don't lie," Emma replied just as fast. Hannah's shoulders slumped and she bit her lip.
"Yeah," she said barely above a whisper. Will took a step towards her and lifted her chin so he was looking into her eyes
"Are you high?" Will asked, almost in a whisper. "Oh my god you are, aren't you? Hannah Marie what were you thinking? Get your stuff, we're going, now. Good night girls, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night," Quinn and Rachel said quietly as the Schuster's left the house. Santana and Brittany excused themselves to go get ready for bed and check on Maddy. Rachel took Abby to tuck her in and the rest of the adults had already dispersed to tuck their own kids in.
"She hates me even more now," Ella groaned as the living room was empty, minus her mother.
"Hey now," Quinn said sitting on the arm of the chair. "You did absolutely nothing wrong, okay? She was being stupid and made a dumb mistake which you are never to make, is that clear?" Ella nodded seriously before Quinn went on. "You want me to come snuggle with you before you go to sleep?" Ella forced a little smile and nodded. Sometimes you just need your mom to make you feel better.
Quinn held Ella in the semi-uncomfortable pull-out bed and they talked for a half hour about school, friends, boys; the usual. Rachel found them after she had taken a shower and joined them on the bed in conversation. It was a rarity for the three of them—time alone with their eldest without interruptions from the two younger ones. And they really enjoyed the time with her.
A/N: The end of the season is getting me emotional. I just had to bring everyone in! I hope you liked this. I'll have probably two more chapters of them in Lima just to mix it up a little bit and then we'll head back to New York. Thank you for the reviews, as always. I love them and they are really helpful!
