Chapter 36
Rachel couldn't really comprehend anything. Immediate tears of happiness formed in her eyes and as if on cue the door swung open.
"Hi mommy!" Abby exclaimed jumping into Rachel's arms.
"Hi my sweet girl," Rachel said kissing the top of your head. Shelby walked in behind her and exchanged greetings with everyone in the room. Lily and Quinn followed a few moments later.
"Mommy, are you crying?" Abby asked, looking into Rachel's deep brown eyes with her identical ones. Rachel nodded.
"What's wrong honey?" Quinn asked setting her purse down and kissing Ella on the forehead and exchanging a polite 'hello' with Chloe.
"Nothing's wrong," Rachel said, her eyes filling to the brim with tears once more. "Lil, come here." Lily turned around from the make-up counter she was standing at looking at some piece of paper on the counter and walked over to her mom. When she was a few feet away her eyes got wide and she froze in her tracks.
"Did they call?" Rachel couldn't hide her grin and nodded.
"You're going to be Annie, Lil." Shelby, Quinn and Abby burst into cheers and screams with Ella and Chloe and Lily just stood there, mouth open wide.
"Wh—wh—what?" Rachel nodded and the entire family watched the little girl purse her lips together and begin to cry.
"This is the best day of my entire life," Lily cried happily, running into Quinn's arms as Rachel's were taken by Abby. Quinn lifted the girl up giving her a tight hug and spun her around in a circle, showering her face with kisses.
"I'm so proud of you baby," she whispered into Lily's ear. Lily in response kicked her legs in the air before wrapping them around Quinn's body and hugged her tighter. The celebration went on with a dozen more hugs and kisses.
"I feel like I'm invading on a family moment," Chloe whispered to Ella once the celebrating had died down a little and Shelby was in deep conversation with the two little girls. Ella looked over with wide eyes and shook her head.
"Oh hush," Ella replied. "I'm so happy you're here." In an impulse, Ella slammed her lips onto Chloe's. The intensity was equivalent of the kiss they shared in Chloe's car that first evening. A catcall whistle took them out of their embrace. Ella's face turned beat red as Rachel looked with her with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry," Ella muttered. Chloe couldn't hide her laughter and Rachel's stern expression turned into a grin.
"I'm kidding El, you are welcome to display your PDA in the privacy of my dressing room." Quinn rolled her eyes at her wife and the adults burst into a small pit of laughter, with no help to hinder the embarrassment of Ella.
. . . .
The show was one of Rachel's best and Chloe was star-struck the entire time, much to Ella's amusement. She kept nudging Ella every few minutes during the first act to make sure Ella was paying attention to the goddess on the stage. After reassuring her that she was Ella grew bored by the second number of the second act; the same spot she loses interest every time she comes to the show. Chloe was very well invested into the musical and Ella took a moment to be thankful that she had so many connections into her girlfriend's passion.
After the show, the group all went their separate ways. Shelby took Lily and Abby out to dinner allowing Quinn and Rachel to have some quality time together while Ella went to Chloe's for dinner. They would all go and celebrate for Lily later when they didn't have previously arranged plans. Ella was holding her breath the entire drive to Chloe's and Chloe could sense her girlfriend's tension. She grazed her fingers over Ella's slightly trembling hand as it sat on her bouncing knee.
"Nervous?" Chloe asked as she made her way down her street. Ella shrugged and let out a sigh. "Don't be. My whole family will love you." Ella pursed her lips as they approached the house. Ella could see through the dining room window a blonde woman and a man with short black hair setting the dining room table and arranging some chairs.
"Are those your parents?" Ella asked as Chloe unbuckled her seatbelt. She looked in the window and smiled.
"Yes they are. Come on, they are really excited to meet you." She practically had to drag the jittery blonde out of the car and up the front steps. She opened the front door and dropped her bag and coat. Ella's nose was immediately filled the smell of her favorite food in the entire world—beef stroganoff. Her mother's attempt at a vegan version was a total bust and she never got to experience it because Quinn didn't like to cook it. "Hi," Chloe called once she shut the front door.
The blonde women came out of the kitchen into the front hall wiping her hands on her yellow-striped William Sonoma apron.
"You must be Ella," she said opening her arms for a hug. "I'm Julie."
"Pleasure to meet you," Ella replied after the brief but still intimate hug. The man came out immediately after.
"Hi Ella," he said extending a hand. "Ron Parker. Nice to meet you." He was wearing business clothes and it didn't take Ella very long to see they were all designer brand, from his tie to his shoes. They looked so picture perfect.
"Nice to meet you too." Ella smiled as they lingered in the hallway for a moment before Julie ushered them into the dining room.
"Great timing Chlo, dinner is just finished. I hope you like stroganoff, Ella," Julie said pulling some plates out of the cabinet.
"I love it, thank you so much for having me over," Ella replied. Julie and Ron offered the girls something to drink before serving the food on the table.
"Where's Lenny?" Ron asked pulling out his chair. Julie set down the dishtowel she was drying her hands with and briskly walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, out of sight.
"El," Chloe said holding the steaming pot of noodles in her hand. Ella snapped out of her staring and took the pot from Chloe, serving herself some food. Julie returned a moment later with a boy. Ella suddenly recognized this boy as the boy from the picture with Chloe by her bedside.
"Ella," Chloe began. "This is my brother Lennon." He gave a half-hearted smile and a small wave before sitting down at the end of the table, as far away from Ella as possible. Ella returned with a whole-hearted smile and quietly said 'hello'. She wasn't really sure what she expected…and if she even expected to meet Chloe's brother. Chloe kind of made it seem like he was…dead. And he was fully living. He was silent during dinner and ate rather quickly.
"Ella what other shows has your mother starred in?" Julie asked halfway through dinner. They had been making light conversation about Chloe and some NYU placement test she needed to take. Ella swallowed her food and set her fork down politely.
"Wicked and Funny Girl. I was pretty young when she did Funny Girl though."
"That is just so amazing," Julie said, clearly in awe. "So you've pretty much grown up in the Broadway world, huh?" Ella shrugged and smiled.
"I guess you could say that. I'm pretty used to it by now and my sister is super into theater too."
"Lily, remember the girl who played Dorothy when we saw Wizard of Oz that one time," Chloe chimed in. Julie pondered for a moment.
"Oh that girl was so adorable, so talented," Julie said smiling. Ella nodded.
"Yep, that's her, she's great. She just got a huge roll in a show so we're all really excited for that."
"Oh how wonderful! We'll be sure to come see it." Ella smiled and Julie went on to asked Chloe a question about something that Ella had no involvement in so she went back to eating her delicious meal. She couldn't help but notice Ron having small conversation with Lennon that Ella couldn't hear. The dining room table was large enough that two separate conversations could happen without involving the each other. Lennon looked normal… he was attractive, wore neat, normal, 18-year-old boy clothing and didn't have any weird piercings or anything that Ella could see. There was something off about him though, that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
. . . .
"I feel like I haven't spoken to you in weeks," Rachel said as she sipped her wine. She and Quinn were tucked away in a booth in one of their favorite restaurants. It had been far too long since just the two of them had had an evening to themselves with the packed schedule the family had.
"I know," Quinn agreed. "I see you every day but our lives are Ella, Lily, Abby, repeat and I miss my Rach." She gave off a pouting expression and Rachel leaned over the booth. She grabbed Quinn's folded hands and lightly pecked her on the lips.
"I wish I could say things are going to die down but…"
"Far from it," Quinn finshed. "Well, your mom did say she could help out so we should make a deal that once a week we make sure we get an hour to ourselves, out of the house and away from the girls for a second."
"I like that very much," Rachel smiled. Their food arrived and they began to devour it immediately.
"So how do we break the news to Abby she can't go to that gymnastics camp in Texas?" Rachel paused with her fork in midair.
"Wait, why can't she?"
"I was going to go with her but with Lily in rehearsal literally all summer I just don't think its possible with you doing 8 shows a week. We can't just stick her and Ella with your mom all summer, didn't she say she was going to go to Ireland or something to visit a friend?" Rachel bit her lip and nodded.
"Crap. She's going to be crushed," Rachel said.
"We can find one closer here," Quinn said. "Maybe there's one at the sports academy Ella has her lacrosse camp in."
"I find it so ironic she's doing lacrosse coming from someone who is afraid of most physical contact. Just wait until she decides she wants to do softball…" Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Rach don't stereotype our daughter," she chided playfully.
"I love her so much," Rachel smiled as she took bites. "She's had one hell of a year. And she is keeping her head held high."
"And then we have the mini-you."
"I thought I was dreaming when I got that phone call. Like….holy shit. This is big time stuff." Quinn stirred her pasta around in a circle but didn't pick it up on her fork.
"Remember that whole agent-management thing a while back?" Rachel let out a sigh and nodded. "It might…might be time. Maybe. We'll see."
"I agree," Rachel replied.
"If and only if we do decide to get her management we're going with your old agency. Those are the only people I'd trust with our baby."
"Absolutely," Rachel said. They continued eating and sharing food, playfully feeding each other the various dishes they had ordered. After paying the bill and leaving the two walked hand in hand down the streets of Manhattan on a warm early-summer evening. They ended up at Central Park and found a quiet bench and curled up against each other, watching the other various couples stroll and quietly talking amongst themselves.
. . . .
Ella did enjoy the evening at Chloe's house. After dinner Julie had made some brownie sundaes for the girls and Lennon but Lennon took his to his room and didn't make another appearance for the rest of the evening. Nobody in the family seemed to take notice or say anything to him about it so Ella just assumed it was the norm. Chloe was done with finals and Ella didn't have one until Tuesday so there wasn't a rush for her to get home. Chloe took Ella up to her room and the two cuddled while watching some TV for a little while. As night approached and the large clock in Chloe's living room struck 9:00, Ella decided it was probably in her best interest to head home sooner rather than later. Ella said goodbye to Julie and Ron as they were sitting on the couch together reading.
"Your parents are so cute," Ella said as they walked down Chloe's stoop.
"I love them. They are really great and supportive of me and everything I do."
"That's always important," Ella replied. Chloe nodded as they got in the car. They stayed silent for a moment as Chloe put the key in the ignition but did not start the car. "It was nice to meet your brother," Ella added a little quieter. Chloe froze for a second and closed her eyes. When she opened them she turned her face and took Ella's face in her palm. She gently stroked Ella's cheek before gently kissing her lips. When she pulled away Ella could see tears forming in Chloe's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Ella asked quietly taking Chloe's hand. One tear fell and Chloe quickly wiped it away.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"No, no, its fine. What happened?" Ella gently stroked Chloe's hand to try and calm her. Chloe took a deep breath
"My brother…yesterday…the reason we couldn't go to prom, he was getting out of rehab."
Ella wished at that moment she had some of her mother's talents for being able to hide emotion and put on a brave face. She took her gaze away from Chloe and just nodded. She wasn't really sure how to respond.
"He's not like… a drug addict or anything. He was just really depressed. It's a longer story for another night." Chloe turned away from Ella and started her car. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you to prom."
"No, Chloe no," Ella began. This was not what she wanted to think at all. "Don't apologize, its fine. More than fine." Chloe began driving down her street and avoided eye contact with Ella. The blonde could tell she was just uncomfortable and probably wasn't ready to share that part of her life with her. The longer Ella fully comprehended what Chloe had revealed to her, the more nervous it made her. The drive to Ella's apartment was almost in complete silence, minus the music playing on the radio that Chloe turned up nice and loud. The two girls sang along so Ella could tell Chloe wasn't too upset if she was still feeling good enough to sing.
"Have a good night," Chloe said once they were at the curb of Ella's building. "See you tomorrow in the usual spot?" She gave a slight smile and Ella returned it, hoping to lift the girl's spirits and nodded. They shared a quick kiss and a hug over the car seats before Ella jumped out of the car and up to her building.
. . . .
"I hate this game," Rachel muttered as she fell off rainbow road for the 4th time. She, Quinn, Abby and Lily were currently battling it out in Mario Kart on their Wii and Rachel wasn't exactly winning. Video games just weren't really her thing. Laughter erupted from Abby as she finished her second lap.
"Mommy you are SO far behind! I'm about to pass you and you're a lap behind me!"
"Yeah don't rub it in," Rachel replied. She nearly knocked Quinn off the couch in frustration as her car toppled off the road again.
"Honey are you sure you want to play this game?" Quinn asked with a sly smile. Rachel groaned and continued to attempt to drive.
"YES I GOT A STAR. I'M GONNA BEAT YOU ABBY!" Lily yelled from one of the beanbag chairs by the couch. "Yes, yes, yes, yes YES!" Lily beat Abby by a few centimeters and the little blonde wasn't exactly pleased.
"You cheated," she argued.
"How can I cheat Abby? It's a video game." Abby huffed and tossed the wii remote onto the ottoman in front of them and leaned into Rachel.
"You got 4th momma!" Lily exclaimed after Quinn's car crossed the finish line. Quinn gave a smug smile and looked over at Rachel who in return glared at her.
"Lily, I wanna race you again," Abby called from the corner of the couch.
"Okay," The brunette agreed. "Even though I'll win."
"It finished for me," Rachel added sullenly. "That's how bad I was losing. Oh, come ON." Lily giggled and Abby even gave a little smile at Rachel's attempt to play video games.
"I give up. I'm going to make some popcorn…"
"Can you get me a soda please? Thank you!" Abby quickly asked before starting the next race with Quinn and Lily eagerly participating.
"Excuse me young lady, I am not your slave," Rachel replied, standing in front of the television. She knew it would set them off.
"MOMMY!" Lily screamed. "I'M ALREADY LOSING!"
"MOVE!" Abby yelled, jumping off the couch and using her best to shove her mother out of the way. Rachel finally huffed out of the loft and down into the kitchen to get some snacks and beverages for the group. She heard the front door handle shake a little and a few light knocks on the door. She put the popcorn in the door and made her way into the front hall, opening the door carefully.
"Oh honey," Rachel said with a sigh of relief when she opened the door and found Ella on the other side. "I thought you were a murderer." Ella rolled her eyes and took off her shoes and jacket.
"How was dinner?"
"Good," Ella replied. "I'm kinda tired though, I think I'm just going to go to bed."
"Alright, do you want to get some coffee tomorrow before school in celebration of your last week?" Ella smiled.
"Sure." Exhaustion filled her voice and she let out a yawn. "Good night."
"Good night Belle," Rachel said kissing her on the forehead. She watched the girl walk down the hall and into her room. Rachel considered following her in to make sure she was okay but she also wanted her to get rest before school tomorrow. She returned to the kitchen where her popcorn was finishing up.
After a few devious rounds of the game, Quinn and Rachel announced it was time for bed. They both went down pretty easily as the girls were already in pajamas and bathed.
"Is El okay? I heard her talking to you and I would have come down to say hi to her but I was really invested into beating the girls," Quinn asked once they were settled into bed.
"You're really into that game Quinn," Rachel began with a smile. Quinn rolled her eyes playfully.
"It's addicting. And did you see Abby's confidence boost when she won a round? Video games are so interesting…what they do to kids. I think there's a study about it…"
"Ella is fine, I think," Rachel finally said trying to cut Quinn off from her tangent. "She looked exhausted but content. I'll talk to her tomorrow morning."
"Mmkay," Quinn said yawning and turning onto her side, setting her head on her pillow. Rachel turned away from her so they could spoon and Rachel reached up to turn the bedside light off before the two fell into a deep slumber.
Their deep slumber only lasted a few hours before a few knocks on their bedroom door jolted them out of their sleep. Quinn groaned into her pillow.
"Come in Abby," Rachel called from the bed. The door creaked open.
"It's me." Quinn sat up quickly.
"What's wrong El?" Ella came into the room and shut the door before walking over to the bed. She sat down on the edge of the comforter closest to Quinn.
"Ella?" Rachel asked adjusting the pillows and turning on a lamp by the bed. "What's up sweetheart?" Ella stayed quiet but cracked her knuckles a few times, trying to release some tension. Quinn put a hand over her daughter's hand to stop her.
"Chloe has a brother," Ella started. Rachel looked to Quinn with a confused look and waited for Ella to continue. "He…he just got out of rehab. And…I know its stupid but it really freaks me out because…because her family is so perfect and you wouldn't think that anything is wrong….but…but but they aren't perfect and its…its just weird…and I can't sleep because now I can't stop thinking that Chloe…that maybe there's something wrong with her and…and that she's just hiding from me because she thinks that I won't approve or something and…and that's not true! I don't care! Its just…I don't know what to do or how to act around her now and…yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I've just been lying in bed but I'm so tired so now I just have a headache." Quinn got out of bed to go get Ella a glass of water and some Advil and to give herself a moment to absorb the speech her daughter had just given her.
"Come here," Rachel said with her arms outstretched to Ella. Ella crawled up onto the huge king size bed and into her mom's arms. "And take a deep breath, please." Ella followed the direction as Quinn returned with the water and pill, giving it to Ella who took it willingly. Quinn and Rachel watched their daughter calm down for a moment and were thankful that she was being vocal about her insecurities rather than hiding them and just shutting people out.
"You have such a big heart," Quinn began as Ella leaned her head on her shoulder. "But you need to remember not to try to help Chloe so much that you end up making things harder on her." Ella nodded and waited for Quinn to go on. Rachel took over for her.
"What you need to do right now is not think about what things could be going on with her and just be there for her right now, when she needs you the most."
"How? What can I do?" Ella's voice was small and timid, breaking Rachel and Quinn's heart a little bit. "She's so much older than me and more mature and I feel like she doesn't want to tell me anything about her brother or anything because I won't understand." Rachel bit her lip for a second and glanced at Quinn who shook her head subtly. The two had briefly discussed the four-year age gap between the two girls but decided to brush it aside. Chloe wasn't going to get her pregnant and seemed to be a relatively great kid; they were happy with the way she had been treating Ella. They didn't want to push it and now certainly wasn't the time. Ella genuinely cared for this girl and wanted to see her happy.
"Ask her if she needs anything, take her out for lunch, bring her over here and watch a movie, go shopping…just keep things as normal as possible," Rachel replied. Ella took a deep breath as Rachel continued. "Don't treat her any different. Relationships require trust, from both of you. When you trust her, she'll trust you."
"And you guys have the entire summer to grow closer and learn about each other. This is just a fraction of her life. It may be…scary for you to understand at first but as you grow older you'll learn more about it. She's still the same Chloe that you fell for. Something like this doesn't define her in any way." Ella gave a soft smile at her mom's words.
"We're proud of you El," Quinn said, wrapping her arms around Ella in a hug. The girl curled up in the comfort of her mother's warmth and finally closed her eyes in an attempt to get some rest.
. . . .
Lily awoke the next morning and glanced to her clock. It read 8:28. She usually woke up when Ella left for school. She never really was able to grasp the whole "sleeping in" concept during summer vacation. And she was too excited to sleep. She had a lead role to prepare for. She didn't have any of her scripts or music yet so she just had to educated herself with the videos on Youtube and her piano book. Which she did. After a half hour of watching 17 different versions of Annie sing "Maybe," Lily went to make herself a cup of tea. She was surprised her mom wasn't even awake yet… normally she was the first one up in the house. She put a mug of water in the microwave and used oven mitts to remove it once it chimed. The chime must have been loud enough to wake someone in the apartment up because moments later Ella ran through the hallway yelling "Crap, I'm late."
"Morning Lil," Rachel said walking into the kitchen. "I gotta run El to school, momma is going to take you out to breakfast before taking you to nana's, okay?"
"Okay," Lily replied happily. Rachel kissed her on the top of the head when Ella arrived at the entryway of the kitchen, dressed in her uniform.
"I'll get a big lunch, let's go mom." She rushed Rachel out of the house before Rachel could even argue a little bit.
After Rachel returned from dropping Ella off at school Quinn took Lily to breakfast, leaving Rachel to have the morning with the little one.
"Where are we going mommy?"
"It's a surprise!"
"I don't like surprises," Abby muttered. Rachel looked down as they stopped at a crosswalk with a raised eyebrow.
"Well I think you'll like this one," Rachel began as the light change to the walk symbol. "No," she corrected herself. "I know you'll like this one." Abby furrowed her brows as she tried to think of what this surprise could possibly be once they entered Central Park. Rachel looked down at the concentrated face and gave a little laugh.
"Don't think too hard," Rachel told her. Abby looked up and gave her mom a confused look.
"ABBY!" The little girl looked back out into the park at the sound and immediately let go of her mom's hand, running into the arms of her best friend. Rachel walked quickly over to the group and gave Blaine a hug as Trevor and Abby quickly made their way to a playground. Blaine and Rachel got some coffee at a cart and popped a squat on the bench with the playground in sight so they could watch the children and catch up.
"That's so amazing about Lily," Blaine said once Rachel called the events of the past few days. "She is seriously going to be huge one day. Just like her mom!" He nudged Rachel who smiled at the thought.
"I just hope it doesn't all go to her head too early," Rachel replied.
"She's got a good support system. I think she'll be okay." The two sipped their coffee in a comfortable silence, watching their children spin on the merry-go-round. Rachel was so excited when Blaine texted her asking to meet them at Central Park. He was so glad to get Trevor out of the house before he started some summer programs at school to catch up on the passed few months he had been in and out of class.
"And I hear Ella has a lady in her life? Um, what?" Rachel grinned and nodded.
"I know, I know. I was as shocked as you are. Sort of. Okay, not really. But get this—she's a senior." Blaine's eyes got wide.
"What? No way. Our little Ella? Dating an upperclassman?"
"Don't remind me, it's a little hard to swallow at times. But she's happy, so I can't complain."
"Good," Blaine replied. "Trevor don't make yourself sick from going too fast."
"You too Abby!" Rachel called. The kids looked back at their parents with a barely-there acknowledgement and jumped off the merry-go-round, stumbling a little with dizziness before running over to a set of swings. After about thirty minutes the kids walked over to their parents that were holding some bottles of water for them to refuel before
"You were a champ on those monkey bars there, Abby," Blaine said as she gulped down half a bottle of water. Rachel grabbed it before she could continue and cause herself to choke.
"Thanks," she smiled, nearly panting from how quickly she drank her water. "I'm going to this super cool gymnastics camp in Texas this summer so when I come back I'll be even better!" Rachel stared down at the water bottle she was currently putting the top onto and looked up at Abby for a moment.
"Hey Abs, can I talk to you about that real quick?" Rachel started. This wasn't going to end well. She tried to mentally prepare herself but this was going to suck.
"Yeah?" she asked, her big eyes full of excitement. Rachel couldn't do this. But she and Quinn had made the decision last night at dinner that it just wasn't going to work out. She had to find out sooner than later.
"Sweetie, I'm so, so sorry. But with my work and momma's work and Lily and her show we just don't have the time to take you down to Texas for the camp this year." Abby's face carefully molded from one of satisfied to absolute fury.
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" She screamed in Rachel's face causing a few pedestrians to turn and stare for a moment. "Why does Lily and her shows always ruin my stuff?" Rachel bit a lip with her inability to answer.
"Abby," Blaine started.
"NO!" she cried at Blaine. "THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS!"
"Do not yell at your Uncle Blaine. Apologize immediately," Rachel demanded, grabbing Abby's clenched fists. She looked to the ground for a moment shamefully.
"Sorry Uncle Blaine," she said quietly.
"It's all right," he quickly replied.
"But mommy you promised I could do this camp," Abby whined. Rachel realized and then regretted that right now, in the middle of a park, with friends, wasn't probably the best place to break this news to her. But it was too late now.
"I'm sorry Abby. You can do it next summer."
"Well stupid Lily will probably have a another stupid show." The girl huffed with an attitude as big as Manhattan and gave the ground an evil glare.
"Come on Abby," Trevor said grabbing Abby's hand and breaking her from her moment of anger. "Let's go back to the playground." Abby gave Rachel a hard stare with a look that could do some serious emotional damage. It was filled with hurt, betrayal, and sadness—and it broke Rachel's heart into a few dozen pieces. She let out a small huff before spinning on her heel and walking over to the merry-go-round with Trevor.
"Oh boy," Rachel said with a deep sigh, leaning down with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. Blaine gently rubbed her back trying to offer some support; but even he knew that a simple back rub couldn't really fix this.
Thank you for your continued support, reviews, DM's, alerts, favorites, etc. You guys keep me motivated. Also if you feel so obliged feel free to follow me on that lil website tumblr... my url is: if-you-just-smile, and whenever you see me blog just send me a message and bug me to update this because when I'm blogging it really means I should be writing. Enough rambling. I hope you guys liked this! Next update should be out sooner, I'm trying to finish this up before I start school and I have quite a ways to go! Please review :)