A/N: So, this has been long overdue and I apologize for that, but I have had a lot of family issues going on. Three people in my family got cancer not one of them the same so I've had a lot of emotions that I was dealing with and writing was the last of my worries.
On top of all that I was dealing with my school work and such so I wasn't really concentrating on my writing. But when ideas do come I do write them down so that's a plus.
Anyway, I have finally completed this chapter. I don't know when I can get the next chapter out, but I'll try my best.
Ch. 37: Illnesses and Opportunities
It's been one month since Lucy and Amanda went off to cheer camp. Quinn and Rachel were spending a lot more time with Beth and getting to know her better because it was hard to get that girl to share anything about her life. But when she did, it was worth it.
Quinn enters the kitchen with a small groan. Rachel was sitting at the kitchen island looking over her e-mails.
"Why did I say I was going to start working today?"
"As much as you love spending time with your wife and your child you want to put your degree to good use considering it cost so much to get it."
Quinn sat down next to her wife with a sigh.
"That's right, plus I put in a lot of money to get my practice up."
Rachel turns to her wife with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't you mean our money?"
Quinn widens her eyes and kisses her wife quickly. "Of course it's our money. It's part of the reason why I no longer have student loans. I love you," Quinn says with a grin.
Rachel rolls her eyes playfully. "I love you, too. Also, I wanted to mention that I start try-outs next week and then rehearsals will start."
Quinn's eyes light up. Every summer, Rachel would direct a musical set up by the community center to allow members of the community to star in the musical on their free time. Half of the proceeds go to the community center and the other half goes to towards the Glee Club at McKinley High which is why Rachel directs the musical every summer. However, the majority of the people that end up in the play are actually students from the high school.
"Which musical is it?"
"RENT," Rachel replies with a smile.
Quinn smiles as well. RENT was something that Rachel could share with her Broadway mother, Shelby Corcoran, who played the role of Maureen when RENT had its run.
"I was thinking about asking Beth to help out. We can spend some time together."
Just then Beth walks into the kitchen looking like death. Both Quinn and Rachel were on alert. Beth opens the freezer door and sticks her head in and she releases a small sigh.
"Looks like somebody is sick," Rachel comments.
Quinn walks over to her daughter and pulls her away from the freezer. Quinn reaches forward and places a hand on Beth's forehead.
"Oh, sweetie, you're burning up."
Rachel hops off her stool and goes to the cupboard.
"I'll grab crackers and some water. Honey, can you get Beth settled on the couch before you go?"
Beth rests her head against her mom's shoulder and closes her eyes. Quinn rubs her back gently.
"Maybe I should stay home."
Rachel places the crackers on the counter and turns to her wife. "Quinn, I can handle this. You go to work. If it makes you feel better you can have the night shift."
Quinn rolls her eyes.
"Come on, sweetie; let's get you settled on the couch."
Quinn guided Beth out into the living room carefully. Beth sits down on the couch.
"I don't like being sick," Beth mumbles.
"You have a fever. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow. I'm going to run upstairs and grab a pillow and blanket. Then I have to go to work, but I'll be home by dinner."
Beth just nods her head before Quinn runs upstairs to grab some of Beth's things. Rachel comes from out of the kitchen with an armful of stud. She brought with her some crackers, water, and her laptop so that she could work from the living room and keep an eye on Beth. This would be the first time that Beth had gotten sick in their home. She was going to make sure that Beth had everything she needed.
Quinn comes rushing down the stairs with a pillow and blanket in her hand. Quinn places a pillow beside the arm of the couch and Beth quickly lies down. Quinn covers her daughter up in a blanket and places a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll be back for dinner. I'll stop and get you some soup, how does that sound?"
Beth lazily and tiredly blinks open her eyes.
"M'kay," Beth mumbles with a yawn.
Quinn just stares worriedly at her daughter. She knows she is overreacting, but this was a first for Quinn. When Quinn had given Beth up for adoption she knew she was going to miss a lot of her firsts. She had mussed her first smile, her first laugh, first steps, first day of school. This wasn't Beth's first illness, but it was the first illness that Quinn would experience with her.
"Baby, she's going to be fine. Go to work. If anything serious happens I will call you," Rachel states as she stands up to kiss her wife goodbye.
Quinn pulls away from the kiss with a small smile. "Okay, I'm already late as it is," Quinn leans down and kisses her daughter on the forehead. "Feel better sweetie." Beth mumbles incoherently and snuggles deeper into the couch. Rachel settles down in the arm chair once Quinn leaves the house. She had some work to do.
*Friend to a Stranger*
A few hours later and Beth's eyes flutter open. She spotted Rachel in the same spot she was at when she had first closed her eyes. Beth yawns and slowly sits up on the couch.
Rachel closed her laptop when she spotted Beth sitting up on the couch.
"How are you feeling sweetie?"
"A little better, I guess," Beth says as she reaches for a cracker on the coffee table in front of her. She places it in her mouth and eats it.
Rachel gets up from her chair and places her laptop on the table while reaching forward and placing her hand on her daughter's forehead.
"You're still a little warm," Rachel says as she pulls away. "I'll grab you some medicine."
Beth grabs the bottle of water and chugs half of it down. She gets up from the couch and heads over to the DVD cupboards. She had slept for a while so Beth knew she wasn't going to go to sleep for a while. She grabbed her go-to movie and placed it in the DVD player. Beth quickly heads back over to the couch and gets comfortable.
Rachel comes back from the kitchen with a couple of Tylenols and hands them to Beth. She smiles when she sees the TV screen.
"I didn't know you were a fan of musicals," Rachel keeps her laptop on the table and takes her seat back.
Beth blushes but Rachel wouldn't have seen it because her face was red to begin with.
"I'm not really. I just really like RENT."
"My mother played Maureen on Broadway and then when they made it a movie she reprised her role."
Beth raises an eyebrow at this new information. Beth had no idea that Rachel knew who her mom was. Of course Beth never really bothered to ask.
"Wow…she's good."
Rachel chuckles with a smile. "I know. She loved it though."
"I didn't know that you knew her. I just assumed that because of your dad's that you wouldn't have known who she was."
"I found out who she was when I was in high school. We kept in contact. I don't see her much these days, but we make a plan to get together a few times a year. She currently lives in New York." Beth yawns softly. "Lie back down and play the movie."
*Friend to a Stranger*
Santana and Brittany sat down at their kitchen table to discuss their future plans about a baby. Each woman had a mug of coffee in their hands. With Amanda gone most of the summer, Santana and Brittany thought it was wise to get all their ducks in a row before telling Amanda their plans on extending the family.
"Is this something we really want to do?" Santana bites the bullet and asks. She knew what she wanted, but she wasn't sure what her wife wanted.
"I know this is what I want. Sanny, before we had Amanda, when we started talking about having a family, what did we always say?"
Santana chuckles with a smile. Brittany always knew what to say. "We always said that we wanted two children, a boy and a girl, but if we got two boys or two girls we would've been happy."
Brittany nods her head as she takes a sip of her coffee. "We got busy so we settled with just having Amanda, but I don't think it's too late to have another one."
The tall brunette sat back in her chair with a smile on her face. Things were finally good again. She and Brittany had settled their problems and were beginning a new chapter in their lives, a chapter that included adding another person to their family.
"I guess that leaves us with one question. How are we going to do this?"
Brittany reaches for her wife's hand. "I want to get pregnant. I want to be the one to bring another life into this world."
"I have no opposition to that. We just have to get all the logistics down. We need to make a doctor's appointment for the both of us. Just to make sure at least one of us is healthy enough to carry a baby to term," Brittany nods her head. "We're not old, but we're old enough. I just want precautions."
Brittany gets up from her seat and pulls her wife up with her. Santana wraps her arms around her girl. "We're gonna have a baby," Santana states with a smile. Brittany leans her head against her wife's.
"We're gonna have a baby."
Santana smiles and captures Brittany's lips into a passion filled kiss. Brittany moans as Santana slips her tongue into Brittany's mouth. Brittany wraps her arms around her wife. Santana uses her strength and picks Brittany off the floor. Brittany wraps her legs around her wife's waist while keeping her lips attached to her wife's. Santana slowly maneuvers over to the couch and lays Brittany down it gently, but Brittany wouldn't unravel her legs around her wife's waist so Santana was laid out on top of her. Brittany pulls away from her wife with a grin.
"Do you know how much I love you?" Brittany asks as her hands brought up her wife's shirt. Santana raises her arms up and helps Brittany pull her shirt over her head leaving her in a lacy black bra.
Santana grins before helping Brittany remove her shirt as well. "I know that you love me very much and that no matter what happens in our lives that the love that we have for each other…" Santana leans down and kisses her wife softly before pulling away again, "…will never go away." Santana removes her bra and Brittany does the same with hers as best as she could with Santana still straddling her. Once those were removed fingers went to the buttons and zippers on jeans as they were pulled off each other's bodies along with all other clothing. With the love and passion that was created every time Santana and Brittany got together it wasn't long until both women were slowly coming down from their orgasmic high.
*Friend to a Stranger*
Quinn walked back into her office with a sigh of relief. She never thought that opening her own practice would mean that so many people would want to be seen by her. She was happy that she was a favorite doctor among the people in Lima, but she is also the only doctor that works at her practice. She hadn't gotten around to hiring another doctor. After the morning she's had, she will.
Quinn sits down in her chair and closes her eyes. She's hand an incredibly busy morning and it's the first time that she's been able to sit down. Quinn opens her eyes and picks up her phone. She wanted to check in with her daughter and her wife.
"Hey baby," Quinn hears a chuckle on the other line before her wife's melodic voice comes through.
"Hello to you too. I was wondering when you were going to call."
Quinn groans because her wife was usually right about these things.
"Yeah, well I want to see how my girls are doing? Is Beth feeling any better?"
"Beth is doing all right. When you left she slept for a few hours and when you called we had just finished watching RENT. She's taking a bath now. I've caught up on some work and now you are all caught up. How are things with you?"
"Incredibly busy," Quinn states with a sigh, "I have to hire another doctor. I didn't realize how popular this place was going to be."
Quinn smiles at Rachel's laugh on the line. It's been a few hours since Quinn had seen or spoken to her wife and this transition was difficult. She went from being home all the time to working full time. It was just something she would have to get used to.
"People love you baby. You'll have to get used to it. You need to eat some lunch while you still can. Everything is fine here. No more worries, alright?"
"Okay, okay…I love you, Rachel."
"I love you, too, Quinn."
Quinn hangs up the phone and walks over to the mini-fridge in her office. She pulls out a BLT with a smile. Bacon was always good. She also grabbed a bottle of water and returned to her desk to enjoy her lunch.
*Friend to a Stranger*
Rachel hands up the phone as Beth enters the living room fresh out of the shower.
"Who was on the phone?"
"Your mother," Rachel responds. "She wanted to know how you were doing. I told her you were getting a little bit better. The bath seemed to help your congestion."
Beth nods her head and curls up under the covers that are still on the couch. "She worries too much," Beth mumbles as she looks over at Rachel.
Rachel couldn't help but grin. Lucy always said that as well.
"She's a mother…mother's worry."
Beth furrows her eyebrow. If she wasn't sick she would've understood the statement quickly, but since she was sick her thinking had been a little off.
"But you're my mom and you're not worried."
Rachel smiled brightly. It was rare that Beth openly acknowledged Rachel as her mother. Rachel never wanted to push Beth into anything, so it was always nice to hear.
"You are correct, my dear, but I'm the one taking care of you. I can physically see you. Your mother cannot."
Beth nods her head and yawns.
"I see…can I go back to sleep?" Beth mumbles.
"You don't need to ask sweetie," Rachel murmurs as she leans forward and places the back of her hand on her daughter's forehead. Beth was still a little warm. "I want you to take some more medicine first though."
"M'kay," Beth mumbles before closing her eyes and then opening them again.
Rachel had brought out the Nyquil when Beth went to take a bath…just in case so she poured the recommended does and handed Beth the cup. Beth took the dose and grimaced at the horrible before taking a sip of water from the water bottle that Rachel had given her earlier that morning.
"Go back to sleep," Rachel whispers as she watches Beth settle back down on the couch. Rachel grabs her laptop again and gets back to work.
*Friend to a Stranger*
Quinn enters her home later that evening with take-out bags in her hand. She had stopped to pick up dinner. Chicken noodle soup for Beth and vegetable soup for her and Rachel. To her surprise, Rachel and Beth were already in the kitchen with the table set. Quinn gave Beth a look over and nodded her head in satisfaction. Beth looked better and more alert. Rachel grabbed the take-out bags from her wife.
"I'll heat these up. Everybody should sit."
Quinn followed her wife's advice and took a seat. "How are you feeling?" Quinn asks as she turns to her daughter.
"I'm doing a little better. I just need to sleep it off is all," Beth responds.
"I wholeheartedly agree. Sleep and fluids will help you get over this illness. I know it's early but after dinner I want you to take a bath and then hit the sheets."
Before Beth can interject, Rachel comes into the kitchen with heated up soup containers.
"I agree with your mother."
Beth sighs dejectedly. When both parents are on the same side there really was no arguing anymore. She reaches for her soup container and pours it into her bowl. Rachel and Quinn follow suit.
"So, I know from your phone call that you were busy. Did you have any more thoughts on hiring more doctors," Rachel asks her wife before taking a bite of her soup.
Quinn finishes her bite and nods her head. "I need to hire at least two, maybe three. I'll just start with two. I'll phone your dad later tonight and ask him where I can look for qualified doctors. Enough about me let's talk about your new project."
Beth's head perks up in interest. "What new project?"
Rachel grins at her daughter as she places her spoon in her bowl.
"I will be directing Lima Community Center's Musical. I'm reworking the script a little bit, but I'll be holding auditions sometime next week."
"What's the musical?"
"RENT…do you have any interest trying out?"
Beth bites the bottom of her lip, but shakes her head.
"Well, I won't make you, but I was hoping that you would be my assistant."
Beth accepts with a grin before digging back into her meal. Quinn and Rachel are quick to follow.
*Friend to a Stranger*
It took another two days before Beth was completely over her illness, something she was grateful for. Today was the start of try-outs for the musical and Beth was right by Rachel's side. So far, the auditions have been awful. Rachel had a specific idea on what these characters should be like. Beth just hated everybody that has auditioned. Most of the people that auditioned were older, age wise.
Rachel places her pen on the table with a sigh. "I think it's going to be one of those years."
Beth turns to her mother with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Every so often we get years where adults either, don't have the time or just don't feel like it so then the play usually ends up being a cast full of McKinley High School students, half of those being members of the Glee Club."
"At least there is some talent then."
Rachel nods her head with a smile. "So let's go over whom we have casted so far or our potentials."
Beth looks at her list. There were a few names which are underlined and a few with stars by them. The names that are underlined indicated the roles cast and those with stars are people that Beth and Rachel liked, but weren't sure which role to place them in.
CAST LIST
Mark Cohen: Patrick Myer
Roger Davis: Kasey Grey
Mimi Marquez: ?
Tom Collins: Zeke Harrington
Angel Dumott Schunard: ?
Maureen Johnson: ?
Joanne Jefferson: ?
Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III: ?
*Hannah Schuester
*Jake Anders
*Seth McFadden
"We've casted a few roles, and we only have about 3 names with stars by it."
"This is the worst part of directing, deciding which roles to case for which people. Once casting is done everything just sort of falls into place. Besides all of that, this is the first time that I've had an assistant."
Beth took in everything that Rachel was saying.
"Why'd you ask me?"
Rachel looks at Beth, a younger version of her wife, whom she loved with all her heart. "Since you came back into our lives I've felt somewhat disconnected with you. It took a while, but you bonded with Lucy and you and your mother have this maternal bond and it's not something that I've felt with you and it makes me sad."
Rachel wipes at her eyes so her tears wouldn't fall," I thought that this could be away for us to get closer. To top it all off you even started to bond with your father which is a huge step for you in more ways than one. I just want it to be my turn."
Beth just shakes her head at Rachel. She gives her a big grin. Beth could read between the lines. It wasn't that hard for her to figure out how Rachel was feeling. She couldn't help, but grin because she's never seen this side of Rachel before. "You don't have to be jealous," Rachel pouts at that word. She hated that word. She hated it with a passion. "There's no need to be jealous. I love you. You're my mom and I know that I may not show it often or rather ever, but you saved my life and I won't forget that…ever."
Rachel wrapped her arms around her daughter as best as she could in the position she was sitting in. No more words needed to be said in that moment. No words at all.
*Friend to a Stranger*
Quinn looks down at the file in her hands. Most of the morning was spent doing interviews for potential doctors to help out in her practice. There hasn't been very promising ones. Quinn looks up at the man sitting nervously in front of her. The man's name was Zac Braverman. He was a little older then Quinn and he was tall and lean with brown hair and green eyes.
"It says here that you got your medical degree from Harvard University and you completed your internship and residency at Johns Hopkins, that's impressive. It also says that you were an attending at Hopkin for about two years. Why are you in Lima, Ohio, of all places?"
"A lot of things, there were a lot of family issues going on. The main reason is because I'm a recovering addict," Quinn raises an eyebrow at his honesty. I had problems in high school and got help and I had stayed clean ever since except for about a year ago when I slipped up. A patient of mine who I had met my first intern tear at Hopkins died. He fought his battle well and fought it for about nine years. He died on my table and I couldn't get over it," Zack shrugs his shoulders. "I screwed up and my wife said I needed to get help or she was going to take my kids and leave. So I got help."
"How many kids do you have?"
Zac smiles brightly and takes out his wallet showing Quinn a picture of his family. "My daughter, Michelle, she's the oldest at 17 and my son Daniel, he's 15," Zac says as he hands the photo to his potential boss.
Quinn smiles as she looks down at it before quickly handing it back.
"Most people wouldn't have been as honest with me."
"I'm not most people," Zac says with a grin. "I told you because I wanted to be honest. I've been clean for a little over a year. I go to meetings. I'm alright. If you choose me as one of your doctor's then I'd like to set up some sort of Drug Counseling Center. I've notices that Lima doesn't have any. I have experience this area as far as education goes. I just think it would be a great opportunity."
Quinn places Zac's file on the table. She liked hearing everything that Zac had to say except for the fact that he had a previous drug problem. But she could overcome that issue. "My mother is a recovering alcoholic and one of my daughter's is a recovering drug addict. I'm not very knowledgeable in this are," before Zac can interrupt Quinn continues, "It's a long story, but my daughter just came back into my life after I had given her up for adoption when I was in high school," Quinn shakes her head. "Anyways, I love your ideas and I hope that we can have that up and running soon. As for your salary, I haven't crunched all the numbers yet since this practice is brand new. I may not be able to pay you as much as you're used to, but I'll try to match it as best as I can."
Quinn stands up from her chair and holds out her hand with a smile at Zac's confusion.
"I got the job?" he questions.
Quinn nods her head. "You got the job."
Zac jumps to his feet and shakes the hand that is outstretched towards him.
"Thank you so much," Zac says with a big grin.
"Your honesty paid off today. You had everything in order and personally you are doing well. We even have stuff in common. You are what I've been looking for. Welcome to the practice, Doctor Braverman."