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Will's POV
After we'd eaten a lunch of… delightful… hospital cafeteria food, Mercedes, Kurt, Brittany, Artie, Santana, Tina and Emma left for the mall to shop for baby clothes, and Puck, Finn, Matt, Mike and Finn's mother, Carol went back to the hotel to pay for an extra two nights on the school's credit. If there was anything that would make it more likely for Figgins to cancel Glee, that would be it.
I'd stayed behind in Quinn's hospital room, which she'd been restricted to until the next day. She slept restlessly in the railed bed while I held Caroline. As much as I tried to block the thought, I couldn't help but take notice of the fact that if things had gone differently, I could have been holding this baby girl and thinking that she was mine.
I guess I still wasn't sure about Emma's idea to have Quinn live with us until she was old enough to declare financial freedom from her parents. I mean, I would do anything for Emma, and I would do anything for my students, so I couldn't see what was holding me back.
Caroline squawked in my arms, and Gillian's chipper face was instantly in the doorway. She reminded me of my Mom, without the drunk part.
"Hi Will! Do you need anything? I came back in early to see if I could be of any help," she plopped herself down in one of the many chairs that had been pushed around the proximity of the room.
"I think she's fine," I reckoned. I was glad to see that all of the parenting books I'd read when Terri was 'pregnant' were finally going to good use.
"Can I hold her?" Gillian asked keenly, like an older sibling yearning to hold her new baby brother or sister.
"Sure," I transferred Caroline over to Gillian's ready arms. Some people just never get tired of being around babies, I suppose. Despite myself, I slumped back into my chair and let out a drawn out sigh. A lot had happened over the past few days.
"You wanna get something off your chest, honey? I'm a good listener, you know," she addressed me while offering out her pinkie finger for Caroline to grasp in her little hand.
I chuckled and rested my hands on my knees. "Where do I start?"
"Start at the beginning," Gillian suggested warmly.
So I did. I spilled it all: Terri's fake pregnancy and our quick and dirty divorce, moving in with Emma, the failed referendum of placing at Regionals, Emma's proposed living arrangement for Quinn. All of it.
"I do want to help Quinn out," I explained, "and so does Emma…" I broke off, wanting for her to finish my sentence like a well-trained psychiatrist.
"You just don't see Quinn and Caroline as a part of your future with Emma," she filled in.
"Exactly!" I leapt up from my chair, an epiphany on the tip of my tongue.
"But you've imagined a future with Emma? You love her, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes…" I said, snapping my fingers and trying to will the words that were plaguing my mind out of my mouth
"Do you think you're reluctant because the home that you would be sharing is too small?"
"No…"
"Are you worried about Emma's OCD acting up with an infant around?" Gillian threw out suggestions.
"No, actually, she's gotten a lot better at controlling it in the past few months."
"Perhaps your jobs would interfere?"
"THAT'S IT!" I burst out, clapping my hands so loudly that Caroline startled. "Oops, sorry."
"What, the jobs? Do you think it's an issue with Quinn being a student at your school?"
"No, no, no! It's not the jobs! It has nothing to do with the jobs!"
"Well, what is it then?" Gillian cocked her head to the side.
"I want to ask her to marry me! I want to propose to her!"
Gillian raised both of her eyebrows in unison, looking at me like I had three heads. "Ooookaaay…. Not exactly where I was going with that… Will, do you really think that's such a good idea? I mean, you just got a divorce…" she said warily, cuddling Caroline on her knee.
"Exactly," I pressed. "Do you think I would be doing this if I didn't know I wanted to? Terri was psycho… Emma isn't! I know it sounds absurd… it sounds crazy to me too! I just… I love Emma. I want to do this!"
Gillian stood and crossed the room to Carrie's hospital issue crib. She laid her in, making sure she was wrapped tightly in her blankets.
"Now, don't go making rash decisions here Will. I always told my boys not to do anything they thought up on less than eight hours of sleep. God knows they didn't listen to a word I said! Nonetheless, I do think you and Emma are sweet together…"
"So is that a yes?"
"Why are you asking my permission?" she laughed heartily. "I'm not your mother, although I'm probably old enough to be! I'm just here to give advice to people who need me. But back to the first issue… what does that have to do with you not wanting Quinn and Caroline to move in with you?"
I shrugged. "I do want them to. I don't know… I guess I just think that having them around might get in the way if Emma and I ever wanted to start a family of our own."
"Mr. Schuster, I promise we would never get in the way," came a voice from the corner. Gillian and I both whirled around to face Quinn.
"I swear, Mr. Schu, you wouldn't even know we're there. Really." She held a hand over her heart to seal the pledge.
"Quinn? How much did you hear?" I stammered.
She waggled her eyebrows. "Enough," she smiled vaguely.
"Well," Gillian clasped her hands together. "I suppose that takes care of that, then! Any more worries, you two?"
I shook my head, dumbfounded.
"Nope," Quinn beamed, "but I do have some ideas for your proposal, Mr. Schu…"
Gillian chortled and exited the room, but not before calling back in 'Good luck with everything, Will!' and giving me a shrewd, punctuating wink.
