Here we are, the chapter that sets the scene for a storyline I've had in mind for a long time, I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all!


Everyone was surprised at how well Rachel managed to hit the ground running after returning to school, even Rachel herself was surprised at how easy she managed to adjust to being back in school for five full days every week.

She'd found the first couple of weeks tiring as her body had adjusted to her new routine but Shelby had noticed Rachel's exhaustion too, suggested early nights and lazy weekends as Rachel got used to things. Rachel had thought long and hard about after school activities and had eventually decided just to stick with glee, not wanting to push herself too far too fast. At Rachel's request, Shelby had started giving Rachel 'proper' piano lessons, she still went running with Quinn each week, the two of them often joined by other friends. Jimmy was now settled into his new job and he worked from home three days a week so he made the effort to try and take Rachel swimming each week, Noah stepping in on the odd week that Jimmy couldn't make it, and Rachel was over the moon that she could now swim confidently across the width of the pool at their local leisure centre, her uncle now swimming beside her instead of walking with his hands under her stomach.

A few weeks into the semester saw McKinley closed to students for a staff training day. Rachel had planned to spend the day with her friends, but a power cut at the local elementary school meant that Noah, Santana, Brittany and Matt were all left with younger siblings to watch so the teens had taken a raincheck on their trip to the cinema.

Rachel was sat cross legged on the couch, reading through some class notes so she could make a start on an essay she'd been set, when her phone began to ring, Rachel smiling when she saw her aunt's name on the screen, "Hey" she smiled when she answered the call.

"Hey Pretty Girl, I know your Mom has a training day today, but I wondered if you had plans or if you wanted to come over and watch a movie or something? Max and Lil have gone to Jim's parents so I can 'take it easy' so it'd just be me and you."

"Yeah" Rachel smiled, "that sounds good" She went over to Amy's once a week after School, Shelby using the time to catch up on marking before joining her family for dinner, but Rachel was always happy to spend time with her Aunt. "Want me to get the bus over?" Rachel asked, knowing that, as she headed towards the end of her pregnancy, Amy struggled to get her bump behind the steering wheel of her car.

"Get a cab" Amy told her, "I'll pay for it when you get here."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

"Okay, I'll send you a text when I'm on my way" Rachel promised before heading upstairs to change from the pyjamas she'd planned on lounging in that day, texting her Mom to let her know she was going to Amy's.

As promised, Rachel sent Amy a text when she got into the cab, and, just like she said she would be, Amy was waiting outside her house to pay the driver. "I want to be honest with you." Amy told Rachel as they sat on the couch, "there's a reason I invited you over here today. Max and Lil are with Jim's parents but that's because I called his Mom and asked her to watch them, I erm, I started having contractions early this morning." She saw Rachel's face drop, "it's nothing to worry about, they stopped for a while, they're back now but they're not very strong and they're quite far apart so I've still got a way to go, I just didn't want to be on my own."

"Do you want me to call Uncle Jimmy? Or Mom?" Shelby had already mentioned to Rachel that Amy had asked her if she'd be there when the baby was born, just like she had when Lily and Max were born.

Amy shook her head, "Jim's coming home today anyway, he'll be home about lunch time and your Mom said she'd be done about two. I don't… like I said, it's still early, if I call Jim now, he's still got to drive home only he'll have to do it while he's worrying about me being in labour, I'd rather everyone just kept calm for now, but I'll call them if things start to pick up."

"Okay" Rachel nodded.

"I get that asking you to be here is a big thing" Amy rubbed at her stomach, "so if it's too much for you then tell me, I won't mind Rach, I'll call Nana, or your Mom okay? I'll understand completely if this is too much for you."

"I don't mind being here" Rachel told her, "just tell me if there's anything I can do."

"I will" Amy nodded as she settled back amongst the cushions on the couch, reaching out for her phone and flicking on some soft music, briefly closing her eyes before turning to face Rachel and smiling softly at her, "what are you thinking?" she asked when she saw the look on the girl's face.

"Why me?" Rachel asked.

Amy shuffled to sit up slightly and pushed another throw pillow behind her back, "what do you mean?" she asked.

"I get that you don't want to be on your own, but why me? I don't mind being here" she added quickly, "and I'm happy to be here with you for as long as you need me, but I just wondered why you called me, and not Nana or Uncle Jim's Mom or…" she shrugged.

Amy took Rachel's hand, cradling it in both of hers, "I'm planning on having her here" she wasn't sure if Rachel knew that, "Jim's on his way home and your Mom's at work, and yeah, I could have called my Mom or Kate to sit with me but I think they'd have, not panicked but I think they'd have been excited and maybe… right now I just want things to be calm and relaxed and I thought I'd get that with you, this is the third time I've done this and I just want to relax and do, well, I want to be able to listen to my body and do what it wants me to do, and I think my Mom and Kate would, with the best of intentions, have a lot of tips and advice and I don't want that. I just want to lay here for a bit and then maybe take a shower and then take it from there."

Rachel nodded, "I'm okay with you doing what you need to do, like you said, it's your body, nobody knows what it needs more than you do."

Amy smiled, lazily reaching out to stroke Rachel's cheek, "you're amazing Rach, you know that?"

Rachel chuckled, "you might have told me once or twice."

"And I'll keep telling you until I'm sure you won't forget" Amy nodded.

It didn't take long for Amy to get restless and, with a little help from Rachel, she made her way upstairs, telling the teen to make herself comfortable in her bedroom whilst she showered.

"Everything okay?" Rachel asked as Amy walked into the bedroom a while later, her hair pulled back from her face, her husband's robe wrapped around her body.

Amy nodded as she laid down on the bed, making herself comfortable with the large body pillow that was already in the bed. "Yeah, but I'm going to warn you now, I'm completely naked under this, so if you see anything you don't want to see, I'm sorry."

Rachel smiled slightly and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen from Amy's ponytail. "I'm sure you haven't got anything that I haven't."

Amy slowly opened her eyes and reached for Rachel's hand, "I'm so lucky to have you" she whispered before closing her eyes again, biting her bottom lip and squeezing Rachel's hand as her stomach tightened again.

Rachel kept hold of her Aunt's hand until the contraction passed when she asked, "do you need me to get you anything?"

"No" Amy shook her head before opening her eyes to look at Rachel again, "are you still okay being here?" she asked, "do you want me to call my Mom?"

Rachel shook her head, "I'll call Nana if you want me to, but I'm okay" she said softly.

Amy reached out to put her hand on Rachel's cheek. "I love you so much" she told her, "I hope you know that."

"I do" Rachel nodded, "and I love you too."

Amy closed her eyes again as she shuffled to make herself comfortable, settling down against her pillow. She was quiet and still for so long that Rachel thought her aunt might have dozed off for a while so she just laid beside her, letting her rest if she needed to. Eventually Amy shifted slightly and let out an almost frustrated groan, "I don't like wearing clothes" she mumbled as she pushed up the sleeves of the robe.

"I know" Rachel chuckled quietly

Amy opened her eyes, frowning slightly at her niece, "how?"

"Mom told me" Rachel smiled, "she warned me before we went on vacation, just in case. She said Nana always used to complain about how much she spent on clothes for you and you never wore them."

"Yeah, she did" Amy reached out to take hold of Rachel's hand, "but I wish I'd known she'd warned you, I was so careful to make sure I was always covered." she joked.

Rachel gently stroked her thumb over the back of Amy's hand, "if you want to change, or just take that off…"

Amy shook her head, "I'm comfortable now" she said softly, "I don't want to move yet."

"Do they hurt?" Rachel asked after watching Amy have another contraction.

She shook her head again, "not yet, they're a bit uncomfortable and annoying. And they can't get that bad if I'm willing to do it for a third time."

Rachel laid with Amy until her contractions began to get stronger and she announced that she needed to get up, that she couldn't lay still any longer. "Is there anything I can do?" Rachel asked as she sat on the edge of the bed, watching Amy pace the room.

"There's a yoga ball by the TV unit downstairs, can you bring it up please?" Amy asked, "It's a bit awkward so if you can't manage it then it's fine, don't worry about it."

"No, I'll get it for you" Rachel promised as she left the room.

It took her a while but Rachel managed to get the ball upstairs and into Amy's bedroom "here you go" she said as she rolled the ball towards her Aunt.

"You're amazing" Amy sighed as Rachel held her hands, helping her get comfortable on the ball, beginning to roll her hips in circles, hoping to ease the pressure she was feeling somewhat. Her doctor had told her she had 'bulging waters' at her last check up, just a few days ago, and she assumed that was contributing to her discomfort. "Ugh" she grunted quietly as she felt something shift inside her just a moment before she felt a warm dampness spreading between her legs.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

Amy rubbed her stomach and took a deep breath, "I, I think my waters have just broken."

"You think?" Rachel asked softly.

"Mhm" Amy nodded before closing her eyes as she breathed through another contraction, waiting until it passed to tell Rachel, "the, the doctor broke my waters when Max was born because he wanted to speed things up and Lily, I had a water birth, my waters broke in the pool and I didn't notice it happen."

"Oh, is there anything I can do?" Rachel asked.

Amy began to rock on her ball again, groaning quietly as she felt another trickle of fluid run down her leg as she moved, "actually, can you do something for me?" she asked.

"Anything" Rachel nodded, "what do you need?"

"Can you wet the washcloth from by the sink and bring it me please, and get me a pad and some underwear."

"Sure" Rachel stood, slightly concerned by Amy's request for a pad, are you… Is everything okay?"

Amy nodded and reached for Rachel's hand, squeezing gently, "the fluid" she gestured to her bump, "it keeps coming out and it's making me feel gross."

"Oh" Rachel nodded, squeezing Amy's hand before turning towards the bathroom, "Okay." She handed Amy the cloth she'd dampened with warm water when she came back and took out a pair of black bikini cut panties from the drawers and fixed the sanitary towel into place. "Are you okay?" Rachel asked when she heard Amy growl in frustration. She'd turned to give her Aunt some privacy and was surprised to find tears on her cheeks when she turned back.

"I can't reach" Amy sobbed, unable to reach round her bump to wipe her inner thighs, "can you just…" she wiped at her eyes and held her hand out for the underwear.

Rachel passed the panties over, "do you erm, do you want me to help?"

Amy wiped at her eyes, "I, I can't expect you to…"

"You're not expecting me to" Rachel took Amy's hands as she saw her close her eyes, heard her breathing change again, letting her concentrate on getting through the contraction before gently taking the wash cloth Amy had scrunched up in her fist, "if you don't want me to then I won't" she said as she knelt in front of her, "but I don't mind."

"Okay" Amy whispered, feeling more tears roll down her cheeks at how gentle Rachel was, Rachel keeping her eyes on her Aunt's face as she carefully ran the washcloth along her upper thighs.

"Is that okay?" Rachel asked, reaching for the towel Amy had used after her shower when she got a nod in response, carefully drying her skin too before taking the underwear, helping Amy get her feet into them before she stood from the floor, holding out her hands to help Amy stand to her feet so she could pull the underwear up.

Amy wrapped her arms around Rachel once she was comfortable, "I love you so much" she whispered.

"I know" Rachel whispered,supporting her Aunt as she felt her beginning to rock her hips slightly as she stood, "I love you too."

"It's me" Jim called as he walked into the house about half an hour later, slightly surprised when he wasn't instantly ambushed by his children after Amy had told him their school was closed for the day.

"Want me to go get him to come up?" Rachel asked, kissing her Aunt's cheek and leaving the room when she nodded.

"Rachel" Jimmy smiled when he saw her, "is everything okay?"

"Aunt Amy's in labour" she got straight to the point, "she called me this morning, she got your Mom to take Lily and Max and then invited me over, she's been having contractions for a while and her waters broke about 40 minutes ago."

"Okay" Jim smiled excitedly, "I'd better go and see her then" he turned to face Rachel when he was halfway up the stairs, "are you coming?"

"I don't want to get in the way" Rachel said quietly.

Jim held out his hand, "Amy must have wanted you here if she called you, come on." Rachel stood in the doorway, watching as Jimmy crouched down in front of Amy, taking her hands, kissing her stomach before kissing her lips and wiping at her tears as she, once again, sat on her yoga ball. "Hey" he said softly.

"I'm having a baby" Amy whispered as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I know" Jim smiled, "I know, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay" Amy nodded, clutching at her husband, tucking herself into him as she felt her stomach tighten again, Rachel watching as Jim kissed Amy's hair and quietly reminded her to breathe as he supported her through the contraction.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked once Amy's body relaxed a little.

Amy closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, "Shelby, she, she's at work til 2 and I, I haven't called the midwife."

"Okay" Jim kissed Amy's forehead, "I'll give the midwife a ring and text Shelby."

"Your Mom's got the kids" Amy paused for a moment, "she doesn't know, she said, she said she'd bring them back about 7, if this is, if it's done by then they can come home. If not…"

"If not someone will call her and ask her to bring them home in the morning."

"Okay" Amy nodded, relaxing into her husband's embrace, "where, where's Rachel?"

Jim looked up and saw the teen standing in the doorway, "she's here" he told her, she's not gone anywhere."

"She's been amazing Jim, she, she's so amazing."

"I know" Jimmy smiled, holding Amy as she began to rock on the yoga ball, "are you okay to sit with her while I call her midwife and speak to your Mom?" Jim asked Rachel, Rachel nodding and quickly making her way over to her Aunt. "I love you" Jim whispered, kissing Amy a final time before leaving the room to make his phone calls.