A/N Introducing a few new friends this chapter, and Mercedes says goodbye, for now. Never fear, she will be back. Also, one couple receives some shocking news.

Reviews Always Welcome!

...

First Day

Blaine woke up early on Wednesday to get the kids ready for the first day of school. Lizzie was so excited to be going to Jr. High with Kendra, Joani, Ke'Andre and Daniella. Georgia volunteered to drive them all to school that morning.

Bee was a little more hesitant about returning to school. It would be the first time he'd be going alone, without his sister. Sure, he had friends there. Cole Schuester was in his class, and the twins, Alex and Alan Abrams were a year behind them. And he was looking forward to photography club again this year, and he was even thinking of joining a couple of other clubs, and the choir.

Lizzie smiled and hugged him as they were getting ready to leave. "You'll do awesome this year. You'll make new friends, and have lots of fun, and I'm sure you'll win a lot of awards!"

Bee hugged her back. "And you'll be the most popular girl in school, and get lots of solos in choir, and probably be president of all the clubs."

They both laughed. "I love you," she said as Georgia pulled into the driveway.

"Love you too, sis."

They waved goodbye to each other as Blaine got the little ones strapped into their carseats. "Ready to go, little man?" dad asked him.

Bee watched the minivan with Lizzie in it turn the corner at the end of the street before answering. "I'm ready."

…

Blaine was enthusiastic as auditions progressed. He had eight seats to fill, and so far had fifteen possible candidates. Nick's High Jynx had a dozen spots open, and Jeff needed three more for Duly Noted. Angie had six openings in The Troubletones.

"Next up is Grace Rogers," Sam called out. Angie sat up and looked proudly down at her daughter. The young woman had dark hair with pink, blue, and purple streaks in it, and wore a dark dress. She kind of reminded Blaine of pictures he'd seen of Tina from before he'd met Kurt. She obviously had her father's coloring and Asian eyes. Her mother was strawberry blonde with green eyes.

"Hi, Grace," Blaine said. "Your mother speaks highly of you. Welcome to McKinley. Which choir are you trying out for, and what are you going to sing?"

She smiled at them. "Well, I'd love to join New Directions, but I'd be honored to join any of the choirs. I know my mom wants me to join her group, and that's fine too. I just want to sing. I'm going to perform I'm Not That Girl, from Wicked.

Blaine smiled. "Awesome. Whenever you're ready."

The girl took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as the music began.

Hands touch, eyes meet

Sudden silence, sudden heat

Hearts leap in a giddy whirl

He could be that boy

But I'm not that girl

Don't dream too far

Don't lose sight of who you are

Don't remember that rush of joy

He could be that boy

I'm not that girl

Every so often we long to steal

To the land of what-might-have-been

But that doesn't soften the ache we feel

When reality sets back in

Blithe smile, lithe limb

She who's winsome, she wins him

Gold hair with a gentle curl

That's the girl he chose

And Heaven knows

I'm not that girl

Don't wish, don't start

Wishing only wounds the heart

I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl

There's a girl I know

He loves her so

I'm not that girl

"That was so beautiful!" Blaine said. "Whichever choir gets you will be very lucky, indeed."

They listened to the last few auditions before adjourning to the teachers' lounge to go over their lists. Blaine managed to narrow his list down to ten possibles for eight spots.

"Your daughter is amazing," he said to Angie as Nick and Jeff finalized their lists.

"She is," she replied.

"I know you want her in The Troubletones, and I'm sure she'd do great things with you and the girls, but I would love to have her in New Directions. I think she could be one of our featured performers, and I know she's destined for great things."

Angie smiled. "I just want her to be happy. If she chooses New Directions, then I will one hundred percent support her. My ex-husband never let her make decisions for herself, and I don't want her to ever feel like she's not allowed to be who she wants."

Blaine smiled at her. "And what did he take from you? You keep talking about how he controlled your daughter's life, but he must have been just as controlling with you."

She shrugged and looked back down at her notes. "He took my voice for the longest time. Made me quit coaching The Songbirds after we placed third at Nationals ten years ago. He wanted me to be a stay at home mom and housewife. Limited my contact with friends and family. He was never physically abusive, but he didn't need to be. His words hurt enough as it was."

"I'm sorry," Blaine said, taking her hand.

She looked back up at him and smiled. "It's okay. I got out, and I got my daughter out. I may be a little gun shy for a while, but I have my voice back, and I have music back, and I'm seeing a counselor for my baggage. I'll be fine."

"Well," Blaine said with his most charming smile, "this Friday night is our monthly friends' get together at the community center. Nick and Jeff will be there, as will Unique and Marley, and Marley's husband Jake. We'd be honored if you and Grace joined us. It's potluck, but you don't have to worry about bringing anything. Just come out and make some new friends."

She smiled. "Thank you, I think I'd like that."

…

Blaine was whistling as he picked the little ones up from daycare. As he waited for them to wash their hands, which were covered in finger paint, one of the workers, Joyce, approached him.

"Mr. Anderson, may I have a word with you for a moment? It's about Phin."

"Phin? Is he okay?"

She smiled reassuringly at him. "He's fine, but I wanted to let you know about some behaviors I've observed, that are a little concerning."

"What behaviors?"

"He seems to have difficulty transitioning from one activity to another, and he doesn't socialize with the other children, other than his brother and sisters, and even with them he's somewhat distant."

Blaine was frowning. "Are you suggesting he may be autistic?"

"I'm saying it is a possibility that you may want to have checked out. I wouldn't be too concerned, though. Many autistic people live perfectly normal lives. Phin is hitting his milestones in most areas within acceptable parameters. He is slightly behind verbally, although still within the curve. I would recommend you speak to your pediatrician and have him tested."

Blaine nodded. "Thank you, I'll do that."

He picked Bee up next. "How was your first day?"

Bee smiled at him. "Everyone was happy I'm back, and that the cancer is gone. Cole and I made a new friend. He and his family just moved here. His name is Carson Applebe."

"Applebe? Does he have an older sister?"

"Yes, how did you know that?"

"I think she auditioned today at the high school."

"Cool. Carson said his mom died in a skiing accident, and his dad's family is from Marysville, so they moved here from Colorado to be closer to them. He also has an older brother and a younger sister."

"I'm sorry to hear about his mom, but he sounds like a nice kid."

They got home just as Georgia dropped Lizzie off.

"Hey, sweetheart, how was school?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "It was great, for the most part, but Mrs. Gallagher, my algebra teacher, gave us a ton of homework, and this new boy made a fool out of himself trying to flirt with Joani. And Ke'Andre has a crush."

"Oh?"

Lizzie giggled. "He's totally in love with Ms. Unique."

Blaine laughed at that. The Kenyan boy had been awed by Unique when he'd met her a year and a half ago on New Years Eve, but now that he was a bit older, it sounded like he'd moved on to infatuation. Despite being in the same grade as Lizzie, Ke'Andre was already fourteen years old. Blaine hoped Unique handled the boy's crush better than he had handled Johnny's.

As Blaine made dinner, Lizzie began working on her homework, while Bee played the piano and Skyped with Belinda. Phin sat beside him on the bench, watching his fingers intently as they moved over the keys.

After dinner, Bee and Lizzie helped clean the kitchen, and then skyped with Kurt for about an hour, telling him all about their first days, and Blaine relayed what Joyce had told him about Phin. Kurt was a little concerned, of course, but they agreed that it was no use worrying about it until they'd talked to the doctor.

Later, after the kids were all asleep and Blaine was laying in bed, he and Kurt talked more on the phone.

"So, I officially submitted my Fair Pay for Educators bill today," Kurt announced.

"That's great news, Kurt!"

"It gets better, I already have enough votes guaranteed in the House to pass it! It just needs to get past the Senate. That might be a little more tricky, though."

"I have every confidence it will pass," Blaine said. The bill not only set out a minimum base pay for teachers and educators based on grade level and area of expertise, but added a subsidy to help increase school budgets by twenty percent, regardless of where they were located, with additional funds for schools in low income areas.

"Okay, enough politics, tell me how auditions went today!"

Blaine smiled. "It was incredible. There was so much talent, I almost decided to add two more seats just to hold on to a couple of students, but I was generous and allowed Nick to have them instead. I ended up whittling down my top sixteen to the eight available seats I had."

"Tell me about some of them," Kurt said.

"Well, Grace Rogers was amazing. She's the daughter of the lady taking over The Troubletones. She's had a bit of a rough past, and she really reminds me of Tina when you guys first started New Directions. She's got a beautiful voice, and I think with just a little work, she could be even more amazing."

"Won't she be joining her mother's group?"

Blaine shook his head. "She'd be happy in any of the choirs, except Duly Noted, of course, but she wants to join New Directions, and her mother is very supportive of her choices."

"Nice. Who else?"

"There are two new transfer students, both seniors I've selected. Lydia Applebe and Payten Harper. Both girls have amazing depth and range, something we needed, since most of our girls graduated last year.

"I was kind of on the fence with this one boy, Jason Ghirard, but I think he might just be able to fill the void Xander's departure left behind. And there's this girl, Carrie Dandridge, who is just this little ball of sunshine. She looks like she was born with a smile on her face. Her voice isn't as strong as some of the others, but it's definitely there, and I think with a little encouragement, we can bring it out more.

"Then there is Willow Carpenter. Her older sister, Neveah, joined us from Titan Chorale last year. Neveah is a Junior now. Willow might actually be a stronger singer than Neveah. Oh, speaking of sisters, you remember Alyssa and Alaina, who graduated last year?"

"Of course," Kurt said.

"Well, they apparently have younger sisters who are freshmen this year."

"Another set of twins?"

"Triplets, actually. Ava and Arabella decided they wanted to join New Directions, but their brother, Austin opted for Duly Noted."

"That's incredible."

They talked about some of the other kids who had auditioned, including the two Blaine had ultimately let go, until Blaine started yawning.

"You need to get some sleep," Kurt said. "Love you, sweetie. Goodnight."

"Love you too. Night."

…

By Friday afternoon, Blaine had secured all eight of his top picks, including Grace. That night at the friends' dinner, he introduced her and her mother to everyone. Grace seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but Danny and the Jr. High contingent drew her in. The Schuester's oldest son was still a little bummed about Beth going away to New York for college. They were trying to maintain a long distance relationship, but Blaine knew how hard it was at that age.

"So this is my replacement," Mercedes said, smiling at Angie. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jones! I'm a huge fan of your music, and I don't know how I will ever manage to fill your shoes with these girls."

"Oh please, call me Mercedes. We're all friends here. As for filling my shoes, I'm sure you'll do fabulously with the girls. I saw you at Nationals ten years ago. Your Songbirds were amazing."

Angie laughed. "Not as amazing as New Directions that year. They beat us."

"Well, thanks to the redistricting and changes to the Regionals rules, there is a chance both New Directions and Troubletones could go all the way to Nationals this year," Blaine said.

"Where are Nationals this year?" Nick asked, as he and Jeff joined them, Jeff holding baby Abby in his arms.

"Houston," Blaine answered. "I got the email just before I left the office this afternoon."

"Well," Mercedes said, "what a coincidence. I'll be in Houston in May for a music festival. Maybe I'll be able to root all of you on in person."

"When are you leaving for New York?" Blaine asked.

"A week from Monday. I'm going to miss you all like crazy, but I'll be back for Thanksgiving."

"We'll miss you too, Mercedes." Blaine hugged her.

There was a bit of a commotion from behind them, and they turned to see Dave holding a very pale looking Edward up. The shorter man looked like he might be in shock.

"What happened?" Blaine asked, rushing over to help Dave lower his new husband into a chair.

"He just got a phone call from his dad. His cousin Kelly and her husband were in a head on collision down in Dayton. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. He and Kelly were really close, practically brother and sister, if not best friends."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Dave shook his head no. "We need to go. Kelly's two children were in the car with them. Neither of them are injured, but Edward is their closest living relative. CPS says if he can't come pick them up, they'll end up in a foster home until other arrangements can be made."

Blaine nodded and put a comforting hand on Edward's shoulder. "We'll take care of things here. You take care of your husband and his family."

"Well," Angie said after the two men had gathered their jackets and left. "This really is a tight knit circle of friends."

Blaine smiled at her. "There's always room for more."