The next morning, Jesse and Olive left the house for Olive's ballet lesson at 10:30. Rachel had already prepared the guest room for Maya - choosing the purple floral sheets because Maya loved flowers and the color purple. Regardless of the reception Olive gave her sister, Rachel wanted Maya to always feel welcome in the St. James home on her and Jesse's part.
Rachel and Maya certainly had a unique relationship. Rachel herself was the daughter of two dads, and had been conceived with the egg donation and surrogacy of a woman named Shelby Corcoran. Rachel hadn't met Shelby until she was fifteen, actually, with Jesse's help. Shelby had been Jesse's show choir coach, and had enlisted him to get close to Rachel and encourage Rachel to seek out her biological mother, as Shelby herself couldn't approach Rachel until Rachel turned 18.
The two hadn't truly had much of a relationship until Rachel was in her 20's. They would go out for coffee, or to see a show, and Shelby sometimes babysat Olive - who adored Shelby's adopted daughter, Beth. As Jesse once put it, "is this a soap opera, or what?"
When Rachel agreed to be Blaine and Kurt's surrogate, she asked if she could be a bigger part of the baby's life than Shelby had been in her life. She wasn't asking for partial custody or anything, but she had told them she was always open to babysit - even overnight, if the couple ever needed to spend some time just the two of them. When Rachel found out she and Jesse were expecting a baby of their own, she was thrilled - even more so when she found out she was having another girl. "They'll be two peas in a pod," she'd told Jesse excitedly.
Well, so much for that.
The doorbell rang at exactly 11:00. Rachel chuckled. Kurt and Blaine were the most timely people she knew.
She put down the book she was reading and opened the door.
"Hi!" She greeted the trio standing in front of her enthusiastically.
"Hello!" Kurt said. He and Blaine each gave Rachel a hug and then the pair turned to Maya, who was standing there with her purple backpack and matching suitcase.
"Maya, honey - say hello to Rachel," Kurt prompted.
"Hello, Rachel," Maya said, looking down at her feet. Then she looked up, and appeared to be trying to look inside the house to see if anybody else was around.
Rachel knew exactly what she was thinking. "Olive is with Jesse at her ballet lesson - it just started, and she won't be done until 11:45. In fact, I think he was going to take her out for lunch afterwards - so it will just be us for a while. We could order something if you'd like - maybe watch a movie?"
Maya's face lit up. She did enjoy spending one-on-one time with Rachel, as rare as it was.
"Oh, that sounds great! I think I heard there's a new My Little Pony movie," Blaine teased, giving Maya a friendly poke in the side.
Maya looked mortified. "Daddy! I haven't watched My Little Pony in years!"
Blaine, Kurt, and Rachel all chuckled. Maya's reaction to Blaine's teasing reminded Rachel so much of Olive's reaction to Jesse's.
"Come on in," Rachel said, gesturing to the house.
While Maya was putting her things in the guest bedroom and "making herself at home," as she had been instructed, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine were all seated in the St. James' family living room with glasses of wine.
"And you're sure this isn't too much trouble?" Blaine asked Rachel.
"Of course not! I love having Maya over. She's so well-behaved and just the sweetest. I can't believe how much she's grown since the last time I saw her - and it's only been about a month!" Rachel exclaimed, taking a sip of wine.
Kurt and Blaine smiled at the praise of their daughter. But then they turned to look at each other and their faces sombered.
"Sweet until she's antagonizing Olive," Kurt said.
Rachel shook her head. "I have a strong suspicion that Olive is the antagonist most of the time," Rachel sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, all signs pointed to her little girl as the primary instigator.
"Be that as it may, some of the things Maya has said and done to Olive are completely unacceptable, and we've made it very clear to her that if we hear about anything like that happening again there will be consequences," Blaine said.
"We've told her if anything happens with Olive, she is to go to you or Jesse and not to take matters into her own hands," Kurt added.
"We've told Olive the same thing," Rachel replied. "I had initially wanted them to share Olive's room, but Jesse thought it would be good for them each to have their own spaces - and I agree."
Kurt and Blaine nodded in approval. Before anyone could say anything else - Maya appeared again.
"There's our girl!" Blaine stood up. "It's just about time for Daddy K and I to go home and pack. Please be good for Rachel and Jesse, okay?"
Maya smiled sadly. "Okay. But I'm gonna miss you guys."
Kurt wrapped his daughter up in a hug. "We're gonna miss you too, Maya Moo Moo," Maya rolled her eyes a bit at her dad's pet name for her but returned the hug. She gave Blaine an equally warm hug, and stood by Rachel at the door to wave goodbye.
"Listen, Rachel," Kurt said under his breath. "If things get to be too much with the girls, my dad and Carole are staying with Carole's cousin in Philadelphia. She has room for Maya, and my dad said he can come pick her up if need be."
Rachel nodded. "Okay, thanks Kurt," she said politely. Rachel was determined however not to resort to asking Burt Hummel come get his granddaughter.
After they each gave their daughter one more hug, Kurt and Blaine were off.
Rachel and Maya were soon seated on the couch with takeout from one of Rachel's favorite sandwich places in town. They had settled on watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie, one of Maya's favorite shows, which also happened to be one of Olive's favorite shows as well.
Shortly before 1:00, the garage door opened. Jesse and Olive were home.
"Here we go," thought Rachel.
