Here is Chapter 6! Once again I don't own anyone but Zack and Lainey. Thanks to Erica for proofing! Enjoy!


A week had passed since the kids had first arrived in the Hudson's home. To say things had been hectic was an understatement. Zack had tried to run away three more times, but the door locks and some reassurance have stopped additoinal attempts in the past few days. Lainey still clung to Finn like he hung the moon, and Zack refused to give anyone the time of day. To top it all off, today they were going back to work.

They had each taken an entire week off to stay home and deal with the kids. No one knew about the their situation. Every time one of them would try to call their parents a crisis would emerge. Their coworkers didn't bat an eye, probably just figuring they were going through another medical procedure and had decided to work from home. Finn and Rachel knew they had to bite the bullet and start letting the world know about their situation. How could others handle it if they were barely handling it themselves?

Rachel had spent the past week researching day cares, setting up doctor's appointments, and buying the kids the rest of the clothing they needed. Besides a few short walks, the kids really hadn't left the house since arriving. They wanted to take things slow. Every time a trip to the store was mentioned the kids would perk up, mostly in the hopes of seeing their mom there. Finn suggested maybe they take the kids out to dinner after daycare this evening. Rachel reluctantly agreed but hopefully the kids would be excited about it.

Finn had left while the kids were eating breakfast to meet some clients across town. Lainey threw a solid 20 minute fit over him leaving her but had come around once Rachel put a bowl of strawberries on the table. Zack just sat and ate his breakfast quietly, a look of worry across his face.

Rachel had let Finn take the lead while he was home, mostly because that's what made the kids feel the most comfortable. Now that he was gone she really didn't have a choice.

"Zack are you okay? Are you worried about going to daycare today? They have a really cool camp for the big kids!"

Zack continued to play around with his cereal, swirling the spoon back and forth. "I just don't want to go. What if the kids are mean or they make me play sports? I'm not good remember?"

Lainey looked up at Zack studying his face. "I don't want to go either. Can we stay home and wait for Big Guy to come back?"

"Sorry you two, but I have to go to work today too. I promise you will only be at daycare for a few hours and then tonight we are going to go to a restaurant for dinner! Won't that be fun?"

Lainey clapped her hands together in excitement, but Zack's expression didn't waiver. "Can I wear a fancy dress to dinner? That's what they do on TV!"

Rachel laughed. "Sure Lainey! That's a great idea! Now finish up while I make lunches and we will head out the door. Rachel grabbed the two lunch boxes out of the cabinet to make the lunches for the day before they left. As she was doing so she couldn't help but think about how different the last week of their lives had been from their old situation. Sure things weren't that great, but at least they were being taken care of.

They all marched out to Rachel's car in the driveway, lunchboxes in hand. Rachel still kept a close eye on Zack but he seemed compliant this morning.

The drive to the daycare was short. The kids were pretty quiet, staring out the window for most of the time. Finn called on their way to make sure everything was fine which made Rachel feel better. She knew he was nervous about today as well.

As they walked into daycare, Rachel held each child by the hand for reassurance. They needed it and she did too. Once inside they were greeted at the front desk by some overly cheerful workers. Zack wasn't amused.

"Well who do we have here?" the woman at the desk asked.

"This is Lainey and Zack Miller. It's their first day. I spoke with the director on Friday about them." Rachel patted their heads as she spoke.

The woman flipped through some papers on the desk. "A-HA! Here they are! Okay Lainey will be in room 5 down the hall and Zack can come with me outside with the older kids. Sound good?"

The woman looked down at Zack who just shrugged his shoulders. "Okay" he replied, still not looking her in the eye.

"Okay Zack make sure you behave and have fun ok? I'll be back after lunch to pick you up!" Rachel leaned down for a hug but Zack flinched and pulled away. Not wanting to push him, Rachel rubbed his arm and Zack seemed to be fine with that. He then followed the woman outside and it was Lainey's turn to find her classroom.

Lainey clutched Rachel's hand tightly as they walked down the hall. When they arrived at room 5, Lainey's teacher approached them.

"Hello! I'm Ms. Trish! Welcome to room 5! You must be Lainey!" Ms. Trish crouched down to Lainey's level which caused Lainey to hide her face behind Rachel's arm.

"Today's her first day at school. She's never been before but I know she was very excited this morning about coming, right Lainey?" Rachel tried to pry Lainey's face away from her arm but she wouldn't budge.

A few more minutes passed and Ms. Trish continued to try to coax Lainey away from Rachel. Lainey only clung to Rachel tighter and wouldn't budge. Finally Ms. Trish had a suggestion.

"Mrs. Miller do you mind if I just carry Lainey in here?" Rachel's eyes widened. She realized that her teacher didn't know about their situation.

"Oh my last name is Hudson. Lainey is staying with us for a while right Lainey?" At this point Rachel was peeling Lainey's fingers from her arms. "Lainey I need you to go with Ms. Trish and I will be back after lunch ok?"

Lainey finally broke and started to sob into Rachel's arms. "NO Lady! Don't leave me here!" she cried.

Rachel's eyes began to water. She had thought the kids would be excited to go play with other kids while she was gone, not thinking it was just another place they were being left at.

Rachel bent down and picked up Lainey into her arms. It was the first time Lainey had allowed her to do so. "Lainey, shhhh. Listen. I promise I will be back after lunch and you can play with the kids and all of these fun things ok? I'm going to go to work and come right back."

Lainey proceeded to sob and her blonde curls were now stuck to her face covered in tears. Ms. Trish signaled to Rachel that she was going to take her and she pulled her from Rachel's arms. Lainey began to scream at the top of her lungs. "LADY PLEASE! I'll be good!" Lainey was fighting to get out of Ms. Trish's arms while another worker came to lead Rachel out.

As Rachel walked away, she didn't feel right. The woman assured her that most kids cry on their first day and they would call her if she didn't calm down within a half hour or so.

Rachel made it to the car and took a deep breath. Her phone rang and she realized it was Ms. Kent. "Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Hudson, this is Ms. Kent! How are you today?"

Rachel wasn't sure how honest she should be. "Well it's been rough but we are doing okay. Can I ask why you are calling? I've set up all of their appointments like you told me to so we are good to go." Rachel was nervous that they weren't doing an adequate job of being Foster parents. She still strived for perfection.

"Well," Ms. Kent continued, "I wanted to let you know that the children's mother has been located.

Rachel's heart sank. "Oh she has?" was all she could mutter.

"Yes, she had checked herself into the psych ward at Ohio General Hospital last week shortly after she left the children. She didn't indicate she had any next of kin and she gave a fake name, so no one was notified until she mentioned it and the records were crossed in our system. It was passed onto a judge over the weekend and she's been charged with Child Abandonment. Her parental rights have been terminated."

Rachel felt like she was going to pass out. She had just left a screaming Lainey inside of the daycare and came out to this phone call. "What do you mean terminated? Does that mean they can be adopted?" Her hands shook as she tried to concentrate on the words that would come next.

"Well yes and no. We can start to move forward with adoption proceedings, but I'll let you know now that their mom can appeal for her rights to be reinstated. If that happens, everything gets delayed. For now I'll send you the forms to start the adoption process and we will take this one step at a time. Try not to dwell on what might happen too much. Just keep your focus on the children for now."

"Okay Ms. Kent. Thank you so much for calling and I look forward to you contacting us again soon." Rachel hung up with Ms. Kent and immediately called Finn. He sent her to voicemail which meant he was with a client. Crap.

Rachel began to drive to her appointment, not really knowing how she would be able to focus on anything at all. This was their new normal though and she had to get a grip.

The phone rang again. She glanced down at the caller ID to see it was Carole calling. She sent her to voicemail realizing there was no way she would be able to talk to her right now without sobbing, for good reasons and bad. They really needed to tell their parents and Kurt about this. Honestly they have had no free time without the kids because when the kids were asleep, she and Finn were passed out.


Rachel's first appointment went quickly. Finn still hadn't called her back and she was trying hard not to be annoyed. They had both been off of work for a week and Finn has a lot of work to do as the owner. He takes pride in the business and he felt bad for basically abandoning it for a week even though things ran smoothly without him.

Her phone rang for the third time today, but this time it was the daycare calling.

Rachel picked up quickly. "Rachel Hudson speaking."

"Hi Mrs. Hudson, I'm calling in regards to Zachary. There has been an incident and we need you to pick him up."

It took Rachel a minute to process what was said because she was expecting them to be calling about Lainey.

"Why do I need to pick him up? I thought you would be calling about Lainey."

The woman hesitated. "Well Lainey is still crying off and on but we were giving her some time. However, Zackary punched another student and needs to go home immediately."

Rachel turned her car around immediately. "Punched someone? He punched someone? Okay, I'll be right there and I'll take both kids home with me. Please have them ready."

Rachel was hitting every red light on the way to the daycare. She shot Finn a quick text: Daycare didn't go well. Meet me at home when you can.

Rachel pulled into the daycare parking lot and hurried into the lobby. Zack was sitting there with a sullen look on his face, messy hair on top of his head. In that quick moment he reminded her of Finn. She could hear Lainey screaming down the hall.

"Oh Hi Mrs. Hudson. So sorry to have called you. We-"

Rachel quickly cut her off. "Can you please tell me why no one called me and Lainey is still screaming? I've been gone for over an hour. And I also would like to know what happened with Zack. Please have Lainey brought to me immediately." The workers obeyed her rules and began to scurry around. The director began to tell her what happened with Zack.

"Well Mrs. Hudson, Zachary punched another student on the playground. He won't tell us why and he gave the other student a bloody nose. Since it's his first day we will have to have a meeting to decide if he is able to come back tomorrow."

While this conversation was happening, Zack sat still in his chair staring at the ground. Soon his attention was drawn to the hallway where a screaming Lainey was being carried down the hall.

"LADY! LADY!" she screamed when she saw Rachel. Rachel rushed over to her and grabbed her out of the woman's arms. Lainey clung to Rachel, her face puffy and red from crying.

"Shhhh it's okay. I told you I would come back right?" Rachel began to rock Lainey back and forth while rubbing her back. Lainey began to relax almost instantly.

Rachel felt a wave of confidence roll over her as she looked at these two kids. Clearly they weren't ready for this. "So Zack is suspended? Can you even tell me what happened?" Rachel felt sorry for Zack. He looked so defeated.

"Well Mrs. Hudson," the director said, "we didn't exactly see what happened and Zack won't tell us his side of the story so we have to suspend him."

Rachel felt her blood boiling. "I specifically met with you and your team and stated the needs of both of my children. However, within two hours this was a failure. There's no need for a meeting," she said as she looked at the director. "We won't be returning tomorrow."

The director opened her mouth to speak, but Rachel really didn't want to hear anymore. She put her hand out towards Zack. "Come on Zack, let's head home ok?" Zack stood up and complied, grabbing Rachel's hand and followed her out of the door.

Lainey was resistant to let go of Rachel to get into her car seat. "Lainey, you'll be able to see me in the front seat ok? We will drive home and have some lunch."

"Okay," Lainey sniffled as she let Rachel buckle her in. Zack remained quiet in the other seat, not making eye contact with Rachel at all.

Before pulling out of the parking lot, she noticed she had a text from Finn. Uh oh. I'll be home in an hour. Thank You God.

Lainey quickly passed out on the drive home, exhausted from the solid hour of crying. Zack stared out of the window, emotionless. Rachel realized that they needed her. They needed consistency. She was going was going to have to stop working. There was no way she was sending them to another daycare. At least not for now.

Rachel really needed to figure out what happened with Zack. She hadn't given the director the chance, but honestly didn't want to be discussing it in front of him. He needed a chance to defend himself.

"Hey Zack, do you want to tell me what happened on the playground today? I'd really like for you to tell me what happened." Rachel looked at Zack in the rear view mirror. He didn't move but did mumble a soft "no" under his breath.

"Okay, you don't have to tell me now, but you need to tell me eventually so I can help you. I know you probably had a reason for punching someone, but that's not okay to do right? I promise I won't be mad but I can't help you if you don't tell me."

Zack still didn't move. Rachel tried not to get frustrated. She knows he has had it so rough, and they haven't had a lot of time to interact since he arrived. He mostly wanted to be alone and sometimes with Finn. Zack hadn't warmed up to her yet.

Rachel turned onto their street, relieved to be home. However, she noticed a car parked in front of their house. Burt and Carole were parked in front of their house. Oh no.

"Oh my God" Rachel moaned.

"What?" Zack asked as a nervous looked flashed across his face.

"Oh nothing, we just have visitors." Rachel knew she couldn't avoid this. Burt and Rachel would see her if she tried to drive past. Finn wouldn't be home for another hour, which left Rachel to tell them and have them meet the kids within the next few minutes. She wanted to throw up. This was not the day for this. She slowly pulled into the driveway as Carole waved and begun to get out of the car.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Zack questioning her. "Visitors? What kind? Are they here to take me to a new home? I'm sorry I punched that boy! I'm sorry!" Zack's bottom lip began to quiver as tears fell down his cheeks.

"Oh no no no no! Those are Finn's parents. His mom and dad! I just didn't know they were coming to visit that's all. I promise no one is taking you anywhere ok? They will want to meet you though. I promise they are super nice."

Zack wiped the tears from his eyes in an attempt to recover quickly. "But…but Finn said he didn't have a dad."

Rachel could see Carole starting to approach the car and didn't want her to open the door. "Well Zack, he has a stepdad. You are right, his real dad died. I'll explain it in a minute."

Rachel jumped out of the car, slamming the door shut. Carole rushed towards her. "Rachel! We called both you and Finn to tell you Burt had a meeting up here and we wanted to stop by! You two are impossible to get ahold of lately."

Rachel smiled nervously. "Well we've been a little busy, um, yeah….." Rachel searched for the words to say when she heard a scream from inside the car.

Rachel rushed over to Lainey's side of the car to find her screaming. She was disoriented and thought she had been left. Again.

Rachel quickly unbuckled Lainey who latched onto Rachel with her arms and legs. She kept screaming "Don't leave me lady! Don't leave!" over and over. Rachel turned around to see Carole and Burt, who was now out of the car, shocked with their mouths wide open.

Rachel just walked past them to Zack's side of the car to open it for him, Lainey still attached to her body like a Koala bear. A screaming Koala bear that is. She then opened the passenger door to grab her bag and head for the front door. Carole and Burt followed behind her, not saying a word.

The second the door opened, Zack took off running upstairs to his room. She heard the door slam loudly. Then she felt something wet down the front of her skirt. In all of this commotion, Lainey had peed her pants.

Burt and Carole stood in the foyer, unsure of what to do. Rachel had to go change Lainey and herself, but needed to at least say something before she headed upstairs.

"Well as you can see, we've been a little busy lately. Sorry we haven't called. It's been a little unpredictable and we wanted to wait until we felt settled to tell everyone. Zack and Lainey came to live with us last Monday. They are 7 and 4. Now I'm going to change the both of us because we got a little wet and I'll be right back."

Rachel didn't wait for a response. She quickly bolted upstairs with Lainey attached to the front of her body. As they entered Lainey's room, Rachel explained to her that she had to get her changed because she had an accident.

"I'm so sorry Lady! Please don't be mad!" Lainey was getting worked up again as Rachel put her down and began to strip her wet clothes off. "I'll wash them ok? I'll wash them!" Lainey tried to gather up the wet clothes but Rachel stopped her.

"No Lainey. That's my job. I'm not mad at you. It was just an accident. I'll wash your clothes. Now let's put some clean ones on and I can go get changed too." Lainey looked weary of Rachel's words, but handed over the wet clothes and went and picked out a dress to wear from her closet. After she was dressed they headed to Rachel's room.

"Lainey, why don't you hop up on my bed while I go in the bathroom to change quickly ok?" Rachel grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt and quickly headed to the bathroom. She wasn't in there long, but came out to find Lainey passed out on Finn's pillow. Figuring she needed the rest, she left Lainey asleep and checked on Zack. He was quietly laying on this bed, the door was open a crack but she decided to let him be as well. Now downstairs she had to face her in-laws.

Burt and Carole were on the couch where Rachel had left them. She sat down herself and got ready to explain.

"Well as you can see, we have two children living with us. They came last Monday with very little warning and needless to say it's been rough. We didn't tell anyone because we were just all trying to adjust to the chaos and get settled before we had people coming to visit. Honestly, we haven't even had time to call anyone. We just went back to work today and as you can see I'm home early so it didn't go well. "

Rachel sat and waited for a response. She was honestly afraid of what was coming next.

Carole spoke first, a look of sympathy on her face. "Oh honey, we could have come to help you. You know that. I hate that you felt you couldn't tell us."

"No, it's not that we didn't want any help. The kids have had a very very hard time. They've come from a rough background which I won't get into right now. We didn't want them to have to deal with any additional people to acclimate to right away. Finn and I had actually planned on calling everyone this week."

"So are you adopting these kids or are they here temporarily?" Burt asked.

Oh no. Rachel had totally forgotten that Finn didn't know about their mom being charged with abandonment yet. The day had been so crazy and it seems like that phone call happened so long ago, even if it had just been a few hours. She didn't want them to know before Finn or the kids. She hadn't even thought about what to tell the kids.

"It's a wait and see situation for now" Rachel explained. That wasn't a total lie. "Why don't I make us some lunch and we can talk more about it. Lainey fell asleep and Zack is having some quiet time upstairs."


Everyone followed Rachel into the kitchen. They had some good discussions about the kids. Rachel didn't tell them too much about their history, just that their mom couldn't take care of them. 20 minutes later Rachel heard Finn walk through the door.

When Finn got to the kitchen he had a look of panic on his face. He scanned the kitchen for the kids but they weren't there. He did however, see the faces of his parents staring back at him. Shit.

Rachel stood up and hugged Finn tightly. He hugged her back and let her linger there for a while. He knew her morning had been rough and to top it off his parents had showed up unannounced.

"Hey, you ok? Where are the kids?" he asked while glancing over at his parents.

"Lainey is asleep on our bed. Zack's upstairs in his room. It's been a long day and it's barely lunch time."

Carole had a look of worry on her face. "Finn, Rachel has filled us in on everything and I must say what you two doing is very admirable. However, is this what's best?"

"It's not about us mom, it's about the kids. If you think we've had it hard, they've had it 1000 times harder."

"I know. I guess as your mom it's hard to see you two going through something hard yet again. I'm sure you are doing your best."

Rachel felt the need to speak up. "It has been hard. The kids wanted nothing to do with me. They miss their mom, they aren't used to a "normal" life so to speak. But we're only a week in. It's getting better. Slowly."

Just then Lainey started screaming from the bedroom. Rachel raced up before Finn could even catch her.

"Lady! Lady!" she said, her arms held out towards Rachel.

Rachel rushed over. It felt good to be needed and useful. "Hey Lainey girl! Did you have a good nap?"

"Yes. I just didn't see you." Just then Finn ran into the room. "BIG GUY! You're back!" Lainey leapt off the bed and jumped into Finn's arms.

"I heard you had a rough day huh?" Finn asked as he pushed the blonde curls out of her eyes.

"Yeah, it wasn't so good. " Lainey nuzzled into Finn's chest and looked perfectly content. Rachel rubbed the small of Lainey's back and smiled up at Finn.

"Why don't we go talk to Zack and then head downstairs to meet Finn's Mommy and Daddy? Sound good?"

The three of them headed into Zack's room. He still was sitting on his bed, fiddling with this shoe laces. Rachel sat on the bed with Zack as Finn stood behind her holding Lainey.

"Hey Zack," Rachel began, "Are you ready to talk? Finn is here now and we would like to hear what happened today at school."

Zack looked up to see Finn standing there too. He was starting to look to Finn for reassurance on things which was a good thing. "Those stupid boys kept saying it. They kept saying it and wouldn't stop!"

Rachel reached over to rub Zack's back. "What did they say? If it upset you then we can talk about why."

Zack's eyes began to tear but he was trying to be brave. "They asked me why I didn't look like you when you were walking in the parking lot. I said you weren't my mom and then they asked where my mom was." Zack looked down again, rubbing the edges of his shoelace between his fingers. "I said I didn't know and they laughed. They kept saying I probably didn't have a mom and I do! I do have a mom!" Zack's tears began to fall and Rachel's heart was broken.

"Oh Zack. I know that's hard when other kids don't understand. I think next time you need to talk to a teacher instead of hurting someone though. I know you were very very mad though. "

Zack looked up at Rachel and his face was pleading for her to say something comforting. For the first time he didn't look at her with hatred in his eyes.

"Maybe later we can think of what to say when kids ask you about your mom and then you won't be afraid of what to say next time?

Zack sniffled a bit. "Okay."

He didn't say much but Rachel and Finn both considered this progress. Zack was starting to view them as allies and not enemies. Rachel held out her hand to Zack and he grabbed it in return. They all headed downstairs to a waiting Carole and Burt.

As they approached them still sitting at the kitchen table, Rachel felt like they were a family unit for the first time. She was holding Zack's hand, Finn holding Lainey. It felt right. During the past week it hadn't felt like this yet. She smiled.

"Mom, Bert, this is Lainey." Lainey looked over at the two but continued to just cling to Finn.

"And this is Zack" Rachel said as she lifted his hand in a fake wave. He cracked a small smile.

Carole was beaming. Rachel felt relieved. "Rachel why don't I make these kids some lunch and you and Finn can catch up on the day for a few minutes?"

Rachel did need to tell Finn the news about the kid's mom and if she didn't get it in now who knew when they would have a free moment again.

"Sounds great! Zack why don't you help Ms. Carole and show her what you two like to eat. Lainey do you want to help?"

Zack let go of Rachel's hand and headed over to the fridge. Lainey was reluctant but Finn put her down and nudged her and she walked towards Carole.

"We will just be in the other room a few minutes and we aren't leaving the house ok?" Both kids nodded in agreement and Rachel and Finn retreated to the other room.

Rachel began to talk frantically to try and catch Finn up as quickly as possible. "Okay before I tell you all of the daycare drama, Mrs. Kent called me this morning." Finn's eyes grew wide. "Their mom has been found but her rights have been terminated by a judge. Unless their mom contests her rights, we can adopt them."

Finn was speechless. He wasn't expecting that to come out of Rachel's mouth. "Are you serious? And you didn't call me?"

"Shhhh. I did call you! It's not something I could exactly say over voicemail! Plus the kids don't know yet. The day has been crazy and I think I want them to go to counseling tomorrow before we say anything. We need help. "

Finn agreed. Rachel had a point. This had to go seamlessly. Well as seamless as it could be for these kids.

"Oh and I'm not going back to work. The kids need me and there is no way I'm having a repeat of today happen again. I'm figuring I can stay home this summer and by the time school starts in September they should be in a better place to handle it." Rachel waited for Finn to disagree. She never makes huge decisions like this without him but her instincts are telling her this needs to be done.

Finn grabbed Rachel's hand. "Are you sure? You think you can do it? I'm not doubting you at all, but you can't say this past week has been a cakewalk." Finn smiled. They both had been put through the ringer by this entire experience. "I can't believe we can adopt them. What if their mom fights it?"

Rachel was worried too. What if they have these kids for a long time and their mom eventually gets them back? "Well Mrs. Kent just said to take it one day at a time. The paperwork should be here within the next few days. Remember, it's at least six months without any hang ups."

Finn pulled her in for another hug. He was excited but reluctant to let himself feel too much. "I'm kind of scared Rach. Every day they are making such progress with us and what if it's all torn away?"

Rachel closed her eyes tightly. "I know. I'm so scared too. Today was crazy but you know what? I felt like a mom for the first time."


The afternoon went quite well. The family relaxed in the back yard and the kids warmed up to Carole and Burt.

The adults were up on the deck. Burt and Carole still had endless questions about the children.

"So do they ask for their mom a lot? I just can't imagine being left by your own mother." Carole looked out at the two children running around in the yard playing tag. "I mean they must be devastated."

"They are mom," Finn answered. "That's why Rachel and I decided to do this. They needed help and we are helping them. A week ago they wouldn't even let Rachel go near them and I was the only person they would trust."

That seemed like a lifetime ago to Rachel. 7 days can really change things, even just by the slightest of moments.

"It wasn't fun I can say that, but Finn was good about helping me remember why they weren't fond of me." She reached over and squeezed his hand. He winked back and gave her a small smirk.

Just then Lainey came tearing up the stairs. "Hey Big Guy! Are we going to go to the restaurant soon?"

Finn and Rachel had both forgotten they had promised to take the kids to dinner tonight. Finn hesitated. "Um, I don't know Lainey. I think you guys have had a long day."

Disappointment spread across Lainey's face.

"It has been a long day but we did promise a dinner and Lainey wanted to dress up right?" Rachel figured nothing could be worse than the daycare debacle from this morning.

Finn glanced at Rachel, questioning her. "Are you sure Rach?"

Burt chimed in. "We can come too if you'd like. To help? We'd love to spend more time with the kids."

"Dinner it is!" Finn shouted. "Come on Zack! Let's go get ready for our big night out!"


Lainey skipped into the restaurant holding Finn's hand. She was wearing a hot pink sundress that Rachel had bought her with new shiny silver sandals. Rachel had pulled her hair up into a bun because she requested "Princess Hair" and she was beaming.

Zack too had let himself get into the dinner. He was dressed in a nice polo shirt and khaki shorts and even asked Finn for some hair gel. She couldn't help but notice he tried to style it like Finn's. Rachel could see a hint of Zack allowing himself to be a kid and not allow his anger to take over in every situation.

The six of them were seated at a round table in the middle of the restaurant. The kids looked shocked at first, looking around from side to side.

"So have you two ever been here before?" Carole asked.

"No." Zack replied. "We didn't go to places like this. We ate in our hotel room."

Rachel wanted so badly to tell Carole to stop with the questions. She had been throwing little questions at them all day to try to figure out their situation, but Finn and Rachel knew that they shouldn't push the kids. They noticed little bits of information emerge within a conversation.

The night proceeded without incident. Finn and Rachel helped the kids order off of the menu and they both seemed to be having a good time. Conversation stayed at a superficial level. They chatted about the company, Burt's job, and Zack even asked Burt a question on his own.

Dinner was just finishing up and Finn was getting ready to pay the bill when a child at the table next to them spilled an entire bowl of grapes onto the floor. Before anyone could see, Lainey flew out of her chair and began to eat the grapes. She shoved one after the other onto the floor before Rachel caught up to her and scooped her up. The table next to them looked horrified.

Rachel sat her back down in her seat as Lainey continued to chew. Rachel pulled the remaining grapes out of her hand. No one at the table moved.

"Lainey, why did you go over there and eat those grapes? Weren't you full from dinner? And we don't eat food off of the ground okay". Rachel tried to remain calm as some of the patrons of the restaurant still stared at her.

"I don't know" Lainey mumbled, still trying to swallow the rest of her food.

"I'm not mad Lainey, I'm just trying to understand why. "

"Zack always says to eat all of the food in case we don't get any tomorrow. Right Zack?"

Carole's eyes began to well up with tears. Finn and Rachel just looked at each other with sadness.

"Be quiet Lainey! You are going to get mom in trouble!" Zack looked worried but stared down at his plate to avoid eye contact with anyone.

Rachel couldn't help but wonder. How long had these kids gone without food before? The way Lainey ran after that spilled food was instinctual. Like she needed it to survive even though her environment had completely changed.

Rachel spoke up. "Well no one is going to get your mom in trouble okay. Just know that you don't have to worry about food because you will always have some. You don't have to eat food off of the floor. If we go home later and you are hungry, ask for a snack."

"Okay," Lainey answered softly. "Can we leave now? I'm tired. Big Guy can I hold you?"

Finn laughed. "You mean can I hold you? Sure. Come here." Finn scooped her up and they all proceeded out of the restaurant. Carole grabbed Rachel's shoulder to get her attention and whispered "You guys are doing great. Don't worry." Rachel could only hope so.


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