Chapter 4

January – Sophomore – Age 16

"Hey mom," Finn said as he came home from the garage. He really did enjoy working for Burt. He did all the basic car maintenance by himself now. He was also being allowed to assist on bigger jobs, especially ones that needed some muscle behind them.

"Just in time for dinner Honey," Carol announced. She was quite proud of what her son was accomplishing. He was saving money for the baby and a car. He needed so much for a baby and he was well on his way. As they were sitting down to dinner, Finn got a text message.

Wende Hench DYFS: Hey Finn, how's it going? If this is a good time for our monthly chat, please let me know.

"Wende texted. Should I call her now or tell her to wait a bit so we can have dinner?" Finn asked.

"Why don't you just call now, then we can enjoy our dinner," Carol suggested. Finn nodded in agreement. Wende answered on the second ring.

"Wende Hench."

"Hey Ms. Hench, it's Finn Hudson."

"How are you Finn?"

"I'm doing alright. How about you?"

"Doing well. It's getting close to the big day huh?"

"Yeah, just a little over two months," Finn agreed with a sigh.

"You still keeping the journal?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm writing the good and the bad; unfortunately the most of it is bad involving Quinn. I never realized how crazy she truly is."

"So you would say that things have gotten worse since we last spoke?" Wende asked.

"Oh definitely. She has actually hit me a few times. I had some scratches on my face from the last time. Mom is a nurse, so she cleaned it all up, but we added pictures to the journal. But short of videotaping each and every encounter I have with her, most of what I have written seems pretty unbelievable."

"Well, I know that you didn't want things to come to this, but after what you have just told me, I think you should involve a lawyer. My friend might be willing to take this case on pro bono. Do you have a pen and paper?"

"I'll get one, hang on a sec," Finn said, and she could hear him shuffling around to get the appropriate materials. "Okay, I got it."

"Her name is Samantha Carter," Wende said. "Her number is…."

Finn wrote the number down. "Are you sure I really need a lawyer?"

"With how unstable she is beginning to sound, I wouldn't put anything past her. If you call Sam, she will be able to go more in depth about the process."

"Alright, I'll call tomorrow during my study hall," Finn said. "Thanks for all your help."

"It's not a problem. I'll just give you a call next month, unless anything changes; then you feel free to call me."

"Thanks, til next month," Finn said. They ended their phone call and Finn went back to the dinner table to sit with his mother.

"A lawyer?" Carol prompted.

"Wende said because she is getting worse, especially because of the violence, that a lawyer might help. And the one she gave me will help, pro bono."

"Call tomorrow then," Carol said, agreeing with his answer to Wende. "Maybe from Miss Pillsberry's office. I actually wanted to talk to you about something tonight as well."

"Yeah?" Finn asked, digging into his dinner.

"Well, you know that Burt Hummel and I have been talking since you invited him and Kurt to dinner," Finn nodded in response. "Well, he asked me on a date."

"A date?"

"Yes, he wanted to take me out to dinner on Friday," Carol explained. "I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"Why?" Finn asked, confused.

"Well, he's your boss, and your friend's dad. I don't want this to be weird for you."

"You haven't been on a date since that loser drove off in the spray truck. You deserve to be happy. Don't worry about me."

"Of course I worry about you," Carol said.

"I know, but I'd like to believe that I have grown up a bit lately. I'm not gonna lie, I would have totally freaked out probably six months ago. But now… I'm 16 with a baby on the way. I think I'm past the point of judgement and freaking out."

"Oh sweetie," Carol said. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I'm just glad you get to find someone who makes you happy," Finn said sincerely.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day, during Finn's study hall, he popped into Miss Pillsberry's office. "Hey Ms. P."

"Hi Finn. It's not out normal day. Is there anything the matter?"

"I actually talked to Wende Hench, my contact at DYFS, yesterday. She thinks that because of Quinn's escalating behaviors, I need to get into contact with a lawyer."

"Smart move," Miss Pillsberry agreed. She was being kept abreast of the Quinn situation as well.

"I have the lawyer's number and Wende and my mother thought I should have you around when I called," Finn explained.

"That's perfectly fine. Just put her on speaker phone so I can help when necessary," she said with a smile on her face. She was really proud that Finn was going about things in the proper way. Finn dialed the number that Wende had given him last night and waited for an answer.

"Samantha Carter's office, this is Cordelia Chase speaking, how may I direct your call?"

"My name is Finn Hudson. Wende Hench told me to call Ms. Carter and see if she could take on my case."

"Ah yes, I'll patch you right through. Please hold." They were left with muzac and Finn began to sway to it in his seat. He was a sucker for elevator music. Puck always made fun of him for it.

"Hello, Samantha Carter, how can I help you?"

"My name is Finn Hudson," Finn began. "Wende Hench from DYFS gave me your number."

"Yes, she did mention a case," Sam replied. "Can you give me a basic overview? We can go from there."

"I'm 16, and my girlfriend is 6 and a half months pregnant," Finn started. "She wants to get rid of the baby, and I would like to keep it. She is basically psychotic."

"You are absolutely sure that you want to keep this baby?"

"Absolutely. I know that I can do this. I have a job, and I'm attending a church that will help me with child care when the time comes," Finn explained.

"Okay, we can help you with this. Wende said there were extenuating circumstances throughout this entire pregnancy, from conception until now. Some of the questions I have to ask may seem invasive, but the more I know, the better I can help you. Now, did you use any form of contraception?"

"Yes. She told me that she was taking care of it on her end, but I wanted to make sure," Finn said. "The condom was leaking a bit when all was said and done, but I made the mistake of trusting that she was taking care of things on her end."

"So she was not on birth control, even though she said she was?"

"It turns out she wasn't on anything," Finn said. "She told me that if she prayed hard enough she thought she wouldn't get pregnant."

"Well, that will certainly make you seem more like the responsible one. Now, how is your girlfriend now?"

"At this rate, she's likely to kill me before the baby gets here," Finn said honestly. "I know pregnant people get all kinds of hormones and shit, but she is just plain crazy."

"I don't think crazy is the right word, Finn," Miss Pillsberry interrupted. "Sorry, my name is Emma Pillsberry, school counselor, and I've been working with Finn since he told us back in November."

"What word would you use for the young lady's behavior?" Sam asked.

"Psychotic," Miss Pillsberry said. "She not only verbally assaults Finn and everyone around her, but she actually physically assaulted Finn a few weeks ago."

"Definitely some cause for alarm," Sam commented. "Proof?"

"I'm keeping a journal of all our encounters. I have photos of the assault as well," Finn replied.

"Good, I'm going to want to meet with you, hopefully Tuesday of next week," Sam said.

"I'll call my work and see if I can take off that day," Finn said. He concluded his phone call with some of his personal information so they could keep in touch.

"I'm glad you called," Miss Pillsberry said.

"I'm just disappointed that it's come down to this," Finn sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. She thought he was looking a bit worn around the edges – and she couldn't even blame him, this was a lot of work to deal with at such a young age.

"You are not to blame," she soothed. "In this case, I believe Quinn has an underlying problem that has only come to be exasperated by the pregnancy."

"I'm just dumb for getting together with her in the first place."

"I'm certain you saw some redeeming qualities," Miss Pillsberry said.

"It was kind of just expected for us to get together," Finn explained. "I made quarter back and she was the head cheerleader, Captain in fact. Everyone expected it. Then she was always telling me what to do. I really didn't care either way. I liked making out with her and she was hot. Our relationship was what kept us from being slushied."

"I never realized how this social hierarchy worked," Miss Pillsberry commented. "I feel bad that you felt obligated to go out with Quinn."

"Me too," Finn agreed. "I know I have my fault in this. I know I chose to sleep with Quinn. I am stepping up and accepting my responsibility. It really pissed me off that she is acting like I forced her into this, but in actuality she pressured me into it."

"How is she not accepting responsibility? She believes giving the baby up for adoption will give it a better life," she replied, playing devil's advocate.

"Do you know what her reasons are for giving the baby up?" Emma shook her head no. Finn got his well-worn notebook and turned to a familiar page. "She told me 'this baby is doing the worst things to my body. I can't wait to get rid of it. Then I can get back my body. I can get back on the Cheerios and back to the top of the social ladder'. She cares nothing for this baby. "

"Yes, that is certainly a narcissistic point of view," she agreed, looking rather forlorn.

"I always feel better talking to you Ms. P. Just talking about it helps."

"I'm glad," she smiled. "Let me know how things go with the lawyer and feel free to put me down as a reference about the case."

"No problem. I'm gonna head out and call my mom, let her know what is going on."

"Alright Finn, have a great rest of the day."