We Grew Up – Chapter Two
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. All names are fictitious and appear only by coincidence.)
The four weeks between the day that Rachel and Brandon arrived in Lima and the day that Leroy died were the hardest days of Rachel's life.
Leroy went down hill quickly. His doctors wanted him in the hospital, but he refused. He wanted to die in his own home with his family with him. Leroy didn't like it, but Hospice was now dropping by on a daily basis. Their help was beyond measure, but Leroy saw their presence as the beginning of the end.
Hiram was even move confused. Rachel hadn't realized that his Alzheimer's had progressed that far. He had a few good days, but usually he was lost. He remembered his life before Alzheimer's began robbing him of his memories. He could remember the day he met Hiram and their early life together. He remembered Rachel as a child and as a teenager, but his short term memory was gone. Brandon became irritated when Hiram asked the same questions over and over again and snapped at him when Rachel wasn't around. Hiram remembered Brandon as a toddler and didn't know this teenager who was so impatient with him.
Brandon didn't make Rachel's days any easier. He was bored and restless in Lima. He spent most of his time in the garage playing his rock music too loud, tearing up tools that he no idea how to use, or sitting in Leroy and Hiram's aging black BMW.
It had been a very bad day for Rachel when Brandon picked the wrong time to say the wrong thing to her.
"Mom, you don't to buy a car for me. I could trade that BMW out in the garage in on a sweet ride. It's old enough to be a classic."
"Those two old geezers are never going to drive it again anyway. One of them is going to be worm food soon enough, and we're going to ship the other one off to the looney bin if he doesn't croak soon."
Rachel spun around and did something that she had never done before, she slapped her child. She smacked him across the face with every ounce of strength she had. His face bore the red imprint of her hand and his nose was bleeding.
"The only one that's going to get shipped off around here is you! I'm going to ship you off to your father in England and see how he deals with all of the crap that you put me through!"
"Those two men are my parents and your grandparents! The only grandparents that you've ever known! Don't you ever say anything like that about them again!"
Brandon was stunned as he wiped the blood from his nose.
"Mom, I'm bleeding. I'm going to call Child Services and report you for child abuse!"
"Go ahead! I'm sure their phone number is in the phone book!"
She threw the phone book on the counter as Brandon slammed the kitchen door and headed upstairs to the bedroom he was using.
Rachel had absolutely no idea what to do. One father was dying, the other didn't know that he was in the world, and her son was totally out of control. She had never struck Brandon before. She felt like she was out of control too.
She sat down at the kitchen table and cried with her head in her hands until Hiram came through and sat down beside her.
"What's wrong pumpkin?" Hiram said as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Nothing Dad, I'm just a little tired. I'm just sad that Daddy is sick."
"Leroy is sick? When did that happen? I must go and check on him."
It broke Rachel's heart to see how Alzheimer's had robbed Hiram of his memory. Leroy had been diagnosed with cancer several years ago and had been undergoing chemo and radiation treatments ever since. Hiram didn't even remember that. He only remembered the good old days which in a way was a blessing.
Cleaning up the mess, Rachel reached for the phone book that was splayed across the counter. She closed it and was putting it away when she saw an advertisement on the back cover. It said, "Come On Down To Hudson Tires! We Have Three Locations To Serve You!"
Staring back at her was a glossy picture of Finn Hudson holding a tire around his shoulder. He was older and had grey hair around his temples, but it really was her Finn. She traced her fingers over his face and his smile. She had been so overwhelmed since she arrived in Lima that she hadn't thought of Finn.
She knew that he had stayed in Lima after she married Brody, but she really didn't think that he would still be there. She thought about calling him, but changed her mind. She really didn't know what to say, and she hadn't talked to him since before her marriage to Brody. That was four husbands and sixteen years ago.
She trudged up the stairs to the room Brandon was using,
"May I come in?"
"Go away! Are you going to hit me again?"
"No Brandon, I'm sorry that I hit you. I was wrong, but you were wrong too. Can I come in and check on your nose bleed."
"May as well, it's your house."
Rachel opened the door and found her son lying on the guest bed holding a wash cloth to his nose.
"I think you'll live, and I'm sorry that I hit you. Hitting is not the answer, but you know how much those two men mean to me. I'm loosing one to death and one to Alzheimer's. Pretty soon my only living father won't even know who I am. Of all the roles that I've ever played on Broadway this is by far the hardest. I don't want to let go of either of them, and I am powerless to stop it. You see how hard this is for me. You're old enough to help me through this instead of being a little jerk."
"Mom, I'm bored. I wanted you to leave me in New York with my friends, but you wouldn't let me. There's nothing to do in this town, and I don't know anyone. This house is like a fricking hospital or a prison," Brandon sulked.
"I didn't leave you in New York because you're a minor and your Grandfather Leroy wanted to see you before he died. I have no idea how long we're going to be here.
"I'm still bored!"
"Well why don't you go down to the community pool tomorrow and see if you can meet some people your age down there. I spent a lot of my summers there. There are tennis courts and basketball courts."
"How am I supposed to get there? I don't have a car remember?"
"You can ride my old bike, I'm sure that it's still out in the garage."
"That old thing, the one with the banana seat?"
"It's either ride my old bike or walk."
"Why can't you drive me?"
"You know that I can't leave. Dad is bedridden and Daddy might wander off. I have to keep an eye on both of them at least until the Hospice nurse comes to help me."
"Fine, I think I packed some trunks."
Rachel had second thoughts about sending Brandon to the pool alone, but this was Lima. It wasn't New York City. Brandon was fifteen going on sixteen. He had been stuck in the house for days now, and basically everyone could use a break from each other. Hiram, Leroy, and Brandon were more than she could handle and she knew it.
It was then that Rachel sat down with that phone book with the picture of Finn on the back cover and decided to start looking for some in home nursing help. This was far more than she could handle on her own.
Brandon was peddling the too small bike down the street the next morning when a sheriff's car pulled up beside him.
"Did you steal that bike?" The officer asked. "I don't remember seeing you around here."
"I'm not from around here. I'm from New York City My mom and I are staying with my grandfathers. One of them is dying."
"What's your name? Who are your grandparents, and how old are you?"
"I'm Brandon Weston, I'm fifteen, and my grandfathers are Hiram and Leroy Berry."
"Are you Rachel's boy? I went to high school with her back in the day. How's she doing? I heard that she made it big in New York."
Brandon wanted to say something smart, but his recent brush with drugs and the headmaster changed his mind.
"She's okay. Is this the way to the community pool?"
"Yeah, just keep going straight and stay out of trouble."
The patrol car sped off, and Brandon watched it turn the curve and disappear. "Great," Brandon thought to himself. "My mom even knows the cops in this town. I won't be able to get away with anything."
Brandon found the pool and there were a lot of kid there that seemed to be his age. He thought about turning on his New York accent and impressing some of the red necks until he spotted the lifeguard.
She was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen in his life. Her eyes twinkled like blue sapphires and her hair was pulled back in a long reddish-blond pony tail. Her legs were long and she had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Her red lifeguard swim suit accented her tanned perfect figure.
"Hey kid," she called to him, "Before you can swim, you have to fill out an information sheet. Are you from around her? I don't recognize you?"
"I'm not a kid, I'm fifteen, and I'm only visiting from New York City."
"You still have to fill out an information sheet. If you drown, we have to know where to send the body."
"Funny!" He smirked.
After he filled out the information sheet he handed it back to her.
"I'm Emily, one of the lifeguards here. I see that your name is Brandon Weston. Nice to meet you Brandon Weston."
"You don't look old enough to be a lifeguard," Brandon frowned.
"I just turned sixteen and this is my first real job. I've spent the last four months earning my lifeguard certifications, so if you drown I can give you CPR."
"I think I would like that," Brandon smirked before he jumped into the deep end of the pool and swam off.
When Emily's shift ended, Brandon climbed out of the pool and went over to talk to her under the umbrella. He wasn't the only one. Two other boys about her same age were talking to her too. "Brandon, this is Seth and Drew. I go to school with them. This is Brandon, he's visiting." Emily introduced him.
Brandon hung around until Seth and Drew left for a chance to talk to Emily alone.
"Do you live around here? I could walk you home." Brandon offered.
"No thanks, I have my car."
"You have your own car?"
"Yeah, my dad bought it for me for my sixteenth birthday. It's sitting over there."
Brandon turned around to see a brand new red Mustang with a black convertible top and black seats sitting in the parking lot with the top down.
"Your dad bought that car for you? I can't even get my mom to talk about buying a car for me."
"My dad was going to wait until I graduated in two years, but he surprised me with it because I made the Beta Club. He's also a tire dealer, and he's good friends with the car dealers in town.
"What's the Beta Club?" Brandon asked.
"At my school, McKinley High, you have to have a 3.5 GPA in all of your classes, and you have to be on the college prep track."
"Is that a public school? I've never been to a public school before. Just private schools New York City."
"I've been in public schools all my life. Now if you'll excuse me. I have to go. My Nana Carole is expecting me."
Brandon pushed the bike home and found Rachel pouring over a lot of papers on the kitchen table.
"Shhh," she whispered to Brandon. "Both of your grandfathers are taking naps, and I'm trying to catch up on their bills. How was the pool?"
"I met this sixteen year old girl who is one of the lifeguards. She has her own car and her name is Emily. She has two friends named Seth and Drew. And I also met a cop. He said that he went to school with you."
"Where you causing trouble? What was his name?" Rachel asked.
"No, I wasn't causing any trouble. He just thought that me riding your old bike looked kinda of weird. He didn't say what his name was, but I need to go up to my room and get out of these wet trunks."
"Okay, just don't turn your music on. I want Dad and Daddy to sleep as long as possible so I can concentrate on their bills."
Rachel had been working on Hiram and Leroy's bills for hours. Hiram had kept such meticulous bills up to a point and then everything went haywire. Their medical bills were out of sight. Hiram had taken out a reverse mortgage on their house to pay for their mounting medicals costs and that was almost used up. At the rate they were going, they wouldn't have a house to live in soon.
She now knew why Hiram had refused to go into the hospital, and why he was trying to take care of Leroy at home. Their insurance picked up most of their medical costs, but their part of Leroy's last hospital bill was over a hundred thousand dollars. Rather than upset Hiram, she wrote out a check and paid it herself.
As Rachel dug deeper she found more unpaid bills. There was a stack of bills from a chemo and radiation clinic. The pharmacy bill hadn't been paid in three months. The utility bill was also over due. Before the evening was over she had written checks to cover over a quarter of a million dollars.
Then there was the problem of the reverse mortgage. She would call the mortgage lender tomorrow and see what was going on.
She had also made an appointment for Allen County Senior Services to come by. She had to have some in-home help. Maybe they could point her in the right direction.
The next day the door bell rang and Brandon opened the door to find the same police officer standing there. "I didn't do anything!"
"I know that you didn't, I'm here to see your mother."
Rachel rounded the corner from the kitchen to see who was at the door.
"Noah! It's been ages! I didn't know that you were in Lima. I thought that you went to California!"
"I did, but I got interested in law enforcement. Came back here, took some courses in criminal justice at Lima CC, and the sheriff's department hired me as a deputy when I graduated. I ran for the sheriff's office two years ago and won. I think every kid that ever played football at McKinley and every cougar that I cleaned a pool for voted for me. Anyway, I was running unopposed."
"Oh Noah, let me introduce you to my son Brandon Weston. This is my old friend Noah. We went to temple together when we were kids."
"We've met, this is the cop, I mean police officer that pulled me over on your bike yesterday."
"Just doing my duty. It's not every day you see a strange kid riding a girl's bike with a banana seat on it."
"Mom if you don't mind, I'd like to go back down to the pool today. Your dads are fine right now, and I'd like to hang out with some of the kids I met yesterday."
"Sure son, take your towel, sunscreen, and your cell phone."
"Okay, but this time I think I'll walk to the pool."
Brandon was out the door and was gone leaving Rachel and Puck in the living room.
"Please excuse my son. I really think he wants to hang out with one of the life guards down there. I think he said her name was Emily."
"Did your son happen to mention who Emily is?" Puck asked.
"No he just said that she was pretty and was sixteen, and he emphasized that she had a new red convertible."
"That's Finn's daughter."
"Finn? Kurt never told me that Finn had a daughter!"
"I don't know a lot of the details either. All I know is that Finn was all set to join you in New York after he graduated from Lima CC and transfer to NYU. All of a sudden he changes his mind. He was in pretty bad shape until Quinn shows up about ready to pop. She had a kid, and then took off leaving the baby with Finn, Carole, and Burt. No one has heard from her since, and Finn raised Emily."
"Is she Finn's biological child?" Rachel asked.
"I don't think so. Finn won't talk about it, but I kind of doubt it since he was working so hard to get to New York and win you back from that guy you were seeing."
"No one ever told me that Finn was coming to New York, what was he going to do?"
"Beats me. I remember the day he got his acceptance letter from NYU, but he ended up going to the University of Ohio at Lima instead. He's been managing Burt's old tire shop ever since. He changed the name to Hudson Tires and expanded it to three shops. I think he's done pretty well for himself."
"It all makes sense. That was around the time I got pregnant with Brandon and married Brody. I never knew what Finn was planning."
"Well I guess that it was a good thing. Quinn took off and Finn raised Emily. Finn and that little girl love each other to death."
Rachel thought for a moment before she turned the conversation to Puck. "Tell me Noah, is there a Mrs. Sheriff Puckerman, and do you have any little Puckerman deputies running around your house?"
"Nah, I'm still playing the field at 35. I think Finn and I are the only bachelors left in this town that's over twenty years old."
"Finn never married?"
"Nope, he dated a few women, but nothing ever stuck. He was busy with Emily and expanding the business. Rachel my lunch break is almost over, so I hope to see you around town before you head back to New York."
"I hope so too; you probably know that I have my hands full here with my dads so if you see my son around town, please keep an eye on him."
"I sure will, and you're still my beautiful Jewish princess, you know that right? If I see Finn, I'll tell him that you're in town."
"Please don't. Now that I know about his plans for New York, I wouldn't know what to say to him. Let me think about it, and I'll look him up before we leave town."
Puck left and Rachel pulled out the phone book looking at Finn's tire ad on the back cover. Rubbing her fingers over his face she wondered what might have been. What if she hadn't gotten pregnant with Brody's child and married him. What if Finn had joined her in New York? That was the problem with all of her four marriages. She kept trying to find another Finn, but none of them could replace him.
Leroy passed away in his sleep a few weeks later. Hiram was inconsolable. Leroy was born Southern Baptist, but had converted to Judaism. His funeral service would be as soon as possible in keeping with the Jewish custom.
After Leroy was buried in a simple wooden coffin, Rachel and the family had a reception for friends. Rachel was standing in line shaking the hands of the town people who had come to say good bye to Leroy too. The faces were familiar, but they had all aged fifteen years so she didn't remember all the names until a still familiar voice spoke to her, "Hello Rachel. Remember me it's Finn."
His eyes, dimples, and lop sided smile hadn't changed. She hugged him tightly, and he even still smelled the same. That brief moment was the most at peace that she had felt in years.
"Finn, I can't believe that it's you," the tears were now welling up in her eyes.
"It's me, I never left Lima, but I'd like you to meet my daughter Emily Hudson. Emily this is Rachel Berry, the Broadway star."
"And this is my son Brandon."
"We've met; he comes to the community pool everyday. I haven't seen that bike lately," Emily smiled at the boy.
Finn stared at Brandon and remembered that Rachel's pregnancy with him had derailed all of his plans for New York and winning Rachel back.
Rachel stared at Emily and couldn't believe how much she looked like Quinn except for the reddish blond hair. She didn't see any of Finn in her, not even the eyes.
Then Rachel remembered her step-sister Beth. Emily and Beth would be half-sisters. That would make her a step-sister to Emily as well. She wondered if Emily even knew about Beth.
"How long are you going to be in town?" Finn asked. "Maybe we can get together and catch up. The four of us could go out to Breadsticks."
"Is that place still open?" Rachel asked. "I thought the health department would have shut it down by now."
"Yeah, and it's as crappy as ever."
"Finn, I'd like that, but I can't leave Daddy. He has Alzheimer's you know. Maybe you and Emily would like to come over for dinner in a few days, bring Carole and Burt too. I still remember how much you liked my eggplant lasagna."
"I'll call you and see how things are going. I know that you have your hands full right now. If there's anything we can do to help, please call us."
Rachel did have her hands full, but seeing Finn again was like a breath of fresh air. Brandon was still going to the pool everyday, and was behaving relatively well.
Poor Hiram. He couldn't remember that Leroy had passed away and asked where he was everyday. When Rachel or Brandon told him that Leroy had died, it was like telling him for the first time over and over again. Finally Rachel began telling him that Leroy had gone for a walk which seemed to satisfy him until he asked where Leroy was again. It was lying and she knew it, but seeing Hiram grieve like that was unbearable.
School would be starting soon in New York and Rachel knew she had to get back and see if she could persuade another prep school to take Brandon. It would probably require making a sizeable donation. Most schools usually took one look at his transcript and discipline reports and said no.
She still didn't have any idea what to do about Hiram. Leroy had wanted to keep him at home as long as possible. She had to put baby locks on all of the doors to keep him from wandering outside when no one was looking. She had hired around-the-clock nurses and it was costing her a fortune. To place Hiram in an Alzheimer's facility in New York would cost even more, and he wouldn't have the surroundings that at least he was familiar with.
Finn and his family did come over one Sunday night for dinner. Rachel had prepared her egg plant lasagna and fried chicken for those who didn't like egg plant. Brandon had even been a big help because Emily was coming. Rachel feared that he might be developing a crush on Finn's daughter. That would only complicate things, and Finn's family had no idea how out-of-control he could be.
Dinner went well, and the nurse put Hiram to bed early. Carole and Burt entertained Brandon and Emily with a marathon game of Monopoly around the kitchen table while Rachel and Finn went out to the swing on the back porch to get reacquainted.
"So how have you been since the funeral?" Finn asked.
"As well as you can expect. Dad isn't getting any better over losing Daddy. Every time I have to tell him that Daddy has died it's like telling him for the first time all over again."
"Brandon is behaving better. I think your daughter has something to do with that."
"Yeah, Emily has mentioned that she thinks your son might have a crush on her or maybe her car."
"Emily certainly is beautiful. Puck tells me that Quinn's her mother."
"Yes, Quinn showed up here one summer ready to have a baby at any moment. She had Emily and then took off. I haven't heard from her since, but I haven't looked either."
"Are you Emily's father?" Rachel asked.
"I'm her father in every way that matters. She has been with me since the day she was born. How much did Puck tell you?"
"Not much more than that. He did tell me that you graduated from Lima CC and were on your way to NYU. I never knew that."
"That was the plan until you married that Brody guy so I stayed in Ohio."
"Finn I missed you. I was having comfort sex with Brody when we had an accident. I was pregnant and still had two more years at NYADA. Brody had just graduated and wanted me to marry him. I thought I loved him, but I never got over you and he knew it. The marriage didn't last long before we divorced and he took off to England."
"Rachel, what happened to us?" Finn asked point blank
"I guess that we had to grow up." Rachel said sadly.
-/-
Chapter three is up. It is entitled After All This. Thank you to those who are following this story and reviewing. You inspire me to type faster! Sincerely, Whistler Nights