Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Im so so so so so sorry this update took so long and i hope it won't happen again. To assure that Im going to make you all a deal i made with my other story. If i get at least 10 reviews i will have the next chapter to my Beta within a week, guaranteed. Now i can't promise she will finish it within a week because she has a life other than betaing my stories but i will get it to her. If you want to keep up with the progress of the story or you want to review but don't have an account here you can always follow me on tumblr (link is on my profile page) and reviews on there count too.

Thanks as always to my amazing beta scarlett88 :)

I did make this chapter a bit longer so i hope you enjoy and remember to review!

Chapter Eight

Rachel woke up the next morning a very happy girl. She had gotten to visit her dads, which was always pleasant. She also got to see her mom and meet her sister for the first time and as far as she could tell it had gone terribly well.

Rachel got up and in the shower and when she was dressed she made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. She smiled when she got close because she could smell her favorite vegan pancakes cooking in the kitchen.

"Morning," Rachel said as she walked into the kitchen. She gave her daddy a kiss on the cheek before taking a place at the center island.

"Morning baby," her daddy, Leroy, said back. He scooped a pancake onto a plate and laid it on the table in front of her.

"Thanks daddy," she smiled as she put syrup over her pancakes.

"What do you have planned for today?" Leroy asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I figured we could just spend some time together; go out to eat or something."

"You know we'd love to baby, but your dad and I had plans to go to an antique show before we knew you were coming, but if that's a problem for you we can always not go," he explained.

Rachel shook her head. "That's silly. You two go and have fun. I'll call Shelby and we can have lunch or something."

"You sure?"

"Yes, go," Rachel said. "I'll be fine. I am thirty-two years old you know."

"Yes, I know, but sometimes I forget. You're still my little girl to me," Leroy smiled as he gently kissed his daughter on the forehead before walking out of the kitchen.

Rachel finished her pancakes then pulled out her phone to call Shelby. It rang a few times before she heard her mom's voice on the other end. "Hello."

"Hey Shelby, it's Rachel."

"Hey Rach."

"I was wondering if you and Beth would like to come over for lunch today. My dad's had tickets to an antique show and I had so much fun last night I thought I'd ask," Rachel said.

"Oh Rachel I would love to but I have rehearsal all day for my show, but I'm sure Beth would love to. Let me just go and ask her."

"Okay," Rachel said.

She heard a bit of rustling on the other line and a loud "YES!" before Shelby's voice came back on. "She said she'd love to."

Rachel chuckled. "Tell her to come to my dads' house around one and I'll have lunch ready."

"Will do," Shelby said before hanging up. Rachel got out of her seat and walked around the kitchen, looking in the cabinets to see what she wanted to make. When none of it looked very appetizing she decided she would go to the grocery and pick something up to cook. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door and to the grocery.

X-X-X-X-X

Beth was so excited when she heard Rachel wanted her to come over for lunch she practically yelled yes at the top of her lungs. She had two hours to get ready so she quickly hopped in the shower, careful to avoid the sight of her naked body in the mirror.

By the time she was dressed and ready it was 12:30 and she had time to do vocal exercises again because she didn't know whether she and Rachel would be singing again and if they were she wanted to be on top of her game.

X-X-X-X-X

Rachel wasn't very surprised when no one recognized her in Lima. She had spent so much time on Broadway she hadn't done any television yet which meant no one here even knew she was famous. She knew from experience that hardly anyone in Lima even knew what Broadway was, let alone kept up to date about it.

"Rachel?" she heard a confused voice say and it broke her from her trance. She knew she recognized that voice from somewhere but she couldn't quite place it. She was in the pasta aisle looking for noodles to cook and when she turned her head away from the noodles she saw a familiar body, giantly tall and awkward, standing in front of her.

"Finn?" she gasped. For a second Rachel felt as if she couldn't breathe. This couldn't be Finn Hudson, the former love of her life (oh who was she kidding she still loved him) standing in front of her. This sort of thing only happened in movies, not real life.

She watched as he slowly nodded, clearly as freaked out to see her as she was him. "Oh my gosh it's so good to see you," she said and before she knew what she was doing she found herself jumping into his arms. She was happy when she felt his arms easily wrap around her and she smiled because the feeling was all too familiar.

Rachel's heart sank into her chest when she finished the hug and looked behind him for the first time. Sitting in his cart was a small girl of about five or six. She was just staring off into space, in her own little world, not paying attention to her father or the brunette he was talking to. Finn saw what she was looking at and walked over to the little girl.

"This is my daughter, Kennedy," he said. He smiled at the little girl and put a hand on her tiny shoulder as she continued to stare into space.

Rachel took a step closer to the cart so she was facing the girl. She had a lot of features that matched her fathers; his light brown hair and big brown eyes for one. Rachel noticed, though, that her eyes seemed far away and unfixated. "Nice to meet you Kennedy." Rachel watched as the girl turned her head to face her and then moved it back to its original position without even acknowledging she was there.

"Kennedy say hi to Rachel," Finn said a bit sternly. Rachel kept herself from giggling out loud, the sound of him being stern was foreign to her.

The small brunette turned to face Rachel again and let out a small, "Hello," before returning to her own world. Finn seemed satisfied and turned his attention back to Rachel.

"I didn't know you were in town," he said.

"I just got in yesterday," she answered. "The first time in fourteen years and oddly enough not much has changed."

"Yea, hard to believe," he said sarcastically. They both chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry I never got to come up and see your play. I was busy with work and Kennedy and everything but I bought the soundtrack on iTunes and it's Kennedy's favorite. It always calms her down."

"I'm glad to hear that," Rachel smiled. "And how have you been, since high school and everything?"

"I took over the garage from Burt a few years ago. And between that and Kennedy I don't have a whole lot of time for anything else," he explained.

"And what about Kennedy's mom?" Rachel asked. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer though. Until she had seen Kennedy she was able to hold the slightest hope that maybe he had never met anyone either.

"She left a couple of years ago," Finn said, his eyes fixated on the ground in embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Rachel lied. The truth was she was thrilled to hear that; it meant she still had a chance.

"Well we better be on our way," Finn said. "I can tell she's getting hungry, but maybe you would like to meet up for dinner tomorrow night so we can catch up and stuff? My mom's taking Kennedy anyway."

"I would love that," Rachel smiled. She took the phone out of his jeans pocket and put her number into it. "Call me tomorrow with the details." Finn nodded and waved good-bye as he pushed the kart down the aisle and away from Rachel. She waved back and once he was out of sight she turned back to the pastas.

She was on such a high as she finished shopping. She quickly grabbed the rest of the ingredients and paid. On the drive home she put on the happiest music she could find and sang along loudly. The happy mood continued as she fixed lunch. She danced and sang around the kitchen as she fixed some pasta, a salad, and chocolate cake for dessert (all vegan of course). She hoped her sister would like her choice of food because not everyone did.

X-X-X-X-X

Beth left her home at ten until one, just to make sure she had enough time for traffic. She arrived just on time. She got out of her car and walked up to the door and began to knock. She waited a few seconds, but no one answered so she knocked again, then rang the doorbell but still no answer. Beth started to panic that maybe her sister had blown her off but then she heard loud music coming from inside the house so she decided maybe Rachel couldn't hear her. She turned the knob and sure enough the door was open so she went in and followed the sound of the music into the kitchen. She couldn't help but start to laugh at the sight of Rachel dancing around the kitchen to the loud music. She saw Rachel turn around, startled by the younger girl's laugh and instantly turn a scarlet red.

"You didn't tell me you were such a good dancer," Beth giggled. Rachel just rolled her eyes as she finished setting the table. She sat down and once Beth had calmed down she joined her sister.

"This looks so good," Beth complimented as she put some salad on her plate.

"It's all vegan, I hope that's okay with you," Rachel said.

"Fine with me," Beth shrugged.

They both ate their salads and Beth made Rachel tell her in more vivid details what it was like to be a Broadway star. As Rachel talked about the rehearsals and the awards and the glamour she noticed her life sounded perfect, but it was far from it. Rachel hadn't had a boyfriend in years. She didn't have the time or the energy but she was already in her thirties now and she would be lying if she said she didn't want to settle down and have a family. She knew she was at the height of her career. Now that she was done with Wicked she could do anything; TV, movies the possibilities were endless but honestly she wanted nothing more than to settle down with a man (she had someone in mind) and maybe even start having kids. Broadway had been fun and everything she had imagined but she would be lying if she didn't say it was a bit lonely.

After Rachel was done talking about her life she decided to start asking Beth about hers. She started with simple questions such as 'do you have a boyfriend' or 'what songs are you doing for glee club', but she knew what she wanted to work her way up to. She wanted to ask Beth about her relationship with her step-dad because she knew something wasn't right.

"It seems like your mom and you are really close," Rachel said. She figured a good way to start was with her mom.

"Yes, she's great," Beth smiled. "We've been really close my whole life."

"That great," Rachel said. "And what about Jim do you two get along?" She watched as Beth literally froze.

Beth could tell Rachel saw that what she had done and she tried to recover quickly by saying, "Yea, I guess," but she could tell Rachel wasn't buying any of it.

"Beth, you don't have to lie to me," Rachel said, "We're sisters."

"I'm not lying," Beth said through clenched teeth. She didn't know why she was getting so angry, Rachel was really just trying to help, but she wished she would butt out of her life and mind her own business.

Rachel sighed. "I don't believe you, but if you don't want to talk about it I'm not going to make you but when you do want to talk, I'll be here."

Before Beth knew what was happening her whole body was shaking and she began to sob. She tried to stop herself, to control herself but it was like everything she had been holding in for the last seven years had suddenly broken through the invisible dam in her body and overflowed. She felt bad that Rachel had to see this but once it came out there was no going back.

Beth suddenly felt warm arms wrap around her and she was gently rocked back and forth. "Shhh, it'll be okay," she heard Rachel whisper into her ear.

That's all it took for Beth to rip herself out of Rachel's arms and yell. "Can't you see? It's never going to be okay! It's never going to be okay!" She collapsed onto the kitchen floor and began sobbing once more. She was lying in fetal position, her knees tucked tightly into her chest.

"Beth just please tell me what's wrong so I can try and fix it," Rachel begged. Even though she only met her sister the day before, seeing her like this broke her heart into a million little pieces. Although she knew Jim was the one causing this to happen to Beth she still didn't know what the problem was exactly and although she could probably guess what it was she didn't want to assume. But she could tell from Beth's reaction it was not something small.

"I…I want to talk to my mom," Beth sobbed.

"Okay, I'll just call her and she can leave rehearsal and come over. I'm sure it's no big deal," Rachel soothed.

"N-no, I w-want my birth m-mom," Beth cried. "I want Quinn." Beth didn't know why but she knew that if there was one person in the world she would be able to tell this secret to it would be Quinn. Just hearing her voice on the phone weeks before had made her feel better so Beth knew that seeing and hearing her in person would make everything good again.

Rachel froze when she heard the request Beth had made. As far as Rachel knew Beth had never even talked to Quinn before and now she wanted to go and visit her, in the condition she was in. "Beth, I don't know if that' a good-"

"Please!" Beth interrupted. One look at the teenage girl crying on the floor was all it took for Rachel to cave.

"I…I don't know where she lives."

"I do," Beth said. "She lives in Cincinnati; it's only an hour and a half away. Please!"

Rachel sighed. She knew whatever this secret was, for some reason Beth wanted to tell Quinn before anyone else and if this was the only way she could get Beth to tell, well she would just have to do it. "Okay, let's get in the car."

Rachel walked over to where the blonde was sprawled on the floor, still racking with sobs and carefully helped her up and to her car. They had to take Beth's car since Rachel didn't have a one in Lima, but Rachel made sure she was the one driving.

Beth gave her the address she had memorized weeks ago and Rachel plugged it into the GPS and away they drove.

The ride to Cincinnati was mostly silent between the two. Although Beth's sobs seemed to calm down a bit she didn't stop crying the whole way there. She tried to stop, she wanted to stop but her body wouldn't let her. She had been holding these cries in for seven years and there was no holding them back anymore.

Rachel sang to Beth, any song she could think of. She thought of the songs the glee club sang to Quinn when she was pregnant and she sang them to Beth.

Keep holding on, Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through, Just stay strong, Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you, There's nothing you could say, Nothing you could do, There's no other way when it comes to the truth, So keep holding on, Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Lean on me, when you're not strong, And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, For it won't be long, 'Til I'm gonna need, somebody to lean on

As Rachel sang she noticed Beth's sobs subsided a bit. She continued to sing and gently rub the girls' back until they pulled up to a large, Victorian style house. Rachel was not one bit surprised by the size and eloquence of the house, this was Quinn Fabray they were talking about after all. She pulled in front of the house and put the car into park before getting out and going around to Beth's side. She opened the door and helped the still-crying teenager out of the car. Rachel prayed that Quinn was home and that all this wasn't all for nothing.

They were walking towards the house when Beth suddenly stopped short. "Beth, what are you doing?"

Beth shook her head. "No, I don't want her to see for the first time like this. What was I thinking? She can't see me like this." Beth turned to walk back to the car but Rachel caught her arm and turned the girl so she was facing her.

"Beth we did not come all this way for nothing. Now there's obviously something going on that you can't or won't tell me but you seem to want to tell Quinn. So it is very important that we go now and we tell her because whatever it is that you need to tell her is killing you inside and I won't watch it anymore." Beth knew she was right. She wanted, no she needed, to get this secret out. Beth fell into the warm embrace of her sister.

"Thanks," she said before the two finished their walk up to the front door. Rachel sighed and put her hand to the doorbell. She looked to Beth who nodded in approval before wiping her eyes a bit. The doorbell rang and there were a few moments of silence for the door opened and a loud gasp was heard.