AN: Another day another chapter.


Charlie exhaled slowly as she adjusted one of the suits that Santana had bought for her. It had been years, she wasn't quite sure if she remembered how to do this. She had used to walk into places with her fancy clothes and her fancy shoes, and they had been like an armor for her. She couldn't be touched, but her armor had just been cloth. It didn't really do anything when she was being attacked, but Bela had patted her on the back and said she just needed to be confident. When Bela hadn't been looking Santana had repeated and slapped her ass. Charlie shook her head. She didn't know what that meant, whether they were dating or whether her ass simply looked amazing in the pants, but she had already decided that Santana could slap her ass anytime she wanted. She pulled the mirror to make sure her hair was fine, before exiting out of her truck.

She was met with a look from the valet at the restaurant as she handed him her keys. "Thank you," Charlie mumbled to him and handed him a twenty dollar bill as a tip. The man snatches it from her and she rubs the back of her neck. She had been here before back when she was still on top of the world. Back when she could still afford to waste hundreds of dollars on a small plate with a bit of food on it. She headed to the host, "Hello, I'm part of the Fabray party." She was late, she knew she was but she had needed to drive home and get changed into something presentable before she had got here. Maybe there was a part of her that wanted to simply avoid the whole situation, but Santana was right. She needed to get this done.

The door to one of the private event rooms was opened and Charlie noticed her parents were sitting there arguing quietly amongst themselves. She stops for a moment, they haven't noticed her yet and she stands wanting to know what the mood was.

"If I'm paying for lunch and this bribery to see my own granddaughter, then I will damn well do what I please," Russell grumbled, this was highway robbery as far as he saw it.

"Russell, our last meeting didn't go well, and I refuse to have our granddaughter hate us because we can't be civil to our daughter." Judy says with a tired sigh.

"She's our granddaughter, do you really want Charlotte of people raising her? I talked to the lawyers—" Russell began.

Charlie hands tightened into a clenched fist, and her jaw set, and an anger she hadn't felt in years began to burn in the pit of her stomach. "You're not taking my daughter from me."

Judy immediately stood up and smiled at her daughter, pleased that for once she didn't look absolutely filthy with her paint splattered clothes. It was a start, "Of course not. That's not what your father meant." Russell didn't look the least bit pleased. "Right?"

"Of course that's what I meant," Russell said. "You aren't fit to be a parent. I'm not going to let you use her as a bargaining chip against us. That's extortion, I'm sure there's a judge who will see things our way, given your history, and the fact that you play in dirt for a living. Santana is sick and according to Quinn realistically she isn't coming back from this. You don't have the money to take care of your daughter, to pay for school to give her the opportunities that we could give her."

Charlie frowned deeply and exhaled, "Bullshit." She had spent last night on the phone with Santana preparing for this. She had hoped that they could simply just talk it out that they for once didn't treat her like she was beneath them. But Santana was right. She was done being the Fabray whipping post. She didn't need this, and Bela certainly didn't need that type of hatred in her life. "I know I don't have the Fabray resources anymore, but good luck finding and convincing a judge that it's in Bela's best interests to go live with people she's only met once. Let alone try convincing them that I'm not clean. Ten years of sobriety, I went to meetings every day. I have sponsors, people who will tell the judge that I've been clean for years. As for this playing in the dirt as you call it's actually a successful business that I run, and trust me dad, I've been putting that degree I got to good use. I don't need your money."

Russell sneered at this, "You don't need my money? You sure needed it when you went into your trust. Used it like some sort of piggy bank."

Charlie frowned, "I needed money because I'm not solvent to the degree that you are. I don't have thirty thousand dollars lying about in a bank account somewhere. Where do you think all my money went ten years ago? I buy properties, I fix them up and then I sell them or rent them depending on the market. Not to mention that I get hired to do private projects because I do damn good work. All of my liquid assets—" Charlie stops herself and runs a hand through her hair. "You know what? I don't have to explain myself to you. But if you think it's going to be easy for you to just take my kid—well you're wrong." This conversation was over, there was nothing more to say.

Judy stared at Charlie for a moment, "Charlie, wait." She turns her head to Russell who is still in some sort of shock at the knowledge that Charlie was better off than anyone knew. She suspected that Frannie had an idea, but Quinn certainly had no idea. It would cause strife in the family, and she could already feel a headache coming on. "Russell apologize," she said firmly.

Charlie held up her hands, "Don't bother. Seriously don't." There was nothing that they could say, she was so done with her family.

Russell blinked when his wife gripped his wrist, "Do you know how difficult it is for us to see you waste your life?"

Charlie twitched at this. "You know what's hard? Having your father call your boss and have him fire you. Having your father make sure that you're blackballed in the city, to teach me some lesson. I don't even know what that lesson was. But I got clean anyway, I've been clean. I struggled, but I wanted to get clean to get my life back on track. Only to have my family turn their backs on me, not because I was an addict, but because I had besmirched the family name. Every single time, being treated like I was some criminal. You know what's difficult? Going through recovery on your own and wondering what the point was. I had no support from you or from anyone, and every step I made forward you would do something like kick me from the hospital after Beth was born, and treat me like I was dirt. You didn't have to trust me, you didn't have to baby me, I don't blame you for cutting me off. I don't even really blame you for anything that happened while I was on drugs. I blame you for everything after I got clean." She shook her head and took a deep breath. She had been waiting to say that for years and now that it was finally here it was like she couldn't stop.

Russell went to cut in, but Charlie held up her hand. "I'm not done. Sure, I let it happen because I felt guilty. I felt guilty about not really wanting Bela to see you, which is why when Santana suggested it, I thought okay. She was excited to meet you, and I thought I could deal with it, and be polite and we could fix what was wrong with this relationship slowly." Charlie exhales noisily, her knuckles going white from clenching her fists hard. "That's not going to happen, and I don't think Santana wants you spoiling the shit out of our daughter like you did with Beth."

"You can't mean that Charlie—" Judy said trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Try me. Now excuse me, I've got to get back to work. The idea that I have to sort of use my own daughter as some sort of bargaining chip or something makes me ill. I just want you to leave my family alone." Charlie said before turning around and storming out of the restaurant.

Judy watched as her youngest stormed off and turned on her husband. "Are you happy now?" She demands her own annoyance flaring up.

Russell watched Charlie go, she was lying. She had to be, addicts lied all the time and he could never trust anything that came out of her mouth. "She's bluffing Judy, she's an addict she's been one for years. Why else wouldn't she take the drug test for years? If we gave her a test right now she'd probably fail. I'll handle it."

"No. I listened to you because I thought it was for the best, tough love forcing her to get better on her own. Christmases that she didn't come to, Thanksgiving where her seat was absent, Beth—I stayed quiet because I wanted my baby back, but she's been back for years and—you heard she suffered without us. She didn't need us to baby her she just needed her parents and we failed Russell."

He knew that they had failed but he didn't want to admit, he couldn't admit. "We're good parents, we have an attorney and a surgeon for daughters Judy, how could Charlie's choices be our fault?"

"We have three daughters. Three successful daughters, one of them who happened to be an excellent financial advisor. She's our daughter as well." Judy said. "We can still fix this, you can still apologize, and you can still talk to her. She adores you Russell, or at least she did. She wanted to be just like you. Just as powerful as you, just as rich, to make her own fortune—you need to apologize. You need to talk to her, and apologize and do what you're supposed to do as a father, and then everything will be okay." Judy's eyes narrow when she sees her husband hesitate. "It's been ten years and she's my daughter."

"Fine," Russell mutters under his breath, not pleased with the turn of events.

"You have to mean it, you can't leave until she agrees to work things out." Judy adds, they were both stubborn but her family was divided and she had stood by idly hoping that it simply worked itself out. It was clear to her now that wasn't going to happen. It was time for drastic measures, but she would do anything to get another chance to be in Charlie's life.


She always hated the magazines that you found in doctor's offices. They were usually several issues out of date, and hopelessly dull and people did the damn crossword puzzles. She picked up her phone and eyed it carefully checking her messages. She bit her lip, wondering if Charlie had gotten her text message. She had dumped Bela with Tracey's mother again because Brittany was busy, and she refused to let Bela go to work with Charlie. She didn't need to worry about her daughter's safety while she was getting news about her diagnosis.

She didn't want to hear bad news, certainly not alone. She only had one more chemo session left and she wanted to know if going through hell for the past few months had been worth it. She didn't truly expect Charlie to show up, it had been very last minute and she was sure that Charlie was dealing with the clusterfuck that was her parents today. She sighed and picked up a copy of US weekly and flipped through it trying not to focus. She didn't want to hear the news that she was going to die, that she only had a few months to live. She swallowed and tried to focus on whatever the latest gossip was for celebrities that she didn't know let alone care for.

"You're a bitch."

Santana's eyes fly up from the paper, about to tear into someone when she realizes that it's just Quinn, standing there her arms crossed over her chest in her light blue scrubs.

"Thank you," She responds and turns her attention back to her magazine. Quinn doesn't move and she sighs and looks back up only to see that Quinn is trying to kill her with a death glare. "Oh, you weren't complimenting me. What'd I do this time to offend your delicate sensibilities?" She asks not really caring why Quinn was upset.

"Should I make a list?" Quinn hisses at Santana keeping her voice low.

"That would be most helpful, of course it'll probably end up in that trashcan." Santana said motioning to the trashcan.

"I was handling it Santana! All you had to do was sit there and eat quietly. Do you know what a big deal it was for dad to let her in the house to begin with? You put everything in jeopardy. I don't even understand why. You and Charlie are not dating, and you had no right—"

She let out a laugh. "I don't have the right?" Santana turned to Quinn. "I thought you cared about your sister. You're a fucking doctor and Charlie is a recovering addict and you never once stopped them to tell them to ease up or to stop treating her like garbage? What's worse is she took your shit, and you kept heaping it on. So yes I stood up for her because for fucks sake the number your family did on her." Santana let out a shaky breath and frowned at Quinn who looked livid. "She's Bela's mother Quinn. I spent ten hours delivering her. I get to comment on Charlie's life. I certainly get to protect my daughter from witnessing an unhealthy relationship. Besides you have your own shit to deal with. If I were you, I'd stop worrying about what I'm doing in my life and start worrying about the fact that your parents are spoiling your daughter rotten. Horses? Really Quinn?" Santana said in a mocking tone.

"This isn't about Bela or Beth and she isn't spoiled! This is about Charlie, you may think that everything is fine that Charlie is okay. But you left. You took off and I was the one who had to pick up the pieces. I was the one that had to find my twin on the ground going through an overdose. So you don't get to lecture me on who did what for Charlie. You abandoned her let's not forget you hid the fact that she had a child from her for ten years. You don't have the moral authority on who did what for Charlie and who helped her cause while you were living your perfect life I was—"

"You didn't trust me. I get after the first couple of years, you had a baby. I get it, but you always did what dad wanted to you to do." Charlie said from behind Quinn causing both women to turn. She rubs the back of her neck and smiles at Santana. "You had to pick the hospital that Quinn worked at?"

"I went to the best oncologist in the city, I didn't know that Quinn worked here." Santana responded and opened her magazine up. Quinn's word had hit her target but she'd damned if she was going to let Quinn see the damage. "Lunch didn't go well I take it?"

"No, it didn't." Charlie said moving to take a seat beside Santana. "I still need to work on your parents too—do you think that will go better?"

Santana winced and looked at Charlie, "No it won't. But, we'll have to do that one together. Once they see how good you are with Bela—well my dad will probably never forgive you for not taking responsibility. Of course it's hard to when you didn't know—I'll figure it out."

"Is this before or after you tell them you have cancer?" Quinn snipped, she didn't care how bitchy it sounded. She was tired, this whole thing was a mess her parents had been furious and what should have been a fun day with the family was ruined. She was the one that was always dragged into the middle of this like she was Charlie's keeper or something.

Charlie's eyes narrowed at this and she stood up, getting in Quinn's face. "Enough, you're angry at me, so yell at me and be done with it. You're upset I ruined a family dinner. Fine I'm sorry, don't take it out on Santana or my kid and just back off and go, cut into someone and take it out on their insides or whatever it is you do. In case you haven't noticed we're busy."

Santana blinked slightly surprised at the vehemence in Charlie's tone. She might have been underselling how well lunch with her parents went. She sighed and reached forward to tug Charlie back before a brawl could take place, "Charlie, sit. You know I can smack Quinn down without breaking a sweat."

Quinn frowned watching as Charlie shifted and then flashed a small smile at Santana who smiled back and it hit her like a bolt of lightning. "Are you serious?" Both of them turn to look at her and she can't help but point. "You two are sleeping with each other!"

Santana gave Quinn a dry look, "Yep, you caught us. Alert the media. We had sex. I'm dying, what do you want from me Quinn?" Charlie shifted uncomfortably and turned red. "Don't blush—that was some of the best sex I've had in years." This didn't seem to help Charlie who sunk down in her the uncomfortable hospital seat a bright red. Santana smirked at Charlie's discomfort. "We both know it's the best damn sex you've had in years."

Quinn shuddered at this and waved her hands to get their attention. This wasn't cute it was nauseating and she didn't like being ignored. "I'm still pissed at you."

Santana rolled her eyes, "For what exactly? Is my getting cancer an inconvenience for you? Or perhaps it's sleeping with your twin that has your panties in a fucking twist. It certainly can't be because I did what you needed to do and stood up for Charlie is it? Or maybe it's because you're jealous at the fact that Charlie wants to talk to me instead of you and picks up the phone when I call. It certainly can't be because I refused to let my daughter hear other people disrespecting her mother in front of her. Regardless of my feelings for Charlie even when we weren't around I refused to poison the well." Quinn glares at her and Santana rolls her eyes. "Speak up Quinn. Tell me why you're upset with me or leave me alone. I'll take this one with me and you know continue to defile her in my spare time."

Quinn turns to Charlie expecting her to say something but her twin shrugs at her, causing her to scowl and turn around. She couldn't deal with this, she decided to take a page from Rachel's playbook and storm off.

"Fuck Quinn, this is what happens when you're married to a hobbit for too long," Santana can't help and smirks when Quinn turns around and flips her off. "Better, but don't worry we'll work on it." Santana said leaning back in her chair and laughing.

Charlie watches her twin go for a moment and gently prods Santana, "Are—you can't keep telling people that you're dying Santana." She mumbles after a moment. "You need to have some hope—"

"I don't know why I have to make other people feel better about my prognosis," Santana interrupts, it was what it was.

Charlie shifts a bit and then exhales, "You don't need to, certainly not with Quinn or anyone else, but Bela is worried about you and when she hears you talk like that, she thinks you're giving up." Charlie says quietly. She frowns a bit and immediately realizes that she's encroaching on the parenting thing when Santana gives her a look. "I'm not—telling you how to parent her—I'm just telling you how she feels."

Santana exhales, she had always been defensive when it came to Bela, and people criticizing how she parented her daughter. Being a single mother was difficult and she did her best, to be there for Bela. But she wasn't a single parent anymore. She had been trying to get Charlie ready for the inevitable, but she couldn't let Charlie start second guessing herself when the training wheels were about to come off. "You're right—I do need to take Bela's feelings into consideration. Or at least talk to her about it," Santana mutters. "These appointments haven't been going well Charlie. The tumor shrunk—but it's not small enough to remove, my numbers are apparently horrible and the drugs—well honestly after the chemo it feels like I'm dying. You don't know how bad it is."

Charlie reaches for Santana's hand and gently squeezes it. "No, I don't know what it's like, but as I've said before. I know what it's like to feel so sick you want to do die." Charlie runs her thumb over Santana's knuckles gently. "But I'm here now, for what it's worth," Charlie mumbles.

Santana shifts and then squeezes Charlie's hand choosing not to say anything, she's not going to cry in a damn hospital, especially not with Quinn around. She turns to Charlie who gives her an encouraging smile and Santana is about to say something when the nurse appears in the doorway.

"Santana Lopez?"

Santana winces and tightens her grip on Charlie's hand as she tosses the magazine down and stands up, Charlie quickly scrambling up to walk in with her. She just wanted to hear good news. Through this whole shitty process, she had yet to hear some damn good news. Something that would give her hope. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Time to face the music.


AN: See you tomorrow.