A Price To Pay ch. 2

Okay, here's another chapter that goes into depth of Rachel's past and how she got her scars. She also meets Beth here

Feeling nervous?

I'm quaking in my navy blue/grey Air Jordan.

Feeling nauseous?

It feels like throw up my lunch even though I don't remember eating lunch.

Feeling worried?

I'm very worried and anxious.

Why am I feeling all of these emotions right now is because I'm about to meet the mother of my unborn child's first born child from a previous marriage and I'm worried that she might not like me because I'm unsure what Quinn might have told Beth about me or if she even told the younger Puckerman about me. Should I bring a gift or buy something? No, I don't want her to think that I'm trying to bribe or anything cause I'm not and that'll probably what she'll be thinking if I try to do that. Should I give her something more personal? Like what? Because everything that I have isn't something that an eight year old would want or would be interested in so what do I do. Man, this is extremely hard because I really want Beth to like me but I don't know what to do and I didn't really think this through when I told Quinn that I wanted to meet her daughter but I do want to meet her cause we're gonna meet eventually since her mother is carrying my child inside of her.

What to I even say to an eight year old? What are we gonna talk about? I found myself pacing back and forth in my office enwrapped in my thoughts that I hear someone coming in or walking towards me until I feel hands on my face before looking into a pair of the most amazingly beautiful and striking hazel eyes that I have ever seen. Quinn smiles softly, pressing her lips against mine relaxing me significantly as I kiss her back but the kiss too quickly for my liking although she move too far away, resting her forehead against my own and running her thumb across my cheek.

"What's going on in that mind of yours? You seem nervous"

"Nervous would be an understatement" I said chuckling slightly.

"How come?" Quinn asked curious.

"I just hoping that Beth likes me is all. I don't know what you already told her but I want to build some kind of relationship with her but I'm not trying to another parent to her cause she already has two parents" I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Have I told you that you're truly amazing?" Quinn said pecking me on the lips.

"No but you don't have to cause it's only gonna make my head bigger" I said smiling.

"Oh we wouldn't want that now would we?" Quinn said mocking with a hint of a smirk.

I smiled, kissing her lightly as she takes my hand and leading me out of my office towards the front house where Mike's waiting for us with the limo and a smile on his face with a knowing glint in his eyes. Most people would assume that he would just be chauffeur but he's not cause he's more than that he's one of the most loyal, authentic and trustworthy friend I have had for as far back as I remember along with a certain badass and it all start at the age of six years old.

I was sitting on an old swing that hung off of on of the tree branches of an old oak as I watched all the other children laughing and chasing each other around the open courtyard of the orphanage but not me cause most of them make fun of me because of my singing abilities, my appearance, or the fact that I don't talk like a normal six year old since my vocabulary is rather extensive but I digress. The living conditions at the orphanage wasn't all that good but at least I had a roof over my head and somewhere somewhat warm to sleep at night but the director of the place wasn't pleasant in the slightest as I often wondered how she was put in charge. Mrs. O'Neil was a mean, evil woman blinded in one eye, walked with a cane, thin gray hair that with a bald spot in the middle of her head that she covered up with a dirty blue bandana and a huge wart on her nose that made her look like a witch and she had this nasally voice as some of us heard her cackling at night. Her cold glare sent a shiver up your spine every time one of us did something wrong or did anything at all but we were more than glad when one of us was fortunate enough to get adopted and never had to seen that place or that woman ever again.

I found it hard making friends but it wasn't from a lack of trying on my part since we didn't have much in common but it didn't stop me from putting my best foot forth then one day whoever was looking over me, answered my prayers… well one of my prayers. It came in the form of a girl with hair black as night, skin like the caramel candies that I often in the window of the local candy store, brown eyes like chocolate and a silver tongue like a snake cold and calculating but she was often nicer to me than the other kids for whatever as I learned that her name was Santana. She's very protective solely me because I never made fun of her thick accent which I thought was really cool since she mostly spoke Spanish with a few English words and that's when I decided to help learn English and she taught me some Spanish as well as given me some protection from the bullies here like Noah 'Puck' Puckerman.

Over a year and a half, Santana and I had became inseparable as we spent every waking moment together and it had been amazing to say the least when we heard that there was going to be a new arrival coming in as the Latina shakes her head sadly, knowing that the competition to get adopted was going to be even harder now because there's gonna be another kid we'll have to compete against to get out of this place. I reached over and grabbed her hand, offering a small smile and she weakly returned.

"I promise, San. That we'll get adopted and move as far away from this place as possible"

"I'm not so sure about that, homegirl. It's already been a year since I been here and you've been here even longer"

"You can't give up hope because I know that we're gonna leave this place then it's gonna be just you and me" I said smiling.

"Promise?" Santana asked raising an eyebrow.

"Promise" I said lacing my pinkie with hers.

The new kid that arrived at the orphanage was Mike and he's a really great dancer as it's the only thing that he seems to be able to talk about but that's okay cause Santana said that all I can talk about is singing and being on Broadway one day. I'm gonna be on stage one day and see my name in lights with adoring fans cheering my name with the two of them by my side when I stepped on stage to accept my award for my role in Wicked because it's my favorite play when I sneaked into the theater that it was playing at to see a small part of it. Noah always teased me about wanting to be famous saying that I would never make it because I'm not pretty and that I have a big nose as it hurt my feelings with Mike and Santana getting up his face, telling him to bug off before pushing him into the dirt. I knew that these two always believed in my dream as much as I did with the dancer becoming a professional choreographer and the Latina becoming a lawyer or a doctor but the one thing that will always ring true is that we'll always be together and nothing will forever changed that.

That's what I thought until my eighth birthday when Santana had gotten adopted leaving me all alone in the orphanage alone and Mike had gotten adopted two week earlier as I cried that night because we always been trio and now I'm just one as I understand why they said that one is the loneliest number because it's lonely being all by yourself with no one. I spent three weeks alone before getting adopted by these two men that became my fathers and they treated me like a princess even though they found out about my condition as it didn't cause them to send me back to the orphanage. I spent four wonderful years with them but I often found myself thinking about to time in the orphanage with Santana and Mike as they made that place bearable and wondering how they're doing with their families as well as if they're thinking about me or if they even remember me.

I grabbed my backpack as my Daddy drove me to my first day at McKinley Middle School, wearing my grey argyle skirt, short sleeve with a grey sweater vest over it when I walked through the entrance towards my locker then a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist, lifting me off of the ground. I nearly scream bloody murder until I saw that it was someone from my past that I haven't seen in so long but I was happy nonetheless, letting out a happy squeal as I pulled the dancer into a tight hug as his chest vibrating while he chuckles.

"Mike, what are you doing here? How are you here?" I asked surprised.

"I go to school here. What are you doing here?" Mike asked smiling.

"I attend here as well and I can't believe it. It's been so long. I missed you" I said grinning.

"Way too long and I missed you too, Rach" Mike said pulling me into another hug.

"Finally got a girlfriend, eh Chang? And here I was startin to think that you was gay"

I knew that snappy comeback anyway as Mike finally let me go to see Santana with her hand on hip with a bored expression on her face but it was quickly replaced when she sees me and before I could say anything, I'm pulled into a bone crushing hug. It was so tight that I could barely breath but it wasn't important at the moment then the girl in my arms, hugging her back and I couldn't believe that my best friends are back in my life as the trio are back together with me making sure that it stays that way. As Santana gotten into gymnastics, I got into ballet as well karate with Mike, we become a force to recon with me in middle and it transferred with us into high school even when Noah pants me in front of the entire school, he was dealt with by Santana who became the head Cheerio and Mike who was on the football team. It helped that I was a good terms with most of the team so they had no problems with dealing with Noah but I don't condone violence because I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me but some people didn't seem to have the same sentiment.

I was walking home from ballet practice that ran longer than expected and my Dads would be working late tonight since they worked at the local hospital so I had to walk home as it was pretty dark out but my house wasn't too far away so I wasn't worried although I couldn't shake this nagging feeling. I tightened my bag on my shoulder, heading home as I past the shady alley that wasn't well lit and I didn't noticed that hand reaching out until it was too late when someone had me in their clutches and I tried to scream out for help but they covered my mouth with their smelly hand then I felt a sharp pain in my left hip. I struggled against my capturer who he tried to plunge the knife into my body but miss slightly, clipping me twice on my right shoulder when I kicked him hard in the crotch before moving to get away from him as thankfully he didn't try to follow me as I limped to the nearest hospital before collapsing from the intense pain. The doctors had patched me up and I was heal up but I couldn't help the police find the guy would did this to me because I didn't see who did this to me although they was determined to find the guy as friends from school came to see me while I healed up and made me get-well-soon card as well as things to keep me preoccupied. Santana and Mike were even more protective over me than before and one was always with me no matter where we were at or who we were with, it was like having the secret service around as they had eyes and ears that reported back to them when something went down.

The dancer intensified my training in karate because he wanted to make sure that I could protect myself so I wouldn't get attacked again and I appreciated it when gradation rolled around, I was ready to start my life and I thought that I had audition down until I stood in front of Madam Tibideaux, choking horribly screwing my chance of getting into NYADA. Mike got into Joffery Ballet Academy of Dance and Santana went to law school at Columbia but I didn't know what I was going to do because for once I didn't have a plan so I got a job at the local music store and I found myself enjoying it when one of my coworker taught me how to build a amp from the ground up. That's how my business got started as I dedicated myself to making newer and better equipment for singers and musicians to use as it grew from there.

Over the years, my business grew and I had more money then I knew what to do with as I was able to take my family on vacations and loaning the badass the money that she needed to start up her own law firm and Mike to start the outreach dance studio that he wanted in Harlem because he wanted to give kids a safe place to grow. I know what you're thinking my best friend and my chauffeur have the same name but they're not the same person, it's a ironic coincidence. I became a loan shark even through most don't know this because I don't want it effecting my first business and it's a risky business to be in as I have had people shoot or stab in the back literally and figuratively more times than I could count but I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the car stopped, finding myself in front of a door about to met the daughter of my now girlfriend and I'm terrified of what might happened when I feel something squeezing my hand to see Quinn looking at me concerned.

"You don't have to do this, you know"

"I know but I want to. If I'm going to be a part of your life fully then I want to be good terms with Beth and I just want her to like me, you know" I said rubbing the back of my neck.

"Just be yourself and I know that she's gonna love you but it's gonna take time to build a relationship" Quinn said smiling.

"Right, you're right"

"Naturally" Quinn said giggling.

I walked through the front door to see how small the apartment really is and it's pretty clean but this isn't the kind of place that a child should be raised in especially two growing ones as they're gonna need more space than this. A blur of blonde hair runs past me heading towards the nurse in training, hugging her leg when she bends down to kiss the top of her daughter's head and I could see the obvious resemblance between them and I knew that this was Beth since she has her mother's good looks. The eight year old looks at me suspiciously and I gulped nervously as she looks up at her mother before walking over towards me looking up at me for a moment then changing her attention to what I was holding and I bend down to her level.

What I was holding is my stuffed panda Pan-Pan that my birth mother had given me when I was born when she left me at the orphanage and I held onto for incase she decided to come looking for me but I found out a few years ago that she died around my tenth birthday but she had a picture of me when I was a baby in her picture. I would like to think that she thought about me and loved me even though she gave me up so I held onto the stuffed animal even tighter but I think I need it anymore so why give it to someone that could love and give a better home than I could, holding it out towards Beth. She had this excited glint in her eyes directed at the stuffed panda before taking it from me, hugging it tightly looking at me with a face splitting grin on her face then turning to Quinn.

"I like her"

"That was easier than I expected" I said chuckling.

The End