Chapter 12: Home Sweet Berry

Rachel took in a breath of fresh air. She stood in front of her old home that never changed. Her father's Leroy and Hiram Berry still live there. They would come fly to New York on Holidays and begged Rachel to come home. Each time, she refused. She wanted to surprise them.

She knocks on the door and takes a deep breath. She waited patiently for someone to answer. And finally, her father Leroy came by the door with a cane. "Is that our little star?!" His voice old and raspy. "Hiram! Get over here!" Rachel was pulled by a huge hug. So huge, she almost couldn't breathe.

Leroy came by, taking putting on his glasses. "It is you! Our Rachel! It's so good to see you again!" Leroy says smiling. "Give your old man a hug." He says opening his arms wide.

Rachel laughs. "If only Daddy could let me breathe!" Hiram let go of her and it was now Leroy's turn. "We weren't expecting you!" Leroy says with his arms remained wrapped around Rachel. "We haven't seen you since New Years!"

"I'm sorry. It's just something came up." Rachel responds. She walks in looking around inside the living room.

Her father's still kept photos of her, her awards, and her gold stars. "You still have everything."

"We would never get rid of anything." Hiram says. "How long are you staying?"

"Until I make things right with Finn and my..." She realized she would have a lot of explaining to do after what she just said.

The Berry's stare at her. "Finn?"

"I saw him in New York a couple weeks ago for his Nationals.."

"We don't even bother seeing that boy after he broke that heart of yours." Leroy shook his head.

"Daddies, I know! It's something I have to fix. But don't worry; I'll be here long enough to spend time with both of you guys." She hugs them once more. "I'm going to put things in my room." She says. S he blows them kisses as she walks up the stairs.

Her room. She hasn't been in there in years and when she did so many memories came back from the past. Her room still painted bright yellow, her Broadway posters, and many pictures of her as a little girl. She picked up a remaining picture with a yellow frame.

It was a photo of her in the hospital holding her beautiful daughter with a smile on her face. How did things get so wrong? She asked herself. She holds the photo close to her heart.

That same day, Rachel walks knocks on the house in which she hasn't been to in so long. She also hasn't seen the owners of the house. Carole Hudson-Hummel and Burt Hummel opened the door after several knocks.

Carole and Burt glance at each other. "Burt? Am I seeing who you're seeing?" Carole asked.

Burt nods. "Who I'm seeing is Rachel Berry. The reason our sons stopped having a special bond."

"Burt!" Carole cried.

"No. It's okay, Mrs. Hudson." Rachel says. "I'm sorry about everything. For what I did...for what I caused your sons." She apologizes. "Kurt and I saw Finn a few weeks ago for Nationals. Things between him and I were ugly. I couldn't sleep for days. I need to do something right."

"Finn didn't tell us.." Carole shook his head, not quite understanding.

"I guess I hurt him. " Rachel says looking down. "I'm truly sorry. I came by here because I need to know where he lives."

She waits patiently and tries to hold back her tears. She knows they were thinking about letting her see their son again long and hard. "345 Grande St. Three blocks down. You can't miss it." Burt says, slamming the door on Rachel's face

It's okay. I deserve that. With that, Rachel drove her father's car to the home address.

345 Grande St. There it was. She was there. It was a nice suburbs home. Small with white bricks. She was suddenly confused why there were three cars parked. She found a parking and slowly walks over to the front door.

Breathe Rachel, Breathe. She rings the door, hoping to see Finn.

She sighed. It was not Finn. It was Puck. "Woah! Berry? What ya doing here?" Puck asked, pulling Rachel into a hug. Puck confessed his feelings that he felt sad he didn't get to run into Rachel when they were in New York.

"HI, Noah." Puck smiles at Rachel after being called by his given name. "Some things never change."

"Is Finn here? I need to talk to him." Rachel asked looking around for Finn.

"Parent teacher- conference for Lauren at school. He should be back in an half of hour. Why don't you have a seat, Berry?" Puck says. He welcomes Rachel into the home. She looked around. There were photo frames of the guys with Lauren while she grew up.

On the fireplace there was a recent photo of Lauren what looked to be her sixth birthday. "Thank you." She smiles. "So it's three guys living in one house with a little girl?" Rachel asked, remembering what Finn has told her.

"Not just guys. We're the little girl's fathers."

"Is it strange?"

Puck shook his head. "No, not at all. I'll get you a glass of water." Rachel thanks Puck. He quickly came back with her water. "I have a lot of explaining to do." She said. She broke down in tears crying in Puck's shoulder.

Puck didn't know what to say. He just sat there, giving her a shoulder to cry on.

An hour and a half passed by. Rachel fell asleep on the couch and Puck called Finn to tell him what was going on. Puck greeted them outside. Lauren told him about all the good reports she received from her teachers, how she got into the honor-roll, and she passed all her math and spelling tests. Puck gave her a hug and a high-five. "You're so smart!"

"Daddy said we're going to celebrate my intelligent soon!" Lauren looks up at her dads with pride. "I said a big word!" She squeals and jumps up and down. The guys laugh at how cute Lauren was being. "Where's Dad?"

"He has a date with your Aunt Cedes." Puck responds.

"Oh." Lauren says. "I guess I'll show him later." She shrugged her shoulders. Puck bends down on his knees. "Since you had a good day at school, let's go to the park!" Puck suggested, helping out Finn so he and Rachel can talk alone.

"Really? Now?!" Lauren asked. Puck nods. "Okay!"

"Have fun, princess." Finn says hugging her.

"Daddy not coming?" Lauren asked confused.

"No. Daddy needs to do something very important." Finn says hugging his daughter. Lauren nods and follows Puck in the car. They all wave goodbye.

He's always grateful for having the guys around. He and Puck agreed that this isn't the right time to have Lauren meet Rachel unexpectedly.

Finn enters the house. There she was. Sleeping on the living room couch with a blanket covered on top of her. He grabbed himself a snack and a juice. He didn't want to wake Rachel up or scare her away.

He watched a little TV and suddenly he saw Rachel slowly waking up. "Hi, Finn." She says quietly, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi." Finn says feeling awkward.

"Puck told you?" She asked.

"Yes. We tell each other everything. The guys and I." Rachel nods. "I went to your house. Carole seems to go easy on me but Burt still hates me."

Finn just nodded, letting Rachel do all the talking. "There's something I have to tell you. I don't want you to interrupt me until I'm done." Finn continued to nod. He was ready to listen to every word.

"I-I-I miscarried. After Lauren turned one, my life changed. I know you're thinking what, when, and how? But it wasn't your baby. It was Jesse. St. James. At that time, I felt that I didn't know who I was anymore. I knew I couldn't be a huge Broadway Star. I was a mother at nineteen years old. I was starting to feel like I wasn't enjoying myself so I went out one night. It just happened, okay? I had to run away after I lost my baby. I couldn't stand to look at your or Lauren after everything happened. It was my biggest regret not telling you. I left a note. I didn't want you to come find me but you did. We said some awful cruel things in New York City..and what you said really hurt me. You didn't know the reason yet. The only person that knows is Kurt. That's why he acts the way he does around you. I'm so, so, sorry Finn." She quickly stood up to walk out the door but Finn stopped her.

"I'm sorry." She heard him say. She turns around to face him. "What you went through.. I'm sorry about all that horrible things I've said to you. How you left for New York to just become a huge star, how all you care about is you, and that having Lauren was your biggest regret. Now I know..."

"Lauren was not a mistake. Having sex with Jesse was!"

"Can you not mention him now, please?"

"Fine." Rachel responds. "But if I could I'd erase my past!" She sits back down next to Finn. "I'm done. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I want to talk about Lauren."

"You think I could easily let this go?!" Finn shouted. "You left me completely miserable. I was nineteen. I barely knew how to change a baby's diaper! I couldn't get out of bed every morning whenever she cried! When I carried her, she didn't want me. She wanted you! She wanted you to sing to her every damn morning and night! Eventually my parents tried helping me get through this mess, but then Sam and Puck came were my shoulder to cry on. I hope that doesn't sound too gay but whatever! They fell in love with Lauren and they offered to stay and live in this house with us. I said it wasn't a problem. We are the only people she knows. She knows some of her aunts like Mercedes and Quinn-" Finn was cut off.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"Believe it or not. She and Lauren have a special bond." Finn says. "I'm sorry she doesn't have one with you!"

Rachel shook her head. "Don't you care about my feelings? How I felt after I miscarried?!"

"I do. And I'm sorry it happened.."

"Why are you acting like a complete jerk after what I've told you?! I just want to get to know Lauren!"

"I don't think it's possible right now."

"What?! Why? Because I had sex with someone else when I was with you?!"

"Um, duh! What do you think?!"

"I'm sorry I came here in the first place. This was a huge mistake. I should of listened to Kurt!" She walks out of the house slamming the door behind her. Finn threw a magazine across the living room with frustration.

There's a special something for you guys! Two chapters in one day! I hope you're not confused and liking the story. What will happen now?!