This is not the dream I dreamed - Rachel faces up to the fact that her Broadway career could be over before it had chance to begin.
Rating - T
Character -Rachel (Also features her fathers, Finn, Will, Shelby, Beth and others)
A/N - Reviews/concrit are loved, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen the let me know and I'll try my best to work it in somehow.I'm from the UK, so if anything American is not quite right, please let me know and I'll fix it.
"You're sure this is okay?" Shelby asked as Beth threw her arms around Rachel's leg, squeezing tightly.
"We'll be fine" she ruffled the blonde curls by her hip, "you've watched Lyla enough times, it's about time we returned the favour."
"Thanks" Shelby smiled, she and Rachel had slowly been building a relationship, and Rachel spent almost every weekend with her mother, they'd not yet told Beth that Rachel was her sister, but it was only a matter of time. "How is Lyla?"
"She's fine" Rachel smiled, "Finn's feeding her, come in and say hi ...if you've got a minute?" Rachel's dads were once again away for the weekend, however instead of spending the weekend at Shelby's, Rachel and Finn had offered to watch Beth to give Shelby and Will some time to themselves without the energetic toddler.
"I think I've got time to say hello." Shelby smiled, following behind Rachel as she led Beth through to the living room.
"Lyla" Beth squealed, running over to where the baby sat in a bouncer on the floor between Finn's legs.
"Nice one Kiddo" Finn wiped at his own face with an orange stained cloth before wiping Lyla's face too, both of them covered in an orange mush after she'd shrieked a greeting to Beth and Shelby.
"Carrot and sweet potato" Rachel explained, "she loves it"
"Good" Shelby grinned, "you can tell that she's put weight on" she told Rachel, before taking the excited baby from Finn. "Oh" She smiled as she bounced Lyla slightly, "you can really tell!"
"I know" Rachel smiled, "she's shot up since she started on solids, the doctor couldn't believe it, she weighed her on two different scales to be sure. She has the same amount of milk as before, but she has three meals too."
"Some days we struggle to fill her" Finn added wiping some dribble from Lyla's chin with the cloth he'd used to wipe the food from her face a few minutes earlier.
"And are those teeth I can see?" Shelby asked Lyla, peering into her mouth as she shrieked loudly.
Rachel rolled her eyes, "she's got three coming through all together, and don't we know it!"
"It could be worse" Shelby told them, "think of it as cutting down your sleepless nights by a third!"
"Yeah, but she's three times as grumpy!" Rachel argued jokingly.
"I don't believe that for a second" Shelby laughed, bouncing the babbling child in her arms, "shall I let you finish your dinner then?" she turned her attention to Lyla, kissing her hair before handing her back to Finn. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" Shelby asked Rachel again as she walked back towards the door.
"We'll be fine, honestly, don't worry about us, go and have a great night"
"Okay" Shelby smiled softly, hugging Rachel before bending down to speak to Beth, "you be good for Rachel and Finn yeah, and I'll see you in the morning baby." She tucked a strand of Hair behind Beth;s hear before kissing her forehead. "Love you"
Beth threw her arms around her mother, "Love you too mama"
"I'll pick her up around 11" Shelby told Rachel, saying her goodbyes again before finally leaving.
Finn groaned and felt Rachel shift beside him. "That doesn't sound like Lyla" he mumbled, sleepily rubbing at his eyes before glancing to the clock, 3.57am.
"Beth" Rachel gasped jumping from the bed and finding the young girl sobbing in the hall. "what's wrong Beth?"
Rachel pulled Beth into a hug and the young girl instantly wrapped her amrs around her older sister's neck. "I'm wet" she whispered.
"Is that all?" Rachel asked, trying not to make a big deal out of it, "that's nothing to make all this fuss about"
"I don't want to be a baby"
Rachel frowned, "you're not"
"Only babies wet themselves." Beth explained.
"Oh Beth" Rachel sighed, sitting the young girl on the bed as she pulled a clean pull up from the overnight bag, "you don't need these at home right?" Beth shook her head. "There we are then" Rachel smiled, leading Beth into the bathroom to clean her up, "you're not a baby, mummy just thought you might want to wear them tonight in case you woke up and couldn't find the bathroom, it's nothing to be upset about, you're just not used to where things are in this house."
"Mommy leaves the light on and the door open"
"Oh" Rachel cursed herself for not thinking to do that, "well when we're done here we can leave the door open and the light on for next time okay?"Beth nodded and yawned into Rachel's chest. "Come on" Rachel lifted her from the floor, "let's get you back into bed".
"Will you stay with me?" Beth asked as Rachel pulled the covers around her and made sure she had her teddy bear.
"Okay" Rachel sat on the bed beside Beth, "but only until you're asleep, then I'm going to get back in my bed okay?"
Beth nodded and the pair sat in silence for a while before Beth spoke again, "sometimes Mommy sings to me"
Rachel smiled as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through Beth's hair, "would you like me to sing to you?" Beth nodded again and a song instantly came to Rachel's mind, the same song she sang to Lyla when she wouldn't settle, "Just like a star across my sky, just like an angel off the page, you have appeared to my life, feel like I'll never be the same. Just like a song in my heart, just like. . ." Rachel stopped singing as she heard Lyla wail from the next room. "Let me go get Lyla" she spoke softly to Beth, "then I'll be right back."
Rachel met a sleepy Finn in the hall, "is everything okay?" he asked before yawning loudly and pulling Rachel into his arms.
"Yeah" she sighed into his chest, "Beth asked me to sit with her until she falls asleep."
"Okay. Want me to get Lyla?"
Rachel shook her head, "she'll probably want feeding before she'll go back down. You go back to bed, I won't be long."
Finn kissed the top of Rachel's head, "come get me if you need anything" he told her, kissing her again before padding back towards Rachel's bedroom.
"And there's me telling everyone how good you were at sleeping through the night" Rachel smiled, lifting Lyla from the crib, the baby calming almost as soon as she heard her mother's voice. Rachel carried Lyla through to the guest room and settled herself on the bed beside Beth before beginning to feed the hungry baby. "Are you okay?" she asked Beth, as usual the young girl was completely fascinated by Rachel breastfeeding.
"Tired" Beth whispered.
"Go to sleep then. I'll be just across the hall when you wake up, you can come straight in."
"Okay. Love you Rachel"
Rachel smiled, "love you too Beth."
"I love Lyla too"
Rachel smiled again, "and Lyla loves you too"
Finn rolled over in his sleep and reached out an arm, only for it to be met with cold sheets and not Rachel's warm body. He frowned and stretched out his arm to check she wasn't laid on the edge of the bed. The baby monitor played nothing but silence telling Finn Lyla wasn't awake, in fact he couldn't even hear her breathing and quickly pulled himself out of bed to check on her. After finding Lyla's crib empty he moved to the guest bedroom. The sight before him made his heart melt, Rachel laid in the middle of the bed, her left arm holding Lyla to her chest, her right around Beth, the young girl curled into Rachel's side.
He stood in the doorway just watching her for a while before going to fetch his phone and taking a picture of the sleeping trio. It was as if someone had wiped a fog from his eyes and for the first time he was seeing Rachel as a woman, a mother. He hoped one day that he'd be part of that scene, that it would be Lyla curled in between him and Rachel, and a child that was biologically part of both of them would be sleeping in Rachel's arms.
"Rach" He crouched down beside the bed and shook her shoulder gently, "Rach"
"Mmm" She took her hand from Lyla's back and reached out to Finn.
He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, "it's 4am, are you coming back to bed?"
"Comfy" she mumbled, shifting slightly closer to Beth and tugging on Finn's hand, "get in" She pulled her towards him and he had no choice but to climb in beside her, the lack of space meaning he had to lie on his side, almost mirroring Beth's position. "s'better" Rachel smiled, and Finn was unsure as to whether she had woken or if she was talking to him in his sleep. He smiled as she moved her hand back to rest on Lyla's back, her fingers intertwined with his meant he too could feel every breath the baby took, along with the slight up and down movements she made every time Rachel inhaled or exhaled. He leant over to kiss first Lyla then Rachel before closing his eyes and thinking that for the first time in his life that his father would be proud of him.