Here's chapter 7! The next chapter (chapter 8) will include the first part of Regionals. Please read and review!

Rachel's POV

Life is hard when you're a pregnant teenager, particularly when you're trying to hide your pregnancy from your two dads. Neither of my knew what it was like to be a teenage girl, but they weren't stupid. They knew that I was behaving strangely, and were bent on discovering why.

"Rachel, honey, are you sure that you're okay?" asked Hiram, one of my dads.

"Sweetie, if you're feeling sick again, you can take the day off of school," said my other dad, Leroy.

"Dad, Daddy, I'm fine. I'm just not hungry and I didn't sleep well last night. I'll be fine, really. Besides, Regionals is next week and I have to attend rehearsal today," I said, trying to seem well and chipper.

My dads exchanged a look of skepticism, and I was sure that I would become a topic of conversation once I left to go to school. To end the awkwardness, I went up to my room to wait until it was time for me to drive myself to school. I lightly pressed the red button on my phone and it turned on. A couple of seconds later, it buzzed repeatedly and spastically; I had 5 unread messages from 5 different people.

One was from Jesse: Good morning, my fellow star-in-the-making. Are you going to be at school today?

I quickly replied: Good morning, Jesse. Yes, I will be at school today. Are you going to be waiting for me in the parking lot after glee club rehearsal?

The only reply I got was: ;)

I checked my other messages. One of the remaining four was from Finn, who was professing his "love" for me. That was going to turn out to be an interesting conversation. The other three texts were from Quinn, Puck, and Tina.

Quinn: Hola. How's the morning sickness today?

Hola Quinn. I'm fine, at least for now.

Puck: Not to be nosy or anything, but have you spoken to St. Whatever yet?

It's St. James, Noah, and you'll just have to wait and see.

Tina: Hey Rachel! Artie wants to know if he needs to bring his tap wheels to rehearsal today. He was too scared to ask you himself.

Hey Tina! Tell him that he should bring them.

I checked the time on my phone and then promptly through it in my bag and marched out the door. As much as I preferred actually talking to someone in person or at least on the phone, I actually found myself enjoying texting my friends.

Quinn's POV

"Hey Baby Mama! You're looking good today, as you always are," said Puck smoothly.

"Nice, Puck. Now as much as you'd like to believe that I came up to your locker to enjoy your company, I'm here for another reason."

"And what would that be?"

"I talked to Mr. Shuester."

"About what?"

"About me not performing at Regionals. I'm going to be 38 weeks when you guys perform, and I don't think that dancing around and singing would be good for me and Beth at that stage."

"What did Mr. Shue say?"

"That he completely agreed with me. He was actually just going to ask me about sitting out. Are you OK with that?"

"Yes! Whatever's best for you and Beth is what's best for me. You're going to be there to see us perform, right?"

"Of course, I'm actually going to be an assistant coach for the day, along with someone else."

"Who? Mrs. Pillsbury?"

"I don't even know, Mr. Shue didn't tell me. Oh, and be mentally prepared. The sit-in for me is Jacob."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

After thoroughly enjoying the look on Puck's face, I walked away from his locker wondering who the other assistant coach was. Mr. Shue had only ordered one sit-in, so my "coworker" had to be someone outside of the club. I decided that it was probably Mrs. Pillsbury, and went on with my school day.

Rachel's POV

I was heading to my locker when I saw Tina and Quinn.

"Hey Rachel," they both said in comic synchronization.

"We really need to stop doing that," mumbled Quinn.

"I happen to think it's very funny when you two speak at the same time."

"I happen to think that your face is very funny," snapped Quinn.

"Come on guys, let's not fight. Quinn, Puck told me that the doctor said that you should be under little to no stress right now, and Rachel doesn't need any either," reasoned Tina.

"Ugh. Tina's got a point. I'm sorry Rachel,"

"It's okay, Quinn. I can understand why you're not exactly comfortable at the moment," I said.

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I'm always a bitch. It's even worse today though, my back is killing me!" she moaned.

"ARE YOU IN LABOR?" Tina and I screamed at the same time.

"SSSSH! No, I'm not. Don't even mention the "l-word" around me. Or Puck for that matter. If it's mentioned, I freak out about how painful it will be and Puck goes into a complete frenzy. Speaking of labor, I'm sitting out at Regionals this Saturday so it doesn't happen early. Jacob is going to be our temporary team member. I'm going to be an assistant coach. Mr. Shuester said that there's going to be another assistant, but he wouldn't tell me who it was going to be."

"Quinn! We need you on the background vocals!" I shouted.

"It'll be fine Berry, it's not like I've been contributing much lately, anyway."

"My bet is that Mrs. P will be our other assistant coach," chuckled Tina.

"Agreed," said Quinn and I at the same time; the whole synchronization thing was starting to freak me out.

Tina and Quinn needed to get to their lockers before the rehearsal, so we all went our separate ways. I opened my locker and was surprised to find a note inside of it. Worried that it was a love note from Finn, I grabbed it and started to read it.

It simply said: Turn around. I did just that.

"JESSE!" I screeched.

"Yes, Rach, it's me," he laughed.

I launched myself towards him and he wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that for a moment before we began to speak again.

"How? I-I… Figgins? Transfer again? Is that… legal? You.. trespassing?" I blurted out.

"Rachel, honey, please calm down and speak coherently," he said, rather than immediately stating why he was at my locker. It was such a Jesse way to act.

"Why are you here?"

"Aren't you happy I'm here?"

"YES! Just… explain!"

"I love you," he laughed.

"Umm… that's great and all, but explain. NOW!"

"Well, I transferred here… again. Normally they wouldn't approve that, as this is my third transfer in a month, but when you have as much talent as I do, anything is possible."

"Could I please have a full explanation, hold the arrogance?"

"Figgins was going to deny the transfer, but then I informed him that I knew about him and Sue's affair."

"They had an affair?"

"Yes, honey."

"And you know this how?"

"Sue Sylvester and I were able to salvage a… working relationship after we… bonded at the supermarket over protein shakes and vitamin supplements. She's even more arrogant than I am, and subsequently boasted about her affairs to try and best me."

"Wow."

"I know, it's a lot to take in. I talked to Mr. Shuester. To make sure I'm loyal to the club this time I'm not allowed to perform with you guys at Regionals, which is completely understandable. So, I'm going to be an assistant coach! Which brings me to another topic. In sports and other activities it's illegal for a coach and a player to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Would you like to break that rule and be my girlfriend? You're already carrying my baby, so it's not like we'd be doing anything worse."

"Yes, I would rather much like to break that rule."

"That's great, because if you had said no, I would have had to enlist the help of Quinn Fabray in convincing you otherwise. That girl is really tenacious."

"Yes, but she's a really great friend. Have you been talking to her lately?"

"Actually, yes. I've received many harassing phone calls about getting my ass back over to McKinley."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, she was just looking out for you."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way about her, because she is going to be your fellow assistant coach at Regionals. She's not performing because her due date is in a few weeks."

"That will be a fun experience."

"Do you know what else is going to be a fun experience?"

"Facing the glee club today?"

"Bingo. I'm sure Finn's going to be so happy that you're my boyfriend again, considering that he told me that he loved me over text this morning. I haven't replied yet."

"Finn Hudson?"

"Yes. Please don't hurt him, Jesse."

"I won't, considering that it's me who deserves to be punched."

"Really, no jealous reaction?"

"I'm just hiding it from you, Rachel. I'm sure you'll get to see my jealousy when he tries to win you over at glee practice, today."

"Be nice, Jesse."

"You're worth too much to be nice about when someone's trying to steal you away."

"You have nothing to worry about. I love you, Jesse. I'm still yours, faithfully."

"I love you too. And I'll be there, faithfully watching, when you sing those last couple of words you just said to Finn at Regionals. Did Mr. Shuester tell you that you're singing that song yet?"

"Yes, but don't worry, Jesse. Those words are meant for you."

"I'm glad to hear that, now let's go to glee club, where I'm sure I'll be met by a warm reception."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Tina, Puck, and Quinn will all help defend you. And you know that I'll be doing my best to help out, too."

"Please, try not to stress yourself out too much. You are pregnant after all."

"You worry too much."

"You are rather worth worrying about."

"And so are you… I-I want to talk to you about your home life. The other day your face darkened when you spoke about it. Are you doing OK, Jesse?"

"Rachel, I promise I will explain everything about my life at home after Regionals. You already have enough to think about. We really should be getting to practice."

"OK, but just remember that you promised."

Jesse sighed in acknowledgement, and then we walked hand-in-hand to the choir room. I was afraid of what was going to happen, both this afternoon and in the future, but yet I felt extremely secure at the same time. Maybe I should have listened to my friends more often.