Rachel moved around the kitchen of her home with her daughter in one arm. She refilled bowls of chips and stirred a bowl of punch, trying to keep herself busy. Caroline began to whine and Rachel adjusted the soother in her mouth, calming the baby instantly. Rachel reached for a carrot stick and leaned back against the counter, munching on it unhappily.
"You could have said no." Quinn told her, as she walked into the kitchen and found Rachel staring off into space. "It is your birthday after all."
Rachel blinked and looked over at her friend. It hadn't been easy on Quinn either. She knew that. Noah and Quinn shared a child together and even though the circumstances were complicated, there was love there of a sort. "Hey, Quinn." She looked around the kitchen at all of the snacks she'd prepared. "I know I could have said no but," She shrugged, careful not to dislodge Caroline from her shoulder. "It's the first birthday that Caroline is around to celebrate and Noah would have wanted us to see more of each other."
Quinn nodded and stepped closer. She raised her hand to Caroline's head and ran her fingers through the little girl's dark curls. "You're right about that. We're his family and he'd want all us together to celebrate you today." She shared a smile with Rachel. "I noticed that Blaine and Sebastian are closer again. I imagine you had something to do with that?" She raised an eyebrow in question.
Rachel laughed quietly. "I'm not telling."
The two of them craned their necks to look into the living room where the two men were chatting, very much standing in each other's space. They giggled and ducked back into the kitchen.
"I'm glad. They're so good together." Quinn dropped a kiss to Caroline's curls and put her hand on Rachel's arm. "How are you, Rachel?"
Rachel considered brushing the question off. She'd done it a hundred times in the past six months. But it was her birthday and Quinn understood her a little bit better than the others.
"I'm tired. Being a mom is amazing but it's also exhausting and I-" She buried her face in Caroline's hair to hide her tears. "I never expected to do it without Noah."
She felt Quinn wrap her up in a hug with Caroline nestled between the two of them and she settled into it. She missed being held.
She missed Noah.
Noah sat in a nondescript military tent waiting for someone in charge. When he walked up to the military standpoint he was greeted first with suspicion and then with excitement. He'd talked to one person and now he was here waiting for something to happen.
He couldn't help but feel annoyed. He'd been in constant danger for months now. He might not be able to remember the details of why he was in the middle of the Syrian conflict but he knew that he shouldn't be there. The whole time he'd been headed here, there had been rumours about him. He'd heard about a bounty on the lone American soldier. He didn't know what he'd done but he was happy to be out of danger.
But now he wanted to go home. He might not remember the name of his wife or exactly where home was but what was taking so long anyways?
The door opened and an older woman walked in. A memory of her barking orders accompanied her entrance and he was comforted. She knew him, or at least she had.
"Corporal Puckerman, it's good to see you, Son." The smile on her face was genuine and he smiled back.
Puckerman, that explained the dumb nickname.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I don't remember your name. I actually don't remember a lot of things." He saw her frowning and nodding over at the camera in the corner of the room. "Some things have come back to me on my way here, like my training but I'm mostly in the dark."
Moments later he was sitting in the med tent undergoing a full physical and x-rays. After this he was lead back to the tent where he met again with Sergeant Major Horton. She was looking through the medical file she'd been given while he'd showered and changed into clean clothes.
"You suffered a severe concussion which explains the memory loss. Our field doctor believes that the memories filtering back in are a good sign and you will likely regain most if not all of your memory. We need to fill you in on your mission and find out where you've been since." Horton told him.
"What about my family?" Noah asked.
Horton smiled. "We will fly you stateside once you've been debriefed and honourably discharged."