Thanks so much for the feedback on the first few chapters. I really, really appreciate it. I was glad that I could write Finchel, Ryva, Nicma and the Finchel family in this chapter, as well as sneaking in some Klaine! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue :)
Chapter 4: Adjustments
Finn felt his nerves building up as he drove to the high school. For one thing, he wanted to be at home with Rachel after her surgery, but she'd insisted he go work with the Gold Stars. They'd placed outside the top five at Nationals last year for the first time since Rachel took over, and Finn knew how much Rachel, Ryan, Emma and the members of the club wanted to redeem themselves this year. Today, he knew he had to get things together for Sectionals. Yes, he'd substituted for Rachel while she was on maternity leave before, but pressure didn't exist like it did now.
Plus, he was worried about Rachel being alone. Well, she wasn't alone. Her dads were still in Cleveland, as were Shelby, Burt and Carole. Grant would be home from school by now, and Sarah might stop home before dance lessons. Still, he felt bad about his wife having just had surgery. She was home from the hospital, but she spent most of her time in bed.
Finn repeated in his head what Rachel had said to him this morning: "Finn, we need to put together the best setlist possible so we can dominate Sectionals. I'm confident they can do that with you as their leader." Rachel believed in him. She always had. And she helped him believe in himself.
Finn got to the room where practice was held and waited for the kids to arrive. Gold Stars practice was right after school so the athletes could have time to do their homework before sport practices. He began scrolling down the list of songs Rachel had given him as her "go to list" to get ideas for Sectionals. He smiled when he noticed several songs he and Rachel had sang while they were in New Directions were on the list.
After no one else seemed to be coming in, Finn closed the door. "Okay guys, we're going to put together our Sectionals setlist today."
"We got crushed at Nationals last year," said Jeremy.
"Yeah, we really have to make up for it at Sectionals this year," Connor added.
"We probably lost Nationals because Mrs. Hudson wasn't our director," a boy Finn whose name Finn couldn't remember snapped. "And that's the same problem now."
"Be quiet, Rupert!" Nick said to the boy. "This is her husband who's substituting, in case you didn't hear, and he knows all the tricks."
"Thank you, Nick," Finn said, noticing Emma smiling at Nick when Nick defended him. "Okay, so as you often do, I was thinking of opening with a duet, and then doing two group numbers."
"Who's going to do the duet?" Emma asked, with hope on her face.
Finn looked at the group. What he was about to say was potentially going to upset some people in the group, so he wanted to say it as nicely as possible. "We've done our best with Ryan, Ava, Nick and Emma at the lead. Since Ryan and Ava got the leads in the musical, I'm going to give Nick and Emma the duet at Sectionals."
Nick and Emma looked happy, and Ryan and Ava looked happy for their best friends, but Rupert gave him a nasty look.
"What song are they going to sing?" Ava asked.
Finn ignored Rupert and focused on Ava. "I was thinking of having them do a mashup of 'Borderline' and 'Open Your Heart' by Madonna," Finn said. "Mrs. Hudson and I did that in high school, and it was one of our best duets."
"That's awesome!" Emma said, as she and Nick both looked excited.
"What are the group numbers going to be?" Evan asked.
"Well, I was thinking for one of our group numbers we'd do 'Hello, Goodbye' by the Beatles," Finn said. "And since Sectionals will be close to Christmas, I wanted us to do a Christmas song for our other group number. I was thinking 'Do They Know It's Christmas' by Band Aid, since you guys did a great job with it at the holiday assembly two years ago."
Everyone seemed to like the setlist, except for Rupert. "Is something wrong?" Finn asked.
Rupert scowled at Finn again. "You're the director, it's your decision." He sounded like he was mocking Finn, but Finn wasn't up to arguing. He printed the music sheets and handed them out. "Okay guys, let's get started. But if there's any problems any of you have, please come to me with them rather than giving me looks."
x
Rachel sat in her bedroom, watching the Funny Girl DVD. She heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"
Sarah came in. "Hey, Mom."
"Hey Sarah, what's up?" Rachel asked.
Sarah handed Rachel some flowers. "These are for you."
"Thanks, honey," Rachel said. "Where did you get them?"
"I picked them up on my way back from dance," Sarah said. "I stopped at the grocery store."
Rachel felt guilty when she heard her daughter had walked home. "Sweetheart, you could have asked one of your friends for a ride home."
"It's good exercise," Sarah said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm better," Rachel said. "This isn't the most serious surgery I've had, but it will take time to recover."
"Is there anything I can do?" Sarah asked.
Rachel's heart sank. She wanted her daughter to just enjoy her youth. "Honey, our family is coming in to help for a reason. The best thing you can do for me is keep being a kid."
Sarah gave Rachel a hug. "Okay, Mom. I love you."
"I love you too," Rachel said.
Rachel heard another knock on the door. She looked up and saw Carole. "Rachel, someone came to see you," Carole said as Kurt and Blaine walked in.
Rachel perked up at the sight of her brothers in law. "Kurt! Blaine!"
"How's the gold star?" Kurt asked, hugging Rachel.
"I told you two you didn't have to come in from New York," Rachel said. "I know you have jobs and the boys back there."
"Our jobs were happy to let us take time off when we told them the situation," Blaine said. "And the boys would have come if they weren't in school, but their friends' families were more than happy to let them stay with them for a few days."
"No matter what the circumstance, it's really good to see you," Rachel said.
"It's good to see you too," Kurt said. "When do you start physical therapy?"
Rachel looked down. "Next week. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go back to physical therapy. I had enough of it the year after we graduated high school."
"We know you've had enough," Blaine said.
Grant came into the room. "Mommy, I think Zoe's up..." Then he noticed who was there. "Uncle Kurt! Uncle Blaine!"
"Hey Grant!" Kurt said, hugging his youngest nephew. "How about we go get Zoe and then bring her to see her mommy?"
"Okay!" Grant said, leaving the room with Kurt. When they left, Blaine turned to Sarah. "So, how's the star in the making?"
"I'm good," Sarah said. "I'm trying out for another community theatre production."
"And we know she'll make it," Rachel said, taking Sarah's hand while hoping she'd be well enough to go to it.
"Of course she'll make it," Blaine said. "She is your daughter."
Kurt came back in the room with Grant and Zoe. "I think someone wants to see her mommy."
Rachel smiled as she held her youngest daughter. "Hey baby girl."
"How's my wife?" Rachel looked up and saw Finn.
"Finn!" Rachel exclaimed.
Finn came over and gave Rachel a kiss. "Don't we get a hi?" Kurt asked.
"Of course you do," Finn said, giving his brother and brother-in-law a hug.
"How was the Gold Stars today?" Rachel asked.
"I gave them their Sectionals setlist," Finn said.
"And?" Rachel asked.
Finn groaned. "I can not stand this one boy Rupert in the choir."
Rachel took her husband's hand. "What did he do?"
Finn rolled his eyes. "He was just giving me really dirty looks."
Rachel looked at Finn. "Remember, Finn, I left you in charge because I trust you to lead them to a Sectionals victory."
Finn nodded. Rachel gave him a hug. "Tell those kids I told them they'd better do what you say."
x
"Did you break one minute yet?" Nick asked as Emma swam up to them. After Gold Stars practice, they'd gone straight to swim practice. The boys and the girls teams practiced together, so it was more time for Emma to spend with Nick. Currently, she was trying to break a minute on her 100 yard freestyle, but wasn't having much luck.
"Not yet," Emma sighed. "Hopefully I will before our first meet."
"I'm sure you will," Nick said. "I'm really glad you and I got the duet for Sectionals."
Emma smiled at her boyfriend. "So am I." She'd missed their duets while she was in New York last year.
"So, I was wondering," Nick said. "How about you come to my house after swim practice?"
Emma thought for a minute. "You know I like going to your house, Nick, but I really think I should be home with my mom."
"I know you want to be home, but it would be good for you to get out of the house," Nick said. "Besides, didn't you say Sarah texted you to say that your uncles are in from New York? I'm sure they can help out. Plus, your grandparents are there, too."
Emma forced a smile. "Your parents won't mind me coming over?"
"You know they love you!" Nick said.
"I'll text my dad and see if it's okay," Emma said. She admitted to herself, it would be good to get out of the house.
x
"Ava, you don't have to come over if you don't want to," Ryan said. It was after swim practice, and Emma had gone to Nick's house. Ava had asked Ryan if she could come over, and Ryan wanted to go to Ava's, but she asked if she could come over instead.
"Of course I want to come," Ava said. "I haven't seen your mom in a while, and I miss her."
"You know she really likes you," Ryan said.
"I love your family," Ava said. "Plus, if Kurt and Blaine are in town, it would be nice to see them."
"Okay," Ryan said.
"Can we stop at my house first though?" Ava asked.
"Yeah, of course," Ryan said to his girlfriend. They stopped at Ava's house, where Ava ran in and got something. Ryan couldn't help but wonder what it was. "Ava, what is that?"
"We made dinner for your family," Ava said. "I know that it's probably hard to cook right now, so we thought we'd make you guys something."
"Thank you so much," Ryan said, giving his girlfriend a hug. "I love you."
"I love you too," Ava said.
Chapter 5 preview: Rachel starts physical therapy, and tension builds in the Gold Stars as Sectionals approaches.