pierce22: I know the feeling; it was quite hard to write for a while.

texican: Yes, her reaction or nonreaction will be explained a bit.

Chapter 7 – We Meet Again

Rachel anxiously tapped her foot against the floor; she didn't like waiting for things and she had been here nearly an hour. The ticking of the clock was grating on her nerves, and she really wanted to climb on the receptionist's chair to rip it off the wall. She took a deep breath as the thought entered her mind, knowing she was being ridiculous and overreacting. The room was just so quiet, though, other than the incessant ticking, and she was curious to know what was going on in the other room.

Beth had been in New York for nearly three weeks and not much had changed since she got there. Once Puck left, they'd fallen into a nice routine. Rachel worked at a coffee shop in the morning while Kurt watched Beth, and then Kurt went to work in the evening and Rachel took over looking after the little girl. Beth was still very much the same; she still didn't talk very much, only really speaking when she was asked a direct question. It was definitely worrying Kurt and Rachel. They knew it was going to take time—she did lose her mom, after all—but they both thought it was time she see someone, hoping a professional would be able to bring her out of her shell.

They both just wanted her to be okay and Rachel really hoped talking to someone would help. If Beth would even talk to the psychologist. Rachel was confident the woman would know all the tricks, though, because she was having very little luck in that department. She didn't want to push Beth, but she also wanted things to get better—for Beth to get better—and it was hard to know if she was doing the right thing most of the time.

She knew this was never going to be easy, but it was definitely much more difficult than she had anticipated.

She had been flipping through the same magazine the whole time, not really reading anything. Every time she got to the end, she would start at the beginning again, flipping mindlessly through it another time. She paused when she thought she heard movement near the door and looked up. The moment the door opened, Rachel was on her feet; Beth walked out with Dr. Gilmore, and Rachel smiled at the girl.

"I'll see you next week," Dr. Gilmore said, smiling down at Beth.

Rachel and the doctor locked eyes and the brunette gave a slight nod. Before Rachel ever brought Beth with her, she met with the therapist, explaining the situation. Their plan was for Beth to attend the sessions alone for the first couple of weeks; Dr. Gilmore wanted to see if she could get Beth to open up first, and then they would involve Rachel and even Kurt. They all thought it would be productive for the doctor to gain Beth's trust first and hopefully build a rapport.

"Are you ready to go?" Rachel asked, putting her hand on Beth's shoulder.

The girl shrugged and Rachel led her to the elevator. Part of her hoped things would be better after only one session, but, realistically, she knew that wasn't going to happen. Rachel just needed to be patient and let things run their course. It was difficult, however; Rachel was used to trying to make things better for the people she cared about.

"So, how did it go?" Rachel asked as they stepped onto the elevator and she hit the button for the ground floor. "What did you two talk about?"

"Stuff," Beth answered.

Rachel actually rolled her eyes at the answer and tried not to laugh. Beth reminded her so much of Puck and Quinn sometimes that she couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Do you like Dr. Gilmore," Rachel asked.

Beth shrugged, but then nodded slightly, so Rachel took that as a good sign. If she hadn't, there were plenty of other child psychologists around, and she was willing to take her to different ones until she found one that she did like. Dr. Gilmore had come highly recommended, though.

The two silently walked out of the elevator and through the lobby, toward the exit. She reached out for Beth's hand the moment they were on the sidewalk, not wanting her to get lost in the crowd. She was off today and she didn't really have anywhere to be—the first in a while—so she tried to think of something to do.

"Would you like to go to the park?" Rachel asked. "Or maybe get ice cream or—"

"Ice cream," Beth replied.

"Ice cream it is," Rachel said with a smile and a nod.

She turned left, heading toward Phil's ice cream cart since it was the best. As she walked along the sidewalk, though, Beth tugged on her arm and she stopped to look down. Beth was looking across the street and Rachel followed her gaze, but didn't know what she was looking at. She tried to start walking again, but Beth didn't seem to be going anywhere. The little girl actually tugged on her arm and pointed across the street.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Your friend," Beth said.

Rachel frowned, looking across the street again, but still didn't know what Beth was pointing at. She also didn't know what she meant by 'your friend'. As far as Rachel knew, Kurt was the only friend of hers that Beth had met, and Puck if you counted him. Rachel didn't have many friends; just a few people at NYADA, but Beth hadn't met any of them.

"Who are you talking about, Beth?" Rachel asked.

"Your friend," Beth repeated.

Rachel frowned. "Who are you—oh."

Rachel finally saw who Beth was talking about; Quinn was standing on the other side of the street, talking into her phone. Rachel wondered if she walked away quick enough if the blonde wouldn't see them. While dinner with her hadn't been completely unpleasant, she didn't want to push her luck by having to interact with Quinn without someone else there as a buffer. However, just as she turned to walk away, Quinn looked across the street right at her. Rachel cursed under her breath and put on a fake smile; she obviously couldn't just walk away now even if she really wanted to.

Quinn gave them a small wave and looked both ways before running across the street. Rachel watched as she ran over; she couldn't believe her luck. Today had been going relatively well, too. She was off work, she had a nice breakfast with Kurt and Beth—her favorite episode of Friends had even been on when she turned on the television earlier.

"I'll call you back," Quinn said as she neared. "Because I'm busy. No." Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'm hanging up now." Quinn removed the phone from her ear and looked at Rachel. "Hi. I, uh—saw you and thought I would come over and say hi."

Rachel couldn't help but laugh. "Hello."

Rachel wanted to ask who she was speaking to—she was a bit nosy by nature—but then she reminded herself that Quinn hated her and it probably wouldn't be the smartest of questions.

"What are you two doing today?" Quinn asked.

"Ice cream," Beth answered.

"We are getting ice cream," Rachel said, smiling at the fact that Beth actually willingly spoke.

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Quinn replied.

"Would you—like to go with us," Rachel said.

Quinn shrugged. "Sure."

"Really?" Rachel said before she could stop herself.

Quinn laughed. "Why not?"

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed; she really didn't expect Quinn to take her up on the offer. "There's an ice cream place just down this way."

Rachel turned, still holding Beth's hand, and began walking down the sidewalk. The walk was silent—awkwardly so, not the comfortable silence that she often fell into with Kurt—as Rachel tried to think of something to say. Discussing the weather seemed a bit ridiculous, but she didn't know what to say to the girl who spent her whole high school career making her life anything but pleasant.

She really knew nothing about Quinn; every time she tried to talk to the blonde before, her attempts were rebuffed. She never really knew why, either. Despite Quinn's attitude, Rachel always tried to stay pleasant during what little conversations they had. It never had much effect, though; she was never able to get through Quinn's icy facade. That just made her behavior now all the more confusing since Quinn was willing talking to her—or at least willingly walking beside her.

They walked to Phil's cart, got their ice cream, and immediately headed to the park. As they walked toward the ducks, Beth let go of Rachel's hand and ran ahead a little bit. Rachel just smiled at the sight; it was nice to see the little girl excited about something since it happened so rarely.

"She's happy," Quinn commented.

Rachel hummed. "She does seem to like the ducks."

Quinn paused for a moment as she licked her ice cream, and then asked, "How is she doing?"

"Okay, I think," Rachel said, sighing. She glanced at Beth and then looked back at Quinn. "We just came from an appointment with a child therapist; Kurt and I thought it would be beneficial. She doesn't talk a lot, and we're a little worried about her. I know it's going to take time, but we both figured it was better to be safe than sorry."

Quinn turned and leaned against the bridge they were standing on, looking away from Beth. Rachel could tell she was uncomfortable with the conversation and decided she should probably change the subject.

"What were your plans for today?"

"Well, I wanted to see some of the museums around since it is my day off, but my roommate wants me to go grocery shopping." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Is that who you were talking to on the phone?" Rachel asked, glancing at Beth to make sure she was okay.

Quinn nodded. "I should never have moved in with her, but I wanted out of the dorms and needed a roommate." Quinn sighed. "I should actually go; if I don't come back with groceries, she'll probably burn my bed or something."

Rachel's eyebrows rose. "Is your roommate crazy?"

"A little," Quinn said with a light laugh. "Thanks for letting me join you."

"Thank you for coming," Rachel said.

Quinn actually gave her a smile before she turned and started walking away. Rachel looked at Beth, wondering what just happened; this was the nicest she had ever known Quinn Fabray to be. It was actually a little unnerving.

"Hey."

Rachel turned around and looked at Quinn.

"I was wondering if we could meet sometime," Quinn said, shrugging. "Maybe get coffee or have lunch. You know, to catch up."

"I—o-okay," Rachel stuttered. "I suppose I should give you my phone number."

"Maybe," Quinn said, smirking a bit.

Rachel held out her hand and Quinn pulled her phone out of her purse, handing it to her. The brunette put her contact information in and handed Quinn's phone back.

"I'll call you," Quinn said.

Rachel nodded and Quinn turned to leave again, this time actually walking away. Rachel frowned, shaking her head; there had been a lot of unexpected things happening in her life recently, and this was yet another one of them.

The moment Rachel slid the front door shut, Kurt poked his out from his room. Beth walked off to the living room and Rachel heard the television turn on a few moments later. Rachel threw her purse onto the kitchen table as Kurt walked in. He was in his waiter outfit, ready to go to work, and she looked at the clock; he really should have left already, but he was clearly waiting for their return.

"How did it go?" Kurt asked when she didn't say anything.

"I'm not entirely sure," Rachel replied.

"She didn't say anything?" Kurt asked.

Rachel sighed. "Does she ever?"

"Touché," Kurt replied.

"At least she seemed to like Dr. Gilmore, but when I asked what they talked about, all she said was 'stuff'." Rachel looked into the other room. "I didn't press the issue."

"She didn't say anything else?" Kurt asked.

Rachel shook her head. "To be fair, we were interrupted."

Kurt frowned. "By what?"

"Quinn," Rachel stated.

"Quinn Fabray?" Kurt asked.

"How many other Quinns do you know?" Rachel replied. "Yes, Quinn Fabray. We had just walked out of the therapist's office and Beth saw her across the street. She saw us before I could sneak away."

"That's it?" Kurt said.

"Actually, she came with us to get ice cream and then went with us to the park, but she had to leave right after we got there," Rachel continued.

"How was it?" Kurt asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Aren't you going to be late for work?" Rachel asked.

Kurt waved her off. "It'll be fine. I cover for people all the time; someone can do it for me for once."

"It was strange," Rachel said, sitting down as well. "Very awkward."

"Understandable," Kurt replied, with a nod.

"I just don't know what to say to her, you know?" Rachel said. "At least when she was calling me names, I knew where I stood with her. Quinn being nice to me is disconcerting, and I keep waiting for the punch line because it is obviously a joke of some kind. Quinn Fabray isn't nice to people; she pretends to be nice to get what she wants."

"I thought you said you didn't hold grudges," Kurt commented.

Rachel huffed. "I don't. I'm merely stating a fact—Quinn Fabray is only nice to people if it is for her own personal gain. I don't have a grudge against her, but I also don't trust her."

"Which is probably smart," Kurt replied.

"She asked if we could meet some time for coffee or lunch," Rachel remarked. "She has my phone number." Rachel frowned. "I don't know how I feel about that."

Kurt laughed as he stood. "What are you going to do if she calls?"

"I suppose I will meet her wherever she wants to meet," Rachel answered. "It would be rude otherwise. She hasn't really given me a reason not to go—other than the obvious, but that was several years ago. So, I shall meet with her if that's what she wants. I just don't know what she could possible want to speak to me about. It's not as if we have anything in common really, and she's made it perfectly clear over the years that she dislikes everything about me."

"People do change," Kurt said, shrugging. "I believe you're the one that told me that."

"I know," Rachel said, sighing.

She wished she could believe that Quinn had changed; if anyone needed to change, it was her. As much as she always tried to stay on top, Rachel always thought she seemed terribly unhappy. Quinn was the most popular person at McKinley high—all the guys wanted to date her and all the girls wanted to be her—but Rachel could tell it still wasn't enough. Maybe it was being in Lima, though; Rachel could definitely sympathize with that.

"Any idea when this coffee and/or lunch will take place?" Kurt asked.

"No," Rachel replied.

"Too bad," Kurt said, sighing. "I'm a little curious myself about what she wants." He looked toward the living room. "So, Beth really didn't say anything about the appointment?"

"Nothing," Rachel replied. "Like I said, though, we were interrupted by Quinn. Maybe one of us can broach the subject again later."

"Well, I suppose I should go to work," Kurt said, grabbing his bag from the table.

"Possibly," Rachel said, smiling at him.

"I'll see you later tonight," Kurt said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Have fun," Rachel said, standing up. "Don't kill any of your inept coworkers."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I can't promise anything."

Rachel laughed and Kurt walked over to where Beth was on the couch.

"I'm going to work," he said, ruffling her head, which caused her to scowl up at him. "Be good for Rachel; don't do that thing we talked about, okay? I'll see you in the morning"

Beth actually smiled; Rachel had no idea what Kurt was talking about, but the little girl seemed to know. Rachel's eyebrows rose in questioning, but Kurt just shrugged and smiled at her.

"See you later," Kurt said as he walked by.

Rachel walked into the living room, listening as the door shut a few moments later. Whatever Beth was watching—some cartoon on what looked like Nickelodeon—was just going off and Rachel sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote control.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Rachel asked.

Beth shrugged. "Okay."

Rachel fumbled her way to the Netflix menu; Kurt had just taught her how to use it. She wasn't really good with technology, and it actually amazed her that Beth was only four years old, but was much better with the Blu-ray player than she was. She went through the children's section, pausing and smiling on one of the movies.

"Oh, A Little Princess; I loved this movie when I was a little girl." Rachel's smile turned into a frown. "On second thought, there are probably better movies to watch."

As she continued to flip through the selection, her frown deepened. The Land Before Time, Once Upon a Forest, The Lion King—there sure were a lot of movies about children, albeit cartoon animals, losing their parents. That wasn't exactly what she wanted Beth to see; she didn't need to be reminded of losing her mom.

"How about we watch Monsters, Inc.," Rachel suggested.

Rachel set her tea down and focused back on the newspaper, circling one of the ads. She was trying to find a second job for the summer; her job at the coffee shop was only part-time, though she had been working full-time lately while one of her coworkers were on vacation. That, however, was about to come to an end, and she would like to find a second part-time job. The coffee shop would be fine while she was in school since she would have a lot more going on then, but right now, she thought it would be beneficial to find a second job. Her fathers were paying for most things, but it would nice to have some extra money in case of an emergency.

Everything she looked at sounded boring, but the job at the coffee shop wasn't exactly the most thrilling thing in the world. Still, it was a paycheck and that's what she needed at the moment.

She jumped slightly when there was a knock on the door. She looked at the clock, wondering if it was Kurt, though he generally didn't knock, but it wasn't time for him to be off work. She set the newspaper aside and walked to the door, hoping the knock didn't wake Beth up. When she slid the door open, she came face to face with her fathers' smiling faces. She let out a happy squeal and threw herself into Leroy's waiting arms.

"What are you doing here?" she excitedly asked.

Leroy laughed as he set her feet back on the ground. "We thought we would surprise you."

"Well, I'm most certainly surprised," Rachel replied.

"Come here, sweetie," Hiram said, enveloping her in a hug.

"I can't believe you two are here," Rachel said, hugging her father.

"Does that mean you're happy to see us?" Leroy asked, laughing.

"Of course!" Rachel replied. "I just can't believe you're here."

Rachel stepped aside to allow her fathers to enter; Leroy walked in first and she grabbed a bag from each of them to lighten their load a little bit.

"Honestly, we've wanted to come for several weeks," Hiram said as he walked past her.

"But we wanted to let you stand on your own two feet before we came," Leroy added.

"Yes, we thought it would better for you to settle in here with Beth without your dads in the way," Hiram said with a laugh. "Now that you seem to be settled, though, we thought it was the perfect time for a surprise visit."

Rachel smiled; she was definitely happy to see her fathers. She had been missing them more than usual lately. Taking care of Beth made her realize just how hard it was to be a parent and she suddenly appreciated hers all the more. She always knew it probably wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but she had no idea how difficult it would be. She was constantly worried if she was messing everything up and it was exhausting.

"You can take your bags into my room," Rachel said. "I'll sleep on the couch since it isn't exactly big enough for both of you. I'll be right back; I'm going to make sure Beth didn't wake up."

Hiram kissed the side of her head as he walked by and Rachel walked towards Beth's room. She wanted to make sure the little girl didn't wake up when her fathers came—or when she shrieked in surprise. When she looked in, Beth shifted a little, but her eyes were closed and she still appeared to be asleep. Rachel stood there for a moment, making sure Beth really was asleep, and then closed the curtain. She sighed and walked across the room to her bedroom to make sure her fathers had everything they needed.

"Let me get you some clean sheets," Rachel said, walking over to the drawer she kept them in. "You know where the clean towels are. Is there anything else you need? You didn't forget anything at home this time, did you?"

"Probably," Leroy replied. "We'll let you know, though."

"You don't need to do that," Hiram said, taking the sheets from her when she started pulling the old ones off the bed. "I'm perfectly capable of changing a bed, and before you say we're your guests, we did actually spring this on you, so I don't think that applies."

"It always applies," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Let's let your father do the hard labor, shall we?" Leroy joked. "I smell tea, and it's been far too long since I've sat down with my daughter, enjoying a good cup."

"Yes, just leave me here to do all the work," Hiram said.

"We will," Leroy said over his shoulder as he guided Rachel to the other room.

Rachel looked back and Hiram winked at her; she gave him a smile as she walked out of the room. She and her father walked into the kitchen and Rachel put on the kettle to make them both a cup of tea since she was sure hers would be cold by now, and then put on a pot of decaf for Hiram since he didn't like tea.

"How is everything going?" Leroy asked, sitting down at the table.

Rachel sighed. "Everything's fine."

"Really?" Leroy asked. "I know you keep saying that, but truthfully, how is it going?"

"Relatively fine," Rachel amended. "It's difficult at times, but Kurt's been a tremendous help. Beth had her first session with Dr. Gilmore the other afternoon and that appears to have gone okay. She hasn't said a lot about it, but she doesn't really say a lot about anything."

Leroy nodded in understanding. "Things will get better."

"I hope so," Rachel said with a sigh. "It would be nice not to have to worry so much."

Leroy laughed. "Honey, that's never going to go away. They may even be an adult, but that fear never goes away. I remember feeling I had the first day your father and I dropped you off at kindergarten; it's the same feeling I get every single time you leave after coming home for a visit. Adult or not, you're still my child."

"Fitted sheets are evil," Hiram said, coming into the room.

"Why do you think I volunteered you for the job?" Leroy asked.

"You're a terrible husband," Hiram stated.

Rachel smiled; she missed this. She missed sitting around the kitchen table with her fathers while they bickered and joked with one another. Seeing them always gave her hope for the future. They had been together for twenty eight years, but they were still very much in love. She wanted to have that kind of relationship with someone one day, and it would be nice to have a partner around to help her raise Beth.

Kurt was wonderful for now, but she knew they couldn't do this forever. She was the one that signed up to be Beth's guardian, not Kurt. It would be unfair to expect him to do this forever. Now that she was essentially a mother, though, she didn't know how easy it would be to find a significant other. It had been difficult enough before, but this was just going to make it that much harder.

"Be useful and make our tea," Leroy said when the kettle started to whistle.

Rachel laughed and put her hand on Hiram's shoulder. "You relax, Daddy, and I'll make the tea."

Despite everything, she was hopeful she would find love one day, and if she was really lucky, she would find a love like her fathers had.

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