Chapter 24 – The First Day
"Remember, no crying," Kurt stated.
"I think I'm already crying and we're not even there yet," Rachel admitted as they walked down the colorful hallway.
She looked down at Beth, who she was fairly certain rolled her eyes at the two of them, which made Rachel laugh. They had agreed not to make a big deal of this—no crying, no staying for an hour, and no taking hundreds of pictures—but she knew it was pointless. Once they got to the school, there would be many tears, many pictures, and they would never want to leave. It was Beth's first day of school, after all; it was a momentous occasion and they were both saps for that sort of thing. She just wished Shelby—and Quinn—could be there to share the moment with them.
"We need a picture here," Kurt said, holding up the camera.
Rachel laughed when Beth audibly sighed. They had already taken dozens of pictures that morning and she imagined the little girl was getting tired of it. But Rachel had promised her fathers and Quinn that it would be like they were there. There had been many pictures taken at the apartment, several on the train, several more on the walk from the station to the school, a few dozen at various places just outside the school, and a few already in the hallway on the way to the classroom.
When Kurt was done and they finally walked into Beth's kindergarten classroom, there were already quite a few kids and parents around the room. Thankfully, she soon saw they were not the only ones who were already emotional; several other parents had red eyes and wet cheeks. She spotted Beth's teacher, Miss Cantrell, walking toward them and instantly gave her a smile. She had met the woman the previous week when she came to the school to explain Beth's situation. She didn't want everyone to know, but she thought it would be a good idea to at least let Beth's teacher know.
"Hello," the teacher greeted before looking down at the little girl. "I take it this is the Beth I've heard so much about."
"It is," Rachel said when Beth didn't answer.
"I've heard you like to draw and paint," Miss Cantrell said, kneeling down to be eye level with Beth. "If you go look in that corner over there, I think you'll find some fun things to play with."
Beth looked where her teacher had motioned and she smiled slightly.
"Before you go, we need a few pictures," Rachel said, taking the camera from Kurt.
Miss Cantrell laughed. "How many have you taken so far?"
"A few," Rachel answered.
"A few dozen," Kurt said, looking sheepish.
"Maybe a few hundred," Rachel amended. "But I promise it will just be a few more and then you can go play with whatever you want."
She knew Beth probably wasn't thrilled at having to wait, so she hurried as fast as she could. She and Kurt took turns posing with Beth and taking the pictures. When she was satisfied that they had a enough, Beth immediately ran off, probably wanting to get away before Rachel changed her mind.
"Oh, how rude of me," Rachel said when Beth was gone. "This is my roommate, Kurt Hummel."
"It's nice to meet you," Miss Cantrell said, shaking Kurt's hand. "Miss Berry told me you're helping her raise Beth."
"Please, call me Rachel," the brunette said.
"It's not a big deal," Kurt downplayed with a shrug.
"He's just being modest," Rachel said, nudging Kurt in the side.
"Well, I think what you're both doing is remarkable," Miss Cantrell replied.
Rachel ducked her head at the compliment. She didn't really think of it as remarkable; she just thought of it as doing what anyone should do. Even though she debated whether or not she could take Beth, there really was never any question, really. She would never have let the little girl grow up in the system or be raised by complete strangers. Things were always complicated when it came to Shelby and she'd always felt hurt when she adopted Beth, but that wasn't the girl's fault and there was no way she was going to punish her for that.
"Excuse me, but some other parents just walked in," Miss Cantrell said, giving them both a smile before walking toward the door.
"Would you like to take some more video?" Rachel asked. "I'm sure my fathers would love to see it."
She had already sent video from that morning of Beth getting ready to leave the apartment. It didn't take long for them to reply back telling her to send more. She probably should have taken more along the way, but she didn't want to be that embarrassing parent. It was bad enough that they were taking as many pictures as they were.
As she watched Beth in the corner of the room, she smiled. She was already playing with another little girl and Rachel had no doubt that she was going to be okay there. It was probably going to be harder on her and Kurt than it was on Beth, which was probably how it almost always was. Rachel was just glad that she was going to be able to socialize more with kids her own age. A lot of the students at the dance studio were older than her; really, Emma was her only real friend, and Rachel didn't want her to grow up without friends like Rachel had to do.
"I think we're going to go," Rachel said as she walked up to Kurt and Beth and knelt down. "Can I get a hug?"
Beth looked up and set the crayon down that she was holding. Rachel opened her arms and Beth gave her a quick hug before hugging Kurt in the same way. Beth turned to sit back down, but before she did, she went back to Rachel and gave her another, longer hug. Rachel smiled and willed herself not to begin crying again.
"I love you," Rachel said, squeezing Beth tightly. "I'll be here when school is over to pick you up, okay?"
"Okay," Beth said quietly as Rachel released her.
Rachel smiled down at her as she stood. When she looked at Kurt, he had tears in his eyes, and Rachel couldn't help but laugh and shake her head. She had done fairly well so far, but she imagined as soon as she walked out the door, she wouldn't be able to hold them in any longer.
As Rachel walked out of class, she looked at her phone. She had about an hour before she needed to pick up Beth, so there was no point in going home since she wouldn't have enough time. She was slightly disappointed to see that she had no texts, but she supposed it was to be expected. School had started for Quinn as well now, which meant she'd had less time available. Rachel thought about sending her a message, but she didn't want to disrupt Quinn if she was in class. She had no idea what the blonde's schedule was like, but knowing Quinn, it was probably pretty full.
"Hey."
Rachel immediately halted at the sound of Quinn's voice and turned around in surprise. She had been so busy looking at her phone that she hadn't even seen the other woman in the hallway.
"Hi," Rachel said, a smile lighting up her face. "I wasn't expecting you."
Quinn laughed lightly. "I could tell."
"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."
Quinn shrugged. "I got out of class early and thought I would see if you have time to grab some coffee."
"That would be wonderful," Rachel quickly said. "I was actually just wondering what I was going to do with my hour before I have to pick up Beth."
"Want to go to the place across the street?" Quinn asked.
"That would be fine," Rachel said with a nod as they began heading for the stairs.
"How did this morning go?" Quinn asked.
"There were tears," Rachel admitted.
"I'm guessing they were all yours and Kurt's," Quinn remarked with a crooked smile.
"Of course," Rachel said with a laugh. "I'm sure Beth was relieved when the crazy grownups finally left her alone."
"I wish I could have been there," Quinn said quietly.
"I know," Rachel replied. "But I have plenty of pictures and video, so hopefully it will feel like you were there. I'll email them all to you as soon as I get home."
Quinn nodded and smiled slightly. "Thanks."
"It's not a problem," Rachel said as she held the door open for Quinn. "I sent my fathers the videos I already sent you and they're demanding the rest." She laughed. "I'm still very surprised they didn't make an impromptu visit to the city today. I do hope they come soon, though; I would really like for the four of us to have dinner."
"Are you sure about that?" Quinn asked, looking a little dubious.
"I want my fathers to know you, Quinn," Rachel replied. "Right now, they—they're not your biggest fan."
"They hate me," Quinn stated.
"They don't hate you," Rachel argued. "They simply don't know you. I try to tell them how you've changed, but they still remember all those times in high school when they would find me crying in my room. I told them you're not that girl anymore, but I think they need to see it themselves. They need to spend time with you and then I'm confident they will see you for who you are now and not hold your past against you."
"Have they liked anyone you've dated?" Quinn asked.
Rachel faltered. "Not particularly. I think they liked Finn in the beginning, but after he dumped me the second time, they began to reevaluate their feelings toward him."
"Yeah, well, Finn was an idiot," Quinn said dryly.
"Finn was a teenage boy," Rachel stated.
"Isn't that what I said?" Quinn asked.
Rachel laughed. "I suppose so."
"I wonder what he would say if he saw us now," Quinn said with a smirk.
"I honestly don't know if he would be too shocked to say anything or if he would be angry," Rachel replied. "I like to think he would happy for us, though. Actually, I would like to think everyone from our old Glee Club would be happy for us, but I'm slightly doubtful that would be the case."
Quinn shrugged. "Last night, I sort of told Puck that we've been going out. He asked and I didn't want to lie, but I didn't know what you'd want me to say. He told me you two kind of talked, though, so I just told him. I hope that's okay."
"That's fine," Rachel answered. "I trust Noah." She shook her head and laughed lightly. "That's really something I never thought I would say."
"I know the feeling," Quinn replied.
"Have you told anyone else?" Rachel wondered.
"No," Quinn answered. "Brittany keeps asking if I'm dating anyone, but I still haven't told her. She really isn't the best at keeping secrets."
Rachel really didn't know how she felt about everyone knowing. She still felt like she was figuring everything out and it seemed like it would be easier to do without everyone knowing about their budding relationship. But she also didn't want Quinn to think she was ashamed of her or anything like that. Of course, Quinn could very well want to keep it a secret as well since Rachel knew she wasn't out to that many people from high school.
"If people do happen to find out, it will be okay," Rachel said, glancing at Quinn. "I mean, for me. I don't know how you feel about it, but it won't be the end of the world for me."
"I don't know," Quinn replied. "I kind of feel the same way. I'm not going to call them all and announce it, but if they find out, I'm not exactly going to freak out."
"I'm glad we're in agreement," Rachel said with a smile.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I can only imagine what they're all going to say."
Rachel hummed. "Yes, I imagine most of them will wonder how I ever managed to hoodwink you into dating me."
"They'll just have to get over," Quinn remarked. "And if they don't like it, I'll tell them exactly what they can do."
Rachel smiled at the thought of Quinn putting Mercedes or Santana in their place. "That will certainly be an interesting day."
"Do you see Quinn?" Rachel asked. "She said she would meet us outside."
"I don't," Kurt answered.
"I wonder if she's running late," Rachel said as she pulled out her phone. "Oh, she's inside." Rachel smiled. "She got us a table because it was getting busy."
"How sweet," Kurt said in a voice that Rachel was fairly certain was supposed to be mimicking her.
"It is," Rachel replied. "Unless you would rather wait around for a table."
"I was just joking," Kurt said with a huff.
Rachel hit her shoulder into Kurt's before walking through the doors to the restaurant. It was fairly crowded—more so than usual—so Rachel was thankful Quinn had gotten there early. They bypassed the hostess and Rachel scanned the left side of the room, where Quinn said she was seated. It took a moment to find her in the crowd, but Rachel eventually spotted her and led them over to the blonde.
"Hi," Rachel said with a smile.
"Hey," Quinn replied.
"I apologize if we're a little late," Rachel said, sitting down across from Quinn. "Someone took forever getting ready."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well, some of us are painfully single and would like to look our best in case Mr. Right happens to be around."
"Mr. Right shouldn't care if you're not perfect," Rachel pointed it. "If he's really right for you, he'll fall in love with you, imperfections and all."
"That doesn't mean I want him to see those imperfections the moment he meets me," Kurt retorted.
"Is everyone here now?" a waiter asked, stopping next to their table.
"Yeah," Quinn answered.
"Hi, I'm Michael," he greeted them with a smile. "Can I get your drinks?"
As they all told the waiter what they wanted, Rachel finally picked up the menu. They had been there a few times before, so she was fairly certain she knew what she wanted to try. Rachel was actually surprised Beth had picked that restaurant since they didn't have pizza, but it was nice that they could go to a slightly more upscale, sit-down restaurant for the evening. They were celebrating Beth's first day of school, after all, and Rachel felt like you should be at a nice place when celebrating.
"So, how'd school go?" Quinn asked.
Beth shrugged. "It's okay."
"Just okay?" Quinn inquired.
"We colored," Beth stated.
"Was that fun?" Quinn asked.
Beth nodded. "And the teacher let me paint and we got to play outside and I saw my friend."
"I was hoping she and Emma would be in the same class, but she's in a different kindergarten class," Rachel explained. "But they have their breaks together, so at least they'll get to play together every day." She looked down at Beth. "That will be fun, won't it?"
"Yeah," Beth said, nodding her head again.
"Did you make any other friends yet?" Quinn asked.
Beth shrugged and didn't really answer the question, so Rachel said, "Miss Cantrell told me she played with one little boy and girl most of the day. What are their names?"
"Josh and, um, Maggie," Beth answered after thinking about it for a moment.
"Well, your first day sounds better than my first day of kindergarten," Quinn commented. "Some girl ripped up a book I was reading and then she hid my glasses."
"That's nothing," Kurt replied. "I was having a tea party with two girls on my first day and then this boy came along and punched me."
"That's terrible," Rachel said, aghast.
"Of course no one saw it, so he didn't get in trouble," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "I went home crying and didn't want to go back the next day, but my dad talked to the administration. I have no idea what he said to them, but the boy wouldn't even look at me after that."
"My first day was actually nice," Rachel commented. "It was the week after that everything turned bad." She looked at Beth. "I'm positive that won't happen to you, though. You're going to love school; everything is going to be wonderful and you're going to make lots of friends."
"And if anyone picks on you, Rachel and I will march down there like my father did," Kurt added.
"Of course we would," Rachel agreed with a nod.
Quinn laughed. "I can just imagine the diva storm-in and the dive storm-out."
"I am rather good at both of those," Rachel said, grinning. "The principal wouldn't know what hit her. Thankfully, though, I don't believe that will ever be an issue. It seems like a wonderful school."
They fell quiet as their drinks came, and when the waiter asked if they were ready to order, none of them were. He left again and they all looked at their menus. Rachel was the first to put hers down since she had been the only one to already look at it. As she looked across the table at Quinn, she couldn't help but smile. The blonde's brows were furrowed slightly as her eyes roamed over the menu, and Rachel couldn't help thinking how cute she looked in that moment. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Quinn was in her life now and even harder to believe that they were sort of in a relationship. It was certainly something she never thought would happen, but at the same time, it was beginning to feel completely right.
"Do you know what you want?" Kurt asked.
Rachel smiled. "Yes, I think I do."
"Well, that was fun," Kurt said as he walked into the apartment.
"It was," Rachel agreed.
"Quinn seemed to enjoy it, too," Kurt said, looking over his shoulder, and smirking at her.
"Do you have any homework, Beth?" Rachel quickly said, wanting to change the subject.
"No," she answered.
"How about you go play in your room for a little while and then you can take a bath, okay?" Rachel said.
Beth shrugged before walking toward her room, and Rachel shot Kurt a dirty look the moment the little girl's back was turned. Even if Beth didn't know Quinn was her biological mother, she wasn't ready for her to know about their relationship. She didn't know if Beth would care, but she'd never questioned Kurt when he talked about men, so Rachel didn't think that would really be an issue. Still, she didn't know how to talk to her about it or if she should talk to her about it. She wondered if maybe the best approach would just be to bring it up in normal conversation rather than sit her down, but that didn't mean she was ready to do that today.
"Will you stop giving me that look?" Kurt asked.
"You need to stop," Rachel stated.
"I didn't say anything," Kurt defended.
"Beth is a smart girl and she's going to pick up on it if you keep saying things like that," Rachel replied.
"You're right," Kurt said. "She is a smart girl, which is why she probably already knows something is going on. I think you should talk to her."
"I would like to be sure Quinn and I are more than just a fleeting thing before I do that," Rachel replied. "I don't want to bring someone into Beth's life just to have them go away."
"But Quinn is going to be in Beth's whether or not you two are together," Kurt stated.
"I just want to be sure first, okay?" Rachel said.
"Okay, but you're going to have to tell her sooner or later," Kurt replied.
"I know," Rachel said with a sigh.
Rachel was very aware of that fact; just like she knew she was going to have to have a certain other conversation with Beth one day. And that conversation was going to be a lot harder. She wished there was some book that told her what to do in her situation, but that wasn't going to happen. Beth had a right to know that Quinn and Puck were her biological parents. At the same time, Shelby was her mother from the time she was born and she didn't want to diminish her role in the little girl's life or have Beth think of her any differently just because she wasn't the one to give birth to her. It was a hard conversation to have with a four year old, even one as smart as Beth.
"Did you ever think this would be our life?" Rachel asked.
"Where did that come from?" Kurt asked back.
"I was just thinking about everything," Rachel said, shaking her head.
"No," Kurt answered. "Never in a million years did I think we would be raising a child together and definitely not that child. If you had told me our sophomore year that this would be how everything ended up, I would have thought you were crazy. But now—as nice as it was not having many responsibilities, I think I like this better."
Rachel smiled. "Me too. Life was certainly easier, but not nearly as rewarding."
"So don't start apologizing again for putting me in this position," Kurt teased, bumping his hip into hers.
Rachel laughed. "I won't."
"Did you send everything to your dads?" Kurt asked, walking toward the kitchen.
"Yes," Rachel said with a nod. "And Noah."
"Did they cry?" Kurt asked, looking over his shoulder, and smirking slightly.
"Probably no more than you did," Rachel joked.
Kurt huffed. "Like you didn't."
Rachel pulled her phone from her bag when it began vibrating, and with a laugh, she said, "My fathers are calling."
"Probably to tell you to send more video," Kurt commented.
"Hello," Rachel said, heading toward her room to talk in private.
"Hi, sweetie," Leroy greeting.
"Hi, Daddy," Rachel replied.
"We just got done looking through all the pictures," Hiram said.
"I sent every one, even the ones that didn't come out very good, so you have them all," Rachel said in case they really were going to ask for more.
Leroy laughed. "We could tell."
"So, how was her first day?" Hiram asked.
"It went very well," Rachel answered. "She seemed to like it."
"Good," Leroy replied. "I hope it stays that way."
"I'm sure it will," Rachel said as she took a seat at the end of her bed. "I don't think she's going to have the problems I had. People in the city are a lot more open minded than in Lima. Well, most people."
"Are you still having trouble with that woman from her dance class?" Hiram asked.
"It's nothing I can't handle," Rachel replied. "She's no worse than some of the people I had to deal with in high school."
"Like Quinn," Hiram stated.
Rachel sighed. "Yes, like Quinn. But thankfully, Quinn has changed, so maybe Sheila will as well."
"How is Quinn?" Leroy said, clearing his throat. "You are still seeing her, right?"
"I am," Rachel answered. "She just went to dinner with the three of us this evening to celebrate Beth starting school." She sighed when they were both silent. "Look, I know you don't like Quinn, but you don't really know her. I don't want to have to hide any part of my life from you, so please just give her a chance. You two have always trusted my judgment, haven't you?"
"Yes," Hiram answered after a few moments.
"So trust me now," Rachel pleaded.
"We just—we don't want to see you hurt," Leroy said.
"And I don't want to get hurt, which is why I'm not rushing into anything," Rachel replied.
Leroy paused for another moment and then said, "We believe you, sweetie."
"Thank you," Rachel replied, feeling slightly relieved.
"I think we're going to have to make a trip up there soon," Leroy said.
Rachel smiled. "That sounds wonderful."