Bonus update, for no other reason than, I'm the author and there you go. If I stuck to my original, once a week update, It'd be december by now, so when I'm far enough ahead, I will update with bonus chapters. Sundays are always a given though.
Firstly, I hope everyone is doing well.
Secondly, this is the chapter where we meet Noah. It was brought to my attention that Noah needs some explaining. It is NOT Puckerman. I repeat, it is NOT Puckerman. Noah is just a name I used, because I liked it. The same goes for the name Beth. Beth is a name I like, and happens to be from the show, however, in this story Quinn never got pregnant. So baby Beth, the one Shelby adopted. She never existed. I know this annoys people, but it's fiction, so I just ask that you please go with it.
Thirdly, WARNINGS: PAY ATTENTION. You may NOT want to read ALL of this chapter. There are some VERY HEAVY talks of bodily harm and Noah's injuries, may be a bit too graphic for some of you. You thought Marley's memories were a bumpy road, Noah's are worse. BE CAREFUL when reading this if you are EASILY TRIGGERED. Take breaks, read it in a "safe space", and know that it is fiction. I'd also like to point out that ALL the torture that Terri inflicted on these little ones comes from MIXING and COMBINING MANY details I've heard from real life stories where children/people were rescued and some where they weren't. I'm actually a really caring individual, I SWEAR!
Lastly, as always, my many thanks to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for their inspiration and encouragement.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that you continue to follow the story.
Be well my friends.
Marley crawled out of bed at four in the morning and silently slipped over to the corner by her blocks. She was watching Quinn sleep and trying to put everything together for herself. Why was Quinn here? What had she been reading at the table earlier? Why was she so accepting of Marley? Why was she being referred to as Auntie? She wasn't sure what answers she would get if she watched Quinn sleep, but if Quinn was going to do anything bad to her family, then she was going to scream as loud as she could and stop it before it happened.
She didn't see Santana standing at the doorway for twenty minutes, just watching, she was too engrossed in watching Quinn. So after the twenty minutes, Santana scratched the wall lightly and Marley turned her head and immediately frowned. Now she was in trouble. Santana shook her head no and quickly moved toward Marley. "I didn't want to startle you baby, that's all," she whispered softly and she sat down next to Marley and picked up her blocks to start spelling. She didn't want to wake Quinn. If Noah was as tortured as Marley was, Quinn was going to have a few sleepless nights ahead of her. "No Sleep?" Santana asked with the blocks and Marley shook her head. Santana put her finger to her lips and pushed the blocks toward Marley.
"Q..U..I..N
N...O
H...U...R...T
Y...O...U.." she spelled out.
Santana smiled and crooked her finger at Marley so they could cuddle close. Marley went into her lap and Santana nuzzled her and pet her gently. "Thank you for protecting me my sweet girl. I promise you though, that woman, that is Auntie Quinn. She will not hurt me, or Mama, or Papa. We all went to school together. We are friends. We have known each other for a very long time and she's just here for a little while to help," Santana said.
"W...I...T...H," Marley spelled out.
"We have to go into the bedroom to talk honey. I will answer all your questions, but I want Auntie Quinn to be able to sleep some more," she told her and Marley thought about it for a moment, but then agreed and the two went into the bedroom. "Who does Mommy want to protect you from, more than anyone in the world?" she asked her.
"Terri," Marley said softly.
"That's right," Santana praised. "That is why we don't leave you alone without someone we trust. That is why Miss Beth had us stay at her house while this house had a security system installed. That is why we went down to the police station, so you could tell whatever bit of your story you wanted to, in order to keep Terri locked away."
"Didn' wowk," she pouted.
"Well no, not at first. See baby, here's the deal. The other day, Miss Beth called Mommy and Terri has hurt someone else. She hurt a little boy, and Miss Beth thinks that Auntie Quinn will be a good fit for his Mommy, like I was a good fit to be your Mommy, and since Auntie Quinn and Mommy went to school together, we know each other, so if she has any questions, I can help her, which will help the little boy."
"Baby?" Marley asked softly.
"Well he's as much a baby as you are I would imagine," Santana said kindly.
"Lots sa owies?" she asked sadly.
"Yes, baby. Terri hurt him."
"A wong time?" she yawned.
"That I don't know. Dr. Martinez is going to tell us tomorrow."
"Owies hewe?" she asked touching her own cheek. When Santana had met her, Marley had black and blue bruises all along her cheeks from where she'd been pinched so often.
"Maybe," Santana told her honestly and Marley fell quiet, wanting to think. She was getting tired, but now she had a million questions.
"Auntie Quinn?" she asked pointing to the living room where Quinn was sleeping on the couch.
"Yes, that's Marley's Auntie Quinn," Santana told her stifling her own yawn.
"Auntie Ana?" she asked pointing to Santana with confusion.
"No, I'm still your Mommy," she said kindly, petting Marley's hair.
"No, baby," she said shaking her head. "Baby's Auntie Ana?" she asked pointing to Santana.
"Yes, I will effectively be Auntie to Noah, and Auntie Quinn will be his Mommy," Santana explained.
"Safe here?" she asked cuddling into Santana tightly, sleep taking over her body, even though she didn't want it to.
"Yes, Auntie Quinn and Baby Noah are going to be staying here for a while to stay safe, and then they will find their own safe place to live, because Mommy thinks this apartment is too small for any more people to be living in it," she said with a smile and Marley smiled and nodded. She had to agree. It was a bit cramped with the four of them, but they somehow made it work. Adding a fifth and sixth person, might be stretching the walls just a little too thin.
"Noah?" Marley asked.
"Noah is at the hospital. Auntie Quinn and Mommy will go see him tomorrow afternoon. You can come with us, or you can stay home with Mama. Papa has to work," she said. Marley nodded and mumbled something unintelligible as exhaustion took over her body. "Sleep for now my sweet baby girl. We will work it all out in the morning," Santana soothed and she rocked her little girl gently on the bed, lulling both of them back to sleep.
The next morning, Kurt was up before all the girls and decided to make bacon and french toast. First he knew it was something they would all eat, and he knew bacon was Quinn's weakness. Knowing that she had to go deal with what they thought would be a frightened and agitated little one, he thought bacon would be a better way to start her day.
She woke up rather quickly and managed to sneak into the kitchen and steal a fresh piece before he could stop her. She then gave Kurt a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she told him.
"You are definitely going to need this," he told her and happened to look over into the corner of the living room. "You were being watched I think," he said.
"Why do you say that?"
"See those blocks?" he asked pointing over to the corner.
"Oh my God, I haven't seen those blocks since I was a kid," she smiled, nostalgia taking over her brain for a moment.
"Yes, well for a good month or so, that was Marley's form of communication, and based on what they spell out, I believe Marley thought you were going to hurt someone in her family," he said. "The fact that you slept in this house and didn't experience a tantrum or meltdown; that in itself is a great accomplishment," he told her.
"She's so sweet though, she can't possibly be that bad."
"Quinn, that is my little girl as much as she is Santana's, and she's Rachel's little girl too, until she decides she no longer wants to be our little girl, but that little girl, as much as I love her, handful doesn't begin to describe how much work she can be when she gets worked up. She is lovely, and beautiful, and sweet, but she is most definitely a tortured soul," he said.
"We were in the glee club together. I've seen tortured souls."
"Yes, but there's glee and then there's Marley," he said seriously and Quinn gave him a curious look. She wasn't sure Marley could possibly be that bad.
Rachel came around the corner moments later and waved sleepily at her friends before pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting at the table. She noticed the blocks and looked toward Kurt. "Did I really sleep through a melt down?" she asked.
"If you did, then so did we," he told her.
"There was no melt down," Santana yawned coming around the corner by herself. "Marley got up in the middle of the night to watch over Quinn and protect us from her, I think. She was just using the blocks to spell out things so we didn't wake Quinn. Then I took her into our room and we talked a bit. I hope you're okay with being Auntie Quinn, because she called you that last night," Santana explained. "I think she's beginning to understand why you're here and what your position is."
"What did you tell her?" Quinn asked.
"I explained that Terri hurt a little boy named Noah and that Miss Beth thinks you will be the best fit to be his Mommy, just like I was the best fit to be Marley's Mommy. She seemed to like that explanation. She asked if he was in pain, and I said possibly."
"What did Miss Beth actually tell you about him?" Rachel asked.
"Miss Beth said Noah's looking at hypothermia, genital and physical abuse, muscular trauma, and dehydration."
"Seriously? What is her deal? Why torture them? What could she possibly get out of doing that to someone?" Rachel asked angrily.
"Calm down Mama," Kurt smiled and gave her her plate as well as passing one to Quinn. Santana took her own plate and the four sat down to breakfast. "Did you and Marley at least sleep well?" Rachel asked, calming down a bit.
"For most of the night, yes. She woke up ten minutes ago, but was far too tired, and fell straight back to sleep, as I changed her."
"She wears diapers?" Quinn asked and they all nodded. "By choice?" she asked curiously.
"By torturous necessity," Kurt said taking Rachel's hand, because he knew her blood was boiling. "You need to relax. If you're going to the hospital with them, you're going to freak him out and Marley. She's not used to seeing you this angry, and we both know what she turns into when one of us freaks her out."
"How often does that happen?" Quinn interjected with a smirk on her face. She imagined this would happen a lot for some reason.
"Not too often," Santana said.
"First week, in this house, these two had a fight. Marley was a basket case," Kurt said.
"We had a fight and scared the crap out of her," Santana admitted and they all heard movement in the other room.
"Can I?" Quinn asked. She wasn't about to overstep any boundaries and freak the little girl out.
"Go with Kurt, yes," Santana said kindly. "But," she said taking Quinn's wrist as she stood. "You follow his lead and you let Marley say whatever she wants to," Santana lectured.
"She'll be fine," Rachel said kindly and she and Santana let Kurt and Quinn go into the bedroom.
"Papa!" Marley smiled at him.
"Well good morning baby girl," Kurt smiled. "Did you sleep well?" he asked her. She nodded and crawled into his lap and took his hands and wrapped them around her waist. "Mmmm, I love cuddling my baby girl, so much," Kurt told her and he gave her kisses to her temple.
"Auntie Quinn," she said softly.
"Good morning sweetheart," Quinn smiled. "You don't have to call me Auntie if you don't want to. I know that's what Mommy said, but she should have told you it was okay to just say Quinn," she explained.
"No, Auntie Quinn," Marley said and Quinn smiled. "Auntie," she said continuing slowly, gathering her words carefully. "Baby Noah, owies. I hewp. I did bad. No save in time," she said and Quinn gave a smile.
"First, you have hair in your eyes, can I move it?" she asked her and Marley nodded. "There you are beautiful," Quinn smiled. "Now, yes, Baby Noah may be hurt, but you did nothing wrong. You did everything you could. It is absolutely not your fault that he got hurt," Quinn explained.
"That's right," Kurt said. "Noah was hurt because a very mean lady named Terri is a very strong word, do you remember what that word is" he asked.
"Bully," Marley said.
"I think that's a very good word and I don't even know your full story. I just know you needed a Mommy, a Mama, and a Papa," Quinn told her kindly. Marley smiled and leaned into Kurt, enjoying their moment together and thinking that Quinn was pretty cool. She had blonde hair like Terri, but that was about it. She seemed safe and Santana had assured Marley that Quinn was indeed safe and very kind.
"Papa, I go hop-sit-a wif Mommy?" she asked him.
"I don't know baby, we'll have to ask Mommy. I don't think it'll be a problem. Why do you want to go my love?" he asked her.
"Baby Noah, s'ared wike me," she said, her voice slipping further and further into toddler state.
"I'm sure he's very scared, but we don't know that he was a baby for Terri, so you have to be very sure and go very slow. Do you remember how slow Mommy went with you in the beginning?" he asked and Marley nodded. "We're going to have to do that again and help him build up strength and trust, because as we know Terri takes those things away, doesn't she?" he asked.
"Bully," Marley said softly, but seriously. "Papa, wha you caw'ed?" she asked him.
"I'm Papa Kurt silly girl," he said nuzzling her and kissing her jawline noisily making her grin and while they talked, Quinn sat and watched. Marley may be as tall as them and incredibly smart, but Quinn couldn't help but see this happy little toddler who was enamored with her Papa, as most little girls were.
Marley was holding Santana's hand as tightly as she could. The hospital was not her favorite place. "You didn't have to come in baby. Mama can still take you home," she offered.
"No," Marley said firmly. She wasn't going to budge on this. This was all her fault and she had to apologize to Noah for letting him fall into this position. She was convinced it was her fault Terri found him and tortured him.
"If you can't make me happy I'll just go find the next little boy or girl to come help me and then it'll be all Marley's fault for not giving me what I wanted. All your fault that someone was spanked and made to be my little slut. All Marley's fault," Terri had crooned as she changed Marley's diaper. One of the few times she had. Her body was still regulating though so when she saw blood, she gave Marley quite a beating for being such a bad big girl. "Stop acting like a big girl! You're a baby slut and you better remember that!" she barked.
Marley started to tremble as the memory continued taking over her and Santana stopped. She and Rachel got in front and behind her, while Quinn moved to grab a chair for Marley to sit in. "Baby, you're okay, look at me," Santana said softly and kindly and she put her hand on Marley's cheek to connect with her. They didn't have anything in the backpack that could be pulled out immediately. Panda and Teddy were too big, and the pacifier was way too obvious. "Look at me Marley, you're okay," Santana assured her and Marley finally focused in on her. "There's my good girl," Santana cooed sweetly. "What happened honey, can you tell me."
"Bad memories," she said honestly and she forced herself to speak normally. She wasn't ready to be anyone's little girl out in public and Santana never forced her to be. If anyone had asked about her walking situation, which most people didn't, Santana's go to line, was a car accident that she was still healing from. It wasn't a complete lie. the last time Marley had been with Terri, she rolled herself out of a car. Santana didn't know that, but it was the best she could come up with on the spot.
"Okay, well seeing Noah might bring back more memories, so if you want to sit in the hallway, with Mama, you can," she told her in a very soft tone, so no one could hear. Quinn and Rachel were right there and even they didn't hear what Santana said.
"I have to," Marley said.
"Only if you want to," Santana told her. "You don't have to. There is a difference," she explained kindly.
"I want to," Marley insisted, her voice trembling a little bit.
"Alright, you can, I just want you to be absolutely sure, that's all," Santana told her.
Marley nodded and after a moment, stood back up, and the four girls continued down the hallway. They went into room twelve as they had been told and there on the bed, looking small and peaceful was a young man. He had a baby face, with one black eye, the same bruises on his cheeks that Marley used to have on hers, and blankets pulled up by his neck. Marley sat down on the chair and immediately began to cry. This was all her fault. She'd run away and forced Terri to get another little one and this time, Terri didn't mess around. She went for as young as she could.
Marley turned into Rachel and cried quietly. Her movement had caught Noah's attention and he started to panic. "Okay Mommy," Santana teased quietly. "You're on," she said.
"Noah," she said kindly and he tried to jerk his head toward the voice, but whimpered in pain, due to the bruising on his neck. "Shhh, Noah, you're okay. You are. My name is Quinn and I was called to come here and help you out, in any way I can. Mainly to help you get better," she explained. "Can you speak?" she asked him kindly and he didn't dare budge. He didn't know what was going on. Part of him wanting to fight, but he couldn't see so well and he was being held to the bed by various machines. "Okay, well I'm going to take that as a no or as you don't want to and that's perfectly okay. As I said my name is Quinn, and this is Santana, Rachel, and Marley," she said.
"Mar-ree!" he said quickly. Marley sat up a bit at hearing her name. He knew her. He blamed her, as he should. She was out of his line of vision though and he wanted to get a better look at her. He had to see her. "Dead! Mar-ree dead!" he cried out not being able to see her.
"Shhh, calm down Noah," Quinn said when she noticed that the heart monitor had picked up it's pace. "Do you know Marley?" she asked him.
"Mar-ree dead," he repeated.
"He speaks really well for an infection," Rachel said quietly to Santana who simply nodded her agreement.
"Marley isn't dead Noah, at least not the Marley who is in the room" Quinn said kindly. "Let's try this. Can you see me? Do you see Quinn?" she asked and he stopped speaking. "Alright, let's do this, I want you to raise your hand when you can see me," Quinn instructed kindly and in that moment, Santana knew why Beth hired Quinn. "I know it might be a little painful for you, so just raise it as much as you can," Quinn said. "I'm also going to say my ABC's so that you always hear my voice as I move around the bed," she told him. "Just let me know when you see me Noah," Quinn said kindly and she watched him carefully while saying her ABC's so that he could hear her voice and when he saw her, he raised his hand a half an inch. Then it fell back down but Quinn smiled.
"That was excellent listening Noah, I am very proud of you," Quinn told him kindly. "Now that you can see me, I want to ask you something okay. Do you know Marley?" she asked him.
"Mar-ree dead," he said and over in the corner, Marley turned into Santana and continued to cry quietly. This was all her fault and now Noah wanted to hurt her, she was sure of it. He'd been saying Marley dead since he heard her name, and she couldn't blame him. He looked pale and thin. His muscles looked like they had some atrophy to them, which she understood completely, because she'd been in that very position herself. She held tight to Santana and continued to cry and tremble.
"You're okay baby girl. Mommy's here, you're safe," Santana said and Noah gave Quinn a funny look. Something wasn't right and he knew it.
"The voice you hear belongs to Santana. Can you say her name? I know it's a mouthful and I know you're still fighting an infection," Quinn said kindly.
"Tana," he said quietly.
"Very good," Quinn praised. "Now, I want you to just keep looking at me and we're just going to discuss simple things and if you get too tired or don't want to any more, then you just raise your hand. I'm not moving any closer than this. You need to learn to trust me, and that is not going to happen if I just come in and take over a situation right? So we have to go slowly and carefully," Quinn said. "Tell me Noah, how do you know who Marley is?" she asked.
"Terri," he said almost bitterly.
"What else do you know about Terri?" she asked him.
"Put me here," he said and he did get a bit angrier.
"She did, but she's been locked up now. We got the phone call last night when you showed up here. Dr. Martinez is your doctor. He is also Marley's doctor," Quinn said.
"No, Mar-ree dead," he said.
"Why do you think Marley is dead Noah? Did someone tell you that?" she asked.
"Terri," he said and Rachel picked up on something.
"Terri told you about Marley?" Quinn asked and then she looked over toward Rachel and Santana. Marley wasn't focused and Quinn really wanted her to pay attention to this. It was critical.
"Mar-ree dead," he said to Quinn.
"Did Terri tell you anything more about Marley?"
"Mar-ree baby," he said. "Baby grrr. Dead."
"Yes, that was sort of right. Marley feels safer when she acts like a baby girl. Do you know that Marley knew Terri too and that Marley is really nineteen years old?" Quinn asked and Noah furrowed his brow in confusion.
"You'll never be as good as Marley. Marley was the one and only baby girl I ever had and she died a horrible death, because she didn't listen to me, so you follow my damned instructions or you're going to die too!" Terri had barked at him.
"Noah my friend," Quinn called to him. "Come back to Quinn, Noah, you're okay, we're just talking. We're in the hospital where you are getting better. Noah, Quinn, Santana, Rachel, and Marley," Quinn said.
"Mar-ree dead," Noah insisted.
"Marley baby, come over here honey. Just for a moment," Quinn requested.
"Mar-ree dead," Noah said and Marley hung tighter to Santana, not sure she wanted to go, not sure if she even could move.
"Okay, okay, let's try this. Did you ever see a picture of Marley?" Quinn asked kindly. He was getting agitated and Marley was starting to hyperventilate slightly. Noah raised his hand and Quinn thought for a moment. "Do you want Quinn to stop asking questions?" she asked him and he carefully shook his head no. "Okay, let's try this then. Yes or no questions for you buddy. Left hand for yes, right hand for no, is that fair?" she asked him, not having moved an inch from her spot, she wasn't even swaying side to side.
Because his eye was so swollen and the other was black and blue, she didn't want to risk it, however Rachel was getting concerned that Quinn was going to lock out her knees and be in pain. If she didn't move soon, Rachel was going to get Quinn a chair. Noah raised his left hand and Quinn smiled. "Very good Noah, I'm very proud of you."
"Okay Noah, here's the first question. Did Terri show you pictures of Marley?" Left hand. "Did Terri say Marley died?" Left hand. "Did she say why Marley died?" Right hand. "Very good Noah, you are doing very well," Quinn praised him. "Just a few more questions and then I want to show you one thing," she told him kindly. "Terri said Marley was a baby girl?" she asked. Left hand. "Did Terri want you to be a baby too?" Quinn asked and fresh tears rolled down his cheek and Quinn frowned.
"You damn little freaks! You want to be big baby sluts don't you? Well Marley was just like you and I'll teach you exactly how to be a baby slut. You're saving grace is that you don't get a period, but you're still going to get babas. There is no way that any baby of mine is going to be dirty before receiving any kind of attention," Terri had growled.
"It's okay Noah, it's okay. Quinn is going to come forward and help you wipe away your tears and I'm not mad okay?" she asked him and while she talked, he noticed she hadn't moved. Was she waiting for permission? Who was going to give it to her? Was it him? Was it a doctor? He didn't understand why Quinn was being so calm and relaxed with him. He wasn't a freak, like Terri had yelled at him many times a day, at least he wasn't before, Terri had made him one now. "Noah buddy, just raise your hand. Left for yes, right for no, you get to tell me if I can come help you wipe away your tears. I'm sure you're not comfortable and part of my job is to help you stay comfortable as you heal," Quinn explained. He very timidly raised his left and and Quinn nodded.
"Okay, I will help you, but since you can't see so well yet, Quinn is going to hum a song so you can always hear me. I don't want you to think I've gone away and then get scared when I use the tissue on your face," she explained. She hummed all the way over to him, while she wiped away his tears, and then all the way back to the spot she'd been standing in, so he could see her again. The rest of the room was too blurry for his vision. "Okay buddy one last question do you think you would recognize Baby Marley if you saw her?" she asked and he raised his left hand.
"You did very well Noah, thank you for answering all of my questions. I'm going to sit down, I want to show you something, but I don't think it'll work standing, so I have to sit down. If you can't see me any more just raise your hand and let me know okay?" she asked him and he raised his left hand. "Very good," she praised him and then she took a seat and waited for a moment. "Can you see me Noah? Do you still see Quinn?" she asked him. He raised his left hand.
"Good," Quinn smiled at him. "Marley baby, come here honey," she said and Marley shook her head no and hung on to Santana tightly. "Mommy can come with you sweetheart, you're okay, come sit with Auntie Quinn, just for a moment," she tried.
"Mommy," Marley cried. This was it. This was her end. They were going to let Noah see her and he was going to convince them to kill her.
"Shhh, I'm here baby, Mommy's here," Santana said gently and Quinn could see Noah trying to figure things out as the voices sounded off around him.
"That's Santana Noah, she's Marley's Mommy. Marley has Mommy Santana, Mama Rachel, and Papa Kurt. I'm her Auntie Quinn. Santana, Rachel, Kurt, and I all went to school together. The three of them are roommates and Santana and I work at the same place," she explained. "Can I tell you about it?" she asked and he raised his left hand.
"Tread carefully please, Marley doesn't know everything and for right now I'd like to keep it that way," Santana said and Quinn nodded.
"Santana and I work at a place where all kinds of people show up and ask for all kinds of different things. Some of those people ask to be treated like younger children. Some of them want to get back a part of their childhood that they felt they missed out on," she said. "There are other people there too, but you don't need to know about them just yet," she said kindly. "Marley honey, it's okay baby, come sit with Auntie Quinn, just for a little bit baby," she told her and Marley looked at her with swollen eyes, and a heavy heart.
"I'll go with you honey. Mommy will be right next to you, but I think Auntie Quinn has a good idea. I think you sitting with her, will be good for both you and Noah," she said. Marley cried, but let Santana lead her over and she sat in Quinn's lap, completely tense, and started to cry harder. As soon as Noah's vision focused on her a bit more, his eyes went wide and over by the door, Rachel was sitting on the chair and crying. This was too painful for her heart. She wasn't sure how much more she could take of this. The only good news was that Noah was the last one. Terri was behind bars and not getting out anytime soon.
Noah's eyes almost bugged out of his head and his heart rate picked up a bit. This couldn't be her. This was a trick. This was a different Marley, because Terri said that Marley died. Terri said she'd been kidnapped and killed. She said, Marley didn't follow her instructions and was taken away. He was trying to think of the way to find out if it was her. He was quiet for a long time and then he remembered that Terri sang a stupid nursery rhyme type song all the time, but it wasn't anything that any random person would know about. Terri had changed some of the words and he hoped that this Marley knew it. If she did, then he would know who it was, and could relax a little bit. If this Marley person was calling other people Mommy and Mama and Papa and Auntie, then it meant that Quinn would be a life line for him as well. If Marley could find one, so could he. Maybe that was why he ended up in this hospital.
He took a deep breath and began speaking and singing very quietly. "A ticket, a tacket, a boo an pur-pur backet, for one oh taww, wit room oh 'maww," he sang and then he waited. Marley would know the end of that. Terri had told him, time and time again, how often she sang that song to Marley.
"Marley tried to run away a lot, so I had to discourage her. Do you know what happens to babies who run away from their nice safe houses? They get chopped into little piece by ax murderers," Terri had told him. "A tisket, a tasket, a blue and purple basket, for one so tall with room so small," she'd said.
"Dey dop you wif a hatchet," Marley finally pushed out from the 'safety' of Quinn's lap even though she didn't feel safe and now she'd just told them how to kill her. Chop her up with a hatchet, put her into a bunch of pieces and put her in the casket and the into the ground. That was what Terri had told her she deserved. Terri had told her that sluts didn't get proper funerals, they were chopped up into pieces and put in the ground so no one had to look at them.
Santana dropped down to the floor and looked at Marley. "Look at Mommy honey, you're okay, I'm not mad, but Mommy never, ever, ever wants to hear that song again, no one is ever going to come after you with a hatchet," Santana said. "And Noah my boy," she said standing up and moving into his line of vision. "I know that's how you are trying to figure out who Marley is, but I assure you, this is the same Marley Terri told you about, but the same goes for you. Santana, never, ever, ever wants to hear that song again," she told him seriously.
They'd been at the hospital for a few hours now and Quinn was holding Marley in her lap, talking to both her and Noah, trying to engage them in conversation. They both wanted to talk to each other but neither knew where to start. Marley wanted to apologize for all she had done wrong, and Noah wanted to be sure that she was really okay. Terri had told him all the things she "helped" Marley to learn and some of them didn't sound very pleasant, but mostly he wanted to know if being a little one was really acceptable with these people. Based on her speech and actions it was, but he just wasn't completely convinced.
"Marley baby, stay with Auntie Quinn and Noah okay? Mommy and Mama are going to go down to the cafeteria and get something for everyone to snack on. Noah buddy, I will talk to your doctor and see what's safest for you, okay?" Santana said and both little ones nodded slowly.
"Mommy," Marley squeaked and Santana walked over to her, knelt down and pet her cheek. Noah didn't like that at all. The touching of cheeks was bad, he knew this. How could Marley not know this. It had to be the right Marley though, because she knew the song and he was pretty sure no one knew that song, at least, not that version of it.
"What's up baby?"
"You come back," she said softly and sadly.
"I will be right back sweetheart, I just have to go to the cafeteria to get some food. We didn't bring a snack for you, which was Mommy's fault, and I'm pretty sure Noah should eat something, which is his doctor's fault for not telling us about that, and I heard Mama's tummy growl, from all the way over here. You are very safe with Auntie Quinn sweetheart, I promise," she told her and Marley nodded but started to cry when Rachel and Santana left the room.
Noah watched in confusion. Terri never asked him to call her Mommy. She had told him she hated the term. Now though, he was watching Marley use family terms for relative strangers and she was now crying for them, since they were gone. These had to be decent people if nothing else.
"Shhh, you're okay Marley. Auntie Quinn will not hurt you. I would never do anything to hurt you sweetheart. I know you don't fully trust that yet. I know I have to earn your trust and Noah's trust," Quinn told her kindly.
"Noah," Marley said suddenly as if she remembered something. "My fault, I sorry," she told him honestly.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
"I bad baby. I goed way. Terri said, bad things happen cause of me. Other babies suffer cause of me," she said in her soft baby gibberish.
"No, no, no," Noah said quickly.
"Yes," Marley argued. "You owies," she said touching her own cheeks in the spots where Noah had bruises.
"You had 'em?" Noah asked her softly and she nodded bashfully and let the tears fall and Quinn remained quiet. She was watching them try to bond or communicate, or something and she wasn't about to stop that. They were the only two people in the world who knew exactly what Terri had done.
"What's wrong?" Santana asked Rachel as they stood on line to pay for the food.
"Do you think Marley's going to eat this? Do you think she would prefer the pear instead? I mean she can't have apple juice, so it would stand to reason that the actual apples are bad too right?" Rachel asked, ignoring the question completely.
"Rachel," Santana said in a warning tone.
"No, absolutely not," she said seriously and stood frozen in place, prepared for a fight. "I am not your pet. I am not under your care. I am not our little girl. So you do not get to talk to me, like I deserve a time out!" Rachel growled and Santana held up her hands and let Rachel breathe for a second.
"I think Marley would like the pear as well as the apple we got for her," Santana offered and Rachel nodded.
"This sucks more than anything else. Taking care of our little girl is not always easy, but she is our little girl and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world at this point. The truth is she is yours, much more than she is mine or Kurt's and I'm totally okay with being back up for you, but what is Quinn going to do now? Quinn doesn't have the same support system. Neither of them deserved this and I can't sit in that room and know, that not only did she get Marley, but she got Noah too and he's a baby, a real baby. He's not even legal yet!" Rachel babbled and while it drove Santana up a wall that she was rambling, she realized she had to let her do it.
"I'm sorry, I only have a fifty on me," Santana said to the cashier as they were rung up at the register. The cashier rolled her eyes and Rachel lost her mind.
"Excuse me what is your problem!" she yelled at her. "Look, I'm sorry that you're stuck here in this pale painted, hospital white, completely sterile, florescently lit room and serving food, but you have no idea what she is going through, so can the attitude and get us our damn change, or politely tell us that we need more food and I will gladly grab something more!" Rachel barked. She caused a small scene, but she didn't care. She was too worked up to be bothered with the fact that people were staring at her like she'd escaped the mental ward.
Santana was both appalled and proud. It was rare that Rachel lost her cool, but apparently today was one of those days. The cashier rolled her eyes again, got Santana her change, and the girls went on their way. "Let's go Kujo," Santana grinned.
"Not in the mood!" Rachel growled.