Happy Sunday everyone!

So here is the next chapter. It's a lot shorter than the previous few.

Warnings: Some basic descriptions, but nothing too graphic. Marley has a tantrum. She and Noah have a "fight" per say and there is also bonding time between them.

As always, my appreciate to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008. Many thanks to EVERYONE who has sent me PM's and suggestions and given reviews, etc. The writer's block has been cleared out, but now I have to choose a pathway to keep the story on track. I'm working on it. I'm hoping a day at the pool will help me out some more, plus time with my own nephew!

Be well everyone.

Kurt showed up at the hospital several hours later and was surprised to find everyone asleep, except for Marley. She was sitting up carefully on the bed, with Rachel and Santana seated behind her, using their arms as her brace to keep her steady on the bed. She looked up when Kurt came to the door and smiled at him, but put her finger to her lips. "Shhh," she told him softly. He nodded and then quietly walked into the room and gave her a kiss to her cheek.

"Hey princess," he smiled at her.

"Hi Papa," she smiled giving him a hug.

"What are you doing awake and everyone else is asleep?" he asked.

"I took a nap. Dere turns now," she said softly.

"I see," he smiled. "What do you think of Noah baby girl?"

"Papa, he hurt," she told him and Kurt nodded, letting her continue, because he could see, she was bursting with information that she wanted to share with someone. She also seemed to be very protective at the moment. "Look Papa," she said pointing to his cheeks. "Same owies like me."

"I see. Do you know if Noah is in a lot of pain?" he asked her.

"He said no," Marley said softly. "Papa, he has owies in his head too," she said.

"Inside?"

"Uh huh. Terri very bad, bad, bad. Terri made him potty," she said softly and sadly. Kurt wasn't entirely sure what that meant and based on Marley's facial expressions, he wasn't going to ask. She was sad, but calm, and he wasn't going to ask her to tell him information that would get her all worked up. "But Papa," she said, almost as if she was just figuring something out. "Papa, Noah hurt, cause of me," she said.

"He is? You gave him that black eye there did you?" Kurt asked her sounding genuinely surprised and putting a bit of teasing in his voice, hoping Marley would pick up on it. She did and let out a little giggle but the tears still rolled slowly down her cheek.

"I runned away, so Terri got Noah. My faw-t," she said.

Kurt nodded his understanding and then waited for a moment before he spoke. "Do you know that you running away from Terri was a good thing?" he asked her. "It really was baby girl. I won't speak for Mommy Santana or Mama Rachel. I don't know how they feel, but I know how I feel and I know that I don't really remember my life before you. I know I had one, but now that I have you, I'm not sure I could go back. You are, our baby girl and our big girl, and more than anything else, you're our Marley," he told her.

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly while he hugged her in return and rubbed her back. Small movements caught his attention and he spoke gently. "Why don't you introduce me to Noah, my love," he smiled.

Marley pushed back and waved at Noah, smiling as she snuggled into Kurt. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Wawa pee," he said.

"Papa, you give me that please?" she asked and Kurt nodded, handing her the call button. She pressed it and moments later Nurse Helen walked in and smiled.

"Oh dear, did we sedate the wrong people?" she asked with a smile.

"No, they all got tired," Marley said kindly. "Can Noah have some water please?" she asked.

"Of course loves, I have it in the hallway," she smiled. She stepped out of the room, returned with the water and walked over to the bed.

"No wait! He can't see you," Marley said protectively and Kurt simply smiled. "Talk to him please. Tell him. Aun, I mean, Quinn wants him to know everything, before it happens," she said seriously. She wanted to be a little girl in the moment, being brave was so hard, but Noah was having trouble speaking for himself, and it was all her fault, so scary or not, brave was what she had to be.

"It's just Nurse Helen Noah, and I have a glass of water here for you. I'm going to put the cup in your hand," she told him. Noah took the cup and as he took the water and swished it around, Helen spoke kindly, putting the kidney tray up to his mouth, telling him he could spit out the water anytime he wanted. As with before, it was cloudy to start, tinged very slightly with blood, and then eventually it ran clear and Helen informed him that he could drink water normally now, if he chose and then she left them alone.

"Mar-ree, who da new voy?" he asked her.

"Is my Papa. His name is really Kurt," she told him. "Papa, he can no sees you. Can you move over in da chair pee? He can see dat," she told him. Kurt smiled, gave her a kiss to her cheek and moved over to the chair. He was slightly glad to see her slipping back into little girl world. He knew why it was happening though, so he spoke gently to everyone.

"Hi Noah, my name is Kurt," he told him kindly and Noah gave a wave. "I don't know if you can say my name or not, so I'll give you options. Marley calls me Papa, because that's what she thought would be safest and easiest for her when she first met me. You can call me that too. I also know it was discussed that I might be more of an Uncle type figure to you. Again, that is your call, and I'm only going to step closer to keep Marley supported while she sits on the bed with you.

"Mar-ree, you 'ook at me, um," he said.

"You can't say all your ABC's," she said finally picking up on it. He wasn't acting little like she was, but it finally dawned on her that his speech sounded young. He shook his head and she looked at Kurt. "Papa, he needs my b'ocks. Can we b'ing dem?" she asked.

"Yes, we can bring Noah some blocks," Kurt smiled.

"You try 'gain, I fink hard an he'p you," she told Noah kindly.

"You 'ook an we aww um, nap," he said.

She nodded and smiled. "You, Mommy, Mama, and Auntie Quinn all went nye nye," she smiled at him. "You try," she smiled.

"Nye nye," he grinned and she gave him a beaming smile.

"Yay you!" she praised. "I doesn't know if you can have food," she told him. "Are you hungry? Papa can help us," she offered.

"Yeah, food okay," he told her and she smiled.

"Papa he'p pee," she said.

"I can do that. Do you think, the two of you can watch over the sleeping ladies here, while I go to the nurses' station and find out what food Noah can have?" he asked and they both nodded. "Marley when is the last time you ate baby, do you know?"

"No, I nye nye fore," she told him.

"Sleep is not always a bad thing. I'm going to find out what Noah can eat and get you both something and no arguments from you little girl, okay?' he asked her firmly and she nodded and Kurt gave her another kiss before leaving.

"You in t'oub'a?" Noah asked.

"No. Mommy just says I gotta eat more. I fat, but Mommy says no, so I gotta eat," she sighed.

"Mar-ree, you tiny!" Noah said.

"Nuh-uh," she said shaking her head. "I cow. So fat," she told him.

"Tana to'd you?" he asked her.

"No, Terri," she informed him.

"Terry, mean, very, very, very mean," he told her. "Terri Eye-er," he said.

"Kay, so how'd you get that black eye?" Marley asked and the stern tone in her voice startled Rachel awake, but neither Noah nor Marley noticed. Rachel opened her eyes and just watched. Marley wasn't in front of her, so she couldn't see and she was out of Noah's line of vision, so he would know either.

"Terri pun'd me," he said.

"And did she say why?"

"Ang-ry," he said slowly.

"Do you know what day she did it?"

"Few day a-go," he said.

"Yeah, but think how many specifically," Marley said and Noah was starting to get both fearful of where Marley was going with her line of questioning and concerned that Marley was about to make a leap to some conclusion that just wasn't reality. He didn't notice that she was now fully grown up. This was a very enraged, confused, and guilt-ridden nineteen year old, soon to be twenty year old, talking to him. Rachel however, noticed it right away. When Marley changed that fast, with that much attitude, only trouble was bound to follow.

"Four," he said after a long pause.

"See!" she yelled and Rachel sat up, prepared to move if she had to. She was hoping Marley would calm down and the two would work it out themselves. Her hope was about to be dashed. "My fault! It's all my fault. You can't see cause of me! Terri was in jail, prison, being held because I told my damn story, or what I could manage to tell at the time, but it didn't work! They released her, and then she went back and beat the shit out of you!" she yelled at him.

"Marley Rose, stop yelling," Rachel scolded, startling both of them.

"NO!" she screamed. "It's my fault! I'm a big fat cow, who is just a lazy slut, and some damn freak, who can't do anything right and because of all those horrible things, look what happened to him! It's all my fault!" she yelled.

All of her yelling had woken both Quinn and Santana by now. "You and I need to go have a talk little girl," Santana said.

"No! No more talking! I'm done! Look what I did! How can any of you think that this is okay? That I'm not a horrible person?! How can you not see what I'm seeing?!" she yelled and angry tears began to cascade down her face. "I can't walk, I can barely crawl some days. My brain is completely screwed up. I'm happier being some stupid, slutty, baby girl, than a teenager, or an adult for that matter! I caused this much pain and suffering to another person, and all because I just wanted someone to love me and care for me, and fuck of a lot good that did. I've interrupted everyone's life and made his worse!" she cried and Santana calmly stood up and walked over to the bed. She wanted to grab her little girl and hold her tight.

"Are you done yelling now?' she asked and Marley deflated like a balloon.

"You should all just leave me. I've hurt too many people," she cried and she collapsed forward into hysterical cries. She just couldn't do anything right.

"And now we go have our little talk," Santana said and with struggles and screaming and a lot of kicking from Marley, Santana wrestled her into a bear hug, and carried her over to the corner of the room, being sure that they were hopefully in Noah's line of sight. The last thing they needed was for Noah to think Marley was being abused again.

"Kin!" he cried out. He knew Quinn would be safe. He seemed to trust her the most.

"I'm right here buddy," she said stepping into his line of vision.

"Kin, Mar-ree kay, He'p her!" he said and his monitors started to go a bit funny.

"Shhh," Quinn soothed kindly. "It's alright Noah, Santana is just holding Marley in her arms, that's all," Quinn said above the screaming and the crying sounds that Marley was making.

"No, no, no," he said not believing her. He knew how this worked, when babies had little outburst like that, they got smacked. When anyone made any noise that seemed slightly disrespectful, they got punished, he got punished. Terri made sure of it. Santana may have appeared calm, but he was positive Santana wouldn't stand for her outburst. Marley had screamed and sworn and done all the things that get 'children' into a lot of trouble.

"Shhh, okay bud, okay, just listen to me. What if I show you what Santana's doing? Can Quinn do that?" she offered and he gave her a funny look. "I know it's a lot to ask," she said kindly. "I also think you can't see them. I know Santana tried to move to where you could, but maybe it's too far away right now. If I show you, then you'll know that Marley is okay and she's just freaking out right now," Quinn explained.

"Which she does a lot Noah," Rachel added in softly. Her words earned her a dirty look from Santana as Marley screamed. "No, you don't get to look at me like that. It's the truth. It's not good or bad, it's what is, and she's screaming, because her foot just slammed into that," Rachel said pointing to the radiator and then she went over and helped restrain Marley some more in order to avoid further injury.

"What do you say Noah?" Quinn asked. "Do you trust me enough to physically show you, what is happening to Marley right now, or do you want to just trust my words?" she asked him. "No matter what your decision is, that's what we'll do," she told him.

He thought for a moment. There were no cattle prods or stun guns or very sharp weaponry in the hospital that he could think of. He did however fish around for the call button as a back up, just in case. Once he had it locked firmly in his hand, he spoke. "You do to me," he told her and his voice was deadly seriously.

"Alright, I will," Quinn said kindly. She moved closer to him and began speaking gently. "I have to move you forward, so I can crawl in behind you," she told him as she gently put her hand on his shoulder. He'd forgotten about the cane marks across his back by now. They didn't sting anymore, and Quinn worked hard to ignore them when his gown flapped open in the back and she caught sight of them. She explained to him as she crawled in behind him and then wrapped her body around him that this was exactly what Santana was doing and he got very confused.

"Why her ye'y?" he asked.

"I don't know, Noah, we can ask Rachel to come explain it to us," Quinn said.

"Rae," Noah called out to her.

"Hang on buddy," Rachel said kindly and she placed her hand on Marley's cheek and kept it there even though Marley flinched. "Shhh. It's Mama baby, you're okay. It's Mama's hand on your cheek and Mommy's arms around you," she tried.

"I BAD!" Marley wailed.

"No, you aren't Marley. Marley is a good girl who got into trouble and is making a recovery. You are not now, nor will you ever be, bad," Rachel told her. Marley finally broke free from Rachel's hands and turned into Santana, holding on as tightly as she could and still crying.

"Go, I got her now," Santana said. "Thank you," she added kindly and so Rachel stood up and she went over to take Noah's hand.

"Noah wants to know why Marley is still yelling and wailing," Quinn said kindly, and truth be told, she was curious as well.

"Marley is currently very confused. She thinks this is all her fault because Terri brainwashed her into thinking she is a lot of bad words. We try not to say those words around Marley, because they are not true. We've all used them before, but now that Marley is with us, we do our best to be extremely careful. Terri called her things like slut, and whore, and I think we're realizing fat was one of the words as well. We've heard about stupid and dumb in the past, as well as coward. Now of course none of that is true. Marley is none of those things, but Marley can get herself very worked up and when she does, she becomes one giant raw nerve ending, and has a tantrum or a melt down, or something. Kurt read in a book about para something or other and the nervous system, so what we do, when she's in that I-have-to-run-away-mode, we hold her tight and speak very softly to her," Rachel said.

"Parasympathetic," Quinn said. "It makes up half the nervous system," she smiled. "You hold them tight to give them the calming effect and soothe their nerves. We studied it in one of my anatomy classes," she said.

"Yes, that," Rachel agreed.

"Mar-ree not bad word," Noah said.

"No, buddy, she isn't, but she doesn't believe that yet, so we have to keep reassuring her. Did Terri call you any bad words?" Rachel asked kindly.

"I can't tew. Hurt," he said pointing to his mouth.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry," Rachel said honestly and he believed her. He was noticing that it was really nice being in Quinn's arms and she was calmly stroking his right hand with hers, while his left one held the call button, but now his grip was not so tight on it.

Rachel was about to ask another question when Kurt walked in with bags of food and sighed when he saw the scene before him. "I only went for food, how long was I gone?" he asked.

It had been twenty minutes now and Santana was still sitting in the chair, in the far corner of the room, holding her little girl tight in her arms and rocking her gently. "When you're calm then we can talk," she told her and Marley just hung on tightly. "Easy sweetheart, you can relax. If you tense too much, your muscles will go into spasm, and I know that is very painful for you. Just keep breathing with me," Santana coached and she worked on keeping her own breath calm and steady.

"Ana," Marley whimpered.

"What's up sweetheart?" Santana asked kindly.

"Why so hard? Why it hurts so much?" she asked her.

"Shhh, one question at a time sweetheart. Why is what so hard? Let's start with that."

"Covery," she whimpered, staying curled tight into Santana's body. There was no way she was letting go of the one person she truly trusted now.

"Recovery is hard for everyone sweetheart. Yours is more difficult, because of all the mean things Terri said to you. She did mean things to your body, and that is a slow process, but it's much harder to heal your brain," Santana explained and Marley cried softly. She didn't like that answer.

"I listened Mommy," she said softly. "I did. I no moved, an' I talked funny, an' I did what she said, an' her s'ill beated me, an' had big men hur' me," she cried.

"I know baby, and that was wrong. Terri shouldn't have done any of those things to you, or to anyone for that matter. But think about this my love, you ran away. You got very brave and found your courage and you got away from her," Santana tried.

"No, cause now, Noah," Marley whimpered.

"Yes, it's true, Noah got hurt, but Noah got out too, and now Terri is officially locked up. She is not getting out. This is not like a few days ago when you told your story and they said they couldn't hold her. This is very different baby. I promise," Santana told her.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"Yes my love?"

"I hun'gee, an I sorries I baby," she said sadly.

Santana gave a smile and gently put her finger under Marley's chin and lifted gently. "Firstly, I'm very glad to hear your hungry and I will get you food in a moment. Secondly, I'm going to tell you this again, and as many times as it takes until you believe me. You are a beautiful, smart, and talented girl. If you want to be nineteen years, or nineteen months, or anywhere in between, as long as you feel comfortable, then I'm okay with that, do you understand?" she asked her and Marley nodded her agreement. "Good girl, now let's have something to eat," Santana said kissing her forehead.

Kurt brought over a hamburger and some french fries. "I know it looks big, but I thought you and Mommy could share," he suggested, then he gave her a kiss and left them alone to eat, while he moved back over to Rachel, Quinn, and Noah. "Okay, so Noah, I don't know if you've decided what you want to call me, but when you do, you let me know please," he said and Noah simply nodded.

"I talked to your doctor, and they say that because of your injuries, you can actually eat whatever you want, but as soon as you're done, you have to rinse with a listerine and water mix to prevent any further infection. As soon as you finish your hot dog, or however much of it you like, either Quinn or Rachel or I will help you," he offered.

"T'ank you," Noah said and he carefully took a few more tiny bites, but Kurt watched as he chewed the food properly and then swallowed. He seemed to be a good eater, which Kurt was grateful for. He wasn't sure their house could hold two people with such severe food issues.

Marley was pretty awake after eating and looked up at Santana. "I wanna talk to Noah," she said softly.

"You can talk to him baby. You can even sit on the bed like you were before, but I have a condition," Santana told her. "The moment you start saying this is all your fault, the discussion is over and you will go sit in time out for two minutes. Not because you are in trouble, but because I want you to take a moment and think, and figure out why we all keep telling you, it is not your fault, understood?" Santana asked.

Marley nodded her understanding and was helped over to the bed. She sat down and looked at Noah for a moment and Quinn spoke kindly. "Remember my loves, you can ask each other questions and communicate however you like, but we do not demand anything from each other. Suggestions are fine, orders are not," Quinn said and both of them nodded. Marley crossed her legs under her and looked at him for a moment, developing her question. She had to think about what she wanted to ask before she asked it, otherwise, she was going to end up in time out. She knew full well that Santana was deadly serious about her condition.

"Um," she said thoughtfully. "Did you wanna be litt-a like I did?" she asked softly.

"No," he answered and she tilted her head to the side.

"No?" she asked.

"No," he confirmed and then he didn't say any more, so Marley decided to try a different question.

"How you meet Terri?" she asked.

"Ad, in da paper," he said slowly.

"You memba wha' it said?" she asked.

"No," he told her.

"Her made you baby?" she asked.

"No," he said.

"How you en' up wif her?" she asked.

"Kid-apped, at coffee," he said softly.

"You were kidnapped Noah?" Quinn asked kindly and he nodded.

"Wait, you were just sitting there, minding your own business and she just took you?" Rachel asked and again Noah nodded. Something wasn't sounding right though but she kept quiet and let the two continue while she silently grabbed a pen and paper and started to take notes.

"Her taked you from you house?" Marley asked.

"No, cah-ee 'op," he said and then rolled his eyes. That didn't sound normal at all. He wanted to answer her question, but as some of the important letters were gone, he couldn't, so he carefully reached for her hand and began drawing letters. The first was a C and Marley just looked at him. "You 'ook, den 'ay," he told her and he drew it again.

"C," she smiled and he nodded and kept going. "O...F...F...E...E S...H...O...P," Marley smiled. "Her taked you in a coffee shop?" Marley asked and he nodded. "How?" Marley yawned and then started to lean over, so Kurt kindly moved over to the bed.

"Pause please. Before you two continue, Marley is looking a bit tired, I'm going to move behind her and support her body, okay Noah?" he asked and Noah nodded. Kurt slipped in behind Marley and she cuddled up in his lap. "Alright continue," he said and Noah reached for Marley's hand.

He absolutely loved her hand. They were soft and pretty. Her nails weren't done, and her fingers were a bit too thin, and there was some discoloration in them, from the little that he could see, but holding her hand gave him such a serge of hope that he wished he could hold her hand forever. He gave her a smile and then began to draw. "K...L...O...R...I...P...H...I...L...M," Marley spelled and then she feel quiet. "I don't know dat word Mommy," she said sadly.

"That's alright, try again honey," Santana said kindly. She didn't know the word either. Noah will you spell it again? I'll write it down this time," she said and he repeated the same letters. "Kloriphilm," Santana wrote down and showed it to Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt, who all shrugged. Everyone had a relatively long day. Thinking was not their strong point at the moment. "You know what my loves, why don't we take a little break," Santana said kindly. "It's been a long day for everyone and I think rest would help us all, okay?"

Everyone agreed about this and then Noah turned to look at Quinn. "Kin," he said softly. "Kin I potty," he whispered.

"You have to go?" she asked him and he raised his left hand. "Alright, well since you are hooked up to a lot of IV's, I will get you set with a bed pan, and then step out of the room, to give you some privacy okay?" she asked and he lifted his right hand. He didn't want her to leave, he was going to need help. "You don't want the bed pan?" Quinn asked and he raised his right hand, negating what she said. "You do want the bed pan," she said and he raised his left hand. "Alright, let me get that first," she told him and she told everyone else to leave the room and set him up with it. "Are you sure you don't want privacy Noah?" she asked him.

"Faww down," he told her, keeping a tight grip on her body as she helped him to hover over the bed pan. "I hug you," he told her and she nodded at him. He leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder while doing his business and then he started to cry softly out of embarrassment.

"Maybe Quinn should go in front of you too?" she offered kindly, while rubbing his back and massaging his scalp and he let out a little laugh. "It's okay that you need help Noah, and go slow with you, and try to figure things out so that we don't get so frustrated. You're going to take time to recover, but it will happen, and I will do everything I can to help you okay? I know that Santana, Rachel, Kurt and Marley will help too," she told him.

"Keen up," he said softly.

"Yes, we have to do that. Now, do you think you can clean yourself up, or do you need some help?" she asked.

"He'p. Kin he'p," he told her.

"Thank you for trusting me Noah," she told him and gave him a smile. "I'm going to have you hold on to me. I'm going to take away the bed pan and then have you lay down on your tummy. I will hold your hand and clean you up okay?" she asked and he had tears in his eyes, but he agreed. He couldn't really clean himself up, his arms weren't strong enough yet.

After he was cleaned, Quinn spoke kindly. "I'm going to help you to turn onto your back Noah," she told him. Noah decided in these last few moments that Quinn was a good care taker and if Marley trusted her, the way she trusted Santana, Rachel, and Kurt, maybe he would be okay now. He really liked Marley though. She was beautiful, and smart. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't afraid of it. It was almost like she had an angelic glow and Noah was determined to get better and learn more about her.

After some time, the room was fully crowded again and Noah and Marley were settled into the bed, somehow together, and he told her to put whatever she wanted on the television. She flipped through some of the channels and found a discovery network show called 'How It's Made', so she left that on. The two of them were out in minutes as the announcer of the show, with the lovely voice went on about the makings of paint balls.

"Um, guys," Quinn said softly from her spot behind the 'kids'. They all turned to look at her and at her horrified facial expression the three stood up and went to see what was wrong. They'd learned over time, that they should be prepared for anything and everything. Noah's hospital gown had opened up in back as he curled himself carefully around Marley and now Quinn could see cane marks as well as wider marks that ran in a large diagonal pattern, from his shoulder to his hip. Santana put her hand out in front of her and tried to use it to cover the mark, trying to gage the size of what the implement had been. Unable to figure anything out right away, she took a deep breath and pulled out her phone.

"Put it on silent," Rachel hissed kindly. They'd taken a picture once, of Marley, in her sleep, because she just looked too cute to miss the opportunity. The click however, frightened her awake and as soon as it had, she tried to run. Santana nodded, turned the phone to mute, took several pictures and then texted them to Beth. "We can't figure out what was used for this, please advise," was all she wrote. She hit send, gave her phone to Quinn and then took a step back.

"I need some time," she started and they went to say something, but she held up her hand. "Alone. I can not do what I need to do, with any of you there," she said.

"Santana, you can not do anything that will land you in jail, you can't. Marley needs you. We need you," Rachel said.

"You can skip the dramatics Berry, I'm not going to do anything that will land me in jail," she growled and then she turned to Quinn. "Hang on to my phone, when it comes through from Miss Beth, either call, or text, but get her to answer your questions," she told her and then she turned to Rachel and Kurt. "No matter what happens, keep her calm. I will be back in a few hours, but I need to get away," she said and with a very quick kiss to everyone's cheek, she started out of the room.

"Hey," Kurt called after her and she stopped to turn around. He tossed her his phone and gave a smile. "Be safe," he told her seriously. She nodded and left the room.

"She kisses people now?" Quinn asked in surprise.

"Only her bear cubs," Rachel laughed.

"Welcome to the pack," Kurt said.