Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all your support. I really appreciate it. The plans for this chapter changed slightly, but I'm still happy with how it turned out. Sorry for not much Finn, but he'll be featured pretty heavily in the next one. Enjoy and review if you want me to keep going!
Chapter 28: Daddy
Rachel knocked on the door of Shelby's townhouse, Puck and Quinn behind her. Shelby had already had her initial pre-chemo surgery, and today she was going to have a scan done to determine the best type of chemo, and she'd asked Rachel to come babysit Beth while she went to the hospital. Rachel had asked Shelby if Quinn and Puck could come with her to watch Beth. Shelby agreed, since Rachel would be there.
Shelby came to the door, looking exhausted. "Hi, guys. Thanks for coming today."
"Oh, it's no problem," Rachel said. She looked at Puck and Quinn, both of whom looked uneasy.
"Thanks for letting us come with her," Puck said.
"Rachel tells me you've both grown up a lot, and I trust her," Shelby said. "Come on in, you three."
Rachel, Puck and Quinn followed Shelby inside, where Beth was playing with some toys in the living room. "Beth," Shelby said. "I told you Rachel was coming to watch you today with two of her friends while I go to the doctor, remember?"
Beth looked up. "Rachel!" She ran up to Rachel and gave her a hug.
"Hi Beth," Rachel said, rubbing Beth's back as she saw Puck and Quinn staring out of the corner of her eye. She pulled apart from Beth. "Beth, this is Quinn, and this is Puck." She didn't know what to say. What would Shelby want her to say?
Beth looked at Quinn and Puck. "Hi."
"Hi," Puck said. "It's good to see you again."
"Thanks again for coming, you three," Shelby said. "Rachel, you have my number." She handed Rachel a piece of paper. "Here are some of my friends' numbers in case you need to get a hold of someone and I'm in my appointment."
"Okay," Rachel said. "Good luck with the appointment. Let me know how it goes."
"Of course I will," Shelby said. She knelt down and gave Beth a hug. "Be good, okay?"
"I'm always good!" Beth giggled.
Rachel managed to laugh at that. "That's right," Shelby said. "I'll see you guys in a few hours."
When Shelby left, Rachel turned to Beth, trying to make things easy. "Beth, Puck and Quinn have never been to your house before. Want to show them around?"
Beth smiled. "Yeah!" She went into the living room. "This is the living room," she told Quinn and Puck. "Mommy and I watch TV in here." She pointed at some framed photos on the coffee table. "Those are photos of me!" she said proudly.
Quinn picked up one of the framed photos, staring at it. Rachel looked over Quinn's shoulder. "This is from the day she was born," Quinn whispered to Rachel.
Beth pointed at one of the photos. "And that's Rachel and Kylie. They're my big sisters." Rachel hadn't noticed that. Shelby had framed the photo Rachel had given her of the two of them from Nationals and put it display at her house. Rachel took a picture on her phone and texted it to Kylie.
Beth led them into the kitchen. "And this is the kitchen. We'll have dinner here today. Mommy ordered Chinese."
"I do like Chinese," Puck said.
"Me too," Beth said. She led them upstairs and into her bedroom. The room was pale pink, with toys everywhere. "And this is my room."
"You have a nice room," Quinn said, looking around the room.
"Yeah," Beth said.
Rachel saw Puck pick a frame up and begin staring at it. Rachel and Quinn walked over to where Puck was standing and looked on. It looked like a handmade drawing.
Puck knelt down and held up the frame to show Beth. "Beth, did you know I made this?"
"No you didn't," Beth said.
"Yes I did," Puck said, looking upset.
"Mommy said my daddy made that for me," Beth said. "You're not my daddy."
Puck looked upset. Quinn looked upset too. And Rachel didn't know what the right thing to do or say was. Of course she wanted her friends to have a relationship with their daughter. But it was really up to Shelby what Beth would know about her past with Quinn and Puck...
"Don't lie," Beth continued. "Mommy said never to lie. Lying very bad."
"I know lying's very bad," Puck said.
"So don't lie," Beth said, taking the frame and handing it to Rachel. "Rachel, put this back."
Rachel put the frame back on Beth's shelf. "Beth, who is your daddy?" Quinn asked.
"I don't know him," Beth said. "I want to."
"You should," Puck said, clenching his fists.
"Maybe he's bad," Beth said.
Puck left Beth's bedroom, and Quinn quickly followed. Beth looked confused for a minute and then picked up a book and began flipping through it. Rachel followed Puck and Quinn into the hallway. "Guys, I'm sorry..."
"She likes you better than she likes us," Puck snapped. "It isn't fair that you get to have a relationship with her."
"I want you to get to!" Rachel protested. "I'm the one who convinced Shelby to let you come watch her with me today."
"But Shelby doesn't seem to want Beth to know who we are," Quinn said. "She seems to want her to just see us as your friends."
"I can't speak for Shelby, but I want you guys to get to be part of Beth's life," Rachel said, not really knowing what to say.
Beth came into the hall. "I don't want to play by myself."
"We'll come play with you in a minute, honey," Quinn said. "We're just talking about some grown-up things."
Beth looked disappointed. "Okay." She went back to her room, and Rachel turned to Puck and Quinn. "See, she wants us to play with her."
"No," Puck said. "She wants YOU to play with her. I see how much she loves you. And she loves that new chick from the glee club too. But not us."
"We can change that," Rachel said.
Beth came back into the hall. "Rachel, I got a papercut," she pouted, holding out her finger.
"Oh no," Quinn said softly, kneeling down and taking Beth's hand.
"No!" Beth said, yanking her hand away. "I want Rachel to make it better! Or Mommy or Kylie."
Quinn stood up, looking disgusted. "This was a mistake."
"No, it wasn't," Rachel said softly. "Come on, Beth, let's go make it better."
"Okay, Rachel," Beth said. She held out her hand for Rachel. Rachel knew Puck and Quinn probably wouldn't like this, but she took Beth's hand and went into the bathroom, washed Beth's finger and put a bandaid on it. "Better?" Rachel asked.
"Better," Beth said, giving Rachel a hug. "Thank you, Rachel."
Rachel walked back into the hall with Beth, where Puck and Quinn were still standing. "We were actually about to go," Puck said.
"Don't go," Rachel said.
"No, we shouldn't have come here," Quinn said. "Clearly we aren't wanted here." Without another word, she and Puck turned and left Shelby's house.
Beth looked at Rachel when Puck and Quinn were gone. "Why weren't your friends nice?"
"They are nice," Rachel said. If only Beth could see that. She knew how much Quinn and Puck loved Beth.
x
Finn wrote down the order of the couple he waited on at the diner and went to turn the order he'd written down into the kitchen. He honestly just wanted to go home. He'd had two tests at school today and been scheduled for a shift at the diner right after school. All he wanted to do was go home and relax, but there were still a few hours left on his shift.
"Finn, there's guests at Booth 9. Go take their order," Gunner said as Finn started to leave the kitchen.
"Got it," Finn said, going to Booth 9. "Hi, welcome to the Spotlight Diner. I'm Finn and I'll be taking care of you tonight..." Then he saw who was sitting in that booth - Puck and Quinn. "Hey guys!"
"Hey Frankenteen," Quinn said.
"So, what brings you guys to New York?" Finn asked.
"Rachel didn't tell you?" Puck asked.
Finn shook his head. "No."
"Well, she asked us if we wanted to help her watch Beth, and we came, but things didn't go well," Puck said. "Beth has the picture I made her in her room, and I recognized it and told her I made it, but she told me that I was lying, her daddy made it. She doesn't even know who I am."
"Yeah, it's as if she doesn't even care about us," Quinn said. "Beth got a papercut and I tried to help her out, but she insisted that Rachel help her."
"I'm sorry, guys," Finn said. "Well, she is little, maybe Shelby thinks it would be too complicated to explain the whole situation to her..."
"But she knows about Rachel and Kylie," Quinn said. "If Shelby can explain that, why can't she explain about us? I know there's a lot going on but..."
A lot going on? "Wait, what do you mean, a lot going on?" Finn asked.
"I would have thought Rachel would have told you," Puck said. "Shelby has cancer."
Finn practically dropped his order tablet. "What?" Why wouldn't Rachel tell him something like that?
Gunner came over. "Finn, take their orders. The food's ready for Booth 3 and we need you to bring it there."
Finn nodded. "Okay. Thanks for telling me that. What do you guys want?" He couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. Why hadn't she told him?
x
"So they didn't hit off?" Kylie asked Rachel over the phone. Rachel had put Beth to bed, and now she was on the phone with Kylie, hoping that her sister's adoptive parents would let her come to New York. She knew that Beth loved both of Shelby's biological daughters, simply because they were her big sisters.
"No," Rachel sighed. "They left."
"I'm sorry," Kylie said. "Rachel, I told my parents about Shelby getting sick and... they say they're still not sure if they want me to come to New York and see her."
"Do you think maybe I could talk to them?" Rachel asked.
"Could you?" Kylie asked. "You see her more than I do. I love my parents, but she gave me life and..."
"I understand," Rachel said. "Are either of your parents home?"
"Yeah," Kylie said. "I'll put my mom on the phone."
"Okay," Rachel said.
"Rachel?" a voice on the other end said. "This is Meredith Nichols, Kylie's mom."
"Hi," Rachel said. "Kylie told you about Shelby?"
"She did," Meredith said. "Rachel, I'm really glad that you're in Kylie's life now, and so is her dad, but we don't know if we want Shelby around her."
"Mrs. Nichols, Shelby has cancer," Rachel said. "Ovarian cancer is pretty serious. I looked it up online, and only about 40% of the people diagnosed survive five years." Rachel hadn't said that out loud, but when she saw that online, she immediately became more concerned for Shelby. "I don't know what's going to happen, but Shelby loves Kylie, and she wants her in her life."
"If she loves Kylie, then why did she do that to her this summer?" Meredith asked.
"It's complicated," Rachel said. "She has a framed photo of Kylie and me at her house. Her adoptive daughter is always asking about her big sisters."
"Well, that's nice, but Kylie's father and I need to think about it," Meredith said. "She hurt Kylie once, it could happen again."
"My dads feel pretty similar," Rachel said. "I just hope you consider letting Kylie come be with Shelby for a weekend or something."
"We'll see, Rachel," Meredith said.
"Okay," Rachel sighed. As she hung up the phone, she saw Beth coming downstairs. "Hi Beth."
Beth crawled on to Rachel's lap. "Rachel, I had a bad dream."
Rachel began cuddling the little girl close. "Don't worry, honey. It was just a dream."
"I don't like it when Mommy's sick," Beth told Rachel.
"Oh, I don't like it, either," Rachel said. "But the doctors are doing their best to help her get better."
The door opened, and Shelby came in. Beth jumped off Rachel's lap and ran up to Shelby. "Mommy!"
"Beth, why are you still awake?" Shelby asked, sounding exhausted.
"I had a bad dream," Beth said.
"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry," Shelby said. "Do you think you can try going back to bed? I'll be up in a few minutes."
"Okay Mommy," Beth said. After Beth went upstairs, Rachel turned to Shelby. "What did the doctors say?"
"We're looking at eight rounds of chemo," Shelby said. "The tumors have spread, but it's not Stage 4, which is a good thing. This is a really good hospital."
"How much do you know about this chemo?" Rachel asked. Was there a better one they could try?
"Rachel, this is the one that my doctors recommended," Shelby told Rachel.
"I just... I want you to be okay," Rachel said, afraid to say her real fears.
"And I will be," Shelby said. "Where are Quinn and Puck?"
"Things didn't go too well," Rachel admitted. "Puck saw a picture he made for Beth in her room and told her that he made it and she said no, her daddy made it. That upset them and then a few more things happened and they left."
"I'm sorry," Shelby said. "I should have said something to Beth about who they were. It's just, with everything that's going on..."
"It's okay," Rachel said. "I understand."
"It's getting late, Rachel," Shelby said. "You should probably get home before it gets too dark."
"Okay," Rachel agreed. "Call me if you need me again, okay?"
"Of course," Shelby said.
x
Finn couldn't believe what Quinn and Puck had told him. Rachel's birth mother had cancer? And Rachel hadn't told him? Why wouldn't she tell him something as important as that?
As Finn arrived back at the loft, he saw Kurt and Santana watching TV, while Blaine was sitting at the dining room table, reading the sports section of The New York Times. "Hey Finn," Kurt said.
"How was work?" Blaine asked.
"I ran into Quinn and Puck," Finn said. "They told me that Rachel's birth mother has cancer. Rachel didn't tell me."
"Rachel didn't tell you?" Kurt asked.
"No," Finn said. "I don't know why she didn't..."
"She didn't tell us either," Santana said. "Maybe Shelby doesn't want people to know."
"But if she didn't want people to know, why would Rachel tell Quinn and Puck?" Finn asked. "She's not as close to them as she is to us. She had them come help her watch Beth today while Shelby went to a doctor's appointment."
"Well, maybe she told them because of Beth," Kurt suggested.
"Yeah, but it still doesn't make sense that she wouldn't tell me. We're supposed to tell each other everything!" Finn protested.
As if on cue, Rachel came into the apartment. "Rachel, why didn't you tell me?" Finn asked. "Tell any of us?"
Rachel looked confused. "How did you find out?"
"Puck and Quinn came to the diner during my shift and told me," Finn said. "I would have wanted to find something about your life out from you."
"It's been a hard time for you lately, Finn," Rachel said. "You're still recovering from everything that happened with Lucy. I didn't want you to worry about me."
Finn could see where Rachel was coming from, but he didn't like that Rachel was keeping things from him. "Well, Rachel, you could have told us," Kurt said. "You don't have to keep things under the wraps."
"Well, this has been a hard time for all of us, with everything that happened to Finn," Rachel said. "I don't want people to worry about me."
"Rachel, you know that you can always come to me," Finn said. "We agreed that in this relationship, honesty and trust were important." Rachel trusted him, right?
Rachel looked upset. "Are you saying you think I don't trust you?"
Finn now regretted that choice of words. "No, of course not. It's just that I care about you and if something happens to you, I want to be there for you."
"We all do, Rachel," Blaine added.
"Well, I care about all of you, too," Rachel said. "We all just went through such a bad time and..."
Finn just didn't want Rachel to keep things from him. "Baby, I love you. And I don't want you to go through something like this alone."
Rachel nodded and gave Finn a tight hug. Finn knew right now he didn't need to say anything, all he needed to do was hug her. She'd been there for him during the unthinkable, and now he was going to be there for her.
Chapter 29 preview: In an attempt to take Finn and Rachel's minds off everything, the New Yorkers have a night out planned by someone who probably shouldn't be planning nights out. What will happen? More of Rachel's family ties as well, and midterms are approaching for Finn.
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