Chapter 8 –
A/N again this was supposed to be a little longer but I decided it needed to be split up. Let me know what you think please
Thank you again to my patient beta and my wonderful muse.
The car ride home was practically silent. They all seemed too caught up in their own memories. Shelby continued to glance at the kids through the rear view mirror trying to gauge where they all were. As soon as she pulled into the garage, the four of them were out of the vehicle like lightning.
"Santana, Quinn," she called out to them. They both stopped at the door. Santana looked at her. Quinn did not turn around. "Help with me with dinner please."
Santana sighed but went into the kitchen and began to fill a pot with water. Quinn watched with a slight frown. She felt the smaller girl move past her.
"What are you making?" Rachel asked as climbed up on the barstool.
Santana shrugged. "Pasta?" She looked at Quinn. "Do you eat pasta?"
Quinn searched for Santana's voice for mockery and manipulation but found none.
"Yeah," she said with a shrug. "Whatever."
"Well, get over here and help me," Santana said annoyed. "There are vegetables in the fridge that need chopping and whatnot."
Before she could protest, Shelby walked in. "Bug, what are you eating?"
Rachel shrugged tiredly. "Fruit?" Shelby arched an eyebrow at her. "Can I have a shake?"
Shelby nodded and turned to Quinn. "How are you feeling?"
Quinn was staring at the vegetables idly rather than chopping them. It took a few moments before she looked up at older woman and with a shake of her head responded, "Yes, of course."
"That wasn't a yes or no answer," Rachel said with her chin rested on her palm.
Shelby handed her youngest some fruit. "Please wash these and cut them up. Make enough for two."
"I only want one." Rachel said quietly.
"The other isn't for you." she replied just as quietly.
A half an hour later, the five of them sat in silence at the table. The silence was different than the silence from the previous night because there were no glares this time. They were all in their own separate worlds. Santana was sat quietly staring at her burnt garlic bread.
"It's fine, Santana," her mother had assured. If had just been her family, Santana wouldn't have cared. However, because Quinn was present, she was mortified.
Quinn didn't mind the burnt bread. It wasn't too much of a problem. She was simply grateful that she wasn't the only one that burnt bread. The only other household that she had visited for dinner besides the Corcorans had been the Pierces. They had seemed perfect too. She had only been able to go to the Pierces. She had always been grateful because she had always enjoyed her visits. They kept her sane in a way that took years for her to fully comprehend. Sometimes you don't realize that you need to be kept afloat until you're drowning. That's how it had been with the Pierces. They had been pre-approved of by her parents because of the Pierce's social elite status. Apparently, being a surgeon in Lima and having good standing at the country club was enough to get in the good graces of Russell Fabray.
Santana and Brittany's friendship should have made things more complicated for Quinn. She should have been more jealous, but she wasn't. Santana was able to offer something Quinn could never offer: normalcy. Quinn frowned and thought more deeply, at least that's what she thought. Nevertheless, burnt bread meant that Santana wasn't perfect. She needed more burnt bread.
Puck found great interest in his plate of pasta or at least he pretended to. He kept glancing up at Quinn periodically. He wanted so desperately to ask her more questions, but at the same time he didn't. He had convinced himself that he was respecting her space. The more he thought about it, the more he reminded himself that he hadn't been one to answer himself and that he couldn't push her. Suddenly, he felt the table move slightly and he looked up and around at the women at the silent table. He chuckled internally when his eyes finally rested on Rachel who was leaning on her chin on the palm of her hand as she pushed her fruits and vegetables around her plate. Her elbow had slipped when she started to fall asleep, causing her arm and head to fall. He watched with an amused smile as Rachel straightened and rested her chin on her elbow.
Shelby reached out next to her and rubbed Rachel's back. Quinn's glance at Shelby's actions didn't go unnoticed by the mother.
"Wake up, pumpkin," she whispered. "Finish your meal please."
"You don't like it?" Santana said looking at Quinn's untouched pasta.
"I'm not hungry," Quinn said quietly.
Shelby looked at the blonde girl. She arched her eyebrow. With a gentle but maternal tone she said, "Either you eat the pasta or you eat the rest of the protein shake in the refrigerator."
Quinn looked over at Rachel's shake.
"It's made with soy milk and fruit. It's very delicious," Rachel assured.
Quinn nodded quietly. "I'll take the shake."
Santana scoffed as Shelby stood up and started back toward the kitchen. "Santana, enough. Finish up, guys. Then homework."
"Noah is the only male here," Rachel said sitting up.
Shelby rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen and retrieved the rest of the protein shake for Rachel.
…..
After the meal was finished, Quinn and Santana had been called into the living room. The clanging of the plates, Puck's low rumbling voice and Rachel's giggles echoed into the room. Quinn looked back at the noise hoping to escape the impending parental speech. Maybe someone would drop something; maybe something would break. Quinn nodded. Yes, that would allow her to at least postpone this conversation. Her plans were thwarted when she felt the couch move as Santana fell into sofa with her arms folded across her chest in indignation.
"Alright girls, here's the deal," Shelby began quietly. "This stops now. I know you've both had long past few days, but we need to get to some sort of compromise."
"We both know that we're grounded," Santana said. "What more do you want from us?"
"Civility," Shelby said as she looked at both of the girls. "If you have a problem, you come to me. Got it? You both will be going to therapy, but school and Cheerios and then home. That's it. This behavior will not tolerated. If it continues, no Cheerios. You will stop antagonizing each other. Got it?" She didn't wait for an answer from the girls besides acknowledgement from their eyes. "Santana, go help them finish up in the kitchen and take out the trash. Tell your brother that you and him are going to do homework in the kitchen. Quinn will be joining you in a few minutes."
Quinn watched Santana leave. She had never wanted Santana not to leave as much as she did at that moment. She turned reluctantly back to Shelby. She didn't want to talk. She wanted to hide.
"Let's go upstairs, Quinn," Shelby said. "Come on."
"I thought that Puck and Santana are grounded. Don't they have to come? Isn't this breaking your rules?" she countered. There was an unmasked hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Do you prefer that they all come with us to clean your back?" Shelby asked with a challenge.
Quinn sighed and conceded as she followed Shelby up the stairs. They settled on Quinn's bed, no, the guest bed, Quinn reminded herself. She settled in front of Shelby and once she lifted her own shirt, she felt Shelby start to clean the wound on her back with an antibacterial spray. She flinched at the coldness and the sting. Shelby then began putting the ointment on.
"What was dinner at your house like?" Shelby asked gently.
Quinn looked forward with a scowl.
"It was dinner," she said quietly.
"So, I heard that you were good friends with Brittany Pierce growing up. Did you go over their house a lot for dinner?" Shelby tried.
Quinn frowned again. "Yeah," she said quietly. "When my parents were at the club…. or somewhere. She was my best friend growing up. How do you know that?"
"Jackie mentioned it," Shelby said lightly. "Did you like going over there?"
"I don't really want to talk about me," she said quietly.
"Okay," Shelby said. She thought she would try another approach. "You mentioned yesterday that we baby Rachel too much."
"Yeah," she said reluctantly. Stick to your guns, she reminded herself. "You do. She's going to suffocate."
"Like you?" Shelby tried again. She sighed. "I know you feel that that might be the case with you. However, you're a part of this family at least for a little while. I'm sure that this day was hard for you. I expect you to help with chores and be respectful, but I don't expect you to like the situation."
Quinn didn't want to talk about this anymore. She would return back to her conversation of choice: One that wasn't about her. "Why do you baby her so much?"
"Because." Shelby gave a heavy sigh that she could actually feel on her back. "Alright, sit up." Quinn changed and watched Shelby carefully as she changed from the bathroom. "A lot has happened to her."
"Well, from what I gather, she's not the only one," Quinn fired back as she came out from the bathroom. She saw Shelby's face. "Sorry, but… why is she so special? You have two other children."
Shelby watched Quinn's face. "Watch the attitude. And yes, she wasn't the only one who has been through a lot. Quinn, it's not my past to tell. Maybe some day when Rachel is ready." The young girl turned to the mother and looked at her. "She trusts people, Quinn. Too much. And it scares us. On top of everything that's happened she still trusts people. It continues to shock me to this day. Santana and Puck keep people as far away from them as they can as if they're always ready for a fight. But Rachel… Ever since she was little, even after it all happened, she had a hope that the others of us didn't have. Even when she was in therapy, at CPS, and in the hospital, she trusted people. Santana and Puck are more like you. They're impulsive and initially distrustful. You put up walls. When they had meetings and visits with CPS, they would throw chairs, shoes and lamps. Rachel would trust their gentle words. She was frightened and cautious but she needed people to be good. She hoped too badly for them to be good... and when they weren't…" Shelby searched her eyes and realized in that moment the necessity of an explanation, even it if was only going to be a partial one. "Someone tried to take her once at a grocery store. Not long after we moved to Lima. She was about six. This man convinced her to go out to the parking lot and look for us. We were all frantically looking for her. Santana spotted her outside and called out to her. The man ran off. We never figured out who it was. Santana didn't see him, but it didn't matter because she was safe. Too much has happened, Quinn and we're all on the edge of our seats with her. She still doesn't really understand what happened." Quinn watched as Shelby shook her head with a chuckle. "She just thought she got lost at the grocery store. All that she remembers is that we found her." Shelby straightened. "Maybe they will tell you if you start listen."
Quinn shook her head. She still didn't have her answer. She didn't know what happened before. She didn't understand what was so bad. In the back of her head, a voice was whispering the answer to her, but she didn't want to hear it. Shelby started talking again before Quinn could figure out something to say.
"Well leaving her in the dark isn't helping her," Quinn responded. Shelby gave Quinn a look that the girl couldn't read. What she didn't know is that the girl had spent her whole life taking in the world around her and realizing what others did and did not deserve. If she overanalyzed others, she didn't have to focus on herself. Quinn recovered. "What I'm saying is that she's only eleven, right? Predators won't stop because you watch her like a hawk. You have to give her the tools to watch out for herself."
Shelby watched her carefully. She searched the aged eyes of the young girl for an answer. She finally nodded. "Like you had to?"
The blonde looked down at her hands.
"This is hard for you, Quinn. I do see that," Shelby sighed. "But I want you here. Okay? You need to give us a chance. I know that this house isn't like your own. –'' She looked up at her and saw her face. "Not that we want it to be."
"I don't," Quinn replied. "I don't want it to be. I just… This isn't where I belong."
"Where do you belong?" Shelby asked carefully.
She looked at her for a moment. "I don't know," she finally said.
"Well," Shelby said as she stood to her feet. "Maybe you don't think that you belong here. I don't know. But I will promise you this. If you give me a chance, I promise you I will do my very best to make sure that you find it." She sighed. "Now get your books. I know you have plenty of work to do."
…..
Santana looked around the breakfast table at Puck and Quinn. She looked over her shoulder and saw her mother deeply engaged on the computer with her own work. She turned back to the pair at the table. They were concentrating so hard on their homework it made her want to throw up. She peeked around the corner and saw Rachel tucked into the ottoman in the living room reading a book. She had talked with Dr. Jacobs about her anger. However, she had given move specifics on what she wanted to throw instead of why she wanted to throw them. While she had felt calmer through dinner, in that moment, sitting across from the blond Cheerio captain that she loathed, she wanted to snap back.
"So, captain, my captain," Santana hissed across the table in a low whisper. "How exactly did you get around your heinously strict parents and sleep with Finn Hudson?" She tilted her head and threw the girl a smirk as she whispered, "Where on earth would you have the time?"
Puck jerked his foot underneath the table and hit his sister in the shin.
Quinn slowly lifted her head and gave the Cheerio a look that could cut glass.
"Shut up," she hissed trying to keep her voice low. "I would shut your pie hole, slut."
"Don't call me a slut. You're the one who puts out for Jesus," she snapped back still attempting to keep her voice down.
"Really, San? Why are you starting something?" Puck asked with annoyance.
"Because this is my house," she whispered.
"Oh, right," Quinn said throwing down her pen. "You only put out for one. Right? One woman?"
"Don't for one second think that you know me," Santana hissed. "You slept with that man-boobed giganta-saur and expected love. Admit it, you were with that doe-eyed big bird for what, a year? A new level pathetic if you ask me, especially because he has the brain of roadkill."
"Fuck you," Quinn barked causing even the stone-faced brunette to jump. "I'm done. I'm out of here."
"No, you're not," Shelby said standing up and glaring at her eldest daughter. "I will talk to you in a second." She turned back to the blonde. "Let me see your homework."
"No," she said. "It's mine."
"I'm not arguing with you," Shelby said sternly.
Quinn moped back over to the table and handed Shelby her papers. "See? Now can I please go to my room?"
Shelby arched her brow and sighed. At least she was referring to it as her room.
"Wait in the living room with Rachel and I'll bring you in a glass of water to take your medicine," Shelby finally conceded.
"Whatever," the blonde girl said as she strode out of the room.
When Shelby turned back to Santana, Santana knew that she was in trouble. Shelby looked at Puck. "Noah, can you go get your sister ready for bed please?"
"I can do it myself, Mom!" Rachel called out from the other room.
Puck pressed his lips together into a frown and strode into the living room with a shuffle. "She's just trying to get rid of me so she can yell at Santana in private," he said rolling his eyes at his youngest sister.
"I would like to hear please," Rachel said with optimistic interest.
"Yeah, right," he laughed as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder causing her to catch her breath in her chest.
"Be careful!" Santana hissed from the other room.
"I'm fine," Rachel said with a cough. "Have a lovely night, Quinn. I'm sorry my sister was a witch to you. It was a pleasure spending the day with you."
Santana scowled as the blond gave a small smile that immediately turned into a frown when she realized she was being watched.
Shelby watched as her son carried Rachel up the stairs. She turned back to her daughter and held her gaze. "Quinn, come in here please," Shelby said clearly and distinctly.
Santana watched as the blonde shuffled in.
"I'm going to say this once," Shelby said patiently. "If you have one more of these spats, here or at school or anywhere else, you're sharing a room."
"Mom!" Santana barked.
"That's all I'm saying," Shelby said in a calmly quiet voice. "Quinn, pour yourself a class of water. Santana, give me your homework."
The power of her mother's cold and commanding voice seemed to force the animosity to rest. Santana didn't even turn away from her mother to glare at Quinn. She didn't dare.
….
Another half hour later, there was an uneasy tension that blanketed the house. Quinn tried to ignore Santana's stares as Santana glared at her from her vanity table.
"I don't know what you're staring at, but I'm not into that," Quinn hissed.
"I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole," Santana said marching into the bathroom and grabbing her toothpaste. "Plus, I'm not into girls."
Quinn scoffed. "Sure you're not."
"Shut up," Santana barked. "Listen, it's bad enough that I have to share a bathroom with you, so I'm sure as hell not sharing a room. No, fucking way. So we need to work something out here, Barbie."
"Whatever," Quinn barked. "I'm already dying. Sharing a room with you would be hell."
Santana walked away from the blonde and climbed into bed. After their chilling conversation downstairs, Shelby told her and Quinn that they had to go to bed early because it had been such an exhausting day. At that point, Santana knew well enough not to argue.
"Get in bed, Rach," Santana heard Shelby say as she poked her head into Rachel's bedroom. Her mother looked at her. "I'll be right in, San."
…
Puck meandered up the stairs as he toted the two suitcases. They weren't heavy, but holding suitcases always made him remember.
"Alright, Noah, you're doing great," the woman, Ellie said reassuringly.
"Can I help you?" the man Bryan asked.
"I got it!" nine year old Noah said as he hauled the suitcases up the brown stone steps. "I'm not going to be here long. My sisters and I are going to live with my mom again."
Bryan smiled. "Alright." His voice was gentle and deep like his father's had been, Noah remembered. "Well you'll have your own room here."
"I don't care," Noah hissed as he walked up the steps. "Where are my sisters?"
"They're not here, son," Bryan said gently. "Rachel just went to the shelter that you just left from and Santana is still waiting for a foster home."
"I'm not your son," Noah hissed. "Why couldn't she come here?"
Ellie looked at Bryan and knelt down in front of him. "We're working with Natalie to get both your sisters here too. But your sisters need some more medical care more than we can give. And we originally just thought we were getting you, so their rooms aren't ready. We're trying, Noah."
He frowned. "No you're not. No one is. They just…. I want to go home to my mom."
"You can't, not yet at least," Bryan said softly. "I'll tell you what. Me and Ellie we'll work really hard to get them here and until then we'll try our best to work out with the shelter and Natalie a time where the three of you can get together and play okay?"
"What do you need from me?" Noah asked after a beat.
Bryan thought for a second. "Patience and honesty. You can be as mad as you want, but you need to let us know."
Noah frowned. "Fine."
Quinn watched Santana settle in her room. She was reminded that she wasn't apart of the family. She walked back into her room. She was about allow herself to give in to her own exhaustion and escape from her new found hell. There was knock her door. The guest room door, she corrected herself.
"Hey," Puck said quietly from the door. "My mom asked me to bring these up for you." He set down two suitcases on the floor. "These are yours right?"
"Who else's would they be?" she hissed.
"You don't have to be a bitch," he sneered. "I can throw your stuff out the window."
"I heard you're great at throwing things," she muttered.
"Shut it, road runner," he said sitting down next to her. "Listen, I just…. I was thinking about what we talked about earlier." He turned and caught Quinn's frown. "People suck, Quinn and I'm sorry that it took you this long to get out of there."
"You don't know what you're talking about," she said quietly.
He met her gaze. "I don't?" He sighed and looked at his hands. "I get that you're mad okay? When I first moved here, I started at Franklin Junior High, first week mind you, I threw Michael Hartland through a Plexiglas window in the cafeteria."
Her eyes widened. "That was you?"
Puck shrugged. "Yeah," he said casually. "He pushed Santana. So I pushed him." He sighed. "So my mom, our case manager here, and Dr. Jacobs made a deal with the judge. – ''
"You see Dr. Jacobs, too? Shouldn't you all not see the same person?" Quinn asked.
"Nah, she's the family therapist. We were comfortable with her." He found his train of thought again. "So anyway, I had to go away for a bit." He saw he had Quinn's attention. "It was to this boot camp basically. It kinda kicked my ass."
"Well, that's nice, Puck, but I have nowhere else to go," Quinn said with a hint of sadness underneath her hard exterior. "This is my last stop and I'm out. You had your family to come back to after boot camp. People are so fed up with me." She looked at her hands. "I have a minimum of six months here and then what? I don't know." She looked at him as she reformed her frown. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better with your own pity party, but go throw your bash elsewhere."
"It gets better," Puck said quietly.
"Whatever," she muttered.
He left the room.
…
Shelby sat gently on Rachel's bed. She could hear her youngest wheezing from the door. She set up the nebulizer next to the table and grabbed the mask from the counter. Rachel shook her head.
"No," she muttered. "I don't want to use the mask. It's for babies."
"No, it's for when you're really tired," Shelby assured.
Shelby arched an eyebrow as Rachel frowned. "I'm not a baby, Mom. You treat me like a baby."
"I know," Shelby said quietly. "I'll try better not to." She looked up at her daughter who was staring at her in shock. "What?" she asked.
"…. You… you admitted it," Rachel said.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Shelby said. "We just worry."
Rachel looked away and leaned her head into the pillow. "I know," she murmured. "I simply want to be grown up."
"Don't push it," Shelby smirked.
Rachel gave a small sigh and reached for the mask. She held to her mouth as Shelby helped to put the band around her head. Her mother went to press the on button. Rachel put her hand on hers to stop her.
"Can…" Rachel began quietly. "I know she's in trouble, but can San come in?"
…..
Santana peaked out of her room. She was waiting for her mother to leave.
"Hey, loser," her brother muttered from the doorway.
"Leave me alone, Puck," Santana frowned at her brother.
"Why did you start that tonight?" He asked curiously. "Every time you let your guard down, you act dumb again."
"Coming from dumbest, himself," she sneered climbing out of bed.
She started toward her open door as soon as the door across the hallway opened. Her mother looked at her and her brother carefully.
"Rachel is asking for you, San," Shelby said finally. "Sit with her, but you are not sleeping in there. You all need your rest."
"I sleep fine with her, Mom," Santana protested. "Plus she needs me."
"She has you, too, but Santana I am not arguing," Shelby said with a stern but quiet voice. "And if your behavior continues, I'm serious keep your anger in check or your time with Rachel will be limited."
Santana nodded and walked past her mother. "Only for a bit, San," she heard her mother call out. Rachel looked up at Santana's entrance. She gave a small smile under the mask.
"Hey," Santana whispered as she climbed into bed next to her sister. She wrung out her hands and stared at them intently as she gathered her thoughts. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you about last night and tell you that I….." She caught her sister's eyes. She shook her head with emotion as she locked her gaze with hers. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to scare you."
Santana felt emotion building in her chest like a cannon ready to explode. She then felt a quiet hand on hers.
"I know." Rachel's voice was muffled under the mask. "It just scared me. I was never mad at you. I just…. I get scared, but never of you." Rachel took in another deep breath of the vapor from the nebulizer as she leaned her head on Santana's shoulder. "You don't have to keep apologizing."
Santana shook her head. Yes, she did. She would spend the rest of her life apologizing.
She felt a nudge in her side. "San?" she heard a small whisper.
"Yup, bug?"
"Lay off Quinn, okay?" Rachel asked. Her voice was still muffled by the mask and covered with tiredness.
"What?" She was genuinely surprised.
"I like her. She's our new sister." Santana let out a loud scoff. "Seriously," Rachel whined. She looked up at her older sister with big eyes. "She needs us. You need to stop, okay? At least just a little."
"Fine, but only for you," Santana muttered. "No one else."
Rachel gave her a satisfied smile. She leaned back into Santana. After about a beat, she sat up again. "One more thing." Santana couldn't help but chuckle at the seriousness of Rachel's voice despite the mask. "You need to let me have my voice lessons in peace. I don't know what your problem is with Mr. Schuester. I am a woman. I have talent and he is going to help me grow as an actress." The older girl really did try to conceal her laugh, but failed. "Seriously," Rachel continued. "I will never succeed with you like this." Her voice calmed. "Please just let me go at least for a bit?"
Santana watched her. The young girl always was so convincing. She looked at her silently with an arched eyebrow. She exhaled deeply. "Fine," she whispered. "Lean back now and sleep."
"I have to finish this," Rachel mumbled indignantly as she motioned toward the nebulizer.
"Whatever," Santana replied.
Rachel leaned into Santana and closed her eyes with a deep breath. Only a few more minutes of this and she could take it off and sleep. This had been the longest day in the existence of the human race, Rachel thought to herself.
Santana felt Rachel snuggle into her side. She counted to five slowly in her head as she combed Rachel's hair back with her hand. At five, she took a deep breath and looked down. Rachel was sound asleep.
…
"Sweetheart, can you pass me the juice?" Leroy asked. Shelby looked at him. His Puerto Rican and African American features mixed together gracefully. Sometimes she was caught off guard. "Babe, the juice."
She sighed. Focus, Shelby, she instructed herself. She passed Leroy the juice.
"Hey, Mom," almost seven year old Noah called from Shelby's side. "She's moving again."
Shelby looked over at the rocker in the living room. Rachel's tiny fists were raised in the air above the lip of the rocker.
"She's waking up," five year old Santana informed walking up the edge of the rocker. "She's only four weeks old. All she knows how to do is sleep."
"And poop!" Noah sighed. "When can she be fun, Mom?"
"Give her a few more months, Noah," Shelby assured as she picked up her tiny daughter and cooed her quietly. "Good morning, my sweet girl."
Approximately eleven months ago, Shelby came home with a big bottle of white wine. She had prepared herself to talk to her husband about the reality of their marriage. Most specifically she needed to talk to him about his apparent sexual disinterest in her. Now, she was happy with a newborn. She looked over her shoulder at her husband with a smile. She needed to keep pretending. She wasn't ready to be the woman whose husband left her. She wasn't ready to be that. She wanted to stay in the oblivious bliss. She held her baby close.
She felt a gentle hand on her back and soft kiss land on her cheek.
"You want me to take her?" he asked with a smile. "She looks just like you."
"No, I've got her," Shelby replied with a smile.
"Come here, my little rascals," Leroy smiled scooping both Santana and Noah in his arms.
Both of them squealed with laughter. "Daddy!" He set them down and raised his arms above his arms above his head.
"I think I need to get a Corcoran sandwich!"
Shelby chuckled as she held her baby close. "Look at those silly people. Do we know them, my little bug?"
Leroy chased Noah and Santana around their Manhattan Brown Stone. "I'm going to get you. Where are you?"
Santana screeched with laughter. Noah exploded with screams of joy. Shelby shook her head. Yes, she needed to be apart of this world a little more before she realized who she had become, before she became that woman.
"Come on, Mom!" Noah said.
"Yeah, you have to protect Rachel from the Daddy monster," Santana said as she ran around the corner.
"Mom! Let's go!" Noah yelled again looping again through the kitchen.
"Come on, Rachel," Shelby said bouncing the baby on her hip. "Let's get 'em."
Shelby awoke with a start. That had been a moment that she had always wanted to preserve. It was a moment that she knew even as she lived it that she didn't want to let go. She realized eventually though, she had to. Leroy loved her and she loved him. However, he didn't love her like a husband could love a wife. After long talks and respectful goodbyes they were left with three beautiful children and a friendship, but not love. At one point, she thought that was the worst thing that could happen to her. She learned how wrong she was.
She rolled over to check her clock. She looked up when she didn't see the clock looking back at her. Her clock always sat to the left of her bed. She sat up and felt a weight on her side. She opened her eyes. She was in Santana's room. She looked next to her and saw a sleeping Santana. The rest of the evening came running back to her. She had checked on Rachel and Santana and both of them had fallen asleep. She had carefully walked the sleep ridden Santana back to her room. Apparently, she herself had fallen asleep with Santana. She had been caught up in a memory that eased her into sleep.
Shelby re-tucked Santana in. She peeked into Puck's room. He was sprawled out on his mattress. Rachel was still lying still and peacefully in her bed. Finally Shelby opened Quinn's door. She wasn't surprised to find the blonde in the corner. She had hoped that the medicine would knock her out again. However, medicine couldn't ward off nightmares.
The blonde was curled up in the corner crying more softly than Shelby had heard a child cry.
"Quinn," she whispered approaching the girl.
"Go away," she whispered.
"I'm going to sit with you, okay?" Shelby sat next to the girl and wrapped her arm around her.
"I said go away," Quinn muttered weakly. To her surprise, the girl leaned into Shelby.
"Shhh," Shelby whispered to the heaving girl in her arms. "I'm right here. You're safe."
She leaned into the older woman and sobbed. Shelby rubbed her back.
"I-I-I-I never meant for things to happen this way," Quinn muttered.
"I know, sweetie. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault," Shelby soothingly whispered as she combed through Quinn's hair. She had wondered when the day and all of the events would hit the exhausted girl. Reality hit the hardest at night.
The girl continued to cry for what seemed like hours. Finally, Shelby felt her heaving subside. The girl allowed herself to remain relaxed in her arms.
"Thank you," Quinn whispered.
"Do you want to stay on the floor?"
"Yes, please," the blonde whispered in a vulnerable voice that Shelby had not heard from the girl.
"Alright," Shelby whispered as she reached out to the bed and grabbed a pillow from the bed.
Quinn looked up at her in the dark. "You don't need to…" she began.
"But I want to," Shelby whispered. "Close your eyes. You have morning practice."
Quinn sank into Shelby's arms pretending that she hadn't let her guard down. She would allow the coverage of the early morning cover her vulnerability and bury it in yesterday as if it didn't happen.
….
Please review.
WittyNinja – Thank you for your kind review. I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.
Chickabilly – There will be many more meetings with Jackie. I am interested to see what you think. There is a lot coming up. Also, more will be revealed about rachel's past.
Bueller – You will find out later, but I've been dropping hints for a bit. Bigger ones will be dropped soon.
sweetdreamer94 - Thanks for the review! Can't wait for your next chapter
ArmyOfWuh - I hope this answered more questions about the kids' past. I know there are probably many more. Can't wait to see what you think.
Gleek1990 I hope you liked this chapter. Quinn will learn more about the Corcorans and they will also learn more about her.
carebearpasq – I'm glad you're enjoying it. Quinn and San have a long way to go.
OTHangels – I'm glad and honored that it made it onto one of your favorites. Thank you. Quinn and Rachel will have a special connection on a lot of different levels. No, they won't be romantic because Rachel is so young, but they will certainly continue to strengthen their bond.
w1cked – it is very sad and I'm glad that you caught it. I hope you like the update. Let me know what you think about the reveals. A lot happened.
NayaFan – Thank you! I'm so grateful that you're reading. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think.
broadwaybound2016 – thank you so much for the humbling review. I'm sorry I brought you to tears though. I hope you like the update.
val-cb – Thank you for reviewing!
marinka4 – I hope you enjoyed the update. It will be a semi-slow reveal. Please let me know what you think.
I will try my best to reply to all of your reviews in the future. I know a lot more of you reviewed before. Thank you and I'm sorry for not posting a response. Please let me know what you think.