Hey guys, first of all, i'm so sorry for this disappearance. This past weeks my finals proved to be a little more hard than I anticipated so i had to focus on that.
So in my attempt at forgiveness I will post tomorrow next chapter.
Again, my deepest apologies.
As for why the spring awakening cast didn't give Rachel a hard time for her pregnancy, it mostly is because the next few chapters will be already full of drama and angst. so a time ago i decided to prioritize this conflict over the cast putting Rachel on a tight spot. hope you can like this route too.
without further ado, here it is
please leave a comment, i would like to hear your perspective.
If one more person dared to touch her baby bump that day, she swore she would start chopping off some hands, and she wasn't kidding. At that precise moment, just swatting hands wouldn't be enough. She felt like those crystal balls from fortune teller's stands in carnivals. There wasn't a single person in the room that hadn't touched her without her consent.
The morning welcomed her with the presence of William Schuester, Artie, Tina, Sam, Mercedes and Carole knocking at her door with expectant faces, they barely acknowledged Rachel, not even a hello, before they all began pawing at her bulging abdomen with their too eager hands.
Mr. Schue had sensed her clenching her jaw and inhaling an insane amount of air too calm herself, and thought twice before stroking her belly for the 3rd time that day. Thankfully.
When she had thought it couldn't be that horrible to have the New Directions reunited in New York, she had been so wrong. It was worse than terrible. If she could shove them on the next train towards Lima, Ohio she would. But she had to endure two more days of this.
The first day of their visit hadn't even ended and by now she had imagined at least five ways to kill several of her team mates. And she knew it wasn't the hormones, Kurt couldn't stop cringing anytime one of them opened their mouth.
Right now, she was trapped in an uncomfortable booth between Carole and Sam who hadn't thought two times before cornering her in the center of this god-awful booth. As if she didn't have to frequent the bathroom every 20 minutes since this kid couldn't stop using her bladder as a trampoline.
"I want them gone Jess" she texted Jesse careful to not be seen by the prying eyes of Carole. "And I need to pee so badly :/"
It hadn't been five seconds later, and the ringtone she had customized for him sounded from her cellphone.
That in itself was enough to comfort her.
He was aware that she would be on edge for the next few days, so he told her the he changed her notifications tune to identify her texts and calls and show some moral support.
Rachel hadn't decided how to feel about that, she knew she shouldn't be as comforted as she was or giddy about how caring Jesse could be with her; but she was. Not only because he really was honoring his promise from the other day to be always for her, but because his presence and texts worked like a soothing balm on her.
"Hang in there Rach, if you want, I can meet you past 8 pm and I can play the villain" and after a little while a next one followed "Unleash your crazy on Sam, bet you would make HIM pee for sitting between you and a bathroom, been there and not repeating that mistake twice "
She snorted and decided to ignore that last text. Jesse had indeed been the recipient of her craziness lately, but he always took it like a champ. Besides, as he said, he had been the fool for interfering between her and the bathroom at the theater that last time.
"Yes, please come later"
"Should be fun ruffling some ND feathers ;) Wait for me."
That last Wait for me made her insides feel like someone had released a thousand butterflies inside of her.
She had to conceal her face with her hair to hide her blush from everyone while playing non-committaly with her pancakes, thankfully they were ignoring her at the moment.
"Rachel, are you sure about maintaining vegan through your pregnancy?" Mercedes asked peering her the plate in front of her with an unconvinced gaze.
"Oh yeah, that doesn't sound healthy for the baby at all" agreed Mr. Schuester while munching on whatever he had ordered.
"It's what I've been trying to tell her" Chimed in Carole assenting with her head and with a condescending glint in her eyes.
Clenching her jaw for the 12th time that day and crossing her arms she casted a withering look towards them. Her eating habits where off limits. Everything about her pregnancy was off limits, but her eating habits weren't even in the table for discussion.
"My doctor doesn't have any complaints about that; and I DO know pregnancy takes a toll on one's body, so I've been taking supplements specifically for vegan pregnant women" she answered through gritted teeth hoping they would take the hint to drop the subject.
"Aren't you sure you want a second opinion honey? Dr. Green doesn't seem so serious to me" said Carole sipping her drink.
There goes hoping. It took everything in Rachel not to roll her eyes.
"Dr. Green is fine Carole; I won't be changing my OB/GYN in mid pregnancy, besides I like her and I trust her" she said emphasizing the "I" and ended with an exaggerated sigh. She was starting to fear that her theatrical cues for showing annoyance were rusty, no one could be so obtuse.
She was one intrusive opinion from using her bratty voice.
Aside from Jesse's involvement in her life, Carole's next favorite subject to pick a bone with her was Dr. Green, and it was getting tiring.
Kurt had a feeling Rachel was a walking ticking bomb by now, and she was about to explode and flip their table on all of them. Living with her sometimes was a challenge, but living with her and pregnant was just plain scary; and even though high school Rachel had usually winged through all of the situations that were thrown at her, he knew pregnant Rachel Berry had a low tolerance for crap so he decided to butt in.
"So, Rach… have you decided on names now that you know it's a boy?" he said trying to steer the conversation from prickly subjects.
Rachel mouthed a silent thanks to Kurt and she relaxed a bit, at least he was on her corner on this 7th layer of hell.
"Oh Rachel, you must name him after Finn, it's only right" Will said excited while slurping and making obnoxious noises with his straw. It was like everything that the man did, it grated on Rachel's nerves.
"Finn?" Rachel asked controlling her facial expressions to avoid showing her you are demented face.
"It would be such a nice homage to him" Tina agreed.
Not you too. Rachel prayed in her head
"Can you imagine it, him looking exactly like him, it would be a mini-Finn" Artie said.
Not a terrible thought, but I know it's coming from an obsessive place, so no thank you.
"Wouldn't that be amazing?" Carole added.
Did I bang my head on the morning? She wondered concerned.
Santana had been listening to this whole conversation silently but could no longer hide her annoyance. As much as she missed her friend, she could see all of them losing their minds and not in the "cute! I'm getting to be an uncle/aunt" way, it was more like a "we all sniffed the same glue before coming here" way. She would be laughing her ass of from Rachel's constipated expressions, but she was actually scared by the lack of common sense of these people.
Santana rolled her eyes and plastered her best sour expression.
"Would you all calm your cool your tits? Fetus face's kid is not even born and yet you already are expecting him to become a mini-Finn, as if that was a compliment" she said with her signature narrowed eyes.
"Santana" chastised William.
Rachel again silently mouthed a thanks to Santana. She wanted to ration her diva breakdowns, otherwise at this rate she would be having at least 5 a day.
She wouldn't discard naming the baby after Finn so quickly, but them deciding over the baby as she didn't exist was making her lose her mind.
"What took you so long" whispered Rachel with a desperate flustered expression.
He could see the tension on her shoulders, her stiff smile and nervous belly-rubbing.
Concern immediately flooded his chest. She was one push away from a nervous breakdown.
"Sorry, afternoon classes dragged on forever" he said as he entered her loft while taking off his coat.
He had to contain his urges to hold her and sooth her as he usually did, he knew he had an unforgiving audience ready to put his head at a stake at the minimum slip up. Truth be told he didn't care what any of those tone-deaf wannabe's had to say, but he knew that Rachel would be left to fend them off after he left if they thought they were too close for their taste.
"What is he doing here?" asked Carole without trying to conceal her disdain for Jesse.
"I asked him to come Carole, and besides he was going to bring me my pre-natal vitamins" she replied with a cocked eyebrow showing she was not admitting any rude comments towards Jesse, who had come in her aide as an emotional support even if he preferred eating sand before sharing an afternoon with them.
Those had been Jesse's first thoughts when she asked him to come a few days ago when her show choir friends confirmed they were coming to New York.
"Didn't know you two were in speaking terms." Stated Artie.
"Didn't I tell you? Jesse and I got the leading roles in a play that's still in workshops" she answered plastering her show face, ignoring the suspicious looks on everyone's.
"Oh congrats!" said William, as much as he was surprised by the unannounced guest and his presence in Rachel's life, he still had been a teacher to the both of them, and he knew how much they wanted to succeed in Broadway. Even if Jesse seemed too close to Rachel and Finn's son, to his liking.
"What's it about?" asked Tina honestly intrigued.
"Teenage angst"
"A German tragedy"
Both said at unison and with a show face, they had previously discussed before how much they wanted to share with Rachel's high school friends and reached the conclusion that it was in their best interests that they didn't elaborate much on the plot of the play - considering the very explicit sexual content and how quick this group could turn on them.
In Jesse's mind it could be summed up that their ignorant small-town minds wouldn't be able to see past their sex scene and trying to reason with them would be worse than pulling teeth.
"Sounds historical" said Sam awkwardly.
"And bit boring" agreed Artie
And thus, proving his point.
Everyone gave them odd looks but decided to move on from that and began to ask Jesse about what he was doing in New York and Rachel was grateful of being able to catch a breath from this nerve-wracking day.
They ate peacefully and finally conversation flowed in more neutral topics allowing Rachel to relax. Jesse had positioned himself next to her and had his hand on her knee caressing it underneath the table, something that had been very discreet and well received by Rachel.
But unfortunately, Carole had caught sight of that when she went to the bathroom without them knowing.
Carole was already suspicious of their supposed "platonic" relationship; Rachel had sworn they were just friends but how close and comfortable they seemed sitting next to each other didn't sit right with her. She could see his intentions with Rachel clear as water, and if he thought that she would allow him - someone her son admittedly hated - to have any participation in the upbringing of her grandson, he was wrong.
But she didn't want to cross Rachel and ruin her chances of an active role in her grandson's life, so she just bit her tongue. This would be a battle that she wouldn't pick today.
They all made it peacefully towards the end of the night and Rachel was starting to doze off and Jesse noticed it.
Her intents on staying awake were the cutest thing in his eyes. He had to bite his tongue to avoid making heart eyes at her and showing all his cards in front of the New Direction's lot and Carole Hudson.
As much as he enjoyed looking at her endearing little frown every single time she realized that she was falling asleep, he had promised to always be in her corner. So, it was his job to make sure that the object of his affections got a good night's sleep.
"Hey everyone, I think the hostess is starting to feel the effects of her long day, we should call it a night" he said softly waking Rachel up. "They are leaving Rach" leaving no doubt that they should start clearing the room and leaving for the door.
"Oh well, see you all tomorrow in the afternoon for the Wicked show then" she said rubbing her eyes and yawning and standing up to guide them to the door not missing the opportunity to make them leave.
They all bid their goodbyes and each one rubbed her belly and Jesse wondered how Rachel didn't maim any arms, it was starting to annoy him. He couldn't imagine how on edge she must be, but then he saw her show-face faltering, the pursing of her lips and her rigid posture, and he got an idea of how close she was to chewing the head of the next person that dared to touch her.
As much as he knew they deserved it, Rachel always got the short end of the stick any time she expressed any opinions with these people and got pegged as too much of a diva. Something that Rachel took to close to heart and – even if he disagreed and wondered why – wanted to be in their good graces.
He had promised her to be the villain. So, he knew what would he need to do next time someone tried to touch her.
When most of them were gone and only remained Mr. Schuester and Carole; Schuester was about to repeat goodbyes with the baby and Jesse saw his itching moving hand towards Rachel's bump and he did what he promised, so he swatted his hand.
As a promise to Rachel, but he couldn't lie to himself. A part of him did it also because he couldn't bear people touching and groping the baby without getting on his nerves. A sense of protectiveness that he didn't know how to interpret.
William looked at him astonished, Carole was fuming and Rachel felt a deep desire to kiss him in the mouth right now.
"Uhm, that was rude kid, apologize to Will immediately" rapidly said Carole with a furrowed brow and crossed arms.
"No, what's rude is touching a woman's body without her consent, especially when she shows signs of obvious distress and displeasure" he retorted not having it.
"Rachel doesn't mind though, does she" William asked confident that Rachel was going to dismiss Jesse's concern.
"Oh, I do mind Mr. Schue, I mind very much" she said with a strained smile "It's starting to get on my nerves how everyone's touching me all over"
Jesse crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow with a smug grin.
"Sorry Rachel, Jesse's right, we've been all over you without asking you" he said uncomfortable of been put on the spot.
"No, he isn't" Carole snapped out no longer being able to contain her accumulated irritation since witnessing his hands on her knees. "I don't know who do you think you are kid, but you are not welcomed here. There is no reason for you to even be here and what's more I don't want you, so leave right now"
He looked at her impassively not engaging in her sudden abruptness. Carole Hudson would not get a reaction out of him.
"Mrs. Hudson, this is a difficult time for you and I really do sympathize with you, but Rachel's a dear friend of mine and I will be around as long as SHE wants me to be" he said with a calm demeanor and trying to muster all the patience in the world. He didn't want to get in a fight with a grieving mother. "Whenever she calls for me, I'll be there, so I'm sorry but you are going to learn to live with that"
"Carole, Jesse is not going anywhere, so he is right. If you want to be part of this baby's life, learn to deal with that and play nice with him" she added with a grave look and daring her with her look to muster comeback to set her straight again.
After that, Will decided to calm the waters and urged her to leave with him knowing Carole would set everything on fire if given the chance at this moment.
As soon as they closed the doors and Kurt and Santana were out of sight, Rachel flung into Jesse's arms. And they stayed like that for what felt like hours. Jesse rubbing her in the small of her back soothing circles and Rachel concentrating on his comforting perfume that worked like a charm on regulating her breathing.
"Thank you" she muttered against his shoulder.
"Anytime Rach" he said whispering against her hair.
Again, silence took hold of the room and they reveled on their embrace feeling finally at home.
"I need to de-stress with some Barbra, Jess… stay?" she said with a pleading tone still in his arms with her face hiding on his chest.
"You got it, gorgeous" he said as he kissed her forehead and winked.
hope you liked it!
