BONUS CHAPTER |
adoption
***
KAYLA'S ALARM BLARES at nine in the morning and they groan, shoving their face into the pillow just as their wife of almost two years comes around the side of the bed to coax them awake.
"C'mon, honey. It's baby day!" Rachel says happily, brushing Kayla's bangs out of her face.
Kayla sighs, sitting up in the bed and leaning against the headboard as Rachel settles at her side. It's not that Kayla isn't excited that by the end of the day they'll have a daughter—it's just that she's scared. She's always been great with kids. She was an elementary music teacher for her first few months in New York until she could find a position. She's great with her nieces and nephews. Aaron's kids love her and so do all her friends' children. Dalton is a regular fixture in their house.
And she knows they're doing the right thing here. Someday down the road they might look into getting a sperm donor, but for now, they want to give a child a home, and they have so much love to give. Kayla knows what it's like being in that child's shoes. Once upon a time, she was an out of luck twelve year old, separated from her parents and kicked out by her homophobic grandmother, sitting on the steps of the Garrett household, clutching her big brother's hand and hoping beyond all hope that she could be happy there.
She knows she got lucky. Denise and Maury were the best thing that ever happened to her and Aaron. She knew that she saved them just as much as they saved her. They never could have kids of their own and when the opportunity to house Kayla and Aaron came around, they jumped at the chance to have a real family. It never mattered that they were already preteens and looked nothing like them. It didn't matter that both kids had obvious signs of trauma and needed extensive therapy. They would pay any amount of money to take care of them because they were their kids. Blood didn't matter.
When Kayla and Rachel started thinking about adopting, the first thing Kayla did was talk to her mom. She remembers flying in for her dad's fifty-fifth birthday and settling into the kitchen as she helped her mom make dinner.
Kayla is at the counter stirring the batter for his cake while Denise is at the table, shucking corn. She looks back at her mom with a warm smile.
"Hey, mama?" Kayla gets her mother's attention in the form of a knowing smile.
"Yeah, honey?"
Kayla hums. "When did you know you and dad wanted to adopt?"
Denise looks at her daughter with bright eyes, brushing back a hairpiece that fell out of her bun. "After the first IVF treatment didn't take. I knew I couldn't carry our baby, so we looked at other options. You and Rach don't want to have a baby?"
They shrug. "I think maybe one day, but I really want to adopt. Give some child a home like you did for us. It means a lot to me and Rachel gets it."
Denise gets out of her chair to hold her youngest child in her arms. "Oh, baby, I'm so proud of you. I know you'll love that child just as much as we love you and Ronnie."
Kayla holds their mother's arms around them and cuddles into her shoulder. "Do you think I'll be a good mom?"
"The best mom." Denise says immediately. "You've been taking care of everyone else as long as I've known you. I know you can do anything you set your mind to. You're not gonna immediately be mother of the year, but I know you and Rachel are gonna be the best parents a child could ask for."
"I love you, mama," Kayla mumbles into the crook of Denise's neck.
"I love you too, baby." Denise parrots, kissing Kayla's temple and then moving back to shucking the corn for dinner.
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new directions | glee
Fanfiction"As much as you try to deny it, you know I'm just as talented as you and that scares you." - Kayla Garrett has always been known as the pop singer and Rachel Berry's top competition. Kayla loved music, but she never loved fighting for the spotlight...
