6x09 ~ CHILD STAR ~
•••••
Lexi was nearing the finish line, more and more everyday in her pregnancy. She had less than a month until her due date, and honestly, she was giving no crap. She tried to work still, knowing that she wouldn't be able to return to teaching class, or coaching for a few months. She would be at home with their baby boy, while Sam would be allowed to go back to work sooner than Lexi was permitted to.
"I'm telling you, I keep believing that my body's reached maximum capacity, but then it just keeps on growing." Lexi exclaimed, as her and Sam walked through the entrance of the school. "I'm literally a version of a human tissue expander." She muttered.
"No." Sam shook his head, refusing to believe that statement. "You're..."
"If you say glowingly gorgeous, we are done." Lexi interrupted, as he sighed.
"Any updates on a substitute Cheerios coach?" Sam asked, as she shrugged.
"No. I've been interviewing coach after coach...but I can't find any. I cleared out my schedule at school today so I could interview a possible candidate or two." Lexi answered. "I just need one around while I'm on mat leave for three months." She added, as she walked ahead of him.
Lexi stopped walking when she felt some pain in her stomach. "Ow..." She said, louder than intended, as Sam looked down at her.
"What happened? You okay?" Sam asked, slightly panicking. "Do we need to get the nurse, or take you to the hospital?"
"No. I'm fine. It was a little kick that caused some pain, but it died down. That's all." Lexi smiled, reassuringly.
"Lex.."
"We still have a few weeks left." Lexi assured him. "You can't have little panic attacks every time the baby kicks."
"Can't make any promises." Sam chuckled, as Lexi shook her head, amused, and pressed a kiss to his cheek, before walking towards the auditorium.
———-
"How are you doing?" Kitty asked, as she stopped where he stood. Sam sighed.
"I just realized that the due date is getting closer." Sam answered. "I'm starting to wrap my head around the devastating truth that my life is over."
"Well, you and Lex are doing quite well." Kitty shrugged. "The baby is going to be just fine, Sam. Are you feeling okay?"
"Name every possible worry, I've had it." Sam answered. "Will I get Lexi to the hospital on time? Will I not be able to get there if she isn't with me when she goes into labour? Will the baby be scared of me?"
"I don't think the baby's going to be freaked out by you." Kitty chuckled. "Your questions are valid, and I can assure you that you'll be there. You'll be there when she has the baby, and you'll get her there on time."
"Thanks. I think that we're both just scared about being parents, you know? Plus, we're both stressed with everything going on." Sam said after a few moments.
"Well, being parents for the first time is going to be scary. I don't have to have experience to know that. But I do know that your son is going to have the best parents, and he'll be welcomed into the safest place...and you're not going to be able to sleep after he's born...at least for a while." Kitty commented, as both of them chuckled.
"Thanks." Sam nodded, checking his phone. "I have to get the field, but I appreciate your encouragement, and if you could share that encouragement with my girlfriend, that would be appreciated."
"You got it." Kitty sent him a thumbs up, before heading to the auditorium.
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The New Directions sat in the auditorium as Sue introduced a boy named Myron Muskovitz, who was about to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. She didn't shy away from indicating that he was the nephew of the superintendent, whom she had a crush on. He wanted to run his performance by the Glee Club, plus he wanted tips and feedback for it.
What Lexi expected was a twelve year old performing a modernized rendition of a pop song, and maybe sing off key, however, her and the entire group were shocked by his exuberant, and elaborated performance of Lose My Breath, by Destiny's Child.
The whole time he was performing, Lexi, Kitty, and Roderick sat in their chairs, dancing occasionally, and debating whether to laugh, or sit there utterly traumatized by the rather sheer bodysuits that the performers wore. After a whole performance of the group stifling their laughs, Lexi turned to Rachel, Mr. Schue and Sue. Rachel was definitely stifling a laugh, although she looked a little surprised. Sue was absolutely shocked and terrified that someone so innocent could pull off a sheer bodysuit, and display talent in a few areas.
"That was amazing. Myron, you are very talented." Rachel spoke up, quick to praise his performance after he verbally abused his dancers.
"Oh, thank you, Miss Berry." Myron, smiled. "I'm a huge fan, so that means the world to me. But here's the rub: I want my bar mitzvah to be perfect. Not good, not great... perfect. How can I improve this number? Seriously, give me notes. Anything."
"Um... maybe your dancers could just smile a little bit more?" Kitty suggested.
"Yeah." Rachel nodded.
"Okay, exactly. I-I already told them that." Myron said, before turning to his hired dancers. "I already told you that! What's wrong with you people? You know, I thought I hired professionals, but obviously, I was mistaken. You're fired! Get off this stage! Now, bitches!" He ordered.
At his outburst, the New Directions sat back in their seats, shocked by how a sweet kid could switch to such an angry person so rapidly. They were stunned, and decided not to say anything about it, before Myron spoke up again.
"I thought only pregnancy hormones could cause quick emotional changes." Lexi muttered.
"May I speak with the adults, please?" Myron asked, returning to his calm persona.
"Do anything he asks." Sue said in a whisper to Mr. Schue and Rachel.
"That's my cue to leave." Lexi said, as she slowly stood up. Kitty was quick to follow, and helped her out of the auditorium, leaving Rachel to talk to Myron.
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As Kitty and Lexi were walking down the hallway, Lexi stopped walking. "Ow..." She muttered.
"Lex?" Kitty questioned.
"I seem to have started getting contractions..." Lexi admitted, through gritted teeth, as she gasped in pain, as the contractions came and went. "And I still have a few weeks to go, so I might not even be going into labour, but it sure feels like I am..." She exclaimed, raising her voice.
"Okay, okay..." Kitty said quietly, trying not to panic. "Uh, I'm going to drive you to the hospital."
"I need Sam." Lexi spoke up after a few moments. "Can you get one of the football players to inform him?"
"Yeah." Kitty nodded, as she stopped some Cheerios walking past her, and told them to inform Sam. "Okay, they're going to inform Sam, and he'll be on his way." She smiled.
"Oh god." Lexi groaned, not hearing the last part of Kitty's response. "We need to go now." She said, as Kitty tried to help her down the hallway. "Now!"
"I know!" Kitty said, as she helped Lexi down the hallway and out to her vehicle. Once they got into the vehicle, they made their way to the hospital.
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Lexi sat in the hospital bed as she closed her eyes, while holding her stomach, as the contractions continued to hit. Kitty wasn't able to come in with her, because she wasn't family, and she had school to get back to.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, opening the door, and rushing in towards her beside. He watched as she let out some breaths, while continuing to groan.
"Ohh! Oh, God. Oh, God. What can I do, Lex?" He asked, as she didn't manage to answer his question. Where's Kitty?"
"She went back to school!" Lexi let out a loud groan, as she closed her eyes in pain.
"That's okay. T-That's okay, right?" Sam asked, getting down, so he was eye level with her.
" No, no! Nothing is okay!" Lexi gasped out in pain. "This whole past two months, I've been thinking that if I could just give birth to a healthy baby boy, that... that... that I would have won some kind of race or competition... just crossed the finish line, but that's not remotely where the finish line is."
"I know."
"There is no finish line. No, there's no finish line! Once this baby is out in the world, literally anything could happen to him..." Lexi continued with her panicky rant, as Sam rubbed his hand gently up and down her arm. " cancer, car crash, footballs!"
"Footballs?" Sam frowned.
" Ahh, make me feel better!" Lexi ordered through her gasps and groans of pains.
"Here." Sam tried to move her pillows, only to have her slap his arm, and push his hands away. "N... ju... ju... just..."I-I'm freaking out!" He admitted.
"What are we gonna do?!" Lexi asked, her voice raised, as she felt another contraction hit.
"I don't know!" Sam yelled, unintentionally, out of stress and panic.
"Stop yelling at me!" Lexi said through, what felt like the hundredth groan that day. As another contraction hit, she gasped out in pain. "Aaaaaaaah!" She groaned, as Sam followed in her lead, yelling along with her, because he had no idea what to do.
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After what felt like an hour, the pain had died down, but not to a bare minimum. The contractions were still hitting Lexi here and there. She currently sat, as a doctor did an ultrasound.
"Oh." Lexi closed her eyes, wincing in pain.
"Another one? Is it bad?" Sam asked.
"Ohh, you know when guys get kicked in their...you know..." She said, as he frowned.
" How do you know what that even remotely feels like?" Sam asked.
" Everything goes pitch black. You want to throw up. Your whole body goes cold and numb all over because of the pain." Lexi rambled.
"That's exactly what it feels like." Sam nodded.
"Hoo! This is worse." Lexi confessed.
"We're gonna have a baby!" Sam smiled, trying to distract her from the pain.
"We're gonna have a baby!" Lexi smiled up at him.
"Good news, Lexi! Based on the earlier pelvic exam and the cervical length on ultrasound, it looks like Braxton Hicks." The doctor informed Lexi, who frowned.
"Braxton Hicks?" She repeated, feeling slightly disapponted.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"False labor. When the uterus contracts and relaxes." The doctor answered.
"S-So, no having a baby?" Sam asked.
"Not today." The doctor said, before leaving the room, to allow the couple space to process and chat.
"I-I thought it was real..." Lexi admitted. "I thought I was going to have the baby today.
"Same." Sam sighed.
"You know, suddenly I feel disappointed, but at the same time, a little relieved. It hurts less." She smiled sadly, as Sam nodded.
"It's okay to feel disappointed, Lex." Sam assured her, as he ran his hands through her hair.
"I know..." Lexi sighed, leaning into his embrace.
"Your due date isn't too far away, it's only a few weeks away. It'll be here before you know it." Sam smiled.
"And we can finally meet our son."
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Lexi, Sam, Will, and Rachel, sat awkwardly as Coach Beiste ate his chicken in front of them.
"You wanna know the best thing about being a dude?" He asked rhetorically. "I'm eating my chicken for lunch, but later, if I lick my lips like this, I'm tasting it all day."
Lexi, and Rachel both wore slightly disgusted expressions, but she was still happy that he had found the courage to be himself.
Not even a moment later, Sue walked in and began making herself a cup of coffee. She was visibly not doing well, because she ended up pouring her coffee on the ground.
"Hey are you okay?" Lexi asked, as Sue let the coffee pour out onto the floor. She sighed, and took the coffee jug out of her former coach's hand.
"No, actually. I haven't slept in three days." Sue finally answered, as she lifelessly walked over to the group. "Mind if I put my coffee down on this decorative end table?"
"Hey, uh, Sue?" Sam asked as he felt Lexi jump when her mug dropped, shattering on the floor. He placed a hand over her thigh, to offer some consolation. "What's going on?"
"I've become a personal slave to one Myron Muskovitz." Sue shuddered.
"You're so called best friend?" Lexi asked, teasingly.
"He's not my so-called best friend. Never was, never will be." Sue clarified, before continuing. "We start the day with a series of vitamin B drips, and the eight hour pitch session begins. He says 'my expresso' as if every bean is cultivated specially for him. Every night is spent reading the Torah aloud so that Myron can absorb the bit he has to read at his Bar Mitzvah without having to memorise himself." Sue explained.
"Sue, this kid is a nightmare, this has to stop." Will insisted, worried about Sue landing in a downward spiral of insanity.
"Oh it will. Once you, Johnny-Wanna-peen, homeless, Mila Kunis wannabe, and Rachel, the Glee Club and I agree to become his back up dancers at his Bar Mitzvah."
"He wants us?" Mr. Schue frowned.
"We are his last resort. He blew his entire entertainment budget on airfare for a callback of one hundred dancers, in which there was no dancing, he just called them in one at a time and asked, 'are your allergies as bad as mine today?"
"Now hold on, I could understand why the kid would want Rachel, Lexi, Will and even Sam, but me? My knees have been shot since my bull riding days." Sheldon spoke up.
Sam leaned in towards Lexi. "Is my dancing bad?" He whispered, as she shook her head.
"Oh honey, you'll be fine. I'll help you..but I don't think you'll need any. I mean, you're white chocolate after all." Lexi assured him, as he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.
"Thanks babe, I needed to hear that." Sam replied quietly, as they went back to listening to the conversation.
"Well I am being forced to participate, so I am forcing you to participate. So there's at least one person who's a worse dancer than I am." Sue replied to Sheldon's earlier comment.
"Well I'm in, but I'm going to be cautious, since I'm eight months pregnant." Lexi smiled, weakly. "Can't do any vigorously demanding choreography."
"Same here, excluding the pregnancy part." Sam agreed. "I'm just tired." He admitted, as Lexi grabbed his hand in hers, squeezing it comfortingly. He allowed her to lean against him, knowing she was obviously tired, and disappointed from not being able to have the baby the previous day.
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As Will, Rachel, Sue, Sheldon, Lexi and Sam were in the dance studio, Kitty walked past, imitating Lexi's bored expression, causing Lexi to roll her eyes, playfully. So far, the Bar Mitzvah had been going rather smoothly, that was, until Myron got stuck in a stage pod, which resulted in him being terrified, that he pooped himself.
"Sheldon, you've nailed it." Mr. Schue sent Sheldon a thumbs up. "Sam, you turned the wrong way again."
"No, I think you guys turned the wrong way." Sam frowned, as Lexi gently grabbed him on the arm, making him look down at her.
"I'll help you." She assured him, as she helped him redo the choreography.
"That's it, I'm done." Sue said, heading towards the door.
"No, hang in there, hang in there, you've almost got it. Hey, as the poet once said, fake it till you make it!"
"He can't do impressions, no matter how hard he's tried...definitely not on his strengths list." Lexi muttered, making Sam chuckle.
"William, in the name of all that is sacred, for once in your life, please stop talking. I don't care about heels steps or point turns or old-timey sayings that can be found on grandma's sweatshirts. And why are you still here? You don't even work at this school!"
"You asked me to help." Mr. Schue argued.
"Excuse me, you asked all of us to help." Rachel pointed out, irritated.
"Shut up dreidel. This is between butt chin and me. So why are you the pied piper of lost causes? And why on Earth do these idiots, minus, Lexi, think so highly of you, when you've done nothing for their lives except make it worse? I secured you a dream job at Vocal Adrenaline, one of the best show choirs in America, and within minutes you screw that up. And now you're back skulking the hallways with your aww shucks, reach for the stars attitude and it will not stand."
"Susie Q. May I call you Susie Q?" Mr. Schue asked, stepping towards Sue.
"No you may not."
"The superintendent got you into this. Not me. So why aren't you coming after him? Oh that's right! Because you still have a little crush on old Bob, don't you? You're thinking if you play your cards right, you might just get a date with a guy who once mistook you for a man. That's really sad Susie Q, even for you."
"How dare you." Sue said, growling.
"Oh, and by the way, hope you're enjoying my new axe body spray, it's a new scent called, 'this woman next to me has clearly lost her mind.'"
Before anyone could say anything, Sue pounded onto Mr. Schue, knocking him straight to the floor, as they tussled on the floor.
"Oh my god." Lexi muttered, giggling softly.
The fight stopped when the superintendent popped his head in the room "Is something wrong."
"No! We're just rehearsing." Sue lied.
"Absolutely!" Lexi piped up, as she nudged Sam, so he put his one hand around her waist, while she put her left hand on his shoulder, and he grabbed her free hand to make it look like they were dancing.
"Let's get to the stage, people! It's showtime!" The superintendent smiled, not seeing past the lies.
"This isn't over William." Sue whispered harshly.
The two teachers glared at each other, as Lexi, Sam, Rachel and Coach Beiste followed them out, ready to perform.
{Break Free ~ Sung by the New Directions}