AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi everybody! I'm back (again!) with a new multi-chapter story! As you can tell by the characters, it's definitely a little out of the box! Regardless, I hope you enjoy it and that you please leave me some reviews letting me know your thoughts!

Quick shoutout to gigundoly who has been waiting very patiently for this story & for being the best person to bounce ideas off of and get ideas from! So very appreciated!

*I don't own any of the characters that Glee created, only the ones that I have developed for the purpose of this story. All rights for Glee and its characters are owned by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, and FOX.*

Chapter 1

ARTIE

"Best behavior, you got it?" Nancy Abrams said, looking between two of her three kids as she took the chicken out of the oven. "This is the first time that you'll be meeting Harrison, and I want you both to make a good impression. Just put a hold to the fighting for a couple of hours until he's gone, okay?"

"Don't have to worry about me," eighteen-year-old Artie assured her before looking pointedly at his sister as if to say "I'll quit it if you do,". They weren't terribly close in age, but being two teenagers, they found themselves butting heads quite often.

Fourteen-year-old Ella shrugged and popped a grape from the plate of fruit salad into her mouth.

"I guess," she said. "But why can't you just refer to him as your boyfriend already?! You have been seeing each other for months, and this whole dancing-around-the-point thing is getting exhausting."

"Because we're nearly fifty, Ella. We're too old for such a juvenile term," Nancy reasoned, nervously straightening out the silverware that had already been set on the table.

"Yeah, I guess the term the older generation is using now is 'partner'," Artie pointed out, a smug smile appearing on his face when his mother raised an eyebrow at him for alluding that she's old.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Nancy immediately smoothed her dress down and reminded her kids to use their best manners before going to meet her date at the door.

Artie and Ella took their places at the table as they waited for their mom to return with their dinner guest. Artie was excited to meet the infamous Harrison. He didn't know much about the guy except that he worked as a State's attorney alongside his mom, so it was nice to finally have the chance to get to meet the man he's heard so much about. Artie also felt like he had a duty to ask the tough questions, as he was acting as the man of the house with his older brother off at college.

A moment later, Nancy returned with a tall, well-dressed man by her side. Because he knew her so well, Artie thought that his mother still looked nervous, but her mood was visibly brightened upon Harrison's arrival.

"And these are my younger two. Artie's a Junior at McKinley High, and Ella is in eighth grade at Lima Middle," Nancy said, introducing the kids. "I've told you that my eldest, Griffin, is a sophomore at Ohio State."

Ella stood up and shook the man's hand as Artie unlocked his wheels and maneuvered from behind the table so that he could do the same. Artie took note of the way Harrison lowered his glance for half a second to take in the wheelchair before making eye contact with the teen, smiling, and giving him a firm handshake. Over the years, Artie had made it a game with himself to gauge people's reactions to the chair, and it was quite entertaining. Based on the reaction he had just received from Harrison, he could determine that while the presence of the chair was unexpected and surprising, he wasn't turned away by it. The man had unknowingly passed Artie's vibe check.

"It's nice to finally meet you both. I've heard so much about you. Your mom is very proud," Harrison said, taking his seat at the table and spreading his napkin across his lap.

The dinner began with an expected amount of small talk as the initial awkwardness faded away. Artie subtly studied his mother's boyfriend throughout the meal and concluded that he was polite, very smart, and definitely wealthy. It didn't take long for Artie to notice that Harrison wasn't too different from his own father. Art and Nancy had divorced when Artie was ten, and his dad now lived a bachelor-lifestyle in Akron, about two and a half hours away. Ella and Artie spent weekends with him pretty frequently, and he was definitely the fun parent.

"So, Artie, your mom mentioned you're a Junior?" Harrison asked, turning his attention to the boy sitting across from him.

"Yes, sir, I am," Artie replied, remembering his manners, much to his mother's delight.

"That's great. My own boy's the same age. He goes to Dalton Academy in Westerville," Harrison shared. Artie was all too familiar with Dalton Academy- specifically their a cappella group, The Warblers. "Your mom met him a few weeks ago, and I'm sure you'll meet him soon. He would've come over with me tonight, but he had lacrosse practice."

Artie nodded. Figures that the lawyer's preppy son played lacrosse for his impressionable private school. Artie had definitely been correct about the wealthy assumption.

"Well, I do look forward to meeting him some time," Artie truthfully assured the older man politely.

Harrison smiled at the boy before turning to his sister to ask her how her cheerleading practices were going. As Ella and the man made conversation, Artie decided that he approved of his mother's "partner". Nancy hadn't stopped smiling all night, and Artie loved seeing his mom so happy. She worked her ass off as a single mother to three needy children, and Artie thought that she deserved everything good in the world. He was still waiting for the right moment to pull Harrison aside for some one-on-one guy talk, but as of right now, Artie was a fan.

After dinner was over, Nancy and Ella began clearing the table and washing the dishes. Artie knew that his chance to get a word in with Harrison was now or never.

Artie took a deep breath before unlocking his wheels and making his way towards where the man was standing and offering to help with the cleanup duties.

"Hey, uh, Harrison?" Artie addressed the man, the slight shake in his voice making him sound less confident than he actually was. "I was wondering if you'd come to talk with me in the other room?"

"You got it," Harrison replied with a warm smile, eager to get the chance to talk to the boy as well. What Artie didn't know was that Harrison had a question of his own to ask his girlfriend's son.

Artie spun his chair around and pushed off towards the living room, Harrison following closely behind. When they arrived at their destination, Harrison took a seat on the couch and Artie parked himself across from him, locking his wheels in place.

"So, uh, as the interim eldest son," Artie began, clasping his hands in his lap. "I just wanted to have a little chat with you to make sure your heart- and mind- is in the right place, and whatnot."

Harrison looked slightly caught off-guard by Artie's assertiveness.

"Basically, as the great Ice Cube once rapped, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Don't go breaking my mom's heart or I'll… break your face… or something," Artie felt his face grow hot with embarrassment and knew that the badass façade he was sporting was unconvincing.

Artie's word choice elicited a chuckle from the man, who placed a fatherly hand on Artie's knee, probably unaware that the teenager was lost to sensation in that particular area.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," Harrison assured him. "I love your mother. I've loved her ever since I laid eyes on her from across the office. She is caring, thoughtful, and quick as a whip. When my wife died about nine years ago, I never thought that I'd find love again. You know, not anything real or true. But the moment I met your mom, everything changed. She's somebody a guy is lucky to fall in love with."

Artie hoped that Harrison couldn't make out the way his eyes were starting to water behind the lenses of his glasses. He could only hope that somebody would love him like that someday. Artie couldn't bring himself to speak, so he just nodded his head to show the man that he approved of his answer.

"Actually, I came here tonight hoping to ask you something as well," Harrison said, making eye contact with the teenager. "As you have already kindly pointed out, you are the man of the house- at least at the moment. I love your mom, Artie, and I wanted to ask your permission to ask your mom to marry me."

Artie felt like somebody had just thrown an ice cold slushie in his face. He instantly got chills and was so stunned that he suddenly couldn't remember how to form a coherent sentence. His mouth was hanging open and he could hear himself making weird blubbering noises as he watched Harrison reach into the interior pocket of his jacket and pull out a small box. He opened it and handed it to Artie. In the box was the biggest and sparkliest engagement ring he had ever seen in his life.

"What do you say, kid?"

Artie's mouth was dry and he still found himself unable to think clearly. He looked back down at the ring before closing the box and handing it back to Harrison. Artie sucked on his lower lip and lifted his eyes to meet those of the man sitting across from him, silently nodding his head in approval.

…

SEBASTIAN

Freshly showered after getting home from his lacrosse practice, Sebastian Smythe grabbed a ceramic bowl from the cabinet before retrieving the box of Frosted Flakes and a jug of milk. He sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island and fixed himself dinner just as his father was walking in the house.

"I did it, Seb! I popped the question! She said yes!" Harrison said gleefully as soon as he entered the room.

The news nearly caused Sebastian to spit his mouthful of cereal all over the kitchen in surprise.

"You what?!" Sebastian asked with a shocked look on his face and half-eaten food in his mouth.

"I went to dinner at Nancy's house in Lima tonight to meet her kids and I asked her to marry me!"

"Are you insane?!" Sebastian exclaimed after chewing and swallowing his food. The boy's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "I hardly know this woman- I didn't even know she had kids- and now she's going to be my step-mom?!"

The smile still hadn't left Harrison's face, despite his son's concerns that his relationship was moving too quickly.

"Well, lucky for you, I have pictures. Though, I wish you had been there with us tonight to share the special moment," the older man said as he took his iPhone out of his pocket and opened his photo album. "Ella- she's fourteen- showed us old people how to set up one of those self-timer pictures so that the four of us could all be in a photo together."

Harrison handed his phone to his son.

"Her son is your age. I think you'll like him," Harrison said as Sebastian glanced at the photo quickly before doing a bit of a double-take.

Sebastian used his thumbs to zoom in and was appalled by what he saw. There, sitting in a red wheelchair beside his own father, was somebody he definitely recognized and certainly did not expect.

"Her kid is the cripple from the New Directions?!" Sebastian blurted out with a semi-disgusted tone of voice before he was able to stop himself from using the derogatory word. He tried to zoom in further on the picture, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him, but it was to no avail. It was definitely that Artie Abrams kid from McKinley in the photo.

"I don't know what 'New Directions' is, but he's a nice kid," Harrison replied.

Of course, he wouldn't know who the New Directions are, Sebastian thought. Though he had been accepting and open-minded when his son came out as gay during his Freshman year of high school, Harrison didn't care much for the way his son spent his extra time with The Warblers. He was very supportive when it came to watching Sebastian run back-and-forth on a lacrosse field but just wasn't as enthusiastic about his son's participation in a "twink activity" like show choir.

"Anyways, we're going out to dinner with Nancy and the kids tomorrow night so that you guys can all meet each other," Harrison informed his son. "I expect you to be kind to the boy. He is going to be your step-brother, after all."

Sebastian rolled his eyes before finishing his cereal and retreating to his bedroom for the night. Of course, he was glad that his dad had found somebody who made him so happy (even if it was the mother of a member of their rival team), but it was going to be a tough adjustment family-wise. Sebastian was an only child, and his mother had passed away from cancer when he was eight, so it had always just been him and his dad. They were very close, which is why it shocked Sebastian that he had no clue his dad was even planning to propose.

Making a conscious decision to stop thinking about his dad, for the time being, Sebastian sat down at the desk in his bedroom and opened his laptop and typed Artie's name into the web browser's search engine. He didn't know much about the kid except that he was on wheels and went to public school with cute Blaine and his annoying boyfriend. Sebastian's search was successful in that he learned from The McKinley Muckraker that Artie had student-directed the production of West Side Story that Sebastian and The Warblers had gone to see a few weeks prior. He clicked the "Videos" link, which led him to a YouTube channel filled with many performances by the New Directions. He watched their set from last year's Midwest Regionals competition where they had beaten The Warblers out for the chance to compete at Nationals. Sebastian hadn't been on the team back then, but after watching the video, he couldn't understand how the New Directions had won with some mediocre original songs. Unimpressed, Sebastian clicked on the video of their 2011 Nationals performance. He yawned as they performed another original ballad, but couldn't stop himself from laughing when their leads started making out on stage. The second song was a bit cheesy but much more upbeat. Artie had several solos in the song, and even Sebastian had to admit that he had a killer voice.

Satisfied by his internet stalking for the night, Sebastian closed his laptop and began getting ready for bed. He wondered if Artie was as clueless to the fact that their parents were dating- err, engaged- as he was. Sebastian could only imagine how this was going to go down once The Warblers and New Directions found out. Their rivalry was the tensest it has ever been, and Sebastian was not exactly thrilled about having dinner with the Abrams family tomorrow evening.

He tossed and turned all night trying to push the thought of his new blended family out of his mind with no luck. Frustrated, Sebastian laid on his back in his bed knowing that the upcoming little gathering was sure to be nothing if not uncomfortable.

I hope you are all enjoying this story so far! Please leave me any reviews, thoughts, messages, and suggestions you have on this story! Reading your feedback really motivates me to continue writing! Thank you!

xoxo QuinnAbrams