Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 21st cycle. Now cycle 22!

ALPHABET 2.0 - So nearly a year ago (HA!) I had done a set of stories taking inspiration by words, three for each letter of the alphabet (started with Acapella, Audition Arts in mid-February and every other day to April). Well now I wanted to do something like that, but using the alphabet another way. Instead of random words, I made sentences, all with those same letters (you'll see). There'll be 13 here in cycle 22, and the other half in cycle 24!
TODAY: (4 of 26) D is for...

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Impromptu errands... *thud*

"A Diary Decodes a Daughter"
Sue & Brittany
Extra to the Sylvesters Series

Some may have thought that by now she would have been a long-time reader of her daughter's diary. It wasn't like she didn't know where it was; Brittany's idea of a hiding place was shaky at best. But the truth was she hadn't read a word of it; she'd left her that privacy. She hadn't read a word… not until that year.

After Sectionals, and after their… rough patch… as much as she'd been willing to keep that barrier safe between them, she knew Brittany had pulled away, if only a little. And now it left her with this feeling like her daughter wasn't on board anymore, that she'd switched to Schuester's side. And she was just desperate enough to know what was going on to break the barrier.

One afternoon, while Brittany was off to the mall with Santana, Sue had gone up to her room, reaching under the pillows and pulling out the small book. Reaching inside the pillow case, she got the small key, unlocking the diary as she took a seat. She felt watched, and she looked up… The cat trotted in. She'd gotten it for Brittany a couple years back, feeling bad for having to leave her behind during the Cheerios' out-of-state competitions. This was before her daughter had joined the squad, and she was getting to be that age where having her there, alone in the hotel room all day just became unpractical and only created questions. So she'd gotten her the cat, right before leaving. When she came back, she had made the decision, not only to have her became a Cheerio but for their whole 'charade' to begin.

The cat planted itself on the ground there, across the room… like it was staring at Sue, witness to what she was doing. She just frowned and ignored it, leafing through the pages. She had to say, for all her academic failings, her daughter aced on penmanship. As far as content though, it read like a walk through her mind… odd, kind of disjointed, at times displaying logic at its very simplest form, but generally… sweetly honest… Guilt returned, and she briefly considered putting the book and the key back, but… no. She'd started it; now she'd finish it.

She'd gone seeking information to go at Schuester, but he did disappear from her thoughts more and more as she read things here and there. There were things she wasn't sure how to respond to… most of them having to do with Brittany's… friendship… with Santana Lopez. She didn't always go in so much detail, but it was enough for her to start asking herself if those girls had really gone to the mall… If that was what she wanted, she wouldn't get in her way, but this put young Miss Lopez in a precarious position where the coach was concerned.

She did see a lot of talk about Glee Club, though none of it could really be helpful in getting what she wanted. If anything, it made things worse… She was loving it, being part of that club, and that was what she told her diary… how she danced, how she sang, how she felt such a thrill… her disappointment over the loss at Sectionals, and how they'd just keep fighting, harder.

But then she spoke of home, almost more than everything else… like she couldn't say it anywhere else… There she spoke of her grandfather, of course, but that wasn't the word she saw over and over again, the word… Mom.

She loved her. She always loved her, despite everything with Glee Club. She still looked up to her, 'my favorite person,' as she'd say when she was little. There was love, and pride, but also regrets… that her mother couldn't like Glee Club the way she did, and that she didn't want to have to choose…

She stopped after this. She closed the diary, locked the lock, put the book under the pillows and the key in the case… She stood and stopped… She heard the door, downstairs… She was home. Sue had to think quickly… What if she suspected her?

The cat meowed… Sue looked at it. She picked it up and rested it on the bed, near the pillows… It was lazy, wouldn't move. Sue stalked away, never seen…

She never looked in her diary again. She knew now that, no matter what, Will Schuester would never steal her daughter away.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!