Hey everyone! This is a story idea I've had since I finished Barely Breathing and wasn't ready to part with Allie, but at the same time, I wasn't ready to part with Emma (and Ryan and Sarah) either. I wished there was a way to make Allie part of that family, and this idea was born.

So, this story is like a crossover between Allie's world and Emma's world. In this story, Allie was born Finn and Rachel's senior year of high school, because in the other stories, they'd be too close in age if she was born their first year of college. So, at the beginning of the story, Allie is nine and has spent the last nine years with her adoptive parents. The Hudson family still lives in University Heights, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Ryan and Emma are seven and in second grade at Cambridge Elementary, and Sarah is three. Jack is not in this story, because I thought putting him in would be too depressing thinking about what happens in Keep Holding On. Other gleeks and their kids will appear at other points.

Hope you enjoy the first chapter and review if you want me to continue!

Chapter 1: She's Yours

"Okay, all three of them are asleep," Rachel said as she came into her and Finn's room. Finn and Rachel had just checked on their three children. Today had been a pretty busy day. The family had driven from their home in Cleveland to visit Rachel's dads and Finn's parents in Lima for the day. Finn and Rachel didn't expect their kids to have as much trouble falling asleep tonight as they had, but the grandparents had given them a lot of sugar, so the kids were being a little hyper.

"Rachel?" Finn asked softly. "Do you still think about her?"

Rachel paused. She knew who Finn was talking about. As much as they loved their son, seven-year-old Ryan, and their two daughters, seven-year-old Emma and three-year-old Sarah, not a day went by when Rachel didn't think about their other daughter.

She didn't even know their other daughter's name, or where she was now. The summer before their senior year of high school, Finn and Rachel had sex and used protection, but they ended up being the one in a million when the protection didn't work. Rachel found out she was pregnant a week before they began their senior year. She and Finn went back and forth throughout the nine months about whether not they wanted to keep their baby, but ultimately decided that they couldn't give their baby what they needed right now.

Since they'd seen how hard it was for Puck and Quinn to see Beth being brought up by another family, they decided to have a closed adoption. The day their daughter was born, Finn and Rachel had spent a few minutes with her before the nurses took her away for the adoption agency to give her to her adoptive parents. They did give the adoption agency their names and contact information in case the adoptive parents ever felt they should know anything about their daughter, but it had been nine years, and they didn't even know what the adoptive parents had named her.

Giving up their daughter had been the hardest thing Finn and Rachel had ever done. They'd both ended up having to go on anti-depressants. They tried to have a normal stable senior year, but the only times they could really feel happy were their dates and at Glee practice. They both managed to graduate with striaght As and gotten scholarships to colleges, but something was always missing. At their wedding the summer after their first year of college, they wished more than anything that their little girl was with them.

When they were sophomores in college, history repeated itself. Rachel got pregnant again, this time with twins, a boy and a girl. Even though they knew it would be hard, Finn and Rachel decided this time they'd keep their babies. They couldn't go through the pain of losing children again. On April 16, 2014, they were the parents of Ryan Nicholas Hudson and Emma Grace Hudson. Raising two children in college had been a challenge, but their kids made them happier than they ever could have imagined. Finn and Rachel graduated from Ohio State University summa cum laude, and they were offered jobs in a school district near Cleveland shortly after they graduated. On February 19, 2018, Sarah Elizabeth Hudson joined the family.

"I do, every day," Rachel said. "I love our kids, but I'm always wondering where she is and what she's doing."

"Yeah, so do I," Finn said. "I'd like to meet her, know her name or some things about her. Where she lives, what she likes, stuff like that."

"Yeah, me too," Rachel said. "Maybe one day we should tell Ryan, Emma and Sarah about her."

"They are still young," Finn said. "I do feel guilty for not telling them though."

"I don't think they'd really understand," Rachel said. "Ryan and Emma might a little, Sarah would just be confused."

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the telephone rang. Rachel looked at it. It was a Columbus area code, and she hadn't really known anyone there since her OSU days, but she answered the phone anyway. "Hello?"

"Is this Rachel Hudson?"

"Yes," Rachel said.

"Well, I'm from the Columbus Child Protective Services and I'm calling about your daughter," the voice said. "You had a daughter about nine years ago and gave her up for adoption, correct?"

Rachel felt confused. "Yes, that's correct."

"Well, your daughter's adoptive parents died in a car accident three days ago," the voice on the other end of the phone said. "They said in their will that if anything happened to them, they wanted her birth parents to be given custody of her. We've been trying to find where you are now to contact you."

Rachel didn't know what to say. She felt horrible for her daughter and overwhelmed by the whole situation. "We love her, we always have, but we don't know anything about her..." Rachel managed to say.

"Both her adoptive parents were orphaned and had no siblings," the person continued.

"Well... what's her name?" Rachel asked as Finn gave her a confused look. "Has she been living in Columbus these past nine years?"

"Her name is Alexandra Faith Cummings, she goes by Allie," the voice said. "And yes, she's been in Columbus. She's been staying with a friend while we searched for you."

Finn gave Rachel a confused look. Rachel put the phone on speaker so Finn could hear. "Did she know about us?" Rachel asked.

"She didn't even know that she was adopted until we told her," the representative said. "It's a lot to take in."

"Oh my God," Rachel said. She didn't know what else to say.

"We are going to need to do a background check on you two," the representative continued. "She will stay with her friends down there until the background check is completed, but after that, she's going to live with you two. Her adoptive parents said in their will that they'd been trying to get in contact with you two for a few years, but couldn't track you down. They really wanted you two to be a part of her life."

Rachel felt tears coming to her eyes. She'd always wondered about her daughter. Allie. She had a name, and now Rachel knew it. But she'd missed nine years of Allie's life. There were nine years to catch up on. In addition, they had to explain everything to Ryan, Emma and Sarah.

And then there was Allie. She'd lost her parents at the tender age of nine and had no idea this was coming. Even though losing someone you loved to old age or a terminal illness would be sad, you would at least have time to prepare yourself for the possibility. Allie was in no way ready to prepare herself for her parents' death.

In the eyes of the law, and most likely in Allie's eyes as well, Finn and Rachel were complete strangers to Allie. They'd given up all rights to her the day the adoption agency gave her away. Allie had spent nine years with another man and woman. This man and woman were her parents in every way but birth. They'd bought her things, fed her, taken her to school, taught her how to walk and been there for her in hard times. Finn and Rachel hadn't done any of those things.

"Would it be possible to do the background check in Columbus?" Finn finally asked. "We'd really like to meet her before she comes to live with us."

"Of course," the voice on the phone said. "Tomorrow morning though, we will be sending people to inspect your house and to talk to your family members and friends."

"We understand," Finn said.

"Where was Allie when it happened?" Rachel managed to say.

"She was at school," the voice continued.

Rachel let Finn take over on the phone as they made arrangements for the background check and to come meet Allie. She could barely process all her thoughts. As sad as she was for Allie, she was at the same time happy that her little girl was coming back into her life.

x

"How should we tell them?" Finn asked. It was the next morning. Finn and Rachel had barely slept the previous night. They'd done all the paperwork necessary online that they could do, as well as sending reference forms to friends and family members. They'd also called their work places to explain the situation and that they wouldn't be in for a few days so they could get to know Allie and eventually help her get settled in.

"Maybe they should have known from the beginning," Rachel sighed.

"They're little, Rach," Finn said. "We probably would have told them once they got older, but they wouldn't really have understood the situation."

"Well, we have to tell them," Rachel said. "She's going to be living with us."

"Why aren't we going to school today?" Ryan asked as he, Emma and Sarah came downstairs.

"Yeah, it's 8:45," Emma added.

Rachel sighed and looked at Finn. "We actually have something to talk to you three about."

"Are we in trouble?" Sarah asked.

"Of course not," Finn said softly. "Your mommy and I have never told you, but you have another sister."

"That's cool!" Sarah said excitedly.

"Why doesn't she live here though?" Emma asked, looking confused.

"I wish it was another brother instead," Ryan said.

"Well, you guys are a little young to understand everything," Rachel said. "I don't really know how to tell you guys this, and neither does your dad. She was born before Ryan and Emma were born. We didn't think we could take care of her when she was born, so we gave her to another family. But last night we got a phone call. Her other parents died, and she's going to come live with us."

All three kids looked confused. Rachel didn't know what she was doing. This was enough of a shock for her and Finn. Of course, it would probably be even harder to support Allie in this hard time and be there for her.

"When's she coming?" Sarah asked.

"We're going to meet her today," Finn said.

"What's her name?" Ryan asked.

"Allie," Rachel said.

"Why didn't you tell us about her?" Emma asked.

"We didn't really know how," Finn said. "We would have waited until you were older and could understand the situation. But things have changed."

The family was quiet for a few moments before Emma spoke. "Where's she going to sleep? We don't have an extra room."

Rachel sighed. This would likely cause resentment between the three girls, but it was the best solution she and Finn could come up with. "Emma, you'll move into Sarah's room and she'll have your room. We're going to look for a bigger house where all four of you get your own rooms."

Both girls looked rather upset. "Guys, please be nice to her when she gets here. She is your sister. And she just lost her parents."

"But you're her parents, too," Ryan said.

"Allie's not going to think of us that way yet," Finn said. "There's a biological connection, and that's it." They really had no idea how they were going to do this, but they told the kids they'd talk in the car on the way down to Columbus.

Chapter 2 preview: Finn, Rachel, Ryan, Emma and Sarah meet Allie for the first time and take her back to Cleveland.