Ever since Blaine came to the realization his mother and father were never going to come back for him, he learned to settle into his new life with Mr. Chang and the other kids. The kids were nice in the Chang house, all understanding that everyone was broken in some shape or form – even Mr. Chang, who told the children about his fathers’ persistence to pursue a career in medicine rather than performance. While he may not have made it big, he did manage to go on tour for a few years with popular singers. It was sort of his message to all of them – just because someone says you can’t doesn’t mean you won’t, and even if you don’t there is nothing wrong in trying. And Blaine took comfort to the words, he was finally free to play with any dolls he wanted while still playing sports and no one really seemed to mind. Mr. Chang was a fair man to all of them – equal respect; everyone deserves to be whom he or she wishes.

A year into Blaine’s life at the Chang’s house the rest of the family, which they considered themselves to be thank you very much, celebrated his new homecoming. While Blaine was reflective that it was exactly a year since he last saw his parents, it was almost joyful that everyone was happy to have him around. He made friends to; Marcus was always around for a quick game of Jacks and would play dolls in return for Blaine not making a joke about his red hair, and there was Sarah who him and her would read princess stories together before bed.

“Which one tonight Blainey?” she whispered, the both of them searching quietly through the ragged bookshelf. Blaine skimmed his fingertips gently over the spines of each story – Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Little Mermaid…

“Blainey? Can we read this one?” He turned to his left, pupils focusing in the dark on the book Sarah held. Aladdin

“Of course,” taking the book from her hand, and holding out his other to help her stand. She was a year younger than and a little more wobbly. He never knew why she was left to live with Mr. Chang but once a month he would take her out somewhere and they would be left with the oldest in charge, Mark, to watch over them. Sarah never brought it up, so he never asked. Simple as that. It was sort of how their friendship worked.

The two snuck back into the children’s bedroom – which fit a total of twenty of them, running to their beds, which they constantly pushed together. The single sized beds slipped next to one another and then the both of them were snuggling under the thin blue sheets and warm yellow quilt as Blaine pried upon the book.

“Sarah?” he whispered.

She looked up, her blue eyes shining with curiosity. “Yes?”

“Can I be the princess tonight?”

It was an understanding that when they read out loud, they would assign each other roles to make the story feel more alive. Switching between the narrator they incorporated character voices, little screams and accents when necessary. It kept their imagination growing a brain stimulated, at least that’s what Quinn told them.

“Of course Blaine,” she smiled simply.

“You don’t mind?” his voice resembling the curious expression on his face.

“Not at all, you’re going to be the best princess ever.”

And with that Blaine decided Sarah was going to be the person he told everything to. She was his best friend.

Mr. Chang was a huge believer in keeping the childrens education high in importance. It was always too complicated to send all of them to one school – many were behind, some were unable to be taught in a classroom environment and there were the few who just refused to go.

But he was determined. So every few days Miss Quinn would come to the house and take the children in sections varying on development and their situations to home school them. Miss Quinn was a beautiful lady with blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and her warm chocolate eyes that always shined when she walked into the house. Mostly she taught out of workbooks, which she would pay herself for the children, and together, they would go through a certain number of pages and then focus on understanding the content. Normally they were with Miss Quinn for a maximum of two hours every other day. If the students all finished early, sometimes she would perform for the kids and let them show off their talents as well or even just read a more complicated book to the kids – giving them something to work towards every lesson. Her homework was a simple concept – if you did it, you cared enough. And if you didn’t, then your heart would shatter seeing the chocolate eyes dim to display disappointment.

The first time Blaine met Miss Quinn was a week after he was dropped off. Placed into Sarah’s group he was quickly given a brand new workbook and caught up to speed. Blaine had always been a great student at his old school but with Miss Quinn he really shined.

“Blaine?” Miss Quinn called softly after their first lesson. “Do you think you could come over here for a moment please?” Her voice comforting and welcoming, he was practically running towards her.

“Hi Miss Quinn,” he said quickly, smiling sheepishly.

“How are you feeling? Okay?”

“Better than before,” he managed to whisper after a few moments of silence.

“You are a very special boy Blaine, and you deserve all the love in the world,” crouching down to put her right hand on his shoulder and then using her fingers to pus his chin up, forcing his eyes to meet with hers.

“Do you hear me Blaine?”

His wide eyes nodded quickly, soft droplets forming at his teardrops.

“If you need any extra help – you let me know alright? You’re going to be okay Blaine,” and with that Blaine crushed his small arms around her frame, hugging tightly.

Miss Quinn froze for a few seconds before hugging the boy back and placing a small kiss to his hair.

“You’re really kind Miss Quinn. Thank you.”

Blaine scampered out of the room with his workbook, determined to finish his first assignment before dinner. He never wanted to upset Miss Quinn ever.

~*~

Quinn was only sixteen when she first got pregnant. The constant pressure of being the perfect celibate daughter got to her at one point and even though she knew it was wrong she let it happen anyways. The worst part of the entire story is her other half. At some time in her life, she seemed to have it all. Popular, cheerleading captain, perfect boyfriend, perfect grades – a real all star. And her perfect boyfriend was certainly very perfect. James might not have been the smartest guy around, but he had the biggest heart.

Someone once told the brown haired, green eyed beauty that he tended to, “wear his heart on a sleeve.” In response he bought a shirt with such – a heart on his left sleeve. He never failed to make Quinn smile.

Quinn was sitting in her car, driving home after another day at the Chang house and fumbled with the car stereo. Music blaring from the speakers, her fingers itched to turn the knob to the left and turn it down but the lyrics reached out to her.

“Each Time The Wind Blows
I Hear Your Voice So
I Call Your Name . . .
Whispers At Morning
Our Love Is Dawning
Heaven's Glad You Came . . .

You Know How I Feel
This Thing Can't Go Wrong
I'm So Proud To Say
I Love You
Your Love's Got Me High
I Long To Get By
This Time Is Forever
Love Is The Answer”

Quinn was at practice with the Cheerios when voices in harmony could be heard making their way onto the field. Whipping her head around, ponytail swishing and all, she could make out the football frame that would be her boyfriend. He was always doing these things and constantly could recruit the glee club into helping him serenade her. Her eyes began to sparkle as he ran towards her, lifting her into the skies before catching her bridal style. His smile never leaving hers and his eyes smiling brightly as he continued to sing. Quinn would laugh and hide her face because he was her dork but he never let her.

“I always want to see you smile Quinn, you understand?” and all she could do was smile in return.

She really messed that one up. He insisted on waiting til marriage for anything and then Quinn just had to go let Derek knock her up. ‘You stupid child’ she thought to herself. Small tears streaming down her cheeks, she turned off the radio, preferring to listen to the passing cars and focus on the road ahead rather on the past.

When the baby finally came, James was there. And Derek. It was bizarre in the matter that Derek insisted to be a part of the experience, he never really gave a good reason but all Quinn could consider is maybe it would be the closest he would ever get to a family. Derek’s parents had died during a fire while on their honeymoon – news got out and he was in a foster care system indefinitely. And then James just wanted to be there. He expected her to keep it.

But Quinn was nowhere near ready for that part of her life. So many things left to do, places to see, people to meet. The constant memories kept rushing to the front of her brain as she washed the dishes that evening. Always wondering if she could have really done it. Who even knew where precious Beth was now.

After the birth she held her young for a solid two minutes before the paperwork was being finished. A few days later she woke up, got checked on and was free to go. No baby in sight.

And perhaps that will always be her biggest regret. Watching all the children at Mike’s gave her this feeling that she was making up for her mistake in some way. If she could give back to these abandoned children, maybe the world would look down on her a little less.

The newest addition to the household had her current attention, placing the glass cups in the wood cupboard above the stove. Blaine. He was so timid and quiet, but so sweet. The moment he looked at her he had turned her into putty. Of course her and Mike had talked beforehand.

‘Giving up your child because he likes to play with dolls. Ridiculous,’ she couldn’t help but think. Blaine had not done one thing wrong and all of a sudden he was on his own. ‘I would give that boy all the love in the world – all the love he deserves, I’d give him everything.’

And then a thought crossed her mind that would change their lives forever.

‘I could raise him.’

~*~

“But what is so absurd about this?” Quinn questioned, glaring at Mike who just casually sat in his chair, stirring his tea.

“He’s been here for a year Quinn. You cannot expect to just uproot him again so soon,”

“But he knows me Mike – I see him three times a week, sometimes more because he comes looking for me,” she retaliated.

Mike sighed, running her fingers through his short black hair. “I will not deny there is a bond between you two. But there is one between you and every child here.”

“There is something about him that makes me want to hold onto him until he can understand I would never let anything horrible happen to him again. And they will. Bad things are going to happen because of who he is. I’d rather he have some form of motherly figure to come to when it does.”

“What’s wrong with my fatherly figure, Quinn?” he snapped.

“Nothing at all. But there’s almost thirty of them and one of you. They come and go – that’s how it is.”

He stared long and hard. “Why now?” he asked quietly. “There have been, are, so many others…”
“I was thinking of Beth.”

Silence. Mike nodded slowly. Sipping his tea he suddenly looked older than he ever had.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? And I don’t mean mentally. I mean financially. Physically. It’s a lot. Is your house even ready for so much energy?” and based on the globes forming in Quinn’s eyes, he knew he had made his point.

Taking her hands in his “Let him grow a little,” his brown eyes glowing. “He’s making friends. He’s learning. He is growing. If you are serious take the time to prepare yourself. Work on the house – work on you. I want to see you both happy.”

Quinn nodded slightly; there was so much to do.

“The process takes a while anyways. So much paperwork, so many people to go through. If you are a hundred percent certain, I’ll start filing it later today, but you must make sure. There’s no rewind button this time, Quinn.”

And he knew that stung, he could see her retreat a little but it was the truth. No doubt in his mind the two would make each other very happy.

“I’m certain.” Her voice hard and determined.

Mike cracked a smile; “Well you better go check with him then right?”

~*~

It only took a matter of minutes before she found Blaine, reading a storybook to himself in the corner of the entertainment room. His eyes latched onto her profile and he shut the book fast. Some dust spluttered from between the pages and he may have coughed once or twice but his smile never faltered.

“Hi Blaine,”

“Hi Miss Quinn,” he responded enthusiastically.

“So I wanted to ask you a question Blaine, and you really need to think about it before you answer okay?”

The boy nodded frantically, eagerly awaiting the attention.

Quinn took a deep breath and braced herself for the worst, “Blaine, would you like to come live with me?”

Shock. Absolute shock spread across Blaine’s face in a matter of seconds. He was quiet, staring, his eyes glassed over. She was almost about to get nervous when he whispered, “Are you serious?”

“Of course,”

“Even though I like to play with dolls and read princess books plus play sports?” his tone expressing a bundle of nerves. As if he was anticipating rejection.

“A hundred percent yes Blaine.” She felt herself smiling as he rushed forward to hug her. He quickly pulled away though and asked, “Can we visit? I’ll miss Sarah.”

All Quinn could do was laugh because this boy was perfect. And he was going to be his and come live with her.

And a year later on this very date, he finally did. Blaine was going home to live with Miss Quinn.