"Rach?" called the soft voice from the hallway, accompanied by a quiet knock.

"Come in, bug." Rachel ran her fingers through her hair, biting her lip as she quickly finished reading a line at the bottom of a page of script and marking her place, setting the sheaf of pages on the small table beside her bed. As the willowy girl came hesitantly into the room, Rachel took off her glasses and smiled encouragingly, patting the bedspread next to her.

"What's on your mind, Soph?" Rachel asked, watching with fondness as her goddaughter settled herself on the bed next to her, sighing heavily as she held a spare pillow in her lap.

"Oh, I don't know. I just can't sleep." Sophia said evasively. Rachel suppressed a smile, knowing she would start speaking at some point.

"Do you want to help me run lines?" Rachel asked, mostly teasing.

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Not really. I just, you know...wanted to hang out."

Rachel smiled knowingly at the girl. "You miss your dads, don't you."

"Oh, god, like crazy." Sophia said, laughing exaggeratedly. She was only ten, but she was already so mature and had so many of Kurt's mannerisms that it shocked Rachel sometimes.

Rachel laughed too, rolling her eyes. "I miss hanging out with them, too, but I think they definitely needed the weekend. Don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. And I'm glad I'm here instead of by myself at the loft. It feels too empty when you and Papa and Dad aren't there." Sophia said, pulling her legs up and resting her chin on her knees. "Um, actually though, I was wondering...if I could maybe talk to you about something? Like bonding time."

'Like bonding time' was what the two girls had named their private talks – Rachel had promised that she would keep it to herself unless it was something Kurt and Blaine absolutely needed to know. Rachel's heart pounded briefly before she dismissed any worries and nodded. "You can talk to me about anything, anytime, Soph. You know that."

"Did you ever..." Sophia paused, looking down and considering her words carefully. "Were you ever picked on at school?"

Rachel sighed and gathered some of Sophia's long hair between her fingers, pulling the strands into a loose braid. "When I was in school with your Dad, we both got picked on a lot by the other kids. We were both very different from the other kids, and they didn't understand why. And because they didn't understand, they were mean to us."

Sophia nodded. "I kind of know why Dad was picked on. But I mean you. Why were the other kids mean to you?"

Rachel considered, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Because I was more fabulous than all of them combined. Except your Dad, of course." She said, winking when Sophia giggled and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I think they were mean a lot of the time because I had a dream and I wasn't going to let anyone tell me I couldn't achieve it."

Sophia nodded, but she still looked troubled.

"Sweetheart, are there kids being mean to you? At school, I mean?" Sophia was quiet, her eyes trained on Rachel's bedspread.

"They say things like it's wrong to have two dads. And it's not like when I was little, when they wanted to know why I didn't have a mom. It's a lot meaner than that." She stopped speaking, biting her lips. Her eyes shone, and Rachel gathered the smaller girl's hands between her own. Sophia sniffled and took a deep breath before she continued. "They call my dads names, Rach. Like it's bad to be gay."

Rachel gripped Sophia's hands even tighter. "Your Papa and Dad are amazing, Soph. They love each other the way that people love each other in musicals and pop songs; do you know what that means?" Sophia nodded, and Rachel took that as a cue to continue. "And more importantly, they absolutely adore you. I've known your parents practically forever so I am fully qualified to tell you that you are the best thing that has ever happened to them. Do you understand that?" Sophia nodded again, biting her lip.

"I just don't know how to tell the other kids that, Rachel. I know Papa and Dad are special, and I know I'm special." She paused, and the way her face scrunched up reminded Rachel so much of the way Kurt looked when he was upset that it made her heart ache. "And they don't care, anyway. They don't understand. And I don't want to make Dad or Papa sad."

"You know, when I was little, kids teased me about my dads too. Even kids that I thought were my friends." Rachel said softly, and Sophia's face snapped up to look at her while she spoke. "And when I told my dads about it, they quoted – have you done any Shakespeare in school yet?"

Sophia nodded and her eyes lit up a little. "Papa and Daddy and I have done some of Julius Caesar and Hamlet, for my acting class."

Rachel cracked a small smile at that and rolled her eyes fondly. "Okay, well, my dads used to remind me of this line from A Midsummer Night's Dream – '...though she be but little, she is fierce.' And once I actually read the play, I realized that the context didn't have so much to do with what I was going through, but I still think it was a sweet reminder. I was little, and I maybe wasn't really friends with all of the girls in my grade, because it was hard for me to relate to them, and they didn't want me to." Rachel paused to make eye contact with Sophia to make sure she really understood. "But I was fierce, Soph. I was fabulous, and I had a dream, and in the end, that's all that mattered."

Tears welled up in Sophia's eyes. "But Rach, I'm not –"

"Don't you dare go there, Sophia Patti Anderson-Hummel," Rachel interrupted, her eyes burning. "You are magic onstage and you have a brilliant mind and you are the most loved little girl. The bigotry of other people and their unwillingness to recognize your star potential will never ruin your dreams." Sophia smiled, used to Rachel's overly dramatic speeches. Rachel's eyes softened, like she could tell that Sophia thought she was being silly. "I know you, Soph. I've known you since you were just a blip in your birthmom's belly, so I can tell you with complete certainty that you are going to be incredible."

Sophia grinned broadly, launching herself at Rachel. Rachel giggled and held her tight, dropping a kiss on her hair. "You are so fierce, bug, no matter how little you are."