"Hey Sam." Mercedes motioned for Blaine to turn down the sound on what he was listening to, classical music today. "Jackie's not home from school yet. I can have her call you as soon as she gets home."

"No, I need to talk to you first."

"Sure. You okay?"

"Not really." she heard him sob on the other end of the line.

"Sam? Are Quinn and the baby okay?" Mercedes shrugged at Blaine, who was looking over at her.

"No, Quinn and the baby are fine."

"Rick, is he okay?" Sam started sobbing again. "Sam? What's wrong?"

"Rick's been ill and they just figured out what's wrong. The doctors.." he took a deep breath. "It's leukemia."

"Oh my God!" suddenly Blaine was standing beside her, guiding her to a chair. "I'm so sorry. What can we do to help?"

"They say his prognosis is good. If. If he gets a bone marrow transplant. The baby, they can do something with the umbilical cord after the baby's born but if Jackie was a good match we could do something right away, before he gets worse."

"Of course. When do you need her out there?"

"First they have to test her to see if she matches. She can do it there and send the results here. Bone marrow transplants, it's not dangerous for her but it hurts. If she matched she'd have to come here and it hurts. And I know they don't get along."

"Sam, don't worry about that. You're family. Tell me what I need to do on this end. I know her. If you need her she'll be there."

"Jackie matches 5 of the 7 markers we're looking for." Dr. Haynes reported. "That's the best match we've found so far, even searching our nationwide database. New donors register all the time so maybe a better match will show up but if Rick were my son, I'd go with his sister. Have the umbilical blood stored, just in case, but we can get a greater volume from Jackie. She's a decent match."

"But what if," Quinn asked, staring at the oncologist, "What if there's another half-sister?"

"Quinn, we don't have time to find her." Sam said, his arm around her.

"I know where she is."

Two months earlier

"Thanks for coming over Kurt. I foolishly volunteered for the PTA fundraiser and only just remembered there's world-class vocalist living next door."

"Thank you for the compliment. I can't tell you how much it helps me having Sam pick up Elise from school. It's my pleasure to be able to help you for a change."

"Great. There's already a group of singers at the school and I heard this song they'd do a great job on. Listen, particularly to the end, it's so beautiful."

I won't say that I won't love anymore
but I don't say a lot of things
And you, my love, are gone.

So glide away on soapy heels
and promise not to promise anymore
and if you come around again
then I'll unlock the chain from off the door

Kurt closed his eyes and listened to the three, maybe four women's voices weaving in and out, repeating the last verse in a round. "It is beautiful." he said opening his eyes. "Can I hear it again?"

"It's Sam's daughter. Rick showed it to me before he made up his mind if he liked Jackie or not."

"What did he decide?"

"He doesn't like her and the feeling's mutual. We're going to Lima at spring break, maybe they just need to spend time together. I don't have much family so it's a shame if they don't grow to like each other."

Kurt half listened to Quinn as he looked at the screen. It was four voices, Jackie, Mercedes, Jackie's friend Ilsa and a woman Quinn presumed was Ilsa's mom.

"I know her!" Kurt said, pointing to Ilsa's mom. "She taught at NAYDA. Excellent vocal coach, wonder how she ended up in Lima? Kurt, she said, You're killing me with that falsetto. Ten years from now you want them to say how skilled you are, how mature your voice is. You don't want them to talk about what a shame it is you lost your range." He smiled at the memory. "She was brutal, half the school was afraid of her. The thing about her was, no matter how hard on you she was in rehearsal, at a performance she'd be in the front row, her little girl in her lap, looking like you'd made her so proud. Shelby was the best teacher I've every had."

"Shelby? Shelby what?" Quinn had only met Shelby one, almost 17 years ago, and didn't recognize the older woman with a different hair cut.

"Cocoran. The little girl was Bess, Bree, something like that."

"Beth?"

"Could have been. It that her?" He peered at the screen. "Damn I feel old."

"Her name's Ilsa."

"Ilsa's the same name as Elizabeth." He noticed Quinn staring at him and explained. "My mom's name was Elizabeth so Adam and I looked it up when we knew we were having a girl. Elise, Liza, Liesel, Ilsa, Bette, Isabelle. All forms of the name Elizabeth. She probably thought Beth was too plain, teenaged girls are like that. My students are constantly changing their names. Do you know her?"

"I used to."

Alone again, Quinn looked at the video. The first few times she'd mostly looked at Jackie, at how Sam's mouth and eyes fit with Mercedes' nose and hair. How her skin color was halfway between theirs. She was a pretty, exotic looking girl. Then she looked at Mercedes. She was thinner, the hair was different and she gave off an air of happiness Quinn didn't remember. Back then Mercedes seemed uncomfortable, unsure of herself when it came to anything other than music. Now she seemed radiantly happy, she almost glowed.

Quinn never thought Mercedes was pretty back in high school. Mostly it was her weight, Quinn had been heavy when she was younger and did something about it. She never understood why Mercedes didn't take care of that problem. Quinn had taken care of all of her problems, even if it meant killing Lucy in the process. No, Lucy was the shell that had to be broken so the butterfly could emerge.

But Mercedes was kind, the depths of her kindness were apparent to her when Quinn stayed with her while waiting for Beth to be born, That was the closest Quinn had ever come to having a real friend, and Quinn walked out on that because Mercedes reminded her to two people she wanted to erase from her life. Lucy and Beth. That's probably why Sam fell in love with, her generous spirit. Knowing Sam she could understand that. Why hadn't they tried to do a long-distance relationship. Why hadn't she called Sam about the baby? Why, why, why?

Ilsa she didn't pay much attention to originally. There was nothing about the girl that stuck in your mind. Average height, average to slightly chubby build, nondescript blondish hair, brown eyes. She'd be pretty with a little makeup and if she did something with her hair but right now she's nothing you'd look twice at. Looking closer she could see it, Ilsa did look like an unaltered 17 year old Lucy Fabray, the girl her parents insisted she'd grow into if she'd waited. But Quinn wanted results and she wanted them now. She wanted every trace of Lucy eradicated immediately. The mother was just that, the mother. Quinn barely noticed her until Kurt pointed her out.

"I'm not doing it and nobody can make me do it!" Ilsa walked in circles around her dining room table.

"Fine! Don't do it." Jackie said, trying to stay calm. "Let the kid die, see if I care."

"She can't just breeze into my life, trying to lay a guilt trip on me."

"No, she can't."

"You don't even like the kid."

"You got me there."

"She's just a stupid slut, only thinking about herself, what she wants."

"That's kind of harsh, don't you think? She was younger than you are right now."

"I met my biological father." Ilsa sat down next to Jackie. "He hit on me, did I tell you that? Started singing some stupid song about a girl named Beth. I was so traumatized I had to change my name. He didn't know who I was at the time but he knew I was young, the ass. That's why I stole the yearbooks first chance I got, just to see if he was always like that. He was a man-whore back then too. "I rode the Puckasaur". Anybody who slept with that would have to be a stupid slut by definition."

"Okay, maybe the stupid part but I met her, she's not at all slutty."

"Maybe she learned to hide it well. I don't care, still not gonna do it."

"How many times you gonna say that? Don't do it! I can do it. All you have to do is spit on a stick to find out if you matched. If spitting on a stick would save somebody's life and you're not willing to do that then you're not willing to do that. Oh, you'd collect money for kids in Africa or some shit but you're being all spiteful over this. You'd do it for a stranger and you know it. Spite, that's all this is."

"Jackie..."

"I know how you feel, Ilsa, about that tearful reunion with your 'real' mom who's been crying herself to sleep every night all these years. I used to fantasize about my 'real' dad all the time. Every time they pissed me off I thought about how my 'real' dad was looking to rescue me from their bullshit. And when Sam didn't show up it made me even madder. I even told him, my dad, once, "You're not my father and you can't tell me what to do." And he said "That's true, but as long as you're living in my house yada yada yada". You'd think he'd come up with something more original than that. But my dad loves me, that's real. And Shelby and Brad love you, that's real. Since I met Sam I don't even think of him as my 'real dad' anymore."

"Well, that's easy to be generous when you won the long lost dad sweepstakes. He's good-looking and nice. You know what a spiteful ass he could have been about this? I used to know a kid who got bounced across town constantly at the whim of parents who used him as a bargaining chip. Your dad only cares about what you want. And he would have been looking this whole time, if he knew he was supposed to be looking. Her, she found me quick enough when she needed something." She stared at Jackie. "Plus, you don't even like your brother."

"Okay, so let's agree you don't like her much. But she did the best she could at the time, she picked a good mom for you. Maybe it was just too hard for her, seeing you and being reminded of everything. And it's true, I don't like Rick. But he's just a little kid and I don't want to see him dead. I couldn't forgive myself for not even trying."

"well I guess that makes you the better person."

"Yes it does." She said with exaggerated primness. "Just remember, you'll regret this one day. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.."

"You're fucking quoting Casablanca? I don't believe you! Haven't you ever seen a movie that's not a hundred years old?"

"Fine." She stood up, her green eyes blazing. "I'm out of here. I'm going to New Haven."

"I'm sorry." Ilsa reached for the younger girls hand. "I'm sorry for saying that, I didn't mean to make fun of you. I like watching old movies with you and Ella, you know that."

"It's okay." Her slightly odd upbringing was a sore spot but Jackie was quick to forgive. "I know you're scared and angry. Just pretend he's nobody. Let's pretend they had a donor drive at school and you matched some random sick kid in Connecticut. Somebody you don't know shit about, just a stranger on the bus. You'd help a stranger on the bus. Please?"

"Hey baby" Shelby gently wiped Ilsa's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore and achy. Is that normal?" Sam made it sound like she'd be in agonizing pain. This was no worse than that fall she took ice-skating.

"Completely. Thirsty?" Jackie offered her some water. "You've been asleep for hours."

"Thanks. Mom? Did it work?"

"They won't know for about a month. I'm so proud of you honey."

"Me too." Jackie kissed Ilsa on the cheek. "Thanks"

They were watching "The Breakfast Club", part of Ilsa's plan to properly socialize Jackie in American pop culture, when there was a knock at the door. "Ilsa, Quinn's here to visit you." Shelby announced. "Would you like to talk to her?"

Ilsa shook her head.

"You sure, baby?"

"I'm sure mom."

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute." Shelby left the room to speak to Quinn

"Do you think I'm being petty, not talking to her?"

"It doesn't matter. You did the important part. She's survived not talking to you for this long."

"That's how I see it, too."

"Ella made this for you." Jackie handed her a sketch of Ilsa dressed as Supergirl. "She thinks you're super."

"Awww, she's such a baby."

"Hey, that's no way to talk about our sister."

"Our sister?"

"Your blood is flowing in my brother's veins. I guess that makes us family."

"The world's weirdest family." Ilsa felt oddly pleased about that.

"And proud of it! That makes you the world's best big sister. And since you're family, do you want to hit the road with us this summer?"

"You're leaving again?"

"They only came to Lima because I wanted to see what school is like. Okay, I've seen it. There's only one thing I like about it and you're graduating."

"Not staring in West Side Story?"

"I don't know. School play, best friend? No contest." She stroked Ilsa's hand. "My mom knew you before you were born, did you know that?"

Ilsa shook her head. "Quinn lived with my mom when she was pregnant." Jackie figured there was no point in telling her how that story ended. "So mom talked to Shelby. If you want a break before you start college in the fall you can come along. We're driving across Canada. What's your favorite city in Canada?"

"Jack, who has a favorite Canadian city?"

"Okay, you can have one of mine." she said ignoring the question. "Dad likes Montreal cause he can speakk French. Mom likes Toronto cause Ella was born there. Ella likes Winnipeg because of Winnie the Pooh. I've got two so you can have one. Call it. Vancouver or Calgary?"

"Vancouver?"

"Excellent choice." There was another knock on the door. Jackie answered it. "It's Sam. Do you want to talk to him?"

Ilsa considered it. Sam was nice. That first day in the coffeehouse he'd smiled politely, not the way her sketchy bio-dad did. "Okay, let him in."

3 months later

Mercedes looked at the picture attached to the email.

"I'm the big brother!" A healthy Rick holding a newborn baby, Annabelle. She passed the laptop to the three girls studying a map of Canada.

"Awww, she's so cute." Ella gushed. "Did they say anything else?"

"Yes, it says "To my Lima family. Words can never express how thankful we are for what you've done for us, what you mean to us. We wouldn't be the family we are today without the family you are. Love, Sam.

PS if you ever make it out this way we'd love to have you stay. Don't be a stranger."

"We could stop by on our way to Prince Edward Island." Blaine said. "That's our first stop."

Both girls looked at Ilsa. "Go!" She said. "You can drop me off at a mall or something."

"That's ridiculous" Jackie answered.

"Okay, I'm ridiculous." She agreed. "New Haven's a good place to start. I just don't want to see them."

"We could drop Jackie off in the morning." Blaine was thinking out loud. "I don't know Ella, if you want to visit or not, you can decide later. Then we hang out in a museum of something, then dinner and we leave. Could you stand dinner, Ilsa?"

"In a restaurant?"

"I don't know if they'll want to take the baby to a restaurant."

"Then that's what I want. She can stay home with her precious."

Mercedes sighed. Ilsa looked nothing like Quinn, though maybe that's due to plastic surgery more than anything else, but she's got the same stubborn streak. Both of them had laser-like focus once their minds were made up. And Mercedes could relate, spending time with Quinn's not on the top of his list of good times either. But this was about Jackie and Sam, not some ancient high school drama. And Blaine's plan is pretty good. She looked at her curly-haired husband and thanked her good luck.

One month later

Ilsa sat in the car and waited. Jackie was staying to visit Sam, Ella decided to stay and play chess with Rick, and she was waiting for Mercedes and Blaine to excuse themselves so they could go to a museum. Evidently they were not 'hanging out at the mall' type people.

You'd think homeschoolers got the summer off like everybody else but Blaine and Mercedes were serious about travel being educational. They've picked a book for each city. Every member of the family had a Kindle and was reading the first book "Anne of Green Gables" as a shout-out to Prince Edward Island. Ilsa was contemplating the concept of orphans being shipped off to god-knows-who as free labor when there was a knock on the window.

She got out of the car and stood face to face with Quinn. "I just wanted to thank you in person. For helping Rick. Maybe later, if you wanted more from me, well you know where I live now."

Ilsa didn't say anything and Quinn laughed nervously. "Well, if you ever need anything..."

"My mom can take care of it." she finished.

"Yes, your mom did a great job. You're beautiful, inside and out. You saved his life. I don't know what I would have done without him."

"You got along just fine with me." Quinn stepped back like she'd been hit. "Sorry, that was rude. Listen, I have my family and you have yours. I don't need another mother."

"How about a friend?"

"I'm not sure what the basis of our friendship would be."

"I understand. Anyway, thank you for what you did for Rick."

"I did that for Jackie. Thank her." Ilsa opened the car door and got back in. She looked up and saw Quinn walking slowing towards the house where Mercedes was standing on the porch holding Annabelle and waiting for her.

The end

The Chain – Ingrid Michaelson