It all happened so quickly. One minute they were happily going through the choreography for Nationals and the next she was on the floor, her gaze drifting over the lighting beam above the stage.
"Quinn!" She heard a familiar voice cry out, followed by some light footsteps running across the stage to her side. "Oh my god, Quinn! Are you alright?"
Rachel's worried voice calmed her momentarily until a sharp pain shot up her spine. Her hands immediately clutched at her swollen belly and her eyes shot down to examine the lump covered by her dress.
"Rachel." She gasped, finally looking up to meet large hazel eyes. "The baby." She uttered, her teeth clenched together in agony.
It was only then did she remember they weren't alone; the whole Glee club was surrounding them, their expressions showing worry and confusion. Quinn's eyes moved back to meet her girlfriend's, terror and panic swirling in the emerald depths.
Rachel instantly snapped into action, ordering the bemused club around at a mile a minute.
"Kurt, call an ambulance."
"Puck, carry Quinn to reception whilst we wait. She needs to be accessible as possible to the paramedics."
"Finn, ring my Daddy and tell him to meet us at the hospital."
The tiny brunette turned her attention back to the blonde on the stage floor. "It's okay, Baby. Everything's going to be okay."
The use of the term of endearment had Quinn's eyes flitting over the rest of her peers, anxiously watching their reactions to Rachel's words. They weren't open with their relationship yet, the only information the club had been privy to was that Quinn was staying with the Berry's after her parents had kicked her out and that the pair were now close friends. Little did they know the extent of the former enemies' newfound relationship.
A new wave of pain hit the blonde and her worries about the group were forgotten as she squeezed her eyes shut and gasped. There was no time for anyone to comment anyway, as Puck had swept Quinn up and, accompanied by Rachel, was striding through the empty school halls down to the front of the school.
The blonde was sobbing with the excruciating sensations now, her grip on Rachel's hand tightening with each lightning strike to her back, tears cascading down her flawless pale cheeks.
"The baby. The baby." She sobbed as she looked into her girlfriend's eyes, Puck placing her in the smaller girl's lap as they waited for the ambulance.
"She's going to be fine, Pup. She's going to be fine." The brunette soothingly ran her fingers through her girlfriend's hair, silently praying her own words were true. The smaller girl didn't spare a thought towards what the group may think of the revelation over their relationship, her only concern now was for the beauty in her arms and the baby within her.
The ambulance arrived soon and everything became a blur around Quinn, the only constant being her grip on the small, soft hand she had coerced in the wait for the paramedics. She vaguely acknowledged being placed onto a gurney and wheeled into an ambulance; as long as she had Rachel's hand she was content with submitting to the actions of the strangers.
It wasn't until she was in a hospital bed being told to push that she came back into full consciousness and realization over what had just occurred.
"They saw- They know about-about you and me." She hissed mid-push at the tiny brunette by her bedside. "How could you do this to me?" She growled, her eyes piercing the now confused Rachel. The brunette felt a bubble of terror rise within her.
"I'm sorry, Pup... Quinn. I was just so worried about you and the baby and I didn't even think. They won't care, I promise. I'll, I'll force them into secrecy." The girl rambled, tears filling her eyes. Her presence in the hospital room suddenly felt like an imposition, like she wasn't important enough to be honoured with witnessing the birth of Quinn's undoubtedly gorgeous offspring. "I'll guess I'll just go wait outside with the others..." A small sob escaped her lips as she turned to go, but her retreat was stopped by a firm hand on hers.
"Don't you dare leave me. Don't you dare." Quinn hissed fiercely, another contraction ripping through her core and forcing her to cry out in pain. Rachel's retreat was instantly curtailed and she clutched the blonde's hand in support.
"One more push, Quinn. You can do it." A middle aged doctor encouraged from beneath Quinn's legs, half a baby girl in her grasp. The small brunette hopped from toe to toe as she inspected both baby and mother.
With another agonizing push and scream Quinn felt her daughter leave her entirely, the loud cries of the newborn filling the room. "Is she okay? Rachel?" The blonde pawed limply at her girlfriend's arm, desperate for some sort of confirmation over her baby's welfare.
Her panicked words fell on deaf ears as Rachel stared down at the tiny baby in the doctor's hands. "Would you like to cut the umbilical cord, Miss Berry?" The brunettes eyes widened and shot to meet Quinn's, searching for permission there. Would it be a huge step over the boundaries the new mother had set for their relationship? She had no right over this baby – not that she wouldn't love it just as much or even more than if she did.
"She would." The blonde answered for her and peered down in awe as her girlfriend separated her from her child, slightly embarrassed that the girl could see the mess between her legs. That's not really a sight she wanted her lover to witness, especially when she was sure the afterbirth was on its way out.
Free from its attachment to Quinn, the nurses instantly whisked the baby away to weigh, measure and clean her, the blonde getting her own clean up too. A few seconds later everyone was tended to and the newborn's cries lulled down to gurgles as she was placed safely in her mother's arms.
Quinn was overcome with emotion as she looked down at the little bundle of pink in her arms, her pointer finger lightly tracing over the soft, wrinkled skin of her daughter's face. This was her child. Her baby. This beautiful little thing had been living in her for nine months and now she was out in the big scary world. She was going to rely on Quinn for everything and the teen would more than happily supply her with it all.
"She's so adorable, Quinn. Your daughter is so beautiful." Rachel uttered softly from the side of the bed, drawing her girlfriend's emerald eyes up from the baby to meet her own large hazel ones.
"Our daughter is so beautiful, Rachel. Ours."
The brunette's eyes widened and filled with tears. "Our daughter is the most gorgeous baby to have ever been born." She murmured, earning a chuckle from Quinn. "May I?" She gestured to the bed, wanting to climb up with her girls. Her girls. Multiple. She had a daughter! Oh god, her daughter, her beautiful little girl. She was already so far wrapped around this precious girl's little finger she knew she would never hesitate to do anything for her or give her anything she wanted.
"Of course, come up and cuddle with us. Bethie wants to meet her Mama." Rachel gasped a little at Quinn's words and her newfound name.
"I'm her Mama."
"Mmhmm, you are now Mama to Elizabeth Sophia Fabray." The blonde had been thinking about what to name her daughter for a while – Beth for Puck seeing as she wouldn't have Puckerman as her surname – and Sophia for Rachel, who had told Quinn she'd always imagined calling her first daughter that. "Is that okay?"
The smaller teen was lost for words, the tears choking her, preventing speech and the proper amount of oxygen intake. "I-I, yes! Yes! God, Quinn, it's more than okay. It's perfect." The tanned girl carefully climbed up onto the hospital bed and settled herself gently against its occupants. Her arm snaked its way over the one Quinn had supporting their daughter and her fingers slipped between paler ones. "She's perfect." Very lightly, Rachel pressed her pouted lips to the damp wisps of hair on the baby's head. "I'm so proud of you, Pup."
Quinn smiled softly and kissed the same spot on her daughter's head. "I'm sorry about freaking out earlier, I didn't mean to snap at you… I was more than a little stressed at the time." She gestured teasingly at the child in her arms.
"Just never do that to me again, okay? I thought I'd lost you." A small frown creased Rachel's brow and Quinn reached her free hand up to smooth it away.
"I promise. I love you, Rachel." She whispered, mindful of the fact the newborn seemed to have been lulled asleep by the brunette, who was gently stroking Beth's small amount of hair.
"I love you too, Pup."
Hey there! This is my first Faberry fic; just a short one shot that came to me when I was on holiday. You can probably expect more Faberry from me in the near future as I'm more than a little obsessed with this pairing and I love a Faberry with Beth fic.
Review if you want, if not, thanks for reading!