There was a knock on the door before it opened to admit one Quinn Fabray. She slipped into the room quietly & tiptoed to the bed, where her sleeping girlfriend rested. She pulled the covers back & climbed inside, wrapping her arms around her form.
Mercedes Jones breathed deeply as she realized someone was touching her. She awoke calmly. "Q?"
Quinn smiled at her drowsy voice. "It's me."
Mercedes turned in her arms. "What's up? Is Beth or Rae okay? Daddy? Marcy or the twins?"
"Calm down. Everybody's fine. I just wanted to sleep with you."
Mercedes smiled despite her increased heart rate. "Why didn't you come earlier? We could have fallen asleep together."
"I was busy. I haven't gone to sleep yet."
"What were you doing?" She rearranged herself to be more comfortable.
"I was looking over our college acceptance letters."
Mercedes frowned. "You're going to drive yourself crazy. We can figure it out later. Together."
"I know but I want a plan. Marcy has a plan & she's a year behind us."
"Marcy had a plan as soon as she realized she was pregnant." She sat up. "What's the rush?"
"I just want us to be together."
"We will be."
"Not if we don't get into the same schools."
"Noah's grades are up. He can get into plenty of schools."
"What about Mikey?"
"Don't you think we should spend some time apart?" Mercedes giggled.
Quinn's lips twitched. "No."
"Me either. We can go to Berkley."
Quinn's eyes widened. "That's a good idea! We all got into Berkely! Let's call him!"
"Quinn! It's-" Mercedes looked at the clock on her nightstand. "Two o'clock in the morning. If we wake up that man, he'll kill us!"
"He'll be okay." Quinn reached over for Mercedes's phone & dialed Mike's number.
Mercedes stared at her in shock but not really surprised. "Quinn. I won't be a part of this."
"It's ringing." Quinn sat up against the pillows.
Mercedes got out of the bed & went to the crib by her bookcase. She looked inside & saw her daughter was sleeping peacefully.
"Is she okay?" Quinn whispered.
"She's fine." Mercedes swept a finger down the baby's smooth cheek before going back to the bed.
"Hello?" Quinn paid attention to the phone. "Hey, Mikey. It's Quinn. No, everyone's fine. Don't hang up!"
Mercedes chuckled as she climbed in the bed.
Quinn turned on speakerphone & turned the phone so Mercedes could hear. "You know how we all got into Berkley?"
"Quinn, it's two in the morning!" Mike Chang's grumpy voice floated over the line. "Who cares about Berkley?!"
"You should! Graduation is in a few weeks & we haven't picked a school yet! Do you want to be separated?!"
"You're just going to make me have a serious conversation at two in the morning."
Mercedes giggled. "She woke me up, too."
"Hey, Mercy. She just ruined everyone's sleep. I'm surprised she didn't get Marcy up & call Mal! Sleep stealer!"
"That's a good idea!" Quinn tossed Mercedes the phone & leapt out of the bed.
"Oh no! She went to wake her up! Marcy is going to kill her!" Mercedes wasn't looking forward to this fight. Her sister cherished her sleep.
"Good!" Mike bit off.
"Be nice, Sonny. She's just freaking out over the future. You know she has to have everything perfect."
He snorted. "That's your girlfriend."
"I'm sure your girlfriend will appreciate knowing your future."
He groaned. "Mom still wants me to pick Harvard or Stanford."
"I thought she gave up on getting you to choose an Ivy League when she gave Papa Mike the what-for for being mean to you over dancing?"
"She points out their musical backgrounds but she wants me to double major." He sighed. "More work for me."
"Seriously think about Berkley. We would all be together & we can get a house together-"
"Cuz that's what I want to do. Live in a house with Quinn & Puck."
"But I'll be there, too & so will Beth & Rae." She teased.
"Bright spots sure but who's going to take care of those kids?"
"Us."
"Define us."
The door opened & Quinn pushed Marcy Jones inside & to the bed. The sixteen year old grumbled the entire way. Both climbed in the bed & Marcy faceplanted.
Mercedes giggled. "She woke you up."
Marcy nodded pitifully.
"It's okay, Marce! We'll get her in the daylight!" Mike shouted.
Marcy lifted her head. "She's lucky I didn't want to wake up the twins."
"I'm very grateful." Quinn pulled her knees to her chest.
Marcy grunted & faceplanted again.
"Mikey, go wake up Mal."
"He's not about to swing on me!" Mike denied.
"Wake him up gently." She stressed.
"There is no gently!"
"You can wake him up without hurting him!" Mercedes sassed.
"You can wake him up without hurting him. I have to fight him."
"Put a pillow over his face." Marcy dragged herself up.
Mercedes looked at her like she was crazy. "Why in the world would he do that?! He's trying to wake him up, not make sure he never does!"
"His body will immediately recognize that something's wrong & wake him up so he can fight off the threat."
"You're trying to kill your boyfriend."
"He only has to hold the pillow over his face until he moves." Marcy rolled her eyes.
"I like it. I'll do it." Mike said.
"Don't you do that to my baby!" Mercedes hissed.
"Too late! I'm already on my way to his room!"
Mercedes reached out & hit her sister. "Why'd you give him that idea?!"
"To get this over with. Why am I even here?! What's going on?!" Marcy whined.
"Ask Q."
"If I talk to her, I might start cussin."
Quinn pouted. "It's a conversation we need to have."
"What is a conversation we need to have?!"
"Don't wake up, Rae!" Mercedes scolded.
"I'm going back to bed."
"No!" Quinn pushed her over & laid on top of her.
"Get off me, crazy!" Marcy flailed.
"If you two wake up my baby, it's going to be a fight!" Mercedes threatened.
"Get her off me!"
"You can't leave!" Quinn insisted.
"Quinn, get off her." Mercedes pulled her girlfriend off her sister. "Marcy, please stay."
"Fine." Marcy mumbled.
They heard shouts coming from the phone. "Mikey? What's going on?" Mercedes didn't like the way things sounded.
They heard loud sounds & even louder harsh words. It took a long time but finally Mike got back on the phone. "Marcy forgot to tell me how to keep him from being mad."
"I never said he wouldn't get mad. I just said it'd wake him up." She said.
Mike grunted. "I wish I would have known that. Anyway, we're both here. What do you want, Quinn?"
"Okay, how about we all go to Berkley?" Quinn tucked her legs under herself.
"That's what you wanted?!" Marcy kept her voice low.
"We have a whole other year before we graduate!" Mal Chang snapped grumpily.
"I know but you can still head out there." Quinn pouted.
"Why, Quinn?" Marcy asked irritably.
"Because we're trying to find a way to stay together next year while having an education. We can't be separated."
"Who is we?"
"All of us. We want our relationship with Puck to last but we can't be away from Mikey. We want to live with you guys, too."
"Can't we talk about this in the morning? It's already hard for me to get to sleep."
"Ugh! Fine! Don't take me seriously!" Quinn folded her arms across her chest.
"I'm taking you seriously. I'm just tired. Tell you what, how about we meet in the library before class?"
Quinn thought it over. "Okay."
Marcy slid off the bed. "Good. Goodnight." She left.
"Get out." They heard Mal say.
Mike chuckled. "I'm going. I'll see you guys later." He hung up.
Mercedes set the phone back in the dock. "Are you okay now? Will you go back to sleep?"
Quinn leaned forward & kissed her. "Yeah, I'll go back to sleep."
Mercedes climbed under the covers & arranged them around herself. "Good."
"I'm going to sleep in my own bed. I'll see you in the morning." Quinn kissed her again before leaving for her room. She checked on her daughter in her crib before crawling under her own covers & falling asleep.
(^*^)
Quinn sat down & crossed her legs. "Calling this meeting to order. I'm calling this meeting to order."
Mike rolled his eyes. "You're not a judge."
"I could be. That'll be an amazing career."
"I'm ready to fight you." Marcy said grumpily.
Tina Cohen-Chang giggled. "I thought this was going to be a peaceful meeting?"
"You don't get it; this chick woke us up in the middle of the night over school applications!"
"There's two weeks of school left." Quinn defended herself.
"For you!" Mal exploded. "We have another year!"
"See, I was thinking about that."
"No." Marcy shook her head. "Whatever is going on in your blonde head, no."
"Just hear me out." Quinn turned to Tina. "Have you & Mikey discussed what you're going to do next year?"
"Not really but we have the whole summer." Tina shrugged.
"Or you three could graduate early & come to Berkley with us." Quinn nodded with a big grin.
"What?!" The three juniors yelled.
The librarian shushed them.
"It's a good idea. Just take the GED test & apply late to colleges. You already have SAT & ACT scores to go off & you all scored high. Colleges are interested now. Just apply to Berkley." Quinn was confident in her plan.
"Maybe we don't want to be bothered with you?" Was the first thing Marcy said. "We see you enough here. Maybe we want a year long break?"
Quinn scoffed in hurt.
Noah Puck Puckerman snickered. "Mini Mama, be nice."
"I am being nice. Nice & serious. We've seen them our whole lives. We're sick of 'em!"
"Hey!" Mike & Mercedes were offended.
"You two can work a nerve, too. You're not exempt." She waved a hand.
"You held a pillow over my face to wake me up!" Mal snapped.
"What?!" Tina's mouth fell open.
"Your girlfriend told me to do it!" Mike defended himself.
"If she told you to jump off a bridge, would you?!" Mal wanted to strangle him.
"She has sound judgement." Mike lifted his shoulders.
"Mike!" Tina chided.
Mike simply shrugged again.
"If you tolerate us isn't the point." Quinn rolled her eyes. "We're going to the same school. It's just a matter of now or later."
"Hold your horses, Queen." Marcy bit off. "Tina wants to go to Brown & I want to go to Cornell. Neither of which is in California."
"At first I was thinking of Mercy's or my first choices; Pepperdine & Yale but Noah didn't get into either. He could work hard at school to get his GPA up so he could get into Cornell but Mercy's sick of northern winters." Quinn went on as if Marcy hadn't spoken.
"I hate California." Marcy glared.
"You hate Southern California." Quinn corrected. "Berkley is mid California. You'll still get rain & storms."
"But no snow. & there's earthquakes!"
"So you'll nail everything down."
"You make me sick."
"I can keep talking about this until you agree just to shut me up."
"I'm thinking of doing so now…"
Mercedes took her sister's hand. "When you came home pregnant, we promised to be there for you-"
"& you have." Marcy took her hand back to rub her forehead.
"Part of that is being around you. What's so bad about going to a school for music?"
"I love music, you know I do but I'm a science nerd. I want to get a degree in something more substantial than squawking."
"You can always go back after you make it famous. & you can major in the flute."
"I don't want to graduate early. We have a life here. Plus Artie would be alone here with Santana & Brittany leaving for Dartmouth. We can't leave him."
"She's right." Tina chewed on her index finger. "We made a pact to stay close next year."
"Fine." Quinn lifted her chin. "But you're coming to California when you graduate."
"Will this conversation be over if we say yes?" Marcy groaned.
"Yes." Quinn smiled brightly.
"Fine. Whatever. I'll apply to Berkley."
Mal shrugged. "I go where you go."
Quinn smiled, knowing that convincing Marcy was the hard part of getting Mal to do anything. "Tina?"
Tina took Mike's hand. "I would like to go to school together. I think it would help us as a couple."
Mike squeezed her hand. "You know I'll wait for you."
She smiled prettily. "I'm drawn to you like a moth to a flame."
"Did I get into Berkley?" Puck whispered to Mercedes.
"Yes." Mercedes whispered back.
"& how am I going to afford this?"
"Scholarships, baby." She patted his knee. "Grants. Loans. You'll make it."
Puck nodded. "Okay, cool. I'm in."
Quinn, who'd overheard them, smiled. "Okay, meeting adjourned. We have class."
(^*^)
Quinn picked up Beth & Raven from daycare & drove to a white building in uptown Lima. She parked in the parking lot & got out along with the two year old & six month old.
She walked inside & got on an elevator. They rode it up to the eighth floor then exited in a big white airy room. She walked them over to tall makeup tables & sat them down. She was the first one there.
There was a photo shoot. She & her siblings had modeled since they were very young. Modeled, acted, performed period. Quinn & Mercedes had actually quit in middle school but picked it back up the summer after Beth was born because Quinn hadn't felt too good about her looks post baby.
It made her feel better along with rejoining cheerleading & staying in glee.
The door opened & Marcy & Mercedes came in with Marcy's & Mal's twenty month old twins, Mally & Mickey. They were talking amongst themselves as they walked over.
Quinn marveled over how far Marcy had come in coming to terms with who she was. Back when Quinn was pregnant, she'd actually gone to Mercedes's mom & told her what was going on when she was kicked out by her parents.
Feeling bad about basically doing the same, Rose Jones had sent for her youngest to come home & told her husband exactly what was wrong with her.
It didn't end well for Rose's & Marcus's marriage. They ended up divorcing & Marcus got custody of the girls. Speaking of divorce, Quinn's parents got divorced when it came to light that her father was cheating on her mother. Judy Fabray had wanted her youngest daughter home but Quinn was still hurt over the woman tossing her out to begin with.
She moved out of Marc's room & into the spare bedroom upstairs permanently.
Still talking about divorce, Quinn's sister, Laura divorced her husband & married Marc. It was the year of divorce in the Fabanges family.
Speaking of Laura, she was walking in with Maddie, the youngest Chang child & only girl. They walked over & sat down.
"Hey, guys!" Maddie spoke to her sisters but was really interested in her nieces & nephew.
"Hey." They responded.
"What'd you guys do all day?" Marcy asked Laura.
"Went shopping while Marc worked." Laura shrugged. Marc owned his own video game company. Now that the school year was over, he had more time to devote to it. "I got something that'll make him put the phone down."
"Kinky."
Mercedes smiled. "You'll be doing the same thing for Mal once you get married."
"What makes you think Mal & I are getting married?"
"You had two of his children." Laura said immediately.
"They were kinda a set. I couldn't just return one."
Quinn laughed. "You know you love him!"
"He alright."
"Marcy!" Mercedes giggled. "You know you love the father of your children!"
"Blah!" Marcy stuck her tongue out.
Maddie unstrapped Raven from her car seat & hugged her little body to her chest. "If you didn't love Mal, why do you let him touch you?"
"He has mad game."
Her sisters laughed.
"Hello, darlings!" A man's voice shouted.
"Paul!" They yelled back.
He air kissed each of them & tickled the kids. "Kisses! What are you sitting around for?! Get dressed, darlings! This commercial will be the best yet!"
(^*^)
Quinn set her pencil down. There. It'd taken half the night but she'd done it. She'd mapped out the next four to five years for her family.
She, Mercedes, Mike & Puck will go to Berkley & major in their instruments & minor in vocal training. They'll live in a house off campus (way off campus) & have an amazing daycare set up for Beth & Raven.
They'll still model & have extracurricular activities but they'll be in a new city & on their own for the very first time. They'll go slowly their first year & wait for Marcy, Mal & Tina.
They'll live the next four years in peace & harmony. She had it all planned out. Every last detail. She looked at the clock on her phone. It read two fifteen.
She smiled. Perfect.