"I can't believe it's already her first day of school tomorrow," Artie said to Quinn, as he helped her finish up making dinner. "How has it already been that long since she was born? I'm so old!"

Quinn giggled. "Yes, you're so old."

He threw a piece of spaghetti at her. "Fine, but you know what that means, because we're the same age."

"I take it back. You're young. And hot," she said, picking up the spaghetti from the ground. "Apparently you're not much older than Avery tonight, or you wouldn't be throwing pasta at me!"

He grinned. "Sorry. Sometimes I just can't help myself. And hold up…did you just say I'm hot?"

She giggled. "I may have. Because it's true."

He was about to respond, when Bailey tore through the kitchen, with Avery in hot pursuit. She skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Daddy, Bailey stoled my sock!" she said. "And he won't give it back!"

"How did he get your sock?" Quinn asked, looking down at her feet.

"Um…I gived it to him," the little girl said. "He wanted to play!"

Artie chuckled. "Where are his dog toys?"

Avery shrugged. "I couldn't find them, and he looked sad!"

"This all sounds familiar," Quinn said, grinning at both of them. "Artie, can you go stop him from eating her sock? They're a lot smaller than yours, and he could probably swallow it whole!"

"Will do," he said, turning and heading towards the living room."

"Honey, you can't give him your socks," Quinn said, crouching down to face her daughter. "He's not allowed to play with them, and he could get sick if he eats them."

"I'm sorry," the little girl said quietly. "He looked sad."

Quinn grinned. "It's ok," she said, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Just come find one of us to help you find a toy next time, ok?"

Avery nodded, just as Artie wheeled back into the kitchen.

"I'm pretty sure we can write this one off," he said, holding up the tattered pink sock. "He got a little excited when he realized I was there to take it from him."

Avery's eyes widened. "It's a good thing my foots weren't in there when he did that!" she said.

Artie chuckled. "If he tries to eat your socks with your feet still in them, we have a serious problem. Are you excited for the first day of school tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Ella said it's fun, but the kids are mean sometimes," she added, climbing into his lap. "She said sometimes other kids make fun of her, but she never makes fun of them. What if they say not nice things to me?"

"Sometimes kids aren't very nice," Artie said to her, quietly. "But that doesn't mean that they don't like you or that they think there's something wrong with you. Everybody's still learning stuff, and maybe they just don't know how to be around other kids."

"Well, I'm not going to be mean to anyone," Avery said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And if they are mean to me, I'm just going to tell them it's not nice. Ella said they make her cry sometimes, and I think that's so mean! She said there's someone in her class that has a chair just like yours, and all the kids are mean to him. And Ella's mommy told her that she should just tell the kids that they are being mean and that they are rude and inconidrate aviduals. I don't know what that means."

Artie grinned slightly, practically hearing Rachel's voice telling Ella about people being "rude and inconsiderate individuals."

"That just means that they're not very nice," he said. "I don't want to tell you that nobody will be mean to you, because I don't know those kids, but if they are, you have to tell me or Mommy, ok?"

Avery nodded. "Were kids mean to you, Daddy?"

Quinn stood at the counter, pretending to finish cooking dinner, listening to the exchange going on between her husband and daughter. She had heard Ella and Avery talking about school the day before, while they played in Avery's room, and she knew that the topic would be brought up sooner or later. She glanced over, noticing the slightly uncomfortable look on Artie's face. She was about to say something, when he started talking again.

"They were mean to me sometimes," he said quietly. "But I made some mistakes and never told them to stop. I also didn't tell grandma and grandpa about it for a long time, and they couldn't help me because they didn't know. That's why it's important to tell one of us, ok?"

Avery sat up, looking at his face. "Did they make you cry?"

Artie shifted uncomfortably, while Quinn put down the knife she'd been holding, and turned so that she could see him.

"Sometimes," he said, "but that doesn't mean that's going to happen to you, ok?"

Avery wrapped her arms back around his neck, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry they made you cry, Daddy. I love you, and I'm never going to make you cry."

Quinn's eyes filled with tears as she watched him wrap his arms around their daughter and whisper something into her ear.

She blinked rapidly to clear the tears, as Avery hopped down from his lap. "Mommy, can I help make the salad?" she asked, dragging a chair over to the counter. "I'm good at that."

"Sure, sweetie," she said. "Just let me get it."

Quinn turned around, expecting to see Artie sitting there, and she was surprised when he wasn't there.

"Artie?" she called out, walking towards the living room, while watching Avery tear the lettuce into small pieces and place them into the bowl. "Are you ok?" she asked, when she found him sitting there, staring at the wall.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, turning to face her. "I knew we were going to have this conversation eventually…I just didn't think it would be today."

Quinn sat down on the corner of the couch, where she still had a clear view of Avery in the kitchen. "I'm really glad you were here for it," she said, "even though I know that was hard for you."

He shrugged. "It's fine, I just…those kids had better not be mean to her, or I'm going to go on a rampage."

She grinned slightly. "Artie, they're five year olds…you can't go on a rampage. And she'll be fine."

He shook his head slightly, a concerned look on his face. "But what if she's not fine? Kids are brutal. I know they were probably more brutal to me than usual, because of this," he said, gesturing to his chair, "but even before I was like this they were terrible. And I never told anyone, because I thought that it was my fault because there was something wrong with me. And I don't want her to have to go through that, ever."

"Artie," Quinn said quietly, reaching out and taking his hand. "You know I don't want her to have to go through anything like that either, and if something happens, we'll deal with it, ok? You can't keep her in a little bubble where no one can hurt her forever."

He was about to respond, when Avery came running into the living room. "Mommy, the salad is done! Are you coming?"

Quinn stood up. "Sure, sweetie. Do you want to mix it together?"

Avery nodded, and ran back into the kitchen. Quinn turned back to him. "I know you're worried about this, but it's going to be alright, ok?"

He nodded. "But, just remember…if it's not…rampage."

She grinned. "Ok, rampage. I agree. Now come for dinner."

The next day, Artie and Quinn sat in the car, waiting for school to let out. He'd taken the day off so he could go with Quinn to pick Avery up, and he was glad that he had.

Once it was clear school was almost over, they got out of the car, and went to go meet her. As soon as she saw them in the hallway she ran towards them, flinging herself at Artie.

"How was it?" he asked her, as waited for the doors to clear so they could exit the school.

"It was fun!" she said to both of them, attempting to hug Quinn from where she was sitting on Artie's lap. "And no kids were mean to me! They were being mean to someone else, and I tolded them not to, and then they stopped!"

Artie grinned. "That's great!"

As they headed towards the car, Quinn watched the two of them, involved in an animated discussion about the different activities that Avery had taken part in that day. She grinned, relieved that Avery's first day had been a success.

A/N: Apparently I now also write random fics in what I'm sure will be know as (or already is…) my "Averyverse."

I need to have Quartie babies SOMEWHERE, and clearly the "All My Dreams verse" is not the right venue for that.

I want to write more about when she was younger than she is in this story, so obviously these will not be in chronological order.