Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 31st cycle. Now cycle 32!
Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!
"Our Story in the Sun"
Older Rachel & Quinn, Hannah & Hailey
Sunshine Girls #32 (following 'A pool of Beams & Rays')
(+ tied to "If that happy dawn should ever shine")
Rachel had been sent to get the box from upstairs, knowing it would be easier on Quinn. Hannah and Hailey trailed behind, quietly observing. It had been decided it would be best if the box stayed with Quinn, since Rachel would be anywhere, depending on where her work took her. They had never shown it to Hailey or Hannah, but they knew the day would come. Hailey had known about it only from what her big sister had told her, and the girls had been curious ever since.
It was carried back downstairs, where Rachel handed it to Quinn and they all sat down again, Rachel at Quinn's side and their daughters on the ground, anxiously waiting on what they would discover.
"Now this…" Rachel picked out a smaller but still sizable box, "… was saved by your Nana Judy." The girls beamed… Blood or no, she was Nana Judy.
"What is it?" Hailey asked.
"Well, you know, you two weren't the only ones to wear capes," Rachel gave her niece a wink before opening the box. The girls looked in to find two costumes, one blue, one red. Rachel pulled out the red cape, and Hannah reached to touch it.
"It's just like mine!"
"Like both of yours," Quinn confirmed. "I had gloves instead," she showed them. "But what made both our costumes," she looked to Rachel, who reached in just as she did, so both pulled out their respective tutus, in a flurry of tulle that made their daughters gasp.
"But they're so small…" Hannah commented.
"So were we," Rachel laughed.
"There are other things here, but I think this is what you'll want to see," Quinn reached to the big box and pulled out the scrapbook. The box was put aside and the girls sat between their mothers again, the large book placed in their laps. The first thing they saw was there was one name written on top of it, the shape of the letters showing the author had been a child.
"Do we get our names on here, too?" Hailey turned to her mother.
"After," Quinn promised. "It smudges…" she pointed to a streak of gold paint. With that out of the way, the cover was lifted, revealing the first page, which got a gasp out of the girls.
"Is that you, Mom?" Hannah pointed to the picture, to the small girl in red.
"Looks just like us!" Hailey carried on, looking to her mother in blue.
"Do we? I hadn't noticed," Quinn looked to Rachel, amused; she was biting back a smirk, too, brushing Hannah's hair behind her ears. "This picture is here, on the first page, because it saved us, as friends," she went on, and she could see Rachel smiling.
"What does that mean?" Hailey asked.
"Well…" Quinn started, hesitating. The whole 'dark years' period wasn't anything they knew about yet. At their ages, finding out their mothers had stopped being friends for years, forgetting that time entirely… It wasn't what they wanted.
"It reminded us of who we were," Rachel assisted. "So even after we stopped being Sunshine Girls… we had each other." Quinn gave her silent approval.
"We'll never stop being Sunshine Girls," Hannah shook her head, and so did Hailey. "Not ever," she insisted.
"Never," Hailey agreed, and neither girl could see the pride that took over their mothers' faces.
"If you're there for one another, and if you're honest, then maybe that's true," Quinn told her daughter and niece. The girls smiled to one another.
They continued going through the scrapbook, with explanations from Rachel and Quinn. Seeing the maps was a big hit, recognizing their grandparents' houses. But still more impressive were all the pictures. It had been updated after that first time, to include more pictures, as more events took place. Marriages, births and birthdays, holidays, anything that mattered enough to them. Hailey and Hannah still couldn't get over how much their mothers looked like them – not the other way around.
"But it doesn't explain this," Hannah pointed out, pulling out the picture that had sent both her and Hailey down to ask their mothers.
"Yeah," Hailey went with it.
"Well, it does… part of it," Rachel went on. "And I promise we'll get to that, but until then, do you want to sign your names on the cover?" she asked and got quick nods. "Okay then," she shut the scrapbook. Quinn went to look for a similar pen like last time. Luckily, they had something that would do. So Hannah and then Hailey both signed the cover, careful not to smudge.
"Now you do it," the girls offered the pen to their mothers, who looked down at them. "It's your book, too," Hannah shrugged, and Rachel and Quinn stared at her… Hannah went on. "Go on, sign it," she nodded, while Hailey smiled.
"I guess we can do that," Quinn looked to Rachel, who nodded. One by one the four signed.
"Now can you tell us about the picture?" Hannah jumped right back in, and she'd never looked so much like her mother, even sounded like her in tone.
"We will, don't worry," Rachel started.
"You know, your Aunt Rachel, since before your sister was born, she's been there. Some days I didn't think I deserved her friendship, but there she was, always… Quinn stared to Rachel, over the girls' heads. "And there was a time when we all had a lot of… change to get used to. And all the same she stuck by me. I couldn't have asked for more."
"That picture though," Rachel took it, "That wasn't even part of the change, but maybe it showed the way where we all ended up. "The girls kept staring: it wasn't enough. "Alright, but this stays between us."
THE END
PICK A NAME! - ROUND TWO
New character currently in development, and I'm being indecisive, so I'm putting it to all of you lovely people!
Please send via message if you can, the name you like best... [Once you've voted in round two, you can't change it ;)]
After the bottom three were eliminated, we get this! So you have a new vote!
Brendan
Ewan
Neal
Rory
Thank you! :)
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!