Quinn stood in the backyard, leaning against the patio table, with an eyebrow raised and an amused smile on her face as she watched her wife berate the poor man who was supposed to be setting up the bounce house. She shoveled the cotton candy she had been ordered to "test" for the birthday party into her mouth as she observed the scene before her, recognizing the pitiful expression on the man's face as one she used to know well.
"She's a girl! She's a girl turning seven years old! I don't entirely understand what this Ninja Turtle nonsense is you brought us, and I'm still not entirely sure we're not being Punk'd right now, but you need to remove it from the premises this instant!"
Rachel's voice grew higher at the end, culminating in a slight shriek. Her eyes never left those of the taller man, who was shuffling backwards so quickly that Quinn knew if she didn't intervene soon he would end up at the bottom of their pool.
"We wanted a castle! No, we ordered a castle, a pink princess dreamhouse castle to be precise! You can't just drop this hideous green abomination with us and expect us to accept it!"
Rachel's hands flew wildly about, Quinn fearing that she had probably lost all conscious control of them.
"You're ruining my child's life!"
With that statement, Quinn violently choked on her cotton candy and finally pushed herself off the table to intervene, battling a coughing fit and completely sure that the inside of her lungs were now coated with sugary floss. Six years of experience taught Quinn that Beth's birthdays brought out the worst in Rachel. She was dramatic (far more than usual), irrational, and extremely nostalgic, which resulted in the situation before her. Quinn moved quickly to settle her wife down, and rescue the man teetering on the edge of the swimming pool.
She dropped the smile from her face, figuring Rachel would not be much amused by it, and walked up next to her wife, gently grabbing one of the hands still flailing through the air.
"Sweetie." She murmured softly.
Rachel instantly stilled and turned to look up into Quinn's eyes. As soon as she did, she flushed a brilliant red, recognizing that her wife had been witness to her dramatic freak-out. Quinn just smiled and turned to the bounce house man, pulling the shameful smaller woman into her side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Where is the princess castle we ordered?" she asked simply.
The man glanced nervously at Rachel, whose eyes were still regretfully fixed to the ground, before gathering his wits and answering.
"When we called to confirm the theme, the woman who answered the phone said it had been changed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Quinn furrowed her brow, glancing at Rachel to see her expression reflected in her wife's face. Then she remembered. She let out a groan and then a laugh in realization. Rachel gazed up at her.
"What?"
"Who watched Beth when we went to that ridiculous restaurant last week?" Quinn asked her in a leading tone. "Who owns two morbidly obese cats named Donatello and Raphael?"
Rachel broke eye contact as she came to the same conclusion.
"Brittany! Brittany and Santana!" she exclaimed with wide eyes, her expression quickly morphing into one of murderous intent.
"Those bit-!"
Quinn quickly clamped her free hand over Rachel's mouth, seeing Beth come skipping towards them out of the corner of her eye. The shorter woman huffed into Quinn's palm, before catching sight of Beth, and licking her wife's hand.
"Eww! Could you act your age maybe Rach?" Quinn muttered, face scrunched up in exaggerated disgust, aware that the bounce house guy was still watching, and wiped her hand on the brunette's top.
Rachel ignored the words, simply grabbing Quinn's palm and kissing it softly, before exclaiming "Squigee!"
"Mama!" Beth ran and jumped into Rachel's arms; the shorter woman staggered slightly and groaned as she was winded, but Quinn steadied them with a well-placed arm around the waist, running her other hand over Beth's mussed up hair.
"Is he gonna blow it up? It looks so cool! I love turtles!"
Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise, glancing quickly at Quinn.
"Really? You like this Squig? Even though it's green?"
Beth nodded enthusiastically, whipping her blonde hair into Rachel's face.
"Aunt Brittany said she used to live in the sewers. Just for the summer though. She met the Ninja Turtles there. They gave her pizza! And she loves them. And pizza. So I do too. They're so cool mommy!"
Beth turned around in Rachel's arms, grinning gleefully at Quinn, who was gazing at her daughter, brow slightly furrowed, lips quirked up in wonder.
"But honey, what about…" Rachel began, turning Beth back around, "We've…You've always had a pink castle. Remember? You're my baby princ-"
"Mama!" Beth interrupted excitedly. " The doorbell!"
She squirmed out of Rachel's arms and sprinted through the patio door to greet her guests.
"Princess." Rachel finished softly, watching the door her daughter just disappeared through.
Quinn watched her wife. She saw Rachel's crestfallen expression and the hurt that flashed briefly in her expressive brown eyes. She gently took the smaller woman's hand, and turned to the bounce house guy, who probably thought the whole family had gone round some kind of insane bend, and smiled apologetically.
"The Turtles are great." She said quietly, before guiding Rachel off to the side of the house.
"Hey." Quinn murmured softly, waiting for Rachel to look up at her. She placed her arms around the brunette's neck.
Rachel finally picked up her head, her brown eyes welling with tears, and wrapped her own arms around Quinn's waist. The hazel eyes boring into her were filled with so much concern it made her want to cry even more.
"I'm sorry…" Rachel said under her breath. "I'm already ruini-"
"No. Sweetheart. No. " Quinn cut her off, moving her arms so that her thumbs could wipe away the tears that had escaped from Rachel's eyes.
"Beth's turning seven sweetie. We knew she wasn't always going to want the pink princess bounce house. She loves the green one, she has proclaimed her newfound love of turtles, and she's going to love this party. Which you put together I might add. You big mush ball."
Quinn watched as her wife's lips quirked up into a small smile. She tucked stray brunette hair behind the smaller woman's ear, and whispered, "She'll always be our princess, Rach. She just doesn't need a castle. She can live in the sewers like her crazy Aunt Brittany."
Rachel laughed at that, her loud, full laugh that always made Quinn grin like a fool.
"She's our Squigee." Rachel stated at normal volume, nodding to herself with a smile on her face. She then leaned up, kissing Quinn softly on the lips, before pulling back and resting her head against her wife's chest.
"You taste like cotton candy." Rachel whispered into the soft cotton of Quinn's shirt.
Quinn could hear the smile in Rachel's voice, and kissed her adorable wife on the head before turning and leading them back to the house.
-oooooooooo-
Two hours later, Rachel and Quinn had collapsed in exhaustion in the grass by the pool. Beth and nine of her classmates, along with a few parents, were divided up between the bounce house (which was deemed a hit by the herd of seven year olds), the pool, and the patio, where mountains of food and presents were piled.
Santana had been appointed party supervisor for half an hour so that the hosts could rest, but this was quickly overruled when she tossed a child into the pool for flinging cupcake icing at her face. Brittany took over, and was leading a mini dance party in the bounce house as Santana was being buffeted around by the mob of "obnoxious little shit monsters."
Quinn seemed lost in thought, and Rachel suddenly realized that there were two invitees who hadn't shown up, for the seventh year in a row.
She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down at her wife in concern.
"Maybe…Maybe next year babe…" she said softly. "Look. Beth doesn't even know they were invited and she's still having the time of her life."
Quinn glanced at Rachel before returning her gaze to the clouds and letting out a humorless laugh.
"You're sweet Rach, but my parents are never going to show up. They never accepted us and it seems like they'll never want to know Bet. It's getting too late…" she trailed off.
"Just…Can we…Can we stop inviting them please? It's really disappointing…" Quinn finished barely above a whisper, her gaze finally returning to Rachel's.
"If that's what you want baby." Rachel nodded encouragingly and returned Quinn's small smile.
A few minutes later Beth came skipping over. Rachel realized that the bounce house dance party had ended, and she spied Santana standing off to the side, looking suspiciously like she was heaving, or, you know, dying, with Brittany rubbing her back.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Beth stopped before she trampled her parents.
"Mama is Mommy asleep?"
Rachel eyed Quinn. She knew her wife had not fallen asleep so quickly, but she figured she could use some peace for the moment, so she smiled to herself, and turned back to Beth.
"Mommy's just having a little nap Squigee. Are you having-"
"Come in the bouncy house with me Mama! Auntie San got sick but it's so so fun!" Beth grabbed Rachel's hand and attempted to haul her away.
Rachel did not appreciate being interrupted so many times today, but figured she could let Beth slide. For now. It was her birthday after all.
She did know, however, that if she stepped inside that bounce house, everything would go horribly awry and she would regret it for the rest of her life.
"How about we go in the pool instead Bethie? Or we could start opening presents…" Rachel trailed off as she saw Beth's shoulders slump. The little girl shrugged dejectedly.
Rachel was contemplating how much disaster a bounce house could really cause when she felt Quinn's hand run encouragingly up her forearm. She looked down at the blonde, who nodded slightly, still feigning sleep.
"OK Squig let's-" Beth hurled herself into Rachel's arms and wrenched on her hand until she stood up. Rachel turned back and glared down at Quinn, who smirked and pretended to snore, making Beth giggle and Rachel smile, albeit exasperatedly.
Beth excitedly tugged her in the direction of the massive green bounce house, passing Brittany and the still reeling Santana on the way.
Santana lunged in their direction, making Rachel step back out of fright. She looked desperate and insane, or desperately insane, and she was definitely breathing hard. Didn't her shirt have sleeves when she first got here?
"Berry! Ber- Berry!" Santana steadied herself before staring deeply and seriously into Rachel's eyes.
"Don't go in…in…that place…that thing. Things-" Brittany stepped up to Santana and grabbed her around the shoulders.
"I'm sorry Rach, San says she's been traumatized. She doesn't like-"
"No! Let me finish! Things…Things happen in there." Santana whispered, her eyes darting to the bounce house.
Rachel watched with wide eyes; she couldn't look away.
"Those kids…Oh God those kids…They- they turn into animals." She hissed the last word and pulled her top up halfway over her head as if to show off the damage the kids had inflicted on her.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Okay, none of that Sanny!" Brittany exclaimed, wrenching the woman's shirt back down and turning them towards the house.
Rachel was momentarily speechless, before Beth began giggling and pulling again.
"Brittany!" Rachel hissed. "Come with me! What if I end up like…" She trailed off, glancing at the Latina, who had veered off in a caterpillar crawl toward where Quinn was lying, losing her shoes on the way.
Brittany just glanced back at the horrified woman happily, "Have fun Rach!"
Beth finally pulled Rachel through the mesh flap opening of the empty bounce and began gleefully leaping around. Rachel cautiously bounced a few times before deciding that maybe, maybe this wasn't such a terrible idea.
-oooooooooo-
Six minutes later Rachel knew she had made the worst decision of her life. The bounce house had inexplicably filled up again with wet, bathing suit clad kids with stomachs full of cake. This could not end well.
Rachel was currently crawling on her hands and knees towards the less crowded edge of the bounce house, the light at the end of the tunnel in her mind. She was being used as a prop by her daughter's friends. A horsey to ride. A vault to jump over. A diving board.
"Buck horsey buck!" Followed by a chorus of giggles when the horse collapsed and moaned.
"Neigh neigh!" Rachel heard a child exclaim, before they dug their heels into her ribcage.
She was pretty sure she was hearing voices by now, or hallucinating, as she rolled through the mass of limbs, coming to a stop just in time for someone to jump on her stomach. Rachel finally curled up into a popcorn ball and retreated to her happy place, the Broadway stage she would be returning to tomorrow.
She felt her limbs being gently pried apart and dared to open her eyes, gazing up into an amused blonde face.
"Uh. Hey sweetie. I see we're having some trouble huh?" Quinn asked her, trying to contain her grin.
Rachel didn't reply, just shook her head slowly and allowed her wife to guide her to the exit. She clambered ungracefully through the net in her desperation, landing on her face in a pile of shoes.
Quinn winced and again helped her up.
"Are you alright?"
Rachel still couldn't find her voice, just let herself be led to where Brittany and Santana, now seemingly calm and upright, were standing.
"I…Santana…Oh my…Good Lord….How…I-"
Santana just looked at her knowingly. An expression akin to one who wanted to say 'I told you so' but knew that the situation was too tragic to allow it. Her face was still pale and her limbs had yet to stop shaking.
"Sweetheart, seriously, are you ok?" Quinn asked, finally becoming legitimately concerned that her wife had been scarred for life by a bounce house full of seven-year olds. She gazed at Rachel until brown eyes met hers and slowly nodded.
Rachel shook her head quickly, trying to shock herself back to reality. Where the sky was blue, music was playing, the air was clear. Where she wasn't lying on the rubbery floor of a bounce house, fearing that she would die at the hands of a gang of small children before winning her Tony.
"Let's…Let's open presents. Yeah, let's open presents!" Rachel repeated the phrase with a little more sureness in her voice as Quinn squeezed her hand, bringing her back to the real world.
Everybody began moving to the patio and Quinn leaned over to whisper in Rachel's ear.
"I think you recovered faster than Santana babe. I mean, look at the woman. She's a mess…"
Rachel beamed after glancing at the Latina who had gone seemingly comatose in a standing position. "Does this mean I'm tougher than her now? I mean, I seem to have already regained the functional use of my limbs!"
Quinn looked Rachel in the eye, "Always babe. You've always been the strongest person I know." She whispered. "But don't let her know that…I've already rescued one of her victims from the pool today…"
Beth tore through all of her presents quickly. She was extremely pleased with all the Broadway merchandise, Barbie toys, stuffed animals, and Ninja Turtle action figures (Santana shuddered as they were pulled out of the paper she herself had wrapped them in that morning).
Rachel and Quinn pulled Beth off to the side as everybody else began to pack up their belongings.
"Happy birthday Squigee." Quinn said, crouched down so she was eye level with her daughter. "We love you so much, and we have something else for you." She glanced at Rachel as Beth's eyes widened in curiosity.
Rachel kneeled down as well, pulling something out of her back pocket.
"When Mommy and I were in high school, she gave me this." Rachel held up a simple necklace with a gold star pendant.
"She said that no matter what happens with us, with love, with anybody, I would be a star someday." She turned her gaze to meet Quinn's, her eyes tearing up, again, as Beth looked on in awe.
"Now I have these." She said meaningfully, holding up her hand and indicating her engagement and wedding rings. Quinn smiled back at her through her own watery eyes.
"You two are all I ever needed, Squig." Rachel's voice wavered.
"We love you more than anything in the world Beth Fabray, and you can be anything in the world, but you will be a star at whatever you do." Quinn said, taking the necklace from Rachel and turning her awed daughter around to put it around her neck.
"This is just so that you know whatever happens, you'll always be our star." Rachel murmured in Beth's ear. Beth recovered her voice as she touched the star on her chest.
"I love you Mama. And Mommy. Love you Mommy." Beth whispered as she threw her arms around her parents.
Rachel and Quinn held her tightly, and locked eyes over Beth's head.
"Love you too." They both whispered softly.