"And this. Oh, and this. And this."
Artie sat inside the door of the storage room, as Lindsay piled boxes on his lap.
"Linds...I can't see. This isn't going to work. We're going to have to make a couple of trips," he said, trying to convince her that they didn't have to take every box of Christmas decorations at the same time.
"We don't have time. Quinn is going to be here. We have to do it fast!" she said, piling a final box onto his lap. "Hold them. I'll drive."
He stared up at the boxes, which were piled a good four feet above his head. "I can't hold all of them. Actually...I can't do anything now. Take down those two on the top."
She sighed. "Fiiiiine, we can make two trips."
Once she had the boxes off the pile, he looked at them. "Those are little, and they're obviously not heavy, so you could just come back and get them once we have these out," he pointed out.
"No, I need my Artiebarrow," she said, moving behind his chair and preparing to pull it backwards out the door.
He grinned. Ever since Lindsay had been big enough to push his chair, she had insisted on using him as a sort of carryall for whatever she had in her hands.
Once they had all the boxes of Christmas decorations in the living room, Artie decided to change his sweater before Quinn arrived. While cleaning out his closet earlier in the week, he had found the most obnoxious Christmas sweater ever. He couldn't remember seeing it before, and decided it must have been a gift from someone that he had quickly shoved into the closet, hoping it would never be seen again. He decided to wear the sweater, and see if Quinn would comment on it.
As he was pulling the piece of clothing over his head, he heard the doorbell, followed by an excited squeal from Lindsay. Quinn must have arrived.
"Artie...What. Is. That?"
He grinned. "Hi to you, too. New Christmas sweater. Isn't it great?"
She studied his face for a second, trying to decide whether he was serious or messing with her. He couldn't actually like that, could he?
"Um...yeah, it's great," she said, deciding to play it on the safe side and agree with him.
He couldn't hold in his laughter any longer. After a minute or so of laughing hysterically, he regained his composure. "I'm kidding. I found this in my closet, and wanted to see what you'd say."
Relief flooded her face. "Thank God," she said, "I was really worried that you actually liked it. Are those googly eyes? And pompoms? And...are those bells?"
He nodded. The snowman sweater was really unlike anything he'd ever seen before. "I think my grandma or someone gave it to me. I found it when I was cleaning the other day."
"Take it off, or I'm going to have to tear out my eyes," she said. "What's with all the boxes?"
He grinned. "We're decorating the Christmas tree today. We are WAY late on it this year. Usually it's up around the end of November. Linds and I have been hauling boxes out here all morning!"
"That's what I thought," she said. "How many trees are we decorating? Judging from the boxes, I'd say five."
"Just one. It's big. Go look in the corner by the tv."
She walked further into the living room, and was a little excited when she saw it. The tree went right to the ceiling, and was at least six feet wide at the bottom. It was the biggest Christmas tree she'd ever seen in a house.
"It's huge! This is so exciting! My mom never ever lets me do much to the tree, because it always has to be just right."
He smiled. "The only rule here is that no one's allowed to throw glass ornaments. That was never really an issue until Michael was about three and decided to throw some red glass balls at me."
"Yes, because I'm clearly going to throw your family's Christmas ornaments around," she said, trying to suppress a smile.
"Hey, you never know," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Why are you still wearing that monstrosity? Take it off."
"Quinn, I hardly think it's appropriate for you to be ordering me to take my clothes off in my living room. What if my mom walks in?"
"What if your mom walks in?" Beth said, walking into the room with Lindsay in tow. "Honey...what is that you're wearing?"
Quinn and Artie burst out laughing.
"I have no idea. I found it in my closet. Someone gave it to me, I'm assuming. Or, it's a horrible joke that someone, probably Michael, is playing on me. I really don't know. I only put it on because I wanted to see how Quinn would react. I'll go get something else," he said, leaving the living room.
Beth turned to Quinn. "Honey, we're so glad to have you here with us today! Steve and Michael will be gone for another few hours, so I thought the four of us could get started."
"Quinn, you can help me! I'm too short to reach lots of places, and I usually just stand on Artie, but now that you're here you can help!"
Quinn smiled. She could practically see the energy vibrating out of the youngest Abrams, as she pulled the lid off one of the boxes.
"I found the lights! We have to put them on first," she said, pulling them out of the box.
Beth looked at the mess of lights her daughter was holding. "We're going to have to untangle these, first. It looks like Michael put them away last time. Quinn, how are your untangling skills?"
"Um, Mom..." Artie said, re-entering the room in a plain green sweater. "Michael didn't put them away last time...that might have been me." His face flushed, as he made his way over to the box. "Here, I'll see if I can fix them."
Beth shook her head slightly, handing the clump of lights to him. "Good luck. If you need help let me know. I've got cookies in the oven, and more ready to go in, so I'll leave you guys to it!"
"I think I can manage...it's not rocket science. And even if it was...I could manage that, too."
Quinn smiled. He was so adorable. "Here's an end. Why don't I hold it, and you see if you can untangle it?"
After about half an hour, they had several strands of lights free from the jumble, and Beth started putting them on the tree. Lindsay had busied herself digging through the boxes looking for all her favourite things. The living room looked like a giant explosion of Christmas.
"Can I put this on?" Lindsay asked.
Artie looked over. "Linds, we have to put the lights on first, remember? Here, come hold this. It'll go faster if you hold one too."
She put down the Santa ornament she had been holding, and went to take the end of the plug that Artie was holding out to her.
"Can you not do this next time? It's taking too long," she said, sitting on the floor. "I wanna hang stuff up now!"
"Sorry, Linds. I think we were in a hurry last year, and that's why they got stuffed in the box like this. I promise when we take the tree down I'll make sure they're ready to go for next year, ok?"
She nodded. "Do I have to still hold this?"
"Yup, but we're almost done!"
Quinn sat on the couch, holding her end of a string of lights and watching them. She loved how good Artie was with Linds. He'd make an excellent dad one day.
"Ok, that's the last of it," he said, snapping Quinn out of her thoughts. "Let's put them on!"
Lindsay jumped up and ran over to the tree. "I'm going to help!"
"I don't really know how to do this," Quinn said, turning to Artie and looking slightly embarrassed.
"It's easy. We're going to plug the first one into that power bar, and then we can attach them to each other. Here...you plug this in, and we'll just start putting them on."
She did as he said, and they started putting the lights around the bottom of the tree.
"Artie, you're not close enough. Go closer!"
Before he could respond to Lindsay, she had shoved him so far into the tree that he could barely move his arms.
"Um...Linds," he said, trying to avoid getting tree branches in his mouth, "this isn't going to work. I can't move, and I'm pretty sure my chair is bending the tree. Can you pull me out a bit?"
She pulled him out of the tree an inch at a time until he was clear of the tree...and in exactly the same position he had been before she decided he needed to be closer.
"Here," Quinn said, taking the lights from him. "I'll put them around there."
He watched, as she positioned herself in front of him, trying to figure out how the best way would be to attach the lights to the branches.
"Here, this might be easier," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back into his lap.
She leaned back for a second, resting her head on his shoulder. "This is nice, but I don't see how it's making it easier. Now I'm all distracted."
"Artie, we need to put the lights on so I can hang this," Lindsay said, holding up the Santa ornament she had previously wanted to put on the tree. "You guys are too slow, I'm going to go ask Mom to help."
Artie listened as Lindsay walked into the kitchen, and was told that her mother couldn't help because she was in the middle of baking cookies. The little girl returned, eyes downcast.
"Hey Linds, come here," he said, patting his lap. "Why don't you see if you can help Quinn get the lights around the back of the tree? I can't really get in there, but I know you can."
"But Mom said I wasn't allowed to touch those," she said, pointing at the lights.
"I know, but I think you're old enough to help now. Just don't touch them when you're by yourself."
A smile spread across her face, as she jumped off her brother and went to take the lights that Quinn was holding out to her.
Finally, with much direction from Artie and the occasional comment from Beth as she passed the living room, Quinn and Lindsay had most of the lights on the tree. To do the top part, Quinn had dragged a chair out from the dining room so she could stand on it.
The three of them stepped back, admiring their work.
"Now can I hang this?" Lindsay asked, holding up the Santa ornament for the third time.
Artie gave a small nod to Quinn.
"Sure can, Linds! Where are you going to put it?"
Lindsay thought for a moment, before handing the ornament to Quinn. "I want you to decide."
Quinn smiled. "Why don't we decide together?"
"Ok. I want it to go here," Lindsay said, pointing at a branch that was about the same height as her chest. "Where do you want it to go?"
"You know, I was just thinking that there would be the perfect spot," she said.
Artie grinned, watching as Quinn and Lindsay unwrapped various ornaments and discussed where to hang them.
"Artie, you have to help!" Lindsay said, tugging on his sleeve. "Here. You can hang up these."
He took the box from her, and pulled off the lid. His favourite ornaments were inside.
Quinn peeked over his shoulder. "Is that you?" she asked, pointing to one on top of the pile.
He nodded. "Yeah, we have one of these for each of us for every year. My grandma makes them for us. The ones for this year are on that shelf, can you grab them please?" he asked, pointing to the bookshelf by the window.
She plucked the small box off the shelf, and passed it to him.
"Look at them," he said, handing it back to her.
She opened the box, and removed the tissue paper holding the ornaments in place. "Here's your mom, and your dad, and Michael, and Linds, and you...and me?" she questioned, looking over at him. "Why am I in here?"
"When Gram asked for the pictures for this year, she asked if I wanted her to make one for you, too. I said yes. Was that ok?"
She grinned. "No one has ever made me something like this before! This is so neat!"
"I'm glad you like it," he said. "I was kind of worried that you might not."
She walked over, sitting down on the couch next to where he was sitting. "How could I not like something like this? It's the sweetest thing ever. Tell your grandma I said thank you, and I love it!"
"You can tell her yourself," he said, "Do you and your mom want to come to dinner on Saturday? My grandparents will be here. I was supposed to ask you a couple of days ago, but I forgot."
She nodded. "I'll have to ask Mom to make sure that she doesn't have plans for something, but I think that should be ok."
He was just about to lean in and kiss her cheek, when a sudden movement caught his eye.
"Linds, get off the couch arm. You know you're not allowed to stand on there!"
"But Artieeeeeee, I need help and you and Quinn are ignoring me!" she said, holding out a star-shaped ornament. "I want to hang it there, but I'm too little."
As Quinn was about to stand up, Artie held up his hand, stopping her. "I'll get it," he said, moving closer to the tree.
Quinn sat there wondering how Artie was going to reach a branch that was at least two feet above his outstretched arm, when she saw him beckon to Lindsay. The little girl climbed up on her brother and, standing in his lap, hung the ornament on the branch she had been pointing to.
"I thought she's not allowed to stand on the furniture?" she questioned, as Artie reached into the box to grab another ornament.
"Well, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a piece of furniture," he said, turning his back to her so she couldn't see the smile on his face.
"I didn't mean that!" Quinn sputtered. "I meant that I thought she isn't allowed to stand on things. I mean stuff. I mean...I don't know..." she trailed off.
He turned, and she saw that he was grinning.
"Well, yeah, usually she's not, but when the stuff is a person it's usually ok."
"I didn't mean that I think you're furniture," she said, trying to make sure she hadn't offended him.
"Hey, if you thinking I'm furniture means you'll sit on my lap more, then please...think of me as furniture," he said, his face reddening slightly once he realized that he had said that out loud.
She swatted him with the plastic apple she was holding. "Cute, but definitely not the right time for that conversation right now!"
He grinned. "Yeah, I guess we should finish this up. I'm glad you're here...I didn't realize Mom was still baking, and if you hadn't come, only the bottom half of the tree would be decorated."
"Nice to know that you only wanted me to come because I can reach higher than you," she said, reaching into the box. "Makes me feel really special."
"That's not why I wanted you to come," he said, his face growing redder by the second.
"Gotcha!" she said, laughing. "Obviously I know you didn't invite me here just so I could decorate the top half of the tree."
"Well, that wasn't the only reason..." he trailed off, a mischievous look in his eyes. "I also invited you because I knew how tangled the lights were from last year, and I didn't want to have to deal with it by myself."
"Artie, I can't find the angel!" Lindsay cut in, a worried look on her face. "It's not in the box."
"I saw an angel somewhere," Quinn said, "Is it silver and blue?"
"Yes! SHE is silver and blue," Lindsay said, rummaging through another box. "Her name is Beatrice."
"Beatrice?" Quinn asked, looking at Artie.
He nodded. "Beatrice. I don't know where the name came from, or who named it, but Beatrice has been around longer than I have."
"BEATRICE!" Lindsay exclaimed, holding up the angel. "I knew we'd find you!"
"Artie, I don't think there's space on top of the tree for that. It goes all the way to the ceiling," Quinn said, pointing to the angel.
"There's never space for the angel," he said, "which is why we usually end up with Beatrice on the mantle."
Quinn grinned. "Perfect!"
As they finished up decorating the tree, Quinn stepped back to admire their work. Sure, the ornaments weren't all hung in a pattern, and the lights weren't all the same colour like on her mom's tree, but she thought that it was the most beautiful Christmas tree she'd ever seen. It looked like love.
Her mom's Christmas tree looked like it came out of some fancy catalogue. And it probably had.
As they were putting the lids on the boxes (which Artie had announced his dad and Michael would move later), Beth entered the room with a tray full of hot chocolate and cookies.
"The tree looks beautiful, you guys," she said, placing the tray on the table. "It looks even better than last year!"
"That's because Quinn helped," Lindsay said, taking a cookie from the tray and sitting on the couch next to Quinn. "She's a better helper than Artie."
"That's not very nice," Quinn said to Lindsay, noticing the grin spreading across Artie's face. "I think you hurt Artie's feelings."
As he pretended to look hurt, Lindsay got up, climbed into her brother's lap, and gave him a hug. "You're still the best brother ever. Just not the best Christmas tree helper. Is that ok?"
He hugged her back. "I guess so. I can't be the best everything, right?"
The little girl hugged him tighter. "I think you're the best at everything else."
"You're pretty awesome too," he said. "Now...can you pass me a cookie? You're not going to make the 'best everything' sit here and watch you eat that, are you?"
She hopped down, and grabbed a couple of cookies to give him, before going to sit under the Christmas tree with her own stack of baked goods.
"Thanks for inviting me for this," Quinn said, "I would have kicked myself if I had missed it!"
"I would have kicked myself if you had missed it too," he said. "...if I could kick myself."
She laughed, reached for another cookie.
"Just promise me one thing," she said, suddenly looking serious.
"What?" he asked, a curious look in his eyes.
"Never, ever wear that snowman sweater again."
He grinned. "That, I can't promise."
A/N: Shameless Christmas fluff with no real point. I know you all love it! Haha
Remember...as a Christmas present to me, you're going to leave a review for this!
And then you're going to visit the Quartie community and sign up to be notified when new fics are added.
AND THEN, you're going to pay a visit to the Quinn/Artie Forum (we are number 2 on the list of Glee forums!), and join in the conversations going on there.
...if you're only going to do one of these things, please let it be the review! I need reviews to be inspired to write more Quartie!
Quartie ficathon coming up in January...check out the forum for more details!