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 48th cycle. Now cycle 49!

"Brighter Than The Sun"
Quinn, Rachel, Baby Nora, Quinn/Finn, Rachel/Puck
Sunshine Girls series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

If it were up to all of them, Quinn would have had anywhere from four to over a dozen people there to help her look after Nora when she had brought her home, and that was already something she was so thankful for, in ways they would never understand. But she knew also that, at least for this time, Nora's immediate care would fall into her hands, and so for that she had to try and look after her alone, before she could bring in others.

It had felt so surreal to walk into her house with her daughter in her arms… She had a daughter… That one was still baffling her, even after months being pregnant, this was the odd bit. This little warm person had come from her and now slept in the crook of her arm. Quinn had spent the whole ride home just staring at her. And when she had laid her down in her crib, she had almost cried.

Her mother would keep telling her that she should try and sleep when the baby slept, knowing she was bound to wake up in the middle of the night, so she tried to do that. It wasn't that hard to sleep, after the day she'd had, as much as she tried to remain hyperaware. She was awakened by Nora's cries after a while, so she had gotten up, finding it easy to smile when she saw the girl. She picked her up, walked her around before changing her, feeding her… Getting her back to sleep proved harder this time, and by the time she was able to put her down again, daylight had started to stream in. She'd closed the curtain tight and gone back to bed.

The next few days went on a lot like this. Quinn wanted to prove she could do it by herself, and she was. She was exhausted, though not nearly as much as she could have been. When Nora was awake, she had soon discovered as long as she spoke the baby was calmer. So that gave her a chance to do two things at once. She calmed her daughter, and she studied, reading her textbooks and notes aloud. She wasn't going to school for a few weeks now, but that wasn't cause for her to slack off either, especially with Nora's future on the line. What she found also was that this time together had helped to bond them some more. Nora responded to the sound of her voice, looked at her with those big sparkling eyes of hers, and she would give the sweetest sort of smile…

The only time she would be out of her sight would be while she went and showered. She'd leave her with 'Nana Judy,' who was more than happy to look after her. And of course throughout those first days, she had calls with the other three, visits after school… They were very understanding as far as her need to adjust with having Nora there, and for that she was truly thankful.

Puck had been the first to come, and would be regular in those visits once things had settled. He was a natural with Nora, which both did and didn't surprise Quinn. She was his daughter, too, and he wanted her to know that. It wasn't hard; Nora already loved him.

Now as to the other two… They weren't biologically related to the girl, nor were they exactly married or living together in any sort of parental capacity, but already there was an easy connection anyone could see. For Finn, as they were dating again now, she could envision and hope that things would progress, and if she could say one thing for him, it was that he was dedicated. His visits with Nora, which like Puck and like Rachel would grow regular, would show him caring and paternal to the girl who had in effect brought him and Quinn closer. He would see how tired she was, and he would stay with Nora to let Quinn sleep some more.

And then there was Rachel. Where Puck had his place as Nora's father, and Finn did as well, to some extent, in Rachel's case it was different. She wasn't connected to either of them, though Quinn still held belief in her heart that she and Puck would work things out, and for that she understood something maybe Rachel didn't grasp herself just yet. If Puck was to share paternal privileges with Finn, Quinn knew she would share maternal ones with Rachel… and she was content for that. If it had to be anyone, she knew without a doubt Rachel was the one she'd want for it. Rachel wouldn't see it, being apart from Puck at this point, but Quinn was nothing if not good with forethought.

One afternoon, when Nora was already two weeks old, Rachel was there, telling the baby girl in her crib a spirited story Quinn would come to realize was Funny Girl, while Nora stared up at her like a giddy ball of smiles. Quinn had gone off to shower, leaving her daughter with her friend, and as she returned, dressed again, she'd smile to herself as she listened. "You can pick her up, you know?" Rachel was startled, not having seen her, and she smiled.

"I know, but… if she falls asleep…"

"With the story she's got from you, no chance," Quinn laughed, and Rachel smiled. She reached in and picked up the girl, careful as she came and sat with her on the bed, across from Quinn who was detangling her hair. They had all developed a new rhythm of life, without realizing, and as tired as she still was, she was adjusting, and it did a lot of good for her spirits and her optimism for things to come.

"I can't believe it's been two weeks… Does she look taller to you already?" Rachel asked, looking down at the girl, taking her hand with a smile.

"Definitely," Quinn breathed. After a moment she looked back to Rachel. You know Puck will be here in like twenty minutes, if you want to wait…"

"I don't know if…" she grew uneasy.

"Rachel, come on. You're lying to yourself. You still miss him, and I know he still misses you… Whatever happened with your dads, you have a chance to turn things around."

"How?" Rachel sounded hopeless.

"Hey, if they got to know this girl here, how could they not love her and want her as a granddaughter?" she smiled to her, and the look in Rachel's eyes, brimmed with tears, showed the flurry of emotions this suggested, introducing the notion that she could be a mother to the girl now sleeping in her arms.

"I know they would," Rachel managed to smile, and Quinn returned it, then seeing Nora was asleep, she nodded for Rachel to look. Quinn would swear for the rest of their lives that this was the moment, the first time she had seen Rachel look upon Nora as a mother would look upon her child. She was a part of this, an integral part, and she wanted to be there just as much as Quinn wanted her there.

THE END

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!