"Go on now, honey. Go ahead and run around a bit."
The slightly effeminate man set his daughter down gently on the ground from where she had been sitting on his knee. The little girl stood up and dusted off her miniature navy-blue-with-white-polka-dots dress rather primly. She stooped a little and straightened her white knee-high socks and brown penny loafers, before breaking into a broad grin and turning towards the sea of lush grass that extended for acres in front of her. Clumps of trees here and there broke the green expanse, and the foot-high natural carpet swayed gently in the breeze.
This was one of the only decent parks in Lima, Ohio, but it, too was starting to fall into disarray. It had been forever since someone had cut the grass or trimmed the other vegetation, and there were only two benches, on opposite sides of the giant field. Few people actually came here anymore, because of how it had progressively gotten worse. At the moment, the Berry's figured that they were the only ones out here.
The little girl started running freely through the grass, breathing in the fresh spring air with gusto. She glanced back over her shoulder towards her parents once, before stretching out her arms and reveling in her nature-infused world. She started running again, as fast as her legs would take her. Dark brown hair streamed behind her, and her dress flapped in the breeze. She thought, just for a moment, she could close her eyes and-
WHAM.
The young girl sat up from being sprawled on the ground, checking to make sure that there was no dirt anywhere on her person. After ensuring the cleanliness of her clothing, she looked around to find the offending object that caused her to trip. To her surprise, there was a strange sight directly next to her: a pair of small feet sticking up out of the grass. As she started crawling around the pair of feet, she discovered that there was actually a person attached to them! A really pretty person, she thought without any qualms over her description. And so, being the honest, stubborn, forward girl she was; she voiced this sentiment to the owner of the pair of feet she had just discovered.
"Uhhhh…." She received in response, before the speaker let out a shy, "You're pretty, too."
"Why, thank you! My Daddy always says that when you meet someone new, you need to compliment them on something. That way, you both start off with good impressions of each other. Good impressions are very important. Sometimes, you only have one chance to get someone to like you, and you don't want to mess that up, right?"
"Erm…"
"My Daddy also says that it's not a good thing to be shy when you first meet someone. It tells people that you aren't confident in yourself. But I think that it's perfectly all right that you're shy. After all, it must be kind of strange to have someone trip over you. Why were you lying in the grass?"
At this point, the other person had sat up as well, crossing her legs to stare at the ranting brunette girl. As wide brown eyes gazed at her expectantly, the other girl started fiddling with her hands in her lap.
"It felt like home," she said softly, not knowing what exactly was happening.
"I completely understand what you mean! There are some places where you just know you belong, and, once there, you just want to bask in it all day…"
The blonde girl cocked her head delicately, considering the spectacle in front of her. She had been minding her own business, lying in the meadow and listening to the birds chirp in the trees, when suddenly there was something that hit her foot and a loud thud next to her. She had remained perfectly still, trying to avoid whatever or whoever it was. And then, out of the blue, popped this other little girl, with rich, dark brown hair and a voice that couldn't be turned off. She watched, quietly, as the other girl continued to talk. She was mesmerized, enchanted by how the light reflected off her hair, giving her an angelic golden halo. Her eyes drifted over the girl's beautiful features, travelling over smooth, caramel skin practically glowing with how excited the girl was.
"… and I hope that when I find-" The brunette stopped and drew in a little breath, before asking curiously, "Why are you staring at me?"
"Because you're interesting." The usually subdued blonde 6-year old clapped both hands to her mouth, shocked that she had let so many stray thoughts slip out already.
"You're interesting too! What's your name?"
Those big, brown eyes started looking intensely at the shy girl again, and she stuttered out her response.
"Q-quinn."
"That's a really pretty name! I'm Rachel. Rachel Barbra Berry," she said with a proud grin. "My daddies named me after a Broadway legend and a character from Friends." She stuck her hand out towards Quinn, still grinning broadly. "Nice to meet you!"
"Nicetomeetyoutoo," Quinn mumbled, looking down and shaking the brunette's hand. She was shy, but she would at least retain her manners. That was one thing her parents had constantly drilled into her: manners – always. "Wait," she said, Rachel's words having sunk into her brain, "you have more than one dad?"
Rachel nodded, her smile never faltering.
"I have two daddies, just like most people have a daddy and a mommy. And they love each other and me very much!"
"Oh," Quinn said, with a nod of her head. She thought that a family like this sounded perfectly all right as long as everyone loved each other.
"So, Quinn…" Rachel started talking again, and Quinn gazed at her while they conversed.
After an hour or two of interacting in this manner, the girls were smiling frequently at each other, and giggling at common interests or funny coincidences that they shared. Suddenly, Quinn glanced at the small silver watch bracelet that was fastened around her wrist.
"I should probably be going back now… My Dad said that I can't be gone for very long."
"Okay!" Rachel said, standing up and checking her dress again for any dirt or stray grass. Quinn stood up as well, turning back into her shy and bashful self. "I really liked talking to you, Quinn. I hope that we can meet again sometime!"
"Yeah, that sounds really good…" The blonde girl mumbled, staring at the ground. A movement in her peripheral vision caused her to look up and to the side, so that her mouth was where her cheek had been previously. A sudden peck on the lips caught Quinn by surprise, and her eyes widened in surprise. A blush crept over her face, and she looked down at the ground once again.
"Silly!" Rachel exclaimed, pulling her head away. "You turned your head! Well, I'll see you around, Quinn! Bye!" The brunette girl started skipping away, and Quinn waved distractedly after her.
She then turned and ran all the way back across the park, back to the bench where her mother and father were.
"Mommy, mommy! I got a new friend!"
"Oh really?" The older, blonde woman said with a warm smile. "And what was your new friend's name?"
"Rachel," Quinn recalled, grinning. "Rachel Barbra Berry."
Suddenly, her father gained interest in the conversation between mother and daughter, and his jaw hardened.
"Rachel Berry, you say?"
"Yeah!" The little girl exclaimed, nodding rapidly and starting to ramble. "And she gave me a kiss too! She meant for it to be on the cheek, but then I got startled and turned my head and it ended up on my lips, but she was really nice, and she talked a lot, but-"
Quinn suddenly stopped talking, as a sharp pain shot through her face. She looked up to see her father standing over her, his face discolored and his breath coming in short bursts. The intelligent young child figured out within moments that her father had slapped her, and tears sprung to her eyes.
"Daddy?" She whimpered, holding her reddened cheek.
"You will never," he growled in a dangerously low voice, "ever associate with that girl again. Their family," he spat the word as if it was a poison, "is a crime against nature. And she was trying to convert you to their sinful ways. You will have disgraced your family immensely if you ever act as an equal to her. Do you understand me?"
The little girl nodded, fat tears now freely falling down her cheeks. She didn't think that Rachel's family could be a crime against nature, like her Dad said. They all loved each other, so what did it matter that there were two daddies? But this was her Dad, and he was the one that knew what was right and wrong, right? So maybe she was wrong; maybe Rachel was supposed to be avoided.
Quinn was sad to be giving up her new friend, but she decided that family was more important than other little girls she met in the park.
In her mind, that day, Rachel Barbra Berry became the enemy.
A/N: Hey out there to anyone reading this! I know that I have a main story that I should be updating, but (as usual) an idea popped in my head and wouldn't leave. Unlike my last three endeavors, this will be a chapter story. This is the prologue to it (yay cute kiddie Faberry!) and the first chapter will probably be up really soon (today or tomorrow). This story is pretty AU: Quinn was never Lucy (Lucy is her middle name, though), and the plot will most likely not be canon. Most, if not all of the characters from canon will be there, with same characterization. Major plot events like the formation of Glee club will be the same. It will probably include some other plot events from canon, but not all, and not necessarily in the same order. This will start halfway through freshman year. Quinn may or may not get pregnant. THIS STORY WILL BE MUCH LIKE THE KURT/KAROFSKY STORYLINE IN CANON. Except tweaked a bit. Or a lot. I take liberties on what I do with the plot. Pleaaaaaaaseeeee read and review! My writing relies heavily on reviews! Peace :)
PS: I feel like I'm going to make this one a bit darker than I'll Be There…
PPS: To any readers of I'll Be There: I won't be updating for a while (unusual, I know xD) because I'm going to a summer camp and laptops aren't allowed. I'm sorry about that, especially because I left you guys with a cliffhanger. Please don't hate me :))