Her hazel eyes gazed up at the sign behind her one last time that evening. A smile grew on her face as she read it over for the millionth time. 'Quinn's Cakes' she mouthed as she read the words with a goofy smile on her face. It would never get old for her no matter how many times her eyes travelled to the pink and purple font that danced the back wall. It had been a month since she had opened her own bakery and it still felt like a dream. That is...a very hectic and busy dream that left her exhausted half the time but it was worth it. She was doing what she loved like her best friend always insisted on her doing. Taking the first step in the direction of opening her own bakery was terrifying at first. But each step slowly became easier until she was fully walking at a confident pace.
Turning back to gaze out at the people walking past her shop, she made her way up to the front door to flick off her open sign and began to prepare to go home. She took to wiping down her counter for the last time and hummed a song to herself in the silence of the store. However even with no light illuminating off the sign, she still heard the familiar bells on top of the door jingly as someone opened the door. "Auntie Quinnie!" a small yet loud voice filled the room and Quinn felt something latch onto her legs a few moments after. She didn't need to look up nor down to know who had entered the closed shop. Instead, she picked up the little girl clinging to her legs and rested her on her hip.
"Rosie! I'm so glad to see you. Now I know your mommy doesn't like me doing this but I've saved you a cupcake," Quinn staged whispered the last portion and darted her glance over to Rachel who simply rolled her eyes.
Rosie, who looked far too much like Rachel and acted far too much like her as well, poked Quinn's cheek and set her sight on the small box on the counter that she knew was her cupcake. "Can I have now?" The blonde glanced over to her best friend not wanting to experience another lecture of giving the child too much sugar. With a nod for Rachel, she set Rosie down and gave her the box. Rosie scurried over to the corner she usually sat in as her mom and Quinn spoke and began devouring her treat.
"You can't keep giving her things every time we come in here. She's growing to expect it," Rachel scolded Quinn like the mother she was and eyed her four year old with chocolate all over her face.
Quinn shrugged and brought out another box from under the counter. "So does that mean you don't want your sugar cookies then?' Her eyebrow arched as she lid the box slowly over in Rachel's direction.
The brunette hesitated at first before greedily snatching the box. "Well I'll have to eat these now because if I bring them home, Finn would only be jealous." Quinn rolled her eyes and finished her clean up as her best friend and her mini me scarfed down the rest of their sweets.
"How was rehearsals today?" Quinn asked and peered into the kitchen in the back to ensure she had turned off everything.
Rachel hurriedly chewed the large of amount of cookie in her mouth before answering. "It was amazing...tiring but amazing. Oh and I told some of the ensemble about this little bakery I knew about. Said it was a New York hidden treasure. They all seemed very intrigued."
"I swear most of my customers are crazy Broadway actors like you," Quinn quipped and received a look from Rachel. She stepped from out behind her counter and grabbed her coat.
"Let's go before you two eat up everything in here." Rosie glanced up and you could see the wheels turning in her head if it was truly a possibility. Quinn tugged on her coat and walked over to Rosie to scoop her up. "Do we have to head anywhere before we go home?" Quinn asked while wiping off the little girl's face. Rachel shook her head and proceeded to exit to get a cab home.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
Home might have been the basement apartment in Rachel and Finn's house but it was still home for Quinn. She didn't have enough money to get her own place and Rachel and Finn had far too much. Rachel was a successful Broadway actress despite her rather young age. She was currently Elphaba in Wicked; one of her many dream roles. Quinn couldn't keep track of all them and only assumed that Rachel was determined to play every single role possible on Broadway.
Rachel's husband Finn came into the picture when Quinn and Rachel left their childhood town of Lima, Ohio for college. Rachel had gone to New York which was the obvious choice for the future star. Quinn set her eyes on Yale for pre-law. The two girls weren't that far apart but being further away from each other than a couple blocks proved tough for both of them at the beginning. It grew more difficult when Rachel started spending most of her free time with her new boyfriend, Finn Hudson. They'd met at a party and Rachel claimed that she knew that he was the one at first glance. Quinn was jealous of Finn and the time he got to spend with her best friend and also regrettably jealous that Rachel had met the love of her life before she had.
Quinn had this idea early on about how her life would turn out. She would meet her future husband at college. Graduate pre-law. Pass the Bar Exam first try. Become a successful lawyer like her father. Get married and have a couple children. The plan was straight forward enough but it never came to light. She had met a couple guys in college but none of them were marriage material. They were good enough to date for awhile and get what she needed from them before it all ended. Without marriage or a suitable partner, the children half of the scenario never happened either. It disappointed the now twenty four year old. Once again, everything seemed to come easily to Rachel. She married Finn shortly after graduation and her pregnancy didn't come far after that. Quinn was happy for her best friend but the presence of the green eyed monster was always near.
She never particularly wanted to become a lawyer. That was mainly her dad's choice. She wanted to make him proud like any good daughter would. But Quinn was miserable in her classes and she knew she wanted to do something else. It wasn't that she wasn't intelligent. Far from it actually. She could have been a lawyer if her heart was in it.
Ever since Quinn was a little girl, she would run into her kitchen to watch the cooks prepare the food for the big parties the Fabrays held for every occasion they virtually could. One of the perks of being rich...paid help. A tiny Quinn with ribbons in her hair and sporting a pretty dress that she was forbidden to play in would sit on a stool and marvel at how effortlessly the cooks assembled the meals. The lady who owned the catering company and who was the main cook let Quinn help sometimes until Judy Fabray would scold her daughter and tell her to leave the help alone. But nevertheless, Quinn would sneak back in to watch and learn.
What really intrigued Quinn was baking. The colourful and wistful treats piled high on platters. Cooking was very instinctive and fickle. If you put too much of one thing in, it could be balanced out by adding something else. Otherwise, you couldn't entirely mess up while you were cooking. Baking, on the other hand, was precise and meticulous. Everything needed to be just right to get the result you wanted. As a child, Quinn liked the structure and knowing how things were going to turn out. She had the patience to measure out all her ingredients perfectly. Baking had become an outlet for Quinn as she grew up. When her mind was too cluttered as it usually did, she set her focus on a complicated souffle recipe for instance. For the hour or so making it, her mind would be at ease.
It only made sense to her that having such a passion for baking would lead to making it a career. Her father didn't see it that way and her mother gave no input, sitting idly by. When Quinn dropped out of pre-law and began doing business classes instead, it didn't take her very long to be cut off. She shouldn't have been surprised by her father's brash choice but she still took it hard and ended up rethinking her decision. Was opening her own bakery worth upsetting her family and having a unstable career path? It took a lot of talking it through with Rachel to find it was. Rachel had joked that her parents should just be happy that she choose not to be an actress because at that point, Rachel was struggling for her big break and working at a dinner for the time being. People always asked that question of whether you're rather be rich yet unhappy or poor yet happy? The Fabray always selected the first, no questions asked. Quinn was the first to pick the latter and she struggled with her choice everyday.
Eventually her bakery did get it's kick-start. It took all the money Quinn had to open it resulting in her living with Finn and Rachel much to her delight. Rachel talked up the bakery to everyone in the Broadway world she meet and in exchange, Quinn was a live in babysitter for Rosie. She didn't mind though. She was twenty four and had had baby fever since she could remember. She loved kids and Rosie was no exception. She was an overly precocious and loud kid much like her mother but was impossibly sweet. Spending a day with her was totally fine by Quinn who spoiled her 'niece' like crazy every chance she could and within reason of what Rachel wanted her to be.
Arriving at the Berry-Hudson residence, Rosie didn't bother waiting for her mother to pay for the cab before hopping out and running full throttle to the door. She swung the unlocked door open and bounded to the living room where Finn always resided after work. Rachel paid the cab driver and sighed with an exasperated smile,"She's such a daddy's girl. I swear I could spend a whole day with her doing her favourite things but as soon as we get home, she runs to Finn at any chance she gets."
"Rach, she's just like you. Insanely in love with that dopey man probably sprawled out on your couch," Quinn glanced over to her friend who simply grinned at the comment. She turned away to walk to her own separate entrance to her apartment.
"Hey. Why don't you eat dinner with us? Finn is making pasta."
"That's the only thing he knows how to make."
Rachel pouted and looked down at the ground, a ploy that usually suckered Quinn into staying. The groan from the blonde was enough of an answer for her.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
"Rosie...sweetie, the spaghetti goes in your mouth." Rachel laughed at the sight of her daughter who had more spaghetti on her then in her stomach.
"You can't tell her that when..." Quinn didn't need to finish her sentence as her glance fell onto Finn.
"Hey!" He mumbled with a mouthful of spaghetti. His face and shirt like Rosie's was coated in sauce. "What happens at the dinner table stays at the dinner table." Quinn snorted but fell silent when Rachel glared at her. Finn got up and picked up Rosie as well whose plate was cleared. "We'll go clean up."
Rosie smeared more sauce on Finn's face -not that you could tell the difference- and giggled. "You make good spaghetti, Daddy."
"At least someone gets me," Finn mockingly glared at both Rachel and Quinn before leaving the room with Rosie.
"I swear I have two children," Rachel leaned back on her chair and laughed softly.
Quinn laughed as well and got up to begin clearing the table. "All three of you are ridiculous."
"I'm a little less ridiculous, right?"
"Nah, you're just a different kind," Quinn shrugged with a tiny smirk and finished collecting the dishes.
Rachel made a face at Quinn but didn't comment any further. She stood up and took the plates from Quinn. "Stop cleaning up. For a rich girl, you sure like to clean up. Just sit down, Quinn."
Quinn obeyed but frowned at Rachel's demand. "I was just trying to help."
"I know, Quinn." After a drunken night together, Quinn rambled about how she felt in debt to Rachel for letting her living with her basically rent free. It wasn't a good base for a friendship and not what Rachel wanted. She couldn't help but to feel in these moments Quinn was trying to pay her back. "Oh and Brittany wanted to know if we wanted to go out. She said some band is playing at that one club."
"Oh? Some band at that one club? I've heard about that and want to go so bad."
Rachel shot a stern look to Quinn who was suppressing her giggles. "Quinn...come on. It will be fun. I'll just keep you away from the tequila shots and you'll be fine."
"I thought we said we weren't going to bring up the T word," Quinn wrinkled her nose as the memory of the last time she had tequila filled her mind.
"Brittany will probably leave us to hook up with someone because...she's Brittany. Then it will just be me and you. We can see if the band is good. Some of our other friends might be there. You can get all dressed up and we'll have fun," Her voice got more and more chipper as she continued until she was manically grinning at Quinn.
"Urgh. Stop looking at me like that," Rachel squealed knowing where this was leading. Groaning, Quinn rolled her eyes giving into her best friend as per usual, "Fine. We'll go to this club. I'm not promising I'll have fun though."
"Yay! This is going to be so much fun," Rachel clapped her hands together and picked up the dishes, "So should we dress the part? It's a rock band. Ooo...I could finally wear my ripped jeans. Would a leather jacket be too much?" Rachel began to walk into the kitchen and continued to ramble about her outfit options.
Quinn sat at the table still and sighed to herself. The things Rachel got her to do. She didn't want to be a pessimist but she was certain the night would be bad...or at least average at the most. Brittany would leave them as soon as they got there. Rachel would be calling home to make sure Rosie is okay even though Finn is more than capable of taking care of her. Quinn would be alone and getting hit on by desperate, douchey guys. It was the typical pattern and she was used to it. She'd rather spend the night in her pyjamas, watching a movie but life simply wasn't that easy when your best friend was Rachel Berry.