Who Died and Made You King of Anything?
Rating: T - Puck is an angsty MoFo and cusses like he gets paid for it. Quinn and Finn? Not so much.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. I am currently in therapy dealing with that fact. *snort*
A/N: Major shoutout to The Anonymous Beta who whipped this into shape. If you need something beta'd email - theanonymousbeta (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you also to missphenix, imlooney, jlz_1 and sassy_26. Y'all rock my mismatched socks off!
Quinn Fabray had always done the right thing. Almost always. She was a good Christian girl who went to church on Sunday, catechism every summer, tithed ten percent of her income, didn't swear, firmly believed in chastity, and followed the rules. Her chastity went by the wayside one late night after a poorly timed indulgence in underage consumption of a wine cooler. Two years later she was still "paying for her sins" as her father liked to remind her in his monthly ranting letters. She couldn't disagree at this particular moment as she wiped off her daughter's face for the umpteenth time that day. Her daughter was learning how to feed herself and hadn't quite mastered it yet so wet washcloths were in a pile on the kitchen table for future use.
"Becca, baby. Let Mama help," she laughed, "Move the spoon like this and then the applesauce gets in your mouth and not on your shirt or my shirt or the floor..."
The dark-haired little girl just laughed as she smacked the bowl with both hands to send its contents flying yet again. As the amber colored mess arched through the air her mother could only watch as it splattered on the linoleum floor she had just mopped. Quinn sighed loudly as she leaned back in her chair. While she knew that parenting, especially as a teen, would be difficult, she hadn't realized that it would be this difficult. They had lived with Finn and his mother ever since her parents had disowned her, but Puck, since he was Becca's biological father, thought he should still have a say in her upbringing.
My life is like a poorly written soap opera. I used to have a picture perfect life and now I'm a homeless teenage mother. Where did my dreams get derailed? Ugh. When I listened to a smooth talking football player and believed him when he said I should trust him, that's where!
Finn walked in the kitchen just as his girlfriend was starting to clean up the mess and laughed, "Did my sweet baby try to make her food fly again?"
Quinn got up to kiss the tall boy with the shy eyes and a big heart, "Yes! Our dear Rebecca Rose is up to no good. I think she's trying to make her Mama crazy today."
Becca reached her arms out to get her Daddy to pick her up. Her legs started kicking excitedly when he undid the tray on her highchair.
"Da da da da da!" she yelled.
"That's right, Becca. Dada," he picked up the messy girl, "You need a bath now don't you my little piggy?"
Finn pulled her applesauce splattered dress over her head to start getting her cleaned little girl continued to wiggle and babble until she was clad only in her diaper. Finn handed the dress to Quinn who threw it into the growing laundry pile next to the washing machine on the opposite side of the kitchen.
"That's her third outfit today and it's not even dinner time!" Quinn exhaled loudly, "She's going to run out of clothes before the end of the day at this rate."
The tall boy leaned over to peck the top of her head. "She's learning how to eat, Quinn, so she's gonna get messy. It'll be don't you come upstairs with us and help me give her a bath?"
"Let me finish getting this taken care of first, then I'll be up," she gestured to the floor.
Finn took the baby's hand and helped her wave. "We'll see you in a minute, Mama. Bye bye."
"Ba ba ba ba," she babbled to her mother.
Quinn waved back as she began to search the floor for remnants of the sweet food. She grabbed the wet washcloth and crawled on the floor cleaning as she went.
This is not how I expected to spend the summer before my senior year that's for sure. I had planned on spending time by the Country Club pool, maybe a part-time job at the mall and time with my boyfriend. I never imagined I'd spend my days with a baby, my baby, being a 1950's housewife.
She quickly cleaned the floor then began the climb upstairs to help her boyfriend with their daughter. The little girl was more than a handful but now that she had started crawling she was getting harder to keep up with. Halfway up the stairs the kitchen phone started to ring so she ran back down to answer it, almost tripping over a small stuffed rabbit.
"Hello? Hudson residence. Quinn speaking," she said breathlessly.
"Damn, Q! Were you and Hudson in the middle of something hot and heavy? Is that why you didn't answer your cellphone?"
Puck. She could practically hear him smirking through the phone, the pervert.
Quinn gritted her teeth, "What do you want, Puck? I don't have time for your crap today. Finn's upstairs with Becca giving her a quick bath because we have to get to her appointment."
"I remember when you used to be a lot more fuckin' fun," he snarked, "literally."
"Puck!" she hissed. "What. Do. You. Want?"
He waited a minute before answering,"What I want to know, Quinn, is when you're going to bring Becca over to spend some time with her Daddy?"
"She is upstairs with her Daddy, Puck. You were just a sperm donor that I believed when you said 'Trust me'." Quinn shouted.
"Whatever. She's my daughter and.. wait. She has a doctor's appointment today? Is she sick?" Puck started to panic.
She groaned and started to slowly hit her head against the refrigerator. "It's physical therapy today, not her cardiac specialist. Don't you read the emails I send you?"
"Why the fuck would I do that?" he asked carelessly.
Quinn was so very close to hanging up on the jerk. "I sent you an email with the subject line of 'Important Becca appointments' and you don't think it's important? I swear your mother dropped you on your head Puck."
"You are seriously the most uptight bitch I know. What did I ever see in you?" he snorted.
"We're done with this conversation. Check your email and be there." She slammed the phone down into its cradle.
The very flustered girl counted to ten as she slowly walked up the stairs in an attempt to calm herself down. She inhaled then exhaled a few times before she opened the door.
Quinn's mood lightened the moment she entered the bathroom, laughing despite her earlier anger, at what looked like the aftermath of a tsunami. There was water dripping from the ceiling, a puddle on the floor and Finn was absolutely drenched as well.
"What happened in here you two?" she grinned, "It looks like a disaster area!"
The boy looked up sheepishly from the stepstool he was sitting on. "I gave her a little splash and I guess it got a little out of hand. Sorry. She is all cleaned up though."
"Looks like you are too! I'm still trying to figure out how the water got on the ceiling though," she looked at her daughter and then to the ceiling a few times. After a loud sigh with the accompanying eye roll she grabbed some towels to mop up the linoleum.
A warm hand started to rub her back in circles. "I'm sorry, really," he whispered, "We were just playing. It's great when I can get her to giggle, it makes me smile."
She knew exactly what he meant. The first time her daughter genuinely smiled at her the feeling was overwhelming, she had burst into tears in the middle of the grocery store. Lately Becca had been exerting her independence so the word her mother had been using lately was "no" plus a frown on her face. She detested having to discipline but she also knew it was necessary to have rules to grow up to be a good example.
Not that I'm the best example but I hope Becca can do better than I did. Maybe she can make it out of Lima. I'd run screaming if I could but.. why wish when it won't happen? I'm stuck until I can figure a way out, whenever that'll be.
"It's okay," she smiled, "I just don't want your Mom to get mad at us. We've already flooded the living room once so I'd rather not do that again."
Finn screwed up his face at the mention of the last bathroom fiasco. "I've been working at Sheets 'N Things forever to pay that off. I'm glad my Mom is okay with an installment plan!"
"Hey, you're lucky you can actually get out of the house sometimes," she frowned, "I go to summer school and then come home, that's it! I do homework, make sure I get everything Becca needs, then go to sleep. I actually like going grocery shopping now, Finn."
He really didn't get the last part since he loved grocery shopping but he knew she felt trapped. The fact that their friends had all taken a camping trip together minus them had fueled a fight so big he shuddered when he thought about it.
"At least you'll be able to to take AP classes this year because of summer school, right?" he tried, "Maybe you'll get more scholarships for OSU Lima once they see how hard you worked. I dunno, Quinn."
The baby's laughter along with her frenzied splashes brought them back to the task at hand.
The blond rolled her eyes and threw a towel over her shoulder. "C'mon Becca Rose. Come see Mama and we'll get you in some clean clothes. You have a doctor's appointment today, don't you Bunny?"
"Who does she see today? Her heart doctor was last week so it must be her therapy day," he looked to the bubbly baby, "You gonna work on your muscles today, Bunny? Maybe a few steps by yourself?"
Sloppy kisses were his reply as she leaned to gently patted her father's cheeks, "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"
Thirty minutes and two diapers later they were all sitting in the car waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Quinn twirled her hair as she stared out the window at Lima Memorial hospital hoping that she wouldn't see anybody she knew from school or her (former) church. It was hard enough to see their faces when they realized she was a teen mother but when she saw the pity on their face when they realized her daughter... she had the urge to punch them in the face.
"So you want the baby or the baby stuff?" Finn asked. He put the car in park then walked around the car to open her door.
Quinn quickly unbuckled the little girl and placed her on her hip. "I'll take Becca. She weighs about half as much while being twice as cute," she nuzzled the smiling baby's nose.
"Very true," he laughed, "She is much cuter than this stupid diaper bag."
Becca yawned as she lay her head on her mother's shoulder, a small hand grasped the blond hair to pull it close to her face. She rubbed the soft strands on her cheek while making soft snuffling noises.
Her mother rubbed circles on her back to try to wake her up. "Oh Bunny. Please don't fall asleep. You need to do your exercises and practice walking."
"Maybe we should make her next appointment earlier in the day?" Finn wondered out loud, "The last couple times she seemed to be really tired and it was like pulling teeth to get her to do anything."
They finally reached the hospital doors and walked in towards the elevator.
"I tried, Finn," she said as she pushed the button, "but this is when her favorite therapist is available during the week. Miss MaryAnn is the only one who can get her to do anything, you know that."
He was trying to be helpful but lately had only been able to annoy his girlfriend, or so it seemed. It was hard trying to keep up with all the doctors' appointments, special diet and just day-to-day baby stuff. It was hard enough trying to remember what he was supposed to do for the day as it was, so trying to remember Becca's billion things sucked.
As they entered the physical therapy room Becca started to perk up. She saw the familiar brightly painted room, the primary colored mats and the huge stash of toys just waiting to be played with. Small legs started to kick excitedly with chubby arms following suit, she was ready to be put down! She put both her hands on her mother's cheeks and started to babble to emphasize her point, "Ba! Mmmmma. Ba! Mmmmma."
"You're telling Mama that you want to get down Bunny?" Quinn smiled. "Good job baby girl. Good using your words. Can you say 'down' for me? Down?"
"Ddddd!" she tried as she pointed to the toys, "Ddddd!"
Her mother set the little girl down on the padded floor and watched her crawl over to the miniature cradle that was stuffed with dolls. Finn and Quinn clapped while the little girl quickly grabbed a doll by the hair then hugged it close.
A voice from behind them made Finn jump a little, "Good job, Rebecca! Good crawling!"
Becca's physical therapist, better known as Miss MaryAnn, stood behind them with a huge grin on her face, so proud of the progress her patient was making. She had a special knack for somehow getting the stubborn girl to push herself harder. Great strides had been made over the last year in the toddler's mobility, strength, and dexterity through play with a healthy dose of repetition.
When the familiar voice carried across the room large dark eyes looked up at the adults cheering her on. She waved at them a few times before going back to the dolls on her lap.
"It looks like she's been working hard since I saw you last, Miss Fabray," the therapist enthused. "She's moving with such fluidity that you'd never guess she wasn't crawling a month ago. I'll bet she's going to be one of my early walkers. Kids with trisomy 21 can walk as late as four but she'll be running by then, I just know it."
Finn's jaw dropped. "Really? Four? Is that because of the muscle thingy?"
"Yup. Hypotonia or poor muscle tone is a big reason. Some kids also have gut, heart, and thyroid issues that interfere," MaryAnn glanced over to Becca, "So how has she been sleeping lately?"
Quinn sat down on the floor with her daughter to try to get her to work on the buttons on the doll's dress. Unfortunately her daughter was having nothing to do with her plan so she blew angry raspberries to make her opinion known.
The blond nodded her head, "Yup. That about covers it! She wears her CPAP nose mask while she naps and at night so she's sleeping better but she only sleeps eight hours at night. I'm hoping once the weather cools off she'll sleep better."
"We even tried the baby massage with scented oil like her pediatrician suggested but I don't think she liked how it felt," Finn continued.
The older woman thought for a minute as she watched the little girl shift from crawling to sitting back on her legs. "Is that a new move for her?"
The other two sets of eyes were quickly on the wobbly little girl who was now trying to pull herself by clinging to her mother's shirt. From the completely shocked looks on their faces, MaryAnn guessed that Becca was surprising her parents yet again. A collective gasp was heard when small chubby arms flew up in the air and she stood up unaided for a few seconds. "Waah!" she yelled with a toothy grin as her diaper-clad behind fell to hit the padded mat. She continued to giggle at her accomplishment until Quinn scooped her up and hugged her close.
Finn ran over to where they sat on the floor and joined the hug to make a "Becca sandwich". Despite her protests the hugging and face kissing went on until they were interrupted by Puck's booming cheers from the doorway behind them.
"That's my baby girl!" he applauded, "You'll be walking in no time."
Quinn scowled at him as the baby burst into tears and buried her face in her chest. She was sick of Puck showing up when he wanted to intrude on their lives. She had taken enough. The first thing she was doing when she got back to the Hudson's was call Social Services to see how she could cut off his visitation rights. He never kept up his part of the deal, ever. The only reason her daughter had so many clothes was that her mother sent monthly care packages filled with the latest trends in toddler fashion. He never helped with any of the expensive bills that were necessary to take care of "his" baby girl. She was also convinced he wouldn't even remember that those bills now included a very specific diet.
Done. Absolutely done.
Puck walked towards the crying girl, extending his arms to try to pick her up. She wailed louder and pulled her mother closer. "Mmmmmm! Nuh, nuh, nuh!"
"She doesn't want to go to you, Puck." Quinn said quietly. "Just let us calm her down. She needs to get started with her appointment and get her exercises done so she can get home to take another nap."
His eyebrow quirked as a scowl started to take over his once smiling face. "Whatever. Just give her to me."
Finn reached over to pick up the sniffling little girl who went willingly into his arms. She snuggled in close as her breathing started to even out. He glared at Puck who stormed off as he mumbled something laced with far too many expletives.
The rest of Becca's therapy went (remarkably) very smoothly which made everyone incredibly happy. She even stood up again for a few seconds which made her mother burst into tears and her Daddy give her a baby high five.
That night at dinner Mrs. Hudson asked about how things had gone that day. Quinn just stared at the meatloaf on her plate and played with the peas. Finn decided that it was time for the baby to get a diaper change so he excused them both from the table.
Carol moved her chair closer to the obviously upset girl to pat her back. "You can talk to me any time, Quinn. I know she's not my granddaughter by blood but I love her so much it breaks my heart to see her mother upset."
"Puck came to the hospital today," Quinn whispered, continuing to play with her food, "and he stormed out when Becca started crying. He wanted to pick her up but she just started bawling when he got closer. What made it worse is that Finn picked her up and she stopped crying. Puck got angry, so he left."
"It's going to be okay, honey. He's just jealous that Finn is a better Daddy than he is," Carol soothed.
Finn snorted as he walked back into the room with Becca on his hip. "He thinks that he can show up when he wants to and not do any of the hard stuff. Jerk." His mother nodded in agreement.
"He wasn't there the day she was born, or when she had her heart surgery, or when she had to be in the hospital for that pneumonia last winter," Quinn spat out. "His mother and sister have spent more time with Becca than he has!"
Finn's mother patted the girl on the back a few more times. "Esther Puckerman is a good woman who's had it pretty rough since her husband left her with two kids and about two pennies to rub together. I can vouch for how hard it is to be a single mother, Quinn. It sounds like we need to have a family dinner to get some things discussed, mainly how Puck needs to step up and start being Becca's father."
Becca continued to eat the puree her mother was feeding her until the new taste of peas crossed her lips. She started to sputter and flail her arms.
Quinn wiped her daughter's face off gently. "I'm so sorry baby. I should have told you I switched from your cereal to the veggies." She kissed both chubby hands and went back to feeding her.
"I dunno, Mom." Finn started to frown, "He's really been a jerk most of the time to Quinn. I just wish he didn't have anything to do with Becca. He doesn't know what she likes or how to do anything for her."
"Whether you like him or not son, he is a part of her life." Carol turned, "What do you think Quinn?"
A/N: For those of you don't know, trisomy 21 is a more clinical name for Down (Down's) Syndrome. My son is autistic and they share quite a few personality traits but I've based Becca's development on some of his friends at that age.
A/N: Please take a moment to comment or review. It's what us writers live on!