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 38th cycle. Now cycle 39!
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DAY 800! Every time I reach a new slice of 100 it just flips me out! Just thinking I introduced the future, with Hailey and Hannah and whatnot 200 days ago now is just unreal! 'Cause of course special numbers usually mean Sunshine Girls ;)
And then tomorrow... not a special number but a special date... New Year's Eve... Do come by for day 801... If I haven't made it obvious by counting down, it's gonna be a big one!
"Break Open the Sun"
Rachel & Quinn; Future Rachel & Quinn + Hannah & Hailey (OC)
Sunshine Girls #39 (following "Beaming")
They'd sort of joke around about all four of them going out on a double date and how odd it would be, with Quinn being with Finn, and Rachel being with Puck, considering the interconnections that had been the stuff of their present school year… the pregnancy, the paternity deception, crushes and everything in between… Except the more time went on, the more it became not so crazy of a possibility…
Quinn was truly happier than she had been in a while. She had missed the Cheerios at first, but now… It was easier not to miss it now that she was at peace with everything else in her life. Even the prospect of motherhood didn't scare her as much now. She knew that might change once she actually had the baby to take care of, but that would come when it came. And then with Rachel, this relationship with Puck had not been one she'd planned on, not by a long shot considering the amount of time he'd spent tossing Slushies at her… But maybe it was the surprise that played into why it worked…
"I don't think we should do it though," Quinn shook her head one day as they headed toward Glee Club together. Rachel looked at her.
"Yeah, probably not… Might be too soon."
"One day though," Quinn nodded.
"Definitely."
That was on a Tuesday. Then came Friday…
She'd called Rachel the night before, to ask if she could come with her to the mall for something the next day after school, but she'd gotten no response. Figuring she was busy, she left it alone to be discussed on the next day. She started figuring out something was off as she stood at her locker.
She saw Puck go by, furrowed brows and evasive eyes as he breezed on by. She frowned, but she wasn't going to chase after him, so she left it there for now. Then came Rachel. She looked like she hadn't slept or something… either way, she was upset. Quinn moved up to her after shutting her locker door.
"Rachel?" she put a hand to her arm and the girl startled. "Sorry, I… Are you okay?"
"We, I, uh…" Rachel started, eyes blinking in confusion. "Puck and I kind of… broke up, last night."
"What?" Quinn's eyes went wide for a second. Rachel looked away again. "What happened, you two were… you two were doing so good…"
"Apparently not," Rachel sniffled back whatever tears she'd managed to keep under check.
"Well what happened?" she looked around, slightly concerned about their discussing this out in the hall, knowing how gossip ran rampant in this place.
"I don't…" Rachel hesitated. "It's not im…" She saw the look on Quinn's face – almost like surprise that she'd freeze up about this, and it only made it worse. She was right, they had been completely honest with each other, about everything lately, but this was different. "When I told my fathers about who I was dating, I figured they'd have some complaints, like any fathers would… about things like the Mohawk, or his… conduct, or some…"
"Guessing it wasn't?" Quinn went on, and Rachel shook her head. "But it was something else?"
"Yeah…" Rachel's voice halted, and when she looked up it was as though she was making herself do it, because she felt she had to. "They had a problem with the fact that he got a girl pregnant, and that this girl was you… that didn't help either…"
"Oh…" Quinn couldn't hide the shock. She hadn't even thought about how this might go over with Rachel's dads.
"I told Puck about it and… he got upset, like he should, but… then one thing led to another and…"
"I can talk to him, I'm sure he…" Quinn shook her head, trying to come up hopeful.
"Don't know that it'll do much of any good seeing as I'm the one who broke up with him, not the other way around," she revealed, and Quinn was hit with yet another shock.
"What?" she blurted out and Rachel almost recoiled. "I-I'm sorry, it's just… I don't get…"
"Trust me, I spent all night asking myself that question, too," her face saddened, and Quinn leaned in to hug her. Rachel held fast, and now the confusion turned to grief. "How can it be that it felt like the right thing, that it still feels like it somewhere deep down… when all I want to do is go back to him and beg that he take me back?" she sobbed.
"Wish I could tell you, I really do," Quinn sighed, then looked back at her friend's face. "Hey, look, I… I was going to ask you to come to the mall with me to get a couple of things, why don't we go and see a movie, too, maybe get dinner… Probably won't fix everything, but it might help make you feel better…"
"Yeah…" she managed a smile, if a small one. "Will there be ice cream?" she asked, and Quinn smiled.
"I can guarantee there will be."
xxx
"Wait, hold on…" The story was many years in the past, an eternity where she was concerned, but Hannah felt it as real as though she was living it, rather than being told by her mother and her aunt Quinn. She turned back to Rachel. "You broke up with Dad?" The wounded look on the seven-year-old's face was almost too much to take, and Rachel looked to Quinn almost to say 'here we go.' Quinn herself could feel Hailey reach to hold to her and she looked down to run gentle fingers through her daughter's blonde hair, those Hudson eyes staring up at her as she did.
"I did," Rachel looked to her daughter, doing much the same as Quinn was with Hailey.
"But why?" Hannah asked. "Dad's the best, and Granddad and Grandpop love him!"
"Yes, they do… now," Rachel amended. "But remember, obviously we got back together, or else you and your brothers wouldn't be here," she gave the girl a smile she hoped would amount as reassuring. She knew it would have been hard for her to take if she ever was to find out her dads had broken up, at any age but especially at Hannah's age.
"You said sorry?" Hailey piped in.
"Little more complicated than that," Quinn chuckled at her daughter's hopefulness.
"It took a while before we got there, but we did make it work in the end," Rachel promised. The two girls sitting in the middle looked to one another. "I married your dad," she looked to Hannah.
"And I married yours," Quinn followed through, to Hailey. "And then you came along, and you were sisters." Hannah and Hailey smiled. "Maybe not by blood, but by everything that bound us together."
"Just ask your big sister," Rachel nodded. They had never considered her a half-sister, sharing a father with Hannah and a mother with Hailey.
"Is she coming?" both girls asked almost at once.
"She'll be here soon," Quinn confirmed with a smile, getting anxious cheers from the girls.
"But what happened with you and Dad and you and uncle Finn?" Hannah asked, first to her mother and then to her aunt Quinn.
"Yeah," Hailey chimed in.
"Well, this next part's a long story…" Rachel warned. The girls just stared at her expectantly. "Right, okay…" she looked to Quinn for assistance.
"Maybe your dads would like to pitch in on this one?" she looked to Hannah and Hailey. They liked the idea. "I'll call Finn and tell him to meet us at your dads'?" Quinn looked to Rachel.
"Sounds good. Girls, get your shoes on."
THE END
COUNTDOWN TO 801: 1 DAY! BEGINNING TOMORROW, 9AM!
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!