A/N- Just an AU Faberry story because I didn't realize how much I missed writing Faberry until Gllover22 reminded me. I've got a multi chapter Faberry in the works ;)
Quinn tried- and failed- to suppress a yawn as she came to a standstill beside the baggage claim area in JFK international airport. Even though it was just past eight in the morning, the sixth busiest airport in the United States was buzzing with activity as people bustled around catching connecting flights, searching for their luggage, and reuniting with loved ones.
Dodging a tall man with a couple of large duffle bags, Quinn found a spot where she could see the baggage carousel and try to find her duffel. She ran a hand through her tousled jaw length hair, grateful that she had sent most of her belongings ahead of her so that she wouldn't have to juggled multiple pieces of baggage while trying to find her way to her apartment.
All she needed right now was her bag, a long nap, and a healthy dose of caffeine.
She saw her lone duffel bag slide down the conveyor and begin it's path tracking across the carousel towards her. Quinn followed its progress, but her eyes caught when the black bag was hefted off of the conveyor by a petite brunette.
Quinn regarded the woman for a second, she was a decent three or four inches shorter than Quinn was, and had her gently curling brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Her incredibly toned legs were on full display in a sinfully tight pair of yoga pants as the woman bent over the small collection of luggage beside her. She already had two suitcases and Quinn's duffel on the ground next to her, and her eyes were back on the carousel looking for more.
Quinn pushed her thick black framed glasses up her nose, and ran a hand through her hair to give it some semblance of order before making her way across the crowded airport.
"Hello." She smiled kindly as she came up beside the shorter woman.
The brunette mirrored her smile, and Quinn quickly decided it was one of the most beautiful things she'd seen, "Hello."
"I believe you've taken my bag." Quinn said, nodding at the black duffel.
"Have I?" THe brunette bent down to examine the tag, standing again with a slight blush, "I'm so sorry, I swear it looks exactly like mine."
Quinn pulled the large black bag over her shoulder, "Don't worry about it." She desperately wanted to find a way to prolong her interaction with the stunning brunette, but she was quickly feeling her time running out as warm chocolate eyes roved over her face.
Suddenly, the brunette's eye snapped to just behind Quinn, "Oh, my bag!" She exclaimed as a pink suitcase just rounded the corner.
Without really thinking, Quinn dropped her duffel and jogged around the carousel to catch the suitcase and heft it off the belt. She rolled it back to the brunette, "Are you sure this one is actually yours, or have you just had me steal a stranger's bag?" Quinn teased lightly.
The brunette blushed slightly, rolling her eyes and checking the tag for good measure, "No, this is definitely mine."
"Good." Quinn shifted awkwardly for a moment, she could feel the brunette's entertained gaze on her.
Losing her nerve along with any excuse to stay with the brunette, Quinn's shoulders drooped slightly and she turned to leave. She gave the woman one final smile before she began walking away, already berating herself in her head for not having the courage to make a move.
Quinn made it exactly four steps before a voice stopped her.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Quinn turned around to regard the smirking brunette, a question already forming on her lips before the shorter woman walked the four steps to Quinn so they were once again standing next to eachother. She pressed a piece of paper into Quinn's hand.
"What's this?" The blonde managed to force out.
"My number." The woman smiled, turning on her heel to go back to her luggage.
Quinn was stunned still for a moment before she unfolded the paper. She noticed it was the end of a luggage tag, on which the brunette had written 'Call me, x- Rachel Berry' along with her phone number.
..
Quinn's leg bounced up and down incessantly, bumping into Rachel's on every down bounce. At first the brunette tried to move her leg to avoid it, though in the cramped airplane cabin there was nowhere she could shift so she wasn't getting hit. Then she tried ignore it, but after nearly five minutes straight of the distraction, Rachel's patience snapped.
She dropped her left hand from where it had been holding part of the packet of sides she was memorizing for her first on Broadway production that was opening in a month down onto Quinn's thigh. Immediately, the blonde stopped her bouncing and covered Rachel's hand with her own.
"What's gotten into you?" Rachel asked gently.
"Nothing." Quinn replied all too quickly.
Rachel leveled her with a piercing gaze and a raised eyebrow. The women had been dating for three and a half years now, the entire time Quinn was working her way through law school at Columbia and Rachel was struggling through various off Broadway projects before finally landing her first big break. Rachel knew Quinn was lying.
"I'm just a bit nervous."
Rachel smiled gently at her girlfriend, "Baby, you have nothing to be nervous about." She rubbed her thumb reassuringly up and down over Quinn's leg, "You know my fathers both love you, we've visited them plenty of times before."
"I know." Quinn smiled back, though it looked more like a grimace. She tried to rid herself of her anxiety as she wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders, and rested her head atop the brunettes.
The flight wasn't too bad, the women having managed to find a nonstop to Ohio so they didn't have to worry about any layovers. Quinn managed to relax for the flight, but as soon as the plane touched down, her leg began bouncing again.
She remained a nervous ball of energy all the way until she and Rachel were making their way through the terminal to the arrivals area. Before she was fully aware of her surroundings, Quinn was engulfed in a large hug from Hiram Berry.
"It's so great to see you girls!" LeRoy exclaimed from where he was hugging Rachel, the Berry men swapped and Quinn received a bone crushing embrace from LeRoy before Rachel began filling them in on what had happened in the past months since they had visited.
Quinn laughed to herself when she recognized the matching Christmas sweaters Hiram and LeRoy were sporting, in her second year of dating Rachel, she had been gifted a similar one and had made sure to pack it now that they were visiting Ohio for Christmas.
Though Rachel had tried to allay her nerves, Quinn couldn't help but feel slightly nauseous at the conversation ahead of her with the Berry men while the Tiffany ring box felt like it was burning a hole in her jacket pocket.
..
Quinn held both her and her wife's carry on bags in her arms and was out of her seat, marching down the aisle the second that the fasten seatbelt sign went off. Rachel was hot on her heels, and they were the first ones off the airplane.
The sound and bustle of the main terminal of DIA hit the women like a wall. They had spent the past week visiting Quinn's sister and mother in California and were stopping briefly in Ohio to visit Rachel's family before returning home to New York. Unfortunately, the only flight they could find had a layover in Colorado.
Quinn paused for only a second, cursing lowly when she saw that their connecting flight had moved it's departing gate. It was supposed to be A 18, right next to where they had just emerged, but now the screens in the terminal said it was all the way at the other end of the airport at D 25.
Quinn checked her watch and cursed again, "Rach, we've got to go. Our connection leaves in four minutes."
Rachel scowled, "There is no way in hell I'm running through this airport."
The blonde's eyes brightened as they landed just behind Rachel, she moved around her wife quickly, snatching the wheelchair and gesturing at it, "Get in."
"No."
Quinn was at the end of her rope as the PA system announced, 'Final Boarding Call for Southwest Airlines flight 184 to Port Columbus International Airport..'
"Rachel, either you get in this wheelchair and let me push you to our next gate, or we're missing our flight."
The brunette pouted adorably with a brief glare at the chair before sighing and dropping in, "This is ridiculous Quinn, I'm pregnant, not disabled."
"I know, honey." Quinn placated, already jogging off down the terminal, pushing her eight month pregnant wife in the wheelchair.
"Next time we're flying nonstop."
"Sounds good, Rach."
"And I don't like your mother."
At that, Quinn had to hold back the urge to laugh as she maneuvered the wheelchair through the crowded airport, "I know you don't, dear." That was a lie, Quinn knew that Rachel loved Judy, she was just annoyed because of all of the advice she had given Rachel about the pregnancy.
"Stop agreeing with me!"
"Alright, Rachel."
..
Quinn smiled, even as a small sneaker came up to kick her solidly in the ribs. The toddler in her lap didn't seem to notice, as she was too preoccupied with digging through her mother's leather briefcase. Quinn held onto the little girl's hips so she wouldn't tumble to the ground in her quest, but she popped up triumphantly a few seconds later.
Somehow the five year old had navigated Quinn's briefcase full of proposed bills and briefs she still needed to read over and found the brightly colored picture book.
All it took was one pouting look from the girl to have Quinn holding out her hand for the book.
"Beauty and the Beast, huh?" Quinn asked. She knew that Rachel had stashed a couple of books in her briefcase before they left for the airport in hopes of keeping their toddler entertained, even though Nora was breaking into them before they even boarded the plane.
Nora smiled widely and nodded, her unruly brown curls bouncing as she settled herself into Quinn's lap more comfortably.
"But we have to wait for Mommy and Michael."
"Alright."
The wait proved short as soon enough, Rachel was making her way across the airport with their son in tow. Quinn had to keep the smile threatening to split her lips at bay with how ridiculous the two of them looked at the moment. Michael had somehow managed to get his super hero crocs on the wrong feet (though he didn't seem to mind) and he was tugging Rachel's hand, trying to get her to move faster. Rachel had a large pair of dark glasses obscuring her face, and a scarf wrapped around her neck.
After Rachel's first main stage debut, she was a sensational hit, immediately drawing a large fan base. They discovered quickly that their regular travel patterns were no longer going to work and so Rachel was forced to improvise.
Rachel dropped into the seat beside her wife, Michael wasted no time in crawling onto her lap, at eight years old, he was getting big for such behavior but neither woman had the heart to tell him so.
"Just in time for the story." Quinn smiled, flashing the cover at Rachel.
"Outstanding." The brunette replied, pressing a light kiss to her wife's cheek and snuggling in so Michael could follow along as Quinn read the story.
When the blonde finished and shut the book, Nora was nowhere near done, "Now you have to sing the song, Mommy." She commanded.
Rachel blushed slightly, shooting a quick look around the crowded airport, "How about I sing the song for you later, baby."
"But Ma read the book so now you have to sing." The toddler insisted.
"Nora."
"Please, Mommy?" The girl threw out her best pouting lip and puppy dog eyes, at five Rachel is completely wrapped around her daughter's finger, and she has no chance of resisting.
"Alright."
Micheal shifts off of her lap, going to sit on the floor between Quinn's legs so he can watch his mother's small performance. Rachel removes her sunglasses, knowing that any chance of flying out to visit her parents without being recognized has now gone out the window, and she begins singing quietly to her little family.
She sings 'Tale as old as time' (Nora's favorite song), in a hushed tone while the other three listen on, completely enraptured. When she finishes, she realizes that the entire terminal is at least three degrees quieter than it was when she began, and many people have stopped to listen. A few travelers who know who Broadway's sweetheart are have their cell phones out, recording her singing.
The most important reaction, though, is Nora who instantly bursts into a round of applause and leans over to give her mother a sloppy kiss on the cheek, "Thank you, Mommy."
"Of course, sweetie."
As the family waits to board, various brave fans make their way over to ask for autographs from and photos with Rachel. Ever the performer, Rachel is intensely kind and talks with everyone who comes over. A few older people ask instead for a chance to get a picture with Quinn, recognizing her from her recent election to the House of Representatives. She is the youngest representative that New York has, and the youngest woman to be elected to the House ever.
On the plane, Michael and Nora are perfectly behaved, each one sitting dutifully beside one of the women. Their reception in Ohio is marvelous as Hiram and LeRoy are both overwhelmed by the energy of their grandchildren.
Quinn just smiles and wraps her arm around Rachel. When they get their luggage off the baggage claim carousel later, the family almost makes it all of the way out of the airport before being stopped by a young man. He is blushing profusely and already halfway through an apology before Quinn and Rachel realize he is talking to them.
"- and I hate to interrupt what is clearly your personal time which you would probably prefer to spend with your family."
Quinn raises his eyebrow at the boy with his perfectly styled hair, "I'm sorry, what?"
"I believe you took my bag by mistake." He says, blushing and pointing at the duffel slung over Quinn's back.
She shrugs it off her shoulder and checks the tag, it reads- Kurt Hummel.
"I'm sorry." Quinn smiles, handing it to him, and seeing the correct duffel just coming around the carousel.
Rachel dissolves into a fit of laughter that takes everyone by surprise, and Quinn simply rolls her eyes, going to collect the bag while the young man asks for her wife's autograph. The duffel she hefts onto her shoulder is the exact same one that Rachel had accidentally stolen from her all those years ago.
A/N- What did you think?