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 54th cycle. Now cycle 55!

Favorites cycle - It's that time again, where I gather a list of my fifteen favorite characters, relationships, friendships, etc of the moment! It's constantly evolving, and if I did it over today, as the list was selected weeks ago, it would already be different. But oh well, there'll be later opportunities ;) So then, here we go!
At number 9 - Sunshine Girls series

"Out With the Sun"
Quinn and Rachel (Quinn/Finn, Rachel/Puck)
Sunshine Girls series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

A/N: Oh, also it's my birthday ;)

Puck had been caring for Nora all week, from Sunday night and on. He would keep Quinn updated, every morning when they would meet at school, promising he'd seen her off and she was fine with his grandmother until he'd pick her up when he came home from school. She would go with him to his house, to see her at least a little every day. It was still just as hard on the second time, third, fourth and onward, as it had been the first time leaving her behind, but at the same time it was easier to stay on top of her game, because she was getting the rest she had lost while caring for her daughter in the middle of the night. Puck was starting to show signs of sleeplessness, too, but he was wearing it like a badge of honor.

Now Saturday had rolled around, and the way they had discussed it, Quinn would pick her up and take her home the next day. She and Puck would alternate weeks from now on, Sunday to Sunday. But as it was the weekend, it was harder to deal with the fact that she missed having Nora around, seeing as she had little more to do. Eventually she had made a decision. She couldn't just sit around like this. So she'd picked up the phone and called Rachel.

"Hey, want to meet up?"

They had met at the mall, finding their way to a clothing store. Quinn felt she needed to add a few things to see her through losing what she still had left of the baby weight, and Rachel was more than happy to assist.

"You remember the last time you came and helped me look for clothes," Quinn had realized as she was browsing through the racks, and Rachel did remember, though she would hesitate to bring it up. "That was the day you saw my father with that… woman," she shook her head.

"That's over now though," Rachel reminded her.

"I know, it just sort of came to me…"

"Have you spoken to him at all since Nora…"

"No," Quinn shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned we're all better off that way. I don't want him looking at her like she's a mistake, because she's not."

"I know," Rachel promised. If she let her sink into this mood, the day would take a downward turn before she could do a thing about it. "Here, how about this?" she had found a shirt and shown it to her.

Getting her to focus on the clothes had done its job, and they had carried on with their day out. As they were walking, Quinn had to ask. "How are things with you and Puck?" She could see Rachel still hesitate on the subject, as she had since the breakup. "You know he talks about you, when I go to see Nora every day," she revealed.

"He does?" Rachel couldn't keep quiet. "What does he say?"

"He told me how you've been visiting, too, to see Nora, and how you really helped him to get ready last Sunday… You know if the two of you just gave it a shot, you might be able to fix this… It's really not too late."

"It's more complicated than that and you know it."

"I know. But your dads have seen Nora, they're great with her… Have you told them about how he's been looking after her this week, how he's taking his responsibilities?"

"That's all in the past, and in the end it just… It's not about my dads anymore, it's about us, and I just think we need more time."

"Can't wait forever," Quinn told her, and Rachel was silenced in thought. "We're not very good at this looking on the bright side thing these days, are we? You would think we would be…" It made Rachel smile, and all at once they were back on track.

"Tell you what, as much fun as girls' day out is, seeing as you're getting Nora again tomorrow, I'm thinking there might be something else you could do tonight."

"What's that?" Quinn asked.

"Date night, you and Finn. How long's it been since you've gone out?"

"Before Nora," Quinn smiled. He had been helping too, wherever he could.

"Then maybe you should take this opportunity and spend some time together. I think you've got something in one of those bags you could wear, too."

Helping Quinn get ready for a date in the mall's ladies' room was a memory they would keep for years to come. Rachel had hugged her goodbye and started heading home, only as she'd stopped at one intersection, she'd changed her mind, heading the other way.

Puck had been surprised to see her standing there on his doorstep, but he let her in. "I know it's your last night with Nora before you take her to Quinn tomorrow, I was wondering if maybe… I mean I can go, if you want to be alone with her, or…"

"Do you want to come see her, she just woke up," he smiled.

"Yeah," she smiled back, and he took her to his room. She could hear Nora's cries even as they approached.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" Puck hushed as he came and picked her up from her crib, holding her close. "You're alright, tiny, it's nothing, hey… Look who's here," he turned her around, and Rachel came up. He nodded his head and she knew he was about to hand her over.

"Hey, did you have a bad dream?" she held the girl safely, pressing her hand gently to her back. "It's okay, it's over now," she promised. Before long, she had started to calm, and Rachel let out a breath. "It's okay, I've got you," she told her, looking back to find Puck looking at her. Maybe they weren't quite there yet, but he knew as well as she did that it wasn't over.

THE END

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!