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 39th cycle. Now cycle 40!
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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 40 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days, starting in cycle 40!
This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: The Ties That Bind, chapter 6.
"Sunshine On Wheels"
Older Rachel & Quinn, Hannah & Hailey (OC)
Sunshine Girls #40 (following 'Break Open the Sun')
A/N: Correction: In one or more past installments I may have stated that
Hannah and Hailey were seven, but it should have said that they are six.
Rachel took the wheel, relegating Quinn and her belly to the passenger seat. Hannah and Hailey were buckled in behind them, both of their hands keeping a cautious hold on a 'precious' item. Hailey had the album on her knees, held it in place with her legs outstretched, flexing her ankles anxiously as they went. Hannah was just as antsy, kicking her legs about while her arms were wrapped around and her forehead rested on the box of objects. They carried the history of the Sunshine Girls with them – they insisted to – as they were on their way to meet Finn and Puck and the boys at Rachel's fathers' home.
"How are we doing back there?" Quinn asked, turning to look at them. Their heads popped up.
"Fine!" they replied as one.
"Hailey, honey, you can let your legs down, it won't fall," Quinn smiled. The small blonde looked down to the book, slowly lowered her legs. "There, better?"
"Yeah," she looked back up. "But I can't open it anymore…"
"What did you want to look at?" Quinn asked.
"Just the pictures," she shrugged. "It's like it's us!" she looked to Hannah.
"Well you guys do look like us," Rachel pointed out, smirking to Quinn.
"Just wait until we get there and you can look at them all you want," Quinn promised. Hailey just stared at the cover, her tongue just poking out: she was antsy. So instead she just went on tracing the five names on the cover.
"Is the baby's name going to be here, too?"
"It will," Quinn nodded, and the girls smiled.
"Because she's a girl, right?" Hannah piped up, chin propped on top of the box. "The boys aren't on it," she declared.
"They're not," Rachel confirmed.
"Sunshine Girls," Hailey trailed her fingers along the words.
"Exactly," Rachel nodded, hearing the girls giggle. "Speaking of which, have you guys settled on a name?" she looked to Quinn who turned back to look at her.
"I think we have," she smiled. Hailey's hand shot up like she was in class. "But, we said we'd wait until we were all there, right?" she looked to her daughter, whose hand came back down.
"Right," she nodded.
"Is it a mystery? Will I cry?" Rachel asked.
"Sorry, not this time," Quinn smirked.
"Okay, but I have dibs on the next one."
"I think I'll finish out this one first if you don't mind," she laughed. "Just because you had four doesn't mean I will."
"Doesn't mean you won't have six, either."
"Funny," Quinn squinted at her before looking back to the girls. Despite her suggestion, Hailey had propped her legs back up and opened the album. Now she and Hannah were staring at it intently, whispering to each other. "Hailey, come on, just wait a bit, we're almost there."
"But there's pictures missing," Hannah pointed.
"Are there?" Quinn asked.
"At the beginning you're all small, but then…" Hailey's hands shot out again, in this case indicating that they were bigger.
"Yeah, where's… in between?" Hannah asked.
"Well they don't miss a beat," Rachel whispered to Quinn, who remained quiet. Neither of them was looking forward to having to tell their daughters that for about a decade they hadn't been on speaking terms. They didn't want to lie to them, but what else were they supposed to say?
"We… we didn't take any," Quinn spoke first. It was truth, even if it wasn't a whole one. She hoped it might have been enough, but…
"Why not?" Hannah asked.
"We didn't want to," Rachel followed up.
"Why not?" now both girls said it.
"Secret mission," Quinn threw out as a last ditch effort to have the subject dropped.
"Oh…" Hailey hushed. Quinn looked back to Rachel. It had worked. For how long, that was left to be seen.
"Awesome…" Hannah followed up. Rachel mouthed the word and Quinn smirked.
Just then they heard a car honk behind them, like they were trying to get their attention. Rachel looked in the rear view mirror and smiled. "It's Finn," she announced.
"Daddy?" Hailey immediately started trying to see him, wriggling around in her seat.
"Look there," Quinn smiled, pointing out the driver's side window. Finn had pulled his car in the neighboring lane and now waved to his daughter and niece.
"Dad!" Hailey waved back. Hannah did the same, as best she could to be seen.
"He's going to get there first," Rachel looked to Quinn.
"We won't be far behind." As predicted, Finn's car drove off ahead of theirs.
"Wait, but does Daddy know about Sunshine Girls? And Uncle Puck?" Hailey asked.
"Oh, they know," Rachel bit back a smirk. "When they were little, smaller than you are now, we knew them. They were…" she tried to find the right word. "Well, let's say they were not always nice to us and to others. So, the Sunshine Girls had to step in." The girls' eyes were wide with surprise.
"What did you do?" Hannah almost whispered.
"Well, we told them to play nice," Quinn replied. "Like you should, too."
"We do," Hannah nodded proudly. "Did they listen?"
"It… took a while," Quinn explained, and Rachel wasn't going to suggest anything else. "I think they're all better now."
"But we don't tell the boys, right?" Hannah asked. "It's our secret."
"Yes, of course," Rachel humored her. "Although don't you want your brothers to play with you?"
"Well, yeah…" Hannah sighed. "But they don't have to know that it's us," she shook her head.
"Right, fair enough," Rachel nodded.
"Are we there yet?" Hailey asked…
"Almost," Rachel promised.
Finn's car had gotten ahead enough that they couldn't see it anymore until they turned a corner, and there it was again, just as they were coming on the street. The girls loved the house, not just because of those who lived there – two grandfathers – but the one who had. They would often be found hiding in Rachel's old room.
"Here we are," Rachel pulled to a stop and the girls were already reaching for their seatbelts. "Let's see what your brothers are up to…"
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!