"Get back here! These are designer pants!"
Quinn watched with mild amusement as Kurt was tearing down the field after Mike, whom had taken to throwing water balloons. Quinn was counting as the colors few all around the park. It wasn't late enough in the day to call it late, but she knew Daphne. She'd be getting tired soon and it was time to start packing up. The party could continue, parties for one year olds aren't usually about kids anyways, back in the yard of one of the houses. They always seemed to.
Finn was over at the turtle with Daphne, taking pictures and grinning like a fool. Rachel, Mercedes, and Brittany were hovering around the swing set and the slides and such. Santana had run back to Puck's car. She had a super soaker tucked away in there somewhere.
As for Puck, Quinn had thought that he was still raking charcoal coals. But, true to form, he was surprising her.
"Hey."
His voice was soft, but not soft enough to keep from interrupting her thoughts on what it would be like when Daphne saw her first firefly, maybe even caught it, wouldn't be long now until there would be fireflies in mason jars.
"So, you gonna let him pretend that this is his kid's party?"
Quinn rolled her eyes as Puck reminded her, yet again, that she was stuck in the middle. Daphne, thank God, never was. And she never would be hopefully. No, it was just Quinn, the blond bargaining chip.
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you..."
Puck's eyebrow crooked. "Well, aren't you the picture of civility, Quinn."
"Yeah, we'll you're acting like a girl. Why don't you just tell him you want to spend time with...your daughter?"
Puck hissed under his breath. "Because you never wanted her to be my daughter."
Quinn didn't want to deal with a hysterical Puck, but they always seemed to bring that out in each other. "Why do you want to do this here and now? Is it the piñata thing? We'll go and break the damn piñata, then."
Puck turned, standing in Quinn's way. "That's not it. Its the order of everything, how screwed up everything is. Look, its great that you've got this new independent life going on. I can appreciate that. But Finn sees my kid more than me! Hell, Rachel sees my kid more than me!"
Quinn just licked her lips. "I can't deal with this right now, no matter how untrue that is."
"No. We deal with this now. You set these rules, you make these regulations...I just, damn girl! Tell me what you want!"
"I don't know. Okay Noah? I don't know. There are some days where I wake up and pray its all a dream. There are some days at work where it would have been so much easier to just take your offer and get a house together. But, in spite of that, I'm happy. I'm not a single parent, not the way all the guys in Glee dote on Daphne. I would give you something to understand if I knew myself!"
Puck watched Quinn begin to storm away. "Wait. Lets not do this again...."
Quinn was holding back the tears but keeping her voice down. They were getting closer to end the ball diamond right before the playground. "Why? Because you want me to remind you that being with Santana is bad idea or you want to make me feel guilty about raising Daphne on my own or still having feelings for Finn because I always did? Why Puck? Why won't you let us move on and be happy?"
Puck reached up, slipping his fingers through his mohawk. "I don't know, okay? I just....I just...
My you have the finest horse
I have ever seen
Standing sixteen one or two
Eyes wild and green
You ride the horse so well
Hands light to the touch
I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to
Ride on-See you
I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to
Ride on-See you
I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to
When you ride into the night
Leaving no trace behind
Rake you claws along my gut
One last time
When I turn to face an empty space where you used to lie
A teardrop lights up the night
And fire in your eyes
Ride on-See you
I could never go with you
Whoa! Whoa!
I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to....
I guess that's it, Quinn. You're just, my chance...its all slipping away."
Quinn shook her head. "Daphne's happiness is not your chance, its hers. And if she asks...well, I'll only lie if she asks sooner than later. I don't want to be ashamed of what I do or who I am anymore. And I want to find somebody that's not just doing it because its theirs. This isn't the Maury Show, Noah. We both have to learn how to grow apart before it would ever work together."
Noah couldn't hide how upset he was. It flashed in his eyes and his cheeks. "Will it ever work then?"
Quinn shrugged. "I don't know. Just make sure there are pictures from her first birthday with you. I know you like the slide, maybe catch some pictures with her on the way down."
"But what about a family photo?"
Quinn observed the park as the sun exterminated the last of the shadows at midday. "They're all here, Puck; we'll do one before we leave."
Puck walked away, past the pitchers mound with his head shaking. He was headed back towards the table and just over fourth eaten cake. Quinn hoped that he wasn't leaving yet. It just wouldn't be fair.
"Hey Quinn! Get over here!"
Finn jovially stuck his tongue out for a shot with Daphne and then scooped her up by his little hands. She was learning to hang off his long arm and swing. She made little spurting noises of Glee when she did it.
"She need a change?"
Finn grinned madly. "Nah. You're just missing all the fun. Picture?"
Quinn shook her head. "There's enough of me."
Finn pointed at the camera Rachel was holding. "Nonsense. Rachel will be Tyra and I can be Nigel. Mercedes can be Miss Jay and Kurt will be the other guy. Come on, it'll be fun."
Quinn rolled her eyes, the sadness from her conversation with Noah dissipating. "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"
Rachel shook her head, trying to work the tiny viewfinder. "I assure you, he won't. It's a team effort."
After about ten shots, it was clear that Daphne was getting fussy and needed a bit less group attention and a bit more mommy time. Finn tagged along since she had grabbed at his sleeve every time he had gone to get another soda. Daphne was in full swing mode as she was half-cradled, half-swung between Finn and Quinn.
"What was that thing with Puck?"
"Same old song and dance, but nothing I can't handle."
Finn winced a little when sun got in his eyes. He starts to head toward the shade of a nearby tree, an orange Frisbee sailing overhead that somebody had pulled out of their car. "Wish you didn't have to."
"Either way, I only make someone miserable. If it was your kid, you'd still be pining over Rachel instead of being with her. I don't really want someone to look after me again Finn."
"Yeah, I know."
Quinn did her best to hit the nail on the head. "And I think we're both happier too."
Finn gave a half-hearted smile. "We had some good times, but you're right. I mean, with Rachel, I can sing Nights in White Satin at the top of my lungs and not be embarrassed. With you, I was always afraid that you'd dump me if I showed up with pizza sauce on my sleeve or something."
Daphne settled in her mom's lap for a nap when they rested under the tree. "I might have. But, we're both a lot different now."
Finn nodded solemnly, as he stood tall and leaned against the tree. "We'd have never made it this far either."
"I don't think it matters, Finn. You and Puck aren't better, just different from each other. But you'll both be great fathers when the time is right."
Finn thrust his hands into his pockets, watching Rachel snatch the squirt gun that Mercedes had wrestled from Santana. "I just wanna make sure I'm doing the right thing, you know? Whatever you want."
Quinn batted her eyelashes. "Finn, you can't always get what you want."
Author's Note: Songs are owned by Celtic Thunder- "Ride On" and Lesley Gore- "It's My Party". Done for the livejournal help_haiti auction winner who requested a Puck/Quinn pairing where it wasn't because she was the hottest girl on the planet. Hope I fulfilled your request!
