Notes: I've caved in to peer pressure and written an epilogue. Ugh.
xxxxx
Rachel stands in the doorway of the bedroom, arms folded across her chest, a stern look on her face. The two occupants adopt embarrassed expressions and start to offer apologies but Rachel cuts them off immediately.
"She has school in the morning, remember?" Rachel directs the question to her wife. "You said one more chapter. That was half an hour ago."
"But Mama, we're one chapter from the end," the dark-haired girl in the bed pipes up.
"Five more mins, Rach?" Quinn asks. "I couldn't let her go to sleep without hearing the best part."
Rachel sighs and leans against the doorframe, gesturing for Quinn to continue. The other two exchange grins before Quinn wraps an arm around her daughter and pulls her in close to hear the end of the story. She clears her throat and finds her place on the page once more.
"Princess Quinn was skilled at duelling and knew that the prince would be no match for her. Even though he was taller and stronger, Princess Quinn was quick and was confident that she would win Princess Rachel's hand," Quinn says, glancing up at her wife. Rachel's expression has softened and they exchange a smile. "Princess Rachel insisted that a duel would not be necessary. There was enough fighting between the kingdoms without duels happening in the castle grounds."
"Disappointed, Princess Quinn thought that she would be banished immediately to the wilderness or sent back to her parents' land to endure another stay in the tower. Before she could leave the castle though, she was discovered by King Leroy. He listened to Princess Quinn's plea and could see that the beautiful, kind-hearted princess…" Rachel clears her throat.
"I don't remember that being in the final print," she says in a sing-song voice.
"Artistic licence," Quinn replies in the same tone, chuckling when Rachel rolls her eyes.
"Mo-om," the girl says, pointing to the book. "We're nearly finished."
"Sorry, sweetie," Quinn says, placing a kiss to the top of the girl's head. "King Leroy and King Hiram broke the engagement between Prince Finn and their daughter when they saw how desperately happy Princess Quinn made Princess Rachel; something they'd never witnessed between their daughter and the oafish prince." Another glare from Rachel causes Quinn to stick out her tongue.
"What does oafish mean?" the young girl asks.
"Stupid," Rachel supplies.
"Half-witted," Quinn snorts.
"Did Prince Finn go back to the kingdom in the north?"
"No, honey, he was eaten by a dragon," Quinn says quickly before Rachel can nod her head.
"Quinn Fabray!" Rachel exclaims.
"What? I wrote it. I think I'd know…" Quinn smirks. "And it's Berry-Fabray, remember?"
"Mom!"
Quinn hastily turns back to the book, finding her place on the page again.
"The wedding of the two princesses was organised at once and all the kingdoms were invited. The war ended soon after the announcement of their engagement and peace fell across the lands, as though a spell had been broken."
"The fairy godmother's spell?" the girl enquires. Quinn answers with a nod. "Does that mean that King Leroy and King Hiram could hear Princess Rachel sing again?"
"Well, now you've just ruined the end of the story," Quinn chuckles, snapping the book shut. Her daughter's face falls into a pout. "Kidding!" She flicks to the last few pages again. "Spell broken, yadda yadda yadda."
"Mom!"
"Quinn!"
"They were married soon afterwards on the grounds of Princess Rachel's castle. Friends and family from across the lands came together to celebrate the union of the princesses and there was a feast unlike anything they had ever tasted," Quinn says quickly, removing any unnecessary details in order to get to the final paragraphs faster. "They moved to their own castle deep in the woods where they lived harmoniously, never arguing about whose turn it was to cook dinner or whose turn it was to take out the trash…" Rachel sighs in exasperation and walks away from the room at that, muttering under her breath as she heads down the stairs. Quinn glances down at their daughter and closes the book. "And after a few years, they decided they wanted another princess to share their castle."
"Princess Abigail?" the girl asks, trying to hide her yawn behind her hand.
Quinn taps her chin thoughtfully.
"Nope, it was Cinderella," Quinn teases. "At least she tidied her room."
In an eerily accurate impersonation of her other mom, Abigail rolls her eyes and huffs.
"Time to sleep, sweetie," Quinn says, placing the book on the bedside table and swinging her legs off the bed. Abigail slides down under her covers and reaches for her favourite stuffed toy. "Princess Quinn and Princess Rachel had a beautiful baby girl. They called her Abigail and she was the prettiest, smartest and kindest girl in the world." Quinn presses a kiss to Abi's forehead. "Sleep well, princess."
Abigail's eyes are half-shut before Quinn leaves the room.
"And they all lived happily ever after," Quinn whispers as she closes the door. "Sort of." She pads down the stairs quietly and finds her wife stretched out on the couch, reading over a script. "She's asleep."
"She'll be a nightmare in the morning," Rachel says, glancing up at Quinn. "She's as much of a morning person as you are."
"I'm sorry," Quinn grimaces, flopping down into her favourite armchair. "She wanted to hear the story and I got carried away." Rachel doesn't reply. "Rach…"
"Hmm," is the only response Rachel offers from behind her script.
"You like the story too," Quinn says, tilting her head to the side before pushing herself out of the chair and walking to the couch. Rachel lowers her pages slightly.
"What are you doing?" she asks as Quinn straddles her hips, shifting back and forth slightly until she's comfortable. A soft moan escapes from her wife's lips and she knows Rachel isn't paying attention to the words she's supposed to be learning anymore.
"Apologising," Quinn says simply, taking Rachel's script and tossing it to the floor. Rachel arches an eyebrow and runs her hands up Quinn's thighs.
"I need to have that memorised for shooting tomorrow," she says, glancing at the crumpled script. Quinn shrugs and dips her head down to press her lips to Rachel's neck. "Quinn…"
"I'll stop if you admit something," Quinn says, moving up slightly to brush her mouth over Rachel's.
"Bear in mind that I don't actually want you to stop," Rachel breathes, her hands running up under Quinn's t-shirt.
"Humour me?" Quinn asks, her voice dropping to a groan when she feels Rachel's nails graze over her skin.
"Always," Rachel smiles against Quinn's lips.
"I want you to repeat every single word I'm about to say," Quinn says, moving her mouth to Rachel's ear. "Everybody wants to read a story about two lesbian princesses."