Chapter 9 – 6 Years Ago
A/N: Note the time jump!
"MOMMA WATCH!" 7 year old Ella screamed from the rink as she sped ahead on her ice skates.
"Honey hold on to the rail," Rachel said, losing circulation in her fingers as Lily squeezed her hand, finally not tripping on her feet like she had been for the past half hour. The 3-year-old was great at dancing but skating, she was discovering, was not her forte. Quinn laughed from the side as she held her baby Abby close to her chest, trying to keep her warm.
"Look at those silly girls Abigail," Quinn said shifting Abby to look at the rink. Abby pointed at the rink and made a few unidentifiable noises. Quinn groaned. They had been trying to get the girl to say "mama" for the better part of the week. A few minutes later the girls pulled up to the side to take a breather.
"Momma Abby's nose looks red," Ella said as she took a sip from a bottle of water Quinn had handed to her. Rachel took her now gloved hand and poked the baby's red nose causing her to giggle.
"She's probably cold we've been here forever," Lily moaned, clearly not the biggest fan of ice-skating. But it was Christmas time and it was Rockefeller Center. The two basically go hand-in-hand. The family decided that they had done enough skating and noticed it was getting late, they had to get home for their Sunday dinners with Hiram, Leroy, and Shelby.
"Mommy what's for dinner?" Ella asked standing on her toes trying to see above the counter where Rachel was cooking.
"Well my dear we have some chicken curry and some tofu for mommy and some rice and veggies!" Ella gave a disgusted look. "What?"
"I want McDonald's," she said, stomping off and going down to her bedroom. Quinn carried Abby in as Ella walked out and raised and eyebrow at the girl.
"I blame Santana so much for giving that girl McDonalds," Quinn said. Abby clapped her hands and Rachel turned around smiling at the baby.
"Hello to you Miss Abigail," Rachel said placing her hands on her hips and staring into the babies big brown eyes.
"Mama!" Abby exclaimed. Rachel gasped and looked at Quinn who began to tear up.
"Say it again Abby say it again," Rachel whispered grabbing the tiny waving hand.
"Mama!"
"AH MY BABY SAID MAMA!" Quinn squeezed the baby and Abby rested her head on Quinn's shoulder. The baby smiled a goofy smile at her two crazy mothers. They were always yapping about something weird. And she had two big sisters that also yelled and acted like the world was over. Being a baby was the easiest job in the world. Everyone thought she was adorable and if she didn't get her way, all she had to do was cry and her mom would make it all better.
"Hello my girls, all my girls," Hiram gushed walking in the door.
"GRANDPA!" The two older girls yelled and ran into the tall man's arms. Hiram scooped them both up in each arm. "Lily I swear you are growing a inch an minute." Lily giggled as Leroy kicked the door open, his arms carrying bags of groceries.
"And what am I? Chop liver?" Leroy asked setting down the bag. Hiram set Ella down as she wiggled out of his grasp and went to hug Leroy. Shelby entered the door moments later and the whole family entered in a marathon of hugs and kisses. Soon they were standing and chatting around the kitchen; Hiram playing poorly with Ella's Barbie's and having Ella yell at him for it ever 3 minutes, Shelby gushing over Abby with Quinn, and Leroy helping Rachel in the kitchen. Lily wandered around the apartment looking for something to do or someone to pay attention to her.
"Mommy can I help?" Rachel looked down at the little girl tugging on her pants before looking back around at the food.
"We're done sweetheart, we're just waiting on the rice to finish cooking. Why don't you go play with Grandpa and Ella?" Rachel turned back to her father and continued this conversation causing Lily to sulk out of the kitchen. She walked over to her Grandpa and Ella as her Grandpa made some high-pitched voice, trying to be a doll.
"Ella can I play?" Lily asked getting down on her knees. Ella held a Barbie and brushed the dolls hair. She shot Lily a look.
"I thought you hated Barbie's. You said they were ugly," Ella said, sticking her tongue out at Lily. Lily stood back up and clenched her tiny fists at her side, and huffed a deep breath as she went over to the last resort where she could already sense her luck was running low.
"Momma, Ella stuck her tongue at me," Lily said as she pounded over to her mother, Shelby, and Abby on the couch. Abby lit up when Lily walked over as Shelby bounced the baby on her knee. Quinn had to bite back her smile at her daughter's dramatics.
"Well did you do something to make her do that?" Quinn asked absent-mindedly as she grabbed Abby's waving hand that held her toy. The toy dropped and Abby whimpered but Lily picked it up before Abby had a meltdown.
"Can you say thank you to Lily? Tha-a-a-nk yo-o-u," Shelby attempted but Abby just stared at Lily. Lily held the toy out to Abby but instead of taking it Abby grabbed Lily's gold star necklace, nearly choking the girl.
"OW! ABBY STOP!" Lily yelled, ripping herself away from the baby's grasp. The necklace snapped, breaking the clasp and falling onto the ground. Lily looked down at the necklace before looking back up at Abby. "YOU BROKE MY NECKLACE! THAT WAS A PRESENT FROM MOMMY! I HATE YOU ABBY!" Lily screamed and shoved the baby, causing the baby to burst into petrified screams.
"LILLIAN!" Quinn tried to yell over the crying but had no luck. She took the baby from Shelby and tried to calm her as Lily ran away from the family and into her room, slamming the door. Rachel looked over to Quinn with a raised eyebrow. Quinn rubbed Abby's back trying to sooth the tears and shrugged at Rachel. Leroy and Rachel began to serve the food on the table and get the rest of the table situated. When they all sat down Quinn remembered they were down a child. They began the meal and Quinn excused herself, going down to Lily's rom. She knocked once before entering and found Lily packing her small suitcase.
"And what are you doing little miss?" Quinn asked from the doorway. Lily turned around at her mothers voice and looked to the ground. She bit her lip before speaking, something she normally didn't do. Quinn was a little surprised it was taking her this long to form her words. Normally the girl spoke a mile a minute.
"Umm, I was going to go live with Auntie Britt-Britt and Auntie Sanny because you and mommy have too many kids and don't pay attention to me." Quinn's heart broke slightly but couldn't help and smile slightly at her daughters over exaggeration of every situation. She moved the suitcase and sat down on Lily's tiny bed, pulling the little girl into her lap.
"Now sweetheart remember when you learned that I was pregnant with Abby and we said we needed you to be a really good big sister like Ella was to you when you were born?" Lily nodded. "And remember when we said that mommy and I were never going to stop loving you but sometimes babies need a little more attention because they can't do as much by themselves?" Lily sighed and nodded.
"I didn't mean to push Abby but she broke my special necklace!" Lily said.
"Papa is fixing it as we speak, even as he's eating dinner, its not broken forever honey," Quinn said stroking Lily's hair. "Now can you be the big brave girl I know and come out and eat dinner with everyone else?" Lily took a deep breath and nodded, hopping off her moms lap.
They walked hand in hand back to the dining room table and found it empty.
"Momma where did everyone go?" Lily asked as she stared at the half eaten plates and the 8 empty chairs.
"I'm…not… sure….RACH?" Quinn said cautiously. Ella ran in from the big balcony, covered with white dust.
"LILY COME HERE! IT'S SNOWING!" Lily ran out following her and soon Quinn joined the whole family out on the balcony watching the snow fall and the kids trying to catch snow-flakes on their tongue. The balcony was big and wide enough that it was beginning to stick on the ground.
"Mommy can we play? Ple-e-e-e-ease?" Lily asked crouching and picking up a ball of snow, trying to craft a perfect snowball.
"Oh I suppose," Rachel said smiling. "But inside first, get shoes and coats on, right now!" The girls ran inside as did the adults, and they all returned minutes later, playfully hitting one another with snowballs and the girls even having enough room to make a few snow angels. Quinn showed Abby snow and the girl ate it, naturally. The family played in the snow until Lily and Ella couldn't feel their fingers, 2 hours past the girls bedtime. Hiram, and Leroy helped Rachel clean up the kitchen while Quinn and Shelby got the girls in the bath and in pajamas. Quinn put a very sleep Abby to bed as she became incredibly fussy and unreasonable. Ella and Lily fought bedtime naturally and managed to convince Quinn to let them stay up just a few more minutes longer to say goodbye to their grandparents.
"Momma look its still snowing," Ella said pressing her nose against the window. Lily ran up next to her and repeated the action. Quinn and Rachel walked together to their two girls dressed in pajamas staring at the white flurries coming from the sky. They walked over and stood behind them and took a moment looking at the peaceful night.
"I think the snow gods are saying its time to go to bed, the sooner you go to sleep the sooner you can wake up and play in the snow," Rachel said. Lily looked up at her mom and held her tired arms up. Rachel picked up the small girl and reached in her back pocket. She pulled out Lily's necklace and dangled in front of the girls drooping eyes. Her eyes instantly perked at the sight.
"Papa wanted you to have this," Rachel said.
"My star necklace!" she squealed. Quinn walked over and took it from Rachel, putting it around the girl's neck. "Thank you, I'm sorry I yelled tonight," Lily said softly. Quinn kissed her forehead.
"It's okay baby girl, we know you didn't mean it," Quinn said. Lily nodded and hugged Rachel's neck a little tighter. "Good night sweetheart."
"Night momma," Lily said yawning. Rachel took Lily into her room and tucked her into her bed.
"Good night my sweet girl," Quinn said tucking Ella in the covers. Ella smiled at her mom.
"Night night momma," Ella said quietly, her eyes flittering until she turned over on her side, dozing off to sleep.
Rachel and Quinn met in the hallway and swapped roles, Quinn going to say good night to Lily and Rachel to Ella. Finally the two ended up on the couch, staring at the still falling snow that had slowed down. Rachel curled into Quinn's arms and Quinn kissed the top of her head softly.
"What happened with Lily tonight?" Rachel said softly as Quinn ran a finger through her hair. "I hate to say but I honestly wasn't paying attention to her." Quinn laughed slightly.
"She suffered from an attack of middle child syndrome," Quinn said rolling her eyes.
"Oh yes, that one. I still have no idea where she got that dramatic side," Rachel said causally. Quinn stopped the shoulder massage she had begun on Rachel and whispered into her ear.
"Maybe from the woman that gave birth to her?" Rachel threw her head back in laughter and Quinn leaned down, giving her a kiss upside down.
"I love you so much," Rachel said after their lips broke apart.
"I love you, and our crazy little family," Quinn said, kissing her once more as the snow fell on the city of New York on the quiet December evening.
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