As far as Sunday afternoons went, this was one of the better ones Quinn had in a long while. It wasn't that she was doing anything exciting, she was just happy.
She was currently lying on Rachel's bed, a hundred pages into one of the crappiest books she'd ever had the misfortune to pick up, and due to some weird compulsion, she had to finish it no matter how bad it was. She paused when she got to the end of the paragraph and looked up at the Diva who was sitting at the foot of the bed, tapping a pen against her teeth and starring at her homework.
"Having problems?" The blonde asked with a chuckle.
"No." Rachel said leaning back. "I'm almost done, just working out my conclusion. Which isn't as easy in Spanish." The brunette gave her a smile, then it disappeared quickly and she furrowed her brow. "Santana and Brittany will be here soon, I should try and finish it by then. Santana can be quite a distraction."
"Don't worry. You'll learn to drown her out when you need to. She has a tendency to yammer on like a mean, cantankerous old lady sometimes, I dread to think what she'll be like when she actually gets old."
"She might mellow out. Being a teenager is a very confusing and emotionally volatile time in your life, there's a good chance once her body has settled, she'll be a relatively normal person."
"Maybe, but I don't think the snark will ever go away. Anyway, finish your Spanish. I've got a shitty book to try and wade through before they get here."
Rachel chuckled. "Okay. Good luck."
"Thanks."
She turned the page of her book, and couldn't remember if she'd actually finished the last page. Not that it really mattered with this tripe; she realized early on that she could skip whole paragraphs without missing anything. She also learned that changing the main characters names to Butt-Breath and Poo-Head made it all the more entertaining. She was easily amused that way. However it was difficult concentrating on something she didn't care about, when something she did care about was sitting in front of her. She continued to hold up the book as she sneaked a look at the other girl.
After yesterday's realization, her brain had gone into voyeuristic overdrive. Every opportunity she had, she would watch the other girl. At first she had whole conversations with herself about how weird and perverted she was being, then she would counter argue that with 'boys do it all the time'. There were many internal discussions about whether she was gay, because she had no indication until now that she was, but then there was no real reason to think she was straight either.
That was yesterday though and when she'd woken up this morning, after having a very R rated dream about Rachel, she figured she might as well just let Charlie off his leash because there was clearly no controlling him. Of course now he was swaggering around like he owned the place, so she decided to give him the official title of Mayor Charlie of Naughty-Thought-Ville. She'd probably put too much thought into that, but she'd kind of grown fond of the little bastard.
The problem with letting him run riot inside her brain was that she was now constantly frustrated. And the fact that she'd been starring at Rachel's chest for the last minute was a clear indication of that. She thumped the book she'd been pretending to read against her head a few times, hoping that might knock some self control into her, but all that happened was that she drew Rachel's attention and before the Diva had a chance to question the reason for her literary assault, the doorbell went.
"I'll get it." She said jumping off the bed, thankful for the distraction. She gave Rachel a smile as she left the room, and headed downstairs.
"You know what pisses me off?" Santana grumbled as soon as Quinn opened the front door.
"Lots of things." The pregnant girl answered moving out of the way so the two cheerleaders could come in.
"The fact that I actually want to be here. Worse. I woke up this morning and I was like 'I can't wait to go to Berry's house' I was here yesterday for seven hours. This is wrong." The Latina frowned and looked over to David, who was leaning against the kitchen doorway with a smug smile. "I blame you." She pointed at him.
"Not my fault." He said throwing his hands up defensively.
"Yeah okay." Santana shrugged and turned her attention back to Quinn. "We saw the stupidest thing on the way here. We got stuck behind a bus, and there was a sign on the back of it that said 'Do Not Attempt To Ride The Back Of This Bus' Makes you wonder who the idiots are that have made them put that on there."
"Wanna bet Puck was one of them?" Quinn asked.
"Likely." The Latina said scanning the general area. "So where's Chiquita?"
"She's in her room."
"Well come on then." Santana said bounding up the stairs, followed by the taller blonde.
Quinn glanced over to David and shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "She seems particularly rambunctious today."
"Aww. Leave her alone, she excited to be here."
"I suppose. I don't blame her really. This house and the people in it, have a way of making you feel all warm and safe. A bit like being wrapped up in a soft blanket next to an open fire, in the middle of winter." She paused for a moment. "And apparently, I've turned into a walking Hallmark card. This baby has made me into a sap." She said rubbing her bump.
"I don't care. It was still very sweet of you to say it, and I'm going to hug you now." He said wrapping his arms around her.
"Okay."
When she got back to the bedroom, Santana was looking at Rachel's homework and bobbing her head approvingly. "This is good Berry. Not the content, that's pretty boring, but you know, the rest." The Latina faced Quinn and gave her an unnerving smile. "Hey Q, turns out, Berry is a cunning linguist. Who'd have thought!"
The pregnant girl glared at her friend, hoping Rachel didn't understand what had been said, or at least why it was apparently of interest to Quinn. "That's great," She said climbing onto the bed. "Have we decided what our plans are today?"
"I say we build a fort and have sword fights." Santana offered.
"You didn't smuggle in that damn katana of yours did you?"
"Don't be an idiot Fabray. If I were going to attack anyone with an actual sword, there are plenty of people much higher on my list than anyone in this house."
"I had to ask." Quinn shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going to vote no to acting like a ten year old boy."
"As apposed to acting like a fourteen year old boy?"
"I do not."
"Do to."
"Do not."
"You do so. What's that burning smell? Your pants on fire!" The Latina shouted, pointing emphatically at Quinn.
"Why do I feel like I'm missing something vitally important?" Rachel asked the taller blonde next to her.
"Welcome to my world." Brittany sighed, then threw a stuffed toy at the two arguing girls. "Stop it. I want to have fun today, and watching you fight is boring. Me and Rachel will find something to do on our own if you can't keep a lid on it."
Quinn and Santana stopped and gave each other a look.
"Like what? Make out or something?" The taller brunette asked suspiciously.
"No, no, no, no." Rachel waved her hands in front of her, shaking her head.
"Why not?" The Latina barked. "What's so bad about the idea of making out with B?"
"Mostly because I'm afraid you'd hurt me."
"Oh. Okay." Santana calmed. "What if I wasn't a factor? Would you then?"
"This is a very awkward thing to be discussing. Brittany is sitting right next to me."
"Fine. How about we say in general. Would you kiss a girl?"
"I can't say outright yes or no. It would depend on many things."
"Like what?"
"Not being unpleasant to me would be a start. And let's be honest, that rules out about ninety nine point nine percent of the McKinley High population."
"So that leaves the three of us, and Becky."
"It would appear so."
"Okay, we'll take Becky out of the equation, for obvious reasons."
"Why?" Brittany snapped. Quinn rarely saw the other blonde angry at anything, especially Santana, but there were certain buttons that needed to be pressed for it to happen, and Latina just pushed it.
"You know why. Don't make me say it out loud."
Brittany folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows. "I want to hear your reasons."
"Because," Santana said deflating. "she has the mental age of a nine year old. That's why. Added to that she's about the same height as one too, it would be like some sort of pedophilia."
"That wasn't as mean as I thought you were going to be." Brittany relaxed. "That made sense. Sorry San."
"That's okay." The Latina smiled, then turned back to Rachel. "So anyway, Berry, back to the girl kissing. If they were nice, and at least mildly attractive, would you make out with them?"
"Just being nice isn't enough, they have to actually like me."
"Alright." Santana inhaled deeply. "Say there was a girl, who was at least mildly attractive, and she actually liked you, would you make out them?"
"Define 'Mildly attractive'"
"Attractive, but maybe a bit on the tubby side. You know, for instance." The Latina gave Quinn a sideways glance.
"In that case, I would say yes."
The ex Cheerio coughed to hide her smile, but that didn't stop Santana from snorting a laugh.
"Okay Pumpkin. This could've been a ten second conversation. Was that so hard to admit?"
"I never said it would be. No one has ever asked me before."
"That's because you only seem to go all crazy-obsessive over boys who aren't good enough for you."
Quinn snapped her head towards the Latina. Sometimes she couldn't tell if her friend was being snide or genuine, because the tone was pretty much the same either way. This time, it seemed she was being serious. Then she looked at Rachel expecting to see a hurt look, or maybe a defiant one, but all she saw was embarrassed acknowledgement.
"Now that we've got that, absolutely fascinating conversation out of the way. How about we decide what the hell to do?"
There was a very lengthy debate over what activity they should do for the afternoon. Santana wanted to go paintballing, but Rachel went onto the website and saw that they didn't let pregnant women play, much to relief of Quinn. Rachel suggested a museum, and the three other girls rejected that outright, but the pregnant girl was very apologetic about it. Quinn's contribution was the carnival in the next town, and was surprised when Santana said no, in no uncertain terms. Then she remembered that the Latina had an incident involving a corn dog, or what she thought was a corn dog, a couple of years ago, and refused to go to any carnival ever again. Things were looking up when Brittany suggested they go swimming, then Quinn saw the bikini the Diva was going to wear and feigned cramps.
An hour later they were still on the bed, and none of them seemed to mind. When her phone rang, Quinn smiled at seeing the caller ID.
"Hey Baby Mama, whatcha up to?"
"Nothing, just hanging out."
"Nice. Can't beat some chillaxing."
"That's not a word Puck."
"Whatever. Not why I'm calling."
"You mean you didn't phone me up to discuss words that only exist on Urban Dictionary? Damn, that was something I was looking forward to." She smiled at the stifled chuckles coming from her friends.
"The bigger you get, the more sarcastic you are."
"The bigger I get?"
"No! I meant the bigger the baby gets, not you."
"What the hell are you trying to say?" She barked. "Hmm? You think I'm fat do you?"
"I'm hanging up now."
When she heard the silence on the other end, she looked up to see some very nervous facial expressions. "He's fun to panic." She explained.
"Ah!" Santana said knowingly.
A minute later her phone rang again.
"Hey Baby Mama, whatcha up to?"
"Nothing, just hanging out."
"That's good. You should relax when you have the chance, because you are carrying our… Nuh uh, I'm not saying that… Fine… Our wonderful child. And you are beautiful like the Goddess… Who? Oh right… Aphrodite."
"Who the hell are you talking to?"
"Maya. Basically Q, my brat sister wants to know if she can come over to play… What?... She says not play, because she's almost twelve. Like that makes a difference."
"Uh, hang on Puck." She moved the phone away from her ear. "Maya wants to come over. Do you guys mind?" She asked the three other girls.
"I vote yes." Rachel said putting her hand up.
"Me too." Brittany copied the Diva.
"I don't have a problem, but she might when she finds out that I'm here." Santana grimaced.
Quinn put the phone back to her ear. "Puck? Ask Maya if she cares that S is here."
There was a few seconds of muffled chatter, before she heard his voice. "No."
"Okay, cool. Come over when you like."
"Awesome. See you in ten."
When she hung up, it didn't take long for Rachel to ask the question, "Why would Maya have any kind of grievance with you? She seemed fine when we were over there Friday. Did you do something in the last forty four hours?"
"No." Santana huffed. "It was a slight misunderstanding on her birthday last year. And I don't know why I got the blame? It was clearly the bakery's fault."
"What happened?"
"Puck's Mom sent Santana to pick up the birthday cake." Quinn told the tiny brunette with a grin. "When she came back, Ruth opened the box and screamed. Actually screamed. It was freaking hysterical."
"But why?"
"They'd given her the wrong cake. It was actually a cake in the shape of a naked lady. Hot damn if that wasn't the best slice of cake I ever had."
"I forgot about that. As I recall Juno, you were only interested in the boobs part. Ooh, foreshadowing."
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
Rachel handed Brittany two stuffed toys, and the blonde hurled them at Quinn and Santana. When they stopped, she looked pleased as punch.
"Rach, I think we've found a way of making them both shut up." The taller blonde smiled.
"I don't think I have enough toys for that. Where would I put them when we're not in my room?"
"I don't know. Maybe you could have those belt things that soldiers have, full of ammo, but they wouldn't be bullets, they'd be little stuffed animals."
"Would that be enough?"
"You're right. Maybe you should have a whole dress full of stuffed toys."
"I can't see that happening any time soon."
"Okay, we get it." Santana rolled her eyes. "We'll try and cool down the bickering, won't we Quinn?"
"Yes, we are very sorry." The pregnant girl deadpanned.
The four of them headed downstairs to wait for Puck and Maya to come over, and there had been a small 'pregnant moment' when Santana sat on Divine, and Quinn found herself hitting the Latina with a cushion when she refused to get out of it. Then hit her even harder when the other girl laughed. If she'd thought about it, she would've realized why Santana was finding it funny, and later her friend would tell her that it was because she shouted "Get out of our chair." But she was being far too emotional to notice what she was saying in her cushion frenzy attack.
True to his word Puck arrived several minutes later. He'd already taken his sister to the synagogue and Quinn guessed that he was delaying going back home to avoid his Mom. That and she'd asked him to help with her song for the Glee assignment tomorrow, and he needed to pick up the sheet music. Typically for him, he left it for as long as he possibly could.
She had forgotten that Puck had actually been here before while he briefly dated Rachel, and even as she thought that, in her head she gritted her teeth. What she was surprised at was the way he spoke to Lucas when the boy introduced Maya to the man. He was full of 'Yes Sir's' and 'Thank you Sir's' it freaked her out to see him so respectful. And once they were out of earshot of the man he told her that the guy is like a Jewish elder, and if his Mom found out that he wasn't polite, she'd kill him.
Once they were all in the den Brittany decided they should watch a DVD and picked out Superman because she likes the aesthetic of blue, red and yellow together. And the theme tune. However when it started, it didn't look or sound anything like the film and no one had seen Rachel move so quickly in their lives as she went to stop the player.
Puck, who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, frowned in confusion at the speed at which the Diva moved. "Hey Rachel, was that your Superman porn or something?" And he received smacked on the head from Maya, Santana and Brittany in response,
"No!" Rachel shouted with indignation. "My Dad owns quite a lot of movies that may be considered some of the worst films in history. This is, Superman: The musical. When I was ten I found this," She shook the case angrily. "and I thought it would be the best thing I'd ever seen. I was utterly disappointed. And more than a little confused."
"What else has he got?" Santana asked with some restrained excitement.
"We are not watching atrocious films Santana."
"Oh come on Berry. Its tons more fun when there's more of you to mock the hell out of it."
"No. That's the end of it. If you want to watch a film, then choose something from this area." The smaller brunette gestured to the right side of the entertainment unit.
"Fine." The Latina huffed. "But I can't watch a normal movie right now. I'm not feeling it as a particularly riveting source of entertainment. So can I bring my Xbox in? I have it in the car."
"Uh, okay. Why did you bring your games console?"
"In case of emergencies." Santana said jumping off the couch and running out of the room.
"I hadn't realized there was such a thing as an Xbox emergency." Rachel frowned, looking slightly bewildered at everyone in the room.
"Dude, you gotta have an emergency Xbox kit." Puck grinned. "It's like, the law. Just like emergency beer kit and a stash of peanut M&M's for when you get the munchies."
"But not a spare condom apparently." Maya said.
Puck spun his head around to see his little sister smirking at him and he scowled. "You think you're so funny don't you?"
"Yeah."
The two of them continued to bicker and Quinn knew that it was all hot air when Puck and Maya argued. With their Mom an emotional mess, they basically had to look after each other, and their relationship reminded her of her and her sisters' relationship, and while she watched them she smiled. When Maya looked over to her she gave the girl a quick wink, and then got distracted when Rachel sat next to her.
"You okay?" The Diva whispered. "You look kind of sad."
"Yeah, just thinking about Cassie"
"Your sister?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for."
Rachel shrugged and laughed. "I know. I just don't like seeing you sad."
"Well," Quinn leaned back and put her arm around the brunette's shoulders, bringing her in closer. "For the most part, that really isn't something you're going to have to worry about. But being seven months pregnant is going to affect me from time to time."
"Okay." Rachel snuggled into her. "But if it is bad, you have to tell me. I'm not sure how I'll be able to help, but I'll try."
"Puckerman!" All eyes went to Santana, who was standing in the doorway with her arms full. "Get your ass off the floor and give me a hand setting this up."
Even though Rachel had never owned, or played any kind of computer game, she was still kicking everyone's asses at a fighting game, and Quinn could see what her secret of triumph was. Basically, the Diva was of the school of five year olds, and was smashing the buttons together, hoping for the best. It was really working out for her, or at least it was until Santana got all huffy because she was losing to luck rather than skill, and banned the Diva from playing anymore.
"You can't just ban me, simply because you don't like losing Santana."
"I'm fine with losing Berry." The Latina said turning around from her position on the floor to face Rachel. "I just don't like losing to someone who keeps doing the same paralyzing move, over and over again. That is tantamount to cheating."
"It's the only action I know how to do!"
"Well, until you learn more, you're still banned."
Rachel frowned and shook her head in confusion. "How can I learn if you won't let me play?"
"That's for you to work out. Now hand the controller over to Maya." Santana said with a curt nod, and sat back on the floor pillow.
The smaller brunette rolled her eyes, and passed it over to Brittany, to give to the younger Puckerman, then tucked herself back into Quinn's arm. "I think I'm growing on her." Rachel whispered. "She hasn't threatened me with violence all day."
"It's an honest to God miracle! Praise be."
"You know, you two aren't as quiet as you think you are." Santana said, hurling a rolled up piece of paper behind her and hitting Quinn square in the forehead.
After much nagging from Rachel, Santana caved, withdrawing the ban of the game and had taught the Diva some new moves. They had started a best out of three about an hour ago, and as far as Quinn was aware, that was still going on.
She and Maya had left the chaos of the den to go upstairs to her room because Maya said she wanted to discuss something with her, which made Quinn nervous, her mind went straight to something bad. What kind of bad she wasn't sure; she couldn't really remember what stuff was important and scary at the age of eleven.
"Is everything alright?" Quinn asked taking a seat on her bed.
"I just wanted us to hang out on our own. Is that okay?" Maya said, giving her a nervous smile as she sat next to her.
The blonde relaxed. "Of course it is. I don't think the others will notice us gone us for a while."
"Probably not. Rachel and Santana are too busy shouting at each other. Is that normal for them?"
"It's hard to say definitively, there really is no baseline of normal for them yet. If you take into account the past behavior then I suppose yes, as far as Santana's concerned. She did have a tendency to lunge at Rachel whenever she said something Santana didn't like. But then lots of people say things that Santana doesn't like. As far as I can remember though, Rachel has never shouted back, until today, and surprisingly Santana isn't trying to kill her for it, at least in real life anyway. There's a chance for friendship between them yet. That would make my life a hell of a lot easier."
"Yes or no would've been fine."
"Sorry." Quinn laughed. "I had a train of thought and went with it."
"That's okay." Maya said giving her a toothy grin.
"So how are things with me gone?" The blonde asked, changing the subject. "Miss me? Bet you do."
"Yeah, like a loch in kop. I think Noah misses you, when I asked him if he'd bring me here, he looked kind of excited. He likes to make sure you and the baby are okay."
"He has a weird way of showing it." Quinn said doubtfully.
"He's a boy." The young girl replied matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, they are emotionally retarded as a rule." The blonde agreed.
"He has nothing to worry about now you're here. You actually have that glowing thing pregnant woman are supposed to have now. I heard Dad say, just before he left for the last time, that our house sucks out all the joy of life. I didn't understand what he meant then, but I do now, and that isn't a good place for someone carrying another life inside them."
Quinn put her arm around Maya's shoulder gently and pulled her into a hug. "Even though you won't admit to missing me, I miss you. Do you think your Mom would allow you to come over couple of times a week? I mean how else am I going to keep up to date with the weekly antics of your classmates? I like to see my friends often, and you are one of them."
"I'm sure she won't mind me coming over."
The two of them continued to talk about anything and everything for a while longer, until Puck came upstairs and disturbed them. He hovered by the doorway and gave them a nod.
"Hey Q, you got that sheet music?"
"Yeah." She said moving from the bed and went to her dresser, pulling out the piece of paper from a drawer. "You coming in?"
"No." He shook his head emphatically. "Been told 'no boys allowed' and I ain't going to anger Mr. B."
"Fair enough." She chuckled, handing him the music. "Are they still playing?"
"Yeah, it's on the last leg now though. You should come back down, it's pretty fun."
"Maybe in a minute." She said nonchalantly, sitting back down next to Maya.
"The other Mr. B is pulling out brownies from the oven."
Quinn snapped her head towards the younger Puckerman, and gave her an excited look. "Brownies!" She shouted happily.
Maya laughed and stood up, moving towards her brother and held his hand. "She likes brownies."
"You think?" He asked, giving his sister an uncharacteristically soft smile.
Quinn ran downstairs and into the kitchen, stopping abruptly at the breakfast bar. "I hear there are brownies." She said to David.
"There are. Here," He handed over two plates. "take them into the den and feed the masses."
"So, one plate for me, and one for everyone else?"
The man laughed heartily. "Yup."
"Awesome." She took the chocolate confections into the room, putting one dish on the coffee table, and keeping the other one as she sat on Divine next to Rachel, who had the face of utter concentration. Eyes wide and unblinking, and her tongue sticking out. Quinn glanced at the TV watching the two characters fighting until she picked up a generous sized square of yummy gooeyness, and bit into it, humming happily as she chewed.
She was interrupted by the whole room yelling, and she looked around confused at the mass of faces that ranged from ecstatic to pissed off. "What just happened?" She asked Puck.
"Rachel just crushed S."
"Okay." She said, waiting for something more to be said, and when nothing seemed forthcoming, she asked, "So why is everyone excited?"
"Because." The Diva started, relaxing in the chair, "Now Santana has to perform the dare that we were playing for."
"Really?" Quinn smirked at the Latina. "And what is that?"
"She had two choices. Either she calls me by my name all next week, or, she dresses as a chicken for the whole day tomorrow." The Diva said the last few words with the crack of laughter.
"I went with the hardest one of calling her by her name." Santana growled. "But heed my warning midget, if you go too far with the gloating, you will pay."
"Okay." Rachel grinned.
Once everyone had noticed the brownies on the table, it took all of five minutes for the plate to be cleared, and with the game finally over, normal conversations resumed. Quinn and Rachel were still snuggled together, and the blonde had started playing with the Diva's hair, remembering the words that Santana had said yesterday about being affectionate, and the smaller girl next to her didn't seem to be averse to it.
"Rach?" She said quietly.
"Mmm hmm." The brunette responded leaning into the hand that had stopped twirling her hair.
Quinn smiled, and resumed playing with the soft hair. "I was wondering if you would come with me to my first antenatal class on Friday. I'd like you to be my birth partner."
Rachel turned to face her, her face bright, like a child who had opened the best birthday present ever. "Really? I would be honored Quinn."
The pregnant girl pulled her back in. "Good."
Logically, Rachel was the perfect person to ask. She's so anally retentive the whole experience of giving birth would be done with military precision, which is too much to expect from Puck. He's too irresponsible for this, there's no way he could support her emotionally and Rachel had already showed her that she was as sturdy as a rock. She never actually considered the boy, even before her friendship with Rachel, Santana was her first choice, for much the same reason as why she chose the Diva, but with added aggression.
Even though she still planned on giving the baby up, maybe she chose Rachel now because the Berry's were as close to the perfect family as you could get. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it over the last few days. How things might be if she kept her. She could see the Diva as a very doting parent, and David and Lucas as two Grandparents who would spoil Baby rotten, but would probably not like being called Gramps or something else that implied they were old enough to have a pseudo grandchild. And then there were her other friends from school. All these Aunt's and Uncle's she could persuade to babysit, and who could help teach all the important life lessons. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child, except she didn't have a village, she had a Glee club.
She still had two months to figure things out, so perhaps it wouldn't hurt to hold onto the fantasy of having a family with Rachel for a little while longer.
x
