Chapter Ten:
It took an age to get Larry to calm down enough to remind him they had a party waiting for him at home. "Will everyone be there?" He asked excitedly.
"There'll be me, Dad, Uncle Kurt, Uncle Blaine, Aunt Mercedes and all your team. Is that everyone?"
"I think so..."
"I hope so!" Sam interjected.
"Come on, let's go home." Quinn said taking Larry's hand and leading him towards the car.
"I still can't believe we won!" Larry said.
"We knew you would, once you put that armband on, we knew it was game over didn't we Dad?" Quinn asked Sam.
"All I remember is almost crying" Sam admitted.
"Why did you almost cry, Dad?" Larry asked.
"Mum and I were so proud of you that we had tears of joy." He told him.
"So you weren't upset?"
"Of course not, we were so proud. Tears can be happy or sad."
"That's a moment that Dad and I will always remember"
"I'll always remember it too" Larry told them.
"I hope so, although I hope you'll have many more moments like that" Sam told him.
"I hope so too, it felt awesome." Larry smiled. He fastened his seat belt and clutched his winner's medal tightly. All three of them wore big smiles as they drove home.
Two hours later and the party was in full flow. Hyperactive children ran through the house and in the garden. The adults did their best to relax hoping that their children would tire soon. Quinn knew Larry wouldn't tire for hours. He was running on pure adrenaline and he deserved to she thought. "You ok, baby?" Sam asked as he came into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm just taking more food out of the oven."
"I can see that, but I can also see that something's wrong." He moved closer to her.
"I'm just thinking..."
"Well, why don't you tell me what you're thinking about?"
"Yesterday..." she began. "Yesterday was on of our hardest days as a couple. We found out that we can't conceive naturally whereas today will be remembered as one of the best days we'll ever spend as a family. It's just really made me think how different two days can be." She finished, Sam pulled her towards him. She hugged him tightly, "If I didn't have you by my side Sam, I honestly don't know what I'd do. You are my pillar of strength."
"Quinn, you'll always have me. Never question that."
"Thank you...for everything." She said kissing him lightly.
"We need to tell them, you know that right? They're our best friends and they have to know" Sam said.
"I know I just don't know if I can find the words. It only happened yesterday, have we even digested the news properly?"
"You're the most eloquent person I know Quinn. Besides we're telling them together." He said as he led her back into the living room.
By seven thirty their house was empty. Quinn, Sam, Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes sat in their lounge chatting. Larry had gone to bed at seven; he was 'shattered' he said as said good night to them. "Guys, Quinn and I have something we need to tell you." Sam said, "Don't get your hopes up, it's not good news." He said noticing the glint in their eyes. He took Quinn's hand and held it tightly.
"What is it?" Mercedes asked.
"Quinn, did you get the results?" Kurt asked.
"Results? What for? What am I missing?" Mercedes questioned.
"Sam and I decided to try for another baby. We thought it'd be nice for Larry to have a little brother or sister, someone he can be a role model to. We conceived pretty quickly when we started trying for Larry so we assumed this one wouldn't take long either, but it did.
I had a regular health check up at the hospital and asked for a pregnancy test whilst I was there. That morning at work I'd been sick and felt faint. I felt the same way I did when I was pregnant with Larry. Anyway, the result returned negative but I was referred to another doctor for tests. Sam and I both had to have tests to see where the problem was. The doctor said it may take days or weeks to analyse the samples. She told me that she had a feeling what the problem was when she'd spoke to Doctor Reid about my test result.
Yesterday evening, I got a call from the doctor to say that the problem was with me. I have a condition that's referred to as poor egg quality." Quinn said, she felt Sam tighten his grip on her hand. She continued, "Poor egg quality affects women in their late thirties and early forties. It occurs as egg numbers decline and decline in quality which obviously makes it harder for older couples to conceive. Sam and I are barely into our late thirties so we didn't really think we'd have any problems. We did conceive but because of the quality of the egg that made the difference between carrying it to full term and losing it in the first few weeks of pregnancy." Quinn's voice began to choke. Sam bravely took over and continued for her.
"Many poor quality eggs don't implant properly once fertilised which happened to us. That was what they found in Quinn's original pregnancy test. She knew there was a sign of pregnancy because she had similar feelings to when she was pregnant with Larry." Sam finished. He put his arm around Quinn supportively. The silence that followed was deafening.
"I'm...I mean we're...we're so sorry." Blaine said finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I'm so sorry." Mercedes said.
"We know, thank you." Quinn said solemnly.
"Is there anything at all you can do?" Blaine asked.
"We can try IVF through an egg donor or adoption" Sam informed them. "It's Quinn's dream to carry another child. We've got decisions to make, but everything has to be thoroughly thought through because we have Larry to consider." Sam continued. Quinn remained silent. All day she'd been putting on a brave face and forgetting her problems. Everything was so fresh and raw; she'd probably never carry a child again. Larry would probably never have a brother or sister. "Quinn, are you ok?" Kurt asked, speaking for the first time.
"Honestly? No." She finally answered, breaking her self inflicted silence. "I just don't know what to think or what to do. This is what would have made our family perfect."
"Our family is perfect. Perfect for us. A baby would have only enhanced that. We have time to think about what we really want" Sam told her.
"I know... I was just saying to Sam earlier that although we only found out yesterday it feels like so long ago."
"Today's just been so hectic that I haven't really thought about it. Watching Larry play soccer today and watching him lead his team to victory made me feel so proud that everything else seemed so small" Sam recalled.
"Me too. I just love him so much, he's our world and it pains me that we might not be able to give him a brother or sister. He'd be a fantastic big brother and a role model." Quinn admitted.
"He'd have learnt how to be a role model from the best." Sam said, looking over at the three of them. "He's learnt so much from you three already and that was reflected today."
"Thank you, on behalf of everyone" Kurt said.
"He just has to be at the heart of every decision" Blaine added.
"He will be." Sam said finally, signalling the end of the conversation. He looked at Quinn who was staring into space. "I'm going to take off, I have to be up pretty early tomorrow. Thank you for such a brilliant day and Quinn; you call me if you need anything!" Mercedes said rising for the coach. Quinn stood up and showed her out. As she waved her off Quinn breathed in the cool air and felt refreshed. She slowly walked back to the lounge where she could hear the three men laughing. She was envious of them, how could they be laughing and be so happy when she felt so low? Today had been a fantastic escape from their problems but it was quickly drawing to a close and everything would soon mount up again. She was dreading having to think about it every second of every day. She wanted to know what they were going to do.
She rejoined them in the lounge physically but mentally she was lost. Lost in thought. She could feel their eyes on her, watching her every move. She looked around to the clock, it was only eight thirty. "Quinn?" She heard a voice say. "Quinn?" The voice repeated. She finally recognised it as Sam's.
"Huh? Yeah?" She slowly said.
"Go to bed sweetie."
"It's only eight thirty." She told him quietly. She heard them laughing. She opened her eyes and everything was horizontal. "What happened? What time is it?"
"Just gone ten, you fell asleep."
"I can't have. I just looked at the clock and it was eight thirty."
"Yeah it was eight thirty...an hour and a half ago" Kurt joked.
"I can't believe that. That just seems so quick."
"Quinn, you've had a long day, it's natural to drift off into a deep sleep." Blaine informed her. "It happens to me all the time."
"We were laughing and talking quite loudly and you just didn't wake. It was as if you were dead to the world." Kurt added. Quinn sat up straight, the room still focusing. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "I'll go, I need to stretch anyway." Quinn said rising from her seat.
"Shout if you need me." Sam said as he sat on the edge of his chair.
Quinn slowly unlocked the door and opened it slightly. A girl stood on the doorstep. A girl with pink hair. Quinn recognised her as the girl she'd seen the other day. "May I help you?" Quinn asked.
"Are you Quinn Fabray?" the girl asked.
"I was. I'm not anymore. Why? Who wants to know?" Quinn replied. The girl froze to the spot and held Quinn's gaze. "I'm Beth Corcoran. I'm your daughter."