Chapter Eleven: Maybe Baby
It was light outside when Quinn awoke the next morning. Groaning, she rolled over in bed and opened her eyes, expecting to see Santana but the bed was empty and the sheets were cold.
The apartment was quiet and the bathroom door was wide open. Since Santana seemed to be genetically incapable of doing anything quietly, Quinn surmised that her girlfriend wasn't home. She was checking her cell phone to see if Santana had left her a message when she heard a jangle of keys and the apartment door opened. Santana's face was flushed from the cold but she smiled warmly at Quinn.
"I was hoping to get back before you woke up," Santana said apologetically, shrugging out of her coat before rummaging in the large paper bag she'd dumped on the kitchen counter.
"Where'd you go?" Quinn asked curiously, crawling to the foot of the bed so she could see Santana in the kitchen.
"I went to get you breakfast," explained Santana. She handed Quinn a cardboard cup of coffee and a cinnamon muffin, and Quinn beamed at her.
"You went to the coffee house on 84th, didn't you?" she asked incredulously. Santana shrugged.
"It's your favorite," she replied simply.
"It's like fifteen blocks away," Quinn said, shaking her head. "You must have got up at dawn. Wait, what time is it?" She grabbed Santana's wrist and frowned at the dial on her watch. "You're going to miss your first class!"
"It's not important," Santana said dismissively. "It's just Spanish, so it's not like I'm going to miss anything I don't already know. Besides, I wanted to bring my girlfriend breakfast in bed." She paused and bit her lip thoughtfully. "I wanted to say sorry for yesterday," she said finally.
"You did that last night," Quinn reminded her, smiling as she took Santana's hand and squeezed gently.
"But you were still hurt, weren't you?" Santana said sadly. "Q, you were tossing and turning half the night, and then you were crying out in your sleep. You woke up yelling at five a.m., scared me half to death."
"I did?" Quinn frowned in confusion. "I don't remember." She took a sip of her coffee, feeling the hot liquid slip soothingly down her throat. "I'm sorry I scared you."
"And, I'm sorry if I wasn't supportive yesterday," Santana offered in response. "I am happy that you're going to get to see Beth, really. I know how much it means to you."
"I have to convince Shelby first," Quinn said apprehensively. Santana leaned in to kiss her tenderly on the lips.
"You will," she promised. "You're amazing, there's no way she won't see that."
"Thank you," Quinn said blushing. "It means a lot that I have your support. I know I'm sort of high maintenance sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" queried Santana. Quinn threw a pillow at her laughing girlfriend. "So, since we've already established that I'm going to miss Spanish class and your first class isn't until eleven, why don't we find something to do to pass the time?" Santana said, suggestively running her hand up the inside of Quinn's thigh. Then it was Quinn's turn to laugh.
"You're incorrigible," she chuckled, "after last night, I'm surprised you still have the stamina." She fell back against the pillows, pulling Santana on top of her. They kissed languidly and Quinn was forcibly reminded of her fantasy of what living with Santana would be like. She felt pretty lucky, and she was suddenly optimistic that it was all going to work out just fine.
By Friday, Quinn's optimism was beginning to segue into panic. She was due to meet Shelby and Rachel after her last class of the day for an early dinner before Rachel's show. Her anthropology professor called on her twice during class and both times she was forced to admit that she wasn't paying attention. Then, he'd asked her to stay behind and he'd launched into a ten minute lecture about complacency having no place in an Ivy League education. By the time she left, she was fifteen minutes late and flustered. Of course, it was raining, and she didn't have an umbrella, so by the time she made it to the restaurant she was bedraggled, damp, and stressed. On the subway, she'd even considered calling the whole thing off and claiming she was sick, but she didn't want Shelby to think she was a flake.
Shelby Corcoran was as polished and graceful as ever as she stood up to greet Quinn, and she smiled sympathetically at Quinn's dishevelled appearance.
"That's New York winter for you," she said, offering Quinn tissues from her purse so that she could dry off. Quinn and Rachel hugged briefly, and Quinn could feel the tension in her friend's shoulder blades. She knew it was always difficult for Rachel to see her birth mother and she was grateful to the brunette for putting herself through the maelstrom of emotions for Quinn's benefit.
Considering that the last time Quinn had seen Shelby she'd been threatening to get her fired from her teaching job at McKinley, Shelby was gracious towards her as they waited for their food to arrive. She asked her questions about school and work, and seemed genuinely disappointed when Quinn admitted that she didn't really sing any more. She was interested in Quinn being a drama major, and asked if she could see Quinn perform someday. Despite all this, there was an obvious elephant in the room. Quinn didn't want to be too eager by bringing up Beth, nor did she want to seem like she didn't care.
When Shelby excused herself to freshen up, Quinn made a plea to Rachel.
"Help," she begged. "I'm messing this up!"
Rachel shook her head and smiled.
"You're doing fine," she assured Quinn.
"I'm a babbling idiot," Quinn groaned, hitting herself in the forehead and making Rachel chuckle. "I don't know whether I should bring up Beth or wait for Shelby to do it," she admitted. "Please help me," she hissed as Shelby headed back to the table.
After another minute of small talk, Rachel seemed to decide to put Quinn out of her misery.
"So, who's looking after Beth tonight?" she asked bluntly.
Quinn groaned inwardly, could Rachel be any more obvious? Shelby chuckled.
"It's a good thing Quinn's the drama major," Shelby teased. "Maybe you should sign up for a few more acting classes at NYADA?" Rachel shrugged, unrepentant.
"Oh please, someone had to bring it up," she said pouting.
"She's on a play date with a friend," explained Shelby. "They're at a toddler gymnastics class."
"I started gymnastics when I was three," Quinn told them. "I loved it." Shelby smiled at her.
"Beth loves it too," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she wants to get into cheerleading in a few years. I can see a lot of you in her, Quinn."
"Really?" Quinn was thrilled but it was hard not to play the what if game and wonder how life would've been if she'd clung on to her baby and never let go.
"Really," confirmed Shelby. "But you don't have to take my word for it, you can see for yourself. Tomorrow's supposed to be dry and there's a park that Beth loves." She fished a pen out of her purse and wrote down some directions on the back of a napkin. "Why don't you meet us there around three?"
After saying goodbye to Rachel and Shelby, the first thing Quinn wanted to do was call Santana and tell her the good news.
"Hey baby, how'd it go?" Santana asked when she answered the phone.
"Great," Quinn told her happily. "I'm going to see Beth tomorrow."
"That's fantastic!" Santana told her, shouting down the phone to be heard over a loud crash and a cheer in the background.
"Sounds like it's crazy at work today," Quinn said sympathetically.
"No kidding," Santana replied. "We've been full since I got here at four. It's going to be a late one, I'm afraid. I wanted to celebrate with you, but we've got two people out sick so I'm stuck here until midnight."
"That's okay," Quinn assured her. "I'll try to wait up for you."
Santana snickered. "Yeah, I've heard that before. Why don't you stop by the diner on your way home?"
"I don't want to distract you if you're busy," Quinn said, "and I need to get a head start on my homework since I won't get much studying done tomorrow."
"Okay." Santana didn't sound too bothered. "Will you be done with Beth and Shelby by five? Dani's dying to meet you and we're going to go ice skating at the Rockefeller Center."
"I don't know," Quinn said honestly, raising her voice so that Santana would be able to hear her over the loud music that had started up on Santana's end of the call. "I'm going to be down in The Village, I'm not sure if I can get to mid-town by five, but I'll try. I'd love to meet Dani too."
"Okay," Santana said, sounding a little distracted. "Um, baby, I gotta go. I'll see you at home later. Bye."
"Bye," replied Quinn, but Santana had already hung up.
Quinn tried her best to stay awake until Santana came home but the events of the day had drained her and she gave in and climbed into bed shortly after eleven. She left a note on Santana's pillow, telling her girlfriend to wake her up when she came in, but the next thing she was aware of was her alarm clock beeping the next morning, and Santana stirring beside her.
"Why didn't you wake me?" Quinn grumbled, cuddling up to Santana sleepily.
"It was late," mumbled Santana through a yawn. "I figured you could use the sleep and I was bushed from work."
"I missed you," pouted Quinn, kissing Santana's neck so that her girlfriend hummed appreciatively.
"You were out of it," countered Santana with a chuckle. "A bomb could've gone off and you would've slept through it."
"Well, I'm awake now," Quinn said, straddling Santana and kissing her again. Santana's hands slipped under her t-shirt and fondled her breasts.
"So I've noticed," she murmured as Quinn pushed Santana's sweat pants down over her hips. Desire took over and both girls were naked in a matter of seconds. Quinn didn't think she'd ever get tired of the way Santana's hands electrified her skin as they roamed over her body.
Santana seemed in the mood to tease as she let her fingers wander everywhere except where Quinn most wanted them. She peppered wet, open-mouthed kisses over Quinn's neck and chest, flipping them so that she was on top and Quinn was writhing beneath her.
Quinn hooked her legs over Santana's thighs and bucked her hips against her girlfriend in a not so subtle hint.
"Patience," Santana chided softly and Quinn growled in response.
"Screw patience," she complained, as Santana's fingers stroked her inner thighs just inches from where Quinn wanted them. Santana's response was to kiss her softly, running her tongue lightly over Quinn's lower lip to request access. Quinn conceded eagerly and Santana's tongue was immediately massaging her own.
Quinn felt like her whole body was on fire under Santana's ministrations by the time her girlfriend finally acquiesced to her pleas and thrust her fingers into the wet heat at the apex of Quinn's thighs. Quinn was so ready that her orgasm hit after just a few strokes of Santana's talented fingers, but Santana continued to fondle and tease the bundle of nerves at her center and a minute later she climaxed again, this time taking Santana over the edge with her with a few thrusts of her own fingers between Santana's thighs.
The girls took a leisurely shower together, their desire for each other flaring again and by the time they were both finally dressed and presentable it was almost lunch time.
Santana was ravenous after their morning escapades but Quinn's nerves were beginning to get the better of her and she couldn't eat a bite of the sandwich Santana had made for her. She paced the apartment, glancing at the clock every few minutes, until Santana threatened to tie her to a chair until it was time for her to leave.
"You'll be fine," Santana promised Quinn as she slipped into her coat, and checked the contents of her purse for the fourth time. "She'll love you." Quinn smiled gratefully but couldn't answer. Santana gave her a reassuring hug as she headed out the door. "I'll see you at Rockefeller Center later, okay?"
"I'll try," Quinn promised again, but her mind wasn't on ice skating or meeting Santana's new friend... All she could think about was that she was going to see Beth in less than an hour.
