Hey peeps,
Thanks as always for the awesome and encouraging feedback! Sorry it's been a while since I updated…summer in NYC is a very busy time! But you know I can't go too long without Faberry goodness, so no worries ;) Hope you enjoy!
-JW
…
Take Me As I Am
Chapter 14
By JewWitch
…
Everyone was so relieved when Rachel got her voice back just three weeks before regionals, their collective energy level skyrocketed, and their rehearsals became almost electric. Then they almost got derailed again when Puck sang to Quinn in front of everyone, asked her to name the baby Beth, and to let him be there when she was born. Rachel, unsurprisingly, threw a fit and stormed out of rehearsal, leaving the rest of the glee club looking on awkwardly while Quinn chased her down the hall and out into the parking lot.
"Rach, c'mon, give me a break here," Quinn whined, holding her stomach with one arm. "I can't exactly run as fast as you right now!" Rachel stopped abruptly, crossed her arms, and turned back to face her pregnant girlfriend with a look that would incinerate mere mortals.
"You aren't going to be able to play that card much longer," the dark-haired girl said coldly. "And why are you chasing me, anyway? Puck's the one you want, apparently. I'd offer to give him my notes from Lamaze class, but he'll probably just make them into paper airplanes."
"You're beyond adorable when you're jealous, you know," Quinn smirked, cranking Rachel's furious glare up several notches. "But you're so far off, I can't even believe it. Are you sure you're not the one with the crazy pregnancy hormones right now?"
"Don't you dare patronize me, Quinn Cordelia Fabray. I'm perfectly within my rights to be angry when you choose the asshole who got you pregnant over me, your devoted girlfriend, as your birthing partner. Has Puck taken you to a single Lamaze class? Has he read even one pregnancy book? Do you think he's going to have the slightest idea what do to when your water breaks? I honestly can't even fathom"—
"Rachel!" Quinn exclaimed, cutting off the furiously babbling brunette mid-sentence and grabbing her by the shoulders to get her attention. "I didn't choose Puck for anything." The dark red flush slowly drained from the shorter girl's face, replaced by a look of cautious confusion.
"Were we both in the same room just now? Because I'm pretty sure…"
"He asked if he could be there when his daughter is born. I said yes. He has that right, Rach…she's as much his as she is ours. Which is really not at all, because I'm giving her up, but…he has the right to be there. That's all, just be there. You're the only one I want holding my hand. You're the one I need next to me…you're the one I picked, the one I'll always pick. Okay?" Rachel just started at Quinn with her wide brown eyes, still stuck on one thing: Quinn had called the baby theirs.
"Oh, fuck…I'm an idiot," Rachel groaned, covering her face with her hands. Quinn pulled her close and gently tugged her hands away, kissing the miserable expression right off her girlfriend's face.
"Yeah, sometimes you are," Quinn agreed, smiling. "But sometimes I am, so it all works out, karma-wise." Rachel snorted.
"Oh, like you believe in karma."
"I do," Quinn shrugged. Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"That's not very Christian, is it?"
"No, I guess not," Quinn agreed, taking Rachel's hand and tugging her back towards their unfinished glee rehearsal. "But then again, I'm not sure I'm very Christian anymore, either. I dunno. Karma just makes more sense to me than heaven and hell…it means you always have a second chance, you can always make up for the things you've done wrong. You can still get somewhere good eventually." Rachel cocked her head, smiling at the blonde girl's wistful expression. "What?" Quinn asked, slightly defensively, when she saw Rachel staring at her.
"Nothing. I just love when you remind me how much possibility there is in the world." Quinn smiled shyly, and Rachel grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her down for a long, slow kiss. They had both forgotten about everything except each other when the sound of enthusiastic hooting and hollering made them realize they were standing right outside the choir room door, where the entire glee club could see them making out through the window.
Blushing, they broke apart, but kept their hands clasped as they made their hasty return to the room. Rachel left Quinn's side and approached Puck, eyes narrowed and arms crossed. Puck had the good sense to look slightly afraid.
"All right, Noah, I have accepted that you will be in the room with us when the baby is born. But let me be perfectly clear—you will not get in my way, and you will not say or do anything to cause Quinn even the slightest distress while she's in labor, or I will fill your car with poisonous snakes. Understand?"
"Geez, Rachel!" Puck took a step back, wide-eyed, like he thought she might have a few in her pocket ready to toss at him at that very moment if he displeased her.
"They'll lay their eggs in the glove compartment," she continued, eyes narrowed, as if he hadn't even spoken. "You'll never know where they are or if you got them all." The entire room, save Puck and Rachel, burst into hysterical laughter. Quinn ducked behind Mercedes' shoulder to hide her shit-eating grin.
"If you two are done vying for the alpha-dog title, can we please get back to rehearsal?" Kurt demanded, tapping his foot impatiently. "If this goes on much longer, we're going to have to do our vocal warm-ups all over again."
"Of course, let's rehearse. I'm sorry, everyone. Where were we?" Rachel asked, going back over to stand beside Quinn at the piano. Mr. Schuester handed out the sheet music for their Journey medley, and they all frowned in confusion for a moment.
"Mr. Schue, I think you mixed up the arrangement in Faithfully," Finn said, scratching his head. "That's, like, an octave out of my range."
"Nope, it's right," Mr. Schuester said calmly, his expression all business the way it always was during rehearsal time. "Quinn's taking the second lead on Faithfully. I moved it up an octave to mezzo-soprano. You're doing Don't Stop Believing. And Artie gets Any Way You Want It, with Mercedes."
"That's crap!" Finn exclaimed indignantly, but everyone else was grinning at Quinn, who was staring at Mr. Schuester with her mouth half-open.
"Really?" She asked, dumbfounded.
"Think you can handle it?" Mr. Schuester asked the shocked blonde girl, ignoring Finn for the moment.
"Of course she can handle it," Rachel cut in, beaming. As if she wasn't already excited enough about regionals, the idea of singing such a beautiful, romantic song with her girlfriend, in front of a thousand people, was making her insides come alive like a flock of hyperactive butterflies on Ritalin. Mr. Schuester was counting on this effect, in fact, to make their performance even more captivating—not that Rachel and Quinn's harmonies weren't mesmerizing enough on their own.
"But, Mr. Schue," Finn whined, only to be cut off by Mercedes.
"Get over yourself, white boy. You got a solo. Did you really expect to get them all? You don't hear me whining like a little piggy pig, do you?" She jutted her hip and glared at him, and for once, Finn had the decency to look abashed instead of entitled. "That's what I thought," Mercedes harrumphed. Finn glowered, looking embarrassed and annoyed at the same time. Rachel and Quinn beamed at each other. Everyone else gathered around the piano so they could start learning the new songs, the drama already forgotten as their excitement for regionals took over.
"Did you guys know that dolphins are just gay sharks?" Brittney asked brightly.
…
"…Right down the line it's been you and me…oh girl, I'm forever yours…faithfully…" Rachel sang to herself while she set the table, not even noticing her dad and Quinn entering the kitchen with two large bags of Chinese takeout in their arms. Quinn added her harmony at the end, so they sang the word faithfully together; Rachel turned around beaming, her smile almost too big for her face.
"In case I haven't said it enough, you're gonna knock their socks off tomorrow, girls," Jacob said, unpacking the takeout as Rachel and Quinn stood grinning at each other. "Rach, will you go tell Daddy that dinner's ready? Can't win regionals on an empty stomach."
"Dad! You're gonna jinx us!" Rachel squealed, but she did as she was told and went to get Michael from the den.
"I can't believe I'm actually hungry, I'm so nervous," Quinn admitted, sitting down as Rachel and her other dad came back into the kitchen. "And please, spare me any more pregnancy jokes, okay?"
"Too easy," Rachel shrugged, smiling sweetly as she sat down beside her girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek. Quinn turned her head and grabbed Rachel's face to keep her from pulling away, kissing her properly on the lips for a long moment before Michael cleared his throat, and the two girls broke apart reluctantly.
"Sorry. Hormones," Quinn shrugged, not looking particularly sorry at all.
"So in a couple more weeks, you'll stop wanting to kiss me?" Rachel demanded, putting on a very fake pout and batting her eyelashes dramatically.
"Ehh, probably," Quinn deadpanned, with an equally fake expression of disinterest.
"Oh, please, will the two of you stop being cute and eat your egg foo young?" Jacob snorted. It didn't take much to remind Quinn there was food on the table, and they all busied themselves with dinner, going over all their plans for the next day for the millionth time. At bedtime, Rachel curled up with her head on Quinn's stomach, explaining to the baby that tomorrow was a very, very big day for mommy, and to please be good and let her get a peaceful night's sleep. Apparently, little Fabray was already in her first rebellious stage, though, because when Rachel woke up at 3:37am to pee, she found the bed empty beside her. Stumbling downstairs in a groggy stupor, she found Quinn curled up on the couch in front of the TV with a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
"Oh God, are you watching South of Nowhere again?" the dark-haired girl groaned, crawling onto the couch beside her pregnant girlfriend and curling up with her head on Quinn's shoulder, yawning and blinking sleepily.
"No, I'm watching the other show that's based on our life," Quinn said sarcastically, but with no real sting in her voice.
"This show has absolutely no resemblance to our life, Quinn," Rachel muttered, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "You just like it cause of all the eye candy."
"Oh, okay, you're right. A naïve blonde cheerleader from Ohio who grows up in a strict Christian home"—
"But the show doesn't take place in Ohio," Rachel reminded her stubbornly. "It takes place in LA. Which is way too glamorous to in any way reflect our life."
"Okay, fine, LA. But the blonde Christian cheerleader who falls in love with the beautiful, temperamental dark-haired diva with the amazing voice? Yeah, no, you're right, that has nothing to do with our life," Quinn snickered, offering Rachel a spoonful of her ice cream to keep her from pouting.
"Fine," Rachel sighed, opening her mouth for the ice cream. Quinn fed her and then kissed her, swirling her tongue around the cold, chocolatey treat in Rachel's mouth. "Mmmm…Quinn-flavored ice cream, yum," the dark-haired girl sighed, making her girlfriend giggle sleepily.
"Sorry I woke you, baby," Quinn yawned, scooping up the last of the ice cream and putting her bowl aside on the table. "I tried to be quiet when I got up…"
"You didn't wake me, don't worry. And anyway, it's not your fault…I believe I already had a conversation with this one about being on her best behavior tonight?" Rachel poked Quinn's rounded stomach, making the blonde girl giggle again. "Have you had enough ice cream in there now? Because your mamas need sleep if we're gonna make the entire Midwest regional show choir association swoon tomorrow." Hearing Rachel refer to the two of them as the baby's moms made Quinn's heart thump loudly in her chest, and she pulled Rachel back up for another long, deep kiss, waking them both up more than a little.
"Shall we go back upstairs?" Quinn asked coyly when she broke away, leaving Rachel with a glazed expression, eyes dark with lust.
"Hell yeah." Rachel scrambled to her feet, regionals effectively forgotten for the first time in days as she held out her hand for her girlfriend. They started towards the stairs, when suddenly Rachel stopped so abruptly that Quinn walked into her back.
"Wait a minute," the dark-haired girl said anxiously, turning to face the confused blonde. "You really think I'm as temperamental as Ashley Davies?" Quinn groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Do you want to get lucky tonight, or do you want to analyze our resemblance to fictional characters?"
"Right. Sorry. Option A, if it's still available?"
"Yes, dear, it's still available…but we'll have to be quick if we want to be rested for regionals tomorrow. That's not very romantic, is it?"
"It's extremely romantic. If we're going to sing about being faithful to each other, we need lots of practice getting into the proper spirit of the song, Quinn. It's called method acting." Rachel smirked triumphantly, letting her fingers trail down between her girlfriend's thighs. Quinn groaned, feeling her cheeks flush and her skin come alive, like Rachel had just flipped a switch somewhere. It was very hard not to throw the gorgeous dark-haired girl down against the stairs and tear her pajamas off right there.
"Then get upstairs and show me your method," the blonde girl growled. Grinning delightedly, Rachel grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs.