Epilogue
The superintendent is able to convince the board to turn McKinley into an Arts school, causing Rachel to realize that her mission has been completed. They have drinks on her patio one of the nights before Rachel is set to head back to Broadway to join Jesse St. James in a musical she refuses to disclose to any of them yet.
She asks Rachel about it, why she chose not to stay once the two of them were a few drinks in so the questions didn't feel as heavy as they would if they were sober.
"It wasn't my dream." Had been Rachel's answer, and she didn't have to specify on whose it actually was, they both knew. "But that didn't mean I was willing to give up on his." Rachel twirls her wine in her glass as she ponders on how to add onto her answer, the question still feeling somewhat unanswered. "I got everything up and running again, and I think he would be okay if I left everything the way it is now to focus on myself."
Rachel nods her head, satisfied and looks up to the nightsky. She knows she is looking at Finn's star, the coordinates of it tattooed on her wrist so she always knows exactly where he is, looking down on her.
"What about Puck?" She asks casually, but they both know he won't stay. He had mentioned to Sam that he didn't want to do it without Rachel, and even though Rachel continues to deny it, she thinks Puck had always been a little in love with Rachel, and maybe thought that running the New Directions together would be there way of finally falling together and making things right instead of falling together and causing everything in their lives to fall apart the way they used to.
But she isn't worried about Puck. She knows he'll go back to the airforce and figure things out. Puck has always been that way.
xxx
She attends her first ever pride parade in New York after gay marriage is legalized in all fifty states. Kurt calls her crying the day it happens, and she and Sam decide to march alongside their closest friends over this long-awaited right finally given to the people she cares about.
She watches with Sam as Kurt holds his hand intertwined with Adam's high alongside Brittany and Santana, and Sebastian and Blaine, and the hundreds of thousands couples that join them as they cheer and parade across the streets.
Adam bends down to tie his shoe, and the rest of them wait for him to finish while the other marchers move around them. Sam tells her he's getting a phone call and steps to the side.
After lacing up his shoe, she expects Adam to stand back up, but he doesn't. Instead he pulls a ring box out of his pocket and opens it to reveal a silver band.
She gasps and pulls Santana and Brittany to the side to where Sam is standing and filming everything to give Kurt and Adam some space.
Some passerbyers notice Adam's proposal and stand in a circle to watch.
"Kurt, I've known from the minute I saw you staring at that Adam's Apples poster that you were it for me. A loud little kid from a town in Ohio that I had never heard of, and now that same-sex marriage is legal in America, there is no one else I would rather get legally married too. So Kurt, will you marry me?"
Kurt nods behind the hands he has thrown over his mouth and the crowd formed around them erupts in cheers. She cries a little, and hugs Kurt as soon as he's finished kissing Adam. Brittany and Santana inspect his band, so she turns to Sam, surprised he didn't tell her about the surprise proposal.
"Do you remember how nervous you were before Santana proposed to Brittany?" He asks and she pushes him playfully. Oh well, nothing can kill her happy mood right now.
xxx
She graduates in the fall. She has no clue what she's going to do with a Political Sciences degree, but she isn't opposed to graduate school so she can figure everything out. Kurt had helped her land an internship with a local law office focusing on equality rights so maybe that will help her figure out if politics and law is her thing.
Kurt also graduates from NYADA, Adam had graduated years prior due to being a few years older from all of them. He already has his job lined up at Vogue, opting to steer away from Broadway, always having that passion for fashion. He still acts in the odd play held at a local theatre, but he doesn't love it as much as he used to, when he had so much time still on his hands.
They all come down for her graduation, at least those who can. Santana and Brittany drive down with Sam, and Brittany FaceTimes Mercedes during her ceremony because she is currently on tour with Beyonce. Rachel refuses to attend rehearsals for that week, forcing them to reschedule so she and Jesse can all focus on her graduation, even though she's ninety percent sure she and Jesse have never had an actual conversation other than the usual hello, how are you?. Tina and Mike come down from Chicago and Rhode Island, and Artie and Blaine take a train down together. Puck sends his best, which is enough for her.
Her mom flies down with the Evans' and Stacey tells her all about how her mom let her wear a little bit of lip gloss for this special occasion. She tells Stacey she feels honoured that she would dress up so much for her.
To her surprise, Burt and Carole also attend. Carole gives her a bouquet of daffodils, telling her a story how Finn had once ripped them out of her garden their freshmen year for his first date with Quinn. She doesn't miss how they lay in an empty seat between Kurt and Carole.
xxx
NYADA's graduation ceremony is this huge thing. She feels extremely underdressed with the floor length black dress she bought, since everyone else seems to be wearing three piece suits and gowns.
She was ready to strangle Sam with the tie she forced him to wear. If there's one thing everyone should know about her boyfriend, it's that he hates to dress up. Yet somehow they have the fanciest friends in the world that require them all to constantly dress up for things.
They sit with Burt, Carole, Adam, Santana, and Brittany and Artie, Blaine, Sebastian, Tina, Mike, Rachel, and Jesse sit in the row ahead of them. She thinks there has to be way more students than there were at her ceremony, but luckily Kurt is somewhat in the middle. Sam keeps falling asleep once they reach the letter M, causing her to have to continuously elbow him every thirty minutes.
Kurt goes to dinner with Adam and his parents after the ceremony, so they don't end up having their annual glee reunion dinner until the next evening, which is really breakfast for Mercedes who they FaceTime the entire time because she is in Tokyo which is thirteen hours ahead.
Their group is bigger now than it used to be. They've added a few members, like Adam, Jesse and Sebastian. Jesse and Sebastian, once the villains in most of their stories, somehow turned out to be lovers to their closest friends. She finds she actually has a lot in common with Sebastian from the times they would chit chat at the apartment during the spare free moments they had to talk while their respective boyfriends were trying to get themselves organized.
Both from wealthy families and unaccepting fathers they would rather forget about. They both also have a huge love for crime documentaries and shitty reality tv (even though she's convinced Sebastian has a love for the latter because of Blaine). But regardless of who they add, without their original members, it will forever feel like something is missing.
xxx
She and Kurt go on a two week long trip to Paris once they graduate. They visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum and drink wine and eat french foods she can barely pronounce.
Kurt gets them special access into the buildings and shows of Louis Vuitton and Hermès, flashing around the Vogue card Isabelle gave him for this trip and she genuinely would not be upset if they never left.
She and Kurt speak shitty high school french that the locals giggle about while they're drunk off of expensive wine at two in the morning, strolling down Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
She thinks she spends half of her bank account shopping at the Marais and on Rue Saint-Honoré, buying items from designers she never thought she would be able to afford. She thinks she praises Kurt for sticking with the Vogue route at least twice an hour, bless his and Isabelle's soul for getting them discounts.
Kurt had done most of the research for their trip, and the five days they don't spend shopping, they spend sightseeing. He drags her to the top of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur to see all of Paris and to the Cathédrale de Notre Dame. They people watch at the Luxembourg Gardens and discover Degas, Renoir, and Manet at the Musée d'Orsay.
When it's time for them to leave, she's already begging Sam over FaceTime to bring her back again.
xxx
Mike and Tina get married during the winter of that year. Mike has also graduated, but Tina had been too anxious to wait until her own graduation. What's a couple of months? She had said.
It's a much smaller wedding than Santana and Brittany's, with a lot less people as well. Tina only chooses three bridesmaids including her maid of honour, and the same with Mike.
Their parents deal with most of the wedding planning, and it is held in a church so they don't need to worry much about decorating or organizing.
She still arrives early because she's a bridesmaid and Sam is Mike's best man.
But the added stress of having to plan and organize everything is gone, bless both Mike and Tina's mothers for deciding to plan this wedding themselves.
Tina chooses royal blue for them all to wear for bridesmaid dresses and men's ties. She has no objections because blue is her favourite colour. Brittany wears anything so she knows she couldn't care less, and none of the men are complaining. It's Tina's maid of honour, Mercedes, who is a little displeased. Mercedes is convinced royal blue is not her colour causing her and Brittany to have to spend forty-five minutes convincing Mercedes that she makes anything work.
Because she is not the maid of honour and Sam is Mike's best man, they don't get to walk out together. But she doesn't mind, she's not as jealous as she used to be in high school. Tina pairs her up with Matt who she hasn't talked to in years so it gives them a good opportunity to catch up. Brittany wheels Artie out at the end who scatters pink and white flower petals all over the aisle for when Tina walks out.
Even though traditionally the best man carries the groom's ring, Tina and Mike felt more comfortable having her keep the rings for safekeeping because they all know her boyfriend just isn't as responsible as she is.
It's a beautiful ceremony. Both Tina and Mike's vows compliment each other, talking about how the both of them had danced alone for so long and now have finally found someone who will forever dance to the beat of their music. If you know her, you know she definitely shed a few tears.
Puck brings a girl named Jennifer to the wedding. Setting apart from his usual type, she has striking red hair and freckles she would die for, with stunning blue eyes that remind her of the ocean. Brittany gasps and says It's Ariel! as soon as Puck walks in with his date wrapped around his arm, causing an inside joke to be created where whenever the girls want to gossip about Puck's date who seemed to appear out of nowhere they call her Ariel.
She doesn't get to sit with them during the reception so she can't pry the girl for information because all the bridesmaids and groomsmen must sit together at one table with their dates, meaning at their table it's herself, Sam, Brittany, Santana, Artie, Kitty, Matt, and Mercedes.
But at least she has Kurt, because sitting at the other glee alumni table (even though Unique has now graduated as well they still all consider her a newbie) is Kurt, Adam, Sebastian, Blaine, Rachel, Jesse, Puck, and Jennifer.
She is a little relieved that she doesn't have to sit at the table with Puck and Rachel together because she's not sure how awkward that will be. Although Rachel wouldn't disclose her and Puck's conversation when Rachel broke the news to him that she was leaving to go on Broadway (with Jesse St. James out of all people), Sam had told her Puck was definitely a little heartbroken and angry.
But it seems that the two of them are okay now because whenever she peeks back at them they seem to all be talking and laughing together. But that also doesn't mean Puck's eyes don't shine when Rachel tips her head back to laugh at something Kurt says.
Tina and Mike dance to a more modernized, slowed down version of Getting To Know You, the song Tina was singing when she and Mike had first got together at that Asian summer camp years and years ago. When the DJ calls all the couples to the floor, she dances with Sam to Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. He makes a big show of twirling and spinning her around; dipping her whenever she's least expecting it, causing her to crash into a few unexpecting couples, leading her to have to apologize between giggles and drags Sam away, glaring at him while stifling her laughter.
Tina and Mike move over to them and joke that they're taking all the attention from them. Eventually she moves to dance with Kurt after the slow songs end so she can hear all about Jennifer.
She learns that Jennifer's father had been a respected member of the air force, and she works as a nurse at Puck's base, where the two of them met. Her mother was a school teacher, and a mother of four children (Jennifer being the youngest) and the five of them had lived on a farm with her aunt and uncle in Kansas.
Being sick of the small town life, she had volunteered herself for an exchange program where she studied in Italy for two years before returning back to Kansas for graduation.
She did her military-medicine training at Duke University and now works at the air force her father had been stationed at before he retired the year she graduated high school.
She has to admit, she's surprised someone that accomplished was drawn to someone like Puck, because despite all the change for the better he has done, Puck still barely managed to graduate high school. But looking at the two of them dancing across the room, she can't deny it, it looks like Puck had finally found his soulmate, even if there was a small part of him who didn't fully believe it yet.
xxx
She and Sam move in together after Christmas break. She had practically moved herself into his apartment anyways in the fall, since after her Paris trip with Kurt she decided to spend the rest of her summer with her mom.
She had to quit the cafe she was working at, finally realizing that driving back and forth three times a week from New Hempstead to New Haven just didn't make sense. She cried when she left, having grown close to the owner of the cafe, Susan. She promises to come visit whenever she can, and email her any life updates she has.
Artie and Blaine finally decide they need their own space in November. They don't find an apartment which is close to both Artie's film school and NYADA until right before Tina and Mike's wedding, and they don't officially move out until a few weeks after.
She tells Sam they can move somewhere closer to both of their jobs. Her internship is in the heart of New York City, but she doesn't mind driving a longer distance so he's closer to his school.
But Sam is adamant on staying, saying that New Hempstead is central to everything, which she admits is true.
xxx
Brittany drops out of university in the spring. She states that she doesn't love studying formulas and equations all day long, she loves to dance. So using some of the money she had received from some mathematicians at Stanford after she had solved one of their math problems, she opens up a dance studio.
It's small and had been closed for over twenty years so Brittany ropes all of them into helping her fix it up again for three months until she is able to open it officially. She has an opening party that gives them all an opportunity to see each other again. Even Mr. Shue brings Danny down, never missing one of his students' accomplishments.
Brittany forces her to do all of the business aspects of things until Santana graduates, none of them knowing when exactly that will be since Santana only finished half a year at the University of Louisville.
She knows absolutely nothing about business, only remembering a few key things she learned from her father who was a COO of a finance company, but Santana is studying business so she teaches her the basics.
She gets Brittany an accountant because dealing with money and financing is something she did not sign up for, but she quickly begins to fall in love with it.
This also means she has a jam packed schedule. Her internship is five days a week, but two of those days only have her there until three in the afternoon instead of the usual eight pm clock out time and on Friday's she's out at lunch.
Brittany's able to manage things the two days she's at her internship for the entire day, but she's putting in hours at the dance studio whenever she can because her internship doesn't start paying her until three months in.
She's never been the best dancer, but Brittany had her teach a tiny tot ballet class because the dancer who was supposed to cover it ended up biting off more than she could chew.
It's only once a week, Friday's at 7pm, but she quickly finds it the best part of her week. Starting off the weekend teaching little four and five year olds how to spin and twirl.
xxx
It turns out Rachel manages to get the role of Fantine in the musical Les Misérables and doesn't mention it to any of them until Artie sees her on a billboard a month before opening night while on his way to dinner with a classmate.
It's not as easy as it used to be to get everyone to drop all of their commitments to be there for their friends. Puck is busy with the Air Force, Mercedes still has her tour. The rest of them all attend, but it starts to hit her that this is what growing up feels like, slowly losing the bond you share with people one at a time.
She cries about it to Sam on the way back to their apartment because instead of going to a club this time, Rachel actually has to attend the cast party with Jesse. Sam of course just thinks she's being ridiculous, but she's always been more right about things than he has.
A week later Shelby asks her if she'd like to attend an evening show with her and Beth. It takes her two whole days to respond, and for a while she considers using her internship or the dance studio as an excuse, but Sam, Brittany, and Santana all tell her that they think it's a bad idea.
Kurt is the one who convinces her during a dinner the two of them have the day before she agrees. He tells her that one day she'll regret not having a relationship with her daughter, and that if it's too much for her she doesn't have to do it again, but at least if she goes she can say she tried.
They settle on a Friday night show because that way Beth doesn't have to worry about bedtime. Brittany offers to cover her class for her which she is so grateful for, and she has a breakdown on what to wear.
Sam looks at her completely freaked out while she sobs and hyperventilates at the bottom of their (his that she's mostly taken over) closet. He calls Kurt, who finds her in the same position two hours later, looking like a lost child staring up at him with puffy eyes and shaky hands.
"What if she hates me for giving her up?" She asks Kurt while he rummages through her clothes to try and find something, Sam retired to the living room after deciding this was something too much for him to deal with.
"Honey, I'm sure she knows that you gave her up to give her a better life. You weren't ready to take care of a child in the tenth grade babe." Kurt soothes her while holding up different dresses to see which would suit her better.
"Should I bring her something?" She asks and Kurt pauses, thinking about his answer.
"Maybe, but I think it has to be something sentimental. If she knows you're her mom, she'll probably want something that means something rather than just some useless toy."
Kurt finally settles on an emerald cocktail dress and throws her hair in a low bun after she's put it on. She does her own makeup, and he chooses a pair of black pumps for her to wear and finds a matching clutch.
Kurt leaves shortly after, telling her she'll do great. She snuggles into Sam and watches some random football game with him to pass the time until she has to leave.
An hour later it's time for them to go, Sam driving her because she's too nervous to drive herself. Before they leave she heads back into her room and slips something into a brown paper bag before following Sam out the door.
The restaurant is close to the theatre so it takes them over an hour to get there, but it still takes her ten extra minutes to convince herself to get out of the car. Sam doesn't say anything, just rubs circles into her hand until she's ready.
She takes a deep breath and nods to herself, deciding it's now or never. She kisses Sam goodbye and tells him she'll see him tomorrow when he picks her up since she'll be sleeping over at Kurt, Adam, and Rachel's apartment because it just makes more sense that way.
Her legs feel like jelly the entire walk inside the restaurant, and she freezes once she gets inside and sees Beth and Shelby sitting at a table. She guesses she stands there for a while because the hostess says "ma'am" in kind of an annoyed tone, and she heads to the table, a little embarrassed.
Shelby sees her walking and smiles at her, but it doesn't ease any of her nerves. She sets the brown paper bag next to her chair once she sits down and waits to see how Shelby has introduced her to Beth.
"Beth, this is Quinn. Remember we talked about who Quinn was?" Shelby asks and Beth nods, looking a little nervous as well.
Shelby then turns to her to explain. "I explained to Beth that just how Rachel is my daughter, I gave her to her dads because I knew they would love her just as much as I did, but they were just able to give her more at that time."
Tears feel her eyes, and she whispers "thank you" to Shelby for telling Beth that even though her biological parents had to give her up, they still love her.
Throughout dinner she gets to know Beth. She still has the same blonde hair and eyes that she has, but she has Puck's nose and soft smile. She thinks the nervousness comes from her and wonders how many qualities of hers Beth has and which of Puck's she inherited.
She learns Beth plays soccer, and is super competitive which Quinn guesses comes from both her and Puck. She's six now, so she's just started kindergarten. It takes her a while to warm up to Quinn, but once she does she doesn't stop talking which Beth definitely gets from Puck.
As they eat their dinner Beth tells her all about the fact that even though she's in kindergarten she can already read which she definitely gets from her. She also learns that Shelby works as a vocal coach for children.
Before they leave Shelby brings up the brown paper bag she had brung in which she almost forgot about. She picks it up and hands it to Shelby, not knowing if it was appropriate for her to hand it over straight to Beth.
"It's for Beth, I hope you don't mind I brought her something." She says, kicking herself because she probably should have made sure it was okay with Shelby first.
"Of course not." Shelby says smiling, passing the bag over to Beth and she internally sighs in relief.
Beth pulls her present out of the bag, a small pink scrapbook.
Beth examines it for a bit, without flipping through any of the pages and she suddenly feels the need to explain her gift.
"It's a scrapbook. I had made all these scrapbooks during my senior year of high school, but I never got the chance to give you yours." She says, catching Shelby's guilty look out of the corner of her eye because both of them know why.
Beth traces her finger over the cover page, where she had put a picture of her in the hospital holding Beth the day she was born. Below the picture she had stitched out Beth, and then written from Quinn on the bottom, not knowing how Shelby would feel if she wrote mom.
She opens up the first page where Quinn had written her a letter, one she knows Beth will understand more when she is older. Thankfully Beth doesn't read through the letter, but looks over to the next page where she has a picture of her and Puck in the hospital, her holding Beth and him standing next to her hospital bed, still in his gown.
"You probably don't remember him, but that guy standing beside me is your dad." She shares and Beth nods.
"You have his nose." Shelby jokes and Beth grins.
She had included pages explaining who she and Puck both were in high school, and even added a page on Beth's grandmother's. She focused more on herself, her likes and dislikes and talents and hobbies so Beth knows which ones she gets from her, even if it is a tad bit selfish, but she had included some about Puck because Beth also deserves to know who her dad is.
While Beth looks through the pages Shelby turns her attention to Quinn.
"I just wanted to give my condolences regarding Finn's death." Shelby says and the smile she got from watching Beth look through the scrapbook falls from her face, Shelby completely catching her by surprise.
"I heard about it from Will, or Mr. Shue I should say. He was a great guy, a perfect match for Rachel."
She nods, not knowing what else to say, and not trusting her voice anyway because of the lump forming in her throat.
"She stayed with me that week. Now that we were both in New York I told her she was always welcome to come whenever she needed anything, but I wasn't expecting her to show up at my door at two in the morning in the pouring rain." Shelby says, referring to the week the rest of them were in Lima for the funeral. "She wouldn't get out of bed for two days, I had to get Beth to drag her out. She only ate liquids the whole week." Shelby says, shaking her head sadly.
"Such a great guy, it's a shame. Life can be so cruel." Shelby says and she wipes a stray tear that falls from her eye.
"Are you happy with the relationship you have with her now?" She asks, steering away from the topic of Finn because the wound is still somewhat fresh.
Shelby smiles at the table, her thoughts and memories at a past time she is sure of.
"You know, I got Jesse to introduce me to Rachel all those years ago because I wanted a relationship with her so badly. But then I was given that opportunity and it hurt so bad because I had missed so much."
Shelby looks up at Beth, the sad smile still on her face. "Rachel's fathers had told me when I had given her up that if I wanted to keep in touch with Rachel I could, otherwise I wasn't allowed to contact her until she was an adult, and I chose the second option." Shelby tucks a strand of hair behind Beth's ear who is still studying the scrapbook. "And everyday I regretted it."
"And then I heard about Rachel's audition for Funny Girl. I'm sure she told you about how we sang a duet together at NYADA. God, I was so proud of her. And I realized how stupid I was for letting our relationship slip through my fingers. I'm so grateful she allows me to be in her life." Shelby says, and she nods because she can tell Shelby isn't looking for a response.
They all leave the restaurant shortly after that, the paper bag hanging from Beth's small hand, her other hand tucked in Quinn's which had definitely caught her by surprise.
They stop by a small flower shop before they head to the theatre to get a bouquet for Rachel. Beth picks a bouquet filled of blue, pink, red, and yellow flowers and she buys a small camellia flower for Beth to tuck in her hair.
Beth sits between them once they get to the theatre and seems amazed by everything. Other than Beth's odd gasps and ooo's. It remains mostly quiet, until I Dreamed A Dream starts.
Rachel sits at the center of the stage and begins to sing, and she can hear Shelby suck in a breath.
"I sang her this song, when I had told her I was her mom. I sang this song. And I know it was in the musical, but I sang this song." Shelby trails off, saying these words to no one in particular.
Rachel is nothing short of amazing the entire time, and they stand and cheer the loudest once Rachel does her bows.
While they wait in the lobby Shelby recognizes someone so she talks to them while they wait for Rachel, causing her to hang out with Beth which she of course does not mind.
Rachel doesn't take as long as she usually does, leaving with all of her makeup still on. She hugs both Shelby and Beth when she gets to them and asks the both of them how they found the musical.
"So cool!" Beth shouts, causing them all to laugh, and Shelby tells her that she was wonderful.
"Which one did you like better, Funny Girl or this one?" Rachel asks Beth as they exit the lobby. She hadn't realized Beth and Shelby had seen one of Rachel's Funny Girl shows.
"Funny Girl, this one was sad." Beth answers, brutally honest like every child is.
She and Rachel take Shelby and Beth back to their house using Rachel's driver and once they drop them off, Rachel pries her for details.
"It was fine!" She laughs. "Beth doesn't hate me, which is the most important thing." She says and Rachel smiles.
"I'm glad you have this Quinn." Rachel says, but she can hear the words she didn't say: because I didn't. So she lays her head on Rachel's shoulder and squeezes her hand as the two of them head home.
xxx
Sam graduates the following year. Their whole New York gang attends, plus Mike and Tina. Burt and Carole drive all the way up to New York again, but never seem to mind. She knows Burt and Carole have always been really close to both her and Sam.
Stevie and Stacey are older now, at the ages of thirteen and fourteen and have no problem telling Sam how tired they are of the going back and forth. He feigns shock and tells them that a lot of kids are probably jealous they get to go to New York, which he gets an eye roll in response.
He had switched his major after his first year, but somehow managed to graduate on time. She thinks it's because of all the summer classes he took while she was on vacation.
He graduates with a psychology degree with a minor in counselling, finding a passion in working with kids. Two years ago he had run a football summer camp with some fellow teammates and came home after the camp had ended stating that he wanted to work with kids. She wasn't surprised, he had always done so well with his siblings.
Straight out of university he and a buddy find a job at a local gym for at-risk youth and work as trainers there.
xxx
Brittany and Santana announce that they are pregnant a year later. Santana is about a semester from graduating from NYU and neither of them really wanted to wait that long.
They decide that Brittany will be the one to have the baby because all of them know it will be a lot peaceful of a pregnancy if Brittany is the one to do it.
She's so excited when they announce their pregnancy, constantly making sure that Brittany is taking it easy at the studio and she sends over baby clothes that she finds at little boutiques every other week.
Santana gets so fed up with the amount of baby clothes Quinn buys before Brittany even hits two months that she threatens to not allow Quinn to see the baby once it's born if she keeps it up.
Safe to say she stops after that.
xxx
It takes Kurt two years to plan his wedding. Unlike Brittany and Santana, he doesn't want any help.
He and Adam get married in a castle. When Kurt tells them all the venue of his wedding none of them are really surprised. Singer castle is a five and a half hour drive from both New York City and New Hempstead, so most of them stay in nearby hotels or in the actual castle the night before because of course Kurt wants a morning wedding so they can have the reception the same day.
She complains about it to Sam the whole way there, saying that Santana and Brittany's wedding started at two and they still had their reception the same night.
Kurt has four bridesmaids, and picks violet for them all to wear. Rachel is his maid of honour, his other bridesmaids being herself, Mercedes and Santana. Adam also has four groomsmen, his best man being his older brother and two of his other groomsmen being his best friends, the last one being a close cousin, all dressed in light grey.
The ceremony and the officiant emphasizes that the wedding symbolizes love is love regardless of what it looks like. Regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, culture, etc., we are all just human beings loving human beings and that is something that should be celebrated.
It's a beautiful speech, but Adam's vows are so much prettier. She had known Adam had always had a way with words, graduating from NYADA with a creative writing degree and pursuing a career in film writing. He keeps his vows fun and lighthearted, but also full of love and promises and she thinks it is one of the most beautiful things she has ever heard.
And one of the most beautiful things she has ever seen? Kurt's grin of absolute happiness when the officiant pronounces them legally married.
Kurt gets them to take professional pictures between the ceremony and reception, giving the guests a few hours to unwind beforehand.
Sam complains about not getting to unwind himself before the reception and she has to glare at him because she knows that this is important to Kurt. She personally wouldn't need around two hours to take pictures, but to each is their own.
Brittany is around four months along and is showing the tiniest bit, so they're able to find her a chair to sit in between shots.
Her feet ache ten minutes after they start. Of course Kurt wants her to practically be in every picture. And he had to pick the most uncomfortable shoes for them all to wear. She's in the shots for the wedding party, the glee kids, some of Kurt's closest friends, and the family photos.
Tina, completely shoving her foot into her mouth, had accidentally said out loud that just the shots with Kurt, Carole, and Burt looked a little empty.
The photographer suggested they add Adam, but completely unaware of their situation agreed that it does look like something is missing.
Burt and Carole, understandably a little sad, look at each other unaware of what to do. She nudges Sam and nods for him to go over. She knows Burt and Carole won't be offended if he photobombs their family shot.
"Their honorary son is missing." Sam jokes, throwing his suit jacket back on to join the four of them.
Carole smiles tearfully, grateful and Burt looks relieved. The photographer looks into the camera and says "perfect!"
They take a few shots and then Sam takes a step away from beside Burt, leaving a human-sized space. The photographer seems confused, but then seems to understand why and smiles before continuing to take more photos.
Santana then walks up to them holding a framed photo of Finn. "Brittany brought it, she said it only felt right Finn was here. Maybe you can use it." Santana suggests softly and Kurt takes the frame and hugs her.
"Thank you." He whispers, his voice a little watery.
They take some more pictures with the frame, and then Carole waves her in. She runs quickly to join Carole at the end and smiles. Their makeshift little family.
Brittany gruffs while getting up from her chair and claims she wants in as well, and invites herself and Santana as well.
Soon after that, all of the New Directions join and Carole's sound of laughter makes her feel warm. The sun shining down on Finn's framed photo.
"three for three." Quinn brags once they head to their table at the reception, a running joke between the two of them because of how many weddings they have been a bridesmaid or groomsmen for.
"Yeah well, I'm obviously going to be Blaine's best man." Sam fights back, knowing he is a lot closer to Blaine than she is to either Blaine or Sebastian.
Adam had placed all of his family at one table (more like Kurt had) so unlike the other weddings the groomsmen and bridesmaids are split up. Not that she minds, although she has gotten close to Adam's sister-in-law, she still doesn't know his family all that well.
She sits at a table with Santana, Brittany, Mike, and Tina. Although she quickly begins to realize how bad of an idea that really was because they constantly tease Sam and Quinn and ask when the two of them are going to be next.
"Soon." Sam answers them, a smug look hiding behind his champagne glass and a look of confusion for her. It's an unspoken thing that the two of them plan to get married, obviously to each other, but they haven't exactly talked about when.
She jumps every time Sam bends down to do something for the next two and a half months.
xxx
Santana and Brittany do a joint baby shower/gender reveal party. Despite Rachel's opening night inching closer and closer, she volunteers to organize the entire thing with Quinn. Rachel deals with the gender reveal aspect because everyone knows Santana is way more likely to get Quinn to spill the beans than Rachel.
To keep the party as gender neutral as possible, she and Rachel decide on a balloon type themed party. Because they are doing a cutting cake reveal, she and Rachel decide Rachel will deal with everything food related and she will deal with decorations with Sam who the two of them roped into helping.
She finds a party company who specializes in events and helps her with not only the balloons but with the other decorations as well. She orders balloon arches along with helium balloons that say Team Boy, Team Girl, Baby, etc.
She orders the table clothes, plates, napkins, cutlery, etc. all from the same company to keep things easier.
They send Brittany and Santana to stay with Kurt and Adam so she and Rachel can head over to Santana and Brittany's apartment whenever they have free time in their busy schedules.
Rachel finished getting everything on her end ready a few days prior so she helps Quinn out with decorating. Quinn drops off decorations whenever she can and whoever gets there first between her and Rachel sets it up.
Between her, Sam, Rachel and even Kurt they manage to get everything ready the night before. She and Rachel just decide to stay at Santana and Brittany's apartment for the night so they can wake up the next morning and get all the games and food ready before Santana and Brittany get there.
She moans gratefully when she wakes up the next morning and Rachel is already up and ready, a cup of coffee in her hands and one ready for Quinn on Brittany and Santana's island.
She quickly gets herself ready in the bathroom while Rachel starts to take out the food. They had asked the guests to dress as their guess for the gender, and Sam had been adamant on the baby being a boy, so she wears a baby blue sundress with yellow flowers on it. Rachel is dressed in a pink wrap dress, her guess is a girl.
They get the food that does not require refrigeration first. On a dessert table, they throw baby shower themed cupcakes, brownies, candies, cookies, etc. on blue and pink plates and platters. She throws up a sign that says Welcome Baby behind the table onto a stand and attaches circular flower decorations around the sign.
They then finish getting the games table organized. While getting the clothespins ready for their Don't Say Baby game Sam arrives dressed in a baby blue polo shirt and a pair of white shorts. He takes over helping her so Rachel can answer emails and return phone calls regarding the musical.
Shortly after finishing with the games, Santana and Brittany arrive in tow with Kurt and Adam. Brittany looks around and gasps, tears pricking her eyes which she blames on hormones, but she can see Santana's eyes have become glossy as well.
"Quinn, this is beautiful." Brittany praises, taking in all the decorations. Right by their entrance, she and Rachel had set up a gifts table, a life sized stuffed bear sitting next to it. Around the table is one of the balloon arches, filled with blue, pink, violet, yellow, and pastel green coloured balloons. She had added helium balloons saying Baby near the entrance.
Further in the apartment, next to the island they have their dessert table since they will be putting all the food on the island. On the island they have streams hanging from the lights above it.
Across from the island is the sitting area, where she put the Team Boy balloons on one side with blue and white helium balloons surrounding it and Team Girl with pink and gold helium balloons surrounding those balloons.
She grabs the two white sashes that Rachel had picked up that say Mommy To Be in gold cursive writing and places them on Santana and Brittany.
"Thank you for this Quinn, seriously." Santana says, hugging her.
Soon after, the baby shower begins. Rachel is in charge of games, so she and Sam deal with refilling all the food and taking the empty trays back into the kitchen once they are done with.
When there are only a few games left, Rachel gives her the signal and she begins to tally up the guesses of the gender of Santana and Brittany's paper she had all the guests do once they arrived.
"Okay." She announces once Rachel finishes with the last game. "It is time for the reveal." She states and everyone begins to cheer and squeal in anticipation.
Sam carries out a yellow animal themed cake, decorated with a bunch of little fondant tigers, giraffes, cows, dogs, etc. with Rachel behind him carrying the knife.
Rachel leads Brittany and Santana over to the cake as she announces the results of the guesses.
"We had fifteen guesses for a boy, and eighteen for a girl." She shares as Brittany and Santana get ready to cut the cake.
She walks over to Sam who is recording and stands between him and Rachel, whispering to Rachel to tell her the gender now, but Rachel just shakes her head.
Santana and Brittany both cut the cake, excruciatingly slowly, and gasp when they take out the slice.
"What is it!?" She cries, getting a shush from Sam.
"It's a girl!" Brittany cries as Santana turns the cake around so everyone can see. She cries, overwhelmed with joy, so incredibly happy for her friends.
xxx
Brittany stops teaching classes once she's seven months pregnant. She had taken on the easier classes after about three months, mainly focusing on the tiny tot classes or monitoring the teenage ones, but both Quinn and Santana decide it's probably best for Brittany to just rest until the baby comes for now.
Which means she has to pick up some of the slack. Things at her internship have been a little slow lately so she doesn't mind putting in the extra hours, and they hired a new instructor so it's not like she has to take over all of Brittany's duties.
It keeps her busy, distracting her from the fact that her best friends are getting closer and closer to having a baby. Sam also helps out with some of the finance stuff, having always been good with numbers. So she would be lying if she didn't like it a little better that she gets to spend at least one full day of the week with her boyfriend.
It beats only seeing each other in the evening when they would get back from their respective jobs. Sam works as a camp instructor for the summer, and then works with at-risk kids at a local gym, keeping himself busy all five days of the week and the weekend.
They only really had three days to have dinner with each other, which one was spent in Bushwick at their usual weekly dinner at the loft, which they now moved to Santana and Brittany's apartment for the time being.
But she wouldn't trade their dinners for the world. Now done with her world tour, Mercedes had moved back to New York to work on another album. Living in their own nearby apartment, Artie and Kitty both attend every week along with Blaine and Sebastian.
Rachel, now moved out of the loft to give Kurt and Sebastian space, attends when she can, which they understand, sometimes bringing Jesse.
She and Sam attend every week, and sometimes stay the night in a guest bedroom that used to belong to either Rachel or Santana when they don't feel like driving back to New Hempstead.
xxx
Brittany gives birth at 37 weeks. It's a beautiful day in August when she gets the call. She's at the studio, teaching a class of eight and nine year olds ballet when one of the instructors comes rushing out of the office telling her that Brittany is in labour.
At first, she panics. Having no idea what to do, she frantically runs around until one of the instructors tells her she will cover her class and to go to the hospital. She gathers the cards some of the students had made for Brittany and rushes to the hospital, calling Sam from her bluetooth inside of her car.
"It's happening!" She gets out when he answers, only having a few minutes because he's on lunch break.
"Huh?" Is what he says in response, and if she wasn't totally freaking out she would have rolled her eyes.
"The baby Sam! Brittany's having her baby!" She practically shouts at him.
"OH! Okay, I'll get to the hospital as soon as I'm off." He promises and the exchange I love you's before she hangs up.
Her hands don't stop shaking the entire ride there.
She's there first, other than Santana of course. Santana and Brittany's mothers are also in the room, and Maribel tells her that Santana's grandmother is in the cafeteria getting some coffee for all of them and they're going to go join her if she has this, referring to dealing with Santana and Brittany. She had stopped by a nearby dollar store and gotten balloons blown up that say It's A Girl!. Brittany looks calm when she gets there, although there is a sheer layer of sweat on her body. Santana looks more worried than she does.
"Quinn thank god, shouldn't she be in pain or something?" Santana asks her frantically as she places the balloons in the corner of Brittany's room.
"Didn't you ask the nurse?" She asks back and Santana glares at her.
"You're the one who's given birth before!" Santana shouts at her.
"Like seven years ago! And it's different for everyone." She fires back and Santana just huffs while crossing her arms.
"If it makes you feel better, Sanny, it hurts a little." Brittany offers, but Santana just pouts further.
She suspects the others won't be arriving until later. Artie has a project he's working for, she's pretty sure Blaine has rehearsal as well as Rachel. Mercedes is in the studio, Kurt is at Vogue and Adam will probably come with him. Tina and Mike left from Lima as soon as she texted Tina.
The hours fly by quickly and Mercedes joins them around three telling them she ended her session in the studio early.
"She's only been in labour for about three hours, so it's probably still going to be a while." She tells Mercedes as they sit in a nearby restaurant to have a late lunch. They talk about Mercedes' upcoming music video and how her album is coming along. She also fills Quinn in on some of the dates she's been having with a guy named Mike.
"It's not official yet, so keep it lowkey, but I really like him Q." Mercedes tells her shyly and she grins, so happy Mercedes has possibly found her prince charming.
They return to the hospital after that and Sam is the next to arrive at five. He brings two coffees for both herself and Mercedes. The rest slowly arrive after that, mostly one by one, and around ten pm, Alma comes outside and tells Quinn she is wanted in the room.
She quickly throws a gown on and sees Brittany crying out in pain. "Quinn! It hurts, did it hurt when you did it?" Brittany cries and moans out in pain, a death grip on Santana's hand.
"Both me and Maribel have had kids before, but she was adamant on having you in the room." Brittany's mom tells her as she walks to Brittany's bedside.
"Yes it hurt honey, but you can do this!" She tells Brittany as she grabs a nearby cloth and puts it in some cold water.
Brittany sighs gratefully when she puts the cloth on Brittany's forehead and she smiles. "My mom did this for me when I was having Beth." She tells Brittany who just nods, her eyes screwed shut in pain.
"Okay Brittany, time to push!" The doctor says and Brittany's eyes open in fear.
"Okay." She says, her voice strained and cries out in pain as the doctor encourages her to keep pushing. A few minutes later, they hear a baby cry.
"There you go mommies, a baby girl." The doctor says, holding up their baby for both Santana and Brittany to see and she gasps. She pulls her phone out to quickly record Brittany and Santana's reactions as the nurse hands them their baby who has yet to be cleaned, but nobody really cares. All they're focused on is the beautiful baby girl who just entered the world.
She steps out of the room after that so Alma can see Brittany and Santana's baby first since she's family. Santana and Brittany's dad are also in the waiting area and head into the room to meet their newest granddaughter.
They head into the room in pairs after that, and she allows everyone else to go before her since she's technically already met the baby. She is bouncing on her heels once it is her and Sam's turn, and she grabs his hand tightly as they walk inside the room.
"Quinn and Sam, meet Amara Alyson Pierce-Lopez." Santana announces, handing the baby to Quinn.
"Oh San, she's gorgeous." She says, rubbing one of her fingers along Amara's cheeks. "How did you decide the names?" She asks, still staring at their new baby girl.
"Amara means love and Alyson means freedom, we thought that was a perfect representation of the way she was made, out of love and freedom." Brittany shares and she smiles.
"We wanted to ask you guys something." Santana says, and she finally looks up from the baby to Santana and Brittany who are both sitting on Brittany's hospital bed.
"We were wondering if you would be her godparents?" Brittany asks and fears fill her eyes. She looks over at Sam who has a surprised look on his face, but when he looks down at Amara she knows what his answer is.
"We would be honoured." She answers, her voice a little wet as a few tears fall down her cheeks. Their first glee baby, Amara Alyson Pierce-Lopez.
xxx
The years go by uneventfully after they all graduate and try to manage their lives as adults after post secondary. Navigate the beginnings of the ever after part of life.
Mercedes continues to become more and more famous, happily dating her boyfriend Mike who is a music producer.
Puck stays at the Air Force, still happily dating Jennifer.
Rachel continues thriving on Broadway (officially with Jesse now), even getting Blaine small roles as he makes his way up after graduating from NYADA and getting engaged to Sebastian.
Santana graduates from NYU with a business degree and runs the business side of the dance studio, taking over Quinn's role, but she still helps out when she can.
Artie had graduated from film school and gets small jobs helping out directors in New York, still getting his own short films into all different sorts of festivals. Kitty attended the University of Notre Dame on a cheerleading scholarship for four years, then graduated with an English degree. She now lives in an apartment with Artie and Blaine lives with Sebastian in their own little New York apartment.
Tina and Mike move to New York because Mike gets a job as a choreographer for a local television show.
Between auditions for television shows and movies Tina helps Kurt at Vogue with designs.
Kurt has now moved up to Isabelle's second hand, and helps her organize and dictate decisions regarding shows and collections at Vogue.
He and Adam also decided to adopt a baby boy a year ago and named him Christopher Finn Hummel. It's a little scary how much Chris looks like Kurt, with the same brown hair and the same brown eyes. But there are distinctive features he gets from his birth parents like the curve of his nose and the shape of his lips.
She and Sam had moved to NYC to be closer to their friends and to their jobs. They spend their days at work, with their friends, or babysitting their goddaughter who is now almost three years old.
Amara is obsessed with Chris, thinking he is some sort of doll she gets to play with. Brittany and Santana go out with Adam and Kurt for a parents night out, dumping their kids off with Quinn and Sam, despite Rachel being Chris' godmother, but she is too busy with Broadway to watch the little guy once a week.
xxx
On a particular night where they are watching the kids, they throw in Beauty and the Beast for them to watch while they eat chicken nuggets for dinner.
"You have to dance with your princess uncle Sammy!" Amara cries, her mouth full of smiley face french fries.
Sam grabs her hand as soon as she puts down Chris' cup of orange juice and spins her around the room, mimicking the Beast and Belle. They dance around the room to the melody of A Tale As Old As Time. She laughs and pushes Sam away playfully and turns to check on the kids to see if they need anything, but she hears Sam clear his throat from behind her.
She turns around and gasps as Sam sits on one knee, an opened ring box in his hand with an engagement sitting inside.
"Q, from the moment I met you, I knew you were it for me. I was so confident in what we had that I was convinced I was going to marry you that day I proposed to you in the astronomy room with a promise ring. And life tried to tear us apart, or maybe it was each other, but we came back stronger every time. And that's how I know we're meant to be. You're my best friend Quinn, I can't imagine my life with anyone but you, so will you marry me?"
She thinks she blacks out, but she can feel her head nod slowly and Sam ask her "really?"
She must nod again because Sam picks her up and spins her around before placing the ring on her finger. Amara cheers for them and Chris cheers just because everyone else is cheering.
Amara breaks the news to the parents when the four of them return to pick up their kids two hours later.
"Mommy, Uncle Sammy gave Auntie Quinnie a ring." Amara tells Santana once Santana picks her up and hoists her on her hip.
"A ring huh? What did it look like?" Brittany asks, assuming they were just playing.
"It was shiny! And in a box." Amara shares and they all snap their heads to look at Quinn and Sam at the same time.
"Wait-" Santana starts, but cuts herself off.
Brittany reaches out to grab her hand and sees that there is indeed an engagement ring sitting on her finger.
"Shut up! I'm so planning your wedding." Kurt says.
Safe to say Amara learned two new words tonight from Uncle Kurt.
xxx
She had offered to help Kurt plan things, but he had strictly told her no. She could give some of her opinions, but after everything she's done for everyone, she deserves for this to be a relaxing time for her.
Sam loves it, not having to deal with anything. They have an engagement party two months after their engagement that Kurt throws for them in a hall Vogue always uses for events.
Some of the dance instructors are there, fellow interns from her internship. Alex and his wife with their son are there, and her old roommate Sarah and her fiance. Susan is also there, and a few of her old coworkers from the cafe.
There are a few cheerios from highschool she was close with, and all of their glee family obviously. Along with all of their parents and siblings.
She and Sam get many congratulations!, and she doesn't think she has socialized this much in years.
Tina offers to design her dress for some practice and Kurt says he can make it for her at Vogue so she doesn't have to worry about the stress of wedding dress shopping.
He also offers to deal with the bridesmaids dresses, promising to pick a colour that she'd like.
She doesn't really have to worry about anything really which she finds really weird. Sometimes Kurt will send her pictures of flower arrangements and ask her to pick one and ask her what colour scheme is her favourite, but other than that neither she or Sam do anything else.
xxx
Three months before the wedding is her bridal shower. Again, everything is already organized and ready to go. There are less people there than at her engagement party which she finds a lot less overwhelming. She gets lots of lingerie (most of which are from Santana), but also gets things she will actually use in the future like plates and a blender and other house-related stuff.
The following weekend is her bachelor party, which just consists of the glee girls, Kurt and Chris, her and Sam's mothers, Stacey, and Amara.
They have a high tea sort of thing at a hotel restaurant since Amara insisted on being there, which she kind of finds a relief because after both Santana/Brittany's and Kurt's bachelorette/bachelor parties she doesn't know if she wants to drink that much again.
Although she is a tad bit worried as to what Sam is doing, although she figures she shouldn't be since Blaine is in charge, not Puck.
She follows Santana and Amara into the washroom after Amara gets food all between her fingers.
"Santana," She says, walking up to the two of them who are standing by the sink, cleaning Amara's hands. "I don't know if Kurt has brought this up to you or Brittany, but I was wanting Amara to be my flower girl." She shares and Amara gasps.
"Please say yes momma!" Amara pleads and Santana laughs and nods.
"Of course." Santana says, drying Amara's hands.
"And I was also wondering if you would be my maid of honour?" She asks and Santana turns around, shocked.
"Of course Quinn, thank you." She says before the two of them share a hug.
xxx
The days before the wedding are a little more chaotic. There seems to be about a hundred people at the rehearsal dinner, but Kurt tells her she's being ridiculous. She's a little terrified to see how many people will be at her actual wedding.
Kurt pulls her aside while she's talking with Puck and Jennifer an hour into the party.
"So I'm just ironing out the last minute details and preparations for tomorrow, and there's just one thing that's not clear, who's walking you down the aisle?" Kurt asks, a little hesitant.
"Oh, uh." She says, a little caught off guard. She honestly forgot there's usually someone to walk the bride down the aisle. She had asked Kurt to not invite her father, seeing no point. She agreed for him to invite Frannie, but only for the wedding and reception and not much else. It hurts that she isn't close with her sister anymore, but she also knows she isn't the cause for all of the pain. She chose her side and Frannie chose hers and that's that.
"Myself?" She sort of asks, knowing her mother would think it was odd if she asked her to walk her down the aisle, but Kurt nods supportively, typing away on his iPad.
"Got it. It's official, everything is perfect for your big day tomorrow." He says, bumping his hips with hers playfully. Hearing it doesn't ease her nerves as much as she thought it would.
A stickler for traditions, Kurt made her and Sam sleep in separate places for the night. Also because Kurt wanted to get her ready himself. He had arranged for a team at Vogue to do her hair and makeup.
She sits in a white robe as Kurt chats away on an earpiece as she gets her hair and makeup done. Adam and Chris chat with her to keep her company.
Tina arrives shortly after with the dress in one hand and a coffee in another just as the ladies finish putting her hair in a low bun.
"Ready to see your dress?" Tina asks, and her stomach flips in fear that she'll hate it, but she nods anyway.
Tina unzips the bag and pulls out the dress and she gasps. "Tina, it's perfect." She says, getting up to get a closer look.
It has thin plain straps, and a heart neckline that shows just the appropriate amount of cleavage. The dress is lace and tight at the top, but flows out once it reaches just above her stomach area.
Tina helps her put it on and she gasps again. "The train" She says, twirling around and admiring the dress.
"And your vail." Kurt says, placing it on her head. The vail is just as beautiful, extremely long so it trails after her with lace that matches her dress at the end.
Shortly after that they all head to the church. Her bridesmaids (who consist of Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, and Brittany) are already inside her dressing room and gasp when they see her.
"Quinn! You look gorgeous!" They all tell her and Amara tells her she looks like a princess.
Kurt has them all dressed in baby blue for bridesmaids dresses. They chat while they wait for Kurt to knock on the door and tell them it's time.
Twenty minutes later, that knock comes. Kurt opens the door and gives her two thumbs up and they all begin to file out of the room. Kurt hands her the bouquet of white and pink roses and kisses her on the cheek, congratulating her.
He then nods towards someone and she tries to look and see who.
Burt comes out from the side and holds out his arm. "I know I'm not your dad, but you know I've always seen you and Sam as my own. So if you'd let me, I'd like to walk you down the aisle." Burt tells her and her eyes fill with tears.
"Thank you." She whispers, throwing her arms around him and Kurt freaks out, telling her to watch out for her dress and makeup.
She watches as one by one her bridesmaids walk out followed by Santana, her maid of honour.
Chris walks out after with their rings sitting on a pillow. Then Amara, their flower girl and she sucks in a breath realizing her turn is next.
"You'll do great." Burt whispers to her and she nods as the doors open. She locks eyes with Sam the entire time she walks down the aisle. He grins once he sees that she's looped around Burt's arm, but she also notices that his eyes are shining with tears. He stands next to Blaine, his best man, and Mike, Stevie, Artie, and Puck.
He steps down and takes her from Burt who whispers to Sam "take care of her."
She lets out a watery laugh as soon as she stands in front of Sam, her bouquet passed to Santana, Sam's hands in hers and hers in his.
She blacks out for most of the officant's speech, and zones back in for the vows. Sam goes first.
"They say you have three loves in life. Your first love, the hard love, and the love that lasts. I have been lucky enough to find someone who has been all three. Quinn, no one makes me angrier than you. You are the most stubborn person I have ever met. And even though it can be a good thing, god it drives me insane most of the time. But I have never met anyone as caring as you. You are so kind and genuine and you continue to inspire me every day to be better. You're my best friend. You're the person I tell everything to. And I forever promise to be the person you tell gossip to at three in the morning when you remember it. I promise to get rid of every bug or spider that crosses your path because I know you are terrified of them. I promise to watch every episode of all of your favourite shows and not judge you for how much they make you cry. Although I will never give into the fact that Rory was meant to be with Jess even if you believe she belongs with Logan. I promise to love you forever Q. Through all the good and all the bad, I will be by your side, forever."
She sniffles and laughs as the minister tells her that it's her turn.
"Sam, I can still remember the day I met you. Some kid saying a Dr. Seuss rhyme with lemon juice in his hair, but the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. Some kid obsessed with flannels who tried to kiss me the first time we had a proper conversation. People used to tell me that they thought you were my soulmate and I thought they were crazy. We were in the eleventh grade, way too young to be talking about forever. Yet here we are, all these years later. I look back at all those years I tried to convince myself that we wouldn't work and just wonder what I was thinking, how could I not see that you were the piece I had been missing? You complete me Sam, and I never want to feel empty again."
And just like that, they exchange I Do's and she finally hears the words she's been dying to hear for years.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Sam grabs her and kisses her and she cups his cheeks as she kisses him back, the cheers of their friends and family music to their ears.
xxx
Married life is not much different. They do all the same things they used to before, except her mail is not delivered saying Quinn Evans and Sam refers to her as his wife. Other than paperwork, there's really no difference at all.
Eight months into the marriage is when something big happens. She's doing washing the dishes when Sam tells her he's heading to the store.
"I need to grab razors, do you need anything? Tampons or pads or anything?" He asks and her stomach drops. Wait, when even was her last period?
She shakes her head because she can't find her voice and once he leaves she runs to their bedroom to check her calendar. Crap, she's three weeks late. How did she not even notice?
The next morning instead of grabbing a coffee before heading to the office she stops by a pharmacy and buys four pregnancy tests, just to be sure. She drinks four cups of water before deciding that's enough pee and takes her bag with her to the washroom.
Three minutes later, all four tests come back positive. Shit, she and Sam haven't even talked about kids yet. What if they're not ready?
She goes to the doctor's office the next day just to be sure. She tells Sam she has to put in some extra hours at the office. She throws up when the doctor congratulates her.
She tries to convince herself that she's being ridiculous while grocery shopping that weekend. Sam has always wanted kids, she can tell by the way he loves to work with them. She ends up finding a mug that says I'm pregnant! At the bottom and thinks This is perfect.
She tells him the next day, better to just bite the bullet now than later. He usually wakes up before she does so he looks at her oddly when she's already sitting at the table eating toast with a cup of coffee ready for him.
"You're up early." He observes, stealing a bite from her toast. He scrunches his nose when he realizes it's dry. "God, I don't know how you eat it like that." He says before taking a sip from his coffee.
"Thought I would get an early start." She says casually, secretly dying inside. He drinks his coffee excruciatingly slowly. Finally, ten minutes later, he's done. But of course, he doesn't notice the bottom of the mug and she internally screams.
"Can you wash it out?" She asks, getting up from the table and putting her dishes in the sink. "I need to go get ready." She says, trying not to be suspicious.
She hides behind the door to watch his reaction. She watches as he rinses out the mug, and then freezes.
"Uh Quinn?" He calls out. "Have we borrowed any of Santana or Brittany's mugs recently?"
"No." She says, emerging from behind the door. She places her hands over her stomach and his eyes go wide.
"Wait, you're actually pregnant?" He asks and she rolls her eyes.
"No Sam, obviously not after I went out of my way to buy that mug and-Sam!" She squeals as he picks her up, but then stops and quickly puts her down.
"Crap will that hurt the baby?" He asks and she rolls her eyes again.
"You're such a dork." She says before kissing him.
xxx
They find out they're having twins three months later. They're at their twelve week checkup and Sam, having gotten used to how this goes, is on his phone dealing with his work schedule when the doctor announces it.
"Congratulations mom and dad! You're having twins!"
Sam drops his phone.
"Are you sure?" Sam asks and she grins.
"Twins?" She asks, excited about the thought of a mini version of herself and a mini Sam.
"Twins!" The doctor confirms and she squeals.
"Like you're one hundred percent sure there's two?" Sam asks and she glares at him. Their doctor just laughs and nods.
"Yes Mr. Evans, there are two."
Sam opens and closes his mouth a couple of times.
"Like you're serious, there are two?" He asks again.
"Sam!" She hisses.
"How the hell are we going to fit two kids in our apartment?" He whispers to her, like the doctor still isn't in the room. She rolls her eyes.
xxx
Six months later, the babies come. She's been off work for a while so she's at home when the contractions start, but she convinces herself that they're just braxton hicks. She keeps herself busy by reading a little bit and watching some Netflix, breathing through the pain.
When the contractions become stronger, she begins to do laundry. Three hours later while she's clearing out the dishwasher, her water breaks.
"Oh crap." She says to herself, waddling to the washroom so she can clean up the mess. It takes her about seven minutes to actually get to the ground before she starts wiping everything up.
"Quinn, I'm home!" She hears after the door opens.
"Shit, shit." She curses as she begins to wipe faster.
"Hey Quinn how-what is that?" Sam asks, referring to her mess.
"I just spilled some water." She says casually, but she knows Sam isn't buying it.
"Quinn, there's like mucus in it." He says, and she watches as the realization spreads across his face.
"Wait, wait, are you-? Is that-? Did you water break?" He asks and she shrugs.
They hear a ding and she grabs the counter to pull herself up. "That's the dryer." She says, walking towards their laundry room.
"Wait-where are you going? Quinn?! We need to go to the hospital!" He shouts after her as she waddles past him.
"Yeah, she won't listen to me. She's literally doing laundry." She hears Sam say in the hallway as she folds their clothes.
"Quinn babe, we need to go." He begs and she gasps out in pain as a contraction hits her. "Okay yeah we're going." He says, moving towards her.
She glares at him. "I will cut you." She says through gritted teeth and he raises his hands up in surrender.
Ten minutes later she hears the door open and Sam talk to someone. Seconds later Santana and Amara appear in her laundry room.
"Quinnie, it's time to have your babies." Santana tells her softly, helping her up off the floor where she had found comfort while dealing with her cramps.
"I'm scared." She whispers to Santana who just strokes her hair.
"I know babe, but everything is gonna be fine." Santana tells her as Amara clutches her hand.
"I'm excited to meet your tins Auntie Q!" Amara tells her, struggling with her w's.
"Thanks honey." She tells Amara, a little out of breath as Santana guides her out of the apartment, Sam carrying their hospital bag in one arm and Amara in the other.
Eight hours later, she has her twins. One boy, one girl.
She exhales a laugh as they hand Sam the baby boy and her the baby girl.
"We have kids Sam." She says and he nods.
"We have kids." He repeats.
They name their son Jack Samuel Evans and their daughter Lucy Drizzle Evans. She knows Lucy might have questions about her middle name later on, but she can't wait to tell her about how perfect it is when it's kind of drizzling outside, but it's not really raining despite it smelling like rain, remembering Finn's speech all those years ago.
"Babies!" Amara shouts once she, Brittany, and Santana come inside to meet Jack and Lucy.
"Shh! Don't wake them up!" Brittany scolds, causing Amara to pout. Sam chuckles and hands Santana Jack and goes to pick up Amara so he can properly show her the babies.
"They're tiny." Amara points out. "And wrinkly." She says, playing with Lucy's finger.
They all laugh and she turns to Santana and Brittany.
"Want to be godparents?" She asks them and they look at each other.
"Of two kids?" Santana asks before the both of them smile.
"Count us in." Brittany answers.
xxx
The years go by after that. They attend more weddings, Artie and Kitty, Sebastian and Blaine, Mercedes and Mike, Rachel and Jesse.
Artie finally makes his way up and becomes a director.
Mike, a choreographer and sometimes a dance instructor at Brittany's studio. Tina, a designer who works with Kurt. The two of them have their own two kids, a son named Kai and a girl named Lily.
Mercedes and Mike happily married in New York, too busy for kids of their own now that Mercedes is a famous singer.
Blaine, a Broadway actor, adopts a son named Oliver with Sebastian.
Puck and Jennifer are engaged, the next glee wedding to be theirs.
Rachel and Jesse also have a son named Hudson Hiram St. James, expecting a girl of their own in a few months.
Kurt runs Vogue, taking Isabelle's position after she retires. He and Adam had adopted another boy named Benjamin.
Sam runs camps, programs, and extracurricular activities to keep youth away from trouble and crime, starting his own non-profit organization that Quinn's law firm sponsors.
Sometimes life is crazy, but they all still remain family. They still spend every Christmas at Burt and Carole's, and those weekly dinners had to be pushed to monthly, but there is nothing more important in life than taking care of those who you spend it with.
There's nothing the two of them would change, a wonderland big enough for the both of them in the life they have created.
Here it is, the end of Wonderland In Another Life. There's an incoming speech so prepare yourselves.
To begin, I would like to address that yes, I did get inspiration for Jennifer from Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz and I am not sorry about it.
Also, I like to think Quinn has some sort of relationship with Beth and Rachel has the same with Shelby. I know in the show it seemed like Shelby didn't want a relationship with Rachel, but the two of them both being in New York and so much older, for me it just made sense.
Does anyone else remember in Season 1 Shelby told Rachel she was her birth mom by singing I Dreamed A Dream? I guess you could say coming full circle is Rachel staring as Fantine in Les Misérables (yes I listened to the glee cover of I Dreamed A Dream while writing that scene).
Also also, has anyone notices those little Blinn moments I keep placing. For some reason I just have the biggest soft spot for them as besties and think that Brittany would still want Finn to be included in everything.
And for the sappy ending speech:
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read my story. Those who wrote comments as well, it really is so motivating to hear that people agree with your opinions and love your writing, it means so much and I am so grateful.
I have been writing this story for about five months, which seems insane and I cannot believe I'm now at the end. But that being said, I do have so many stories prepared that are a lot more AU than this one, still focusing heavily on Quinn and Sam, along with their relationships with the other characters. If you know my writing (which most of you probably do by now), you know I love exploring the feelings and emotions of all of the characters and the bonds they all shared (especially Quinn because she was robbed of everything).
Thank you, thank you, thank you, and hopefully I will be writing for you all again soon.