Chapter 5

Surprises

X

Rachel knew how stubborn Quinn could be and that was exactly why she had enlisted an unwilling Santana and a more than happy to comply Brittany, who was also the force behind Santana's cooperation. It wasn't as if Rachel didn't know what Quinn did and did not like but rather she wanted to make sure everything was perfect and what Quinn liked without any doubts gnawing in the back of her mind that she did something wrong or got something Quinn wouldn't like. She had a big surprise planned for Quinn and she knew that Quinn had no idea about it because she was always very careful to guard her thoughts around Quinn now, not that it was hard considering things had been getting more heated between them lately since Quinn was at her apartment last week and ended up sleeping over. They'd been visiting each other at home more often lately and each night things a little bit heavier, a little bit more heated, and Rachel was sure that they were heading towards adult territory in their relationship and Rachel couldn't believe that it had only been a little bit more than a month since they really got together, since the lunch date that changed everything. If Rachel didn't count them being official until their first date the numbers would be about three days less but either way it had been more than a month and they had yet to have any major problems other than Quinn pouting on their first date after Rachel paid for their dinner. Things had been smooth sailing since and Rachel wanted to give Quinn the biggest surprise for her special day.

Quinn's birthday, despite her never telling Rachel personally, was something Rachel was more than aware of as she only needed to ask one of her two best friends. Rachel was also vaguely aware that it was sometime most likely around the end of January or towards the beginning of February from Quinn's brief mention of when her parents had died from prior conversations they'd had with each other. And now that the day of had finally come Rachel had asked Brittany to occupy Quinn's attention for approximately three to four hours for her to have help from several friends to help her move into Quinn's condo since Quinn had been mentioning it much more recently about an exact date Rachel would be able to move in. Though it seemed a little fast for them to be moving in with each other already, technically they were bound to each other for life so, really, what was the point in waiting for the 'right time' to move in together if it was inevitable already? Rachel had Santana, Sam, Puck, Mercedes, Mike, Kitty, Kurt, Blaine, and Fleur and Hermione helping her out with moving things into Quinn's condo, as well as setting up the surprise party, in the room she had designated for Rachel to keep her extraneous things. Rachel was having the essentials moved into the bedroom she'd be sharing with Quinn of course and she had everything labeled to help expedite the process.

The ladies were taking care of her bathroom items and Santana was helping both moving teams to make sure things wouldn't go where Quinn wouldn't want them in various rooms. About half of the team was dedicated to just moving things into the apartment in the right places and the other half of the team were currently aiding in the surprise party that would take place upon Brittany's arrival back to the apartment with a blindfolded Quinn. When Rachel had asked Santana how in the world Brittany was going to be able to convince Quinn to blindfold herself Santana smirked and Rachel decided she most likely didn't want to know the details.

Everything was going smoothly so far and Rachel was very grateful for the help and she was currently sorting out her kitchen items to fit in neatly into Quinn's own cooking utensils. Mostly Rachel had baking related kitchen items because her cooking skills were subpar but she was an excellent baker but was nowhere near patisserie levels good, she was working on that though. While Rachel was sorting through her things a voice startled her to the point of her jumping where she sat. "Hey, I was wondering where you got to, oh sorry." Sam's amiable voice sounded genuinely apologetic for startling Rachel so much to the point she jumped into the air from where she was on the floor.

"It's quite all right Sam but what did you come in here for? Is everything okay?" Rachel asked in quick succession after thinking that something could possibly have gone wrong considering how many people were in the condo at the present moment.

Sam quickly nodded his head to prevent Rachel from freaking out before he could get his message across to the dramatic diva. "Everything's fine, absolutely fine! Don't panic!" When it seemed Rachel wasn't going to become worked up he finally spoke up again, "okay, so, I was just going to ask your opinion of something for the things you've got. There's this box labeled 'Broadway Memorabilia' on it and we just wanted to know where you'd want that box put because I figure they're priceless things that we'd need to be careful with we'd ask you about it." Rachel was so touched by Sam's thoughtfulness to ask her because she was sure that between Sam, Puck, Mike, Mercedes, and Kitty both Sam and Mike were the two most likely to have taken this into consideration about her love of Broadway. Both men had actually come up to her separately and told her that they were fans of her while she was on Broadway and had seen a few of her shows before she decided to take a break from the stage to work on her music for a Grammy to complete the EGOT she was so close to achieving. "They also need your opinion about something over on the decorating team end."

Nodding her head Rachel thought it over for a moment before responding, "if you can, can you just set the box aside somewhere it won't get in the way but also somewhere someone isn't likely to trip over it? Perhaps the desk by Quinn's bedside would be best." Sam nodded his head and smiled. "Thank you for being so considerate Sam and can you also tell Team Pamela Lansbury, as Kurt insists on having us refer to the decorating team, that I will be over momentarily? I still need to sort just a few more things before I'm completely done with these boxes so they won't be in the way any longer. After I help Team Pamela Lansbury out, I will order some food for everyone. Oh! Go ask everyone what they'd like for brunch so I can order food from the appropriate restaurant based on what they want. Or maybe I can name a restaurant and everyone can take a look at the menu on their phone?" Rachel wasn't sure now.

"How about you just name a place close by and then I'll tell everyone to order whatever from the place you pick?" Sam asked.

Rachel nodded her head and gave him the name of the closest restaurant she could find on Yelp, which happened to be a favorite of hers, before asking him to write down their orders and going back to the box of kitchen essentials she had been working on. After several more minutes Rachel was done and Sam was still getting orders from another two people, the pickier people of the bunch, both Puck and Santana seemed to be glaring down at their phones in a manner that suggested that they might possibly dislike everything on the menu they were currently perusing. It made Rachel slightly nervous because if Santana didn't decide what she wanted soon it would hold everyone else back from getting their orders but only a moment later Santana looked up from the menu and finally walked over to Rachel after spotting her to tell her what she wanted. Puck glared down at his menu before finally settling on something that was the least likely to leave him feeling empty on meat intake based on the descriptions on the menu. Rachel was relieved that there was no major setback from the closest restaurant being vegan friendly.

As soon as the order was put in, and Rachel had already taken care of giving Kurt her opinion, Rachel got herself ready to walk over to pick up the food. Since there was such a high volume of people for the order Rachel asked two of the guys to come along to help her out, Sam and Mike volunteering to help out. Rachel figured there would about four or five bags for pick up since there was a total of eleven orders. The person who took her order said that they would be done in 15 minutes surprisingly, despite their large order, and so Rachel set off with Mike and Sam playing her bodyguards. They were wearing plain clothes, khaki shorts and t-shirts with humorous etchings on them, but they both walked so that they were a step behind her on each side and Rachel couldn't help the little giggle she let out upon seeing them with straight faces and she hadn't noticed them put sunglasses until she turned around to look at them.

"You two are so silly, you know that?" Rachel asked with a shake of her head.

"Miss, you know that we're not supposed to be distracted by conversation while we're walking around." Mike responded with a monotonous tone.

"I just realized something … we're both kind of famous Rachel. I hope the paps don't spot us and start taking a hoard of pictures of us since you're not wearing your sunglasses. Here," out of seemingly nowhere, Sam produced a visor for Rachel to put on her head. When she gave him a questioning look Sam shrugged, "I like to play tennis sometimes so … I keep a visor in my pocket." He seemed to think that it was completely normal to do such a thing and Rachel gave him a look that said she thought it was strange.

Upon arriving at Sunshine's Vegan Best Rachel smiled at her friend who greeted her and then froze as her eyes settled on someone behind Rachel. Rachel was concerned and looked to her right to see that Mike was just as frozen until his eyes widened at the sensory overload from the world becoming colorful for him in a way that he never knew could be possible. Tina seemed to be having the same problem and eventually Tina spoke up, "y-you're my s-soulmate." It was a softly uttered sentence and her slight stutter was present for it, something that Tina was self-conscious about for years before she managed to get it under control when she wasn't nervous or shaken up.

The scene unfolding before both Rachel and Sam was rather interesting to witness since neither had been present for the moment two fated people actually met each other before and so this union they were currently beholding was a beautiful moment of finding completeness. This is the most beautiful moment in life and they were standing stock still as each second seemed to tick by slowly. After several more minutes of just staring at each other Mike finally spoke up, his voice full of awe and slightly shaky. "M-my name is Mike, Mike Chang, and what's your name?" he asked with a nervous smile. It was actually quite adorable to witness shy Mike blushing and actually talking, something he rarely did since he was more of an observer than anything else in a group of people, being the introvert that he was.

"M-m-me? I-I'm Tina C-Cohen-Chang. This is … rather unbelievable everything … the colors I've never seen before, the beauty of being able to see all of these colors around me. It's a little overwhelming to see colors when I've never seen anything but black, white, and gray my whole life. It is a nice change of pace and you have the nicest eyes I have ever seen Mike." Tina was the type who only seemed introverted until she got to know somebody and then she was ready to tell someone everything on her mind.

Smiling almost absently at the comment Mike took a moment to respond. "Do you maybe … want to get something to eat for dinner when your shift is over? I'd be more than happy to get to know you better." Mike asked, a slight flush on his tan cheek. Tina had a slight blush covering her cheeks as well and nodded her head in agreement to Mike's invitation for dinner.

"I'd really … I'd really like that Mike."

"Okay, so … as cute as the two of you are being right now I need to get back with the food before the people helping me out become too hungry and start either killing each other off or potentially turn to cannibalism while waiting for their food to arrive. I'd rather not have to clean up the bloody aftermath of Santana's perceived personality by the name of Snix which I assume must be the portmanteau for Santana and her love of breadsticks and who she turns into when she doesn't eat enough breadsticks to satisfy her personality. Now that I think about it it's a bit like a Snickers commercial except with breadsticks in their place." Tina, Mike, and Sam all stared at Rachel like she'd grown a second head as she continually rambled on about her thoughts about Santana's likelihood of turning to cannibalism and her analogy about Santana's other personality, Snix. After noticing the silence Rachel rolled her eyes at her motionless companions, "I need food to feed people before Santana gets crazy." After her much slower and shortened sentence everyone nodded their head and moved into action.

"Okay so, I had your card charged for you already and I have four big bags here for you and then one smaller bag with your favorite dessert, complimentary, since it's for a birthday, your soulmate's birthday no less. And you still need to tell me how you met your soulmate Rachel! Don't think I forgot about you always avoiding that subject for the last month lady!" Rachel sighed, having hoped that Tina wouldn't notice the constant shift in conversation whenever she brought it up. Rachel had yet to even tell Kurt, and by extension Blaine, the full details since she had merely told them that she definitely met her soulmate somehow but had yet to discover her identity because they had seemingly bumped into each other and walked off without realizing it. Rachel wasn't sure why she hadn't told either of them yet but she kind of wanted to keep Quinn to herself for a few months first before selling her soul to the two devilish gossip mongers known as Tina, horrible at lying, Cohen-Chang and Kurt, can't keep his mouth shut, Hummel about such a beautiful, intimate meeting of souls.

Rachel sighed in defeat before she made up her mind and gave Tina a time stamp for asking questions because she knew this was the only way to keep Tina satisfied enough to leave her alone. "How about you ask me about it again in … four months' time?"

Tina narrowed her eyes at Rachel before bargaining her number, "three months."

"Three and a half."

"Three months Rachel."

"Three months and a week."

"Two months."

"Fine! Three months it is, Tina!" Smiling smugly at getting what she had wanted to begin with Tina gave Rachel the mother of all victorious smirks as she watched Rachel's eye twitch in annoyance. "Stop looking so smug or I'm going to drop it back to more than our agreed 3 months on account of unsportswomanlike behavior. You know I'll do it Tina," Rachel warned lightly causing Tina's smile to drop slightly.

"You wouldn't."

"I would and I have before so don't test me."

Eyes narrowed and face contemplative, Tina took Rachel's threat seriously. "Didn't you say you had to go back to feed some people helping you with something?"

"Oh, yes! That's right. Well, I'll be off Tina and I will text you Mike's cell phone number or just give him yours directly, however you want to do it."

A slight look of surprise took Tina's face as she had almost forgotten about how she had just met her soulmate due to Rachel's reluctance to talk about her own to her. "Just give Mike my number and text me his, extra carefully, so I won't accidentally text some stranger again because of one wrong number or something like last time."

Rolling her eyes Rachel muttered to herself about how all it took was one mistake and Tina had texted someone who said they were a matched soulmate pairing already and had been for the last 24 years of their lives. Tina had meant to jokingly text to a new friend about finally meeting her soulmate when that response was sent to her and she sent back profuse apologies to the other person and gave Rachel hell for the last two years over it every chance she got that she could bring it up without it being out of place.

Glaring at Rachel when she heard her muttering Tina said no more except a soft and shy "bye" to Mike as they left the restaurant behind.

X

Upon arriving back at the apartment Rachel was glad to see that everyone was still in one piece and no one, namely Santana, had resorted to killing someone else off yet to eat them for survival. Now, Rachel knew she had been watching too many survival shows and had read too many books like Lord of the Flies lately because that was a seriously crazy thought to have. Everyone convened for a light lunch and continued to work until everything but decorating and getting the party prep started was done. Everyone chose to do things they knew were their strengths and things were going well until something, or rather someone, happened. Two words: Kurt Hummel. Those two words were all that was needed to be said to know that diva and crazy were being combined right now. And so it began.

Kurt was driving everyone on Team Pamela Lansbury crazy, he had kept the name despite the fact that the teams were now slightly different than when they had started about an hour and a half ago. Heck he was even driving the people who weren't part of Team Pamela Lansbury crazy with his antics. Even the ever calm and collected Fleur seemed a bit on edge because of Kurt's rather extreme and demanding behavior. Currently Mike, Sam, and Puck, being the tallest men there, had their arms high above their heads in an attempt to hang a banner up in three folds. Mike was only shorter than the other two men by a single inch but that was enough of a height difference to make Kurt notice that his end of the banner wasn't quite as high as the other two. Finally fed up with Kurt's ridiculous insistence about the banner being crooked Rachel asked Mike to switch with Sam so that he was in the middle instead so that the other two could just drop theirs to be equal to as high as Mike could possibly reach, solving the 'uneven' problem Kurt was grumbling about. It was the last straw when Kurt insisted that Mike stretch himself up to be taller, causing everyone in the room to groan, roll their eyes, or have some kind of facial twitch in response.

"Okay, look, Kurt. I'm her soulmate so no more of your ridiculousness. Let. It. Go or I will start singing that song at the top of my lungs, especially that high note that Idina Menzel herself can hardly reach easily while excusing everyone but you from the room as I do so. Your ears will probably go deaf from that sheer volume alone." Rachel's threat caused a single bead of sweat to drop from Kurt's forehead, knowing that it wasn't just a threat but a promise of future events.

"All right, I'll allow it to stay where it is now, no more fussing. Let's continue on with the rest of our prep work, shall we?" As soon as those words were spoken the others in the room continued to bustle with their various assignments and tasks. Fleur and Hermione were cooking several different delicious dishes of vegan and non-vegan delight, Sam, Mike, and Puck were reluctantly helping Kurt organize decorations, Santana was overseeing the table set up with the help of Kitty, Mercedes, and Blaine, and Rachel was helping where she was needed between all three groups. Occasionally Rachel was asked to bring different food samples out for everyone to taste test to ensure everything tasted okay and if she wasn't busy doing that she was giving her opinion about several things that pertained to the setup of the decorations and the dining area. So far the dining area was being extended with two tables pushed together and chairs being squeezed in to fit at least 14 people, Tina had been invited to come over after her shift to not only get to know Mike better but also to catch up with both Blaine and Kurt a bit since they had come to visit specially for this occasion.

Now that Kurt had calmed down his crazy a bit things were going much more smoothly in the prep process when Santana suddenly announced loudly into the room, "hey all you bitches, listen up! I just got a text from Britt and it says that she's coming back with Quinn blindfolded now since she can't think of anything to distract Quinn with anymore. They'll be back in about half an hour! Is everything pretty much done?" Santana asked once she was done relaying her message to everyone.

"Did we remember a cake?" Someone asked, the voice sounding like Blaine's somewhere in the background.

"Shit, Rachel, I don't know if you got the cake or not?" Santana looked slightly panicked until she saw Rachel's smirk, "you little bitch, you never told me." Shaking her head, Santana gave Rachel props, "well, I have to give it to you for being sly on that one."

"I'm always prepared for anything and everything. I have a cake that everyone can enjoy and got myself a vegan favorite separately so everything is equal for us all." Rachel announced.

"Well, the dishes are primarily done. We just need some help loading them up on to plates and bowls and carrying them over to the table to be served," the rather posh voice of Hermione came from somewhere in the kitchen. At once several bodies stood up to help. With everyone on board to help the dishes were loaded onto the table within 10 minutes and the table was set within another 5 and everyone was making sure there were no last minute things to be found or done. The candles were placed into the closest cabinet to the refrigerator, the lighter in there with it, and everyone had made sure to sign Quinn's birthday card before turning all of the lights off and finding various hiding spots when someone announced that they probably only had a few minutes left to spare.

The anticipation mounted with every passing second before they finally heard a key being inserted into the door while a few voices they knew to be either Brittany or Quinn spoke on the other side of the door. When the door open what was being said was apparent, "I don't know why but all of the lights are off in your apartment Quinn."

Letting out an exasperated sigh Quinn spoke, "Brittany, I can't see anything anyways with this blindfold on. I really don't know why you think that walking around and being driven around with a blindfold on is a necessary experience."

"I told you! I watched that movie, Enough, with San the other day and I want to know if you can move around your own apartment blindfolded or not and just feel your way around with either your arms or your foot! I wanted to make sure you aren't cheating by blindfolding you in the car!" Brittany said excitedly.

Someone poked their head out from their hiding spot when Quinn asked Brittany another question. "Didn't you mention something about having Rachel standing somewhere in the apartment for me as part of my test? I have to find her somewhere in here don't I?" Brittany nodded, forgetting that Quinn couldn't see her. "Britt?"

"Oh, yeah, yes. Sorry, I nodded because I forgot you can't really see me. I'm not giving you hints but Rachel is only allowed to call out your name only 4 times before she stops and you have to find her without any guidance. If you succeed then you'll get a prize!" Brittany said excitedly, looking around for Rachel in the apartment. Rachel, having heard Brittany's rules decided to stand somewhere that wasn't too easy but not extremely difficult to get to inside of the apartment. As soon as she was positioned and ready Rachel called out to Quinn in her normal speaking voice.

"Quinn, I'm here." Rachel said, seeing how quickly Quinn's head snapped in the direction of Rachel's voice, almost eerily accurate. When Quinn took a step forward Rachel called again, "Quinn." Quinn made sure to turn so that her ears were facing towards where she heard Rachel's voice and started to move steadily across the room. When Quinn looked like she was close to running into something Rachel sought Quinn out with her own mind, though I detest dishonesty and loathe anything to do with cheating I can't stay silent, giggle, about the fact that you are going to hurt yourself by running into a table if you don't move over to the right about four steps Quinn. Quinn, knowing that it would seem suspicious if she suddenly just turned, stuck her leg out to make it seem like she was making sure of something before taking a few steps away from a solid object that was most likely her table or chair. With each step Rachel felt her heart pound in excitement and she was so lost in the moment she didn't notice Brittany slowly making her way to where the light switches were as she called out again. "Quinn. I only have one more call." Quinn was now only about 10 feet away from Rachel's current position, causing Rachel's heart to thud even faster in anticipation. When Quinn was within feet of her Rachel called one last time, "Here I am, Quinn." And Quinn reached her arm out to touch Rachel and was met by gentle hands guiding her closer before those same hands were untying the makeshift blindfold from her eyes.

The very moment the blindfold was removed from her eyes the lights were turned on as everyone jumped from their hiding spots and shouted, "SURPRISE!" in unison, watching the birthday woman jump slightly at the unexpected volume in combination with the surprise of so many people being in her apartment.

"God, you almost gave me a heart attack on my own birthday! How did you even—"

"Rachel—"

"Santana!" several voices said at the same time. Upon hearing someone say her name Rachel immediately yelled the guilty Latina's name to absolve herself of any blame.

With an arched eyebrow, Quinn directed her gaze at Santana, who in turn arched her own eyebrow back. "I did the hobbit a favor all right. No way are you going to do anything about this except eat your damn food and slice up the cake and eat that shit too Fabray." Santana got a gentle smack and disapproving gaze from Brittany at calling the cake shit. "I mean, eat that cake too."

"Well, at least tell me who organized all of this at least?" Rachel's guilty look but proud smile gave away the answer and Quinn bent down to give her a soft but innocent kiss on the lips. I truly love you so much and can't imagine being able to love you any more than I already do and then you do something that causes my heart to melt a bit further, love you even more down to my soul. Perhaps every day I love you more and more.

Rachel nuzzled into Quinn's neck when they pulled away. "You're such a diehard romantic Quinn and I agree with all of that." I can't wait until I get you alone tonight and you see more of the surprises ahead that I have planned for you after everyone leaves. "Oh, Tina should be stopping by in about another hour or so since her shift just ended a little bit ago, that is, if it's okay with you?"

Nodding her head and giving Rachel an affectionate kiss on the top of her head, Quinn smiled widely when she heard a camera flash. "I just had to take that picture! You guys are so cute!" Brittany gushed at the blushing couple.

"Let's get this party started! I'm so glad that you did all of this for me and thank you all for attending and helping my love organize all of this for me." Quinn said to everyone, looking them all in the eye individually.

"You know it girl!"

"Damn straight! No way would I miss this considering you two are anything but straight!"

"It was our pleasure, and we'd been meaning to visit Rachel anyways."

"Rachel, still, hasn't told me all of the details about you two getting together!"

"Well, you are my boss and all that jazz."

"Anything to help you out … anything but Kurt being in charge next time though. Dude, no offense meant Kurt!"

"I second that, Sam. Kurt's so demanding and I'm not short!"

"It's such a pleasure to help out with planning a surprise party! You've always treated me well and I do consider you a friend after all."

"I just hope next time, 'Ermione and I have more help in the kitchen for cooking the food."

"Well, midget didn't pay me a dime so you're welcome Quinnie the pooh!"

"San, be nicer!"

"I love you."

All in all the party went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time and Mike's eyes lit up when Tina finally arrived at the party, the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life without a doubt. After everyone was done eating, and without ever planning it, someone played some music through some speakers at some point during the birthday celebration and the music was a pretty eclectic collection with songs in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and ranging from Rap and Hip-Hop to ballads and sad songs. Whoever played the music was conscious of keeping the music loud enough to enjoy but soft enough not to bother any of Quinn's next door neighbors, some very snooty looking older ladies.

Surprisingly enough Fleur and Hermione seemed to be quite the fluid dancers but it appeared to be mostly with the timeless and classical waltz as their area of expertise as well as a rather sexualized performance of the tango, much to Santana's delight. Santana was quite impressed when they were done and gave a hearty clap that everyone else joined in on after the shock wore off a bit for them, watching the two women breathe a bit heavily due to exertion.

The next pair to dance were both Brittany and Mike, Mike surprising everyone with his dancing talent. Mike definitely had moves and after his dance off with Brittany Quinn approached Mike and asked him to walk with her over to a slightly secluded corner. "Why have you never mentioned you can dance like that? I definitely like you for security but you are much better suited for dancing." Quinn, though quiet as ever, was quite excited by this revelation.

Mike looked down shyly, "well, my dad … he would never support me when it came to dancing and he always told me to get a real job that makes me real money. My mom … she supported me in secret but my dad is the one who made money so she could never tell me to stand up to him and do what I really want. I was supposed to go to school for a master's degree in either the medical profession or to be a lawyer, but I quit school after two years and went from job to job until you started Fabray Records about 5 years ago. So, the rest is history."

With the way Quinn was staring at him intently, Mike knew that something important was about to happen here, that the next thing out of Quinn's mouth was going to be important. "I would love it if you thought about joining Fabray Records as a choreographer for whoever you choose to work with. I know I have both Brittany and Cassandra but I'm scouting more and more talent as the years go by and I know I'll need you and you can even help them by taking some of that load off of their shoulders to help them get more of a flexible schedule. I know that they love dancing but everyone needs a break sometimes. You can even just go about it by helping them out and being just a consultant for now. I want better for you and I'd like you to think about it, whether it's right for you or not Mike, the choice is yours to make." Mike was sure he had never heard Quinn speak this much before to anyone other than Rachel.

Smiling widely Mike gave Quinn an answer right away. "Well, I thought about it and I want to do it. Just tell me when and where and I'll be there right away. This is my dream come true and I don't want to waste an opportunity like this by thinking about it anymore. I want to start as soon as humanly possible."

Laughing softly at Mike's words in response, Quinn glanced over at Brittany enjoying a rather sinful dance with Santana, shaking her head at the couple grinding suggestively. "How about we discuss this in further detail on Monday and I'll have Brittany and Cassandra there for our meeting? You can start right away after we all come to an agreement. I know for sure that Brittany is going to be okay with it all things considered. Cassandra … I'm sure she can be persuaded even if she is a bit of a stubborn woman. I'll make sure to up your paygrade appropriately starting Monday onwards."

Unexpectedly Mike took Quinn into his arms in a warm and happy hug before pulling back. "You really don't have any idea what this means to me Quinn! I really appreciate this opportunity and I won't let you down! I promise you this, you won't regret having me as a choreographer!"

"I know I won't Mike."

Nodding Mike stood up and began dancing majestically to the beat of the music, a beautiful figure made to dance.

Before Quinn realized what was happening she felt someone sit right on top of her lap and nuzzle into her neck. "You're really so sweet Quinn. I heard all of your thoughts just now by accident. I was just wondering where you had gone when I reached out to you and heard you offer Mike a job as a choreographer and then I tuned out but I couldn't help but watch you two speaking. You're truly a woman after my heart and soul … except you've had both since long before I was even born I'm sure."

Pressing a soft kiss to Rachel's forehead Quinn merely hummed in agreement. "So, my songbird, all of these surprises for me and you said you have one more yet?"

Giving Quinn a mischievous smirk Rachel spoke into the shell of Quinn's ear, "when everyone leaves and we go to your bedroom, you'll see."

Shuddering from the purely sensual sound and quality to Rachel's voice, Quinn almost wanted to kick everyone out of her condo immediately but resisted and made sure to send Rachel a silent message through their mind link. You are one evil woman some days Rachel, you truly are. Rachel giggled into Quinn's ear before pressing a kiss there.

"Let's just say I won't have to ever worry about going back to my own apartment again."

Eyes widening Quinn pulled back and looked into Rachel's open and warm eyes. "You mean …?" At Rachel's nod Quinn's face broke into the largest smile Rachel had ever seen on her face, "I love you. This really is the happiest birthday of my life." Kissing softly and awaiting the right moment to kick everyone out, they sat in their little corner, undisturbed by everyone at the party. Even Santana had decided to behave for her best friend's birthday party, something of a miracle in everyone's eyes.

Quinn definitely marked this as a good surprise.

X

Why this chapter took so long, I was given a bunch of extra hours at work for some reason and then I got hit by a car today on the way to get some food with my sisters. My older sister was driving and I was the only one on the passenger side as we pulled out of our parking spot, my sister was changing gears, when another vehicle suddenly pulled out and gently slammed (oxymoron but true statement) into our car and after hitting us repeatedly, trying to back out as if she couldn't see us sitting there getting hit by her vehicle multiple times. She then had the nerve to ask us why we didn't see her backing out when she had in fact hit our stationary car and continued to do so despite not getting any results from her attempt to reverse. Well, luckily she didn't hit the car hard enough to do any major damage other than causing me to nearly throw up from almost having an asthma attack after the adrenaline rush left me and probably giving me mild whip lash because I'm pretty sore too.

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