Everything seemed like a blur, no, like a dream. This couldn't be real life, could it? Quinn wasn't sure when she'd started making dinner, but it was in the middle of doing such a thing when she came back to reality from the numb state she'd been in most of the day.
She looked at the clock. It was six forty-seven. She looked down at what she was doing. Dinner was pretty much done. All she had left to make was the salad.
Quinn looked at the clock again as she finished putting dinner on the table. It was six fifty-two. Rachel would be there soon. As if on cue, she heard the intercom go off, signaling that somebody had buzzed her apartment.
"Santana," Quinn called to her best friend, "Can you set the table while I get that?"
Quinn didn't wait for the Latina to respond, instead she walked to the intercom system in her front hallway. She pressed the button allowing her to be heard and said "Come on up," before pressing another button allowing her visitors into the building.
A minute or so later, there was a knock on the door. Quinn opened the door to reveal Rachel and Patrick.
"Hey Patrick," Quinn addressed the boy.
"Kin!" Patrick squealed. He had taken a liking to the woman with the cool car that he could watch movies in. It was much more entertaining than his mother's car. He moved to hug the blonde, and the blonde hugged him back.
"Lucy and Logan are inside playing if you want to join them," Quinn told the three year old.
Patrick started shifting in his mother's arms, wanting to get down and play with his new friends. Rachel put Patrick down, straightening his shirt and telling him to play nice before letting him run into the apartment.
"Hey Rach," Quinn greeted the shorter girl, "I'm glad you and Patrick could make it."
"Well I assure you Quinn, we were happy to receive the invitation," Rachel responded.
Quinn's smile broadened, before faltering slightly, realizing that she had forgotten to mention that Santana and Brittany were there.
"I, uh, I should mention that Santana and Brittany are here, too."
Rachel looked perplexed. "I thought they were in Boston?" Rachel questioned.
"They are," Quinn said, "I mean, they're here right now, but they live near Boston."
Quinn wasn't sure how the brunette knew that they lived in Boston, but she didn't question it for the moment. "They're visiting," Quinn finished.
Rachel nodded, "Well I'm glad," Rachel said, "It would be a shame if the unholy trinity had fallen apart, now wouldn't it?"
Quinn relaxed as Rachel entered the apartment.
"Hey, Q," Santana shouted through the apartment, "When did we get a third kid?"
Quinn couldn't help but laugh at Santana. It was just so…her.
Quinn led the way further into her apartment, finding Santana, Brittany and all three kids in the den. Quinn was about to tell Santana that Rachel was there, but Rachel made her presence clear all on her own.
"Patrick Finn Berry!" Rachel screeched at her son, whom Quinn noticed was not only missing most of his clothes (all that remained on the boy were his underwear and socks) but had in his hands a photo of Lucy and Clay that had been on one of the tables, and looked like he was about to throw it, only he had frozen at the sound of his full name from his mother's lips.
"Give me that," she said, taking the photo from Patrick and handing it apologetically to Quinn. "We do not throw things Patrick," Rachel told the boy seriously, "We do not come into someone else's home and disrespect their things, and what happened to your clothes, mister?"
Patrick looked at Quinn, "Sowwy Kin," he told the blonde.
Quinn smiled down at the boy. She squatted so she was at his level, well she was still a bit taller, but she was close enough. She looked him in the eye, "Thank you for apologizing to me Patrick. You're forgiven, but don't do it again okay?" The little boy nodded solemnly, and Quinn hugged him, which made him smile again.
"Patrick," Rachel said again as soon as Quinn released him. The tone of her voice said she was not to be trifled with right now. "Where are your clothes?"
Patrick pointed to the couch where Rachel saw Brittany covered in her son's clothes, which had obviously been thrown in her direction.
"Brittany, I'm so sorry," Rachel apologized on behalf of her son. She collected the clothing from her and started redressing Patrick. "It's really good to see you again, though," She told Brittany, "and you too, Santana."
"Berry," Santana acknowledged, "I should've known the little brat was yours."
Rachel stood up, marching straight up to the Latina, getting in her face. "You do not talk about my son that way!"
Motherhood suited Rachel, at least that was Santana's second coherent thought with Rachel all up in her face.
"Rach," Quinn said.
"Relax," Santana said, pretending that Rachel wasn't scaring her, although, and she'd never admit this, she was quite scared for her life at the moment. You do not mess with a mother's child. "I didn't mean it in a bad way."
"Way to ruin the reunion, Satan," Quinn jibed at her best friend.
"Well maybe if you had actually told us we'd be seeing Berry tonight, I'd have been more prepared to…I don't know, tone down the bitch a little."
"Santana!" Rachel said, covering Patrick's ears.
"S, come on, there are children in the room," Quinn whined.
"Sorry," Santana said sincerely, "My filter still needs a little work."
Rachel relaxed a little, scooping her son into her arms. "Alright Pattycakes, if you're good for the rest of the night, you won't have to go to bed early."
Patrick beamed up at his mother, knowing he was getting off easy. He's glad they walked in before he actually had a chance to throw the picture because he knows now that he would be in a lot of trouble if he had actually broken something.
Rachel turns to face Santana who is now sitting on the couch in Brittany's arms. "Brittany, Santana, this is my son, Patrick."
"Hi Pattycakes!" Brittany said excitedly, having picked up on the nickname. Santana smiled sweetly at the boy. She'd never admit it but she had a soft spot for little kids, and she couldn't wait until she and Brittany had their own kids.
"Patrick, this is Brittany and Santana, they went to school with mommy and Quinn."
Patrick squirmed in Rachel's arms, having been intrigued by Brittany's bubbly personality.
"Quinn, I must thank you for having Patrick and I over for dinner. Patrick adores you already and this lasagna is absolutely divine."
Quinn smiled gently at the brunette, "I thought you'd appreciate it. It's vegan, you know?"
Santana, who was in the middle of her second helping, choked on her lasagna. "You're feeding me rabbit food?" she grunted after she swallowed the food in her mouth.
"Not only did I cook vegan," Quinn corrected Santana, "but I did it in such a way where you not only couldn't tell, but actually enjoyed it." Quinn was tempted to stick her tongue out at Santana, but felt that it would not be a good example to set for the children present.
"Te odio," Santana mumbled. Quinn was glad that Santana had taken to speaking in Spanish whenever she needed to say something inappropriate in front of her kids.
"It was very thoughtful of you Quinn, though I thought you'd realized that I am no longer vegan and you could have prepared a regular lasagna instead of going through all the trouble of making a vegan-friendly alternative," Rachel rambled.
Santana looked murderous at that new piece of information, though internally she conceded that the food was, in fact, delicious, despite apparently being a vegan dish. Not that she would willingly admit such a thing.
"I figured it out about the time you stole one of my meatballs," Quinn answered, "However, if I know you at all, if all else is the same, you'd still much prefer a vegan meal if given the option. Though I've been meaning to ask you when you started eating meat, more specifically pork."
"You eat pork?" Santana asked Rachel.
"You knew she eats pork and yet you still forced this rabbit food upon me?" Santana asked Quinn without waiting for a response from Rachel.
Quinn smirked, "Oh please, S, you were enjoying that lasagna more than my mother's."
"In answer to your question, Quinn, when you're pregnant, your body doesn't seem to care what your dietary preferences are, thus leading to several cravings from some crispy bacon. Though, I'm pretty sure that you already know that because I remember that one instance during sophomore year you begged me via text to get you some bacon during my free period. Granted, you've always had a soft spot for bacon. And I'll have you know that the meatball I stole from you yesterday was the first piece of meat I've eaten since Patrick was born, and the look upon your face when I ate it was totally worth it."
"You begged Berry to get you bacon?" Santana smirked.
"Q?" Brittany said, startling Quinn and Rachel. It wasn't that they'd forgotten she was there, but she hadn't spoken in a while.
"Yeah, B?"
"Are you and Rachel dating?" Brittany asked innocently.
This time it was Rachel who choked on her lasagna.
"What would make you think that?" Rachel asked.
"Well, Quinn was normal this morning, but she was all spacey when she came home, but then you showed up and she's back to normal.
Rachel turned to Quinn, unsure of how to respond to that. Of course, the obvious answer would have been "no" but now Rachel was intrigued as to what was going on inside Quinn's head.
Quinn on the other hand knew exactly why she had been spacing that afternoon, and it had nothing to do with Rachel.
"I had…an interesting day at work today." Quinn said. "And for the record, I snapped out of it while I was making dinner, not when Rachel showed up."
Brittany nodded, acknowledging Quinn's statement, but she knew better. She knew that Quinn had always felt something for the girl, even if she wasn't admitting it yet. And something just seemed different with them. She couldn't quite place what it was yet, but she was going to find out.
"So what happened at work that took your mind away from playing with your kids, Q?" Santana asked, genuinely curious. She knew that Quinn took every opportunity to be with Lucy and Logan, so her passing up the opportunity to play with them when she got home from work was out of character. She couldn't help but hope that Quinn had finally been offered a position as an editor instead of getting coffee all day for her jerk of a boss.
Quinn felt three sets of eyes on her.
"Well I…"
"I finished, Mama!" Logan said excitedly. "Can I go watch tv now?"
"Why don't you and Aunt Brittany pick out a movie and we'll all watch it," Quinn suggested. Logan clapped, and bounced to Brittany's side, trying to drag her into the other room. Quinn turned to Rachel. "Can you and Patrick stay for a movie, or do you have to get home?"
Rachel looked at her watch. They really should be heading home, but Patrick was enjoying his time, and she was definitely not complaining about catching up with the Unholy Trinity, though she'd have thought she wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as she did.
Quinn could see the gears churning in Rachel's head. She knew that look, she'd worn it herself many a time. It was the look when you're battling what you want with what you think you should do. Quinn wasn't sure when she stopped breathing, but when Rachel smiled and said that they could stay, Quinn let out a sigh of relief. She had been wondering if Rachel felt obligated to stay and really wanted to go home, but the smile on the girl's face told her otherwise, as well as the small frown that formed when she amended that they might have to leave before the movie ended in order to get Patrick home and in bed at a decent hour.
Quinn walked into the room holding a number of containers and spoons.
"Who wants ice cream?" Quinn asked.
The kids were all at her feet in a matter of seconds, causing the adults to laugh.
Quinn gave the kids each a Hoodsie cup and a spoon, looking to Rachel for permission before handing Patrick his. Rachel smiled at her, nodding her approval. Quinn threw a pint at Santana, who caught it easily, looked at it and smiled. "Rocky Road," she said, licking her lips. Brittany thanked Quinn for the pint of Moose Tracks she gave her. Quinn sat down on the couch next to Rachel and handed the brunette a pint of vegan strawberry ice cream before opening her own pint of vanilla bean.
"Quinn, thank you," Rachel said, "This was so thoughtful of you."
Quinn beamed in response, not saying anything with her mouth full of ice cream.
Logan and Brittany had picked out the movie Pooh's Grand Adventure" The Search for Christopher Robin. It had been one of Quinn's favorite movies when she had been a little girl, and Logan and Lucy had, in turn, come to love it as well.
A little way into the movie, Quinn said, "San, I need you to watch the kids tomorrow morning."
"Not that I mind watching the munchkins but I thought you had the day off tomorrow?" Santana answered.
Quinn smirked. "I did, but thanks to you, I have a meeting in the morning now."
"Me?" Santana questioned, "What did I do?"
Quinn arched her eyebrow.
"What?" Santana asked, truly perplexed as to what she had done.
Quinn just continued to look at her with her eyebrow raised.
"No! Really? That's great, Q!" Santana practically yelled when she understood what Quinn was saying. Everyone was now looking at Santana and Quinn. Patrick was pouting because she had interrupted the movie, which he had never seen before. The kids soon turned their attention back to the television, but Brittany and Rachel still looked on in confusion. What had just happened?
"Baby, what's going on?" Brittany finally asked.
"Britt, baby, remember a while ago, when we found that story that Quinn wrote?"
"The one about Rachel?" Brittany asked.
Rachel looked shocked. Had Quinn really written a story about her? Quinn on the other hand, was merely confused because she knew she'd never written anything about Rachel. Santana just brushed it off, "No, the one about the wanna-be chef."
Brittany blinked. That was the one she was talking about. It was clearly a metaphor for her wanting Rachel, how could they not see that?
"What about it?" Brittany asked.
"Well I submitted it to a number of publisher's for Quinn, and her company wants to publish it."
"Quinn, that's fantastic!" Rachel said.
Rachel and Patrick had ended up staying for the entire movie. Rachel left almost immediately after carrying a very tired Patrick in her arms. Quinn had tucked in her kids just after, who had drifted to sleep as their heads hit the pillows. Now it was just Quinn, Santana and Brittany.
Quinn was kind of dreading this. She had meant to tell them that Rachel would be joining them tonight, but with the news of being published, it had slipped her mind. And now she knew there would be questions.
"So when did you and the hobbit start hanging out?" Santana questioned when she returned to the living room.
"Yesterday, surprisingly enough."
"But, Q, weren't you driving yesterday?" Brittany asked, genuinely confused as to how they could have possibly started hanging out while she was making the eight hour journey from Ohio to New York.
"Yeah, um, I guess her car broke down on her way back from Lima, and I saw the broken down car, so I stopped to see if I could help. I didn't know it was Rachel when I pulled over."
"So, what happened?" Santana prodded.
"Not much. I offered her and Patrick a ride back to New York. We talked during the drive. Dropped them off at their apartment. Said we'd keep in touch. Went home. Invited her to dinner this afternoon. And you know the rest."
"And?" Santana asked, hoping there was more to the story than Quinn was letting on.
"And nothing. It was nice talking to her again. She's not nearly as annoying as she was in high school. In fact, she's good company. It'd be nice to have a friend in the city, and Patrick is Lucy's age, so they fit well together. We already know each other, so I figured I try to actually be friends with her."
"Whatever you need to believe," Brittany muttered to herself. She was slightly annoyed that Quinn was still in denial. Luckily Quinn didn't hear her, but Santana shot a curious look her way before moving on. She would ask Brittany about that later.
"Weren't you like bitter enemies?" Santana said, more to move the conversation along than anything else.
"No, at least not once we got to know each other. We were kind of friends senior year. Speaking of, did you guys know that Finn died?"
Brittany nodded. Santana, on the other hand, looked shocked.
"Pyramid nipples passed?" she said.
"Santana," Brittany admonished. She didn't like the nicknames Santana tended to give people, but she knew it was going to happen. She had accepted that. But, she needed to show some respect to the dead.
"Sorry, habit."