My A/Ns are becoming a lot more frequent at the start of chapters!
Firstly, thank you to those people who review this fic. Your words really did inspire me to write this chapter as quickly as I did.
To the reviewer who asked where I'm from, I'm from Cumbria in England, it's very North... I am going to apologise for any grammar mistakes, I'm doing an English degree but sometimes they just slip away...especially my tenses ;)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
- Klaine2314
Chapter Fifteen:
Quinn drove the short journey home consumed in her own thoughts. She'd never though 'Puckleberry' would be a proper relationship, but she was pleased for them. She could see a new Puck when he spoke to her. She saw the Puck that only Rachel had seen for the past two years. She wanted to tell Kurt and Mercedes but Puck and Rachel had clearly kept their relationship a secret for a reason, Quinn would always respect that.
Quinn reflected on her afternoon, Beth seemed to be at ease with both of her parents. Quinn indicated onto their street and looked up at their home as she drove onto their driveway. She looked deeper than the aesthetics and saw love, stability and security. She smiled to herself; she was secretly pleased that eighteen years later she could finally give Beth these necessities.
She opened the front door and entered their home. She saw that the lounge and kitchen was empty. The house was quiet. She thought Sam and Larry would be home by now. Being a mother to a constantly energetic seven year old had taught Quinn to appreciate any quiet time within their home boundaries. She looked at the clock, it was six thirty, Larry had finished school over three hours ago and Sam was picking him up after work. Sam usually left her a note or sent her a text message if they were going somewhere but Quinn had looked around the kitchen and hadn't found any note, she didn't have any text messages either.
She walked to the kitchen counter and began to prepare dinner. She washed the salad, prepped the meat and then laid the table. She hummed a soft tune as she moved around the kitchen. Generally Sam was the chef in their house but Quinn tried her best to cook for him. Sam found cooking soothing whilst Quinn found it a chore. She hated coming home from a long day at work to then cook a meal, wash up and then finally have some down time. Sam however, was the opposite; he found his perfect release from a stressful day was cooking. Quinn secretly hoped Larry would inherit his father's cooking ability and not hers.
Quinn heard the door unlock and knew her boys were home. She never fully realised how much she missed them until she was alone. "Baby are you home?" Sam called.
"Kitchen!"
"Kitchen?" She heard Larry and Sam say in unison. She could hear the confusion in their voices.
"I've cooked." Quinn stated.
"I can see and smell that!" Sam replied.
"Wait, you've cooked Mum, are you sure?" Larry asked.
"Err, yeah? I did it while you guys were out."
"It's just that it smells so good and not burned, you can't have cooked Mum." Larry joked. Sam erupted with laughter. Quinn forced back a smile and pretended to be upset. "Larry Maxwell Evans, do you want to go upstairs without any dinner?" Quinn mocked, fully playing up to the role of upset mother. "Oh, you got full named. You're in trouble, little man!" Sam joked.
"Well?" Quinn repeated, arching her eyebrow.
"Well, if you cooked then yeah, I'll go upstairs, but if you didn't then no, I'd like to stay for dinner..." He trailed off when he caught his mother's eye. "Sorry Mum, dinner actually smells great." He said offering a weak smile. Quinn caught Sam's eye and they both erupted into fits of giggles.
"What?" Larry asked.
"Larry, Mum got you these, huh?" Sam replied.
"Don't play games with someone who can play them better!" Quinn quipped. "That's your lesson for today." She added. Seeing Larry was downbeat from their prank, Quinn put her arm around her son and said "Let's eat." A smile shot across Larry's face as he dived towards the dining table.
Dinner that evening was filled with pleasant chatter as each member of the Evans family shared details of their day. Quinn watched as an animated Larry explained what they'd been doing at school. Her heart swelled everytime he spoke; her son and her husband were everything she could have wished for. As they all cleared away the dishes, Beth stood in the doorway watching the family go about their usual routine. Silently she stood there wishing she'd grown up in an environment as happy and homely as this.
Growing up for Beth was being home tutored in a different city every six months as Shelby tried to pursue her dream of being a actress and desperate to someday land a role on Broadway. Beth was thankful to her mother for the way she'd been raised, she knew private tutors weren't cheap and her mother only wanted what was best for her, falling pregnant at eighteen didn't fit that criteria. Shelby had been furious, her only child had thrown away an amazing opportunity at education to have a baby that she might not even keep. Beth's argument had been if Quinn hadn't kept her then Shelby wouldn't have Beth, she also reminded Shelby that Quinn was even younger than Beth was when she'd fallen pregnant.
"Beth, are you ok?" Beth was snapped to the present as a voice spoke from a far.
"You don't look so good." A second voice said, she recognised that to be Larry's.
"What? I'm fine...I was just watching and waiting for Puck? For my Dad? I honestly don't know what to call him." Beth admitted.
"Yeah, he is thirty six and we're still calling him Puck. For us that's normal. Ask him what he wants you to call him he might even let you call him Noah." Quinn answered.
"If he lets you call him Noah, accept it. It's pretty much an honour." Sam joked.
"He's right, no one calls him Noah and lives to tell the tale." Quinn added. She watched as a slight frown hit Beth's forehead. "Rachel used to call him Noah whenever she spoke about him." She finally said. When Quinn heard Rachel's name mentioned it took all her strength not to smile or chuckle. Instead she played it safe and went with a neutral "Hmmm yeah..."
A car horn sounded outside and Quinn peered out of the window. "Your driver has arrived." She joked. She moved across to the doorway where Beth was still stood and gave her a small hug. "Can you ask him if this mysterious girlfriend of his would like to know that he doesn't even come to the door to greet his own daughter?" Quinn asked.
"Erm, yeah, I guess so." Beth replied nodding her head although she was thoroughly confused.
"Tell him to text me his answer later; let him know that I await it with anticipation. Anyway, go, have fun. See you later." She opened the door and ushered Beth out of it. She waved at Puck as Beth made her way to the car; she watched them drive off and closed the door.
Sam and Larry had finished the clearing away and were in the lounge where Sam was teaching Larry some simple guitar chords. Quinn picked up the camera from the drawer in the coffee table and snapped a picture of the beautiful moment between her two loves. Their evening was quiet and Larry surprised them both by going to bed early. Quinn snuggled up to Sam as they watched TV.
"Thank you." She whispered to him.
"For what?" He said moving his arm tighter around her, as if to protect her even more. Quinn thought that maybe he felt if he clutched her tighter she'd feel safe enough to let her guard down completely and open up to him. Quinn had never had a problem opening up to Sam. "Thank you, for letting Beth stay here, especially with what we're going through right now. Your heart is always in the right place and you know exactly what to do." She mumbled.
"My heart mimics your heart, our hearts beat as one. The pieces of metal on our hands signify that we'll make the other happy, no matter what it does to us, in sickness and in health. I'll do anything to make you happy Quinn, I always have and baby, I always will." He said softly.
"I love you." She replied simply.
"I love you, too." He said giving her a gentle kiss. Quinn could never get sick of telling Sam she loved him nor would she tire of hearing Sam tell her that he loved her.
She watched the rest of the programme in a haze. She hoped that Beth was having a good time and that Puck wasn't giving her horror stories of when Quinn was pregnant and her constant desire for bacon. Her phone flashed on the coffee table and she reached across to get it. The display said (1)Text Message – Puck. She opened it and it read: "Beth's just gone to the bathroom, I thought Icould text you now as it's considered rude to text in the company of a young lady :P. In response to your threat, she would kill me if she knew that's how I'd behaved earlier, it won't happen again. To ensure it won't, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine;)"
Quinn resisted laughing out loud as she couldn't tell Sam firstly about Puck and Rachel and secondly about her and Rachel. She just smiled a small smile to herself and went back to the TV programme under the protective arm of her husband.