Rachel turned the key in the ignition and started up her car. Her fingers gripped the wheel as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot with the radio playing softly in the background. Quinn sat in the passenger seat, her eyes gazing out of the window admiring Ohio's scenery, and
Rachel could smell her vanilla perfume. A hand reached over the center console and stroked the brunette's arm. Rachel took one hand off of the wheel and intertwined her fingers with Quinn's, the touch jolting her heart with a new life.
Rachel Berry was driving home, holding Quinn Fabray's hand and was reconnecting with her mother. This couldn't be happening. The awestruck diva was pulled from her thoughts as Quinn turned the radio down.
"Hey. Rach?"
"Yeah, Quinn?"
Rachel tried to keep her eyes on the road, though the scent of Quinn alone was making it hard to resist looking at the blonde.
"Do you think we could stop at Puck's house? I need to pick up my clothes and probably talk to him about the adoption situation."
"Oh! Of course we can! To Pucks house!" she replied cheerfully, her smile causing Quinn's heart to flutter inside of her chest.
Twenty minutes later, Rachel pulled into Puck's driveway as the sun was setting. The sunlight reflected off of Quinn's porcelain skin as her head leaned against the car window, her face completely serene. Rachel killed the engine, and the car became silent, save for Quinn's light breathing as she slept quieting in the passenger's seat.
She was breathtaking.
Rachel's breath hitched as she felt the need to kiss the girl's exposed neck, the soft skin more inviting than a scholarship to Julliard. She leaned in slightly and placed her hand on Quinn's hips to steady herself; the blonde remained placid. Then, ever so gently, she pressed her lips into the nape of the blonde's neck. She shivered at the softness, and how she tasted of vanilla.
Quinn stirred and her lips formed a smile as she murmured in her sleep.
"Quinn, honey, we're here," she whispered into Quinn's ear.
The blonde's eyes opened slowly as she blinked out the sleep. Rachel pulled back and admired the view. Quinn stretched her arms back and yawned as she unbuckled her seat belt. Then she stared at Rachel, wondering what to do next.
"Well, I guess I'll go now. It'll only be a few minutes."
Rachel nodded.
"Would you like me to accompany you?"
Quinn laughed at her vernacular.
"No, you don't have to 'accompany' me, Berry. You also don't have to talk like a grandmother either," she teased lightly.
"Oh would you rather me talk like this? Yo, homie, you want me to go with you to that hiz house and raise the roof? Yo!"
Quinn doubled over with laughter, the sound warming Rachel's soul.
"I prefer grandma talk."
Rachel crossed her arms triumphantly.
"That's what I thought."
Quinn stuck her tongue out at the diva and was about to leave the car when a hand dragged her back in. Before she knew it, a pair of lips was caressing hers in a deep and languid kiss. Quinn begged for more, but just as she had done earlier, the brunette pulled away abruptly and shook her head, teasing the desperate blonde.
"Go get your things, Fabray," she ordered.
Quinn rolled her eyes and stepped into the warm summer air. She crossed the street and walked up to the door. After a deep breath and a glance back at the car, she rang the doorbell. The door opened, and Puck's younger sister greeted Quinn.
"Hello, Quinn!" she said cheerfully as she hugged the blonde.
"Hi, Stephanie! Is Puck around?"
The little girl nodded energetically and pulled Quinn inside with her into the once familiar home. She was dragged down the hallway decorated in family photograph until they arrived at the basement door.
"He's down there. That tall boy left a little while ago. I'm not allowed to go down there because I'm too little. I think they're playing video games or something gross. Boys are gross."
"Boys are gross," Quinn affirmed with a laugh. "Thanks, Steph," she said as she descended down the basement stairs with more ease than when she was pregnant.
Puck was sprawled out on the couch, the floor littered with popcorn and soda cans, with a stuffed lamb in his hand. The game looked like it was paused, and the boy was staring at the toy as he stroked it absentmindedly.
"Hey, Puck," she said softly.
His head snapped up as he hid the toy behind a pillow.
"Hey," he grunted.
Quinn sat down on the cot she had inhabited a day earlier. A sigh escaped her lips.
"I saw the baby today," she said quietly. "She has your eyes, and I think your chin too. And her hands are so tiny, Puck."
The boy looked over at her with sparkling eyes, despite his attempts to act indifferent.
"Really?" he asked before clearing his throat. "I mean, that's cool. Whatever."
"I also talked to Rachel's mother today about the baby."
This was enough to intrigue the boy. He turned off the television and faced the girl, staring deeply into her hazel eyes.
"And?"
She sighed.
"Rachel's mother wants to adopt her. And I think it's a good idea. Rachel approves of it. Look, she says it can be an open adoption so we can visit her and get pictures and even help raise her. It's the best option we have, Puck. I know you love her. I saw how you look at her. I do too. As much as I want to keep her, this is what is best for her."
Puck looked down into his lap.
"I guess it's better than nothing," he said.
Quinn smiled.
"That's the spirit," she said as she punched his arm gently.
"No, Quinn. You can't just do that. We can't act like everything is okay just like that. I'm still upset about-,"
"What about me being a lesbian?" Quinn countered.
Puck remained calm.
"No, I'm not mad that you like Rachel. Yeah it hurts like a bitch, but I'll get over it eventually. I'm mad that I let myself fall so hard for someone who doesn't love me."
Quinn sighed. This was never about Rachel.
"I do care about you, Puck, more than you realize. I just want us to be okay for our baby so that when we go and visit her together she'll see that her parents are happy and not as screwed up as ours are."
Puck perked up at the thought.
"You want to visit her with me?"
"Of course, Puck, you're her father."
He smiled, suddenly pulling the blonde into his strong arms.
"You got yourself a deal, baby mama."
Quinn smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"I have to go, though. Rachel is letting me stay at her house. I think we need some time apart… to process everything that's happened, you know?"
Puck nodded.
"Definitely. I still can't believe you're boning Berry! Out of all of the hot girls at our school you pick Rachel Berry? You're weird, Fabray."
Quinn laughed as she stood up and got her bag that was sitting on her cot.
"Shut it, Puckerman!"
He laughed as he watched her leave.
"Quinn, wait!"
She turned around, already halfway up the stairs.
"Yeah?"
"What are we going to name her?"
Quinn had completely forgotten about that part of having a child.
"I don't know…"
Puck furrowed his brow and thought hard.
"Beth," Quinn suddenly suggested, "Beth Rachel Corcoran."
Puck beamed.
"It's perfect."
Then Quinn's face became nervous as another idea formed in her head.
"Puck, would you mind if Rachel was her godmother?"
"No, I think it's a great idea, although tell her to lay off the show tunes okay? I don't want my daughter to become some Rachel Berry clone."
Quinn laughed.
"Thanks, Puck."
The boy smiled.
"Anytime, Q."
With that, Quinn left the boy in his basement where he proceeded to kill more animated soldiers on his Xbox.
Quinn thanked Mrs. Puckerman, even though she strongly disliked the woman, grabbed her duffle bag and pillow, and left the house feeling as though everything was falling into place.
She walked around and opened the trunk, throwing her stuff into the back. Then she looked through the window. Rachel was snoring with her head far back on her seat, her mouth wide open. Quinn grinned at the diva.
As she plopped into her seat she slammed the door closed, causing the brunette to jump up.
"What's going on? Is everything okay?"
Quinn giggled at the girl.
"Everything's fine, Rach. You're cute when you snore."
Rachel's eyes widened.
"I do not snore, Quinn."
Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Sure you don't."
Rachel yawned and started the car. As she backed out of the driveway, Quinn put her iPod on quietly in the background.
"So, how did he take it?" she asked five minutes later.
Quinn smiled and took her hand.
"It went well. We've decided that the open adoption is the best option for us right now, that we will be naming our daughter Beth Rachel Corcoran, you are her godmother and-,"
"What?"
Rachel slammed the breaks. Luckily the street was deserted. Quinn smiled deviously at the girl and acted confused.
"Did I say something to surprise you?"
"Repeat what you just said."
Quinn continued her act.
"Puck and I agreed on an open adoption…"
Rachel scoffed.
"No, not that the other thing."
"Oh, that we're naming our daughter -,"
"NO! I mean yes sort of. Ugh Quinn! Is her middle name really going to be Rachel? Am I really going to be her godmother?"
Quinn nodded, her smile growing exponentially.
Rachel suddenly released the wheel and grabbed Quinn's coat, pulling her in so that their lips crashed together in a swirl of love and lust. The kiss was heavy and desperate, each girl wanting the other.
A car honked behind them impatiently.
Quinn threw her arm out of the window, gave the car the finger, and continued to kiss the hell out of her girlfriend.