To Olacindy - Your question about the trial will be answered in this chapter :) And a suggestion of yours will be popping up in the next chapter.
To Ad3n - I'm from Maryland, Hagerstown area. Thank you for your suggestion on what to do on the west coast. We've decided to stay in Portland for a few days, seems there's more that appeal to us there than in Seattle, though I really wanted to see the space needle... *grumbles*
To everybody else - Thank you for your kind reviews, they're really appreciated and keep me motivated to write.
I hate to inform everybody, but I'm dangerously close to falling behind. I'm posting chapter 20 now, and I JUST finished chapter 21 yesterday. So that gives me a week to get 22 done or I'll officially be stressed and falling behind. So... yea, there will at least be one more chapter before a possible break. If that were to happen, I'll inform you all with the next chapter post.
If... and I repeat IF, I have a break in the chapters, I'll simply start posting them as they're finished, so updates will become sporadic and won't be on every Sunday than. But, as I stated, I'll let you all know if it comes to that.
One last thing, due to schedule conflictions, I was unable to get with my beta to have her look over this for me, so it was looked over by myself, all 8200 words of it... I'm still impressed by the length of this chapter. There's a lot going on and I think it's an even mixture of happy and sad. I'm trying to add in more days per chapter, because seriously, nobody needs to know every day that happens in the Faberry household lol.
The First 24
Chapter 20
February 16 – 9:00AM
"Come on back Quinn." Emily smiled from the doorway at the older woman. Her smile faded away though when she saw the blonde's facial expression. Something had happened over the weekend. And Emily could tell it was something bad.
"Morning…" Quinn finally spoke once the office door was closed and she'd already taken up residence on one of the chairs.
"I'd ask how you are doing, but I've come to learn some of your facial expressions." The younger brunette opened up a notepad before pulling a pen from her cup. "What happened on Valentine's Day?"
She hesitated for a minute. She remembered everything that happened two days ago. What was supposed to be a good night turned disastrous with a simple flick of the wrist. "Rachel loved the stir-fry I made for her." A small smile came to her lips. "She yelled at me because she assumed I had wine in my glass."
"Did you?" Emily looked as though she was about to yell at her too.
Quinn just chuckled softly at her psychologist's glare. "No, it was cranberry juice… to make it look like I was having wine with her." She blushed softly at just how silly it sounded. But she had wanted the whole experience to be there… for both of them, not just for Rachel. "You know, she even grabbed my glass and tasted it to make sure I wasn't lying."
"What happened after dinner?" Emily continued to question, knowing the real reason for Quinn's distress had to have come from after the meal.
"Everything was perfect…" She blushed as the events from that evening came flooding back into her mind. "I was able to touch her with no problem." Quinn had never been good at conveying anything sexual to anybody, not even Rachel. "But… the minute she started to touch me…"
"You panicked?" Emily finished for her, causing the blonde to just nod. "Did you have memories of him?" Again, Quinn nodded. She let out a soft sigh before placing her pen on the notepad that sat on her desk. "Your conscious mind realizes that Rachel would never hurt you. You know that, your body knows that. But somewhere locked in your unconscious mind you can't get the thoughts of him out of your head."
"It's like you said, I know Rachel wouldn't hurt me. She was nothing but gentle." Her fingers came up to rest against the scar near her neck that she knew was exposed with the top she'd chosen for the day. "When she kissed here… I just remembered how I'd gotten it." Emily nodded. "When she touched me… I flashed back to one of the times he touched me. Even though the feelings were so different… I couldn't separate them."
"And that happens Quinn. People tend to think they're fine, because they can focus solely on their conscious minds. They tend to forget about their unconscious ones, until something happens that's trapped in that part of their mind. In this case, her touching you brought that part out of your unconscious." She lifted up her pen again to make a short note. "Have you talked to her about any of this?"
"I try to. I really do. But I can never find the words to tell her how much it hurts." Quinn couldn't stop the tears from trickling down her cheeks. "I just want everything to go back to the way it was beforehand."
The younger woman nodded her sympathy. "That's understandable Quinn. But overcoming something so traumatic is a process. You can't just flick a switch and turn off all of the 'bad.'" Quinn let out a soft chuckle. That's exactly what she'd been trying to do. "What about your friend Brittany? Didn't you say she'd had something similar happen to her in high school? Have you tried talking to her?"
"No, I haven't. I don't know what to say to her. And, I guess I'm afraid she'll end up telling Santana about what I say. Most of the time B tends to share things without realizing it. So telling her something so personal… wouldn't turn out well."
"Alright…" Emily trailed off as she continued to write. After a few minutes she finally spoke again. "Would you be opposed to Rachel joining us in a session?"
"What? Why?" Quinn felt a new wave of panic start to overcome her.
"Sometimes, when you struggle to share things with the ones you love, having them sit in a session while talking to me will help them to understand things a little bit better. It might even help you be able to open up directly to her instead of me helping you." Quinn nodded her head softly. "Would that be alright with you if you brought her in next time?"
"Yea, I think that would be okay. I'll say something to her when I see her this afternoon."
February 16 – 3:30PM
"Honey?" Rachel called out from the bedroom. She stood in front of the closet just staring into it. Absolutely nothing stood out to her.
Quinn popped her head out from their adjoining bathroom, "yea?"
"I don't know what to wear." The brunette pouted. She never turned her head toward her wife, but Quinn knew the look on her face, especially when she heard the blonde laugh softly. "Will you help me?"
"Of course." Quinn glanced at the clock before walking out of the bathroom – brush still in hand. Before joining Rachel at the closet she flipped on their wall mounted television. It had become a habit of hers to watch the afternoon news on days she was home. "Well, you want something simple right?"
"Yes, I mean, you're wearing a nice dress, I want to wear a dress too. But nothing like I'd wear to an awards ceremony. I mean, this is just dinner with some old friends." Rachel finally glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her wife. Quinn still took her breath away, especially in moments like this when she wore one of her sundresses. Her long hair was pulled over one shoulder, a habit she'd always had when brushing it out. Around her neck, Rachel could see the locket she'd gotten her for Christmas, it was complimented beautifully with the bracelet around her left wrist. "You're beautiful."
Quinn blushed under the smaller woman's observation. "Well thank you. And you will too once we get you dressed." She carefully pushed past the brunette to walk into the closet. "What about that nice black skirt you got last winter? You know that light one… it is kind of warm outside. You can wear that with this blouse." She held up a white blouse for Rachel's approval. The brunette tilted her head to the side, examining it for a moment before she went to the second that had her bottoms in it to search for the skirt Quinn was talking about.
"I can't wear that skirt…" Rachel huffed in frustration. "Remember the barbeque over the summer? It got ruined when Santana decided to push me into the pool."
Quinn couldn't help the laugh that echoed through the small room at the memory. Rachel had said something to frustrate their friend. So Santana had thought it would be a perfect revenge to push the diva into the pool when she wasn't looking. Little did she know though, that it would effectively ruin the skirt because of the material it was made of. "That was funny though."
"Hmph!" Rachel turned back to her selection of skirts. "I didn't find it funny in the least Quinn. You could have come to my rescue instead of just letting her shove me like that."
"I didn't know she was going to do it!" She quickly tried to defend herself. Quinn pulled out another top before making her way to her wife and sliding her arms around Rachel's slender waist. "You know I love you."
"I love you too, but you still could have helped." Rachel continued pouting.
"What about this…" She held up the dark red top that matched her own dress perfectly, before pulling out a dark denim skirt, "with this?"
Rachel took the items from Quinn and tilted her head to the side to examine them. "I think…" She spun around to give her wife a kiss. "It's perfect."
"Oh, I know I'm good." Quinn smirked before stealing another kiss.
"You're just full of yourself today aren't you Quinn?" The statement drew more laughter from Quinn. "How was your appointment?"
"It was… okay. I actually needed to talk to you about that." Quinn made her way back into the bedroom to sit at the foot of the bed. Her eyes turned to the television as she continued to brush out her hair. "Emily thinks it would be a good idea for you to sit in for the next visit."
Rachel popped her head out of the closet. She'd already taken her current shirt off and stood there in nothing but her bra and jeans. "Is that what you want?" Quinn smiled softly at her and nodded. "I think I can arrange that with Jason. When's your next appointment?"
"The 21st at 8. I had them change it to the first one in the morning because of your sched…" She stopped in the middle of her sentence when the news came back on, showing a picture of her in the top right hand corner. She quickly reached out for the remote to turn the volume up.
"… for the alleged rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder of Quinn Berry-Fabray – wife of new Hollywood prospect Rachel Berry-Fabray." The picture in the corner shifted some to show one of Rachel beside it. "Trial date for Jim Fields has been set for March 17th and will be taking place in New York City…"
Quinn shut the television off before the report could go any further. Her hand shook as she placed the remote back on the bed beside her. "It's national news now…"
"Honey?" Rachel quickly buttoned the last bit of her blouse before sitting on the bed beside her wife and sliding her arm around her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I… I was perfectly fine until I heard that." She cracked a forced smile. "At least they didn't show his picture… right?" Rachel nodded. "At least something good happened."
The brunette gently cupped the broken woman's cheeks, forcing their eyes to meet. "Try not to focus on this honey. We're going to have a good night with Mike, Tina, and their kids." Quinn nodded. "Alright, that's what I thought. Now, get your cute little butt in gear and finish doing your hair." It drew another light chuckle from Quinn, who listened and retreated to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
February 16 – 7:00PM
"I'll have to decline." Quinn bit her lip softly. Thankfully Tina didn't question her as she began pouring three glasses of wine. The kids had since retired to their own rooms. Damien was playing his video games, as announced at the table, and Alisa was probably on her computer, or watching movies. The teenager hadn't talked much during dinner. Mike had explained that she tended not to do well around new people at first. It was a trait that Quinn definitely understood.
"I have to say…" Rachel started out moments before she took a seat on the sofa beside Quinn. "That pasta was absolutely delicious." She glanced up at her wife who had her eyes closed and was taking slow, deep breaths. Rachel frowned, she already knew what that meant. And in all honesty, it couldn't have picked a worst time to hit her. "Mike, where's your restroom?" She took the liberty of asking for Quinn, knowing that if she tried to talk it would only speed up the process.
"Up the steps, second door on the left." Before he had a chance to finish Quinn was too her feet, practically running toward the staircase, Rachel right behind her. "What's wrong?"
"Just… give us a minute Mike, okay?" Rachel called behind her.
Quinn barely made it to her knees before all of the food she'd just eaten came back up. "Rachel?" She weakly called out between stomach spasms. She wasn't sure if her wife had followed her up the steps or not.
"I'm right here baby." She pulled the blonde hair out of Quinn's face and held it with one hand. Rachel lifted her skirt some before kneeling on the floor beside her wife. She used her free hand to rub soothing circles on her back. "I'm not going anywhere."
Quinn nodded. She didn't dare look up from where she was at. Not until her stomach stopped turning at least. Several deep breaths left her lungs as she tried to fight away the bubble that was making its way up her throat one more time. This was definitely the part of pregnancy she hated the most. "Why here?"
"I don't know honey… you can't help when it hits you." Rachel stood up to get Quinn a cup of water, then proceeded to open up the cabinets to look for mouthwash for her. "Here…" She handed two cups down to her wife. "Mike and Tina are going to ask what's wrong…"
Quinn nodded again. She rinsed her mouth out with the mouthwash Rachel had found before taking a few sips of the water. A heavy sigh left her mouth at the relief the cool water caused on her rough throat. "I know they will." She knew it from the moment she felt the bile start to rise into her throat. She knew they could trust them. Mike and Tina wouldn't open their mouths, especially if they were asked not to. Quinn's pregnancy couldn't go public yet, not with the trial next month. It would only add more fuel to the fire and it was something Quinn wasn't prepared to deal with yet.
Rachel didn't bother pushing any further. She simply leaned against the door and watched Quinn finish rinsing her mouth and spitting the blue liquid into the toilet before flushing it. "You okay?"
"Yea, I think I'll be fine now." Quinn tossed out a small smile before Rachel opened the door and the pair made their way back down the steps.
"Is everything alright?" Tina was first to question when the pair entered the living room.
Quinn reclaimed her seat on the sofa, with Rachel at her side. "Quinn's just been battling a stomach bug lately. She'll be fine." Lying to cover it up would be the best bet. Or so Rachel had thought.
"Rach… it's okay." Quinn placed her hand on top of her wife's before looking across the room at their friends. "I can trust them." Rachel just nodded, not bothering to speak anymore. She figured it was best to let Quinn do the talking. "I'm pregnant… two months now."
Silence filled the room. An uncomfortable one. "Two months?" Mike asked.
The blonde nodded. She could see the look on his face. It was quite obvious he was doing the quick math in his head. Once it finally clicked to both of them, their facial expressions fell. "Oh god…" Tina's hand shot up to cover her mouth. "You mean…?" Quinn just nodded again, confirming both of their suspicions. "Oh Quinn." Tina placed her glass on the table before rushing to her friend's side and pulling her into a hug.
The gesture caused tears to fall freely from Quinn's eyes. It just continued to show her that there were people who cared about her. Over Tina's shoulder, she could see Mike sporting an expression similar to Santana's when she'd found out. He looked like he wanted to kill someone. "It's okay though." Quinn forced the words out – her hand blindly reaching for Rachel's without breaking the connection Tina had with her. "I'm okay."
"What are you going to do?"
The blonde met Mike's eyes and could tell he was completely serious about the question. The look he showed her was one that was not judgmental in the least. He wouldn't think of her any differently regardless of what she'd decided to do. "We're keeping it…"
Tina pulled away to look Quinn in the eye. "Really?"
Rachel finally decided to step in, to save Quinn from having to share all of the details. "We tried a few years ago to have a child, but nothing worked… this… this baby – though from unfortunate circumstances – may be our only chance at a family."
February 17 – 1:00PM
Another box down. She paused long enough in her efforts to grab the last box from the garage to take back into the house to sort through. Pausing at the door long enough to fix the yellow bandana that covered her hair and helped keep it out of her face, she looked at her last box. Written on the top of it, 'High School.' It was obviously Rachel's handwriting. Her own wasn't very bubbly, or neat for that matter.
The minute she walked back into the house, carrying the last box she was greeted with loud music from the stereo system along the wall. She couldn't help herself as she started to bounce along with the music. Her mouth soon opened to sing.
Huggin' and a-kissin'
Dancin' and a-lovin'
Wearin' next to nothin'
'Cause it's hot as an oven
The whole shack shimmies
Yeah, the whole shack shimmies
The whole shack shimmies when everybody's
Movin' around and around and around and around
Everybody's movin', everybody's groovin', baby
Folks linin' up outside just to get down
Everybody's movin', everybody's groovin', baby
Funky little shack
Funky little shack
Quinn couldn't help but giggle at her own actions. It was moments like this, when she'd been dancing around the house and singing at the top of her lungs… she was thankful for the privacy fence that separated them from their neighbors. What would people think seeing a middle-aged woman dancing around barefoot, in a torn t-shirt, rolled up grey sweatpants, and a bandana on their head? The blonde shook her head at the thought before making herself comfortable on the floor and popping open the box. Her head continued to bob to the music, her mouth moving along with the rest of the lyrics as she pulled a few old yearbooks out and placed them to the side.
"Hello, what's this?" She tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing as she pulled out a reddish colored blob. "Oh my god…" She couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter as she reached for her phone to type a quick message to her wife.
Quinn: You kept my wig from Rocky Horror? Lol
After messing with it for a minute or two, she finally got it straightened out and placed it perfectly on top of her head. She briefly mused at the thought of how odd she knew she looked, but it didn't matter. Quinn was having fun. Not a single bad memory was entering her mind as the radio changed to the next song on the random playlist. Once again she burst into laughter, mostly at the irony of the song that had decided to play next. She opened her mouth to sing as she continued pulling random things out of the box, a set of matching cat calendars from senior year was next.
This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got some brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what
I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I like it
There was such irony in those words. Quinn shook her head at the mere thought of it. When they'd performed that song in Glee senior year, it wasn't just for Santana. No, it was for her as well. To help her deal with coming out of the closet and being in love with Rachel. Somewhere in between 'cherry chapstick' and 'boyfriend' Quinn heard her phone go off. She quickly reached out for it and saw a reply from Rachel.
Rachel: Oh my goodness, did you find the high school box?
Quinn: Yes I did. I'll send you a picture
The blonde scampered to her feet and hurried into the bathroom. She examined herself closely in the mirror before fluffing out the faux hair even further. Her lips pursed as she snapped a photo with her cell phone and quickly sent it off to Rachel for her enjoyment, with the caption 'just need the maid costume ;)'
Quinn had barely made it back into the living room before breaking out into more lyrics.
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I like it
I liked it
The screen on her phone lit up, signaling an incoming call. Her lips curled up into a smile as she answered it, never bothering to stop her singing. "Us girls, we are so magical. Soft skin, red lips, so kissable. Hard to resists, so touchable."
Before she had a chance to continue, Rachel's laughter cut her off. "Well someone's in a good mood today."
"Yes, I am. How's the shoot going?" She situated herself back on the floor, tucking her phone between her shoulder and her ear in the process.
"Jason's being friendly to us today. Though him and a lot of other people looked at me funny when I burst into laughter at that photograph." Rachel started giggling halfway through her statement.
"So, you're laughing at me now?" Quinn tossed out her best hurt voice. Even though the smile never once left her face.
"No! I'd never laugh at you. I'm laughing with you honey!"
Quinn giggled at her wife's quick defense. "It's so easy to get you riled up baby." She gasped softly when she came across two plain white t-shirts.
"Quinn? You okay? What happened?" Rachel couldn't stop herself from panicking at the sound of her wife gasping softly.
"Wow…" She whispered as she unfolded both of the shirts and laid them side by side on the floor. One read 'Likes Girls' while the other read 'Lebanese.' She let out a breathy chuckle at the sight of them. "I'm fine Rach, promise."
"Then what is it?"
"Who would have thought…" She carefully ran her fingers along the imprinted black lettering on what was her own shirt. "All those years ago when we did Born This Way in Glee… that wearing this shirt would have opened so many doors for me."
"The Born This Way shirts?" It was obvious that she was smiling.
"Yea."
"It was when you and Santana finally came clean about who you were. I just had to keep them baby."
"Yea, and look where this little tiny bit of courage led us? Santana married Brittany, I married you, and none of us ever looked back."
"I love you Quinn."
"I love you too Rachel. More and more every day." She started to fold up her own shirt, leaving Santana's 'Lebanese' shirt out to take a picture to show her later on. "You know once Santana finds out about this she'll insist on trying to wear the shirt again."
"None of us have the heart to tell her she's gained a little bit of weight since high school." Rachel chuckled softly. It wasn't that Santana was fat, no, she had just filled out her form a little more over the years.
"Yea, then she'll claim the shirt shrunk." A very familiar buzzing noise echoed through the house, causing Quinn to jump some at the intrusion. She stood up from her spot and turned the stereo down some before heading to the door. "Rach, hold on a second, someone's at the door."
"Okay, I'll be right here."
Quinn smiled softly as she pulled open the front door. Her smile quickly faded when she saw a police officer standing on the other side, holding a clipboard in her hand. "Can I help you?"
The younger woman bit her lower lip to try not to laugh at the blonde's appearance. "I'm looking for a Mrs. Quinn Berry-Fabray."
"That's me…" Her voice trailed off. The officer couldn't stop herself from glancing up at Quinn's fuzzy red hair, an action that caused Quinn to blush and quickly pull the forgotten wig off her head and toss it to the floor behind her. "Uh, yea… I was going through some boxes… Um… long story. Anyway, how can I help you?"
"I have a court summons for you ma'am. Can I just get you to sign here for me?" She pulled a sealed envelope off of her clipboard before proceeding to show the blonde where she needed to sign. Once Quinn's shaky signature was on the paper, the officer smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you ma'am, you have a good day."
Quinn stayed in the doorway for a minute, simply watching the officer as she walked back to her squad car. "Hey I'm back…" Her voice lacked all of the joyfulness it held a few minutes prior.
"Baby, what happened?"
"I just got court papers…" She could feel a very familiar bubble starting to make its way up her throat. She didn't want to cry. Hell, she couldn't cry. Today was suppose to be a good day for her. She'd been having so much fun until that damn cop came to ruin it for her. "I haven't even opened them yet."
"We both know what it's about… Do you want me to come home early?"
A silent tear slid down the blonde's cheek as she choked out her response. "Please?"
"Alright, I'm off to find Jason right this moment. Why don't you give Brittany or Santana a call? I know Jason won't let me leave for another shoot or two, and I'm sure one of them will be available. It is almost 5 there."
"Okay." Quinn really didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she didn't want to be alone right now. She also didn't want to cry, but that was quickly becoming the inevitable.
"Baby, promise me, if it gets to be too much, come to the studio, okay?"
"I will, I promise."
"Okay, I see Jason now, I'll get home as soon as I can, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too."
February 17 – 5:00PM (East Coast Time)
With her coat now hung in the hall closet, Santana kicked off her shoes and put her purse on the table near the entryway. "B, I'm home." She called out to a seemingly empty house. She would have assumed Brittany wasn't there, if it wasn't for the tell-tale smell of pizza coming from the kitchen.
"Hey, how was work?" Brittany knew that Santana couldn't really discuss much from her job. But asking the question every day for the past 17 years always seemed to help Santana open up, even about the little things.
"Talked to Sarah today." The Latina rested her hand on the dancer's slender hip before giving her a chaste kiss. "There's a trial date set."
Brittany popped the door open to the oven to check on the pizza before moving to join her wife who had already sat at the table. "When is it?"
"It's scheduled to start March 17th. Unless they somehow get a continuance." She let out a shaky breath. In reality, it would all be over soon. Nobody though, was looking forward to the trial.
Brittany reached out to brush some hair behind the brunette's ear before smiling softly at her. "Still sucks you can't do the case baby."
"I wanted it so badly too. But there's a conflict of interest because Quinn and I are such close friends. They were worried that it would be too personal for me. And something like that could ruin the whole case. He definitely doesn't need to walk because I was too incapable of separating my biased opinions from fact."
After placing another kiss to Santana's lips, Brittany spoke again. "Why don't you go take a shower, the pizza should be done in about ten more minutes."
Without another word the Latina was up and heading toward their bedroom. A shower would help clear her mind and relax her tense muscles. Her mind began to wander as soon as the warm water hit her naked body. She couldn't help but wonder how Quinn and Rachel were doing. The last time they'd spoken was about a week ago. The conflicting schedules, as well as the three hour time difference definitely wasn't helping things much. Santana knew that at the end of March everything would be better and they'd be back to having just a few miles between them. It didn't make it any less hard though to be away from two people she considered her family.
Brittany was bouncing around in the kitchen, mentally going over some new choreography as she moved from cabinet to cabinet. Her first stop she grabbed two plates, and the second stop she grabbed two glasses. As she skipped toward the refrigerator to get some sodas out she heard her wife's cell phone start ringing. Usually she didn't bother with it, but the specific ringtone told her it was alright.
"Hey Quinn!" Brittany beamed as she answered the phone on its third ring.
"It's… It's all coming back…"
The blonde's smile quickly fell off her face when she heard Quinn's tone of voice. It was obvious she'd been crying. She shut the oven off before she pulled the pizza out. Once it was cooling on the countertop she put the phone on speaker as she walked to the bathroom. "What's coming back Q?"
"Everything… I-I got the court papers today." She was barely able to finish her sentence before tears hit her eyes. "What's that noise?"
Brittany glanced at her wife's silhouette through the shower curtain. "I figured you'd wanna talk to both of us, and San's in the shower."
"That Quinn?" Santana popped her head out from behind the curtain. When Brittany nodded she vanished again. "Hi Q."
"Hey…" Her voice sounded so weak and lifeless through the phone. "I just needed someone to talk to."
The blonde hopped up onto the counter and leaned against the wall, Santana's phone still in her hand. "Rachel's still working?"
"Yea, but she said she'd try to come home early. And if it gets to be too much than I promised to go to the studio."
"Good. I'm glad you called us, we can keep ya occupied 'til the little diva gets home." Santana shut the water off before pushing open the shower curtain and reaching for a towel to wrap around her body. "Oh, guess what I found out today?" She gently pressed against Brittany's leg to grab the brush that was behind her.
"What's that?"
"Sarah's handling the case." The only response she received was a muffled cry. She instantly knew that talking about the trial or anything linked to it was not why Quinn had called. "How's the movie shoot coming along?" She quickly changed the subject to get Quinn's mind away from the worst.
"Rach told me everything's on schedule. She'll be leaving right after the trial to do some on location filming."
"Where's she going to?" Brittany hopped off the counter once Santana was finished pulling on a tank top and flannel pajama pants. She followed her back out into the kitchen to start making up their plates.
"Up to Monterey Bay. She'll be gone for almost a month." Quinn sighed softly.
"Well me and San will keep you company while she's gone." Brittany picked up a slice of her pizza to take a bite. The conversation remained light for the next 35 minutes. Brittany and Santana ate their dinner, all while talking to Quinn about anything and everything. They learned more details about Rachel's movie and even some of her co-stars that Quinn got along with. Quinn also talked about the three or four – Santana lost count – job offers she'd already gotten, and that she hasn't decided on which one to take yet.
The blonde pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over her legs. She was curled up on the corner of the sofa while talking to her best friends. It was basic, but it helped. Not much had changed since high school and Quinn knew she could talk to Brittany and Santana for hours, even about nothing at all. Their topics were as random as Brittany's thoughts and it was just enough to keep her mind off of the inevitable.
"I found a box from high school." Quinn started with a soft laugh. Her eyes immediately drifted to the open box on the floor and the contents that were strewn around it. "Rachel kept our Born This Way shirts."
"Oh shit. I always knew she was a bit of a pack rat Q, I've tried to tell you." Santana's light-hearted voice filled her ears. Before Quinn had a chance to respond something must have clicked for her best friend. "Wait, your 'Likes Girls' and my 'Lebanese' shirts? Those shirts?"
"Yea, I know. I asked her about them… she kept them because of it being a turning point for us both San. Look at what that little bit of courage in high school did for us."
A comfortable silence fell between the three friends. Quinn's eyes began to close as her free hand came to rest on her stomach. The fingers started rubbing soothing circles on the lower patch of skin that was already starting to get hard from the baby forming. It was days like the one she had where she completely forgot about the pregnancy, yet it was moments like this that it all came crashing back to reality.
"We love you Q!" Brittany chirped into the phone, effectively drawing laughter from both Quinn and Santana. "What? It's true!"
"And I love you guys too."
"We're like one big happy family. A big gay family, but a family nonetheless."
Just as Quinn burst into laughter again she heard heavy footsteps coming across the wooden floor of the hallway. The blonde looked up to see the panicked expression her wife wore. It quickly faded when she noticed the laughter coming from Quinn.
"Hey Quinn." The brunette let out a heavy sigh before leaning down to plant a lingering kiss on her wife's lips. She'd been worried the entire time she was still filming about Quinn. She knew how easily she got upset whenever someone mentioned anything to do with the trial or what happened.
"Oh, is that Rachel? Hi Rachel!"
"Hang on B, I'll put it on speaker, you can tell her yourself." Quinn hit the button on her phone before lifting the blanket to invite Rachel to join her. An invite that was quickly taken. The smaller brunette curled up between Quinn's legs and rested her head against the blonde's shoulder. "Hey you." She whispered against Rachel's ear before closing her eyes and resting her head against her wife's.
"Hey Rach, Quinn was telling us all about your movie. We're coming to your premiere right?"
Rachel just giggled at Santana's question. "If I could, I would Santana. I know I'll be able to bring Quinn, not sure about anybody else. There's still three months left in filming, then another two or so months of editing to make sure it's ready. The studio's expecting a beginning to mid August release."
"If Santana gets to come, I get to come too right Rach?"
"Of course Brittany, I couldn't bring one of you and not the other, that's not fair." The brunette shifted just a little to tuck her forehead into the crook of Quinn's neck. Her right hand found Quinn's and interlocked their fingers together. Moments like this were becoming more and more frequent as Quinn continued her daily battle with recovery.
"Awesome!"
"Thank you for keeping me company." Quinn whispered softly toward the phone. "But I think we should get off of here, I haven't seen Rachel all day and I wanna spend time with her."
"I know all about spending time with the wife." It was obvious that she was smiling. "Don't be afraid to call us Q. We're always here, and if we don't answer we'll call back soon. Promise."
"Thanks San. Love you guys."
Rachel placed a gentle kiss on Quinn's cheek before repeating her affection to their best friends. "We love you guys too. Bye."
"Bye." Rachel grabbed the phone to end the call. After placing it on the floor beside the sofa, she turned to face the blonde completely. "How are you doing?"
"I still haven't opened it." She bit her lower lip and shifted some to lay down completely on the sofa. The movement trapped Rachel between her and the back of the sofa. "I don't need to open it to know what it is Rachel."
"Talk to me honey."
Quinn's eyes closed as she took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Talking to Rachel wouldn't mean the end of the world. Rachel always did her best to understand whatever she talked about, even if it made no sense to herself. "It all came back to me. The minute I saw that cop and knew what she was here for… God Rach, it felt like the breath was knocked out of my lungs."
Rachel allowed her hand to rest near Quinn's hip. Her thumb tracing a gentle pattern of the skin that was exposed by Quinn's t-shirt riding up some. "We're all here for you Quinn. This is going to be all over soon."
"Will it?" She paused to take her wife's smaller hand and press it against her stomach. "Or will there be a lifetime of memories… right here?" Quinn swallowed a few times before giving up on the battle she was losing against her tears. They slowly slid down her cheeks.
"Don't think like that. I'm sure the baby will look just like you honey. He or she won't have anything to do with him. When they're older, if you want to that is… we can explain to them how they were created and how – in the end – we felt so lucky to be given the opportunity to have a child." From that point on Quinn was silent. She was nothing but a mass of emotions. At least she didn't run off for a shower. Rachel was thankful she'd finally grown out of that stage. "I hate how this came about, but I couldn't be happier that we're having a family of our own Quinn." She watched her wife nod softly. Deep down she knew Quinn was happy about having a family, they'd discussed this several times. "I love you baby." She pulled the blonde close to her and just rocked her gently – knowing it would sooth her.
February 18 – 8:20AM
"I hate that I'm making you late for your shoot."
"Would you stop that, I'm not late, I don't have any shoot scheduled until noon. That's why we made the appointment today." Rachel gripped her wife's hand tighter and watched her fidget with the bottom of her white paper gown. "I would have done anything to be here with you, regardless of my schedule. You know that."
"Yea…" Quinn's eyes quickly found something fascinating on the tiled floor at the foot of the table she sat on. She was nervous. Not because it was another sonogram, but because this sonogram they'd find out the due date of the baby. Her heart was beating so fast that it quickly became the only sound she could focus on. Nothing had really sank in for her yet. Granted, the sickness helped the reality of it all, but everything still felt like a dream. Like some horrible dream that she just couldn't quite wake up from.
"Good morning Quinn." An older woman walked into the room carrying a clipboard in her hand. "I'm Dr. April Blair." She extended her hand for the blonde to shake, which she did. "I've read over your hospital files… so if anything makes you uncomfortable, please tell me."
Quinn bit her lip before turning to Rachel. When the brunette just nodded, she opened her mouth to speak. "Alright… So, I guess you know everything?" Dr. Blair nodded before taking a seat near the blonde. "This entire thing is uncomfortable." She admitted very softly. At first she assumed nobody had heart her. That was, until there was a comforting squeeze on her hand from Rachel. "It's so surreal. Knowing that our only chance at a family came from… him." She cringed at her own wording. She truly hated talking about it. But, in the end, she knew it would help her. It's worked so far.
"Well…" Dr. Blaire carefully wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Quinn's arm before speaking again. "I just have to get some basic stats here and ask some questions, then we can look at the newest addition to the Berry-Fabray household."
As the doctor took her blood pressure, Quinn smiled. Hearing her predicament worded like that almost made her forget everything. Almost. Deep down, she knew she'd never fully forget. The child though, would never know the torture Quinn had to endure to give him or her life. "What kind of questions did you have?"
"First off, your blood pressure's a little high for your age, but that's to be expected given all that's happened." She placed the cuff on a table behind her before grabbing her clipboard again. "Just some family history questions, and your medical history questions."
Quinn sat on the table answering every question. They started off about her parents and their medical history. Half way through answering questions about her mother she felt herself start to cry. She hadn't talked about her mother much since she'd passed away nearly four years ago. After taking a moment to compose herself and focus on Rachel to calm her down. "We tried about ten years ago to get pregnant to have a baby, but neither of us had any luck." She turned her attention back to the doctor as she answered yet another question.
"Have you ever had any blood pressure or heart problems?" Quinn shook her head no. "Alright, I think that just about wraps up my questions. I do need to get some blood to send away." Dr. Blair reached into a drawer for a syringe and some vials before grabbing some gloves to put on her hands. "This is to check your sugar levels, and make sure there's nothing underlying that's not showing." The blonde nodded, she turned her head toward Rachel – flinching when she felt the needle be pressed into her vein. She'd always hated needles, a trait Rachel found amusing in her tough, strong wife. "There, all done."
Quinn's head finally turned to look at the doctor as she placed a piece of gauze over the hole and covered it with medical tape. "See honey, you're okay." Rachel had long forgotten her seat and taken to standing so she could be closer to her wife. She dipped down to place her forehead against Quinn's. "I'm right here."
Dr. Blair remained quiet, allowing the two women to have a moment before she placed a thin blanket over the blonde's legs before slowly starting to lift up the paper gown to expose Quinn's still flat stomach. "Since you've had a child before, you know the routine, right?" The blonde nodded – still not turning to look at the doctor. "Are you doing okay?"
"Yea." She finally turned her head to look at the doctor who was moving a very familiar machine into her view. "I already know the gel will be cold." She smiled softly when the doctor let out a soft chuckle. A long, heavy sigh left her lungs as her grip on Rachel's hand tightened.
"Are you both ready?" Dr. Blair flipped on the machine before pressing the paddle against Quinn's lower abdomen. It only took a few short seconds for the small figure to appear on the screen. It was soon followed by a quickly beating heart.
Quinn felt tears slide down her cheeks at the sight. Things were so much better for her than the last time. She was actually able to watch the baby on the screen. "Is that normal?"
The doctor glanced at the screen before smiling. "Yes, it's normal for the fetus to move around that much. You won't actually start to feel it for about seven or eight more weeks." She moved the paddle to a slightly different location on Quinn's stomach before zooming in some on the image. "Do you see that?" Quinn nodded. "Those are the baby's arms, right below that are its legs."
"Wow…" Rachel carefully rested her head against Quinn's as they both watched the fetus on the screen.
"Your baby is developing just fine. Heart beat is steady and strong. You're not having any complications…" During her explanation, she continued to take pictures. "It appears you're 10 weeks… or 8 weeks from conception, however you'd wish to look at it."
Rachel gently wiped silent tears away from Quinn's eyes. "So when would she be due then?" She figured it would be best for her to ask the questions that she knew her wife wanted to ask, but couldn't. Quinn was too focused on the image on the screen to be able to ask anything.
"Based on the child's current stage… September 12th. But due dates are simply an estimate. Labor and delivery are always unexpected. Due to Quinn's age and the fact that she's already had a child earlier in life, there is a low possibility she could go early. But don't worry about that, it's something you won't have to worry about for several months yet."
"And if I were… to go early." Quinn was finally able to pull her eyes off of the screen to look at the doctor.
Dr. Blair tossed her patient a soothing smile. "That's nothing you have to worry about Quinn. You're healthy and the baby's healthy. Just make sure you keep eating right and don't be afraid to exercise." She slowly pulled away before wiping the gel off of the blonde's stomach. "Would you like a few minutes to yourselves?" She asked when she noticed Quinn looking at the frozen picture on the screen again. "Alright, let me go and print out some pictures for you and I'll be back in a few minutes." The doctor spoke again when all Quinn did was nod her head.
"That's our baby." Rachel smiled at the screen before leaning forward to kiss the still exposed stomach of her wife. "He or she is all ours honey." Her hand came up to cradle the blonde's cheek.
"Yea…" Quinn trailed off. For the first time since entering the examination room she found herself smiling. "You know… we're going to be 57 when he or she graduates high school."
The brunette giggled at her wife. "No, you will. I'll still be 56."
"You always have to keep reminding me that I'm 8 months older than you. Is it really necessary?"
"It sure is. Because you like to always complain about my birthday being so close to Christmas." Rachel shot back at the blonde. "Even though growing up I never had any issues with it."
"That's because you didn't celebrate it." Quinn smiled as she sat up. She accepted her dress that Rachel handed to her. At least over the past few weeks she'd gotten more comfortable with revealing herself to her wife again – something she never would have given a second thought to three months ago. Everything was surreal for the blonde, as she pulled down the gown and replaced it with her dress, she thought. She thought back to how everything had progressed since the incident, as it was now called. She had days where it felt like nothing ever happened, but others all she wanted to do was cry. Thankfully today though, was an even balance of the two. Not too much remembrance, and not too much forgotten. "I love you Rachel."
The brunette carefully wrapped her arms around Quinn's still slender waist and tilted her head back to look up at her. "I love you too Quinn."
"Even when I'm fat and moody?"
"Quinn! You will not get 'fat.' It's baby weight."
Quinn chuckled softly. "So… even when I'm fat?"
Rachel let out a defeated sigh before resting her head against her wife's chest. "Yes, even when you're fat."
Tried to make it more realistic with how Quinn and Rachel would react to seeing the child again. Now that tension isn't what it was in the hospital. I'm going to go work on chapter 22 now, hopefully I can get it done quickly. I'm also hoping I can keep the long chapter lengths too, next chapter is around 6200 words.
I'm trying here people! Show me some love :D Please? Especially for the longest single chapter I've ever written.
One last thing, still taking votes for the baby's gender, though I think I'm safe to say it's going to be a girl.