Sorry for the delay! Work and dancing and my sister's new puppy got in the way, sorry!
"Good Morning Alex" Dr Walker smiled as the Evans family walked into her office.
"If you say so" the young girl shrugged softly and took her seat between her parents. Quinn and Sam simply looked at each other before sitting down either side of their daughter. It was Alex's birthday and all she wanted was to be far from that stupid counsellor's office.
"Is everything okay?"
"It's Allie's 13th birthday today" Sam answered hoping that explained everything to the psychologist. Nodding in understanding, Dr Walker quickly wrote something in her note book before looking at the family before her.
"Well happy birthday Alex, you're a teenager now"
"Oh joy" she sighed softly. Sam put a hand on his daughter's knee knowing exactly what else was making this birthday the worst of her life. Quinn took Alex for dinner the night before her birthday because the teenager had asked for a party on her birthday. Just as they got back to Quinn's hotel room, the young mother proceeded to give Alex 'the talk' that every mother gives their teenage daughter.
Not only was it incredibly awkward, it wasn't the way Alex wanted to start her birthday. The school nurse had sat all the girls down in Alex's class at school and told them everything they needed to know. She went to a private school in New York City, no mother who sent their child there wanted to deal with 'the talk' themselves. That's why they had school nurses in the first place. Alex had been miserable ever since. Her new electric guitar didn't even cheer her up.
"Well I am sure it is just going to get better. You don't even have to talk today. We'll leave that up to your Mom and Dad" Dr Walker chuckled softly. Alex simply nodded as Dr Walker focused her attention to Quinn and Sam "Quinn I'd like you to talk through the night your husband and daughter discovered your affair"
"Do we really need to call it an affair?" Quinn sighed softly
"What else would you call it Quinn? Infidelity? Adultery?" Sam scorned at his soon-to-be ex-wife. Alex sat silently between them looking from her mother to her father as they snapped at each other. She wasn't in the mood to commentate the situation like the last therapy session.
"That is not fair Sam" she snapped
"Says the woman who cheated"
"We won't call it anything then" Dr Walker assured Quinn "Why may I ask did you decide to have relations with your friend Rachel?"
Quinn looked down at Alex who was playing with a loose strand of cotton on her jeans wishing her daughter would just look at her. Alex had been distancing herself from her mother more and more as time went on and it was killing Quinn.
The teenager was listening intently but knew she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear. Quinn felt uncomfortable talking about all this in front of her daughter. What kind of a role model is she? "Would you like Alex to leave and I speak to her in a separate session?"
"No, she needs to hear this from me" Quinn sighed and took Alex's hand gently "I want you to know that I love you Alexandra. I'm sorry for what I've done; none of this is your fault. It's all on me"
Alex looked up at her mom and nodded in understanding. Quinn let out a soft sigh and looked back at Dr Walker "In all honesty I don't know why I did it. I had been spending so much time at the theatre working on this show, Sam and I had been fighting and Rachel was there. She's been my best friend since high school and I guess we've always been close..."
"There's close then there's naked on the living room floor" Sam grumbled softly earning himself a jab in the ribs from his daughter.
"Every time I got home from work Sam was always asleep or at work himself, we never saw each other anymore. On the night he and Alexandra walked in, Rachel had brought a bottle of vodka over after the show. I can't hold my alcohol and I know that"
"Then why did you drink if you knew you couldn't control your actions?" Dr Walker asked as she continued to write in her notebook. She took down what Quinn said as well Sam and Alex's body language. Their reactions were just as vital as Quinn's explanation.
"I just needed to relax I guess. The show was almost finished and I was stressing about every performance. It was my first time starring in such a production that I wanted this one to be perfect"
"Your new show is really good mom" Alex spoke up softly "Uncle Blaine kinda took me to see it when Dad had to work late. "
"Thank you baby" Quinn smiled and pulled Alex into a gentle hug. Kissing her daughter's forehead, she ran her hands through Alex's blonde curls with a smile "I don't even know where to start apologising for what I've done. I just wish I could somehow make it up to both you and your father"
Quinn had regretted what she did as soon as she'd gotten caught. The sight of Sam and Alex's shocked expressions haunted her dreams every single night. To this day, she couldn't believe she had been so stupid to cause those expressions.
She just wanted her family back.
"Is there any way she can make it up to you Sam?"
"To me? Probably not but Alex is my priority. She's the one I want Quinn to focus on"
"Is there no chance at all?" Quinn asked softly as Alex looked up at her Dad
"Make it up to Allie and there is a possibility you can resolve this with me. When you can get a thirteen year old to understand why you cheated then maybe I can start to comprehend the situation" Sam nodded and stood up "I don't mean to be rude but we have a birthday party to set up"
"I think we can have a ten minute early mark" Dr Walker chuckled as Alex and Quinn stood up from their chairs as well "I hope you have a happy birthday Alex. Eat way too much chocolate and candy. Just a perk of being 13 without a figure to watch"
"And keep my Dad up all night talking with my friends" the teenager giggled
"Sounds like a great way to spend your 13th birthday"
"Thanks Dr W"
XXXXX
"Sam, would you mind if Alex and I maybe took a walk through the park before she headed home?" Quinn asked as the young family emerged from the Manhattan high rise "I have another birthday present for her"
"Only if it's ok with her" Sam shrugged. As much as he didn't want Quinn to make their daughter's birthday any worse than it had been, he couldn't stop Alex if she wanted to go. When it came to Quinn, he would stick to what he said in Dr Walker's office. If she could get their thirteen year old to understand what was going on then maybe he'd give into the nagging feeling in his stomach and trust his wife again.
"Yeah I guess" the teenager nodded with a slight shrug. Taking her Mom's hand gently, she waved to her Dad until his cab rounded the corner.
"Thank you Alex" Quinn smiled as she crossed the street with Alex and started walking toward Central Park. Ever since Alex was a little girl, she loved Central Park. It had everything a girl could ask for; fresh air, kids to play with, animals at the zoo and happiness. She hoped the happiness continued.
"You called me Alex. You only call me Alex when you don't intentionally want to annoy Dad"
"That's not true..."
"It is" the teenager giggled "I like it when you call me Alex"
"What's so wrong with Alexandra? It's a beautiful name"
"It just sounds so formal, like I'm always in trouble or something"
"How about I try calling you Alex more?" Quinn smiled as they rounded the corner and walked through the entry to the park. She too loved Central Park and spending time with her daughter there. It was nice to have this time with Alex before she left for Ohio for good and only got to see her daughter every other weekend.
"Is that my birthday present?" Alex laughed
"No" her mother chuckled and stopped her. Taking her to a nearby bench, Quinn pulled Alex to sit beside her before taking a small velvet box from her pocket. She handed the box to Alex who opened it slowly gasping at the sight of it's contents.
"You really shouldn't be giving me this"
"I'd rather you have it then it be at the bottom of the Hudson river where your father would probably like to throw it" Quinn shrugged as she took her engagement ring that she had put on a simple chain out of the box and clasped it around her daughter's neck "Your father spent his life savings on this ring and I would like it if you kept it safe for me"
"All the more reason not to give this to me. I can't lose something this precious" Alex insisted trying to take off the chain but was stopped by her mother "Please Mom, I can't"
"Alex I want you to understand something" she began as she took her daughter's hands gently "You were the best thing to ever come out of this marriage and you will always be the most important person in my life. I have made some stupid mistakes and I am going to do absolutely everything in my power to make it right but it might take a while"
"But this ring..."
"This ring is a symbol of how your father used to love me. I'd like to think that one day he will love me like that again but until then I want you to have it"
"Mom..."
"If your father and I ever reconcile then I won't need to find a wetsuit to fish it out of the river" Quinn chuckled nudging Alex gently. The teenager didn't crack a smile "Alex?"
"What about Rachel?" she asked softly
"What about her?"
"Aren't you going to be with her now in Ohio? Isn't that why you cheated in the first place?"
"Rachel is staying here in New York. I'm going to Ohio alone and I need time to think" Quinn sighed "I know I'm not explaining anything very well. I'm not even sure how to explain it all to myself. Once I do though, you'll be the first to know ok?"
Alex nodded and played with the ring on her chain. Watching the diamond glisten in the light, she just wished all this was a bad dream she could wake up from. Life shouldn't be allowed to suck this much.
"I love you Mom but I hate what is happening" the teenager sniffed and let the ring drop from her hand.
"I know and I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry, just fix it" Alex pleaded as she stood up from the bench "I should go home and help Dad with the party preparations. My friends will be at the apartment soon"
"I'll take you home..."
The walk back to the Evans home was silent with neither Quinn nor Alex really knowing what else to say. Hiding her Mom's ring under the collar of her shirt, Alex didn't want her father to know about it just yet. It was a conversation that could wait until after her birthday.
Bidding farewell to Alex at the door, Quinn waited until her daughter was safely in the elevator up to the apartment before leaving. She was flying back to Ohio that night missing the last of Alex's milestone birthday. As much as she wanted to be a part of the party, she knew she wasn't welcome.
Alex walked into her family's apartment to see Sam covered in frosting trying to put the finishing touches on his daughter's birthday cake. It was nothing more than a round cake covered in pink frosting with 'Happy Birthday Allie' written on it but it was the thought that counted. That's all that mattered to Alex that her Dad was trying to make her day so special when he was in hell himself.
"Are you ok, Princess?"
"Fine" she smiled and made her way into the kitchen to help her Dad.
"What was your Mom's other birthday present?"
"That she'd try and call me Alex more than Alexandra" the 13 year old chuckled hoping her lie was convincing enough. Sam could always sense when his daughter was hiding something and now was no different. This time he let it go, knowing Alex would open up in her own time.
"I managed to frost the cake but I think I need your help with the cupcakes" he laughed nudging Alex gently before handing her a frosting filled piping bag.
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More drama to come...