I loved your reviews and I apologize if some of you were disappointed in how the story is progressing or the lack of Faberry. As I mentioned before, I plan to make Faberry happen but at its own pace and I realize it might be frustrating for some of you; I do hope the other readers will be still interested.
For the reviewer who asked: Marley = Melissa Benoist :)
Flashbacks are in Italics
Warning: G!P Quinn
Keep Reviewing...thanks!
A/N: I didn't proofread the chapter, so all mistakes are mines and I apologize for them!
CHAPTER 7
When the doorbell rang, quick footsteps could be heard running down the stairs to get to it and eagerly wait to swing it open, predicting who might be standing on the other side. A bigger and taller frame, though, slipped between the wooden surface and the anxious children who huffed and stomped her foot in a typical diva way. Rachel rolled her eyes at Harmony's perfect diva tantrum with additional eyebrow raise, no one could ever deny she was a Fabray-Berry spawn, indeed.
"Where do you think you are going, missy?" Rachel crossed her arms over her waist and leaned her back against the door, aware that Quinn was on the other side and could hear her. "You don't open the door just because you might know who is on the other side, Harmony. How many time did your mommy and I tell you that?" The Broadway starlet leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, stroking the back of her head. "I know you are happy your mommy is here, but ask and wait for an adult to be here." With that said, the woman let her daughter swing the door open to greet the blonde woman standing on their porch, waiting.
"Hey mommy!" Harmony wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and nuzzled her side as a soft kiss was dropped on top of her head; her smaller hands grabbed onto Quinn's one, tugging her inside after having waited so much. "Mom has made pancakes and bacon, the real one. Will you stay with us?" The small brunette looked between her mothers who shared a quick look before looking back at their daughter.
"It must be a special occasion if you cooked bacon, Rach." Quinn chuckled and looked at her soon-to-be-ex-wife, who smiled lightly and walked ahead of them toward the kitchen, where the food was all laid out on the marble island. "How is school, kiddo?" The blonde took her jacket off and sat it on the back of a chair before taking her seat at the end of the island, where she used to sit when she lived there.
"It's going great mommy, I've been casted to sing a solo for the Thanksgiving recital. Will you come see me?" Harmony filled her plate with an unhealthy amount of bacon, that made the singer cringe and the blonde drool before passing it to her salivating mother. "Mom said she'll be first row and uncle Kurt is coming too." She mumbled her words while chewing on the meaty food, swallowing it down with a big mouthful of OJ.
"I would never miss it baby, I'll be sitting with your mom front row and will record it with uncle Finn's video-camera so we can use it to embarrass you with your future dates!" Quinn smirked and stole a piece of bacon from her daughter's plate, who smacked her hand away and crossed her arms over her chest pouting. "Mom, tell mommy to stop being mean!"
"Sorry baby, but I am with your mommy on that. I still have your baby pictures book safely hidden and ready to be brought out when that time comes." Rachel winked at the blonde as they both made fun of the small brunette sitting with them. "Don't frown baby or you'll get wrinkles! Right here!" She pointed between the girl's brows, tapping it gently as her finger was swatted away by small hands.
"I'm going to my room to pack for the weekend! You are both infuriatingly embarrasing!" Harmony jumped off the stool and ran upstairs in her room, stomping her way up and making sure to slam the door shut hard enough to be heard from the kitchen room.
"She'll get over it, probably she'll be even angrier when we do that for real in a few years. Hopefully not so few." Quinn laughed and tilted her head to the side, reading the headlines of the newspaper sitting on the island beside her; her hand reached instinctively for the mug of coffee waiting for her, sipping from it as she kept on scanning the newspaper with her eyes.
"Are those fresh?" Rachel had secretly stolen glances to the blonde sitting beside her, who had fallen in a routine they had both gotten so acquainted to during the marriage years but that now just brought a bittersweet taste in her mouth. When her eyes had lingered down the girl's neck, her heart felt like stopping in her chest for a moment at the sight of well known marks adorning her alabaster skin.
"What?" Quinn looked up from the newspaper, eyebrow raised and mouth curled up in a puzzlement frown. Fingers reached up to trace the purplish hickey on the left side of her neck, grazing it slowly before retreating almost as if the mark had burned her skin. "Oh, that."
"You don't owe me an explanation, Quinn." Rachel stood up and brought the breakfast dishes toward the sink, cleaning them before bending forward to sit them in the empty dishwasher. "I apologize for all the times I judged you for the one night stands, it was none of my business after what happened between us." She wiped her hands on a towel and turned around, staring at the blonde still sitting at the island. "Maybe…maybe we could try and be more than just civil to each other, like friends?"
"You want to be friends? We never were friends in the first place, Rachel." Quinn stood up and sat her own empty mug in the dishwasher, before leaning against the opposite counter to stare at the other woman. "We always were more than that or nothing at all, why do you want to try, now?" She raised an eyebrow and waited for the brunette to answer her, crossing her arms over her chest in a protective stance.
"Cause you are Harmony's mother and because I can't erase someone who has been part of my life for twelve years like nothing. Like you never existed." The brunette stood up and took a step forward, reaching out to grab the blonde's hand with her own only to have the girl pull back from her. " I just wanted to apologize for being critic of your lifestyle, just that."
"I agree that we should keep a friendly approach between us but I need more time, Rachel. You have no idea what it felt like and whenever I see you, I still feel so fucking angry for how things went between us." She gritted her teeth and looked at the singer before her, eyes filled with anguish and pain for what they had and how it got ripped away from them.
"I know and I am sorry for having cheated on you with-" Rachel's words were stopped by a hand being raised between them, hovering over her mouth without touching it but that still prevented her from going further.
"Don't. Don't you dare to say his name, he is dead to me." Quinn shook her head and turned around to brace herself on the counter, not wanting to fill her mind with images from that evening nor ruining her weekend with Harmony because of it. "Where is Brody?" She looked at her ex over her shoulder and tried to calm herself.
"At the gym, I shouldn't have brought that up." The Broadway starlet wanted to reach forward to comfort the distressed woman, but luckily a bouncing and happy brunette ran into the room and hugged her mommy's waist, doing the job for her. "You got everything ready, Harm?" Rachel stroke her hair slowly and looked up at her ex who stared down at their daughter with a thoughtful look.
"Yes, mom." Harmony looked at her mother still hugging the blonde around her waist and bouncing up and down on her feet. "Mommy is taking me to her art exhibition on Sunday, will you pick me up from there?" The brunette played with her mother's fingers and kept staring hopeful at the other woman, who nodded softly and earned her mega watt smile she loved so much.
"Let's go baby, I have a fun filled weekend planned for us." Quinn smiled genuinely at their daughter and walked toward the foyer, to gather the girl's pink suitcase and carry it to her car. "I'll see you on Sunday, Rach. Say hi to Brody, for me." The blonde opened the main door and walked down the steps toward her Porsche, giving the two brunettes a moment to hug before the brunette found her rightful place beside her mother, with a seatbelt safely wrapped around her.
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The squeal of happiness when the brunette got a glimpse of the big sign on the white gate that led them to a huge mini golf camp in the middle of Central Park, where every kid in her class wanted to go or had come back with awesome stories about it. Harmony effectively dragged her mother to the tickets area, where they retrieved their clubs and a set of colored balls they'd use during their track.
36 holes waited for them, but nothing seemed too long or tiring when it was done for fun and both girls planned to have as much fun as they could in the mini golf area; Harmony sat her ball down and grabbed on the club, almost as tall as she was – given she had inherited Rachel's cute and small size. Quinn leaned against her own and watched the brunette eye the whole track, from the small bridge over the artificial river to the fake bush that raised and fell with an even tempo; the little girl swung the club and hit the ball with a precise dose of strength, that made her orange ball roll under the elevated bush and stop just few inches from the designated hole.
"Great shot baby!" Quinn walked up to her and high fived her grinning daughter, who stood back and watched her mother sit her own ball on the faux grass field. The blonde planted her feet on the ground and checked the track herself before hitting the ball with the same amount of strength Harmony had employed, even if her bright red ball hit the lowering bush and got sent back into the fake river. "Oh damn!"
"Mommy! Give me a dollar, for swearing!" Harmony opened up her palm and tapped her foot on the ground, watching the photographer groan in displeasure at the stupid rule Rachel had started before reaching in her wallet to give her a bill. "Good, now how do you plan getting your ball back?" The brunette walked toward the edge of the bridge and looked down into the clear water, where the ball was.
"With my hands, baby." Quinn dropped on her knee and rolled her sleeve up above her elbows, before leaning over to grab the ball from the warm water. "I am not paying $15 bucks for a stupid ball again, anyway." She groaned as her fingers barely grazed the slippery surface. "Ugh, it is deeper than I thought" The photographer grabbed her club and tried to aid herself into the task, that turned out to be more difficult than she had hoped for. "There you are, little red fucker." She mumbled to herself as she finally managed to grab the wet ball and sat it by the end of the bridge, under the incredulous and disappointed gaze of her daughter.
"You can't start from there mommy! From the beginning or it won't be fair." The brunette pointed to the other side of the bridge, where the two had started as she moved around the fake bush to hit her own ball for her second shot. "I'll wait for you by the mill track!" She retrieved the orange ball from the hole, after a successful hit and marched proudly ahead of her mother who cursed herself and the game under her breath.
20 holes later, Quinn had stopped playing fair and just loved riling her highly competitive daughter up by playfully shoving her when it was her turn or using her hands to send her own ball wherever she wanted, overcoming any obstacle. Harmony got mad at first but then just enjoyed her mother's playful side, something she definitely missed having around the house cause Rachel had taken the role of the strict parent between the two of them. After the mini-golf adventure, they had headed toward an ice-cream booth to get two big cones before finding a bench by the ducks pond, where they could watch and sit peacefully without other people bothering them.
"So baby girl, are boys giving you trouble at school?" Quinn looked at her daughter, licking the tip of her ice-cream that literally melted on her tongue. "Or maybe someone caught your eye? I'd understand that, but I want to know everything about this guy and his family." She tried to look stern but just looked funny, with that vanilla moustache on her upper lip.
"Oh mommy, I am not interested in any boy because I want to focus on my grades and the musical my school is doing. There was this bully who used to push younger kids around, but I fixed him straight with the glare you and Aunt Santana taught me; you should have seen him, he was so scared." Harmony laughed at the memory and bit on the cone, chewing on it softly. "Do you think you and mom will ever get back together?" She softened her tone and looked up at the blonde, who reciprocated her sad smile. "Mom is great but I don't like Brody, he is never around and when he is there, he barely notices me."
"Wish I could give you an answer baby, but sometimes parents make mistake that are not easy to forgive." Quinn stroked her daughter's hair, throwing her almost finished cone in the trashcan as she turned sideways to stare at the small brunette. "I know this situation isn't easy to deal with, going back and forth between us but we are really trying to do our best to keep your life as normal as possible."
"I wish I could come live with you, for more than just weekends." The little girl grabbed on her mother's hand and played with her fingers as she finished her cone. "Can we go visit Uncle Finn? I saved some money to buy new lens for my camera!" She smiled up at the photographer, who grinned and tugged her off the bench to enjoy the rest of their afternoon.
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Emerging as talented fashion photographer hadn't been easy at first, but after long internships and working with the best professionals in the field, Quinn had finally signed a long-term contract with one of most acclaimed agency in town and had quickly gained her own popularity thanks to the important shoots she had put together for different and important fashion magazines or firms. The pay was good and the workplace was stimulating. It was everything she had wished for and that allowed her to move from her small 2 bedroom place in Brooklyn to an ample loft in Tribeca, where she hoped Rachel would agree to move in, since they spent most of their time together except when they were both at work.
The brunette was currently walking around her brand new kitchen area, dressed in her old Yale t-shirt with nothing but her panties underneath. She was a vision first in the morning and Quinn was grateful she didn't have go to work or she'd be running late, sporting an uncomfortable hard on for the whole time. Flipping pancakes and singing along with the music blasting from the iPod station weren't usually sexy things, but when it was Rachel doing that then Quinn lost any control over her body or actions.
"Morning…" Quinn walked up to the singing brunette, arms sneaked around her waist from behind as her lips trailed up the exposed skin of her neck. "I missed waking up with you in my arms." The photographer's hips swayed against her girlfriend's ones as her hands slipped under the hem of her t-shirt, to graze her tone stomach.
"Morning baby." Rachel looked up over her shoulder and kissed her girlfriend's lips gently, before turning back to the stove and flipping the last pancakes off into a plate, turning the heat off. "Breakfast is ready!" The brunette carried the plate to the kitchen table, while the blonde grabbed the OJ and the syrup from the fridge and sat across from her lover. The shorter woman poured herself a generous amount of juice while her lover piled the pancakes in her plate, cutting a circle in the middle where she poured the syrup. "I love watching you eat, you are always so happy about it"
"Because you cooked for me, that makes me ecstatic." Quinn grabbed the newspaper from the table and quickly read through the headlines, before passing the entertainment section to the brunette who eagerly grabbed it, going through her own news and favorite shows' reviews. "Anything good, darling?" She smirked over the big mouthful of pancakes she was swallowing, winking playfully at the singer across from her.
"Darling? Someone might get used to this domestic life, you know." Rachel raised an eyebrow and dug into her own pancakes, leisurely dragging her bare foot up and down her girlfriend's exposed shin to earn a reaction from her.
"Well, we could. Move in with me." The blonde sat her glass down and looked at the brunette, resting her chin on the hand propped on the table. "You can have the second guest room as your personal studio, we can even soundproof it if you want to." The young photographer pushed the chair back as the other girl walked toward her, plopping herself sideways in her lap with her arms around her shoulders. "I already have my dark room and there's space for your stuff too, I don't have much."
"You won't mind giving up on your independent lifestyle, to accommodate a Broadway starlet who has diva tantrums and plenty of stuff to fill a museum?" Rachel's fingers ran through the blonde's short hair, tugging at it as their lips met for a brief kiss. "I'll keep my apartment for a few months, if you ever need some alone time and want me gone; but, anyway, I'd love to move in officially with you." Turning around she straddled her girlfriend's lap, brushing her thin panties against the newly formed erection the other girl was sporting, given their proximity. "It's not like we didn't live together already, with me sleeping here every night and having my stuff filling half of your closet."
"Now it's official, though. We gotta celebrate!" Quinn stood up abruptly, grabbing the brunette from the back of her legs and carrying her back into the bedroom, where they'd plan to celebrate for the rest of the day by rolling around under her best sheets and letting the time fly away.
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When Quinn and Harmony entered the art gallery, they were pleasantly surprised to find almost as many visitors as the opening night roaming around the rooms and getting information about pictures of the several photographers. The brunette quickly headed toward the food table, gathering her favorite finger food (chicken nuggets, small sandwiches, fried veggies) that Rachel usually didn't allow her to eat, to favor a healthier diet.
"Slow down kiddo, your mom won't be here for a bit." Quinn made herself a plate and grabbed a glass of champagne, that she sipped slowly whilst her eyes moved around the room in search of another familiar brunette. When her daughter found a seat in her own area of the gallery, she finally spotted the girl she was looking for and had talked to on the phone, since their night together. "Baby, I am going to go talk to Marley quickly. Don't move ok?" When her daughter nodded, too eager to eat all the tasty food in her plate, the photographer crossed the space between them and brushed her fingers along the expanse of the girl's bare back, startling her.
"Hey, I wasn't sure you'd come." Marley sat her empty glass down and turned around to face the blonde, who looked as gorgeous as ever and whose glare was already sending tingles all over her frame. "How was your weekend with Harmony?" The brunette waved at the kid who had acknowledged from her seat, before returning her attention on the blonde standing before her.
"We had a lot of fun at the park and then she got a new camera lens." The older woman was quite proud of her daughter's passion for photography, knowing how similar she was to Rachel she had almost lost any hope that she'd be interesting in anything else but music and Broadway. "How was your weekend?" Quinn reached for the assistant's hand, playing with her long fingers as their eyes met.
"A friend from my high school was in town and I showed her around, then today I came here to make sure everything was ready before the exhibition." The assistant squeezed their hands together and tugged her back toward the small brunette, who was stealing food from her mother's plate. "Hey Harmony, do you want to get some more food? Looks like you really enjoyed the nuggets." She smiled at the small brunette who nodded enthusiastically and latched on her free hand, dragging her away from her bother not before she had managed to place a kiss on Quinn's cheek.
By the time they were back, the two brunettes were sitting each side of Quinn with their own plate and Marley nursed a glass of champagne, as they were all engaged in a conversation about the play Harmony would be singing a solo for. The young assistant's hand lingered on the blonde's knee, rubbing it gently as she leaned over to talk with the enthusiastic brunette who had shifted their conversation topic from the play to the weekend she had just spent with her mother, describing every detail of their funny moments.
"Am I interrupting something?" Rachel's voice broke the chuckle and the giggling sounds escaping from the trio, chocolate eyes met her ex's ones before lingering on the hand placed on the blonde's knee and that belonged to her young and beautiful assistant. "Quinn, may I have a word?" The singer sent a perfected fake smile to the other brunette who shrunk lightly under her inquisitive gaze, but that felt comforted by the soft kiss the photographer dropped on her temple as she stood up.
"What's up, Rachel?" Quinn followed the woman to a more secluded corner and crossed her arms over her chest, reading the woman like an open book after twelve years of having known each other. "Did you have a good weekend with Brody?" She tried the polite approach, predicting the long rant she'd be getting once the brunette had gathered her thoughts.
"You are fucking your assistant Quinn? Don't you see she is just using you for her career and trying to get Harmony to like her? You can be fooled so easily and you'll screw up this job, again." Rachel snorted toward the two brunette still sitting and chatting where they had left them to, not liking the way Harmony was opening up to a complete stranger while it always felt so awkward around her own boyfriend. "Bribing our daughter with food and what else? Maybe a sip of champagne? I don't like this girl, she is obviously playing with the two of you."
"Correction. I didn't screw up my past job because I was the one sleeping around, but it was a mere consequence of you cheating on me with my business partner." Quinn gritted her teeth and dragged the brunette on the balcony, not wanting to cause a scene in front of her potential clients. "Why do you care whom I am fucking or not? Three days ago, you told me you wouldn't interfere anymore and now, you changed your mind again? FYI, I like that girl and whether she plays me or not, it's none of your business."
"Fine. You can screw anyone you want but keep them away from our daughter, Quinn." The brunette turned around to walk back inside but a hand grabbed on her arm, pushing her against the banister with a furious Quinn in front of her. "Let me go, now."
"I accepted you ruining a job that I fucking loved, but I am telling you again, Rachel, don't you dare to question my relationship with Harmony because you are the first one who brought a stranger in her life. Someone who doesn't really care about even bonding with her and is more interested in getting in her mother's bed." Quinn braced her hands each side of the singer's head and stared down into her dark eyes, filled with the same anger as hers. "You want to start being friends, then get off your high fucking horse."
Both women took a deep breath and pulled away from each other, stepping into the room and walking toward the small brunette and the assistant; Quinn pulled Harmony in a bear hug and kissed her forehead softly, whispering softly in her ear before letting her join Rachel's side, taking her hand with her smaller ones. Marley, having stood up as soon as they had gotten into the room, sensed the tension between the two exes and knew it was partially her fault but she couldn't really do anything but staying on the sidelines.
"It was a pleasure to see you again, Miss Rose." Rachel flashed her another fake smile and sent a quick disapproving glare to her ex wife, before taking her daughter by the hand and her small suitcase with the other one to lead her back home.
"Bye mommy! Bye Marley!" Harmony waved at the other women who smiled back at her, following her with their eyes until they disappeared behind the gallery's sliding doors and into the first cab the singer hailed for them.
thoughts? comments?