A/N - I love you guys! You are seriously the best! :) Here we go… I hope you like it!

Chapter 9 – Art Brings People Together

Two Weeks Later…

Quinn honestly felt like shit.

The moment she woke up that morning, she just wanted to go back to bed. She was tired and miserable. She couldn't stop thinking about Rachel and the way the brunette had held her in her arms. The comfort she felt in those arms.

Their night of sex was, of course, Amazing! But now, all she felt was a hole in her chest, a hole that she knew belonged only to Rachel.

She pulled a mug out of the cupboard and shuffled over to the coffee pot. She could hear cartoons on the television in the living room and knew Jaxon was watching Scooby Doo, his favorite. The little boy had even confided in her that he had a crush on Daphne. Of course he did – didn't everyone? Quinn had just told him that he had good taste.

Sipping her hot cup of coffee, Quinn was slowly brought back to coherent thoughts. The day after the Halloween party, Santana and Brittany had bombarded her with questions about the mysterious woman she'd left the party with. Quinn had no intention of telling them that it was Rachel Berry. That would just open up a huge can of worms that she didn't even want to deal with. So she had lied and made up some lame ass story. Santana had just been happy that uptight celibate-for-over-three-years Quinn Fabray had finally gotten laid.

Quinn rolled her eyes at her best friend's theatrics and made her way, coffee in hand, to the living room and plopped down on the couch. Jaxon was playing with some cars on the rug in front of her as he watched his cartoon.

At the commercial, he looked over and grinned. "Hi, Mama!" he exclaimed, hopping up and hurrying over to her to give her a big hug.

"Hey, baby," Quinn smiled. The only person on earth that could always make her smile, no matter what mood she was in, was her son. His smile could honestly create world peace. "How are you doing today?" she asked, setting her mug on the side table and pulling the little boy into her lap.

"Good! Britt Britt coming over?" he asked, excitement in his eyes.

Quinn chuckled. "Yes, she will be here in about an hour to watch you while I go into work."

Jaxon scrunched up his forehead, confused. "Hour?" he asked.

The blonde smiled. "An hour is about two Scooby Doo episodes."

"Ahhh!" the enlightened boy exclaimed. "Okay." He pushed off his mother's lap and sat down on the rug again to continue playing with his cars as the commercial break ended and the cartoon came back on.

A couple hours later, Quinn was sitting in her office looking over the reports she'd pulled up on her computer screen. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

The art gallery had been busy lately with an increase in sales. She and Mike were happy with the profits and the popularity of the gallery, but it made for very long days.

She heard a buzzing sound and knew it was their employee, Melissa, up at the counter signaling that she needed extra help in the gallery. And since it was Mike's day off, Quinn was the official backup. They desperately needed to hire a couple more employees.

She stood up and made her way out of her office and down the hallway, emerging into the large gallery. She saw Melissa helping a middle aged man look through some prints. She caught Melissa's eye and she gestured to the front of the store where Quinn was sure another customer must have been waiting, needing assistance.

Quinn walked toward the front of the gallery, stifling a yawn on the way.

Unfortunately the customer caught her. She heard a familiar voice, "Rough morning?"

Quinn's heart stopped and her eyes popped open. Standing in front of her, wearing skin tight jeans and a loose red blouse, was none other than Rachel Berry. Quinn could only gape at the singer.

"I didn't know you worked here, Quinn," the brunette said casually. Rachel wanted nothing more than to pull Quinn into her arms and never let her go, but the morning after the Halloween party flashed through her mind and she decided she better play it cool and treat the blonde like a friend instead of a long lost lover. Maybe she could convince Quinn to at least allow them to be friends.

Quinn mentally shook her head to clear all the fog. "I, uh… I actually own the art gallery."

Rachel's eyes widened, "Really? That's great! It's a beautiful place," she said, looking around at all the artwork. Rachel went back to staring into those gorgeous hazel eyes she'd been fantasizing about.

Quinn was momentarily caught in the sexual energy that Rachel seemed to naturally give off. The brunette's entire body seemed to radiate passion. Quinn closed her eyes tightly, quickly pulling herself together. She had to remind herself that it was her own fault for hurting Rachel and putting them in this awkward position in the first place. When she opened her eyes, she fell into dark chocolate pools as Rachel gazed intensely back at her. She cleared her throat and asked, "What… What can I help you with, Rachel?"

Rachel walked over to the counter and casually leaned against it, starting to explain, "My mom's birthday is coming up and I wanted to buy her some nice works of art. I was told that this was the best art gallery in the city and that I would surely find what I was looking for here." She bit her lip, letting her eyes roam over Quinn's toned body. "And would you look at that… they were right. I found exactly what I was looking for." She winked, giving the blonde a drop dead gorgeous smile.

Quinn blushed, breaking eye contact. The moment her eyes had fallen on the beautiful brunette, her heart started to beat faster. Over the past couple weeks, the singer had been constantly on her mind. And unfortunately her fear had been escalating. She was anxious and scared that Rachel would somehow know that Quinn was the mother to her child, and had been keeping the existence of said child away from the singer for over three years. She'd left Rachel's house so quickly that she didn't even worry about that fact, but now it seemed like she and Rachel just kept popping up in each other's lives. She cleared her throat and asked, "So… uh… what type of artwork did you have in mind for your mom?"

Rachel smiled at the way she was able to make the blonde nervous. "Well, she really loves Broadway, especially the musical 'Wicked', so I was originally thinking of getting her some nice paintings of musicals or even just the skyline of New York City. She grew up there and I know she misses it. But I'm not sure if getting her paintings are the right choice, maybe some other form of art would be better."

The art gallery owner instantly switched into professional mode. "Okay… well, we do have some incredible art pieces relating to New York and even specifically Broadway. We have actual photographs and some paintings and even a few sculptures."

"I'd love to see everything you have, Quinn," Rachel told her, a big smile spreading across her face at the double-meaning of her words. She knew she needed to tone down her flirting, but… it was impossible to not flirt with Quinn. "Lead the way and I'll follow you."

A blush crept over Quinn's cheeks, catching Rachel's underlying message. She cleared her throat again as she turned and led Rachel around the gallery, pointing out the various art pieces that might interest the singer.

An hour later, Rachel had decided on a large beautiful photograph of the lights of Broadway shining brightly in the night. She also picked out a sculpture depicting the different characters and essence of the Broadway musical 'Wicked'. However, that particular art piece had to be specially ordered.

"I'll put a rush on it to make sure it arrives before your mother's birthday," Quinn told the singer as she typed the information into the computer.

Rachel smiled at her. "I really appreciate it, Quinn."

The two women held an awestruck gaze for several moments, just looking at each other. And Quinn knew she was in trouble when she felt the unrelenting urge to just grab Rachel and kiss her with every ounce of lust she'd been holding back.

Rachel eventually broke the trance, but she reached out and cupped Quinn's cheek in her hand. Her eyes settled on the blonde's luscious lips that tasted like heaven, then flickered up to bright hazel eyes. She wanted to kiss Quinn so badly, but she knew the blonde wouldn't reciprocate it, so she dropped her hand to her side. "It was really good to see you again, Quinn."

Quinn's breath had caught in her throat when Rachel's hand touched her cheek. She'd instantly felt a tingling sensation. "You too, Rachel," she breathed out.

"Let me leave you my cell number."

Quinn looked at her with confusion.

Rachel chuckled, "So you can call me when the statue comes in."

"Oh… Oh right!" Quinn quickly said, shaking herself out of her inappropriate thoughts of the singer. She grabbed a piece of paper from under the counter and slid it over.

Rachel raised her eyebrow at Quinn's flushed face, a smirk on her lips. She wrote down her cell phone number then pushed the paper back toward Quinn. "Bye," Rachel said one last time before she walked out through the front door and onto the L.A. street.

Quinn let out a long breath and felt her warm cheeks with her hands. She had not been expecting that visit. She picked up the paper Rachel had written her phone number on and saw the brunette had also written a message:

'Quinn, I'm so sorry about what happened at my house, but please call. I really would love to be friends.' She had drawn a heart and signed 'Rachel'.

Quinn pressed the paper to her chest. She heard a loud engine rev outside, and when she looked out the front window, she saw a midnight black Ducati motorcycle zip past the store, the driver wearing skin tight jeans, a red blouse and a black helmet… Rachel.

~~~~~QR~~~~~

Rachel parked her baby, her pride and joy, in the garage of her large house in the Hollywood Hills. She swung her leg over the seat and pulled off her black helmet, combing her bangs down with her fingers. She left the helmet on the motorcycle and walked into her house with an extra bounce in her step. She still couldn't believe she'd found Quinn again! And now knowing that the blonde owned the art gallery, Rachel would always be able to get ahold of her.

The singer's smile was big and bright, that is until she walked into her living room and saw Puck and Jake sitting on her couch watching some loud action movie and stuffing their faces with chips and burgers and beer.

"Ugg! You guys are disgusting!" she exclaimed, getting their attention.

"What?!" Puck said, shrugging like he didn't have a clue as to what Rachel was talking about.

Jake paused the movie. "Yeah, Rach. We're just watching a movie."

Rachel continued to look at her bandmates with disbelief. "And why the hell couldn't you have watched it at your own house?"

Jake looked over at his brother and shrugged.

"Because we decided to throw a party here tonight! We wanted to get here early to get everything ready," Puck told her, shoving another handful of chips in his mouth.

Rachel cringed as she watched chip crumbs fall all over her new couch. "No you are not. I told you, Noah, that I don't want to host any more parties. I'm tired of it."

"But, Rach…" he whined. "Your house has the perfect setup for a party. I'll even bring the booze and the babes. You won't have to do anything. I promise." Both he and Jake looked up hopefully at Rachel with puppy dog eyes.

But Rachel just shook her head. "No, Noah. And don't ask again."

"But what about all the girls, Rach? You haven't gotten any for a while, that's probably why you're so uptight. You need to get laid, JewBabe," Puck told her.

Rachel closed her eyes, rubbing the sides of her forehead to soothe her growing headache. She'd just been in the best mood she had been in in a very long time. She'd felt like she was flying just minutes ago. But then she comes home to two disgusting boys making a mess of her house. "Shut up, Noah. I've already told you multiple times, but it looks like I have to say it again." Rachel paused then slowly enunciated each word, "I am tired of the wild lifestyle. It was fun and great, but now I'm done."

"But, Rach…" Jake began his whine.

"No, Jake. Don't even start with me. I love our band and our music and our fans. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. But I can't keep doing what we've been doing for the last few years. I've had sex more times in the last five years than most men have in their entire lifetime. And it was great, awesome sex. I've had models, actresses, roadies, saleswomen, record producers and even a princess-"

"She was hot," Jake interrupted as he took another pull from his beer.

Rachel shook her head to clear it. "Anyway… Like I was saying… I've partied hard enough for one lifetime. I still want to have fun, of course. I'm not going to turn into a nun or anything. I'm just to the point in my life where I want something stable – like Kurt and Blaine have. Blaine still rocks out with us and Kurt is still our wardrobe king, but outside all that, they have a fairly normal personal life. They found love with each other and are starting to talk about having a family. They don't go out boozing every night and have sex with random people. I just… I'm tired," she finally breathed out, wanting her friends to understand. She turned and headed towards the staircase, yelling over her shoulder, "And by the time I'm out of the bathtub, my living room better be spotless and you two out of my house!"

~~~~~QR~~~~~

Quinn got home that evening after she spent the rest of the day categorizing the new pieces of artwork at the gallery, Rachel never far from her thoughts. She sighed as she put her keys in the bowl next to the door. It was a little after nine o'clock, so Jaxon would already be in bed and asleep, thanks to Brittany and Santana.

She walked into the living room and saw the Latina lying on the couch watching a reality TV show.

"Working late at the gallery again?"

Quinn nodded as she pulled off her coat and hung it in the closet. "Thanks for getting Jaxon to bed."

"No problem. Britt made some chicken casserole for dinner, there's a plate for you in the oven. Also little man is not a fan of carrots. He basically threw them at me when he saw them on his plate."

Quinn plopped down on the couch and lifted Santana's feet onto her lap. "I thought you knew he didn't like carrots."

Santana shook her head and grumbled, "Clearly I forgot. But damn, that kid's got a strong arm."

Quinn smiled. "I bet you'll remember that the next time you think about feeding him carrots." She paused, resting her head back and closing her tired eyes. She was debating whether or not she should tell Santana about seeing Rachel again, but decided against it. She was too tired to have such a serious conversation tonight.

She said goodnight to her best friend then took her dinner up to her room.

~~~~~QR~~~~~

Two days later…

It was Quinn's day off from the gallery and she wanted to spend it with her son. They were both laying on her bed watching a Discovery Channel documentary about animals in Africa. Quinn had always thought it was amusing that Jaxon loved to watch documentaries, but she encourage him since she loved to watch them too.

Jaxon was lying on his side with his head resting on Quinn's lap while she ran her fingers through his dark hair. She always cherished these moments when it was just her and Jaxon, laying around and doing nothing.

When a herd of zebras filled the TV screen, Jaxon sat up and pointed at the TV. "'orses! Mama, 'orses!" he exclaimed, bouncing on the bed. "I ride 'orse!"

The blonde smiled at her son's excitement. "That's a zebra, Jax. It does look like a horse with stripes, but it's called a zebra."

Jaxon put his hands on his hips and looked back at her, stating firmly, "No. It 'orse, Mama."

Quinn grinned at his stubborn expression, then pointed to the screen. "Look. They're calling to each other. What kind of noise are they making?"

He watched as the zebras called out to each other and he tried to imitate the sound. Then suddenly a lion jumped out of the bushes and charged toward the zebra herd.

Jaxon jumped up and down screaming, "Mama! 'ion! 'ion! Rawr!"

"Yep, there goes the lion after the zebras."

Their eyes were glued on the show as the zebras gave a good chase. But then one veered off from the rest of the herd and the lion took off after the lone one.

Jaxon started jumping up and down on the bed again. "Run! Run 'orse!"

Then the lion lunged and tackled the zebra to the ground, dirt billowing up everywhere.

Jaxon screeched, covering his mouth. "No!" Then he fell down on his back and stared up at his mother. "'orse dead, Mama. 'ion eat."

She gave the little boy the saddest look she could. "The zebra is gone." She started to tickle him, which made Jaxon laugh and squeal and Quinn was laughing right along with him. These were the moments she cherished.

There was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in!" Jaxon yelled, scrambling away from the tickle monster.

The door opened and Santana and Brittany walked in.

"I heard animals in here," Brittany said, picking Jaxon up when he ran to her.

Jaxon wrapped his arms around Brittany's neck and said in such a sad voice, complete with the famous pout, "Britt-Britt, 'orse dead. 'ion eat."

The adults looked over at the TV and saw the lion happily munching on the zebra's dead body. Brittany's eyes popped wide open in horror at the sight.

"I think that was a zebra, bud," Santana told him, turning away from the TV.

Jaxon shook his head back and forth, and said with conviction, "No, Tana. 'orse."

Quinn got up off the bed. "I'd be careful, San, he's standing his ground on it being a horse. Actually, zebras and horses both do belong to the same family Equidae. However-"

Santana held up her hand, interrupting the blonde. "Shut it, Q. I don't need to hear the nerdy version of stupid facts. I think that ivy league college messed you up."

Quinn smiled and shrugged.

Jaxon began playing with the ends of Brittany's long blonde hair. "Britt-Britt go playground?"

"Hey!" Quinn exclaimed, looking over at her son. "I thought you and I were going to have a Mama and Jaxon day! Are you leaving me?" she pouted with sad eyes.

Jaxon held his arms out to his mother. When Quinn took him, he placed his small hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes with big brown ones of his own and said softly, "I no 'eave Mama. I luv Mama." Then he gave her a big kiss on her lips and threw his arms around her neck, squeezing tightly.

Quinn held him just as tight. She glanced up and saw Brittany wipe a tear off her cheek.

"That is so sweet," the dancer exclaimed, then turned to Santana. "San, I want a baby."

Santana's eyes bulged. "But, Britt… I, uh… I…"

The blonde giggled at her girlfriend's stammer then leaned over and kissed her. "But I can wait," she reassured her.

Jaxon pulled back and asked Quinn, "Mama? We all go park?"

She smiled and nodded. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Jaxon. Why don't we both get dressed and pack up some snacks and a blanket and we can all go to the park?"

"Yay!" he cheered, clapping his hands.

Surprisingly Jaxon didn't fight Brittany when she helped him get his clothes on. He never misbehaved for Brittany… she was like his very own angel.

Santana made sandwiches for everyone and packed apple slices, granola bars and bottled waters into the large basket.

After she was dressed, Quinn came downstairs and grabbed a couple of Jaxon's toy dump trucks and small shovels so he could play in the sandbox. She made sure she packed sunscreen, diapers, wipes and a hat to cover the little boy's head from the hot sun.

By the time she had everything packed up in the car, Brittany and Jaxon were coming down the stairs holding hands, both wearing shorts and a light T-shirt.

They all jumped in the car and headed to the playground.

~~~~~QR~~~~~