AN: Thank you all so much for the feedback on the last chapter, and especially to the guest reviewer Sarah for your lovely words. A lot of you are worried about the outcome of the court hearing, but just so you know, that's not going to be the end of the story... In fact, they're going to court in the next chapter, but for now here's chapter 27 - I wrote the first part last night and I was in a funny mood, so I hope it's not too strange. Let me know what you think!
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Parenthood
After his disastrous attempt to bond with Beth, Oliver did not request another visit with his niece. In fact, if it hadn't been for the threat of the court date looming over them, Quinn and Santana could have easily found themselves getting used to their new lifestyle. They busied themselves with making their new apartment more homely and welcoming, painting their bedroom a sunny yellow and Beth's room a bright, vibrant pink. Now that they had wall space to spare Quinn had a great deal of fun at an art fair in Greenwich Village selecting inexpensive canvases for the walls while Santana and Beth traipsed along behind her rolling their eyes and pretending to be bored.
For Beth's bedroom, Quinn found a dresser and a chest of drawers on Craig's List which Santana sanded down and painted white. They bought her pretty pink and white bed linens and hung a canopy over her bed, and Santana's parents sent a gift of glow in the dark star-shaped stickers for Beth's ceiling and the little girl was thrilled beyond belief.
Every day after school or work, either Santana or Quinn would rush downtown to pick up Beth from pre-school and listen to her tell them all about her day. Quinn would cook dinner for them all, and they ate at their newly acquired dining table - not caring about the mis-matched chairs that they'd bought for just a few dollars at a flea market. Santana washed the dishes every night, whilst Beth played and Quinn started her homework, then it was time to give Beth her bath and put her to bed.
Once the little girl was asleep, Quinn and Santana would either cuddle on the couch and watch TV or, more often than not, head off to bed themselves - exhausted from school, work, or simply looking after an energetic four year old.
On Friday night, almost two weeks after they'd moved into the new apartment, Quinn was sitting cross legged on her bed, her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and her laptop in her lap, trying to get a head start on her homework when Santana entered the room and threw herself down on the bed with a dramatic yawn.
"Is Beth asleep?" Quinn asked absently as Santana wriggled around, trying to get comfortable.
"Finally," the brunette replied with a groan. "It took six stories tonight - six! I thought I was going to fall asleep before she did. Oh, did you see the note from pre-school in her back pack? Some kid has the chicken pox so they're warning all the parents to look out for the symptoms."
"That's all we need," said Quinn with a sigh. "Chicken pox, ugh!" She shuddered as she closed her laptop, placed it on her nightstand and took off her glasses. "Did you remember to get Beth's Froot Loops when you went to the market?" she asked as she climbed under the covers and waited for Santana to do the same. "We're almost out and you know she's going to ask for them at breakfast tomorrow."
"I got them," Santana confirmed, as she snuggled against Quinn contentedly, "but I didn't have time to do the laundry today - we need to do it tomorrow or Beth'll run out of underwear."
"Can't we just buy her new underwear?" Quinn asked, reaching out to turn off the lamp. She really didn't want to waste a precious Saturday doing laundry. Then she chuckled to herself.
"What is it?" Santana asked sleepily.
"It's eight-thirty!" Quinn exclaimed. In the darkness, the illuminated numbers of her alarm clock had just become more prominent and she couldn't miss them.
"You're kidding?" Santana picked up her cell phone to confirm Quinn's announcement. "Oh God, I can't believe we're in bed at eight-thirty on a Friday night - and not in the good way either."
"And you know something else?" asked Quinn, rolling over so that she was facing Santana. She could just make out the whites of her fiancée's eyes in the blackness.
"I don't know if I want to know," groaned Santana and Quinn laughed again.
"Not only have we turned into one of those boring couples who go to bed at eight-thirty on the weekend but also, all we've done tonight is talk about Beth," Quinn told her.
Again, Santana was disbelieving and she was quiet for a few moments as she replayed the evening in her mind before realizing Quinn was right.
"I'm not going to be one of those couples," she pronounced as Quinn laughed at her. "We need to have sex, right now!"
"Do we have to?" Quinn asked, only half joking. "I'm exhausted. Can't we just cuddle?"
Now it was Santana's turn to laugh. "I'm kind of tired too," she admitted, turning on her phone's backlight again for another time check. "It's eight-thirty seven now, that's a much more respectable time to go to sleep," she joked. Then she noticed the date illuminated on her phone screen. "Hey, you know what day it is tomorrow?" she asked suddenly.
"Valentine's Day," Quinn replied automatically.
"You knew?" Santana said accusatorially. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Quinn yawned before answering. "It's the same date every year, I didn't think you'd need reminding. Don't worry, you don't need to get me a card."
"Did you get me a card?" Santana wanted to know. She sounded like a five year old at Christmas.
"Wait and see," was Quinn's curt response.
"And a present?" asked Santana excitedly. Quinn chose not to answer that one at all.
"It's also the two year anniversary of the first time we... you know," she said instead.
"You know what?" Santana teased. "Played chess, went sky diving...?"
"Ha ha, you're hilarious," Quinn said drily.
They lay in the darkness for several minutes in companionable silence, letting their hands wander innocently, Santana's nimble fingers kneading out a tense knot at the base of Quinn's spine. Then Santana sat up with a start.
"Hey!" Quinn grumbled, pouting at the loss of contact just when she was starting to relax and feel good.
"This is ridiculous," announced Santana. "We're twenty-one, not eighty-one!"
"Actually, you're still twenty," Quinn reminded her facetiously. Now it was Santana's turn to ignore her.
"We need a night out," Santana continued, "for Valentine's Day, for the first time we you know, whatever you want to celebrate. Tomorrow night, just you and me." She flung herself back against the pillows and Quinn curled into her side once again.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" she asked sleepily. "Blonde haired, about three and a half feet tall?"
"Leave the details to me," Santana insisted. "All you need to do is show up."
"Fine by me," agreed Quinn. "Now can you shut up? It's almost nine o'clock so it's way past my bedtime!" She grinned to herself in the darkness then squealed as Santana pounced on her, straddling her and tickling her sides until she begged her to stop.
At the same moment, both girls realized that Santana was on top of Quinn, and Quinn grabbed Santana's shirt to pull her down for a messy, eager kiss. All thoughts of sleep were forgotten as hands roamed freely, waking up each other's bodies, tugging off clothing when it got in the way, and by the time they finally did get to sleep it was respectably past midnight.
Quinn had her doubts that Santana would be able to make good on her promise of a night out, especially since Santana knew Quinn wouldn't leave Beth with a stranger, and as it was Valentine's Day all of their friends were likely to have plans already, so she put it out of her mind the next day and went about her Saturday as usual.
Sleep-ins were a thing of the past since Beth came to stay, her internal body clock woke the four year old at six a.m. seven days a week. When Quinn had grumbled about this to her mom, Judy informed her that she had been exactly the same at Beth's age. That didn't make it any easier to get up on the weekends when it was still dark outside, but Quinn relished hearing about anything her younger self had in common with Beth.
By nine o'clock, when Santana emerged from their bedroom in a rumpled t-shirt and sleep shorts, her hair in a tangled cloud around her head, Quinn and Beth had already eaten breakfast, showered, dressed, and watched about eight thousand re-runs of Sofia the First. Quinn was sitting at the table with her iPad, reading the news and picking at the remains of a bagel.
"So, what should we do today?" she asked the room at large once Santana was situated at the table with a large, steaming cup of coffee. She'd learned over the years that it was often best to keep communication with the brunette to a minimum in the mornings until they both had caffeine inside them. Beth didn't answer - the four year old was engrossed in her TV show and a game she was playing with a set of cute little wooden dolls that Santana had picked up on her visit to Shelby's apartment.
"Why don't you take Beth somewhere, just the two of you?" Santana suggested, taking a long swig of coffee. "It'll give me time to plan for tonight."
Quinn reached across the table for Santana's hand, playing with their fingers by intertwining and then releasing them before repeating the process.
"San, I know you wanted to go out tonight, but it's not really practical with B-E-T-H," she said softly, spelling out Beth's name so the little girl wouldn't get wind of the conversation. It didn't work.
"Hey! That's my name!" Beth stood up and eyed Quinn suspiciously. "Why did you spell my name?" Beth knew that adults only spelled out words when they didn't want kids to know what they were talking about.
"Someone has selective hearing," Quinn chuckled to Santana in a low tone as Beth padded across the room towards them, her game and TV show forgotten. She couldn't help but being proud of Beth though. "I had no idea you were so smart," she announced, as Beth climbed onto her lap. "I knew you could write your name, but I didn't know you could spell it out loud too."
Beth beamed, easily placated. "Uh huh, and I can spell S-T-O-P too. That spells stop, like on the signs outside on the street."
"You are so clever!" Quinn told her, giving the little girl a tight squeeze. "Do you know any other words?"
Beth suddenly looked perturbed. She shook her head quickly, but then after a few moments she gave an almost imperceptible nod. "M-O-M," she whispered, her little brow furrowing as she tried not to cry. "That spells mom."
"Oh, baby," Quinn's heart broke for the four year old. For the most part Beth was a happy and bubbly child, it was easy to forget that she was still grieving. "You know, I bet your mommy is so proud of you. I bet she's telling everyone in Heaven just how smart her baby girl is." Beth wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck and rested her head against her chest, right over her heart. Quinn rocked her gently as she shared an anguished look with Santana. She would do anything in her power to help Beth heal, but she knew that nothing but time would take away Beth's pain.
Again, she wondered if they should take Beth to see a psychologist. After her initial discussion with Santana she'd meant to call her lawyer and run it past him, but then they'd gotten busy with the move, and the last couple of weeks Beth had gotten much better at being left at pre-school. They'd only had tears from her at drop-off once during the past week. When Quinn had pictured raising a child, she'd never imagined there was so much stress involved but she worried about everything involving Beth - was she feeding her right? Should she be harder on her when she broke the rules or go easy given what the little girl had been through? She worried when Beth climbed the jungle-gym at the park in case she fell, she worried if she lost sight of Beth for even a moment out in public in case she got abducted, she worried if the four year old was brushing her teeth enough, or if she should be limiting her TV time. All in all, it was exhausting.
"I think we should stay home tonight," she told Santana with a wry smile, hoping that her fiancée would understand. Santana nodded but Beth raised her head and frowned.
"Where are you going?" she demanded.
"Nowhere," Quinn assured her. "We're staying right here with you."
"But Tana wants to go out?" Beth tried a different approach, wriggling back on Quinn's lap so that she could twist and look at the brunette.
"No, it's fine, squirt," Santana assured her. "I wanted to take Quinn out for dinner but I had a better idea - we could get take out and a movie and the three of us could watch it together. How does that sound?"
Beth thought for a moment. Then she jumped up and ran to the fridge, lifting a magnet so that she could take down the list of her classmates at pre-school and their contact information. She plonked it on the table with a flourish and looked expectantly at Quinn and Santana.
"I want to sleep over with Alana or Poppy-Rose," she announced. "Or Belle would be okay. But not Jessica. She's mean and she doesn't share." Quinn and Santana exchanged confused glances and Beth sighed dramatically. "When Mommy wanted to go out at nighttime she called another mommy and I got to have a sleepover," the little girl explained, rolling her eyes.
Quinn couldn't help but laugh. Beth pouted, uncertain whether or not she was being laughed at.
"Oh, sweetie, you really are so smart," Quinn told her, leaning over to wrap an arm around her small shoulders and give her an affectionate squeeze. "So, Little Miss Smartypants," she added brightly, "what do you want to do today? Your choice. It'll just be you and me though - Santana has a date to plan."
"Can we go ice-skating?" Beth asked, literally jumping up and down with excitement. Instantly, Quinn's mind went straight to a scenario of slips and falls, broken bones, concussions, and trips to the emergency room, but she couldn't let her irrational fears ruin Beth's happiness.
"Ice-skating it is," she agreed and Beth shrieked with delight.
Quinn's fears proved, of course, to be groundless and no major injuries were sustained during their ice-skating excursion. Beth looked adorable, chewing her tongue with concentration as she pushed a worn-looking plastic penguin to help her balance. There were one or two slips, naturally, but Beth's tears dried up quickly and she was unafraid to get back out on the ice.
They ate hot dogs for lunch before heading back uptown to their apartment to find that Santana had arranged a sleepover for Beth with her friend Poppy-Rose, something the little girl was thrilled about.
"Oh, by the way, there's mail on the kitchen counter for you," Santana told Quinn as they packed Beth's overnight bag together. They were standing by the dining table with everything the little girl needed for a night away from home laid out in front of them, so Quinn crossed quickly into the kitchen to open her letter.
"It's from Children's Services," she called to Santana who was by her side in an instant.
"What does it say?" the brunette asked anxiously as Quinn scanned the letter with a furrowed brow.
"We've got a court date," she said, exhaling loudly. "February twenty-fifth." She wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to feel about the letter. She'd known it was coming, but all the while it had been just a nebulous date in the future it had been easier to keep it out of her mind, now it suddenly seemed extremely real.
Santana seemed to recognize Quinn's inner struggle and without speaking she enfolded her fiancée into a tight hug. They stayed that way for several minutes until Beth came looking for them, lugging a huge bag of toys.
"I picked out some toys to bring to Poppy-Rose's," she announced. Santana released her hold on Quinn reluctantly and chuckled when she saw how many toys the little girl had picked out. Quinn tried to smile too, but it wasn't easy and Beth noticed her reticence. "Quinn, are you sad?" she asked innocently.
"A little," Quinn admitted, stroking the little girl's cheek. She couldn't lose her. Not again.
Beth reached her arms out to Quinn, silently asking to be picked up.
"Don't be sad," she said, as though it were the easiest thing in the world. She kissed Quinn's cheek sloppily.
"I'll try," promised Quinn, as Santana stroked her back and Beth pressed her warm body against her. She gave herself a silent ticking off - nothing had really changed, she'd always known that the court hearing was coming, so what if she knew the date now? They'd been living day to day and there was no reason that shouldn't continue. She allowed herself to accept the comfort Santana and Beth were offering for a few moments before shifting Beth to her hip and looking down at the overflowing bag of toys. "So, kiddo, you really think you should take all those toys to Poppy-Rose's?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Beth nodded emphatically. "Uh huh."
"Hmm," Quinn replied with a grin. "I don't think so. How about you pick three toys and put the rest back in your room?"
"Okay." Beth sighed as Quinn set her down. She dragged the bag back towards her bedroom dejectedly as Quinn and Santana watched her go.
"You okay?" Santana asked gently. "We don't have to go out tonight?"
"Yes, we do," Quinn insisted. "This isn't going to break us, San. I'm not going to let it take away one second of us enjoying ourselves or making memories with Beth."
"I love you," Santana told her earnestly, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.
Before they could get too comfortable, Beth was calling them from the living room.
"Quinn! Tana! I can't find my 'Fia the First DVD!" Laughing to themselves, Quinn and Santana reluctantly pulled apart and headed to help Beth.
Eight-thirty that night found Quinn and Santana sitting in a darkened, intimate restaurant, in stark contrast to the previous night. They were eating the best food they'd had since New Year's Eve, and enjoying each other's company.
"Didn't you say something last night about having gotten me a Valentine's gift?" Santana teased, sipping her wine.
Quinn chuckled. "No, I believe that was your assumption," she countered, spearing a piece of chicken on her fork. Santana pouted, and Quinn gave in with an indulgent sigh. "Okay, okay," she grumbled, but a soft smile was playing on her lips. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. "I didn't buy them," she said as Santana tore off the wrapping paper.
"Quinn Fabray? Are you re-gifting?" she asked with a giggle.
"I would buy you a new pair if I could," explained Quinn as Santana opened the box to reveal an exquisite pair of diamond earrings. "But I couldn't afford it. These were mine - well, originally they were my grandmother's. I thought they'd look good with your ring." She reached for Santana's hand across the table and stroked her thumb over the brunette's engagement ring.
"They're beautiful," Santana told her, her eyes sparkling. She lifted Quinn's hand to her lips and planted a soft kiss on her knuckles. "Thank you. Now open mine!"
She handed Quinn a long, thin box, smiling excitedly.
"San," Quinn chastised softly. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"Just open it," Santana urged. Quinn followed her instruction, and took in the delicate silver locket on a thin chain. She opened the clasp and gasped at the tiny picture inside. Quinn, Santana, and Beth all beaming at the camera. "Oh, Santana," she whispered. "It's perfect." She smiled mischievously. "I can't wait until we get home and I get to thank you properly."
"Let me get the check," Santana teased hurriedly, pretending to get the waiter's attention.
After dinner, the girls had planned to go dancing but their empty apartment was calling and their desire for one another was almost overwhelming. Shortly after ten o'clock they tumbled through the door kissing and groping every part of each other they could reach, already breathing raggedly with swollen lips and dishevelled clothing.
Clothes were shed as they moved through the apartment and by the time they made it to the bedroom they were both naked. They fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, Santana moving to straddle Quinn, and without preamble, directing Quinn's hand to where she wanted it the most.
"Mmm, you're wet," Quinn murmured as her fingers stroked through slick heat to enter Santana, causing her fiancée to stifle a moan. "We don't have to be quiet tonight," Quinn reminded her, stroking the bundle of nerves at the brunette's center as her fingers started to move within her.
Santana covered Quinn's breasts with her palms as her hips began to move of their own volition, matching Quinn's thrusts with equal force. Quinn loved to watch Santana ride her, and she felt moisture pooling between her own thighs as her fiancée rolled her hips and threw her head back, losing herself in the sensations Quinn's fingers were giving her.
"Oh God," she moaned, "that feels so good. Mmm, don't stop." Her movements grew faster and more erratic as she searched for her release, and Quinn didn't know where she wanted to look the most - at her fingers buried deep between Santana's thighs, or at the brunette's breasts as they bounced enticingly. Before she had time to decide, Santana came undone, screaming her name over and over before collapsing in a sweaty heap beside her.
Soft kisses were shared as Santana recovered her composure, and then she grinned wolfishly, walking her fingertips down Quinn's torso teasingly until they reached the apex of her thighs.
"My turn," she whispered thoughtfully. "Hmm, so many possibilities." She moved to straddle Quinn once more, bending her head to capture Quinn's nipple between her teeth. Quinn couldn't help but moan appreciatively as the brunette's tongue swirled over her nipple, but Santana had other plans and she quickly abandoned her breast to lick over the path her fingers had taken, right down to the junction of Quinn's legs.
With gentle yet eager hands, she urged Quinn to part her thighs, then groaned at the sight of her fiancée so wet and ready for her touch.
"Beautiful," she murmured, before swiping her tongue through Quinn's folds.
"Fuck," whispered Quinn immediately. "Right there, don't stop." Those were the last legible words to fall from her lips before Santana reduced her to breathy gasps and sharp cries. She arched her back to get closer to her fiancée's talented tongue, and moments later she came undone, tangling her hands in Santana's hair to hold her in place as the brunette kissed her intimately through her orgasm.
Quinn lost count of how many times they made love that night. Every time she thought her desire was sated, Santana would kiss her or touch her and the embers would burst into flames once more.
Somewhere around dawn, she lay in Santana's arms as the brunette stroked her fingers up and down Quinn's spine, and Santana whispered her name.
"Are you awake?" she asked softly. Quinn hummed in acknowledgement. "I've been thinking," Santana continued slowly, "about the hearing."
"Don't, San," pleaded Quinn sadly. "Not right now, please?" She really didn't want to talk about the court hearing right then, especially when she'd managed to forget about it so successfully all night.
"Just listen?" Santana asked urgently. Quinn raised her head at the intensity of her tone.
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. If it meant that much to Santana, the least she could do was to hear what she wanted to say.
"I want us to have the best chance to win custody," explained Santana quietly. "Do you think, I mean..." She broke off and sighed. "I was thinking about what Rachel said about our stability, and I wondered if it might look better if we were married before we go to court."
"What?" Quinn couldn't keep the incredulity from creeping into her voice as she sat up with a start and ran a hand through her messy hair. "I can't believe you're suggesting this! Like we don't have enough pressure on us already, you want us to get married within the next ten days? I can't. I just... I'm sorry, San, but it's too much." Her voice broke, and she swallowed the hard lump that had risen in her throat.
"It's okay," Santana said flatly. Quinn could hear that her rejection had hurt her fiancée and she wanted to make it okay but she didn't know how. She lay back down beside Santana, feeling a sudden chasm open up between them. Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she squeezed them shut.
"We'll get through this," Quinn whispered into the darkness, trying to convince herself as much as Santana. "Together," she promised. She placed a gentle hand on Santana's shoulder, feeling the brunette tense against the touch.
Then, without warning, Santana was in her arms and they were kissing hard and desperately as tears mingled on their cheeks and they tasted salt water on their lips. Whose fingers pressed between whose thighs first, Quinn couldn't say, but as they stroked and fondled they drew comfort and strength from one another. They'd made love many times and in many different ways, but this was like nothing Quinn had ever experienced. She didn't know where she ended and Santana began and this time, even after the crescendo of their orgasms had faded, neither one of them was willing to let go.