Really sorry that I haven't finished this story before now. I struggled to get the last part right for ages, but eventually got there. For those still interested in it, thanks for sticking with it.
The usual disclaimer applies
Chapter 15
June 2024, Lima, Ohio
Rachel hadn't expected everyone she had invited to accept, but they had. She was especially surprised that Carol Hudson-Hummel was there, but then Kurt was one of her best friends and she was his step-mom. They weren't super close, but they all had a shared past.
They had selected a beautiful spot on the lake for the ceremony. It seemed fitting to be home in Ohio for this. Society wedding aside, this was for their families, not the tabloids.
Quinn fidgeted while Santana just laughed at her discomfort. "Stop wriggling, woman. You'll crease the damn dress and then Berry will be bitching in my ear about it for the rest of our lives."
"Exaggeration, much?" Quinn huffed and sat back finally happy with the fit.
Santana let her hands rest on Quinn's shoulders. She leaned forwards and smiled as she kissed Quinn's cheek. "You look amazing, babe."
"Thanks, so do you." She patted her wife's hand. "Let's go find her."
"Okay Tobes, you need to throw the petals out as you go. Don't dump them all in one go," Beth gently nudged him forwards. The boy was dressed smartly with a waistcoat to match his pants and had the basket held out in front of him ready to go. He checked behind to see both his parents waiting to set off. He waved at his grandmother who was further down the aisle and sat on the end of the row. She beckoned him forwards and he started by carefully taking out one of two petals at a time and dropping them as he went. Beth told him to drop a few every step so he kept going until he got to Grandma Judy and she gave him a little pat on the arm as he passed her.
He looked back over his shoulder and saw Beth walking ahead of mommy and momma. Everyone looked really pretty.
He stood to the side and waited, still looking around and waving at everyone he knew with a cheeky grin.
Beth arrived beside him and then mommy ran her hand through his hair and whispered "Good boy," in his ear. He smiled even bigger after that. The music was nice and played really loudly so everyone stood up, except mommy and her friend Artie. He glanced up at a worried looking Uncle Jesse. He had on his new suit that he had joked about a lot. Everyone started turning around then as Aunt Rachel came down the aisle. He couldn't see very well so mommy pulled him up in her lap and he could see more, but not over the top of everyone else.
It took a long time for Rachel to walk down the aisle, but eventually Tobias saw her and started clapping because she looked really, really pretty, like a princess.
Everyone sat down and he liked that because he could see better now. He didn't listen to what everyone said. It went on a long time.
"Mommy why is that lady crying?" He whispered into her ear and pointed to a lady sat three rows back.
Quinn turned to see Carol sniffing, but with a smile on her face. She caught her eye and put her hand on her heart as if to say she understood why the older woman would be emotional on such an occasion. Carol nodded in acknowledgement.
"Those are happy tears, Toby. That's Uncle Kurt's stepmom."
"What's a stepmom?" he whispered back with a confused face.
"I'll tell you later, now shush and listen." She gave him her stern face and raised an eyebrow which Tobias knew meant it was important so he sat quietly and watched. After a while people said more stuff and then more music came until finally, Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jesse turned and walked back in the opposite direction. Tobias wasn't really sure what all the fuss was about, but it seemed really important to everyone else so he behaved himself.
Afterwards everyone went outside into the sunshine and he got to run around with some of the other kids while the adults all said mushy stuff to each other. He tripped up though and bumped his chin on the grass and his tooth went into his lip, which hurt - a lot!
"Tobes, what did you do now?" Beth took his hand and pulled him up. He had managed to avoid grass stains on his knees, but he had blood on his chin.
Carol and Burt approached Quinn and Santana in between lots of photos being taken. They just exchanged a hug when Beth brought her little brother over, her hand under his chin to keep blood from dripping on his shirt, tie or waistcoat.
"Mom!" She called out. "Do you have a kleenex?"
Quinn had nothing with her for once, but Carol immediately had tissues out of her bag.
"Here we go," she pulled them from the packet and handed them to Quinn.
"Tobias, what did you do?"
"I fell over," mumbled words mixed with blood, tears and snot made Beth's face pale as some of it landed in her hand.
"He's bleeding," Beth pointed out the obvious. "Eurgh," she groaned at her hand.
Quinn grabbed the tissue and scooped it over his chin and handed the other one to Beth. "Clean yourself up in the bathroom, sweetheart."
Beth smiled at Uncle Kurt's parents and went off to wash her hands.
"Oh my God, Quinn. She's you," Burt watched the teenager depart.
"Without the trauma and pregnancy thank goodness," Quinn replied handing San the used tissue. "Carol, I don't suppose you have more in there do you?" The woman handed over the packet. "Thanks. He's an expert at getting into messes. I blame Santana."
The Latina huffed and grabbed her son up in the air. "Let me look at you, cheeky monkey. Did you bump your lip?"
A few more tears had run down and he poked at it with his finger.
Carol looked at him and her heart melted. "He's gorgeous, Santana."
"He knows it as well," she laughed, inspecting the small cut on his lip which was growing fatter by the moment. "I think Auntie Rach is going to kill me if you don't look perfect in her photos. We need some ice for your lip, Tobes."
"Ice cream?"
"No, not ice cream. Ice to make the bump go away."
He sniffed loudly and Quinn handed another tissue to her wife. "Is he still bleeding, San?"
"I think its stopped. Its on the inside, but swollen." She dropped him back on his feet and wiped his eyes and cheeks. "Blow," she instructed, holding the kleenex to his nose. He wriggled and tried to escape, but she was having none of it and fought him to clean his face properly. "Better," she sighed and looked for a trash can taking the other messy tissue from Quinn.
"Boys will be boys," Burt chuckled.
"He's like Finn was at that age. Always getting into scrapes," Carol reminisced.
"How are you coping?" Quinn squeezed Carol's hand.
A sad smile spread across the woman's face. "I can't help thinking about him today, but I'm pleased for Rachel. It was time she moved on; we can't live in the past."
"No we can't. Sometimes it's nice to think about what might have been for our lives, but we can't get stuck in that or we wouldn't be able to function." The blonde squeezed again. "I'm glad you came."
"So am I. Everything is so beautiful," Carol gave a genuine smile. "I'm glad to see your family has grown too." She looked up at Santana then as well. "Take care of each other."
San ran her hand across Quinn's shoulders and the blonde leaned her head into her wife's ribs for a few moments. "We will," Santana replied.
After photos and food and speeches there was dancing and merriment. Tobias spent a lot of time sliding on his knees with some of the other kids, Beth danced a little, mostly because Rachel was insistent and treated her like she was an adult not a child. Santana and Quinn took a few turns on the dance floor but mostly people watched.
"Kinda crazy isn't it?"
Quinn glanced up from the drink she had been nursing so long, the ice had melted. "What is?"
"Just this. Being back here for Rachel's wedding like the intervening years didn't actually happen. Feels like we never left. Do you miss it?"
"Ohio?"
"Yeah, it's always going to be home isn't it?"
"I don't know how I feel about it, San. I didn't just grow up here remember."
"I forget that you only arrived for the last couple of years in high school. We never talk about San Francisco."
"For good reason. It's a past best forgotten."
"Why?" The Latina usually let it drop but not this time.
Quinn shrugged and boosted herself from where she had been slouching a little. "I was not always very nice and I wasn't honest a lot of the time. I don't want to think about that part of my life. I got lucky enough to turn it around and start again."
"I get that its all dark and mysterious," she gesticulated and made a face that drew a chuckle from the blonde. "I would still like to know about it though."
"I wanted to be part of the social elite and was willing to put aside my real feelings to fit in with those who were part of it. I did that for a lot of reasons; mostly to make my father happy, but also because I was taught that it was important to conform. Getting drunk and having sex was part of that. I never would have done that if I'd understood my behaviour better. When I moved here, I finally accepted who I really was and stopped trying to fit into the mould my father made for me."
Santana took her wife's hand and stroked the back of it, fitting her fingers along the grooves between the knuckles until their fingers were woven together.
"I get it Q; you don't want to waste energy thinking about people who made you become something that you didn't like."
Quinn nodded and turned to face her wife. "If I think about what makes me happy, its the things I've done since I moved here but even that isn't where I found myself. I found myself in a group of people, not a place. It doesn't matter where that is; it's who I'm with that matters. So you see, home really is where the heart is."
"That's so sweet I might actually puke from the saccharin," Santana laughed and found Quinn squeezing her hand, her hazel eyes crinkled with the smile.
"You know, you could actually say something nice for a change," the blonde quipped.
"No way; I have a rep to protect," she lifted Quinn's hand and placed it over her heart. "You're here for me. Enough said?"
Quinn's face melted a little. "Enough said," her voice cracked and she had to fight the tears from gathering.
—
April, 2025, Riverside, Connecticut
"What did your OBGYN say?"
Quinn was curled up on her sofa at home. Rachel was slumped beside her looking heartbroken. "We probably can't have children, well to be precise, I can't carry a child."
"Oh God!" Quinn couldn't stop tears forming. She poked at her eyes. "Rachel, I'm so sorry. Did you know this before…"
Rachel shook her head. "I had no idea. I never had reason to suspect there was anything wrong until we tried to get pregnant." The shorter woman looked down at her fingers and pressed them into her lap, taking a deep breath. "I was ovulating normally so there was no suspicion until we went to get tested. I feel so guilty that I'm the one to blame."
"Hey, no one is to blame, Rachel. Why would you say that? Is Jesse mad or something?"
Rachel shook her head vehemently. "No, he's disappointed but not mad. We talked about other options with the doctor but I don't know what to do. I had my heart set on having children and now I can't."
Quinn ran a hand up and down Rachel's arm in a soothing manner. "What about IVF?"
"I'm not infertile, the problem is with my carrying a child to term. We can have IVF but we would need a surrogate to carry the baby." A heavy sigh escaped Rachel's lips. "Its not like we can't afford that, but the emotional cost might just be too much. Look at my mother and the mess she was in because of it, besides I heard its a legal minefield."
Quinn nodded, finally understanding Rachel's dilemma. "So will you adopt or something?"
A shrug of the shoulders left Quinn confused about what Rachel did want. "Is that a maybe?"
"If we have no other option, or we just decide not to have children. Lots of people do and they have a good life, I just…."
"Set your heart on it?"
Rachel looked up and their eyes met. "I thought I was done with heartbreak; I've had my share of it. Finally being able to move on and falling in love again, it was only natural to think good things, but this has floored me and I would never have guessed."
Quinn bid her friend goodbye shortly after the news and was still reeling when Santana arrived home later that day. The Latina knew instantly that something was wrong.
"S'up? You look like you saw a ghost."
"Rachel was here earlier," Quinn replied as Santana dropped her bag and took off her coat.
Her wife suddenly focussed. "I didn't know she was coming to stay, I thought she was recording an album in New York?"
"She is. I didn't know she was going to come over, she just turned up mid-afternoon. She left an hour ago."
"Something's up isn't it?" Rachel wasn't in the habit of paying flying visits; she usually came to stay for a while and they always knew when because she would send a note in the post, old-fashioned but convenient.
Quinn nodded slowly. "She's had some bad news. She and Jesse must have been trying for a baby and they weren't succeeding so they went to see a specialist."
"Jesse firing blanks?"
"San!" Quinn admonished.
"Sorry, I just thought he might be. Theatrical types and all that."
"Actually its Rachel that can't get pregnant, or rather she can but can't carry a child. I wasn't too clear on the actual reason why, she didn't go into detail."
"Shit!" Santana placed a hand over her mouth, suddenly wondering about Tobias and hoping he didn't overhear.
"He's with Beth upstairs," Quinn put her out of her misery.
"So what are they going to do?"
"I don't know, but she was completely deflated, like devastated. She told me a while ago that she wanted a family. I thought she just wanted to get married and settle down with someone she loved, but I actually think she had her heart set on kids as well."
"Maybe they can adopt?"
"They're thinking about it, amongst other things."
"Makes you appreciate our two, doesn't it?"
Quinn nodded and gave her wife a soft smile. "Yeah, we're pretty lucky like that."
—
"We are actively seeking a surrogate," Rachel confirmed. Jesse squeezed her hand as she explained to Santana. She looked at him gratefully and returned it.
Santana blew a whistle through her lips.
"What?" Rachel got immediately paranoid. "You think its a bad idea, don't you?" It had been a couple of months since she had found out about her fertility issues.
"No, just … are you sure that's what you want. The whole thing with your mother and shit."
The four of them were at dinner in Manhattan celebrating Rachel and Jesse's first anniversary with the couple.
"I think it will be fine so long as you choose carefully. Someone who's done it before without issue maybe?" Quinn was the voice of reason.
"We aren't panicking or anything," Jesse said. "It's not like we're old and grey. We have plenty of time to find the right person."
"Exactly," Rachel breathed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, just you know, worried for the two of you."
Rachel reached across the table and patted Santana's hand. "Thank you for being concerned. I'll let you vet whoever we choose, how's that?"
The Latina's face lit up at the prospect.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Are you really sure that's a good idea, Rach?"
—
"I want to ask her at least." Quinn had her arms crossed as she defended her position.
"Why you? Q, I swear you'll be death of me."
"You're being ridiculous and over-protective."
"I am not!"
"You are!"
"Okay, well so what if I am. You're my wife and I'm entitled."
Quinn sighed. "She's my best friend and she wants this so much. Why is this such a big deal? We've both had kids. We know what that means to someone. Why wouldn't you want that for Rach?"
"I do, but just not you doing it."
"Why not me?"
"You know why." Santana wouldn't actually let the words out.
Quinn's eye's narrowed. "I don't know why. It will be inconvenient for a few months, but that will be it."
"How can you say that?" Santana huffed and placed both hands on her hips. "It's risky for you. What about your meds and everything else?"
"Lots of women with spinal cord injuries have babies. It's not that much of a risk, besides, I think its worth it."
Santana ground her teeth together and shook her head. "Fine, but you get checked over by a specialist first and unless they give you a full bill of health, I'm putting my foot down. And if its not safe with the meds, I'm also putting my foot down!"
Quinn rolled closer and took San's hand. "If you put both feet down, you'll fall over," Quinn gave her a cheeky half-smile, but received only a scowl in return. "Thank you for understanding." She squeezed and waited for the response. It took a moment but she felt her wife reciprocate.
"Berry had better be grateful and she better not sing at me for letting this happen."
—
December 2025, Manhattan
Quinn was accompanied by her entourage as they entered the New York Fertility Institute. She was a little nervous, but not so much that she wanted to turn and roll away.
"You know you can still change your mind, right? We won't think any worse of you for it." Rachel wrung her hands together in nervous excitement. "We'll always be the best of friends no matter what and I wouldn't want this to come between us."
"Jeez, stressed much," Santana rolled her eyes.
"It's fine, San." Quinn stopped her chair and pulled Rachel closer. "I want to do this for you guys. It was me who offered remember?"
"I know but …"
"But what?"
"It's just," Rachel sighed, "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you as a consequence."
Quinn eyed her wife. "Did you say something?"
"Nope, Q. Not a word."
Rachel was confused. "I just read a few things and I don't want to put you in any danger."
Quinn was the one rolling her eyes. "I am perfectly healthy and capable of getting pregnant. I've had every check possible and they all came back fine. Will you all stop fretting about me, please."
Rachel looked down at her shoes. "I wasn't, just wanted to let you know you can pull out still if you are having second thoughts."
"I'm not. I am a little nervous, but that's to be expected. Let's all just calm down and go see the specialist."
She led the way into the centre and the process of trying to give Rachel and Jesse a family began.
—
Quinn was enjoying spending time in Manhattan. It was such a great city for photography that she spent a lot of time roaming the streets and exploring buildings for interesting views. She was happy enough staying with Rachel and Jesse until the follow-up tests to check if the treatment had worked, but she missed San and the kids. They had work and school so they'd left her behind, still it wouldn't be long before she would be back home again, hopefully expecting a child; one that would bring a lot of light into her best friend's world.
What was it someone had said about her? That she was probably the most fertile woman in Ohio. Turns out it was true. They hit pay dirt on the first attempt. It had been a risk, trying to decide on one or two eggs being implanted, but in the end one was enough and that's what they went for.
It was going to be a long eight and a half months though. Rachel was super-concerned and if you asked Santana, more annoying than usual and certainly more than she was willing to accept. After the third phone call in a week to check on Quinn once she was back home, the Latina took matters into her own hands.
"Listen up, dwarf. I know this is your kid and you are worried about it and Quinn, but you have to chill out. You're going to make them and yourself ill if you keep up the relentless checking. Plus, I am likely to pay you a visit and go all Lima Heights on you if you carry on."
Rachel had remained quiet at first.
"I'm sorry, Santana. It's just that I'm really worried something will go wrong and I really am just as worried about Quinn. Maybe I shouldn't have let her talk me into this, because the last thing I want is for her to get sick or even too tired and maybe have an accident…"
"Jeez, Rach, enough!"
"Sorry."
"You said that already. She's fine, the kid's fine, the only one who isn't is you."
A heavy sigh followed. "I know that, in more ways than you can imagine." Rachel wished more than anything, she didn't have to rely on a friend to get her what she wanted.
San softened some. "I get that you're nervous, but at least you know Q isn't going to run off with the baby and leave you heartbroken."
"I know," the diva replied. There was genuine gratitude in her for that. "And I know that this is inconvenient for you and your children too. I will owe you all afterwards."
"Don't think I won't hold you to that either," a chuckle emerged from the Latina.
Rachel grinned. "I know that as well and I won't mind even a little bit."
—
"I guess there are advantages to living near one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country," Rachel grinned as the four friends entered the maternity wing of Yale-New Haven University Hospital.
Quinn's pregnancy was considered high risk so the delivery had to be in a major centre not their parochial hospital in Stamford. Despite the risks, the pregnancy had been unremarkable and she had sailed comfortably through to seven and a half months until the bump had become somewhat cumbersome. Still, Quinn had taken the extra help offered by her friends and agreed to take things easy. At eight months, everyone became a little twitchy and Rachel arrived to stay for the remaining two weeks. At which point she called Jesse and told him to get himself to New Haven quickly, as the planned C-section was happening soon.
They took Quinn in two weeks before the due date as planned and it took very little time for the birth. The prospective parents were there to see it happen and it took very little time to find a name for the healthy little boy.
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise."
"But…"
"But what?"
"It's just that it would be a constant reminder," Rachel sighed. "I don't know that I want that for either of us. I mean it in the nicest way but we were engaged at one point."
"I'm not jealous, Rachel."
"Really?"
"No, that's why I suggested it. He's an important part of your past and it would be nice to celebrate that."
"You're so generous to suggest it, but you're right about it being the past and our son is the future, so although it would be nice to call him Finn, I'm going to say no."
Jesse shrugged. "Funny, I thought you'd like that idea."
"Part of me does, but not the part of me that loves you more than anything. We have moved on and I said my goodbyes a long time ago."
Jesse smiled softly. "Then what are we going to call him?"
"I'm not sure about a first name yet, but I decided on a middle name and Finn just wouldn't go with that."
Jesse glanced at her with curiosity and then the penny dropped. "Oh, I get it now." He smiled in recognition. "Yeah, you're so right. Can't have Finn as a first name with that as a middle name."
—
"So come on, short-stop. Get on with the big reveal," Santana was stretched out on Quinn's bed in the hospital, her wife tucked into her side.
Quinn elbowed her in the ribs. "San!"
"Sorry but we've been kept in suspense for twenty-four hours and they get to go home with junior before you. I'm not a patient person."
Rachel chuckled. "I know we kept you waiting but we found it harder to pick a name than we anticipated."
Jesse handed off the baby boy to Quinn. "Obviously thanks will never repay you for what you've given us, so we wanted at least some gesture that seemed more fitting as you won't accept anything tangible from us."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I already explained why I wanted to do it, Jesse. I don't want anything in return except to know that you will be amazing parents."
"And I promise we will, but at least we want our son to know who he owes his existence to, so drum roll please….."
Rachel tapped her hands, in an attempt to comply with Jesse's wishes, on the rolling table still bearing the remains of Quinn's half eaten breakfast.
"We would like to introduce you to your Godson… Joel Quinn St James, ta-da!" Jesse added a flamboyant wave for emphasis.
Quinn's face melted and Santana had a huge grin suddenly. "Perfect," the Latina nodded and brushed her fingers across the baby's smooth head.
"I guess it's not just a girl's name, is it?"
"No, that's what I thought, because there's that song, 'The Mighty Quinn'," Rachel started.
"I get it Rach," Quinn interrupted. "And thank you for the gesture. It means a lot."
"Jesse actually suggested we call him Finn, which was very sweet of him, but I wanted something that looked to the future and not the past."
"And Finn Quinn was never going to work," Jesse grinned.
"No and that part of our lives, no matter how important, is history and it should just be left alone now." Rachel reached over and gripped Jesse's hand and squeezed it. He leaned down and kissed her.
Santana whispered into Quinn's ear while the other couple were distracted.
"I think I might like your new nickname, Mighty Quinn," she winked.
A sharp elbow followed the comment. "San!"
"What? I love it actually. I'm going to download the song from iTunes right now."
"Lopez," the warning tone in her wife's voice was evident, but so was a half smile on her lips.
"Oh come on, Fabray. You love it really."
Quinn's face softened as she nodded to her best friend. "Take the baby for a moment," Quinn handed him over to Rachel. She turned back to Santana and beckoned her closer. "I don't know about the nickname, but I do love you," she admitted and with a confident tug of her wife's clothing, she pulled her into a soft kiss.
The End