Fic: Of Rainbows and Raincoats (M, R/Q) I/II
Title: Of Rainbows and Raincoats
Author: an_an0maly
Rating: M - for mentions of nudity, I suppose.
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Words: 7,310
Spoilers: Up to what’s aired and there might be mentions of minor events in upcoming episodes.
Summary: Part 3 in the Romantic Ulterior Motives-verse in which Quinn tells her parents her big secret and the pregnancy hormones continue to make her emotional.
Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing Glee belongs to me.
Author’s Note: A little angsty... ok, way more angst then I had originally intended. But still fluffy too. And this verse has taken on a life of its own, it’s kind of scary.
A big big thanks to grdnofevrythng for the wonderful beta. She nit-picked and axed the smut (so you can blame her for that one) - kidding, and totally made this all better. Thanks for holding it hostage for weeks! ;)
It was a cold, wet and miserable Wednesday night when Rachel opened the door to a shivering, drenched and crying Quinn. She quickly ushered the girl inside and began to strip off her outer layers only to find that every article of clothing Quinn was wearing was soaked through and the falling droplets were forming a puddle at their feet.
“What happened?” Rachel asked with a great deal of concern. She grabbed Quinn’s hand and led her through the kitchen and off to a side door that opened to their laundry.
Quinn’s teeth were chattering so hard that Rachel could barely understand a word she was saying. “...on’t...tal...bou...tit,” she managed to say but Rachel was too preoccupied with getting Quinn out of her clothes to try and decipher it.
“Once we get you warmed up, you’re going to tell me everything,” Rachel replied in a tone Quinn knew all too well. She just stood there, her arms crossed over her chest, her lips blue and her teeth chattering. Her knees were knocking together and if Rachel weren’t in love with the girl, she might have even described her as pathetic.
Rachel grabbed a towel from one of the clean laundry baskets and helped Quinn with her remaining articles of clothing, all of them soaking wet. They’d been together now for almost eight weeks and had been taking it slow since that weekend Quinn spent at Rachel’s. There was obvious chemistry but also obvious ramifications due to their relationship. The Monday following their weekend of Berry-Mania, as Quinn had dubbed it, she pulled Puck and Finn into a vacant classroom and together, she and Puck told Finn the truth about the baby.
Puck and Quinn both knew how Finn would react. Or at least, they’d thought they did. They’d predicted at least a couple of punches to Puck’s face and upper body, even a few choice words at both Quinn and Puck, but none came. Instead, Finn just took one look at them and left the room.
~~~
Rachel had been anxiously waiting outside the classroom when she saw Finn walk slowly and quietly out into the hall. “Finn?” She called out softly as he started to walk by her. He seemed startled for a second, but shook his head slightly and met her gaze.
“Hi, Rach,” he greeted, but he didn’t sound upset or disappointed, just tired.
“Are you... Are you ok?” She asked, taking a step in his direction.
Finn just tilted his head slightly and looked Rachel over for a few seconds. “It’s not my baby... but something tells me you already knew that.” He studied her face a moment, waiting for her reaction.
Rachel went to put her hand on his forearm, but he took a quick step back, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I thought we were friends,” he continued, a little dejected. He still didn’t sound angry, but he was certainly disappointed.
“I’m sorry, Finn. The best I could do was convince Quinn to tell you.” Rachel took a small step closer but refrained from reaching out to him. “I know that once this all settles in you’ll probably be really angry, but there’s something you should know.”
Finn just stared at her, waiting.
Rachel took a deep breath and looked down at her hands for a few seconds. “She’s wanted to tell you from the beginning, but she wanted it to be yours so badly. She really believes you’ll be a great father one day, but she knew it was unfair to make you one when this baby isn’t yours.” Rachel took another deep breath and quickly checked behind her at the closed door of the classroom where Puck and Quinn had remained to talk. “She knows that you probably won’t forgive her, but if you can, even in the slightest way, I know she’d want you to play some role in the baby’s life. But only if you want to.”
Finn looked down the hall to the doors at the end. He stood there for almost a full minute before turning back to an anxious Rachel, “I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, Rachel, but I know there’s more going on here.” He began to turn away but stopped and turned back. He stared at her feet for a few tense seconds before dragging his eyes up to meet hers. “I’ll see you around, Rach.” With that, he turned and made his way down the hallway and out the front entrance.
~~~
That had been about five weeks ago now and Finn was finally acting at least slightly civil toward them. Puck had insisted that he and Quinn find a way to be together for the baby’s sake. But Quinn had flat out refused. He pushed her so far in the days following, badgering her about the baby and how he wanted to be with her, she finally blurted out that she was in love with someone else.
Rachel’s heart was pounding in her chest when Mercedes had filled her in on that piece of news. She ignored their speculations about Quinn’s possible love interest. She’d been in love with Quinn for quite a while, but it was still too early for that, right? Besides, she’d waited this long; she could wait a little longer.
Meanwhile, Quinn had become somewhat of a social pariah at school. Even in Glee she was a bit of an outcast - and that was saying a lot. People had picked their sides and many were with Finn. They were all surprised to see Rachel spending more time with Quinn, though. Mercedes, Kurt and Tina had even pulled her aside to find out what was going on. She’d insisted that there was nothing sinister about her new and fragile friendship with Quinn, but they’d continued to hound her, convinced that there were ulterior motives at work.
“You know she wouldn’t be this nice if it were you carrying Puck’s kid,” Mercedes had pointed out as she, Tina and Kurt cornered Rachel in the girls’ bathroom for a ‘follow-up discussion’.
Rachel felt like rolling her eyes but settled for pulling her books closer to her chest. “I know that. She even told me that. I just think that if I was sixteen and pregnant, I’d like someone to be there for me.” She started to make her way around them when Kurt stepped into her path.
“You do realise beneath that pale and moisturised complexion, there is a vindictive bitch that will eat you whole.”
This time Rachel did roll her eyes and made it to the door before Tina jumped in, stutter and all. “J-j-just be c-careful.”
“I know what I’m doing.” And with that, the subject had been dropped. Rachel still caught them occasionally watching her and Quinn with suspicion. It should have annoyed her that they didn’t trust her to make her own decisions. Instead, she felt comforted by the fact that she had friends looking out for her, misguided as they were.
~~~
Rachel wrapped Quinn in a big blue towel before putting all of Quinn’s clothes into the dryer and turning it on. “Come on. We need to warm you up, make sure you don’t catch anything.” She led Quinn out through the kitchen and into the hallway just as Rachel’s dads came through the front door.
Quinn blushed when she realized all she was wearing was a towel and standing in their main hallway. She watched as they closed the door behind them. She quickly ducked her head in embarrassment before she could see what they were thinking.
Michael was quick to recover from the sight before him. “Quinn? Is everything okay?” He took a step forward, his scarf in his left hand as his right reached out to her forearm that was holding one of the edges of her towel. “Is it the baby?” He asked, his voice full of concern.
Quinn couldn’t meet his gaze and her teeth were still chattering. She just shook her head and hoped he understood.
Rachel wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort. “I’m going to run her a bath. We’ll be a little while. Do you think we could have some of your famous hot chocolate?” She asked with a small grin in Michael’s direction.
Jacob stepped up to the group. “Of course. And you tell us if there’s anything we can do.” He rubbed Rachel’s arm in a comforting manner before letting them pass. Michael and Jacob watched as their daughter led Quinn up the stairs to Rachel’s bathroom.
“What do you think that was about?” Jacob whispered as he looked up at Michael.
Michael had a thoughtful look on his face. “I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look good.” He sighed as he thought of the young girl in his daughter’s care. “We should get started on their hot chocolate.” He turned back to the coat rack and hung up his jacket and scarf.
Michael couldn’t help but think of all the worst-case scenarios. He knew their family was a little different from the average family - and not because there were two gay dads in this one. In the Berry Household, it was important to always be honest. Michael knew what it was like to grow up in a household that was all lies and facades.
He and Jacob had made sure to bring Rachel up with the belief that it’s always best to be honest and stay true to who you are. When she was little, Rachel really took that to heart and told them everything. She told them about every time she had to go to the bathroom, about how many times she changed her outfit before making it down for breakfast. She was even honest about her thoughts and wonderings, “Why did my Aunt Bethel let her teeth get so rotten?” “We learnt about jellyfish today. If I get stung, will you or Dad pee on me? I think it important we have a plan in place.” “I kissed a boy on the lips today. It was kind of gross.”
Michael and Jacob had treasured the little bouts of honesty, but finally had to tell Rachel that she didn’t have to tell them everything, just the most important parts of her life. She just nodded her head, accepted it and about six months ago sat them down and told them she thought she liked girls a lot more than she liked boys. They’d both been a little surprised, but Jacob had then laughed at the hilarity of the situation. Michael looked at her critically. “Not just last week you were talking about one of the boys in your class, are you sure?”
Rachel had calmly explained that the boy she liked was rather charming and had great bone structure for future offspring, but was a little on the low end of her preferred intellect. She further explained that in her limited opportunities to observe him, she’d found herself a little more focused on the blonde Cheerio continually hanging off his arm. Her Daddy was quick to tell her that looking at another girl didn’t make you gay.
Rachel was quite happy to point out to him that she’d taken careful note of the short length of Quinn’s skirt, the exact movement needed to catch a glimpse of inner thigh and even lamented over the travesty that was the design of the Cheerio’s high neckline. When Rachel saw that her Daddy still wasn’t quite so convinced, she decided to be brutally honest. “When I think about sex and I think about Finn, I’m more curious than aroused about the experience. When I think of sex and having it with Quinn, I’ve already scouted at least ten different places to have my way with her. And that’s just on school grounds.’’
“Alright, I understand,” Michael interrupted before Rachel could continue. “Well, as long as she makes you happy. Then we’re happy.”
Rachel had quickly informed them that although she had a crush on Quinn Fabray there was absolutely no way that they’d ever be together because Quinn was a good, Cross-bearing Christian girl and she insulted Rachel on a daily basis.
“Maybe that’s her way of telling you she likes you,” Jacob had theorised but Rachel quickly shot that down. “She’s President of the Celibacy Club and runs Christ Crusaders from her living room. Quinn Fabray will never be gay.”
Michael failed to hold back a grin at his daughter’s words from months earlier. He followed Jacob into the kitchen and began to prepare some hot chocolate for his daughter and the girl he knew she loved. Jacob helped him measure out the ingredients and break up the chocolate chunks before adding them to a saucepan on the stove to gently simmer.
Michael stirred the milk, chocolate and sugar mix before looking over at Jacob who was cleaning the counter top, “Her parents might have kicked her out,” He said softly. He saw Jacob falter in wiping the counter.
“I thought of that too,” Jacob replied. He continued to clean the counter top as Michael continued to stir. They worked in silence for a few minutes.
“We have the spare room next to Rachel,” Michael finally said. He watched Jacob out of the corner of his eye.
“And the baby?” Jacob asked.
“Its worst case, but the baby can stay with her for the first few months and we can always extend. I don’t use the office up there. It’s small, but it could work.” Michael suggested in a soft tone. He continued to slowly stir the mixture in the saucepan, watching as the chocolate melted and mixed with the milk.
Jacob breathed out. “You’ve been thinking about this a while, then.” He knew his husband better than he knew himself.
When he and Michael had decided to have children, they really learned how to rely on each other and sat down together to decide what type of parents they wanted to be, what type of household they wanted to have. Jacob was grateful to have the support of his family. They’d accepted Michael with open arms and were over the moon to hear that they were planning for children. Michael had been most adamant about maintaining the support system with Jacob’s family. His own family had shunned him upon learning of Jacob and it was only made worse by Jacob’s race and religion.
Michael just nodded his head. “Since that weekend she spent here. I saw that cross around her neck and that bump in her belly and the grip she had on Rachel. They might not have kicked her out even knowing about the baby, but you know they will when they find out about her Jewish girlfriend.”
Jacob was quiet for a few minutes as he rinsed out the cloth and hung it to dry before locating four mugs and placing them near the stove. He took a deep breath and gripped onto Michael’s free hand. “If it’s worst case, we’ll offer. I don’t want her and that baby on the street either.”
Michael leaned down and kissed Jacob. “Thank you.”
~~~
Part II
Author: an_an0maly
Rating: M - for mentions of nudity, I suppose.
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Words: 7,310
Spoilers: Up to what’s aired and there might be mentions of minor events in upcoming episodes.
Summary: Part 3 in the Romantic Ulterior Motives-verse in which Quinn tells her parents her big secret and the pregnancy hormones continue to make her emotional.
Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing Glee belongs to me.
Author’s Note: A little angsty... ok, way more angst then I had originally intended. But still fluffy too. And this verse has taken on a life of its own, it’s kind of scary.
A big big thanks to grdnofevrythng for the wonderful beta. She nit-picked and axed the smut (so you can blame her for that one) - kidding, and totally made this all better. Thanks for holding it hostage for weeks! ;)
It was a cold, wet and miserable Wednesday night when Rachel opened the door to a shivering, drenched and crying Quinn. She quickly ushered the girl inside and began to strip off her outer layers only to find that every article of clothing Quinn was wearing was soaked through and the falling droplets were forming a puddle at their feet.
“What happened?” Rachel asked with a great deal of concern. She grabbed Quinn’s hand and led her through the kitchen and off to a side door that opened to their laundry.
Quinn’s teeth were chattering so hard that Rachel could barely understand a word she was saying. “...on’t...tal...bou...tit,” she managed to say but Rachel was too preoccupied with getting Quinn out of her clothes to try and decipher it.
“Once we get you warmed up, you’re going to tell me everything,” Rachel replied in a tone Quinn knew all too well. She just stood there, her arms crossed over her chest, her lips blue and her teeth chattering. Her knees were knocking together and if Rachel weren’t in love with the girl, she might have even described her as pathetic.
Rachel grabbed a towel from one of the clean laundry baskets and helped Quinn with her remaining articles of clothing, all of them soaking wet. They’d been together now for almost eight weeks and had been taking it slow since that weekend Quinn spent at Rachel’s. There was obvious chemistry but also obvious ramifications due to their relationship. The Monday following their weekend of Berry-Mania, as Quinn had dubbed it, she pulled Puck and Finn into a vacant classroom and together, she and Puck told Finn the truth about the baby.
Puck and Quinn both knew how Finn would react. Or at least, they’d thought they did. They’d predicted at least a couple of punches to Puck’s face and upper body, even a few choice words at both Quinn and Puck, but none came. Instead, Finn just took one look at them and left the room.
~~~
Rachel had been anxiously waiting outside the classroom when she saw Finn walk slowly and quietly out into the hall. “Finn?” She called out softly as he started to walk by her. He seemed startled for a second, but shook his head slightly and met her gaze.
“Hi, Rach,” he greeted, but he didn’t sound upset or disappointed, just tired.
“Are you... Are you ok?” She asked, taking a step in his direction.
Finn just tilted his head slightly and looked Rachel over for a few seconds. “It’s not my baby... but something tells me you already knew that.” He studied her face a moment, waiting for her reaction.
Rachel went to put her hand on his forearm, but he took a quick step back, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I thought we were friends,” he continued, a little dejected. He still didn’t sound angry, but he was certainly disappointed.
“I’m sorry, Finn. The best I could do was convince Quinn to tell you.” Rachel took a small step closer but refrained from reaching out to him. “I know that once this all settles in you’ll probably be really angry, but there’s something you should know.”
Finn just stared at her, waiting.
Rachel took a deep breath and looked down at her hands for a few seconds. “She’s wanted to tell you from the beginning, but she wanted it to be yours so badly. She really believes you’ll be a great father one day, but she knew it was unfair to make you one when this baby isn’t yours.” Rachel took another deep breath and quickly checked behind her at the closed door of the classroom where Puck and Quinn had remained to talk. “She knows that you probably won’t forgive her, but if you can, even in the slightest way, I know she’d want you to play some role in the baby’s life. But only if you want to.”
Finn looked down the hall to the doors at the end. He stood there for almost a full minute before turning back to an anxious Rachel, “I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, Rachel, but I know there’s more going on here.” He began to turn away but stopped and turned back. He stared at her feet for a few tense seconds before dragging his eyes up to meet hers. “I’ll see you around, Rach.” With that, he turned and made his way down the hallway and out the front entrance.
~~~
That had been about five weeks ago now and Finn was finally acting at least slightly civil toward them. Puck had insisted that he and Quinn find a way to be together for the baby’s sake. But Quinn had flat out refused. He pushed her so far in the days following, badgering her about the baby and how he wanted to be with her, she finally blurted out that she was in love with someone else.
Rachel’s heart was pounding in her chest when Mercedes had filled her in on that piece of news. She ignored their speculations about Quinn’s possible love interest. She’d been in love with Quinn for quite a while, but it was still too early for that, right? Besides, she’d waited this long; she could wait a little longer.
Meanwhile, Quinn had become somewhat of a social pariah at school. Even in Glee she was a bit of an outcast - and that was saying a lot. People had picked their sides and many were with Finn. They were all surprised to see Rachel spending more time with Quinn, though. Mercedes, Kurt and Tina had even pulled her aside to find out what was going on. She’d insisted that there was nothing sinister about her new and fragile friendship with Quinn, but they’d continued to hound her, convinced that there were ulterior motives at work.
“You know she wouldn’t be this nice if it were you carrying Puck’s kid,” Mercedes had pointed out as she, Tina and Kurt cornered Rachel in the girls’ bathroom for a ‘follow-up discussion’.
Rachel felt like rolling her eyes but settled for pulling her books closer to her chest. “I know that. She even told me that. I just think that if I was sixteen and pregnant, I’d like someone to be there for me.” She started to make her way around them when Kurt stepped into her path.
“You do realise beneath that pale and moisturised complexion, there is a vindictive bitch that will eat you whole.”
This time Rachel did roll her eyes and made it to the door before Tina jumped in, stutter and all. “J-j-just be c-careful.”
“I know what I’m doing.” And with that, the subject had been dropped. Rachel still caught them occasionally watching her and Quinn with suspicion. It should have annoyed her that they didn’t trust her to make her own decisions. Instead, she felt comforted by the fact that she had friends looking out for her, misguided as they were.
~~~
Rachel wrapped Quinn in a big blue towel before putting all of Quinn’s clothes into the dryer and turning it on. “Come on. We need to warm you up, make sure you don’t catch anything.” She led Quinn out through the kitchen and into the hallway just as Rachel’s dads came through the front door.
Quinn blushed when she realized all she was wearing was a towel and standing in their main hallway. She watched as they closed the door behind them. She quickly ducked her head in embarrassment before she could see what they were thinking.
Michael was quick to recover from the sight before him. “Quinn? Is everything okay?” He took a step forward, his scarf in his left hand as his right reached out to her forearm that was holding one of the edges of her towel. “Is it the baby?” He asked, his voice full of concern.
Quinn couldn’t meet his gaze and her teeth were still chattering. She just shook her head and hoped he understood.
Rachel wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort. “I’m going to run her a bath. We’ll be a little while. Do you think we could have some of your famous hot chocolate?” She asked with a small grin in Michael’s direction.
Jacob stepped up to the group. “Of course. And you tell us if there’s anything we can do.” He rubbed Rachel’s arm in a comforting manner before letting them pass. Michael and Jacob watched as their daughter led Quinn up the stairs to Rachel’s bathroom.
“What do you think that was about?” Jacob whispered as he looked up at Michael.
Michael had a thoughtful look on his face. “I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look good.” He sighed as he thought of the young girl in his daughter’s care. “We should get started on their hot chocolate.” He turned back to the coat rack and hung up his jacket and scarf.
Michael couldn’t help but think of all the worst-case scenarios. He knew their family was a little different from the average family - and not because there were two gay dads in this one. In the Berry Household, it was important to always be honest. Michael knew what it was like to grow up in a household that was all lies and facades.
He and Jacob had made sure to bring Rachel up with the belief that it’s always best to be honest and stay true to who you are. When she was little, Rachel really took that to heart and told them everything. She told them about every time she had to go to the bathroom, about how many times she changed her outfit before making it down for breakfast. She was even honest about her thoughts and wonderings, “Why did my Aunt Bethel let her teeth get so rotten?” “We learnt about jellyfish today. If I get stung, will you or Dad pee on me? I think it important we have a plan in place.” “I kissed a boy on the lips today. It was kind of gross.”
Michael and Jacob had treasured the little bouts of honesty, but finally had to tell Rachel that she didn’t have to tell them everything, just the most important parts of her life. She just nodded her head, accepted it and about six months ago sat them down and told them she thought she liked girls a lot more than she liked boys. They’d both been a little surprised, but Jacob had then laughed at the hilarity of the situation. Michael looked at her critically. “Not just last week you were talking about one of the boys in your class, are you sure?”
Rachel had calmly explained that the boy she liked was rather charming and had great bone structure for future offspring, but was a little on the low end of her preferred intellect. She further explained that in her limited opportunities to observe him, she’d found herself a little more focused on the blonde Cheerio continually hanging off his arm. Her Daddy was quick to tell her that looking at another girl didn’t make you gay.
Rachel was quite happy to point out to him that she’d taken careful note of the short length of Quinn’s skirt, the exact movement needed to catch a glimpse of inner thigh and even lamented over the travesty that was the design of the Cheerio’s high neckline. When Rachel saw that her Daddy still wasn’t quite so convinced, she decided to be brutally honest. “When I think about sex and I think about Finn, I’m more curious than aroused about the experience. When I think of sex and having it with Quinn, I’ve already scouted at least ten different places to have my way with her. And that’s just on school grounds.’’
“Alright, I understand,” Michael interrupted before Rachel could continue. “Well, as long as she makes you happy. Then we’re happy.”
Rachel had quickly informed them that although she had a crush on Quinn Fabray there was absolutely no way that they’d ever be together because Quinn was a good, Cross-bearing Christian girl and she insulted Rachel on a daily basis.
“Maybe that’s her way of telling you she likes you,” Jacob had theorised but Rachel quickly shot that down. “She’s President of the Celibacy Club and runs Christ Crusaders from her living room. Quinn Fabray will never be gay.”
Michael failed to hold back a grin at his daughter’s words from months earlier. He followed Jacob into the kitchen and began to prepare some hot chocolate for his daughter and the girl he knew she loved. Jacob helped him measure out the ingredients and break up the chocolate chunks before adding them to a saucepan on the stove to gently simmer.
Michael stirred the milk, chocolate and sugar mix before looking over at Jacob who was cleaning the counter top, “Her parents might have kicked her out,” He said softly. He saw Jacob falter in wiping the counter.
“I thought of that too,” Jacob replied. He continued to clean the counter top as Michael continued to stir. They worked in silence for a few minutes.
“We have the spare room next to Rachel,” Michael finally said. He watched Jacob out of the corner of his eye.
“And the baby?” Jacob asked.
“Its worst case, but the baby can stay with her for the first few months and we can always extend. I don’t use the office up there. It’s small, but it could work.” Michael suggested in a soft tone. He continued to slowly stir the mixture in the saucepan, watching as the chocolate melted and mixed with the milk.
Jacob breathed out. “You’ve been thinking about this a while, then.” He knew his husband better than he knew himself.
When he and Michael had decided to have children, they really learned how to rely on each other and sat down together to decide what type of parents they wanted to be, what type of household they wanted to have. Jacob was grateful to have the support of his family. They’d accepted Michael with open arms and were over the moon to hear that they were planning for children. Michael had been most adamant about maintaining the support system with Jacob’s family. His own family had shunned him upon learning of Jacob and it was only made worse by Jacob’s race and religion.
Michael just nodded his head. “Since that weekend she spent here. I saw that cross around her neck and that bump in her belly and the grip she had on Rachel. They might not have kicked her out even knowing about the baby, but you know they will when they find out about her Jewish girlfriend.”
Jacob was quiet for a few minutes as he rinsed out the cloth and hung it to dry before locating four mugs and placing them near the stove. He took a deep breath and gripped onto Michael’s free hand. “If it’s worst case, we’ll offer. I don’t want her and that baby on the street either.”
Michael leaned down and kissed Jacob. “Thank you.”
~~~
Part II