fic: The All Star, Chapter 7
Title: The All Star, Chapter 7
Author: flipflop555
Rating: PG
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Summary: Quinn rents a beach house, Mia is less than thrilled
Word Count: 3,671
*Seven weeks later*
“Boy, do I have a surprise for you!” Rachel grinned as Quinn made her announcement, breezing past her girlfriend who had answered the door for her.
“Oh really? And what might that be?”
“Where’s Mia? She’s apart of this surprise too!”
Rachel looked pleasantly surprised. “She’s in the living room, let’s go.” Rachel offered her hand, which Quinn eagerly took, and led the blonde to the small girl who was coloring in silence with her stuffed lion sitting beside her.
“Hey munchkin,” Quinn said warmly, walking over to the child. Mia’s face lit up at the voice recognition.
“Big Quinn!” The girl squeaked. She jumped up, grabbed her lion and ran into Quinn’s arms. “How was being a doctor today?”
Quinn giggled and pecked a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “Just as good as yesterday, thanks.”
“You know, I was a doctor today,” Mia bragged. Quinn looked at her with confusion. “Then it got boring, so I was a fairy princess. Then I was a soccer player. And now I’m a drawing person!” Mia wriggled her way out of Quinn’s embrace and plopped down on the floor. She dragged B.Q. to the drawing she was working on and held up the paper for Quinn to see. “See, it’s a fishy!”
Quinn nodded. “It sure is! And on the topic of fishies, I have a surprise for you!”
“Yes, what is this surprise, Quinn? I’m curious now,” Rachel said eagerly from the couch.
“Alright. Well, last night I was at this silent auction charity function for pediatric cancer and I won something!” Rachel’s eyes lit up.
“Ooooh, what’d you win?” she asked eagerly.
“A full week at someone’s beach house in the Hamptons!”
Rachel beamed and jumped off the couch, throwing her arms around Quinn’s neck. “Oh, baby, that’s amazing!” The woman laughed eagerly, peppering kisses on the blonde’s fair skin. “Oh, how exciting! When do we go?”
“Next weekend. Can you make it?”
Rachel nodded. “Yea, I don’t see why not.”
Quinn beamed. “Awesome. I’m going to go make some calls, get off work for the week.” With that, the glowing Quinn left, cell phone in hand. Neither of the women noticed that Mia was on the floor pouting, clutching B.Q. to her chest nervously.
**
“Oh Quinn, it’s beautiful,” Rachel gasped. The couple was curled up in Rachel’s bed, looking at a picture of the house online.
“Wow, it really is. Look at how much space there is! And look how close it is to the water, the beach is literally the back yard! Man, I can’t wait to take Mia. She’ll love it,” Quinn gushed eagerly, clicking from picture to picture.
“Oh absolutely, Mia’s never been to the beach!”
Quinn paused and looked at her girlfriend, who was still immersed in the photographs online. “Wait, Rach, what do you mean she’s never been to the beach? Like ever?”
Rachel shrugged. “Yeah, we just never got around to it?” She replied matter-of-factly.
Quinn shook her head. “Never got around to hopping on a train one sunny Saturday morning? Or never been invited to a friends beach house?”
Rachel just shrugged again. “Never. Quinn, raising a child alone is a lot of time and energy, I don’t really have the time to just hop on the train. I myself haven’t been to the beach in at least 7 years.” Quinn just looked confused. Rachel snorted. “I didn’t realize you were such a beach fiend.”
The blonde laughed. “Oh yeah, I used to go to sleep away camp in California growing up. Then during college some friends and I rented a beach house every summer, I live and breath sand and the ocean baby!” Rachel giggled.
“Well then I’m glad to see you in your element. I’ll do some shopping with Mia this week, get her some cute little dresses and bathing suits.” Quinn nodded eagerly in agreement before stopping abruptly.
“Mia knows how to swim right? Like even though she’s never been in the ocean, she can swim?”
Rachel paused and cocked her head sideways. “I’m pretty sure she learned in a pool at summer camp last year. I’m not sure though, I guess we should check with her tomorrow. If she doesn’t know, I’ll stop by The Y tomorrow and see if they have any kiddie camps going on this week where she could learn.”
Quinn shook her head. “Nonsense. If she doesn’t know, I’ll teach her!” Rachel looked skeptically at her. “What? I’m an awesome teacher!”
“Quinn, who on earth have you ever taught?”
“….Med students.”
“You’ve taught med students to swim?”
“No…”
“You’ve just taught med students in general. Like taught them medical things?” Quinn nodded. “You’re not teaching Mia anything this weekend unless she gets a newfound curiosity for suturing.”
**
“Good morning, pumpkin!” Rachel said cheerfully, carefully flipping a pancake in the process.
Mia beamed and waved though she kept her iron grip on B.Q., forcing the stuffed lion to flail through the air with the girl’s hand. “G’mornin mommy! G’mornin’ Big Quinn!” Mia charged at the table and launched herself onto Quinn’s lap.
The blonde chuckled. “Good morning baby girl.” Quinn pressed a kiss to Mia’s forehead. The girl instantly pulled her toy up and offered him to Quinn, who smiled and kissed B.Q.’s head as well. “Good morning B.Q.” Mia nodded her approval. “So Mi, your mom and I were talking last night, and we wanted to know: can you swim?”
Mia nodded easily. “I learned last year with Counselor Natalie! She gave me a kickboard, and then when I got real good she let me just do it and it was easy!”
Quinn smiled. “See, Rach?” She called as the older brunette came over with a plate of pancakes. “She knows how to swim, we’re all set for the ocean and the Hamptons.”
Rachel shrugged and sat down beside Quinn, pecking the smirking blonde on the lips. “Fine, Hamptons it is.” Again, no one noticed Mia pouting.
**
“Alriiiight, who’s ready to get going?” Quinn called out as she let herself into Rachel’s apartment the morning they were going to leave.
“Perfect! Quinn, could you give me a hand in here?” Rachel’s voice rang out from the back of her house. Quinn jogged back, passing Mia’s open door where the girl was curled up with B.Q. on the floor. The blonde wanted to poke her head in and ask the girl if she was ok, but hearing “Quinn, please?” reminded her she was supposed to be helping Rachel.
The young doctor walked in and saw four neat piles of clothing laid out on Rachel’s bed, and said woman standing by an open closet with a small pout. “What’s wrong baby? Why aren’t you packed yet?” Quinn asked, gesturing to the clothes.
Rachel pointed up. “I can’t reach my suitcase… Would you mind getting it down, please?” She replied softly.
Quinn giggled. “Make it worth my while?” Rachel sighed, attempting and failing to hide her grin, and walked up to the taller girl, threw her tan arms around Quinn’s pale neck, and pressed a firm kiss to her lips. “Better.” Quinn said smugly and walked to the closet. “You know, this reminds me of our first date when you couldn’t reach the pasta that night.” Rachel smiled fondly at the memory and nodded. After getting the black suitcase down on the floor, the two women began packing up Rachel’s stuff so they could get going. “So is Mia excited?” Quinn asked hopefully.
Rachel sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. She’s been very quiet the past few days, she doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, it’s odd.” Quinn’s face scrunched up.
“That’s really weird. Can I go talk to her, see if something’s bothering her?” She offered. Rachel shrugged and nodded, putting a dress delicately into the suitcase.
“Go ahead, try your luck. Let me know if you do any better than I did.”
Quinn nodded and took off, heading towards the little girl’s room. She found Mia still sitting on the ground, mumbling to B.Q. under her breath. “Hey sweetness,” Quinn offered cheerfully. Mia looked up at the blonde and pouted, causing Quinn’s big smile to falter. “Oh hey, what’s the matter, Mia?” The small girl just shook her head and buried her face in B.Q.’s mane. Quinn sighed and walked over to Mia, sitting beside her and wrapping her in her arms. “Come on, Mi, what’s the matter? Can you talk about it with me? Or do you want me to maybe go and get mommy?” Mia nodded. Quinn pecked Mia’s head and got up, quickly walking to Rachel’s room where she found her girlfriend zipping up her suitcase and whistling softly to herself.
When she caught sight of Quinn, Rachel looked up. “Hey, any luck?”
Quinn frowned. “She wants both of us.” Rachel’s smile dropped and in just a few seconds the two older women were sitting on either side of Mia.
“Baby, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can make it better, ok?” Rachel cooed, gently running her fingers through her daughter’s hair.
Mia clutched the lion to her chest and finally looked up. “I-I’m scared o’the ocean,” she whimpered.
Rachel looked confused and glanced at Quinn, who’s expression mirrored her own. “Why are you scared of the ocean, baby girl? You’ve never even been there before, it’s not scary, I promise.”
Mia shook her head. “T-There’s big waves and sharks and stuff in there! What if-what if a real big wave comes and it eats me!?” She squeaked nervously.
“Oh Mia, there’s nothing like that in the Hamptons. The beaches there are lovely and calm,” Quinn reasoned, rubbing the stuffed lions mane gingerly. “There’s no sharks or waves or other scary things, just some salt water and sand.” Mia kept quivering. “How about this?” The girl looked up at Quinn, as did Rachel. “When we get there, I’ll take you right down to the water myself and we can look and I can show you how not scary it is. I think you’ll really like it if you give it a chance, sweetheart. Does that sound ok?” Mia shrugged.
“I think that’s a great idea, Quinn,” Rachel offered optimistically. “Mia, nothing happens when you have your Big Quinn, isn’t that what you were telling me just this week?” Quinn smiled wide at the compliment she hadn’t heard before. Mia nodded weakly. “Then I think you should let her show you the beach and if by some crazy chance something scary is there, Big Quinn will protect you. Does that sound good?” Mia nodded again. Rachel smiled and kissed the girl’s cheek. “Good. Now let’s get our luggage down into Quinn’s car and head off, shall we?”
**
Rachel gasped as they drove up the long driveway guarded by huge trees. “Quinn…Quinn this is a mansion!” Quinn chuckled and nodded, bringing the car to a stop in the built-in garage.
“Well, it wasn’t cheap so I should hope it’s a mansion. At least some cancer researchers benefitted from my beach obsession though.” Mia climbed out of Quinn’s car and stared up at the house that seemed to tower over her.
“Preeeetty,” Mia said softly, her eyes tracing the outline of the grey stone roof over the white two-story home. She walked towards it as if in a trance, of course pulling B.Q. along with her. Mia had never seen such a beautiful home; full of full-length windows and clean, crisp furnishings. Quinn and Rachel brought all of the luggage inside and admired their new home for the week. Quinn brought hers and Rachel’s bags to the master bedroom while Rachel got Mia situated in a bedroom down the hall from them on the second floor.
When Mia walked in, she immediately flinched. The room she was supposed to stay in had a large window adorning one wall that looked directly out at the ocean. Rachel sighed and picked up her daughter carefully, who was quivering and hid her head in her mother’s neck. “Baby, it’s ok, it’s just water. Like in your bathtub at home.”
Mia shook her head. “What if a tile wave comes and hits our house and we all die?”
Rachel frowned. “Mia, there’s no tidal waves in this area. There’s nothing but gentle little waves and a nice breeze, see?” Mia gingerly pulled her head from the safety of her mother’s neck and looked out, where the water was lapping at the shore quietly. “See?” Rachel pressed again. Mia shrugged. Rachel hugged the girl tightly then placed her down on the floor. “Just try for me, sweetheart. Here,” Rachel rolled Mia’s Scooby Doo luggage to her. “How about you unpack and then we can all get ready and show you how fun the beach is ok?” Mia nodded solemnly, thus dismissing Rachel.
Quinn was already unpacking both her and Rachel’s clothing into a big dresser next to their king sized bed. “She doing any better?” Quinn asked hopefully as she closed a drawer. Rachel shrugged.
“I think, but who can really tell. I told her to get ready and she didn’t freak out so that has to be good.” Quinn smiled and wrapped Rachel in a hug.
“Don’t worry, Rach. Everyone loves the beach. And the people who own the house said there’s some kiddie toys downstairs with the beach towels, so at least she’ll be entertained if she doesn’t like the water.” Rachel nodded and moved to help Quinn unpack.
**
“Mia, you in your bathing suit kiddo?” Quinn called as she walked out of her bathroom and started towards the girl’s room. Quinn was clad in a green bikini with white polka dots and a black cover-up wrapped around her waist.
“Yeah,” the child called back. Quinn walked in to find Mia in a red one-piece with a white daisy silk screened at the top, looking out at the water through her window.
“Wanna get going then?” Quinn offered from the doorway. Mia slowly turned.
“Can I bring B.Q.?” She asked softly. Quinn smiled.
“If you want to bring him, you certainly can. But if he gets sandy or wet, will you be ok with that?” Mia nodded.
“I can give him a bath if he gets dirty,” she reasoned.
Quinn laughed. “We can put him in the wash you mean.” Mia shrugged and collected the stuffed animal. “Ok, let’s go!” Quinn said eagerly and scooped Mia up. For the whole walk down the stairs and out the back door to the sand, Quinn tickled and played with the girl, hoping to raise her spirits some, which she was at least partially successful at.
Rachel was already there, setting up a big blanket under and opened beach umbrella. She had a little picnic basket filled with sandwiches they had bough on the way out of the city resting on the blanket. “Hello my ladies,” she called eagerly. Quinn waved back and picked up her pace, then placed Mia down on the towel beside her mother.
After a quick, relatively quiet lunch, Quinn turned to Mia who was staring out at the water. Quinn couldn’t help but notice the child was sweating in the harsh summer heat. “You know, if we go in the water you’ll cool off,” she offered. Mia looked skeptical. “Well, I’m gonna take a dip.” Quinn got up and dropped her cover up, leaving her in her bathing suit in all her glory. Damn, my girlfriend’s so hot, Rachel thought. Quinn started laughing. “That’s what we call an inside thought,” Quinn giggled. Rachel blushed; she thought she thought it at least.
Mia giggled too. “You said a bad word mommy, you said the ‘D’ word!” Rachel blushed and poked Mia’s stomach while Quinn made her way to the water. Both Berry girls watched. The water was calm. Quinn dipped her toes in, glided her feet over the retreating tide, and suddenly took off and dove directly in to an incoming wave. Rachel and Mia both looked shocked, yet only a second later the blonde remerged, bobbing in the water like a buoy and grinning from ear to ear.
A few minutes later, a completely soaked Quinn Fabray walked up to the blanket. Rachel looked downright amused at the blonde’s childlike behavior, so Quinn wrung her soaking hair out directly on top of the brunette, who squealed and tried to shield herself through laughter. Mia giggled at Quinn’s playfulness. “So can I take you to the water, Mia?” Quinn asked hopefully. Mia hesitated.
“Can you hold my hand?” Quinn beamed and extended her hand. Mia took a deep breath and took it in her own, and stood nervously. “You stay here,” she said sternly to B.Q. His glass eyes stared back at hers. Mia took this as a confirmation and nodded surely. “Ok, let’s go.”
Quinn walked slowly with Mia’s hand in her own. A seagull flew by them, causing Mia to flinch and clutch Quinn’s leg. “It’s ok baby girl, it’s just a silly bird, come on,” the blonde urged, full of encouragement. Finally they were at the water’s edge, letting it lap gently at their toes. Mia stared down at the incoming and retreating tide, studying the motion seriously. “I promise nothing bad will happen,” Quinn whispered. Mia looked up at her.
“You pinky promise?” She extended her tiny pinky and looked up at the blonde nervously. Quinn smiled and kneeled down, linked her pinky with Mia’s and bit her thumb, a trick Mia had taught her that apparently meant a “super” pinky promise. With that, Mia took a step in to the incoming water, letting her ankles get wet. Quinn kept her hand wrapped securely around Mia’s and watched the little girl stand stock still and quivering, like she fully expected Jaws to shoot out of the water and devour her at any moment. They stayed still for a minute and Quinn started to get bored.
“I have an idea,” she said merrily. Mia looked up and in an instant was in Quinn’s arms, being carried into the water as wave crashed into Quinn’s torso, wetting Mia from the waist down.
“Big Quinn, what are you doing!?” Mia cried out, holding on to Quinn’s neck for dear life.
“I’m taking you into the ocean, see?” Another small wave came and splashed them, wetting more of Quinn’s torso and Mia’s body in the process. Quinn squealed in delight.
“Quinn, please stop!” Mia whined nervously, burying her face in the blonde’s neck.
“Honey, it’s ok, look!” Quinn was standing to her chest in the warm Atlantic water, letting the occasional wave come and wet her shoulders. Mia didn’t even move. Quinn sighed and leaned her head down. “Baby, I’ve got you and I’m never letting go, I promise. Just look, it’s really pretty.” Nervously, Mia poked her head out and surveyed the view. Back on the shore, the expansive, white sand beach seemed to go on forever, occasionally speckled with a beach towel or umbrella. Rachel was lounging on a beach chair reading a book. To Mia’s left and right, nothing but gently rolling waves of green-blue lined with foam. No sharks, no monsters, no tsunamis. Just calm. Mia kept her eyes scanning, looking for some argument for her to get out of the water, but she found none. “I told you Mia, it’s fun, the ocean is nice.” Mia nodded slowly.
“It isn’t scary,” she whispered, unhinging one of her arms from Quinn’s neck and letting it dangle in the water, which lapped at her fingers.
“Not scary at all.” Quinn kissed the side of Mia’s head lovingly, content to hold the child and bask in the comfort of the water for hours.
**
Five hours later, Quinn and Rachel packed up their belongings and turned towards the house which loomed behind them as the sun just began to set. Rachel beamed when she looked down to the water’s edge and saw Mia crouching in the wet sand, drawing patterns which only got erased from the incoming tide, the whole act of which never seemed to fail in making the girl giggle and start drawing again. “I don’t know how you do that,” she said softly.
“Do what?” Quinn asked as she folded a towel and put it in their beach bag. She followed Rachel’s line of sight and found herself smiling when a particularly strong tide came in and knocked Mia back a bit, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles.
“That. How you make her just…. happy.” Quinn smiled and shrugged.
“She makes me happy too, it’s a mutual relationship.”
Rachel snickered and walked to the blonde, wrapping her up in her arms. “I love you so much, Quinn Fabray.”
“I guarantee you I love you more, Rachel Berry.” They embraced in silence.
Rachel pulled back and bit her lip. Quinn raised an eyebrow as the singer turned around and pulled out a small, wrapped up plastic bag from the beach bag. “Here.” Quinn remained confused and unrolled the bag and pulled out a little envelope. She undid the clasp and let a key fall into her palm. She studied it for a moment and then looked up at Rachel. “If you would do me…if you would do us,” she gestured to Mia, “the honor, Quinn Fabray, I would very much like to ask you to move in with, well, us.”
Quinn’s face split into a grin. “Really?”
Rachel released a sigh of relief at not being met with repulsion and smiled back. “Really. Quinn, you make me happier than anyone ever has, and you’ve certainly made a bigger impact on Mia than anyone I’ve ever seen. I can think of no one better to surround my child or myself with. So what do you say?” She queried hopefully.
Quinn tackled the smaller girl in a bone-crushing hug, forcing them to tumble to the soft sand, giggling like Mia was. “I say yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”
Author: flipflop555
Rating: PG
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Summary: Quinn rents a beach house, Mia is less than thrilled
Word Count: 3,671
*Seven weeks later*
“Boy, do I have a surprise for you!” Rachel grinned as Quinn made her announcement, breezing past her girlfriend who had answered the door for her.
“Oh really? And what might that be?”
“Where’s Mia? She’s apart of this surprise too!”
Rachel looked pleasantly surprised. “She’s in the living room, let’s go.” Rachel offered her hand, which Quinn eagerly took, and led the blonde to the small girl who was coloring in silence with her stuffed lion sitting beside her.
“Hey munchkin,” Quinn said warmly, walking over to the child. Mia’s face lit up at the voice recognition.
“Big Quinn!” The girl squeaked. She jumped up, grabbed her lion and ran into Quinn’s arms. “How was being a doctor today?”
Quinn giggled and pecked a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “Just as good as yesterday, thanks.”
“You know, I was a doctor today,” Mia bragged. Quinn looked at her with confusion. “Then it got boring, so I was a fairy princess. Then I was a soccer player. And now I’m a drawing person!” Mia wriggled her way out of Quinn’s embrace and plopped down on the floor. She dragged B.Q. to the drawing she was working on and held up the paper for Quinn to see. “See, it’s a fishy!”
Quinn nodded. “It sure is! And on the topic of fishies, I have a surprise for you!”
“Yes, what is this surprise, Quinn? I’m curious now,” Rachel said eagerly from the couch.
“Alright. Well, last night I was at this silent auction charity function for pediatric cancer and I won something!” Rachel’s eyes lit up.
“Ooooh, what’d you win?” she asked eagerly.
“A full week at someone’s beach house in the Hamptons!”
Rachel beamed and jumped off the couch, throwing her arms around Quinn’s neck. “Oh, baby, that’s amazing!” The woman laughed eagerly, peppering kisses on the blonde’s fair skin. “Oh, how exciting! When do we go?”
“Next weekend. Can you make it?”
Rachel nodded. “Yea, I don’t see why not.”
Quinn beamed. “Awesome. I’m going to go make some calls, get off work for the week.” With that, the glowing Quinn left, cell phone in hand. Neither of the women noticed that Mia was on the floor pouting, clutching B.Q. to her chest nervously.
**
“Oh Quinn, it’s beautiful,” Rachel gasped. The couple was curled up in Rachel’s bed, looking at a picture of the house online.
“Wow, it really is. Look at how much space there is! And look how close it is to the water, the beach is literally the back yard! Man, I can’t wait to take Mia. She’ll love it,” Quinn gushed eagerly, clicking from picture to picture.
“Oh absolutely, Mia’s never been to the beach!”
Quinn paused and looked at her girlfriend, who was still immersed in the photographs online. “Wait, Rach, what do you mean she’s never been to the beach? Like ever?”
Rachel shrugged. “Yeah, we just never got around to it?” She replied matter-of-factly.
Quinn shook her head. “Never got around to hopping on a train one sunny Saturday morning? Or never been invited to a friends beach house?”
Rachel just shrugged again. “Never. Quinn, raising a child alone is a lot of time and energy, I don’t really have the time to just hop on the train. I myself haven’t been to the beach in at least 7 years.” Quinn just looked confused. Rachel snorted. “I didn’t realize you were such a beach fiend.”
The blonde laughed. “Oh yeah, I used to go to sleep away camp in California growing up. Then during college some friends and I rented a beach house every summer, I live and breath sand and the ocean baby!” Rachel giggled.
“Well then I’m glad to see you in your element. I’ll do some shopping with Mia this week, get her some cute little dresses and bathing suits.” Quinn nodded eagerly in agreement before stopping abruptly.
“Mia knows how to swim right? Like even though she’s never been in the ocean, she can swim?”
Rachel paused and cocked her head sideways. “I’m pretty sure she learned in a pool at summer camp last year. I’m not sure though, I guess we should check with her tomorrow. If she doesn’t know, I’ll stop by The Y tomorrow and see if they have any kiddie camps going on this week where she could learn.”
Quinn shook her head. “Nonsense. If she doesn’t know, I’ll teach her!” Rachel looked skeptically at her. “What? I’m an awesome teacher!”
“Quinn, who on earth have you ever taught?”
“….Med students.”
“You’ve taught med students to swim?”
“No…”
“You’ve just taught med students in general. Like taught them medical things?” Quinn nodded. “You’re not teaching Mia anything this weekend unless she gets a newfound curiosity for suturing.”
**
“Good morning, pumpkin!” Rachel said cheerfully, carefully flipping a pancake in the process.
Mia beamed and waved though she kept her iron grip on B.Q., forcing the stuffed lion to flail through the air with the girl’s hand. “G’mornin mommy! G’mornin’ Big Quinn!” Mia charged at the table and launched herself onto Quinn’s lap.
The blonde chuckled. “Good morning baby girl.” Quinn pressed a kiss to Mia’s forehead. The girl instantly pulled her toy up and offered him to Quinn, who smiled and kissed B.Q.’s head as well. “Good morning B.Q.” Mia nodded her approval. “So Mi, your mom and I were talking last night, and we wanted to know: can you swim?”
Mia nodded easily. “I learned last year with Counselor Natalie! She gave me a kickboard, and then when I got real good she let me just do it and it was easy!”
Quinn smiled. “See, Rach?” She called as the older brunette came over with a plate of pancakes. “She knows how to swim, we’re all set for the ocean and the Hamptons.”
Rachel shrugged and sat down beside Quinn, pecking the smirking blonde on the lips. “Fine, Hamptons it is.” Again, no one noticed Mia pouting.
**
“Alriiiight, who’s ready to get going?” Quinn called out as she let herself into Rachel’s apartment the morning they were going to leave.
“Perfect! Quinn, could you give me a hand in here?” Rachel’s voice rang out from the back of her house. Quinn jogged back, passing Mia’s open door where the girl was curled up with B.Q. on the floor. The blonde wanted to poke her head in and ask the girl if she was ok, but hearing “Quinn, please?” reminded her she was supposed to be helping Rachel.
The young doctor walked in and saw four neat piles of clothing laid out on Rachel’s bed, and said woman standing by an open closet with a small pout. “What’s wrong baby? Why aren’t you packed yet?” Quinn asked, gesturing to the clothes.
Rachel pointed up. “I can’t reach my suitcase… Would you mind getting it down, please?” She replied softly.
Quinn giggled. “Make it worth my while?” Rachel sighed, attempting and failing to hide her grin, and walked up to the taller girl, threw her tan arms around Quinn’s pale neck, and pressed a firm kiss to her lips. “Better.” Quinn said smugly and walked to the closet. “You know, this reminds me of our first date when you couldn’t reach the pasta that night.” Rachel smiled fondly at the memory and nodded. After getting the black suitcase down on the floor, the two women began packing up Rachel’s stuff so they could get going. “So is Mia excited?” Quinn asked hopefully.
Rachel sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. She’s been very quiet the past few days, she doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, it’s odd.” Quinn’s face scrunched up.
“That’s really weird. Can I go talk to her, see if something’s bothering her?” She offered. Rachel shrugged and nodded, putting a dress delicately into the suitcase.
“Go ahead, try your luck. Let me know if you do any better than I did.”
Quinn nodded and took off, heading towards the little girl’s room. She found Mia still sitting on the ground, mumbling to B.Q. under her breath. “Hey sweetness,” Quinn offered cheerfully. Mia looked up at the blonde and pouted, causing Quinn’s big smile to falter. “Oh hey, what’s the matter, Mia?” The small girl just shook her head and buried her face in B.Q.’s mane. Quinn sighed and walked over to Mia, sitting beside her and wrapping her in her arms. “Come on, Mi, what’s the matter? Can you talk about it with me? Or do you want me to maybe go and get mommy?” Mia nodded. Quinn pecked Mia’s head and got up, quickly walking to Rachel’s room where she found her girlfriend zipping up her suitcase and whistling softly to herself.
When she caught sight of Quinn, Rachel looked up. “Hey, any luck?”
Quinn frowned. “She wants both of us.” Rachel’s smile dropped and in just a few seconds the two older women were sitting on either side of Mia.
“Baby, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can make it better, ok?” Rachel cooed, gently running her fingers through her daughter’s hair.
Mia clutched the lion to her chest and finally looked up. “I-I’m scared o’the ocean,” she whimpered.
Rachel looked confused and glanced at Quinn, who’s expression mirrored her own. “Why are you scared of the ocean, baby girl? You’ve never even been there before, it’s not scary, I promise.”
Mia shook her head. “T-There’s big waves and sharks and stuff in there! What if-what if a real big wave comes and it eats me!?” She squeaked nervously.
“Oh Mia, there’s nothing like that in the Hamptons. The beaches there are lovely and calm,” Quinn reasoned, rubbing the stuffed lions mane gingerly. “There’s no sharks or waves or other scary things, just some salt water and sand.” Mia kept quivering. “How about this?” The girl looked up at Quinn, as did Rachel. “When we get there, I’ll take you right down to the water myself and we can look and I can show you how not scary it is. I think you’ll really like it if you give it a chance, sweetheart. Does that sound ok?” Mia shrugged.
“I think that’s a great idea, Quinn,” Rachel offered optimistically. “Mia, nothing happens when you have your Big Quinn, isn’t that what you were telling me just this week?” Quinn smiled wide at the compliment she hadn’t heard before. Mia nodded weakly. “Then I think you should let her show you the beach and if by some crazy chance something scary is there, Big Quinn will protect you. Does that sound good?” Mia nodded again. Rachel smiled and kissed the girl’s cheek. “Good. Now let’s get our luggage down into Quinn’s car and head off, shall we?”
**
Rachel gasped as they drove up the long driveway guarded by huge trees. “Quinn…Quinn this is a mansion!” Quinn chuckled and nodded, bringing the car to a stop in the built-in garage.
“Well, it wasn’t cheap so I should hope it’s a mansion. At least some cancer researchers benefitted from my beach obsession though.” Mia climbed out of Quinn’s car and stared up at the house that seemed to tower over her.
“Preeeetty,” Mia said softly, her eyes tracing the outline of the grey stone roof over the white two-story home. She walked towards it as if in a trance, of course pulling B.Q. along with her. Mia had never seen such a beautiful home; full of full-length windows and clean, crisp furnishings. Quinn and Rachel brought all of the luggage inside and admired their new home for the week. Quinn brought hers and Rachel’s bags to the master bedroom while Rachel got Mia situated in a bedroom down the hall from them on the second floor.
When Mia walked in, she immediately flinched. The room she was supposed to stay in had a large window adorning one wall that looked directly out at the ocean. Rachel sighed and picked up her daughter carefully, who was quivering and hid her head in her mother’s neck. “Baby, it’s ok, it’s just water. Like in your bathtub at home.”
Mia shook her head. “What if a tile wave comes and hits our house and we all die?”
Rachel frowned. “Mia, there’s no tidal waves in this area. There’s nothing but gentle little waves and a nice breeze, see?” Mia gingerly pulled her head from the safety of her mother’s neck and looked out, where the water was lapping at the shore quietly. “See?” Rachel pressed again. Mia shrugged. Rachel hugged the girl tightly then placed her down on the floor. “Just try for me, sweetheart. Here,” Rachel rolled Mia’s Scooby Doo luggage to her. “How about you unpack and then we can all get ready and show you how fun the beach is ok?” Mia nodded solemnly, thus dismissing Rachel.
Quinn was already unpacking both her and Rachel’s clothing into a big dresser next to their king sized bed. “She doing any better?” Quinn asked hopefully as she closed a drawer. Rachel shrugged.
“I think, but who can really tell. I told her to get ready and she didn’t freak out so that has to be good.” Quinn smiled and wrapped Rachel in a hug.
“Don’t worry, Rach. Everyone loves the beach. And the people who own the house said there’s some kiddie toys downstairs with the beach towels, so at least she’ll be entertained if she doesn’t like the water.” Rachel nodded and moved to help Quinn unpack.
**
“Mia, you in your bathing suit kiddo?” Quinn called as she walked out of her bathroom and started towards the girl’s room. Quinn was clad in a green bikini with white polka dots and a black cover-up wrapped around her waist.
“Yeah,” the child called back. Quinn walked in to find Mia in a red one-piece with a white daisy silk screened at the top, looking out at the water through her window.
“Wanna get going then?” Quinn offered from the doorway. Mia slowly turned.
“Can I bring B.Q.?” She asked softly. Quinn smiled.
“If you want to bring him, you certainly can. But if he gets sandy or wet, will you be ok with that?” Mia nodded.
“I can give him a bath if he gets dirty,” she reasoned.
Quinn laughed. “We can put him in the wash you mean.” Mia shrugged and collected the stuffed animal. “Ok, let’s go!” Quinn said eagerly and scooped Mia up. For the whole walk down the stairs and out the back door to the sand, Quinn tickled and played with the girl, hoping to raise her spirits some, which she was at least partially successful at.
Rachel was already there, setting up a big blanket under and opened beach umbrella. She had a little picnic basket filled with sandwiches they had bough on the way out of the city resting on the blanket. “Hello my ladies,” she called eagerly. Quinn waved back and picked up her pace, then placed Mia down on the towel beside her mother.
After a quick, relatively quiet lunch, Quinn turned to Mia who was staring out at the water. Quinn couldn’t help but notice the child was sweating in the harsh summer heat. “You know, if we go in the water you’ll cool off,” she offered. Mia looked skeptical. “Well, I’m gonna take a dip.” Quinn got up and dropped her cover up, leaving her in her bathing suit in all her glory. Damn, my girlfriend’s so hot, Rachel thought. Quinn started laughing. “That’s what we call an inside thought,” Quinn giggled. Rachel blushed; she thought she thought it at least.
Mia giggled too. “You said a bad word mommy, you said the ‘D’ word!” Rachel blushed and poked Mia’s stomach while Quinn made her way to the water. Both Berry girls watched. The water was calm. Quinn dipped her toes in, glided her feet over the retreating tide, and suddenly took off and dove directly in to an incoming wave. Rachel and Mia both looked shocked, yet only a second later the blonde remerged, bobbing in the water like a buoy and grinning from ear to ear.
A few minutes later, a completely soaked Quinn Fabray walked up to the blanket. Rachel looked downright amused at the blonde’s childlike behavior, so Quinn wrung her soaking hair out directly on top of the brunette, who squealed and tried to shield herself through laughter. Mia giggled at Quinn’s playfulness. “So can I take you to the water, Mia?” Quinn asked hopefully. Mia hesitated.
“Can you hold my hand?” Quinn beamed and extended her hand. Mia took a deep breath and took it in her own, and stood nervously. “You stay here,” she said sternly to B.Q. His glass eyes stared back at hers. Mia took this as a confirmation and nodded surely. “Ok, let’s go.”
Quinn walked slowly with Mia’s hand in her own. A seagull flew by them, causing Mia to flinch and clutch Quinn’s leg. “It’s ok baby girl, it’s just a silly bird, come on,” the blonde urged, full of encouragement. Finally they were at the water’s edge, letting it lap gently at their toes. Mia stared down at the incoming and retreating tide, studying the motion seriously. “I promise nothing bad will happen,” Quinn whispered. Mia looked up at her.
“You pinky promise?” She extended her tiny pinky and looked up at the blonde nervously. Quinn smiled and kneeled down, linked her pinky with Mia’s and bit her thumb, a trick Mia had taught her that apparently meant a “super” pinky promise. With that, Mia took a step in to the incoming water, letting her ankles get wet. Quinn kept her hand wrapped securely around Mia’s and watched the little girl stand stock still and quivering, like she fully expected Jaws to shoot out of the water and devour her at any moment. They stayed still for a minute and Quinn started to get bored.
“I have an idea,” she said merrily. Mia looked up and in an instant was in Quinn’s arms, being carried into the water as wave crashed into Quinn’s torso, wetting Mia from the waist down.
“Big Quinn, what are you doing!?” Mia cried out, holding on to Quinn’s neck for dear life.
“I’m taking you into the ocean, see?” Another small wave came and splashed them, wetting more of Quinn’s torso and Mia’s body in the process. Quinn squealed in delight.
“Quinn, please stop!” Mia whined nervously, burying her face in the blonde’s neck.
“Honey, it’s ok, look!” Quinn was standing to her chest in the warm Atlantic water, letting the occasional wave come and wet her shoulders. Mia didn’t even move. Quinn sighed and leaned her head down. “Baby, I’ve got you and I’m never letting go, I promise. Just look, it’s really pretty.” Nervously, Mia poked her head out and surveyed the view. Back on the shore, the expansive, white sand beach seemed to go on forever, occasionally speckled with a beach towel or umbrella. Rachel was lounging on a beach chair reading a book. To Mia’s left and right, nothing but gently rolling waves of green-blue lined with foam. No sharks, no monsters, no tsunamis. Just calm. Mia kept her eyes scanning, looking for some argument for her to get out of the water, but she found none. “I told you Mia, it’s fun, the ocean is nice.” Mia nodded slowly.
“It isn’t scary,” she whispered, unhinging one of her arms from Quinn’s neck and letting it dangle in the water, which lapped at her fingers.
“Not scary at all.” Quinn kissed the side of Mia’s head lovingly, content to hold the child and bask in the comfort of the water for hours.
**
Five hours later, Quinn and Rachel packed up their belongings and turned towards the house which loomed behind them as the sun just began to set. Rachel beamed when she looked down to the water’s edge and saw Mia crouching in the wet sand, drawing patterns which only got erased from the incoming tide, the whole act of which never seemed to fail in making the girl giggle and start drawing again. “I don’t know how you do that,” she said softly.
“Do what?” Quinn asked as she folded a towel and put it in their beach bag. She followed Rachel’s line of sight and found herself smiling when a particularly strong tide came in and knocked Mia back a bit, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles.
“That. How you make her just…. happy.” Quinn smiled and shrugged.
“She makes me happy too, it’s a mutual relationship.”
Rachel snickered and walked to the blonde, wrapping her up in her arms. “I love you so much, Quinn Fabray.”
“I guarantee you I love you more, Rachel Berry.” They embraced in silence.
Rachel pulled back and bit her lip. Quinn raised an eyebrow as the singer turned around and pulled out a small, wrapped up plastic bag from the beach bag. “Here.” Quinn remained confused and unrolled the bag and pulled out a little envelope. She undid the clasp and let a key fall into her palm. She studied it for a moment and then looked up at Rachel. “If you would do me…if you would do us,” she gestured to Mia, “the honor, Quinn Fabray, I would very much like to ask you to move in with, well, us.”
Quinn’s face split into a grin. “Really?”
Rachel released a sigh of relief at not being met with repulsion and smiled back. “Really. Quinn, you make me happier than anyone ever has, and you’ve certainly made a bigger impact on Mia than anyone I’ve ever seen. I can think of no one better to surround my child or myself with. So what do you say?” She queried hopefully.
Quinn tackled the smaller girl in a bone-crushing hug, forcing them to tumble to the soft sand, giggling like Mia was. “I say yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”