Heaven is a Place on Earth with You
Title: Heaven is a Place on Earth with You
Author: only_because3
Rating: I'd say M
Pairing: Mike/Quinn/Rachel
Author's Note: So sulkygeek is completely responsible for putting this in my head and Az completely fed into it. It's mainly all fluff and I wish I was able to write this a bit more coherently (and show the three of them together a bit better). Honestly, I've been trying to finish this for like a week and today was my 'deadline' for it. I'll probably revisit this pairing again because, god is it cute. Enjoy!
--
“So, I’m pregnant.”
They’ve been together, more or less, since spring break Quinn’s sophomore year of college (Rachel had dropped out after her first year, partly because she’s a stubborn bitch but mostly because she landed Fraulein Schneider in the revival of Cabaret [something she laughed about for ages] and Mike was barely in class for two months when he got picked up to go on tour with Usher) which means that in about a month, they’ll have been together for three years.
Needless to say, this was in no way, shape, or form planned.
Quinn freaks out, much like she did when she realized that she was actually in a relationship with two people, but Mike just gets up and wraps his arms around Rachel tightly before kissing her head as he dances them around the room, murmuring in her ear about how talented their baby would be.
Rachel talks to Quinn about it a lot and they all talk about it together, but it seems to be Quinn’s talk with Mike that finally calms her down and stops her from bailing. She’s always been the most logical and realistic out of all three of them, so neither Rachel nor Mike are surprised when she pads into their bedroom a week later, legal pad full of things to discuss in hand.
The three of them make decent money and since they only have a one bedroom, they’ve been able to save a lot the last two years. But, Rachel obviously won’t be able to work for a while, at least not on stage, and Mike just booked a tour with Lady Gaga that’s running for about two years. He offers to back out, take something shorter like a U.S. only tour, but both girls refuse to let him do that. Mike says he’ll talk to the choreographer about it since he’s generally a pretty cool guy and promises that he’ll work it out. Rachel maintains that even though she would’ve loved to play Charity in the Sweet Charity revival for an extended period of time, a three month run is enough.
Getting a bigger apartment is an easy fix, though Rachel tries to convince them to just get a huge flat a la Rent, which leaves Quinn with more long term questions. Can they really see this working out in the long term? When they’re not just kids fucking around in their 20s. “We haven’t even told our parents yet,” she reminds them and then asks what would happen if they were to break up in the future. Quinn wouldn’t have any legal right to continue to see the child, and even though Mike swears there’s no way they could end on such horrible terms that they’d keep the baby from her, she knows he can’t predict the future. “I can’t lose another baby,” she admits quietly and that pretty much breaks Mike’s heart and Rachel spends half an hour cradling Quinn’s head to her stomach.
--
Rachel looks like she swallowed a basketball by the time they move. Quinn always thought that people were exaggerating when they say that (after all, at no point in time did she ever look like that when she was pregnant), but Mike holds up a ball next to Rachel’s tummy and, sure enough, that’s exactly what it looks like.
They refuse to let her help move and every time they pass her sitting stubbornly at their tiny kitchen table, she lets out an overly dramatic sigh. “I’m not incapable of lifting things and walking up a flight of stairs.”
Mike does what he always does, kisses her cheek and tells her that he loves her. Quinn on the other hand drops a box at Rachel’s feet. “Unpack if you feel useless. Don’t just complain, princess.”
Rachel simply uses the box as a footrest.
Quinn wraps her arms around Mike’s waist, her forehead falling in-between his shoulder blades. “I feel like a real adult,” she murmurs and Mike laughs, squeezing her forearms lightly.
“You’re always been the real adult.” He spins in her embrace and, god, Quinn’s not sure whose smile she wants the baby to get. “You finished college and have a real job. Not to mention you take care of all the bills.”
“But we’re having a baby,” she says between pressing kisses against his chest. His smile grows because it’s nice to hear her say we when she struggled with it so much in the beginning. He pulls her arms away and puts them in the waltz position. She laughs, but amuses him, straightening out her back before he leans them across the empty moving truck. There’s only one box left, a combination of her and Rachel’s records, and he moves them past it seamlessly.
Someone behind them clears their throat and when she sees her mother standing next to Rachel’s dads, she’s surprised she doesn’t throw up on Mike.
They hadn’t even started working on a lie to tell their parents yet and thought they’d have at least the rest of Rachel’s pregnancy to figure one out. None of them expected their parents to actually visit when they moved since they never even saw their one bedroom and they lived there for two years.
“I can’t believe you guys managed to swing a three bedroom in this part of town,” Hiram says with a grin, adjusting his wire rim glasses as Quinn and Mike straighten out.
Mike smiles and wheezes a little, turning away from the parents to grab the last box. “What’re you guys doing here?” Quinn hops off the truck and hugs her mom before hugging Rachel’s dads too.
“We thought we’d come see the new apartment,” her mom answers, tucking a few flyaway strands behind Quinn’s ear.
“We felt bad that we never saw your old place and a mini-vacation sounded good to everyone,” Leroy explains and Quinn smiles tightly.
“Did you guys check into your hotel yet? We still have to take the truck back so you guys could go get settled in then we could meet up for a late lunch and a tour of the place?”
Hiram watches Mike carefully hop out of the truck with the box in his hands and Mike is pretty sure he has never loved Quinn as much as he does right now for buying them some time.
“Sounds like a plan, dear.” Judy pats Quinn’s hip while Leroy pulls down the back of the truck for them.
“Did you guys ge-” Mike squeezes his eyes shut, arms clenching around the box and Quinn face palms, her whole body going slack next to her mom. “Oh fuck,” Rachel groans from the steps of their apartment building, hands dropping uselessly at her sides.
--
“Am I going to be a grandma or…?”
“Oh my god,” Leroy groans next to Judy. Hiram is repeating a prayer under his breath and Mike’s hands won’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t quite know how to…”
Rachel shakes her head, smiling as best she can. “We would love it if you were involved as a grandmother,” she says, motioning to Mike, Quinn, and herself. “I think it you be wonderful if all of you were involved-”
“But we completely understand if you decide not to be,” Quinn finishes, taking Mike’s hand in hers just as Rachel does the same on the opposite side of their boyfriend.
“I need air,” Hiram says, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. Leroy nods next to him, stepping out of the apartment without so much as a second glance in their direction. Rachel’s face crumples ever so slightly and Hiram frowns, trying to smooth down his daughter’s unruly hair. “I’m sorry gelibte, but we just need some time to process everything.”
Rachel nods. “I know, Daddy.”
Judy clears her throat when the door shuts behind Hiram. “You guys know this is odd, right?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“It’s very unconventional and, as I mentioned before, I’ll probably be unsure of how I factor into this but…” She looks at Mike, who fights every reflex to close his eyes and then asks very calmly, “Do you love my daughter?”
Mike swallows hard but squeezes Quinn’s hand. “Very, very much. I would’ve been a wreck if she decided she didn’t want to be with us anymore.”
“Rachel?”
“To the moon and back, Judy.” Rachel and Mike look down at Quinn, smiles taking up their whole faces. “If I didn’t, there is no way I would put up with watching all those horrible Batman movies she seems to love.”
Quinn laughs. “They are horrible, but that’s the best part!”
Rachel rolls her eyes while Mike leans over to kiss Quinn’s cheek before remembering that Quinn’s mom is still sitting across from them. “It’s okay,” Judy says quietly. “All I want is for Quinn to be happy and she obviously is.” She smoothes out the skirt of her dress, shaking her head a little before locking eyes with her daughter. “I’m not going anywhere, Quinnie.”
Quinn’s entire body swells. “Really?”
“Never again,” she promises.
Rachel starts bawling and she curses under her breath as she tries to wipe away the tears. “Damn hormones!” Judy laughs and gets up, hugging Quinn when the blonde practically throws herself in her arms. “That was the best reaction ever and my parents are on the fence and your parents are going to kill us, Mike.”
“They’ll come around,” Judy assures her, pulling away from Quinn so that she can kneel in front of Rachel. “May I?” Rachel nods and Judy plants her hands on either side of the outstretched stomach, smiling when the baby kicks lightly. “How far along are you?”
“25 weeks,” they respond simultaneously.
--
Rachel’s pregnancy is extremely well documented. They take pictures of her stomach and measure it every week, proudly emailing the current stats to everyone who wants to know.
Rachel’s pregnancy is documented in another way too.
Mike was gone from weeks 10 to 24 and then left again about a week after they moved. He’s trying to get in as many shows as possible before Rachel reaches 38 weeks. Because of this, they send him regular emails and text him every morning. But they make sure to send along video attachments at least twice a week.
He watches Rachel’s ever changing shape writhe beneath Quinn, her fingers sometimes threading through blonde hair, pulling hard when Quinn keeps sucking even after Rachel cums twice, and sometimes they pluck at her own nipples, twisting when Quinn’s fingers finally enter her. Most of the time it’s Quinn practically worshipping Rachel’s body, but they surprised him during week 28 with Quinn on all fours, Rachel thrusting into her roughly with (as he later learned) a strap on purchased just for the occasion. He’s never been so thankful for getting a hotel room alone on tour before because he physically can not not shove his hand down his pants like he’s a 12 year old boy watching porn for the first time.
He actually tells the girls this during a rare Skype call when he’s getting ready for his day and they’re coming back from a later dinner. They laugh and Rachel gets this look in her eyes that makes Quinn hang her head. “She’s insatiable,” she muses, Rachel shoving her shoulder.
“You say that like you don’t enjoy reaping the benefits.” There’s a distant sound in the background and when Quinn excuses herself to turn off the kettle, Rachel smiles at him deviously. “How much time do you have before you have to go to rehearsal?”
“About an hour,” he says after he glances at the clock on the table next to the bed.
“Could you do me a favor then?”
Quinn comes back in, shaking her head as she sets Rachel’s tear down on the desk. “I wasn’t even gone five minutes!” Rachel’s hand is absolutely soaked as she holds it up for Quinn to clean and it’s not until one of Rachel’s fingers is in her mouth that she realizes Mike’s hand is slowly pumping his cock on the screen.
“I told him it was time to return the favor,” Rachel whispers in her ear, nibbling on Quinn’s earlobe as Mike starts working himself a little faster. “Who knew our boy could be just as dirty as us?”
A lot of things are well documented during Rachel’s pregnancy.
--
Sophie Leela Chang has a ridiculous amount of hair. It is insane just how much deep brown hair his daughter has and it’s also crazy soft. Half her hair is curling waywardly while the other half lays flat against her head. Quinn laughs through shiny eyes, running her fingers over the thick strands. “Poor girl,” she coos. “Her hair doesn’t know what it wants to do.”
He pushes back Rachel’s frizzy hair as he sits down on the edge of the bed. “Thank you,” he tells her honestly and Rachel rolls her eyes, light laughter spilling from her lips as she sits up a little better.
“Give me our baby,” she instructs, impatient fingers wiggling. “I need to inspect that mess on top of her head better.”
“I’d suggest we keep it short but that doesn’t fix the Jew curls you passed down to her.” Quinn leans into Mike’s side, running her fingers through his hair. It feels exactly like their daughter’s.
Mike wraps his arm around Quinn’s hips, drumming along with the commercial on the tv in the corner. “Look,” he says softly and they study Sophie who experimentally opens one eye and then the other. They’re light like Rachel’s, the only thing besides the curls that are purely Rachel. “Those are some gorgeous eyes.”
Rachel carefully runs a finger down the slope of Sophie’s nose and trails it over her chubby cheeks. “I know you guys can’t stand that I still do this but I honestly feel like I need to break into song.”
--
The next few days are filled with various visitors, most notably Judy (who isn’t quite sure what to make of Sophie’s hair either) and Rachel’s dad, both of which are still unsure of the entire situation but are obsessed with the baby anyway.
Mr. and Mrs. Chang are supposed to visit the following week and Quinn has absolutely no problem pretending to simply be the best friend in order to keep the peace between Mike and his parents. “Plus, Sophie deserves to have them in her life,” Rachel adds one night when he’s up with her.
“I shouldn’t have to lie. We shouldn’t have to lie.” Quinn flips over in her sleep, tugging her blanket all the way up so that just her face is visible. Lacing fingers with Rachel’s free hand, Mike sighs. “She’s her mom too and I don’t want to have to censor myself every time Soph does something that reminds me of Quinn.”
“I know, baby.” Sophie pushes at her breast and Rachel turns the infant to burp her. “The real question is if you want to maintain the relationship you have with your parents.”
“They’re already upset that we’re not married. Why not just hammer the final nail in the coffin?”
“I’m not letting you do that,” Quinn murmurs sleepily. Her eyes are still closed but her eyebrows bunch together in a way that Mike knows she’s serious. “Your parents are traditional, but you love them. Don’t ruin that because of me.”
“I love you.” Sophie burps and Quinn smiles a little before opening her eyes. Mike takes her hand in his and Rachel kisses his shoulder, her fingers encased by the fists of their daughter. “I’m not going to lie.”
“Mike,” Quinn sighs and he shakes his head.
“We’re not going to put off the inevitable. One day, we’ll have more kids-”
“And they sure as hell aren’t all coming from me,” Rachel muses and a grin cracks onto Mike’s face.
“Exactly. If they can’t accept it now, they won’t accept it then. Sophie doesn’t need hate in her life.”
In the morning, Mike saves his parents a trip by emailing them a picture Santana took of the four of them on their couch the day they came home from the hospital. He doesn’t hear anything from his parents until Sophie’s first birthday when his mom sends a present.
--
At four years old, Sophie enjoys all of the following:
Dancing with her daddy (and sometimes Mr. Bobinsky, the orange tabby she got for her birthday. But sometimes he scratches at her when she wants to dance, so she usually just makes her daddy be her partner). Her daddy can move all these really funny and cool ways that Sophie can’t wait to learn when she’s older (She tried to run up the wall and flip like him but she just kind of fell on the floor. Her mom and momma told her never to try that again and then yelled at her daddy for a long time). Her daddy will practice tap with her and she wishes her feet could move as fast as his. Sophie’s favorite dance is when her daddy lets her stand on his feet while they twirl all around the house, because her dresses fan out all pretty like and she gets to hold his hand the entire time.
Going to work with her momma. She gets to meet all these people who look so different. Sometimes the ladies have on a bunch of make up and really pretty dresses. The men have really fuzzy beards and funny hair and sometimes, they even wear pretty dresses too. If she’s a good girl, her momma lets her put on some make up too, but no matter how many times she asks, her momma won’t let her play dress up with the costumes. Her momma thinks she’ll mess them up, even though Sophie swears that she’ll be extra super careful. Oh, and she gets to see her momma sing really big when she goes along and Sophie sometimes can’t believe that that’s her momma.
Cooking with her mommy. She’s still too tiny to do the fun stuff (her mommy always laughs when she says that because her mommy doesn’t think chopping is fun) but she always helps getting the ingredients and she’s in charge of washing all the fruits and veggies (her mommy says that she has the most important job since she has to make sure everything is clean enough to eat). Her mommy picks her up sometimes so she can stir whatever need to be stirred on the stove and she likes that if something is really good, her mommy will hide some for them in the back of the fridge for their midnight snack. And, when they’re baking, her mommy will let her eat the batter and her momma never lets her do that.
--
At four years old, Sophie does not enjoy the following:
Combing her hair. She doesn’t like when her daddy does it because it never looks cute and it always hurts when her mom or momma does it (even though every time they promise it won’t hurt because they have detangler). She thinks she’s old enough to do it herself, but one of her parents always finds a bunch of knots in it after she’s done. Aunt Santana scared her when she told her mommy that she should give Sophie a swift whack with the back of the brush like her grandma used to do to them, but then Aunt Santana said it was just a not funny joke and she let her mommy brush her hair again.
The dog in the apartment across the hall. Not only did it steal one of her cookies when they passed in the hall, he tried to pee on her. Luckily, her daddy scooped her up and saved the day.
The fact that she’s going to be a big sister in seven months. She doesn’t know how she feels about the baby part, but she most definitely doesn’t like that her momma doesn’t go to work anymore because that means she can’t go either.
--
“Do you think we lucked out with Sophie,” Rachel asks one night once they’re all in bed.
Quinn pushes her glasses on top of her head as she puts down her book and Mike mutes the TV. “What do you mean?”
Rachel runs a hand over her rounded stomach, her fingers drumming against it occasionally and she smiles when there’s a flutter back. “Our kid is gorgeous. Everything from her adorably chubby cheeks and her huge brown eyes and your cute nose,” she says, pinching Mike’s nose lightly. “Even her feet are cute!”
Quinn looks at Mike over Rachel’s head, her eyes a little wide and he chews on his bottom lip until Quinn speaks up. “Is this you backwardly asking if this kid is going to be ugly?”
Mike laughs as Rachel tries to sputter through a retort until she finally turns to him and hits him in the stomach. “Rach, I don’t think we could produce a bad looking baby.”
Quinn nods. “Have you ever seen an ugly hapa baby,” she asks and Rachel sighs dramatically.
“No, but there’s a first time for everything.” There’s a noise down the hall and then a soft “Mommy” travels through their open door. Quinn kisses Rachel’s cheek as she slides out of bed and she gives Mike a look that tells him he needs to fix this by the time she gets back. “We have such strong features that it has to be a fluke that Soph’s so pretty.”
“It’s not a fluke,” he assures her, wrapping his arm around her. Her head falls to his shoulder and she brings his hand up so it rests on the tight skin just below her belly button. Their son kicks firmly against his hand. “You’re beautiful and I’m okay. Of course we’d make decent looking kids.”
Her face screws up when she looks at him. “Okay? Baby, you’re hot and handsome and a bunch of other possibly offensive adjectives.”
“Then if we are both attractive people, why are you freaking out?”
“Sophie is gorgeous,” she repeats. “What if we used up all the good genes on her?”
“You realize that can’t happen right,” Quinn asks as she shuts their bedroom door.
“Our girl okay,” he asks and Quinn nods, settling herself on Mike’s other side, weaving her legs through his so she doesn’t fall off the edge of the bed.
“Her nightlight just needed a new bulb.” She snuggles into his body and laces fingers with Rachel over his stomach. “Our son is going to be every bit as gorgeous as Soph.” Rachel still doesn’t look entirely convinced but she doesn’t say anything. Actually her eyes drift shut and Mike considers that the end of the conversation. He digs for the remote between him and Quinn so he can finish his movie but his hand evidentially finds something more interesting because Quinn arches into him, a tiny moan falling from her lips.
“Are we having sex,” Rachel asks sleepily, propping herself up a little better. Her hand naturally travels to the waist of his pajama pants. She’s obviously tired and he tries to move her hand away but she cups him unexpectedly and he can’t really do anything but sag into the bed.
“Uh, I was actually just trying to find the remote, but I’m obviously not going to say no.”
Quinn untangles herself from Mike only to straddle his legs a second later, the remote falling from the sheets and crashing to the floor. Mike’s hands settle on her hips, pulling her up on to his lap once Rachel moves her hand. “You were trying to find the remote between my legs,” she teases and he leans up to capture her lips.
Rachel sighs next to them, her hand trailing over his arm before falling down and grazing Quinn’s thigh. “You guys would have the prettiest babies too.”
Quinn grins against his lips, nipping at them lightly as she pulls away. “I hope so,” she says coyly and Mike knows that smile. She had that smile on her face when Rachel mentioned getting a pet for Sophie.
“How far along,” he asks and Rachel’s eyebrows furrow together.
“What do you-” She looks back at Quinn, takes in her slightly pink cheeks and when she locks eyes with the blonde, she bites her lips, ducking her head as she pushes back her hair. “You’re pregnant?”
Quinn nods. “I’m almost three months.”
She’s on her back in two seconds flat, with Rachel’s hands finding their way to her breasts and her lips covering every inch of her face and Mike is pushing her underwear to the side.
--
Mike hopes this never happens again.
Rachel’s seven months and Quinn’s five, and this bed is no where near big enough to accommodate two pregnant women and a grown man. Rachel tosses and turns to his right while Quinn keeps kicking him. He has to be up in three hours and he has gotten no sleep whatsoever.
“Daddy?” Sophie is clutching on to the blanket she can’t sleep without (it’s the one his mother sent for her first birthday) close to her face so that the only thing he can see is her wide eyes. “I think there’s a monster in my room.”
“Let’s go check,” he says, trying to figure out how on earth he’s going to be able to get out of the bed without waking up either of his girlfriends but Sophie shakes her head, running over to the foot of their bed.
“I want to sleep with you and the mommas,” she whispers, rising and falling on her tip toes nervously.
He gets no sleep at all but he’s more than content with that. His bed is full of his girls. Rachel to his right, Quinn to his left, and Sophie’s head pressed right above his heart.
--
“Remember when we could hug each other?” Quinn giggles, stirring the soup she’s making them. Rachel’s stomach is pressed into ass, her hands running up and down Quinn’s sides.
Mike isn’t due home until tomorrow and Rachel’s dads insisted on taking Sophie out for what could very well be her last outing as an only child. Normally, they’d make use of this alone time but Rachel’s exhausted (her due date is a week away and she’s so much bigger with this baby that walking is a lot for her) and Quinn is fully submersed in her nesting phase. She’s cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, packed up the last of their boxes, and Rachel keeps telling her to sit and relax so she doesn’t feel lazy.
Quinn turns and their stomachs press together and it’s incredibly surreal to feel the baby moving inside her but also feel the distant flutter of the other. “Seems like such a distant memory now,” she muses and Rachel takes her hands, leading them back into the living room. “I’m cooking.”
“It’s soup. I know that it has to boil before we can eat it.” Rachel hums in the back of her throat and Quinn smiles when she recognizes the tune. It’s been a staple in their family ever since Sophie was born. “We’re having babies.”
Quinn settles on her end of the couch, stretching out her legs so that her feet can skim Rachel’s hip. “Are you just now realizing this?”
Rachel shrugs a little before rearranging the pillow behind her back. She hasn’t been able to get comfortable since month six and while Quinn feels bad that she can’t ease her girlfriend, it makes the bed feel less empty when Mike’s out of town. “You’re such a gorgeous pregnant woman. You make me feel like a cow.”
Quinn nudges her hip. “Stop that. You’re not a cow. You’re about ready to pop with a child!”
“And this child has turned me into a cow,” Rachel repeats, leaning towards Quinn as best she can and planting her hands on Quinn’s stomach. Rachel and Mike haven’t been able to stop touching her this entire pregnancy. Not that they weren’t just as handsy with Rachel but it just feels like everything is coming full circle. There’s no denying that Quinn is in this 100% now. “But you always stay so small when you’re pregnant! It’s not fair.”
“You didn’t get very large with Soph,” Quinn reminds her and Rachel rolls her eyes.
“I looked large. Pregnancy clearly doesn’t suit women of my stature.”
“Bullshit. Pregnancy does something to you… You know how Mike and I talk about the look you get when you’re on stage? You get that look for your entire pregnancy.” Rachel’s hands push up her shirt, tracing imaginary patterns on her skin.
“What time is it?”
Quinn’s eyebrows furrow but turn to look at the cable box. “A little past two.”
“Go turn off the soup,” Rachel instructs, pressing a kiss to Quinn’s swollen stomach. “When you get back, I’d like you to sit on my face.”
Quinn’s entire face turns red but she gets off the couch faster than she has in a while.
--
“He looks like an alien,” is the first thing Sophie says when she sees her little brother.
Mike ran back downstairs to pay the cab driver and to grab the mail, leaving the girls and the new baby alone in another new apartment. The only rooms that are unpacked are Soph’s and the nursery. The living room is still full of boxes, blocking the great view that sold them on the place, and Sophie keeps rummaging through them to find the blanket they kept on the couch at the old place. This means it’s an even bigger mess than Quinn would like, but she and Rachel could only do so much with them both being pregnant and Mike off on tour up until two days ago.
“That’s not very nice, Soph,” Quinn says, adjusting the small girl on her hip so her knee isn’t digging in to her stomach.
Sophie starts twirling Quinn’s hair in her hands as she looks between the bundle in Rachel’s arms and Quinn’s bump. “Is the other baby going to look like that?”
Her daughter drags her hair over Quinn’s cheek like a paintbrush and she giggles when Soph finds the ticklish spot on her neck. “A little different, but essentially.”
“You looked like this, you know,” Rachel says and Sophie gets such a look on her face that her mothers can’t help but laugh.
“You told me I was a cute baby,” she exclaims, dropping Quinn’s hair and pointing at Halden. “That’s not cute!”
Rachel clucks her tongue. “Do not say that about your brother!” Rachel starts muttering under her breath in Yiddish as she tends to Halden who started fussing.
“When Papa visits again,” Sophie whispers, tapping Quinn’s shoulder so she can be put down. “I’m gonna have them teach me those funny words so I know what Momma’s saying.”
--
Rachel’s births, while ridiculously long, were pretty standard. They were able to get to the hospital in time and Mike was always in town.
Quinn’s not so lucky.
Her due date is three weeks away and Mike isn’t due home till Friday. Rachel’s at a mommy and me class with Sophie and Halden for another hour. Santana is essentially her only option other than going alone and her significant others would never forgive her if she went on her own. “This better be good, Fabray,” is what she’s greeted with and Quinn is taking none of her shit today.
“My yoga pants are soaked through with amniotic fluid and I’m home alone. Come walk with me to the hospital.”
“Walk,” Santana shrieks and Quinn makes her way into their bedroom, trying in vain to get out of her pants. “Do you not remember how fast you gave birth last time? It was like a canon. We’ll take a taxi.”
“Just please get over here.” She stumbles back on the bed and she sighs because there’s no way she’s letting the sheets stay wet. She kicks her pants off and then throws all the blankets off the bed and ripping the sheets off.
“Why can’t you ever stay pregnant for the time you’re supposed to?” She can hear Santana slamming her apartment door shut. “Sit with your legs crossed or whatever. I’ll be there in five.”
--
“You would have given birth on the god damn sidewalk,” Santana bitches next to her and the taxi driver looks back at them nervously. It feels like she’s crowning and god damn, she’d love to get an epidural just once. “How is it that Rachel has the boring births?”
The laugh that escapes her actually helps with the contraction a bit and Santana smiles. “It feels like this child is trying to dance out of me.”
“What if it does jazz hands?” When she notices the taxi driver is completely focused on them now, Santana’s bitch face is back in full force. “Go asshole! Unless you’d like to deliver this thing yourself.”
In the end, Rachel makes it, nearly punching a nurse who tries to tell her to stop recording with her phone. Facetime is a god send because Mike’s able to watch the birth from an airport in Pennsylvania and Quinn’s pretty sure he’s crying more than he did when Sophie and Halden were born combined. “I’m so sorry, doll,” he cries after Rachel hands the phone to her, the brunette following the nurses with the baby.
“Santana said that maybe if I crossed my legs tight enough, you’d be able to make it home in time.” She shrugs a little. “I tried but she wanted out.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to hold your other hand.”
“It’s okay, baby.” The baby is placed in Rachel’s arms and her girlfriend is crying as she cuddles her close. “You’ll be here holding our hands for ever. One day won’t kill us.”
“Her hair is blonde,” Rachel exclaims, peaking underneath the pink cap. “Well, not blonde blonde, but she’s like a toehead compared to the other kids.”
Mike wipes his face as he laughs and the last thing he sees before he gets on his flight is his girlfriends in a hospital bed, his second daughter in between them.
--
“Thank god she’s got your eyes,” Santana muses, staring down at Madeline in her crib. “Otherwise people would think she’s adopted.” Mike shakes his head next to her, wiping away the long line of drool hanging from Halden’s mouth. “I’m serious. This hair is so light!” Madeline gurgles up at Santana and it’s still a little weird for Mike to see Santana look like she’s not terrified of children. “At least her hair’ll be at least normal.”
“My kids have normal hair,” Rachel says, swatting Santana on the ass as she comes in the room. “Mike, could you come in the living room?” Sophie bounds in, her headphones falling off her head. Right now they’re connected to nothing (Quinn took away the old walkman for the day because Sophie refused to get in the bath this morning), but she’s still dancing, spinning around her parents before pulling on Mike’s hand.
“Daddy, someone who looks like you is here!”
“Soph, room. I told you before.” Sophie pouts but does as she’s told, skipping past Quinn who sleepily walks into the doorway.
“You guys know your mom’s here right?”
Rachel presses her palm against her forehead. “Jesus christ. Now I know where Sophie gets it from.”
--
Rachel’s dads stay for two weeks after Madeline’s born and Quinn’s mom stays for three.
Mike’s mom doesn’t leave for a month and a half.
She worries constantly that she’s overstaying her welcome but it’s not the case. Sophie is fascinated by new people and so she sticks to Julia’s side almost the entire time. It gives Rachel and Quinn time to sleep and tend to the babies as well as help Mike unpack the house.
They have dinner as a family and even though Julia cooks these really weird soups for them that’s supposed to promote fast healing and stimulate breast milk (not that they need help with that), it’s nice. Nobody brings up Mr. Chang but Quinn sometimes hears her in the bathroom, talking quickly in Cantonese underneath her breath.
She’s courteous and great with the kids but Rachel can tell she’s not sure what to make of the three of them. She watches them carefully, a lot like Rachel’s dads did in the beginning, and she knows it’s a lot to handle but sometimes it makes her nervous. Rachel feels bad when she exits the shower with Quinn in tow because of course that’s when Mrs. Chang is coming out of Sophie’s room. It’s appropriate for her relationship but anger flashes over Mrs. Chang’s face before she relaxes before smiling at them and going back into the living room (it’s not even like they were doing anything considering they just gave birth but Rachel supposes that’s not really what Julia’s problem is). She hates how Mrs. Chang looks at her with pity as Mike laces fingers with Quinn, the two of them sharing a tender kiss as Rachel goes over her script when they’re all in the living room. She does the same thing with Quinn whenever Rachel and Mike have a moment without their blonde.
“It’s a lot to deal with,” Quinn says, running her hands up and down Rachel’s arms. Mike’s asleep on Rachel’s lap, his leg jiggling so bad that it’s starting to shake the bed a little bit. After all these years, Rachel and Quinn are convinced he’s incapable of staying still. “And she is helping.”
“I just don’t like feeling awkward in my own home.”
“Hm?” Mike digs his face into her stomach before looking up at both of them. “What’re you talking about?”
“Go back to sleep, baby.”
“G’night dolls. I love you.”
The girls echo him and Quinn nips at Rachel’s shoulder. “Talk to her tomorrow then,” she whispers. One of the babies start crying and Quinn slips out of bed.
Before Rachel can talk to Mrs. Chang about it, the older woman confronts her. “I’ve been rude,” she says, putting down a plate of toast and egg substitute. “I think that you and Quinn are lovely girls but it’s very hard for me to remember that this is okay with everyone.” Mrs. Chang tucks her hair behind her ears before sipping at her tea. “I’m sure your parents had problems accepting this.”
“They did,” Rachel says with a nod.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I really do just want to help and get to know my grandchildren.”
Rachel looks at her suspiciously. “Did Mike talk to you before he left?”
Mrs. Chang smiles. “Yes, but I do mean every word.”
--
When Sophie is six, she refuses to speak to in English. It’s hell for Quinn because the only second language she knows is Spanish and the only one who could teach Sophie that is her. It also doesn’t help that Sophie can only speak broken Yiddish and Cantonese because even Mike and Rachel have a hard time understanding her. Then of course Sophie will also combine both languages and none of her parents know what the hell she’s saying. The worst part is that Halden and Madeline are picking up on it too.
Quinn is sitting in front of the babies, shaking her head as they shout something in Cantonese, Sophie grinning deviously behind them. “What are they saying?” Sophie giggles madly. “We’ve got to do something about this,” Quinn says when Mike and Rachel walk in, their arms full of groceries.
The babies exclaim whatever it is they’re saying and Mike nearly drops the milk in his hand. “Sophie where did you learn that word?”
“Ma ma.”
“Speak English.” Sophie shakes her head and sits on her hands. “If you don’t start speaking English, you’re not allowed to come to the studio with me anymore.” Sophie’s impish face drops and she scrambles to her feet, throwing her hands over the babies’ mouths.
“Sh sh sh,” she tells them. “Stop that! You’re going to get me in trouble and I have to dance!”
--
Mike’s at work and Quinn took Halden to the library so it’s just Rachel and the girls at home. Rachel most certainly does not have favorites but the girls are more likely to let loose than Halden. They’re having a tea party, complete with finger sandwiches and play dresses. Madeline has one of Quinn’s hats on and it keeps dropping over her eyes. Sophie tips it back, smiling at her little sister. “This is such a delightful hat darling,” Sophie says in some accent that sounds like a mix between Swedish and southern.
Madeline smiles, picking up her tea cup with her pinkie out. “It’s from my wife. She’s the Queen of France!”
Rachel tries to hide her laugh by taking a bite of her sandwich. “Where ever did you get that necklace, Momma?”
“It was in a treasure chest I found.”
Sophie instantly wrinkles her nose. “You’re not a pirate are you?”
“Would it be bad if I was?”
“They’re smelly.”
“But Momma says we can be whatever we want to be,” Madeline pipes up, pushing her blonde bangs out of her face. “If Momma wants to be a pirate, she can be a pirate.”
Sophie looks at Rachel suspiciously and taps her fingers against her chin. “Are you a pirate?” Rachel nods because, why not? Sophie jumps to her feet nearly knocking over the table and points a finger at her mother. “I knew it! I knew you were the one who killed my husband for his money!” Madeline gasps, clutching her dress and scampering away from Rachel. “Murderer!” They really need to take The Lion King out of their movie rotation because Rachel feels like Scar just accused her. Sophie wields her Barbie like a sword, wrapping an arm around her sister.
“I did nothing of the sort!”
“There’s only one way to be sure. You have to sing!”
“Soap, why are you making her sing,” Madeline asks, bending her hat so that it looks more like a bonnet as she looks like at her mom. “Why do you have to sing.”
“Sh sh,” Sophie says, cover Madeline’s mouth. “The pirate who killed my husband was singing a song when she did it! You have to sing ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ so I can see if they’re the same!”
Madeline grins widely. “Oh. Yes, yes, you’ve got to sing!”
When Mike comes home a few minutes later they’re dancing around Sophie’s room, Rachel crooning, “You, my, brown eyed girls.”
--
Quinn gets pregnant again and Sophie could pretty much care less. It makes sense considering she was around for the babies (which they realize they’ll have to stop calling them that). Halden and Madeline are completely mesmerized by Quinn’s stomach.
“You look really full,” Madeline tells her one night as she’s washing the dishes.
Halden scoffs from the other side of her legs. “You’re not supposed to tell ladies that.” Quinn bends down and gives her son a huge kiss.
Once Quinn reaches five months they more or less get it and one night when they’re all home, they decide to plaster Quinn’s stomach. They did it with all the other kids but this is by far the messiest since everyone insists on helping. Halden and Madeline keep rubbing Vaseline on their bellies, exclaiming that they want to match Mommy. The entire container is gone before Mike can rub some on Quinn’s breast. They have to improvise with some of Rachel’s cocoa butter and the kids start getting antsy. “Can we put the stuff on,” Sophie asks.
“You’ve got to keep your gloves on if you do, okay?” Mike covers Quinn’s belly button and then has the kids line up. One by one he takes the kids by the hands, helping them lay the gauze on Quinn’s belly.
When it’s Halden’s turn the baby kicks and he jumps back against Mike. He looks up at Quinn worriedly. “Did the baby hurt you, Mommy?”
Quinn shakes her head. “Course not, sweet boy.”
“Watch this,” Rachel says, taking Halden’s hand and pushing it against the skin of until the baby thumps against his tiny palm.
“That’s…” He pulls his hand out of Rachel’s, shaking his head. “I’m done. I’m going to go read my book now.”
Madeline tugs on Rachel’s shorts. “Can we do my belly too?”
Rachel blows Madeline’s hair out of her eyes since her hands are dirty and then shakes her head. “No sweetie. It’s just for Mommy.”
“Then why is Soap doing it,” Halden asks and the three parents turn to look at their eight year old who is about to lay one of the gauze strips on her stomach.
“You know better than that Sophie,” Quinn exclaims, trying to get up before realizing that her stomach is still wet. Mike pulls the strip from her tiny hands and she stomps her foot against the tarp they laid out.
At the end of the day, they have a cast of Quinn’s stomach as well as three tiny casts of the kids’.
--
Rachel has rehearsals for a new show and since Quinn’s maternity leave doesn’t start for another two weeks, Mike takes the kids to the studio with him. The girls love it but Halden prefers to sit against the mirrors and read the books he picked up last week with Quinn. There’s not another class coming in till 2 and so the girls have free reign of the floor. They go through tap and classical while he sits with Halden on his lap, helping him through one of the bigger books he picked up. “What’s that word, Daddy?”
“Department.”
Halden nods. “Corduroy is a bear who lived in the toy department of a big store.” He keeps reading slowly and Mike has to admit, he’s pretty proud of his little guy for being able to read above his level. Mike looks up to see the girls attempting to waltz with one another but they can’t seem to figure out who leads so they just end up twirling with their hands clasped together.
“Daddy, can you teach us how to do the popping thing,” Sophie asks and Madeline nods wildly next to her. Even Halden stops reading mid-sentence, letting the book fall to the hard wood floors.
“It might be a little hard for you guys, especially you two nuggets.” He runs his hands over Halden’s head and Madeline glares.
“I’m not a nugget.”
Mike laughs and stands up, holding Halden by his stomach before setting him on the ground. “Sorry, sorry. Come on, let’s get your hair back and then we’ll try.” Sophie tries her best to put her own hair up but she’s missing a good chunk. He carefully piles Madeline’s hair on top of her head then waves Sophie over. She insists she can do it herself so Mike waits patiently as she tries two more times before sighs and hands him the hair tie.
Soph is almost too graceful to do this. She moves a lot like Quinn, a ballerina at heart, whereas Madeline and Halden seem to pick it up almost immediately. It starts irritating his oldest and she’s about two seconds away from throwing a fit when Rachel and Quinn walk in. That ends the mini lesson and he instead dances around with his entire family until it’s time for his next class.
--
Mike’s hands grip hard enough at Quinn’s hips to leave a mark and she has to dig her nails into Mike’s chest in order to stop herself from suffocating him. “God,” she moans once she looks up and sees Rachel twisting one painfully hard nipple between her fingers, the other hand pressing against Mike’s stomach as she rides him faster. The tongue that was thrusting in and out of her disappears and Mike wraps his lips around her clit.
Her thighs tighten around his head and Rachel grabs her by the back of her head, trying to muffle Quinn’s scream with her mouth. Quinn can feel Mike’s smile between her legs and she tries to push herself off but he keeps her in place, lapping at the wet heat in front of him.
“Mike,” she wheezes, laughing a little as she presses her forehead against Rachel’s. “I’ll suffocate you if you don’t let me get down. They can’t really hear what he says next since he’s still licking her but it sounds a lot like ‘worth it’. Rachel’s stopped moving herself on top of him but she clenches around him and it throws Mike off because his hands slackens, he loses track of the pattern he had on Quinn’s clit.
There’s a soft tap at their door, the doorknob rattling a little before there’s another tap. “Mommas? Daddy?”
Quinn pats Mike’s hands and they curve over her stomach before falling to his sides. The blonde gets off the bed, earning a swat on her ass from Rachel, and she pulls on Mike’s robe. When she turns around, Rachel’s practically licking at Mike’s lips. “God, I love how she tastes on you.”
The ache returns between her legs and she tightens the robe before skittering to the door. She opens the door wide enough just to let herself, coughing when Rachel moans loudly.
It’s Halden, his brown curls sticking every which way and his thumb is in his mouth. “What is it, sweet boy?” She gently tugs his hand out of his mouth and takes his hand, walking them back to the bedroom he shares with Madeline.
“Mad is crying.” Their daughter is sitting up in her bed when they walk in and her blonde hair is sticking to the side of her face.
“Close your eyes, I’m turning on the light.” The light illuminates the room and Quinn sees throw up all over Madeline’s bed. “Oh, baby.” Halden grabs the blanket from his bed, running over to Madeline and he carefully wipes her face.
“It’s okay, Mad.” He pets the clean side of her hair and Quinn bites her lip.
“I’ll be right back babies.”
Rachel’s collapsed on top of Mike and Quinn sighs. “Put on some clothes. Madeline threw up in her bed. It’s all in her hair.”
“Halden okay,” Mike asks and Quinn nods from the dresser. She throws Rachel and Mike pajamas and then slips into a pair of her own pajama pants.
“I’ll go start the shower,” Rachel says as she pulls a shirt over her head. Mike trips over a doll on his way to the babies’ room and he’s surprised to see Sophie in the room too. He very quickly realizes she’s heaving too and his eyes widen. Picking her up from underneath his arms, he races them to the bathroom, almost knocking Rachel down in order to get Sophie over the toilet in enough time. He pulls back her hair and Rachel sighs heavily, pressing a kiss to Mike’s shoulder. “I’ll get Madeline.”
An hour later Quinn, Rachel, and Mike sit down at the kitchen table. Halden is sleeping against Rachel’s shoulder and Mike looks back at the girls who finally fell asleep on the couch. “He’s going to make someone very happy someday,” Quinn muses when Halden tightens his grip on Rachel’s neck. Though their eyes are different, he definitely looks the most like Rachel and if she weren’t so exhausted, she’d snap a picture of them right now.
Rachel smiles. “Cleaning up vomit so willingly is definitely a wonderful trait.”
“We’re pretty good at this, huh?” The girls look at Mike with small smiles. Rachel takes his hand in hers while Quinn stands up, wrapping her arms around Mike’s head when he presses against her stomach.
Author: only_because3
Rating: I'd say M
Pairing: Mike/Quinn/Rachel
Author's Note: So sulkygeek is completely responsible for putting this in my head and Az completely fed into it. It's mainly all fluff and I wish I was able to write this a bit more coherently (and show the three of them together a bit better). Honestly, I've been trying to finish this for like a week and today was my 'deadline' for it. I'll probably revisit this pairing again because, god is it cute. Enjoy!
--
“So, I’m pregnant.”
They’ve been together, more or less, since spring break Quinn’s sophomore year of college (Rachel had dropped out after her first year, partly because she’s a stubborn bitch but mostly because she landed Fraulein Schneider in the revival of Cabaret [something she laughed about for ages] and Mike was barely in class for two months when he got picked up to go on tour with Usher) which means that in about a month, they’ll have been together for three years.
Needless to say, this was in no way, shape, or form planned.
Quinn freaks out, much like she did when she realized that she was actually in a relationship with two people, but Mike just gets up and wraps his arms around Rachel tightly before kissing her head as he dances them around the room, murmuring in her ear about how talented their baby would be.
Rachel talks to Quinn about it a lot and they all talk about it together, but it seems to be Quinn’s talk with Mike that finally calms her down and stops her from bailing. She’s always been the most logical and realistic out of all three of them, so neither Rachel nor Mike are surprised when she pads into their bedroom a week later, legal pad full of things to discuss in hand.
The three of them make decent money and since they only have a one bedroom, they’ve been able to save a lot the last two years. But, Rachel obviously won’t be able to work for a while, at least not on stage, and Mike just booked a tour with Lady Gaga that’s running for about two years. He offers to back out, take something shorter like a U.S. only tour, but both girls refuse to let him do that. Mike says he’ll talk to the choreographer about it since he’s generally a pretty cool guy and promises that he’ll work it out. Rachel maintains that even though she would’ve loved to play Charity in the Sweet Charity revival for an extended period of time, a three month run is enough.
Getting a bigger apartment is an easy fix, though Rachel tries to convince them to just get a huge flat a la Rent, which leaves Quinn with more long term questions. Can they really see this working out in the long term? When they’re not just kids fucking around in their 20s. “We haven’t even told our parents yet,” she reminds them and then asks what would happen if they were to break up in the future. Quinn wouldn’t have any legal right to continue to see the child, and even though Mike swears there’s no way they could end on such horrible terms that they’d keep the baby from her, she knows he can’t predict the future. “I can’t lose another baby,” she admits quietly and that pretty much breaks Mike’s heart and Rachel spends half an hour cradling Quinn’s head to her stomach.
--
Rachel looks like she swallowed a basketball by the time they move. Quinn always thought that people were exaggerating when they say that (after all, at no point in time did she ever look like that when she was pregnant), but Mike holds up a ball next to Rachel’s tummy and, sure enough, that’s exactly what it looks like.
They refuse to let her help move and every time they pass her sitting stubbornly at their tiny kitchen table, she lets out an overly dramatic sigh. “I’m not incapable of lifting things and walking up a flight of stairs.”
Mike does what he always does, kisses her cheek and tells her that he loves her. Quinn on the other hand drops a box at Rachel’s feet. “Unpack if you feel useless. Don’t just complain, princess.”
Rachel simply uses the box as a footrest.
Quinn wraps her arms around Mike’s waist, her forehead falling in-between his shoulder blades. “I feel like a real adult,” she murmurs and Mike laughs, squeezing her forearms lightly.
“You’re always been the real adult.” He spins in her embrace and, god, Quinn’s not sure whose smile she wants the baby to get. “You finished college and have a real job. Not to mention you take care of all the bills.”
“But we’re having a baby,” she says between pressing kisses against his chest. His smile grows because it’s nice to hear her say we when she struggled with it so much in the beginning. He pulls her arms away and puts them in the waltz position. She laughs, but amuses him, straightening out her back before he leans them across the empty moving truck. There’s only one box left, a combination of her and Rachel’s records, and he moves them past it seamlessly.
Someone behind them clears their throat and when she sees her mother standing next to Rachel’s dads, she’s surprised she doesn’t throw up on Mike.
They hadn’t even started working on a lie to tell their parents yet and thought they’d have at least the rest of Rachel’s pregnancy to figure one out. None of them expected their parents to actually visit when they moved since they never even saw their one bedroom and they lived there for two years.
“I can’t believe you guys managed to swing a three bedroom in this part of town,” Hiram says with a grin, adjusting his wire rim glasses as Quinn and Mike straighten out.
Mike smiles and wheezes a little, turning away from the parents to grab the last box. “What’re you guys doing here?” Quinn hops off the truck and hugs her mom before hugging Rachel’s dads too.
“We thought we’d come see the new apartment,” her mom answers, tucking a few flyaway strands behind Quinn’s ear.
“We felt bad that we never saw your old place and a mini-vacation sounded good to everyone,” Leroy explains and Quinn smiles tightly.
“Did you guys check into your hotel yet? We still have to take the truck back so you guys could go get settled in then we could meet up for a late lunch and a tour of the place?”
Hiram watches Mike carefully hop out of the truck with the box in his hands and Mike is pretty sure he has never loved Quinn as much as he does right now for buying them some time.
“Sounds like a plan, dear.” Judy pats Quinn’s hip while Leroy pulls down the back of the truck for them.
“Did you guys ge-” Mike squeezes his eyes shut, arms clenching around the box and Quinn face palms, her whole body going slack next to her mom. “Oh fuck,” Rachel groans from the steps of their apartment building, hands dropping uselessly at her sides.
--
“Am I going to be a grandma or…?”
“Oh my god,” Leroy groans next to Judy. Hiram is repeating a prayer under his breath and Mike’s hands won’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t quite know how to…”
Rachel shakes her head, smiling as best she can. “We would love it if you were involved as a grandmother,” she says, motioning to Mike, Quinn, and herself. “I think it you be wonderful if all of you were involved-”
“But we completely understand if you decide not to be,” Quinn finishes, taking Mike’s hand in hers just as Rachel does the same on the opposite side of their boyfriend.
“I need air,” Hiram says, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. Leroy nods next to him, stepping out of the apartment without so much as a second glance in their direction. Rachel’s face crumples ever so slightly and Hiram frowns, trying to smooth down his daughter’s unruly hair. “I’m sorry gelibte, but we just need some time to process everything.”
Rachel nods. “I know, Daddy.”
Judy clears her throat when the door shuts behind Hiram. “You guys know this is odd, right?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“It’s very unconventional and, as I mentioned before, I’ll probably be unsure of how I factor into this but…” She looks at Mike, who fights every reflex to close his eyes and then asks very calmly, “Do you love my daughter?”
Mike swallows hard but squeezes Quinn’s hand. “Very, very much. I would’ve been a wreck if she decided she didn’t want to be with us anymore.”
“Rachel?”
“To the moon and back, Judy.” Rachel and Mike look down at Quinn, smiles taking up their whole faces. “If I didn’t, there is no way I would put up with watching all those horrible Batman movies she seems to love.”
Quinn laughs. “They are horrible, but that’s the best part!”
Rachel rolls her eyes while Mike leans over to kiss Quinn’s cheek before remembering that Quinn’s mom is still sitting across from them. “It’s okay,” Judy says quietly. “All I want is for Quinn to be happy and she obviously is.” She smoothes out the skirt of her dress, shaking her head a little before locking eyes with her daughter. “I’m not going anywhere, Quinnie.”
Quinn’s entire body swells. “Really?”
“Never again,” she promises.
Rachel starts bawling and she curses under her breath as she tries to wipe away the tears. “Damn hormones!” Judy laughs and gets up, hugging Quinn when the blonde practically throws herself in her arms. “That was the best reaction ever and my parents are on the fence and your parents are going to kill us, Mike.”
“They’ll come around,” Judy assures her, pulling away from Quinn so that she can kneel in front of Rachel. “May I?” Rachel nods and Judy plants her hands on either side of the outstretched stomach, smiling when the baby kicks lightly. “How far along are you?”
“25 weeks,” they respond simultaneously.
--
Rachel’s pregnancy is extremely well documented. They take pictures of her stomach and measure it every week, proudly emailing the current stats to everyone who wants to know.
Rachel’s pregnancy is documented in another way too.
Mike was gone from weeks 10 to 24 and then left again about a week after they moved. He’s trying to get in as many shows as possible before Rachel reaches 38 weeks. Because of this, they send him regular emails and text him every morning. But they make sure to send along video attachments at least twice a week.
He watches Rachel’s ever changing shape writhe beneath Quinn, her fingers sometimes threading through blonde hair, pulling hard when Quinn keeps sucking even after Rachel cums twice, and sometimes they pluck at her own nipples, twisting when Quinn’s fingers finally enter her. Most of the time it’s Quinn practically worshipping Rachel’s body, but they surprised him during week 28 with Quinn on all fours, Rachel thrusting into her roughly with (as he later learned) a strap on purchased just for the occasion. He’s never been so thankful for getting a hotel room alone on tour before because he physically can not not shove his hand down his pants like he’s a 12 year old boy watching porn for the first time.
He actually tells the girls this during a rare Skype call when he’s getting ready for his day and they’re coming back from a later dinner. They laugh and Rachel gets this look in her eyes that makes Quinn hang her head. “She’s insatiable,” she muses, Rachel shoving her shoulder.
“You say that like you don’t enjoy reaping the benefits.” There’s a distant sound in the background and when Quinn excuses herself to turn off the kettle, Rachel smiles at him deviously. “How much time do you have before you have to go to rehearsal?”
“About an hour,” he says after he glances at the clock on the table next to the bed.
“Could you do me a favor then?”
Quinn comes back in, shaking her head as she sets Rachel’s tear down on the desk. “I wasn’t even gone five minutes!” Rachel’s hand is absolutely soaked as she holds it up for Quinn to clean and it’s not until one of Rachel’s fingers is in her mouth that she realizes Mike’s hand is slowly pumping his cock on the screen.
“I told him it was time to return the favor,” Rachel whispers in her ear, nibbling on Quinn’s earlobe as Mike starts working himself a little faster. “Who knew our boy could be just as dirty as us?”
A lot of things are well documented during Rachel’s pregnancy.
--
Sophie Leela Chang has a ridiculous amount of hair. It is insane just how much deep brown hair his daughter has and it’s also crazy soft. Half her hair is curling waywardly while the other half lays flat against her head. Quinn laughs through shiny eyes, running her fingers over the thick strands. “Poor girl,” she coos. “Her hair doesn’t know what it wants to do.”
He pushes back Rachel’s frizzy hair as he sits down on the edge of the bed. “Thank you,” he tells her honestly and Rachel rolls her eyes, light laughter spilling from her lips as she sits up a little better.
“Give me our baby,” she instructs, impatient fingers wiggling. “I need to inspect that mess on top of her head better.”
“I’d suggest we keep it short but that doesn’t fix the Jew curls you passed down to her.” Quinn leans into Mike’s side, running her fingers through his hair. It feels exactly like their daughter’s.
Mike wraps his arm around Quinn’s hips, drumming along with the commercial on the tv in the corner. “Look,” he says softly and they study Sophie who experimentally opens one eye and then the other. They’re light like Rachel’s, the only thing besides the curls that are purely Rachel. “Those are some gorgeous eyes.”
Rachel carefully runs a finger down the slope of Sophie’s nose and trails it over her chubby cheeks. “I know you guys can’t stand that I still do this but I honestly feel like I need to break into song.”
--
The next few days are filled with various visitors, most notably Judy (who isn’t quite sure what to make of Sophie’s hair either) and Rachel’s dad, both of which are still unsure of the entire situation but are obsessed with the baby anyway.
Mr. and Mrs. Chang are supposed to visit the following week and Quinn has absolutely no problem pretending to simply be the best friend in order to keep the peace between Mike and his parents. “Plus, Sophie deserves to have them in her life,” Rachel adds one night when he’s up with her.
“I shouldn’t have to lie. We shouldn’t have to lie.” Quinn flips over in her sleep, tugging her blanket all the way up so that just her face is visible. Lacing fingers with Rachel’s free hand, Mike sighs. “She’s her mom too and I don’t want to have to censor myself every time Soph does something that reminds me of Quinn.”
“I know, baby.” Sophie pushes at her breast and Rachel turns the infant to burp her. “The real question is if you want to maintain the relationship you have with your parents.”
“They’re already upset that we’re not married. Why not just hammer the final nail in the coffin?”
“I’m not letting you do that,” Quinn murmurs sleepily. Her eyes are still closed but her eyebrows bunch together in a way that Mike knows she’s serious. “Your parents are traditional, but you love them. Don’t ruin that because of me.”
“I love you.” Sophie burps and Quinn smiles a little before opening her eyes. Mike takes her hand in his and Rachel kisses his shoulder, her fingers encased by the fists of their daughter. “I’m not going to lie.”
“Mike,” Quinn sighs and he shakes his head.
“We’re not going to put off the inevitable. One day, we’ll have more kids-”
“And they sure as hell aren’t all coming from me,” Rachel muses and a grin cracks onto Mike’s face.
“Exactly. If they can’t accept it now, they won’t accept it then. Sophie doesn’t need hate in her life.”
In the morning, Mike saves his parents a trip by emailing them a picture Santana took of the four of them on their couch the day they came home from the hospital. He doesn’t hear anything from his parents until Sophie’s first birthday when his mom sends a present.
--
At four years old, Sophie enjoys all of the following:
Dancing with her daddy (and sometimes Mr. Bobinsky, the orange tabby she got for her birthday. But sometimes he scratches at her when she wants to dance, so she usually just makes her daddy be her partner). Her daddy can move all these really funny and cool ways that Sophie can’t wait to learn when she’s older (She tried to run up the wall and flip like him but she just kind of fell on the floor. Her mom and momma told her never to try that again and then yelled at her daddy for a long time). Her daddy will practice tap with her and she wishes her feet could move as fast as his. Sophie’s favorite dance is when her daddy lets her stand on his feet while they twirl all around the house, because her dresses fan out all pretty like and she gets to hold his hand the entire time.
Going to work with her momma. She gets to meet all these people who look so different. Sometimes the ladies have on a bunch of make up and really pretty dresses. The men have really fuzzy beards and funny hair and sometimes, they even wear pretty dresses too. If she’s a good girl, her momma lets her put on some make up too, but no matter how many times she asks, her momma won’t let her play dress up with the costumes. Her momma thinks she’ll mess them up, even though Sophie swears that she’ll be extra super careful. Oh, and she gets to see her momma sing really big when she goes along and Sophie sometimes can’t believe that that’s her momma.
Cooking with her mommy. She’s still too tiny to do the fun stuff (her mommy always laughs when she says that because her mommy doesn’t think chopping is fun) but she always helps getting the ingredients and she’s in charge of washing all the fruits and veggies (her mommy says that she has the most important job since she has to make sure everything is clean enough to eat). Her mommy picks her up sometimes so she can stir whatever need to be stirred on the stove and she likes that if something is really good, her mommy will hide some for them in the back of the fridge for their midnight snack. And, when they’re baking, her mommy will let her eat the batter and her momma never lets her do that.
--
At four years old, Sophie does not enjoy the following:
Combing her hair. She doesn’t like when her daddy does it because it never looks cute and it always hurts when her mom or momma does it (even though every time they promise it won’t hurt because they have detangler). She thinks she’s old enough to do it herself, but one of her parents always finds a bunch of knots in it after she’s done. Aunt Santana scared her when she told her mommy that she should give Sophie a swift whack with the back of the brush like her grandma used to do to them, but then Aunt Santana said it was just a not funny joke and she let her mommy brush her hair again.
The dog in the apartment across the hall. Not only did it steal one of her cookies when they passed in the hall, he tried to pee on her. Luckily, her daddy scooped her up and saved the day.
The fact that she’s going to be a big sister in seven months. She doesn’t know how she feels about the baby part, but she most definitely doesn’t like that her momma doesn’t go to work anymore because that means she can’t go either.
--
“Do you think we lucked out with Sophie,” Rachel asks one night once they’re all in bed.
Quinn pushes her glasses on top of her head as she puts down her book and Mike mutes the TV. “What do you mean?”
Rachel runs a hand over her rounded stomach, her fingers drumming against it occasionally and she smiles when there’s a flutter back. “Our kid is gorgeous. Everything from her adorably chubby cheeks and her huge brown eyes and your cute nose,” she says, pinching Mike’s nose lightly. “Even her feet are cute!”
Quinn looks at Mike over Rachel’s head, her eyes a little wide and he chews on his bottom lip until Quinn speaks up. “Is this you backwardly asking if this kid is going to be ugly?”
Mike laughs as Rachel tries to sputter through a retort until she finally turns to him and hits him in the stomach. “Rach, I don’t think we could produce a bad looking baby.”
Quinn nods. “Have you ever seen an ugly hapa baby,” she asks and Rachel sighs dramatically.
“No, but there’s a first time for everything.” There’s a noise down the hall and then a soft “Mommy” travels through their open door. Quinn kisses Rachel’s cheek as she slides out of bed and she gives Mike a look that tells him he needs to fix this by the time she gets back. “We have such strong features that it has to be a fluke that Soph’s so pretty.”
“It’s not a fluke,” he assures her, wrapping his arm around her. Her head falls to his shoulder and she brings his hand up so it rests on the tight skin just below her belly button. Their son kicks firmly against his hand. “You’re beautiful and I’m okay. Of course we’d make decent looking kids.”
Her face screws up when she looks at him. “Okay? Baby, you’re hot and handsome and a bunch of other possibly offensive adjectives.”
“Then if we are both attractive people, why are you freaking out?”
“Sophie is gorgeous,” she repeats. “What if we used up all the good genes on her?”
“You realize that can’t happen right,” Quinn asks as she shuts their bedroom door.
“Our girl okay,” he asks and Quinn nods, settling herself on Mike’s other side, weaving her legs through his so she doesn’t fall off the edge of the bed.
“Her nightlight just needed a new bulb.” She snuggles into his body and laces fingers with Rachel over his stomach. “Our son is going to be every bit as gorgeous as Soph.” Rachel still doesn’t look entirely convinced but she doesn’t say anything. Actually her eyes drift shut and Mike considers that the end of the conversation. He digs for the remote between him and Quinn so he can finish his movie but his hand evidentially finds something more interesting because Quinn arches into him, a tiny moan falling from her lips.
“Are we having sex,” Rachel asks sleepily, propping herself up a little better. Her hand naturally travels to the waist of his pajama pants. She’s obviously tired and he tries to move her hand away but she cups him unexpectedly and he can’t really do anything but sag into the bed.
“Uh, I was actually just trying to find the remote, but I’m obviously not going to say no.”
Quinn untangles herself from Mike only to straddle his legs a second later, the remote falling from the sheets and crashing to the floor. Mike’s hands settle on her hips, pulling her up on to his lap once Rachel moves her hand. “You were trying to find the remote between my legs,” she teases and he leans up to capture her lips.
Rachel sighs next to them, her hand trailing over his arm before falling down and grazing Quinn’s thigh. “You guys would have the prettiest babies too.”
Quinn grins against his lips, nipping at them lightly as she pulls away. “I hope so,” she says coyly and Mike knows that smile. She had that smile on her face when Rachel mentioned getting a pet for Sophie.
“How far along,” he asks and Rachel’s eyebrows furrow together.
“What do you-” She looks back at Quinn, takes in her slightly pink cheeks and when she locks eyes with the blonde, she bites her lips, ducking her head as she pushes back her hair. “You’re pregnant?”
Quinn nods. “I’m almost three months.”
She’s on her back in two seconds flat, with Rachel’s hands finding their way to her breasts and her lips covering every inch of her face and Mike is pushing her underwear to the side.
--
Mike hopes this never happens again.
Rachel’s seven months and Quinn’s five, and this bed is no where near big enough to accommodate two pregnant women and a grown man. Rachel tosses and turns to his right while Quinn keeps kicking him. He has to be up in three hours and he has gotten no sleep whatsoever.
“Daddy?” Sophie is clutching on to the blanket she can’t sleep without (it’s the one his mother sent for her first birthday) close to her face so that the only thing he can see is her wide eyes. “I think there’s a monster in my room.”
“Let’s go check,” he says, trying to figure out how on earth he’s going to be able to get out of the bed without waking up either of his girlfriends but Sophie shakes her head, running over to the foot of their bed.
“I want to sleep with you and the mommas,” she whispers, rising and falling on her tip toes nervously.
He gets no sleep at all but he’s more than content with that. His bed is full of his girls. Rachel to his right, Quinn to his left, and Sophie’s head pressed right above his heart.
--
“Remember when we could hug each other?” Quinn giggles, stirring the soup she’s making them. Rachel’s stomach is pressed into ass, her hands running up and down Quinn’s sides.
Mike isn’t due home until tomorrow and Rachel’s dads insisted on taking Sophie out for what could very well be her last outing as an only child. Normally, they’d make use of this alone time but Rachel’s exhausted (her due date is a week away and she’s so much bigger with this baby that walking is a lot for her) and Quinn is fully submersed in her nesting phase. She’s cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, packed up the last of their boxes, and Rachel keeps telling her to sit and relax so she doesn’t feel lazy.
Quinn turns and their stomachs press together and it’s incredibly surreal to feel the baby moving inside her but also feel the distant flutter of the other. “Seems like such a distant memory now,” she muses and Rachel takes her hands, leading them back into the living room. “I’m cooking.”
“It’s soup. I know that it has to boil before we can eat it.” Rachel hums in the back of her throat and Quinn smiles when she recognizes the tune. It’s been a staple in their family ever since Sophie was born. “We’re having babies.”
Quinn settles on her end of the couch, stretching out her legs so that her feet can skim Rachel’s hip. “Are you just now realizing this?”
Rachel shrugs a little before rearranging the pillow behind her back. She hasn’t been able to get comfortable since month six and while Quinn feels bad that she can’t ease her girlfriend, it makes the bed feel less empty when Mike’s out of town. “You’re such a gorgeous pregnant woman. You make me feel like a cow.”
Quinn nudges her hip. “Stop that. You’re not a cow. You’re about ready to pop with a child!”
“And this child has turned me into a cow,” Rachel repeats, leaning towards Quinn as best she can and planting her hands on Quinn’s stomach. Rachel and Mike haven’t been able to stop touching her this entire pregnancy. Not that they weren’t just as handsy with Rachel but it just feels like everything is coming full circle. There’s no denying that Quinn is in this 100% now. “But you always stay so small when you’re pregnant! It’s not fair.”
“You didn’t get very large with Soph,” Quinn reminds her and Rachel rolls her eyes.
“I looked large. Pregnancy clearly doesn’t suit women of my stature.”
“Bullshit. Pregnancy does something to you… You know how Mike and I talk about the look you get when you’re on stage? You get that look for your entire pregnancy.” Rachel’s hands push up her shirt, tracing imaginary patterns on her skin.
“What time is it?”
Quinn’s eyebrows furrow but turn to look at the cable box. “A little past two.”
“Go turn off the soup,” Rachel instructs, pressing a kiss to Quinn’s swollen stomach. “When you get back, I’d like you to sit on my face.”
Quinn’s entire face turns red but she gets off the couch faster than she has in a while.
--
“He looks like an alien,” is the first thing Sophie says when she sees her little brother.
Mike ran back downstairs to pay the cab driver and to grab the mail, leaving the girls and the new baby alone in another new apartment. The only rooms that are unpacked are Soph’s and the nursery. The living room is still full of boxes, blocking the great view that sold them on the place, and Sophie keeps rummaging through them to find the blanket they kept on the couch at the old place. This means it’s an even bigger mess than Quinn would like, but she and Rachel could only do so much with them both being pregnant and Mike off on tour up until two days ago.
“That’s not very nice, Soph,” Quinn says, adjusting the small girl on her hip so her knee isn’t digging in to her stomach.
Sophie starts twirling Quinn’s hair in her hands as she looks between the bundle in Rachel’s arms and Quinn’s bump. “Is the other baby going to look like that?”
Her daughter drags her hair over Quinn’s cheek like a paintbrush and she giggles when Soph finds the ticklish spot on her neck. “A little different, but essentially.”
“You looked like this, you know,” Rachel says and Sophie gets such a look on her face that her mothers can’t help but laugh.
“You told me I was a cute baby,” she exclaims, dropping Quinn’s hair and pointing at Halden. “That’s not cute!”
Rachel clucks her tongue. “Do not say that about your brother!” Rachel starts muttering under her breath in Yiddish as she tends to Halden who started fussing.
“When Papa visits again,” Sophie whispers, tapping Quinn’s shoulder so she can be put down. “I’m gonna have them teach me those funny words so I know what Momma’s saying.”
--
Rachel’s births, while ridiculously long, were pretty standard. They were able to get to the hospital in time and Mike was always in town.
Quinn’s not so lucky.
Her due date is three weeks away and Mike isn’t due home till Friday. Rachel’s at a mommy and me class with Sophie and Halden for another hour. Santana is essentially her only option other than going alone and her significant others would never forgive her if she went on her own. “This better be good, Fabray,” is what she’s greeted with and Quinn is taking none of her shit today.
“My yoga pants are soaked through with amniotic fluid and I’m home alone. Come walk with me to the hospital.”
“Walk,” Santana shrieks and Quinn makes her way into their bedroom, trying in vain to get out of her pants. “Do you not remember how fast you gave birth last time? It was like a canon. We’ll take a taxi.”
“Just please get over here.” She stumbles back on the bed and she sighs because there’s no way she’s letting the sheets stay wet. She kicks her pants off and then throws all the blankets off the bed and ripping the sheets off.
“Why can’t you ever stay pregnant for the time you’re supposed to?” She can hear Santana slamming her apartment door shut. “Sit with your legs crossed or whatever. I’ll be there in five.”
--
“You would have given birth on the god damn sidewalk,” Santana bitches next to her and the taxi driver looks back at them nervously. It feels like she’s crowning and god damn, she’d love to get an epidural just once. “How is it that Rachel has the boring births?”
The laugh that escapes her actually helps with the contraction a bit and Santana smiles. “It feels like this child is trying to dance out of me.”
“What if it does jazz hands?” When she notices the taxi driver is completely focused on them now, Santana’s bitch face is back in full force. “Go asshole! Unless you’d like to deliver this thing yourself.”
In the end, Rachel makes it, nearly punching a nurse who tries to tell her to stop recording with her phone. Facetime is a god send because Mike’s able to watch the birth from an airport in Pennsylvania and Quinn’s pretty sure he’s crying more than he did when Sophie and Halden were born combined. “I’m so sorry, doll,” he cries after Rachel hands the phone to her, the brunette following the nurses with the baby.
“Santana said that maybe if I crossed my legs tight enough, you’d be able to make it home in time.” She shrugs a little. “I tried but she wanted out.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to hold your other hand.”
“It’s okay, baby.” The baby is placed in Rachel’s arms and her girlfriend is crying as she cuddles her close. “You’ll be here holding our hands for ever. One day won’t kill us.”
“Her hair is blonde,” Rachel exclaims, peaking underneath the pink cap. “Well, not blonde blonde, but she’s like a toehead compared to the other kids.”
Mike wipes his face as he laughs and the last thing he sees before he gets on his flight is his girlfriends in a hospital bed, his second daughter in between them.
--
“Thank god she’s got your eyes,” Santana muses, staring down at Madeline in her crib. “Otherwise people would think she’s adopted.” Mike shakes his head next to her, wiping away the long line of drool hanging from Halden’s mouth. “I’m serious. This hair is so light!” Madeline gurgles up at Santana and it’s still a little weird for Mike to see Santana look like she’s not terrified of children. “At least her hair’ll be at least normal.”
“My kids have normal hair,” Rachel says, swatting Santana on the ass as she comes in the room. “Mike, could you come in the living room?” Sophie bounds in, her headphones falling off her head. Right now they’re connected to nothing (Quinn took away the old walkman for the day because Sophie refused to get in the bath this morning), but she’s still dancing, spinning around her parents before pulling on Mike’s hand.
“Daddy, someone who looks like you is here!”
“Soph, room. I told you before.” Sophie pouts but does as she’s told, skipping past Quinn who sleepily walks into the doorway.
“You guys know your mom’s here right?”
Rachel presses her palm against her forehead. “Jesus christ. Now I know where Sophie gets it from.”
--
Rachel’s dads stay for two weeks after Madeline’s born and Quinn’s mom stays for three.
Mike’s mom doesn’t leave for a month and a half.
She worries constantly that she’s overstaying her welcome but it’s not the case. Sophie is fascinated by new people and so she sticks to Julia’s side almost the entire time. It gives Rachel and Quinn time to sleep and tend to the babies as well as help Mike unpack the house.
They have dinner as a family and even though Julia cooks these really weird soups for them that’s supposed to promote fast healing and stimulate breast milk (not that they need help with that), it’s nice. Nobody brings up Mr. Chang but Quinn sometimes hears her in the bathroom, talking quickly in Cantonese underneath her breath.
She’s courteous and great with the kids but Rachel can tell she’s not sure what to make of the three of them. She watches them carefully, a lot like Rachel’s dads did in the beginning, and she knows it’s a lot to handle but sometimes it makes her nervous. Rachel feels bad when she exits the shower with Quinn in tow because of course that’s when Mrs. Chang is coming out of Sophie’s room. It’s appropriate for her relationship but anger flashes over Mrs. Chang’s face before she relaxes before smiling at them and going back into the living room (it’s not even like they were doing anything considering they just gave birth but Rachel supposes that’s not really what Julia’s problem is). She hates how Mrs. Chang looks at her with pity as Mike laces fingers with Quinn, the two of them sharing a tender kiss as Rachel goes over her script when they’re all in the living room. She does the same thing with Quinn whenever Rachel and Mike have a moment without their blonde.
“It’s a lot to deal with,” Quinn says, running her hands up and down Rachel’s arms. Mike’s asleep on Rachel’s lap, his leg jiggling so bad that it’s starting to shake the bed a little bit. After all these years, Rachel and Quinn are convinced he’s incapable of staying still. “And she is helping.”
“I just don’t like feeling awkward in my own home.”
“Hm?” Mike digs his face into her stomach before looking up at both of them. “What’re you talking about?”
“Go back to sleep, baby.”
“G’night dolls. I love you.”
The girls echo him and Quinn nips at Rachel’s shoulder. “Talk to her tomorrow then,” she whispers. One of the babies start crying and Quinn slips out of bed.
Before Rachel can talk to Mrs. Chang about it, the older woman confronts her. “I’ve been rude,” she says, putting down a plate of toast and egg substitute. “I think that you and Quinn are lovely girls but it’s very hard for me to remember that this is okay with everyone.” Mrs. Chang tucks her hair behind her ears before sipping at her tea. “I’m sure your parents had problems accepting this.”
“They did,” Rachel says with a nod.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I really do just want to help and get to know my grandchildren.”
Rachel looks at her suspiciously. “Did Mike talk to you before he left?”
Mrs. Chang smiles. “Yes, but I do mean every word.”
--
When Sophie is six, she refuses to speak to in English. It’s hell for Quinn because the only second language she knows is Spanish and the only one who could teach Sophie that is her. It also doesn’t help that Sophie can only speak broken Yiddish and Cantonese because even Mike and Rachel have a hard time understanding her. Then of course Sophie will also combine both languages and none of her parents know what the hell she’s saying. The worst part is that Halden and Madeline are picking up on it too.
Quinn is sitting in front of the babies, shaking her head as they shout something in Cantonese, Sophie grinning deviously behind them. “What are they saying?” Sophie giggles madly. “We’ve got to do something about this,” Quinn says when Mike and Rachel walk in, their arms full of groceries.
The babies exclaim whatever it is they’re saying and Mike nearly drops the milk in his hand. “Sophie where did you learn that word?”
“Ma ma.”
“Speak English.” Sophie shakes her head and sits on her hands. “If you don’t start speaking English, you’re not allowed to come to the studio with me anymore.” Sophie’s impish face drops and she scrambles to her feet, throwing her hands over the babies’ mouths.
“Sh sh sh,” she tells them. “Stop that! You’re going to get me in trouble and I have to dance!”
--
Mike’s at work and Quinn took Halden to the library so it’s just Rachel and the girls at home. Rachel most certainly does not have favorites but the girls are more likely to let loose than Halden. They’re having a tea party, complete with finger sandwiches and play dresses. Madeline has one of Quinn’s hats on and it keeps dropping over her eyes. Sophie tips it back, smiling at her little sister. “This is such a delightful hat darling,” Sophie says in some accent that sounds like a mix between Swedish and southern.
Madeline smiles, picking up her tea cup with her pinkie out. “It’s from my wife. She’s the Queen of France!”
Rachel tries to hide her laugh by taking a bite of her sandwich. “Where ever did you get that necklace, Momma?”
“It was in a treasure chest I found.”
Sophie instantly wrinkles her nose. “You’re not a pirate are you?”
“Would it be bad if I was?”
“They’re smelly.”
“But Momma says we can be whatever we want to be,” Madeline pipes up, pushing her blonde bangs out of her face. “If Momma wants to be a pirate, she can be a pirate.”
Sophie looks at Rachel suspiciously and taps her fingers against her chin. “Are you a pirate?” Rachel nods because, why not? Sophie jumps to her feet nearly knocking over the table and points a finger at her mother. “I knew it! I knew you were the one who killed my husband for his money!” Madeline gasps, clutching her dress and scampering away from Rachel. “Murderer!” They really need to take The Lion King out of their movie rotation because Rachel feels like Scar just accused her. Sophie wields her Barbie like a sword, wrapping an arm around her sister.
“I did nothing of the sort!”
“There’s only one way to be sure. You have to sing!”
“Soap, why are you making her sing,” Madeline asks, bending her hat so that it looks more like a bonnet as she looks like at her mom. “Why do you have to sing.”
“Sh sh,” Sophie says, cover Madeline’s mouth. “The pirate who killed my husband was singing a song when she did it! You have to sing ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ so I can see if they’re the same!”
Madeline grins widely. “Oh. Yes, yes, you’ve got to sing!”
When Mike comes home a few minutes later they’re dancing around Sophie’s room, Rachel crooning, “You, my, brown eyed girls.”
--
Quinn gets pregnant again and Sophie could pretty much care less. It makes sense considering she was around for the babies (which they realize they’ll have to stop calling them that). Halden and Madeline are completely mesmerized by Quinn’s stomach.
“You look really full,” Madeline tells her one night as she’s washing the dishes.
Halden scoffs from the other side of her legs. “You’re not supposed to tell ladies that.” Quinn bends down and gives her son a huge kiss.
Once Quinn reaches five months they more or less get it and one night when they’re all home, they decide to plaster Quinn’s stomach. They did it with all the other kids but this is by far the messiest since everyone insists on helping. Halden and Madeline keep rubbing Vaseline on their bellies, exclaiming that they want to match Mommy. The entire container is gone before Mike can rub some on Quinn’s breast. They have to improvise with some of Rachel’s cocoa butter and the kids start getting antsy. “Can we put the stuff on,” Sophie asks.
“You’ve got to keep your gloves on if you do, okay?” Mike covers Quinn’s belly button and then has the kids line up. One by one he takes the kids by the hands, helping them lay the gauze on Quinn’s belly.
When it’s Halden’s turn the baby kicks and he jumps back against Mike. He looks up at Quinn worriedly. “Did the baby hurt you, Mommy?”
Quinn shakes her head. “Course not, sweet boy.”
“Watch this,” Rachel says, taking Halden’s hand and pushing it against the skin of until the baby thumps against his tiny palm.
“That’s…” He pulls his hand out of Rachel’s, shaking his head. “I’m done. I’m going to go read my book now.”
Madeline tugs on Rachel’s shorts. “Can we do my belly too?”
Rachel blows Madeline’s hair out of her eyes since her hands are dirty and then shakes her head. “No sweetie. It’s just for Mommy.”
“Then why is Soap doing it,” Halden asks and the three parents turn to look at their eight year old who is about to lay one of the gauze strips on her stomach.
“You know better than that Sophie,” Quinn exclaims, trying to get up before realizing that her stomach is still wet. Mike pulls the strip from her tiny hands and she stomps her foot against the tarp they laid out.
At the end of the day, they have a cast of Quinn’s stomach as well as three tiny casts of the kids’.
--
Rachel has rehearsals for a new show and since Quinn’s maternity leave doesn’t start for another two weeks, Mike takes the kids to the studio with him. The girls love it but Halden prefers to sit against the mirrors and read the books he picked up last week with Quinn. There’s not another class coming in till 2 and so the girls have free reign of the floor. They go through tap and classical while he sits with Halden on his lap, helping him through one of the bigger books he picked up. “What’s that word, Daddy?”
“Department.”
Halden nods. “Corduroy is a bear who lived in the toy department of a big store.” He keeps reading slowly and Mike has to admit, he’s pretty proud of his little guy for being able to read above his level. Mike looks up to see the girls attempting to waltz with one another but they can’t seem to figure out who leads so they just end up twirling with their hands clasped together.
“Daddy, can you teach us how to do the popping thing,” Sophie asks and Madeline nods wildly next to her. Even Halden stops reading mid-sentence, letting the book fall to the hard wood floors.
“It might be a little hard for you guys, especially you two nuggets.” He runs his hands over Halden’s head and Madeline glares.
“I’m not a nugget.”
Mike laughs and stands up, holding Halden by his stomach before setting him on the ground. “Sorry, sorry. Come on, let’s get your hair back and then we’ll try.” Sophie tries her best to put her own hair up but she’s missing a good chunk. He carefully piles Madeline’s hair on top of her head then waves Sophie over. She insists she can do it herself so Mike waits patiently as she tries two more times before sighs and hands him the hair tie.
Soph is almost too graceful to do this. She moves a lot like Quinn, a ballerina at heart, whereas Madeline and Halden seem to pick it up almost immediately. It starts irritating his oldest and she’s about two seconds away from throwing a fit when Rachel and Quinn walk in. That ends the mini lesson and he instead dances around with his entire family until it’s time for his next class.
--
Mike’s hands grip hard enough at Quinn’s hips to leave a mark and she has to dig her nails into Mike’s chest in order to stop herself from suffocating him. “God,” she moans once she looks up and sees Rachel twisting one painfully hard nipple between her fingers, the other hand pressing against Mike’s stomach as she rides him faster. The tongue that was thrusting in and out of her disappears and Mike wraps his lips around her clit.
Her thighs tighten around his head and Rachel grabs her by the back of her head, trying to muffle Quinn’s scream with her mouth. Quinn can feel Mike’s smile between her legs and she tries to push herself off but he keeps her in place, lapping at the wet heat in front of him.
“Mike,” she wheezes, laughing a little as she presses her forehead against Rachel’s. “I’ll suffocate you if you don’t let me get down. They can’t really hear what he says next since he’s still licking her but it sounds a lot like ‘worth it’. Rachel’s stopped moving herself on top of him but she clenches around him and it throws Mike off because his hands slackens, he loses track of the pattern he had on Quinn’s clit.
There’s a soft tap at their door, the doorknob rattling a little before there’s another tap. “Mommas? Daddy?”
Quinn pats Mike’s hands and they curve over her stomach before falling to his sides. The blonde gets off the bed, earning a swat on her ass from Rachel, and she pulls on Mike’s robe. When she turns around, Rachel’s practically licking at Mike’s lips. “God, I love how she tastes on you.”
The ache returns between her legs and she tightens the robe before skittering to the door. She opens the door wide enough just to let herself, coughing when Rachel moans loudly.
It’s Halden, his brown curls sticking every which way and his thumb is in his mouth. “What is it, sweet boy?” She gently tugs his hand out of his mouth and takes his hand, walking them back to the bedroom he shares with Madeline.
“Mad is crying.” Their daughter is sitting up in her bed when they walk in and her blonde hair is sticking to the side of her face.
“Close your eyes, I’m turning on the light.” The light illuminates the room and Quinn sees throw up all over Madeline’s bed. “Oh, baby.” Halden grabs the blanket from his bed, running over to Madeline and he carefully wipes her face.
“It’s okay, Mad.” He pets the clean side of her hair and Quinn bites her lip.
“I’ll be right back babies.”
Rachel’s collapsed on top of Mike and Quinn sighs. “Put on some clothes. Madeline threw up in her bed. It’s all in her hair.”
“Halden okay,” Mike asks and Quinn nods from the dresser. She throws Rachel and Mike pajamas and then slips into a pair of her own pajama pants.
“I’ll go start the shower,” Rachel says as she pulls a shirt over her head. Mike trips over a doll on his way to the babies’ room and he’s surprised to see Sophie in the room too. He very quickly realizes she’s heaving too and his eyes widen. Picking her up from underneath his arms, he races them to the bathroom, almost knocking Rachel down in order to get Sophie over the toilet in enough time. He pulls back her hair and Rachel sighs heavily, pressing a kiss to Mike’s shoulder. “I’ll get Madeline.”
An hour later Quinn, Rachel, and Mike sit down at the kitchen table. Halden is sleeping against Rachel’s shoulder and Mike looks back at the girls who finally fell asleep on the couch. “He’s going to make someone very happy someday,” Quinn muses when Halden tightens his grip on Rachel’s neck. Though their eyes are different, he definitely looks the most like Rachel and if she weren’t so exhausted, she’d snap a picture of them right now.
Rachel smiles. “Cleaning up vomit so willingly is definitely a wonderful trait.”
“We’re pretty good at this, huh?” The girls look at Mike with small smiles. Rachel takes his hand in hers while Quinn stands up, wrapping her arms around Mike’s head when he presses against her stomach.