There's Always Brooklyn - Chapter Twenty-Eight
Title: There's Always Brooklyn
Author: Sio and Maura
Artist: raingoddess2040
Type: AU Post On My Way, future femslash with a het side pairing
Word Count: 195,092
Rating: NC-17 for later chapters
Characters/Pairings: Rachel/Santana, Quinn/OMC, past Quinn/Rachel, Santana/Brittany, near miss Quinn/Santana, Quinn/Rachel
Warnings (highlight to read): Explicit sexual content in later chapters, talk of presumed non-con (no actual), minor off-screen violence, strong language, external/general homophobia, child (not kink), parenting (not kink)
Summary: Six years ago, Santana Lopez disappeared following graduation. The costs for therapy and rehab to get out of her chair, made Quinn Fabray realize she couldn't have Yale, so she went with her second acceptance - NYU. Rachel Berry missed out on NYADA but made it into Tisch, only to find herself as roommates with Quinn after tearing herself away from Finn to go to New York. Eventually a gin soaked night led to a tormented relationship that eventually was surrendered to save their fading friendship. When Rachel finally managed to land a Broadway lead under Quinn's management, they were shocked by who showed up for the latest opening as Rachel's assistant.
What neither of them had ever expected was that she'd have a child with her. One she'd ran away to New York to be able to have without the shame Quinn had gone through.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Quinn felt wrung out. She knew she'd only agreed to attend therapy because of her deal with Santana, but she hadn't realized it would take so much out over her. Every session felt like another of her layers of defense being peeled off and thrown away. She knew it was helping and that she probably should have done it ages ago, but after every session she just felt so raw that she hated it.
So when she spotted a copy of the National Enquirer with a full color photo of what looked decidedly like Santana and Rachel kissing on a beach somewhere sunny, she felt like screaming in frustration. Instead she slapped down the four dollars to buy the rag and stormed off towards her office with it clenched in one white-knuckled fist.
Rachel had promised it wouldn't be a problem! She'd promised! It made Quinn's heart clench with a mixture of fear and anger that always made her far more irritable than usual. Damn them!
"Sandy, could you get Santana Lopez on the phone?" she asked with barely restrained politeness as she passed her secretary. "I need to speak with her. And yes, I know she's on vacation. It's urgent."
Slamming her office door behind her, she threw herself into her office chair with an irritated huff. "First they lie to me and don't even trust me enough to let me know what's happening with my best friends and now this?!" She flung the battered tabloid down on her desk, glaring at it. "I'm going to wring her damn neck! Is she trying to destroy her damn career?!"
Santana picked up the phone and cradled it to her ear, "Fabray, this better be good, I have a cranky child and jetlag."
"You also have a front page spread on the National Enquirer," Quinn growled into her phone. "What the hell were you thinking making out with Rachel in public when you know how important it is she comes across as straight right now!?"
"What!" Santana exclaimed, "We never did that in public! We went to the beach with brooke and that's it!"
"Great, because apparently someone decided to snap some candids of you two being all over each other while at the beach. God, Santana, is it that hard to not kiss her in public?"
"I didn't!" Santana exclaimed, "The closest we got was when Brooklyn demanded she wake me up like Sleeping Beauty!"
Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not what this photo looks like. God, the studio is going to blow this all out of proportion. Damn those miserable bastards and their damn family values."
"Q... is...Is my daughter in the photo?" She asked softly.
"If she is, I can't tell," Quinn shrugged, looking at the photo. "Maybe Rachel was blocking her from the photographer or she was just out of frame. I don't know how we're going to handle this, Santana."
"Check in the pages. Is she anywhere in there." She demanded, "I don't fucking care about anything else, just check the pages to see if Brooklyn is shown."
"Give me a minute," Quinn snapped, the rustling of the pages as she flicked through them clearly audible over the phone. "No... no... I don't see her. I mean, there might be an arm or something once or twice, but she's pretty much blocked by either you or Rachel it looks like."
"Good." Santana exhaled, "I... I can't do this." She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "I can't live like this. Rachel said is was a private beach. I would have never gone if she hadn't assured me..."
"Beaches are private. The ocean however, isn't. I'd guess these were taken from a boat," Quinn groaned. "Santana, this is a mess. What are you going to do? I'm going to be scrambling to keep the studio from trying to fire her over it, but what about you?"
"I'm gonna quit." Santana said softly, "I'm not risking everything for a shitty job. I'm not."
"Christ," Quinn breathed. "How's Rachel going to take that? I don't want to deal with her divaing out all over the place on top of everything else."
"You got her into this mess, Quinn. The studio will want to fire someone. Let it be me. Let them fire me for whatever it is that they think Rachel is doing." She sighed, "I'm protecting her, i'm protecting all of us."
Quinn picked up a pen, chewing on the end of it as she considered. "Are you going to dump her again? I'm assuming you're back together again after all."
"I'm not," Santana said. "Not that it's any of your business," she snapped almost hurt that Quinn asked the question. "I'm just removing myself from this situation."
"Well, at least there's that," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "She was a mess when you dumped her the first time, Santana. If you feel you have to quit, fine. Just," she shook her head, "just don't give up on her again. Alright?"
"I didn't give up on her the first time, but thanks for that keen insight into my life, Quinn." Santana scowled, "Just deal with her work."
"She is one of my best friends, Santana," Quinn growled. "I don't want her hurt."
"I'm not gonna hurt her." Santana sighed, "I just can't work for her if this is going to happen. We can be together... but I can't do this. I can't be scared that next time they'll get a glimpse of Brooklyn."
"Alright, fine. You can't work for her. I'll draw the paperwork up, but Santana," she murmured almost worriedly, "what are you going to do?"
"I'll get a job somewhere else." She sighed, "I can figure it out."
"Will you talk to her?" she asked softly. "Please don't make this come from me. It'll make it seem like I fired you no matter how I put it. You know how little she talks to me now..."
"I'll call her." Santana sighed, "It'll be fine."
Quinn laughed mirthlessly, "I doubt she'll talk to me after you quit on top of everything else. I thought this movie would be good for her career. I never thought it would ruin everything."
"It will be good. She's just a diva." Santana sighed, "It's not your fault, I'll make sure she knows."
"If I can do anything to help you, Santana," Quinn trailed off, leaving the offer open ended.
"I know." Santana sighed, "Do... you wanna get lunch or something now that i'm back?"
"Sure," she nodded, "I'd like that. Is... is Brooklyn around? Doctor Reynard says I should try spending time with her in a neutral environment to try and get over my... anxieties."
"Sure." Santana said, "Little monkey child can come with us. We can go anytime. She's off from camp this week so it's just her and me."
"That's," Quinn took a breath, "that's good. Just let me know when the best time would be for you. Santana," she hesitated before offering, "do you want me to officially fire you so you can get a severance package and qualify for unemployment if you can't find work right away?"
"That's up to you Quinn." She sighed, "Talk to the studio and them come back to me. Offer me up as a scapegoat for her... She shouldn't get in trouble because of me"
"You mean because she's in love with you," she murmured, almost too softly for the phone to pick up. "Don't act like I'm not right, Santana. We both know she's been ready to sacrifice her career for you and your kid once already."
"This is the reason why I won't let her lose everything." Santana said softly, "It's not fair to her."
"Is it fair to you?" she asked. "You're my friend too, Santana. This whole thing between the two of you has me all confused as to who I'm supposed to be protecting." She gave a short laugh, "Maybe I should threaten both of you if you hurt each other."
"We're fine." Santana said softly, "We can set up a lunch for Wednesday? That way we can get some time to deal with Rachel and have our time to think about what we should do."
"Sure, I can do that. And food preferences?" She smirked, "It'll be a chance to go out somewhere that isn't vegan friendly if you want."
"That's fine. As long as they have something the kid can eat." She smiled, "So no sushi."
"She can't have sushi now? I thought she just had an allergy to tree nuts?" Quinn sounded worried.
"She does have an allergy to tree nuts, she just is grossed out by sushi." Santana said, "So am I actually so it works out."
She laughed, "Well, that's good because I prefer things like mac and cheese and burgers when I have an excuse to eat something indulgent. Is that okay with you? Or we could go to a salad place if you want."
"No salad!" Santana exclaimed, "That's all I ate in LA... I feel like a fucking rabbit."
"Alright, no salad!" Quinn laughed. "Though I'm surprised Rachel didn't offer to make you things that aren't vegan. She didn't seem to have a major problem with it when we lived together as long as I didn't try to make her eat it and let her avoid the non-kosher meats."
"She did, but I hate soy and I don't want Brooklyn to eat it so we stayed in salad land. Brooklyn was not so happy."
"Santana, you know she'll use regular cheese on things for you and Brooklyn," she chided gently. "But you just name a place you and Brooklyn like and we'll go there. Sound good?"
"Cool. I'll text you. Go and talk to the movie people and we can figure out where to go from there."
"Alright. I'll see you on Wednesday." Hanging up the phone, Quinn called out to Sandy at the desk, "Sandy, get John Palmer on the phone, I need to do damage control."
Santana held her daughter's hand as they entered the restaurant. She smiled when she noticed the tuft of blonde hair settled over in the corner of the restaurant. They headed over and stopped over at the side of the booth. "Hey, Quinn."
"Hello, Santana," she smiled up at her, setting the menu down. "Hi there, Brooklyn. Did you enjoy your trip to LA?"
"Yes," Brooklyn said shyly, "I got a bag of seashells, I brought you one." She said as she pulled her backpack off her shoulders and handed a envelope of seashells to Quinn.
"Oh wow," she breathed, accepting the envelope. "You didn't have to do that, Brooklyn. But thank you very much." She smiled at the little girl as her and her mom slid into the booth across from them. "How did you like LA, Santana?" she asked conversationally, not trying to pick a fight.
"It was good," Santana said as she helped Brooklyn get situated inside the booth. "We had a good time, very relaxing." She shrugged, pulled off her sunglasses her eyes puffy from crying the night before and the morning because of the whole situation.
"That's good," Quinn nodded. After a moment debating with herself, she reached across the table to squeeze Santana's hand. "I'm going to keep them away from you and Brooklyn, Santana. You don't have to break up with Rachel. I'll make sure of it. Okay?"
"I know." She said taking a sip of the water that was brought to her. "It's just... I can't sleep. It's hard to be focused when I'm scared that there are more photo's coming or that they will mention us by name."
"I'll keep you out of it," she reassured her. "I promise. It's kind of what my company does, Santana. Don't worry. Just," she paused, taking a breath, "try not to be hurt when the official word is she denies all of it as a hoax. She has to right now, but it's going to be a special kind of hell convincing her that it's necessary."
Brooklyn picked up her crayons and started coloring on the placemat, the older woman's eyes shifted towards to daughter and sighed. "I know. I'm just... I never wanted this. I just wanted to be with her and didn't think it would get like this."
"Well, if even half of what she says to me when she's yelling is true," Quinn smirked, recalling their friend's tendency towards hyperbole, "then she definitely wants to be with you too. And this... this is a mess and a half. I don't know what I was thinking agreeing to that stupid decency clause in her contract. I can promise you this though, I won't be accepting any scripts produced by that studio anymore. The roll was just so perfect for her though..."
"It's fine. It's only a few more months." She said, "Brooklyn, baby what do you want for lunch?"
"Can I have..." She looked thoughtful and looked at the kids menu. "What do you think looks yummy?"
"There's mac and cheese with chicken," Quinn pointed out, trying to engage the child more.
Brooklyn looked at it, "Is it crispy chickens?" She asked, "Cuz, I only likes that."
"Maybe we could ask for chicken fingers with mac and cheese on the side?" she suggested. "Rachel told me you like mac and cheese. Is that right?"
"She's right!" Brooklyn smiled, "I loves it." She squirmed as she coloured, "What are you gonna eat?"
"I think I'll have a grilled chicken sandwich. Maybe with fries if you'd like to share?" she smiled at Brooklyn before turning to Santana, "What about you?"
"I think Buffalo chicken wrap and sweet potato fries." She smiled, "Brooke why don't you tell Quinn about school and what you are doing next week."
"I'm going pony riding! We're going out of the city and riding the horses!"
"Really? That sounds like a lot of fun," Quinn smiled at her after giving their order to the waiter who took their menus. "I used to love going to camp and riding in the summer when I was little. Be really careful though, okay? I don't want to hear about you getting hurt."
"I won't, Mommy is coming with me." She smiled and continued coloring, "I'm excited. I get to go on ponies and go camping with Mommy!"
"You just wanna see mommy get all dusty from the horses," Santana mumbled with a smile.
"Oh, I'd almost pay to see that," Quinn smirked at Santana. "You getting all dirty on purpose. Such a change from high school."
"Shush you." Santana scowled, "It's for Brooklyn.'"
"Oh?" She smirked, teasing her, "What if it was for Rachel?"
"She does not get to go camping." Santana stated as she ordered her food for her and Brooklyn, "She gets nice hotels and beds where it's cozy."
"Oh, so you wouldn't go camping with her if she asked?" Quinn teased, leaning back when their food arrived and starting to prepare her sandwich.
"She would never ask," Santana laughed as she leaned over and helped Brooklyn cut her chicken tenders.
"You're probably right," she agreed with a smile. "But I think I'd pay to see the two of you trying to camp. Would likely be the most hilarious thing ever."
"Never going to happen." She smiled as she ate a fry, "It would be an act of God."
"Better be careful to say your prayers right then," Quinn teased, taking a bite out of her sandwich. After a bit, her smile softened. "Santana... thanks for making me go to see Doctor Reynard. I think I needed to."
Santana smiled, "Me too..." She said softly, "But I'm glad it's helping you. it's something that we should have done a long time ago."
Quinn shrugged, "We're doing it now and that's what counts, right? I want to be happy with Ajay and," she gave a tiny smile, "maybe I kind am starting to like the idea of having a kid with him someday. I need to come to terms with giving up Beth if I want that to happen."
Santana smiled, "That's good."
"You wanna have a baby!" Brooklyn piped in, "That would be awesome! I wants little friends to play with, I want mommy to have another baby, too." She said off handedly. She continued to munch on her chicken after she talked despite Santana's glare.
Quinn laughed. "Not right now, Brooke. But maybe in a few years when I'm more established in my job. You'll help babysit though, right? Cause you'll be a big girl by then."
The little girl looked excited, "Really! Will I be a really be big enough? I'm only five!" She said, "I wanna help!"
"You can help, you might be big enough by then," Santana said, trying to not talk about having more kids.
"Almost definitely," she agreed, glancing at Santana, "I think you being big enough to help out will be a requirement to any of us having a baby, so it'll be a few years yet. Okay?"
She thought for a few minutes, "Mommy? You not have another baby before then?" She asked softly, "I want a little brother or sister."
"Your mom's with Rachel, sweetheart," Quinn reminded her as she munched on a fry. "So she has to wait until Rachel's ready because it's extra hard for two women to have a baby together. But I'm sure they'll talk about it when they're ready. Until then maybe you can hang out with me and teach me about the things I'd need to know to be a mom as good as yours when I'm ready to have a baby?"
"Okay!" She smiled, cheese smeared on her cheeks. "Mommy and Rachel should have a baby though, I want that for my family." she said not noticing how much of a blush Santana had across her face.
"Maybe they will," Quinn teased, smirking at Santana, "but not until they're ready, okay? Let them give you all the attention for now, okay?"
Santana just munch on her sandwich. "Okay," Brooklyn pouted, "I get to play with you and Jay too?"
"Definitely." She reached over to tousle her hair affectionately. "You're going to be our number one teacher about how to be good parents, right?"
"Can I just be your favorite little girl?" She asked, "I rather be that."
"You can definitely be that, Brooklyn." Quinn smiled at her. "You're all of our favorite girl. Me, Ajay, and your mom and Rachel most of all."
"Mommy is my mom!" she giggled before snuggling into Santana's side and stealing french fries. "And Rachel is my Rachie." She munched happily.
"You are a very loved little one, Brooklyn." Santana cooed, as she kissed her child's head before pulling her onto her lap.
"Very loved," Quinn murmured with a little nod. "Santana, I'm going to officially fire you as far as HR is concerned so I can give you a severance package. It won't be a lot, but it should give you a nice cushion until you can find other work. You're still living in Rachel's apartment, right?"
"Yeah, so we don't have to worry about rent, I just need the health insurance." She said as she cuddled her daughter.
Quinn nodded, "Yeah, that's about what I thought. Okay. I probably can't squeeze more than a month or two out of HR on the regular plan, but with a little wiggling I think I should be able to get you qualified for COBRA. That'll give you at least 18 months to find something better. If cost is a problem, I'm sure Rachel will help out where she can. She's rather attached to the two of you after all."
"We should be fine, we had COBRA before so it's not that hard. Plus, Brooklyn can go on the state plan because she's a child." She said as she finished her wrap. "We should be fine."
"Alright. I promise a glowing letter of recommendation to whomever you want," she nodded, eating the last of her sandwich. "And you know if you need any help, you can ask Rachel or me." She smiled softly, reaching over to squeeze Santana's hand, "You and Rachel are the closest thing I have to family any more, Santana. I promise, if you need me, I'll be there for you."
"Thank you," Santana said, "you're family, too."
"Damn straight," she nodded. "Who else would bail you out with benefits when Rachel drags you into a mess?" she smirked.
She chuckled, "Yeah well... I got into it willingly." she reminded Quinn as she rested her head on Brooklyn's shoulder. "What's on for you the rest of the afternoon?"
"Yelling at people, coffee, more yelling at people," she ticked the points off on her fingers, "talking to Ajay, more yell... no, wait, that's my boss so wheedling followed by yelling at people and topped of with begging Ajay to pick me up and take me home."
Brooklyn giggled, "Your silly, Auntie Quinn." She beamed as she watched the blonde.
Quinn laughed, "Thank you, Brooke. I try. But all of that is because your Rachie likes to make work for me. Sometimes she even makes me want to scream," she smirked, glancing at Santana for support.
"She is a special kind of crazy," Santana smiled. "I'm sorry if this gets you in trouble."
"Don't worry about it. She once was responsible for me getting arrested and spending the weekend in jail before she managed to find the cash to bail me out," she shook her head with a fond smile. "In comparison, this is nothing."
Santana laughed, "Sounds about right." She dug some cash out of her bag and put it on the table. "Thanks for lunching with us."
"Next time it's on me," Quinn smirked, "it's only fair after all. I'll bring the paperwork by in a couple days to finalize everything, but I hope you won't be a stranger."
"Can't get rid of me that easy." Santana said as she slid out of the booth and Brooklyn tugged on Quinns skirt.
"Aunty Quinn?"
Quinn crouched down to eye level with the youngster. "Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can I hug you?" She asked softly.
Not even looking to Santana for reassurance for once, she opened her arms to the little girl. "Of course you can."
Brooklyn hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Auntie Quinn." She said brightly before going back to her mom.
"You're welcome and any time, okay?" She smiled up at Santana before straightening back up. "I'm trying," she murmured.
Santana leaned over and hugged Quinn. "It helps that my little brown Asian baby looks nothing like Beth, right?" She joked, "Talk to you soon."
"It helps a little," she agreed with a smirk. "Take care of your family, San, and stay out of trouble for a bit."
"We're gonna have some family time," Santana said as she picked her daughter up. "Talk to you later."
"Later, you two," Quinn waved, watching them head out of the restaurant.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Author: Sio and Maura
Artist: raingoddess2040
Type: AU Post On My Way, future femslash with a het side pairing
Word Count: 195,092
Rating: NC-17 for later chapters
Characters/Pairings: Rachel/Santana, Quinn/OMC, past Quinn/Rachel, Santana/Brittany, near miss Quinn/Santana, Quinn/Rachel
Warnings (highlight to read): Explicit sexual content in later chapters, talk of presumed non-con (no actual), minor off-screen violence, strong language, external/general homophobia, child (not kink), parenting (not kink)
Summary: Six years ago, Santana Lopez disappeared following graduation. The costs for therapy and rehab to get out of her chair, made Quinn Fabray realize she couldn't have Yale, so she went with her second acceptance - NYU. Rachel Berry missed out on NYADA but made it into Tisch, only to find herself as roommates with Quinn after tearing herself away from Finn to go to New York. Eventually a gin soaked night led to a tormented relationship that eventually was surrendered to save their fading friendship. When Rachel finally managed to land a Broadway lead under Quinn's management, they were shocked by who showed up for the latest opening as Rachel's assistant.
What neither of them had ever expected was that she'd have a child with her. One she'd ran away to New York to be able to have without the shame Quinn had gone through.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Quinn felt wrung out. She knew she'd only agreed to attend therapy because of her deal with Santana, but she hadn't realized it would take so much out over her. Every session felt like another of her layers of defense being peeled off and thrown away. She knew it was helping and that she probably should have done it ages ago, but after every session she just felt so raw that she hated it.
So when she spotted a copy of the National Enquirer with a full color photo of what looked decidedly like Santana and Rachel kissing on a beach somewhere sunny, she felt like screaming in frustration. Instead she slapped down the four dollars to buy the rag and stormed off towards her office with it clenched in one white-knuckled fist.
Rachel had promised it wouldn't be a problem! She'd promised! It made Quinn's heart clench with a mixture of fear and anger that always made her far more irritable than usual. Damn them!
"Sandy, could you get Santana Lopez on the phone?" she asked with barely restrained politeness as she passed her secretary. "I need to speak with her. And yes, I know she's on vacation. It's urgent."
Slamming her office door behind her, she threw herself into her office chair with an irritated huff. "First they lie to me and don't even trust me enough to let me know what's happening with my best friends and now this?!" She flung the battered tabloid down on her desk, glaring at it. "I'm going to wring her damn neck! Is she trying to destroy her damn career?!"
Santana picked up the phone and cradled it to her ear, "Fabray, this better be good, I have a cranky child and jetlag."
"You also have a front page spread on the National Enquirer," Quinn growled into her phone. "What the hell were you thinking making out with Rachel in public when you know how important it is she comes across as straight right now!?"
"What!" Santana exclaimed, "We never did that in public! We went to the beach with brooke and that's it!"
"Great, because apparently someone decided to snap some candids of you two being all over each other while at the beach. God, Santana, is it that hard to not kiss her in public?"
"I didn't!" Santana exclaimed, "The closest we got was when Brooklyn demanded she wake me up like Sleeping Beauty!"
Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not what this photo looks like. God, the studio is going to blow this all out of proportion. Damn those miserable bastards and their damn family values."
"Q... is...Is my daughter in the photo?" She asked softly.
"If she is, I can't tell," Quinn shrugged, looking at the photo. "Maybe Rachel was blocking her from the photographer or she was just out of frame. I don't know how we're going to handle this, Santana."
"Check in the pages. Is she anywhere in there." She demanded, "I don't fucking care about anything else, just check the pages to see if Brooklyn is shown."
"Give me a minute," Quinn snapped, the rustling of the pages as she flicked through them clearly audible over the phone. "No... no... I don't see her. I mean, there might be an arm or something once or twice, but she's pretty much blocked by either you or Rachel it looks like."
"Good." Santana exhaled, "I... I can't do this." She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "I can't live like this. Rachel said is was a private beach. I would have never gone if she hadn't assured me..."
"Beaches are private. The ocean however, isn't. I'd guess these were taken from a boat," Quinn groaned. "Santana, this is a mess. What are you going to do? I'm going to be scrambling to keep the studio from trying to fire her over it, but what about you?"
"I'm gonna quit." Santana said softly, "I'm not risking everything for a shitty job. I'm not."
"Christ," Quinn breathed. "How's Rachel going to take that? I don't want to deal with her divaing out all over the place on top of everything else."
"You got her into this mess, Quinn. The studio will want to fire someone. Let it be me. Let them fire me for whatever it is that they think Rachel is doing." She sighed, "I'm protecting her, i'm protecting all of us."
Quinn picked up a pen, chewing on the end of it as she considered. "Are you going to dump her again? I'm assuming you're back together again after all."
"I'm not," Santana said. "Not that it's any of your business," she snapped almost hurt that Quinn asked the question. "I'm just removing myself from this situation."
"Well, at least there's that," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "She was a mess when you dumped her the first time, Santana. If you feel you have to quit, fine. Just," she shook her head, "just don't give up on her again. Alright?"
"I didn't give up on her the first time, but thanks for that keen insight into my life, Quinn." Santana scowled, "Just deal with her work."
"She is one of my best friends, Santana," Quinn growled. "I don't want her hurt."
"I'm not gonna hurt her." Santana sighed, "I just can't work for her if this is going to happen. We can be together... but I can't do this. I can't be scared that next time they'll get a glimpse of Brooklyn."
"Alright, fine. You can't work for her. I'll draw the paperwork up, but Santana," she murmured almost worriedly, "what are you going to do?"
"I'll get a job somewhere else." She sighed, "I can figure it out."
"Will you talk to her?" she asked softly. "Please don't make this come from me. It'll make it seem like I fired you no matter how I put it. You know how little she talks to me now..."
"I'll call her." Santana sighed, "It'll be fine."
Quinn laughed mirthlessly, "I doubt she'll talk to me after you quit on top of everything else. I thought this movie would be good for her career. I never thought it would ruin everything."
"It will be good. She's just a diva." Santana sighed, "It's not your fault, I'll make sure she knows."
"If I can do anything to help you, Santana," Quinn trailed off, leaving the offer open ended.
"I know." Santana sighed, "Do... you wanna get lunch or something now that i'm back?"
"Sure," she nodded, "I'd like that. Is... is Brooklyn around? Doctor Reynard says I should try spending time with her in a neutral environment to try and get over my... anxieties."
"Sure." Santana said, "Little monkey child can come with us. We can go anytime. She's off from camp this week so it's just her and me."
"That's," Quinn took a breath, "that's good. Just let me know when the best time would be for you. Santana," she hesitated before offering, "do you want me to officially fire you so you can get a severance package and qualify for unemployment if you can't find work right away?"
"That's up to you Quinn." She sighed, "Talk to the studio and them come back to me. Offer me up as a scapegoat for her... She shouldn't get in trouble because of me"
"You mean because she's in love with you," she murmured, almost too softly for the phone to pick up. "Don't act like I'm not right, Santana. We both know she's been ready to sacrifice her career for you and your kid once already."
"This is the reason why I won't let her lose everything." Santana said softly, "It's not fair to her."
"Is it fair to you?" she asked. "You're my friend too, Santana. This whole thing between the two of you has me all confused as to who I'm supposed to be protecting." She gave a short laugh, "Maybe I should threaten both of you if you hurt each other."
"We're fine." Santana said softly, "We can set up a lunch for Wednesday? That way we can get some time to deal with Rachel and have our time to think about what we should do."
"Sure, I can do that. And food preferences?" She smirked, "It'll be a chance to go out somewhere that isn't vegan friendly if you want."
"That's fine. As long as they have something the kid can eat." She smiled, "So no sushi."
"She can't have sushi now? I thought she just had an allergy to tree nuts?" Quinn sounded worried.
"She does have an allergy to tree nuts, she just is grossed out by sushi." Santana said, "So am I actually so it works out."
She laughed, "Well, that's good because I prefer things like mac and cheese and burgers when I have an excuse to eat something indulgent. Is that okay with you? Or we could go to a salad place if you want."
"No salad!" Santana exclaimed, "That's all I ate in LA... I feel like a fucking rabbit."
"Alright, no salad!" Quinn laughed. "Though I'm surprised Rachel didn't offer to make you things that aren't vegan. She didn't seem to have a major problem with it when we lived together as long as I didn't try to make her eat it and let her avoid the non-kosher meats."
"She did, but I hate soy and I don't want Brooklyn to eat it so we stayed in salad land. Brooklyn was not so happy."
"Santana, you know she'll use regular cheese on things for you and Brooklyn," she chided gently. "But you just name a place you and Brooklyn like and we'll go there. Sound good?"
"Cool. I'll text you. Go and talk to the movie people and we can figure out where to go from there."
"Alright. I'll see you on Wednesday." Hanging up the phone, Quinn called out to Sandy at the desk, "Sandy, get John Palmer on the phone, I need to do damage control."
Santana held her daughter's hand as they entered the restaurant. She smiled when she noticed the tuft of blonde hair settled over in the corner of the restaurant. They headed over and stopped over at the side of the booth. "Hey, Quinn."
"Hello, Santana," she smiled up at her, setting the menu down. "Hi there, Brooklyn. Did you enjoy your trip to LA?"
"Yes," Brooklyn said shyly, "I got a bag of seashells, I brought you one." She said as she pulled her backpack off her shoulders and handed a envelope of seashells to Quinn.
"Oh wow," she breathed, accepting the envelope. "You didn't have to do that, Brooklyn. But thank you very much." She smiled at the little girl as her and her mom slid into the booth across from them. "How did you like LA, Santana?" she asked conversationally, not trying to pick a fight.
"It was good," Santana said as she helped Brooklyn get situated inside the booth. "We had a good time, very relaxing." She shrugged, pulled off her sunglasses her eyes puffy from crying the night before and the morning because of the whole situation.
"That's good," Quinn nodded. After a moment debating with herself, she reached across the table to squeeze Santana's hand. "I'm going to keep them away from you and Brooklyn, Santana. You don't have to break up with Rachel. I'll make sure of it. Okay?"
"I know." She said taking a sip of the water that was brought to her. "It's just... I can't sleep. It's hard to be focused when I'm scared that there are more photo's coming or that they will mention us by name."
"I'll keep you out of it," she reassured her. "I promise. It's kind of what my company does, Santana. Don't worry. Just," she paused, taking a breath, "try not to be hurt when the official word is she denies all of it as a hoax. She has to right now, but it's going to be a special kind of hell convincing her that it's necessary."
Brooklyn picked up her crayons and started coloring on the placemat, the older woman's eyes shifted towards to daughter and sighed. "I know. I'm just... I never wanted this. I just wanted to be with her and didn't think it would get like this."
"Well, if even half of what she says to me when she's yelling is true," Quinn smirked, recalling their friend's tendency towards hyperbole, "then she definitely wants to be with you too. And this... this is a mess and a half. I don't know what I was thinking agreeing to that stupid decency clause in her contract. I can promise you this though, I won't be accepting any scripts produced by that studio anymore. The roll was just so perfect for her though..."
"It's fine. It's only a few more months." She said, "Brooklyn, baby what do you want for lunch?"
"Can I have..." She looked thoughtful and looked at the kids menu. "What do you think looks yummy?"
"There's mac and cheese with chicken," Quinn pointed out, trying to engage the child more.
Brooklyn looked at it, "Is it crispy chickens?" She asked, "Cuz, I only likes that."
"Maybe we could ask for chicken fingers with mac and cheese on the side?" she suggested. "Rachel told me you like mac and cheese. Is that right?"
"She's right!" Brooklyn smiled, "I loves it." She squirmed as she coloured, "What are you gonna eat?"
"I think I'll have a grilled chicken sandwich. Maybe with fries if you'd like to share?" she smiled at Brooklyn before turning to Santana, "What about you?"
"I think Buffalo chicken wrap and sweet potato fries." She smiled, "Brooke why don't you tell Quinn about school and what you are doing next week."
"I'm going pony riding! We're going out of the city and riding the horses!"
"Really? That sounds like a lot of fun," Quinn smiled at her after giving their order to the waiter who took their menus. "I used to love going to camp and riding in the summer when I was little. Be really careful though, okay? I don't want to hear about you getting hurt."
"I won't, Mommy is coming with me." She smiled and continued coloring, "I'm excited. I get to go on ponies and go camping with Mommy!"
"You just wanna see mommy get all dusty from the horses," Santana mumbled with a smile.
"Oh, I'd almost pay to see that," Quinn smirked at Santana. "You getting all dirty on purpose. Such a change from high school."
"Shush you." Santana scowled, "It's for Brooklyn.'"
"Oh?" She smirked, teasing her, "What if it was for Rachel?"
"She does not get to go camping." Santana stated as she ordered her food for her and Brooklyn, "She gets nice hotels and beds where it's cozy."
"Oh, so you wouldn't go camping with her if she asked?" Quinn teased, leaning back when their food arrived and starting to prepare her sandwich.
"She would never ask," Santana laughed as she leaned over and helped Brooklyn cut her chicken tenders.
"You're probably right," she agreed with a smile. "But I think I'd pay to see the two of you trying to camp. Would likely be the most hilarious thing ever."
"Never going to happen." She smiled as she ate a fry, "It would be an act of God."
"Better be careful to say your prayers right then," Quinn teased, taking a bite out of her sandwich. After a bit, her smile softened. "Santana... thanks for making me go to see Doctor Reynard. I think I needed to."
Santana smiled, "Me too..." She said softly, "But I'm glad it's helping you. it's something that we should have done a long time ago."
Quinn shrugged, "We're doing it now and that's what counts, right? I want to be happy with Ajay and," she gave a tiny smile, "maybe I kind am starting to like the idea of having a kid with him someday. I need to come to terms with giving up Beth if I want that to happen."
Santana smiled, "That's good."
"You wanna have a baby!" Brooklyn piped in, "That would be awesome! I wants little friends to play with, I want mommy to have another baby, too." She said off handedly. She continued to munch on her chicken after she talked despite Santana's glare.
Quinn laughed. "Not right now, Brooke. But maybe in a few years when I'm more established in my job. You'll help babysit though, right? Cause you'll be a big girl by then."
The little girl looked excited, "Really! Will I be a really be big enough? I'm only five!" She said, "I wanna help!"
"You can help, you might be big enough by then," Santana said, trying to not talk about having more kids.
"Almost definitely," she agreed, glancing at Santana, "I think you being big enough to help out will be a requirement to any of us having a baby, so it'll be a few years yet. Okay?"
She thought for a few minutes, "Mommy? You not have another baby before then?" She asked softly, "I want a little brother or sister."
"Your mom's with Rachel, sweetheart," Quinn reminded her as she munched on a fry. "So she has to wait until Rachel's ready because it's extra hard for two women to have a baby together. But I'm sure they'll talk about it when they're ready. Until then maybe you can hang out with me and teach me about the things I'd need to know to be a mom as good as yours when I'm ready to have a baby?"
"Okay!" She smiled, cheese smeared on her cheeks. "Mommy and Rachel should have a baby though, I want that for my family." she said not noticing how much of a blush Santana had across her face.
"Maybe they will," Quinn teased, smirking at Santana, "but not until they're ready, okay? Let them give you all the attention for now, okay?"
Santana just munch on her sandwich. "Okay," Brooklyn pouted, "I get to play with you and Jay too?"
"Definitely." She reached over to tousle her hair affectionately. "You're going to be our number one teacher about how to be good parents, right?"
"Can I just be your favorite little girl?" She asked, "I rather be that."
"You can definitely be that, Brooklyn." Quinn smiled at her. "You're all of our favorite girl. Me, Ajay, and your mom and Rachel most of all."
"Mommy is my mom!" she giggled before snuggling into Santana's side and stealing french fries. "And Rachel is my Rachie." She munched happily.
"You are a very loved little one, Brooklyn." Santana cooed, as she kissed her child's head before pulling her onto her lap.
"Very loved," Quinn murmured with a little nod. "Santana, I'm going to officially fire you as far as HR is concerned so I can give you a severance package. It won't be a lot, but it should give you a nice cushion until you can find other work. You're still living in Rachel's apartment, right?"
"Yeah, so we don't have to worry about rent, I just need the health insurance." She said as she cuddled her daughter.
Quinn nodded, "Yeah, that's about what I thought. Okay. I probably can't squeeze more than a month or two out of HR on the regular plan, but with a little wiggling I think I should be able to get you qualified for COBRA. That'll give you at least 18 months to find something better. If cost is a problem, I'm sure Rachel will help out where she can. She's rather attached to the two of you after all."
"We should be fine, we had COBRA before so it's not that hard. Plus, Brooklyn can go on the state plan because she's a child." She said as she finished her wrap. "We should be fine."
"Alright. I promise a glowing letter of recommendation to whomever you want," she nodded, eating the last of her sandwich. "And you know if you need any help, you can ask Rachel or me." She smiled softly, reaching over to squeeze Santana's hand, "You and Rachel are the closest thing I have to family any more, Santana. I promise, if you need me, I'll be there for you."
"Thank you," Santana said, "you're family, too."
"Damn straight," she nodded. "Who else would bail you out with benefits when Rachel drags you into a mess?" she smirked.
She chuckled, "Yeah well... I got into it willingly." she reminded Quinn as she rested her head on Brooklyn's shoulder. "What's on for you the rest of the afternoon?"
"Yelling at people, coffee, more yelling at people," she ticked the points off on her fingers, "talking to Ajay, more yell... no, wait, that's my boss so wheedling followed by yelling at people and topped of with begging Ajay to pick me up and take me home."
Brooklyn giggled, "Your silly, Auntie Quinn." She beamed as she watched the blonde.
Quinn laughed, "Thank you, Brooke. I try. But all of that is because your Rachie likes to make work for me. Sometimes she even makes me want to scream," she smirked, glancing at Santana for support.
"She is a special kind of crazy," Santana smiled. "I'm sorry if this gets you in trouble."
"Don't worry about it. She once was responsible for me getting arrested and spending the weekend in jail before she managed to find the cash to bail me out," she shook her head with a fond smile. "In comparison, this is nothing."
Santana laughed, "Sounds about right." She dug some cash out of her bag and put it on the table. "Thanks for lunching with us."
"Next time it's on me," Quinn smirked, "it's only fair after all. I'll bring the paperwork by in a couple days to finalize everything, but I hope you won't be a stranger."
"Can't get rid of me that easy." Santana said as she slid out of the booth and Brooklyn tugged on Quinns skirt.
"Aunty Quinn?"
Quinn crouched down to eye level with the youngster. "Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can I hug you?" She asked softly.
Not even looking to Santana for reassurance for once, she opened her arms to the little girl. "Of course you can."
Brooklyn hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Auntie Quinn." She said brightly before going back to her mom.
"You're welcome and any time, okay?" She smiled up at Santana before straightening back up. "I'm trying," she murmured.
Santana leaned over and hugged Quinn. "It helps that my little brown Asian baby looks nothing like Beth, right?" She joked, "Talk to you soon."
"It helps a little," she agreed with a smirk. "Take care of your family, San, and stay out of trouble for a bit."
"We're gonna have some family time," Santana said as she picked her daughter up. "Talk to you later."
"Later, you two," Quinn waved, watching them head out of the restaurant.
Chapter Twenty-Nine