The Damn Epilogue

Waitin' on the day

When my thoughts are my own

When this house is my home

and plans are made -

When you'll be there for me babe

When you'll love me all the way

When you'll take my side

in every little fire fight

when you'll hang your things and stay

I'm waitin' on the day

Beth had learned to walk.

Not the wobbling thing that babies do until they transition to toddlers but actual bipedal, up straight, walking.

So they figured it was time.

Rachel is sitting on the bed, clad in nothing but the fancy soft pink lingerie Quinn gave her as a gift the night before. She focused on breathing because the excitement was too high and she figured that if she stopped breathing now she'd miss the most important day of her life.

Santana barges in the room in a deep blue dress that comes down just above her knees. "Ready?!" She asks.

Words fail Rachel and she exhales deeply to help herself center. She nods.

"Great. Tina is on her way too, she just had to pee." Santana disappears behind the bathroom door and emerges with a large white zipped up bag. "Let's get you in this dress and get you married to my best friend."

Rachel nods harder, tears threatening to fall. "No, don't cry! Your makeup is done already and we don't want to have to call that sweet lady back in here, right?"

This is the moment Tina comes in with a white box. "Sorry, babe," she says to Rachel. "Needed a pit stop. But here - a gift from the other bride..." Her face explodes into a grin.

"Another gift?" Rachel speaks for the first time, her voice shaky with emotion. She pulls back the lid and it thuds muffled as it falls on the wood floor. "Aw, Quinn."

Quinn had sent her a bag of Hershey's Kisses inside the box and a note that said, "these will be our last kisses as girlfriends. I can't wait until we have our firsts as wives. Love you so much, future Mrs. Fabray-Berry."

"What a sap, you guys are disgustingly cute. You only lose to Britt and I. In the lesbian category, obviously. No need to worry, Tina," Santana turns to face the other girl in a blue dress in the room, "you and Finn win for straight couple."

"Aw, thanks," Tina coos and a dreamy look settles on her face.

Rachel brightens up, "soon you'll be the one in the white dress, Tee."

"I know! I can't believe my wedding is in two months!" She giggles then helps Santana hold open the dress for Rachel to climb around it and into it. They drag it up her body together, the fabric molding perfectly to Rachel's curves. It reaches right under her arms and they help her fit her arms through the sleeves. Finally, Tina turns Rachel to face the mirror while she tightens the straps behind Rachel.

The elegant gown has a vertical flow to it, as if wrapping Rachel's body in layers. The bust is in lace. It's dramatic at the bottom, with diamonds sparkling throughout the skirt. Rachel feels like a princess, and she knows she looks stunning.

Immediately she couldn't help but imagine how Quinn would look in her dress. Nothing short of perfection, she imagined. They hadn't seen each others dresses, but both took Santana and Tina along shopping with and the girls promised them they each would look beautiful.

She smiles at both Santana and Tina, her eyes gleaming with water and happiness. "I love her so much," she admits to her friends. "She makes me so happy."

"We know," Tina agrees. "We can tell."

"Okay, only another half hour and we're good to go." Santana checks the clock on the wall once again before turning to Rachel one last time. "I'm so fucking happy you are marrying my best friend; she couldn't have chosen a better person for her. I'm gonna go back there and help with her last minute touches and be with her and Britt." Wrapping her arms around Rachel, she hugs her with fervor before stepping back. "See you at the altar, girls."

To say she's nervous is an understatement, but more than nervous, Quinn is excited. She has finally found a job as a nurse in New York after working for two years at the Presbyterian Hospital in Lima. There were many interviews with the prospect hospital she wanted to work in New York, near where Rachel and she intended to live. Eventually, they had called her back while she and Rachel were on a road trip back to Lima and informed her she got the job.

"Hey, sweetie, you okay?" Britt asks as she and Santana come in the room. She quickly went to ask the pastor if things were good to go in the church. On the way back, she ran into Santana.

Quinn smiles, "I'm more than. Let's go?"

I'm waiting on the day

When my life on the run

Bleaches out in the sun

And shows my age

Waiting on the day,

When that voice comes to say

That it's not wrong what you did for just a kid

Quinn doesn't remember much of what's happened up until this point of the ceremony, because Rachel walked in the double doors of the church - tall doors, a deep brown - and that's all she could focus on since. All she's been able to see is Rachel, standing in all her glory, smiling at her. 'I love you,' Rachel mouthed at her a couple of minutes ago and the words keep replaying in Quinn's head.

'I love you too,' she mouths back. 'You're beautiful,' Quinn tells Rachel.

Rachel blushes under the gaze of Quinn's hazel eyes, 'you're more,' she admits.

The dress on Quinn is long but not as dramatic as Rachel's. It has a longer trail, but only by an inch or so. The dress is also sleeker, fitting closer to her body in one continuous cut from top to bottom. The sweetheart neckline accentuates her bosom and leaves her shoulders exposed for Rachel to keep staring at her collarbones. Her hair is pulled up to the right with a veil attached at the top.

'We're getting married,' Rachel says.

'I know,' Quinn nods. The pastor asks something, makes a joke, apparently, because their friends and family laugh.

Rachel widens her eyes at Quinn, 'oops.' They laugh too, but they're in their own little world.

"And now for the vows-" The pastor says. Quinn hears that. She's been preparing this moment for about six months, since Rachel asked for her hand in marriage. The white-haired man smiles at the two, holding a Bible in his hands - Rachel didn't mind letting Quinn invite her own uncle to officiate the ceremony,- "Rachel, you want to go first?"

"Yes, please," Rachel jokes. There's laughter from their right, where the audience is sitting. "Lucy Quinn, wow. What can I say?" Rachel shakes her head a bit, the bashful eyes look good on her. "I don't know if you remember this…" She says, almost too quiet, "but um," her voice picks up volume and she laughs to herself. "We went grocery shopping one day, right in the beginning of our relationship…" Rachel is having a hard time containing her smile.

Quinn isn't even trying to hold back the laughter/tears.

"Do you remember, babe?" Rachel asks, squeezing Quinn's hands in hers tighter. Quinn nods, of course she remembers. "And, um, so," Rachel kind of turns to their witnesses but finds Quinn's eyes again, "we were in the car, and I think we were playing around a bit, and I demanded you be my girlfriend." Quinn cackles. "I - then we went inside and were being stupid and ended up crashing our cart into a magazine rack."

"I remember," Quinn says once again, only loud enough for Rachel to hear over the reaction of the crowd.

"I just - since that day, I mean, even before, but that was the moment I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Loving you, making you laugh, taking care of you, and of your - our - beautiful baby girl. I promise, honey, that you'll never have to wonder about any of those things in life again; I will love you, I will make you laugh, I will take care of you and Beth. I promise I will always cherish the best gift in the world: Beth." Both turn to where Beth is, holding hands with Puck, both of them smiling. "She will never have to want for anything, because I will always do everything in my power to give you both what you need." A breath from both Rachel and Quinn. "I will be there to support you when things get rough and celebrate with you when things are great. I promise, Quinn, that there will always be music and joy and creativity in our home, that home will taste like frozen yogurt and hershey kisses. I promise the kisses will be always sweet, always true. I love you, baby. Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world." As she's done, Rachel kisses the back of both of Quinn's right hand and then smiles shakily, trying to contain all of the emotion trying to bubble out of her.

Her heart is about to run over with love.

Quinn looks about done herself. She's been pretty good at holding back the dramatic waterfall, only a drop here or there rolling down her cheek, but the moment she heard Rachel thank her for Beth she lost it. She'd need to go back and re-watch the video for this later.

She feels Rachel slip on the wedding band on her ring finger, a shaky hand trying to hold another steady. They exchange smiles and Rachel does her best to prepare herself for whatever Quinn's vows are.

I'm waiting on the day,

When these words are in stone

When the kids are all grown

And we go dancing

Oh, can you do it baby?

Can you love me all the way?

Will you tie me tight in little strands of paradise?

Will you walk with me before the morning fades?

"Rachel Barbra Berry," Quinn starts, earning more giggles from those around them. "I knew you would have written an amazingly beautiful vow to me, so I tried to one-up you. I hope that it's nothing too lame, but then again, it's you - and you love it when I sing you a song." Quinn smiles, looking a little more steady than Rachel at the moment. She has to regain her composure otherwise nothing will come out. "And I know you specially like it when I play the guitar, so - " she turns and Sam is there with a guitar, she takes it from him and he nods excitedly before going back to his position next to Britt on the altar. "I hope you don't mind I altered the ceremony a bit?"

'You tricked me.' Rachel laughs when Quinn has a bit of trouble sitting on the chair that Puck provided out of who knows where! Rachel's hands find her face, covering it as she can't help but feel everything under the sun. Her usually shy fiancee - well, bride - is singing her vows to her, on her wedding day, in front of hundreds. The last time Quinn did anything like that was years ago when she moved in with the Berrys, but a lot had happened since then.

Let the bough break, let it come down crashing

Let the sun fade out to a dark sky

I can't say I'd even notice it was absent

Cause I could live by the light in your eyes

I'll unfold before you

What I've strung together

The very first words

Of a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose you

I choose you

(Yeah)

There was a time when I would have believed them

If they told me you could not come true

Just love's illusion

But then you found me and everything changed

And I believe in something again

My whole heart

Will be yours forever

This is a beautiful start

To a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose you

I choose you

We are not perfect

We'll learn from our mistakes

And as long as it takes

I will prove my love to you

I am not scared of the elements

I am under-prepared, but I am willing

And even better

I get to be the other half of you

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you

Yeah

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose you

I choose you

I choose you

Quinn stands from the chair and Puck takes the guitar from her as Sam quickly removes the chair and returns it to its original spot, near the piano. Then she also commits to loving Rachel forever by sliding a ring on Rachel's wedding finger, "I vow to always choose you. I love you and I can't wait for what our future brings."

The next thing she knows, the pastor is saying "I now pronounce you wife and wife - you may kiss your bride."

There is cheering, loud cheering, despite them being in a church. It makes her laugh as Rachel takes her by both hands and pulls Quinn into her.

If she were 22 now, still to meet Rachel, and someone told her that two years later, she would be getting married to a woman in a church, kissing her, she would have laughed at them.

But now she's 24, her daughter is almost three, and Rachel is holding her hand up after the most tender kiss of her life. They're shining with myrrh, smiles plastered on their faces as they look to the family and friends present.

She's made her peace with God, and with her mother. She's had a rough journey getting here, and these past two years with Rachel weren't always easy. But despite everything, her love has made it so that she would never have to feel alone. She knows that because Rachel has never had her believe otherwise.

"I love you so much," Rachel tells her again, one last time before they start leading the wedding party down the aisle.

"I love you too, baby," Quinn says back. "Thank you for the best years of my life."

Rachel has Beth in her arms, the girl also wearing a white dress, but with a soft pink ribbon around her waist and tied at the back in a big bow. They're dancing at the reception, the young girl laughing as Rachel spins them around. There's nothing she would change about her wedding day and having Beth in her arms while Quinn watches from their sweetheart table just makes her feel incredibly lucky.

She looks up, unable to keep from searching for Quinn's eyes every passing second, and is met with an unwavering stare from her… wow, her wife. She smiles and continues to dance with Beth, remembering about how just a few minutes ago, she was dancing with Quinn.

Judy then comes up and asks Rachel if she can dance with Beth, and of course Rachel says yes. Beth kisses Rachel on the cheek and lets her grandmother take her away to another spot on the dance floor by the hand.

"She's getting heavier," Rachel comments as she sits back down next to Quinn. Her wife immediatelly finds her hand to tangle fingers. Quinn leans into Rachel's body, now covered in a thin sheet of sweat. "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to pick her up."

"You're barely 25, don't be a wuss," Quinn says, a joking tone carrying her words.

Rachel turns more toward Quinn, "listen here, wife," they both smile like dorks at each other, infatuated by the meaning of the word and the day and everything else in between. "I am not a wuss, I just happen to be getting older and so is she!"

"Okay, okay. I relent," Quinn says, teeth grinning. "Hey," she says, a more seductive tone in her whisper, "I really loved watching you dance with Beth."

"She's going to be a great dancer this daughter of ours," Rachel says. It still affects Quinn the way Rachel's claimed Beth as her daughter too.

The first time it happened, happened like with most things in their sensitive relationship: it slipped out of Rachel, she casually commented about how "a mom at Beth's favorite park was being ridiculous because her annoying fucking son kept throwing dirt everywhere and I approached her to ask if she could talk to him. Then, that idiot said our daughter shouldn't cry when there was dirt in her eye! Quinn! I almost strangled her!"

That night, Rachel forgot her name because Quinn was insatiable in bed. They made love like the world was ending the next day.

Quinn has never seen Beth like any less Rachel's daughter than hers after Rachel's slip. They both obviously knew that she is Quinn's biological daughter and that Quinn has authority but Quinn has always come to Rachel as the second parent for her opinion and for discussing executive parental decisions.

Rachel, she loved the fact that Quinn never made her feel stupid for loving and treating Beth like her own. She has never turned back on a decision Rachel has made in regards to Beth's life.

It did make things a little more difficult now, trying to juggle not only the beliefs of Quinn and Rachel but also Puck's. He's her father and always will be, and it's never their intention to live his feelings out, so they make an effort to always keep him in the loop. He appreciates them. Their little family - unconventional as it is - is beautiful.

"I want you to adopt her." Quinn says, smiling into Rachel's lips briefly before kissing them.

Rachel's heart squeezes in her chest then expands for miles before she says, "I would love to. Of course I will."

"I know. I know we've talked about it before but now - now we're wives and now it -" Quinn can't continue to hold on to the tears any longer. The entire day has been surreal and so she finally lets go.

"Oh, baby," Rachel coos and scoots even closer. She wraps her arms around Quinn's shoulders and nudges her nose into Quinn's neck. As she caresses the love of her life, she says, "I know. I feel it too." Quinn nods and seeks Rachel's lips again, kissing her with a desperation of 'finally!'

The reception cheers when they kiss, apparently they were being watched. They had just gotten married. They both smile, shaking their heads and Rachel stands to grab Quinn's hands. "Let's go dance, sweetheart."

"I would love to."

Rachel has a surprise for Quinn too. She might have won the wedding with her vows, singing and playing that damn guitar. But now Rachel has the reception to win. She turns to the DJ and gives him a thumbs up and suddenly a song comes on that Quinn recognizes.

"Are you gonna be my girl?!" Rachel shouts. The people cheer, and Quinn nods.

She sees herself standing in Rachel's kitchen for the first time - the music loud, laughter bubbling, Rachel's parents dancing. Beth watching with huge eyes, still not able to understand much but definitely able to understand love and acceptance.

"Yes! Yes, I will."

When you'll be there for me babe

When you'll love me all the way

When you'll take my side

in every little fire fight

when you'll hang your things and stay

I'm waitin' on the day

END

A/N: thank you for your support with this fic and even when I said I wouldn't write again, some of the messages I received were the sweetest.

Maybe I'll go back in later and add more chapters, but for right now, I'm finalizing this story here.

The song Quinn sings is I Choose You by Sara Bareilles (who else?). This is inspired by the adorable video Sara made for that song. It's beautiful and everyone needs to go check it out.

The song throughout the chapter is Waitin' on the Day by John Mayer.

Hope you guys enjoyed this story.:)