Romance in the Rain (Quinntana)

Ch. 15 Olive Branch

A/N: Shoutout to my fellow writer friends, wedontslave and In A World All Our Own. Y'all are awesome and always give me thoughtful feedback. Cheers!

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Fabray Cottage

For the first time in years, Quinn felt undeniably happy. Struck with a warm sense of appreciation for the direction of her life, she grabbed her pillow and knocked on her mother's bedroom door. Judy's faint 'come in' allowed her to peek her head in the door, almost like a little girl again.

"Ma, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sure honey," Judy smiled and set aside the sewing kit she was using.

Quinn climbed into the bed and got comfortable, resting her head on her mother's chest.

"What's making it so you can't sleep?" Judy asked curiously. "Is it Santana?"

Quinn bit her lower lip, unable to contain her growing smile. "Mama, I feel like I'm really in love with her."

Judy rubbed up and down her arm. "I'm very happy that you've found your happiness. She's a good kid, you should hold onto her."

Quinn nodded. "Were you ever in love? I mean before you married Father?"

Judy was silent for a moment as she reminisced on her youth. "I've only had an engagement, but I never knew what it meant to love someone. Then I met your father on the streets. The second day, a deputy and soldiers came over and left wedding gifts in my home. The third day, I was married and became Commander Russell Fabray's 8th wife." Quinn pulled back to look at her mother as she told the story. "I lived in luxury. The food and the clothes were the best. I always had five to six maids waiting on me."

"Did he love you back then?"

Judy nodded. "Yes, he loved me very much then. That was a golden time. He was very handsome back and he was very caring when it was just the two of us. He rode horses and wore his army uniform, looking so strong and knightly. Many said I was lucky."

This was the first time Quinn heard so much about her father's youth. During her childhood, for the most part, when Russell didn't lose his temper, Quinn only remember her parents being civil but she didn't recall them ever being in love.

"But it only lasted one year and then he married Martha. After that, he didn't visit his other wives as much. The reason why he didn't abandon me was because of Frannie. He had so many daughters, I don't know why he loved her so much..."

Commander Russell Fabray galloped through the streets with a young lady right behind him. "Shall we compete to see who is faster?"

"Let's do it!" Frannie smiled brightly as she picked up the pace and got a few feet ahead of him. "Papa, hurry!"

Russell laughed and steered his stallion to speed up. The father and daughter raced down the street, neck and neck.

Suddenly, Frannie came to an abrupt stop, causing her horse to neigh. She immediately got off her horse to pull aside a young child in the middle of the street that could've easily gotten hurt.

The Commander got off hurriedly to check to see if she was injured.

"Papa, I'm okay," Frannie said as the child's mother came forward to take back the little boy. "Let's not ride in the street anymore, please?"

"Can you believe that? After that, your father never rode in the streets anymore," Judy smiled at the memory. "And when your sister was little, around eight years old, something interesting happened..."