Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 49

On Saturday morning, Judy Fabray woke up earlier than usual. She was excited over the fact that tomorrow was the day her elder daughter was coming home for the first time in two years. Frannie was a senior at UC Davis, just finishing up her last year of pre-law. She had refused to come home when Russell was still here, and she hadn't been able to come home that summer, since she'd gotten an internship.

Leaving her room, she opened Quinn's door carefully to check on her youngest. Quinn was still sound asleep, buried in her blankets. Judy smiled fondly at the teenager. She had always been one to prefer sleeping in. Judy closed the door again and went downstairs for a cup of coffee.

It had been hard, since Russell had left. She'd had to get a job, and it kept herself and Quinn comfortable enough, but she was thinking of selling the house for something smaller. They didn't need a house like this for two people, and Quinn would be leaving for college soon. And she was tired of this house, with all its reminders of her life with Russell. She sighed.

Then she shook herself, reminding herself that she was about to have both her girls with her again. She smiled at the thought, as she got the coffee going before bundling up and going outside to clear the snow from the walk and the driveway. As she worked on the snow she thought of the things she would have to do this week. Frannie wasn't the only one visiting this week, Judy's sister and her family would be coming over from Indiana for a few days as well, and she made a mental note to fix up the guest rooms soon.

"Mrs. Fabray?"

Judy was startled out of her thoughts when a voice called her name. Looking up, she saw a familiar boy glancing at her from their fence line. It took her a second to recognize Quinn's current boyfriend. "You almost gave me a heart attack," she called out.

The boy, Ryan, she remembered, gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Mrs. Fabray. I just thought I'd come over and see Quinn."

Judy smiled at him. "It's okay," she assured him. "Quinn's not up yet, but why don't you come in? I can make you some coffee or hot chocolate or something."

"Oh, you don't have to do that -"

"It's fine."

"Okay," Ryan nodded. "Then how about I finish up your walk? I insist," he added, when Judy opened her mouth to protest.

Judy smiled gratefully after a second's hesitation. "All right, thank you." She wasn't used to this particular chore, Russell had always done it when he was here, but she had to do it herself now, one of the many adjustments she'd had to make.

A few minutes later Ryan had finished digging a path the Fabrays' front door, and he and Judy were seated at the dining room table with mugs of coffee. Judy watched the teenager sitting across from her curiously. He seemed to remind her of someone else, she just couldn't quite catch it. This boy had come up in a quite a few of her therapy sessions with Quinn, and from what she'd heard Ryan seemed like a very nice boy. Of course, it might have just been the infatuation talking. Judy herself had thought Russell could do nothing wrong back when they were dating.

"Quinn mentioned her sister was coming this weekend," Ryan said conversationally, sipping his coffee. "She said she's about to graduate pre-law from UC Davis, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right," Judy said, a bit relieved that he had started the conversation. With Frannie's boyfriends Russell had always been the one to take the lead. "Her flight arrives tomorrow afternoon, so Quinn and I will be picking her up in Columbus."

"Okay." After a second he spoke up again. "Mrs. Fabray, I just wanted to tell you that I'm very happy that you're making the effort to get to know Quinn again. She's mentioned a few times that you and she have been going to see a therapist together, and I have to say that I've definitely noticed she's not as unhappy as she was before. So thank you, on her behalf."