whiny author's note: happy quicketh day! it's late in the day (sorry, i had a final and muses to argue with) and i know most of you have already seen all the pretty and fantastic gifsets, fics, and graphics people have contributed to quicketh day, but here's one more. it's unbeta'd, late, and loaded with a thick layer of cheese. enjoy!

also: this goes out to the kiddies who unfortunately didn't make it to christmas this year. may the little angels of sandy hook elementary rest in peace.

After the day he's had, all Puck wants is to kiss his daughter, have a beer with his girlfriend, and pass out well into next year. Or at least until the next morning (Which he knew he'd have to be up bright and early for Christmas morning; no thanks to you, Santa). As he steps out of his car and walks into his apartment building, he's got his heart set on just this. However, as he slips his key through the lock of their apartment and steps inside, the sounds of Christmas music and giggles fill his ears.

"I wanna do it!" a high pitched squeal comes from the direction of the kitchen and Puck quirks a brow, curious as to what exactly is going on. He looks down at his phone and knows it's way past Beth's bedtime.

"You can do it, but be careful," Quinn's voice comes as a warning to the little girl. He's a little surprised she hasn't put their daughter to bed yet, knowing how strict she was when it came to bedtime.

Puck steps further into the apartment, quietly shutting the door so as to not startle them. He slips off his shoes and jacket, leaving them on the rack by the door, and makes his way through the threshold, stopping at the archway entrance to the kitchen, phone in hand. They don't notice him as they have their backs to entrance, but from what he can see, Beth's crouched on a barstool in front of the counter and Quinn is behind her, helping her handle a wooden rolling pin.

"How long do we have to do this?" Beth questions as Quinn helps her roll what looks like cookie dough a cookie sheet.

"Not very long," Quinn answers, pushing the rolling pin a few more times. "Just until the dough is smooth enough for the cookie cutters."

"I'll get 'em!" the little girl chimes, suddenly hopping up on the stool.

"Beth, be careful!" the older woman says, but before the message gets across, Beth's sudden outburst causes her to bump an unused bowl of flour, sending tons of the white powder flying about the counter, getting flour on both their faces and in their hair. And before they notice, Puck snaps a picture.

Beth gasps. "Mama, I'm sorry!" she gulps, looking so very apologetic.

"Uh oh," Puck interrupts, taking that as his queue to walk in. "This looks familiar," he says, looking over at Quinn with a small smile on his face, remembering their fight with the baking ingredients that felt like so long ago.

"Daddy," Beth greets, her expression still as sorry as she hops down from the stool, as she runs toward him, wrapping her arms around his legs, hiding her face.

"Hi, monkey face," he says, leaning down to pick her up into his arms, resting her on his hip and kissing her cheek. "Why are you hiding?" he asks as she buries her face in his neck.

"Mom's mad," she answers, her voice muffled.

A grin appears on Quinn's face as she turns to face them. "I'm not mad, Beth," she says walking over to them.

"Hi, baby," Puck says, pressing a quick kiss to Quinn's lips.

"You're not?" Beth peeks out to look at her.

Quinn's smile widens as she shakes her head. "No, not at all, sweetheart." She raises her hand to wipe her face, but that only seems to spread the flour more.

"Mom, it's on your nose," Beth says with a grin and a giggle.

"That's because you put it there, missy," Quinn points out, an eyebrow raised and a teasing expression on her face. "You Puckermans sure like starting food fights," she adds, looking to Puck and crossing her arms.

"I believe you're the one who cracked the egg on my head the first time," he reminds her, sticking his tongue out at her. "So, what are you ladies up to?" he questions, looking around at the baking equipment.

"We're baking cookies for Santa!" Beth answers excitedly. "We have sprinkles and mama made frosting."

Puck smirks at her excitement. "Did she really? Well, how about we finish these up. He's coming soon and won't be happy if he has no cookies to eat," he tells her, walking over to the clean side of the counter and setting her down. "Lord knows his fatas-" Quinn smacks his arm before he can even finish. "Ow! Rude."

"Yes, you are," Quinn says simply, walking back to the rolled out cookie dough. She grabs the cookie sheet and brings it over to Beth with the cookie cutters.

The next few minutes are spent with Puck, Quinn, and Beth taking turns cutting out out cookies into stars, circles, reindeer, snowflakes, and Christmas trees, adding sprinkles to the ones that wouldn't be iced before putting them into the oven. While the cookies baked, Puck cleans up the kitchen while Beth and Quinn change into clean Christmas pajamas. When they return, the oven dings, signaling that the cookies had finished baking.

While Quinn takes them out and sets them aside to cool for icing, Puck picks Beth up again, swinging her around the room, dancing to the Christmas music, Jingle Bell Rock, her favorite, causing her giggles to fill the room.

Quinn's heart swells at the sound. She reaches for her phone, which had been on the counter, and snaps a photo of the two, sending a text to both her mother and May Puckerman, before turning back to her boyfriend and daughter.

She has to pinch herself sometimes because she just can't believe she and Puck are getting to do this. After the royal screw up that was giving Beth up at all followed by all the time she wasted when her little girl had moved back to Lima, Quinn never thought she and Puck would ever get an opportunity like this again. And while the circumstances were less than desirable (no one deserved to die), it was an opportunity she just couldn't pass up. While rearranging their lives had been a challenge, it was a challenge they wouldn't change for the world.

"Mama, can we decorate the cookies yet?" Beth asks, snapping Quinn out of her thoughts.

She looks over at Puck who, by the look on his face, knows exactly where her thoughts were. She bites her lip and he smiles at her, giving her a wink.

"Sure, baby, we can," Quinn nods, walking over to grab the cookies from where she had set them on the window sill. She sets them on the counter and grabs the different colored icing she had made earlier, setting them out so they could each decorate a cookie.

"Can I make mine pink?" Beth asks as her dad places her down on the counter.

"You can make yours whatever color you want," Puck tells her, pulling up the other barstool to take a seat next to Quinn.

"I wanna make it pink. Red is for growmups," she remarks, her inability to pronounce it correctly causing Quinn to grin. "And Santa!" Beth adds cheerfully as she adds pink frosting to the round cookie in her hands with her mother's help.

It doesn't take long and soon enough, they've got an array of iced cookies in many different colors. Quinn stores half of them and places the other half on a plate for 'Santa' (or her and Puck at three in the morning when they would be laying out presents under the tree).

Once the task is complete, Beth herself sets the plate of cookies and glass of milk on the coffee table before crawling onto the ground, laying her head under the tree to look up at the lights.

"Munchkin, what are you doing?" Puck inquires, as he and Quinn lay down on each side of her.

Beth doesn't look over, instead just scooting over next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "The tree's pretty," she mumbles, a yawn escaping her lips.

"Yes it is," Quinn whispers, scooting closer to them and resting her hand on Beth's back, looking up at the tree.

"Baby, did you write your letter to Santa?" he asks her, wrapping his arm around the little girl and kissing the top of her head, knowing she's close to falling asleep.

Beth nods, closing her eyes. "Do you think Santa will be mad I used my Hanukkah paper?"

Puck and Quinn have to laugh at that one. "I don't think he'll mind at all," Puck tells her, still chuckling, closing his eyes.

"Especially with all those yummy cookies," Quinn adds, but by the time she does, she realizes Beth's fallen asleep. She bites her lip, continuing to rub her back. "Puck?"

"Hm?" he answers, his eyes still closed.

"Did you ever believe we'd get a second chance?" she whispers, looking down at their little girl.

Puck turns onto his side, gently tugging Quinn closer to Beth and him. "Never stopped."