Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks! ~Jackie
One:
When Beth is ten, her mother Shelby sits her down and tells her the truth, she is adopted.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Shelby says. But Beth just gets up from the kitchen table and runs into her room, sobbing.
At that moment, Beth wants nothing more than to know who her real mother is.
Two:
When Beth's thirteen, she learns about genetics in science class. All the other girls start talking about traits they got from their parents. Sally says she has her mother's eyes. Katie says she has her father's height. Jane says she has her mother's nose.
"What about you, Beth?" Beth's best friend, Amelia, asks. "What do you get from your mom?"
Beth blinks back tears. "I don't know."
No one pesters her about it, they know she's upset as soon as they see her face.
At that moment, Beth wants to know more than anything what traits she got from her parents.
Three:
When Beth is fourteen, she starts her freshman year of high school at Grant High, and becomes head cheerleader. After finding out, Shelby goes into her closet and pulls out a picture. It's old, but Beth can make out the outline of a blonde teenage girl.
"You're mother was a cheerleader," Shelby says. "You're real mother, I mean. You're so much like her, Bethie."
Beth stares at that picture for a very long time. She wonders if what Shelby says is true.
And she doubts she'll ever know for sure.
Four:
Beth is eighteen when she suffers a painful separation from her boyfriend.
Beth really does love Brandon, she does. But Brandon is staying in their rural New York town to go to community college, and Beth and Shelby are moving to New York City so Beth can go to Juilliard and Shelby can try to get back on Broadway.
"It'll get better, sweetie." Shelby insists. "I promise you."
Beth pops her gum loudly as she stalks off to her room to pack. Right now she needs more than empty promises.
As Beth packs up her stuff, she finds the picture of her mom Shelby gave her four years ago, and begins to wonder what advice her other mother would give her in the situation.
Five:
Shelby gets the role of Maureen in Rent when Beth is twenty. Shelby is amazing, and Beth joins in the standing ovation. Beth goes to congratulate her mom, but then stops when she sees two people talking to her, a small brunette woman and a taller man.
"Who the Hell is this?" Beth stammers.
Shelby forces a smile. "Beth, this is Rachel, and her husband, Finn."
"It's nice to meet you," This Rachel girl says.
Beth's heard about these people. Shelby was a surrogate for a gay couple when she was young, and Rachel was the child Shelby gave up.
"Same here," Beth says as politely as she can.
Because on the inside, she is wondering if she'll ever reunite with her mother, just like Rachel and Shelby.
Six:
Beth comes home from her last class one day and is shocked to see two people sitting in the living room with Shelby, and they're not Rachel and Finn, although they are a man and woman of about the same age. The man has a brown Mohawk and is leaning back casually, but he smiles when Beth enters. Beth gasps when she sees the woman.
Because the woman looks just like her.
She has long blonde hair and hazel eyes, fair skin and is rather thin. The couple half jumps off the couch and smile widely.
"Hi Beth," the woman says. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
Beth flinches away instinctively. "How do you know my name?" She demands.
Shelby gets up and walks over to Beth's side. "Beth, this is Quinn Fabray, and Noah "Puck" Puckerman."
Beth looks at her mother. Who are these people, and what kind of names are Fabray and Puckerman anyway?
But then Shelby really shocks her daughter with the next words out of her mouth. "They're your birth parents."
Beth feels her body start to shake, before letting her parents hug her. She tries to hold back her tears, but she can't stop.
She's waited for this moment her whole life.
Seven:
Thirty year old Beth smiles across the ballroom, where her parents are sitting with Shelby, Rachel and Finn.
Today, was Beth's wedding day.
In a fortunate series of events, Beth had run into her ex Brandon on the subway. They had instantly fallen in love all over again, and the rest was history.
Of course, Beth had asked Puck and Quinn to come. She would always be their daughter, she owed her very life to them, and over the years, Beth had learned to love her unique family, with her adopted mother, her adopted mother's biological daughter, and her birth parents. Beth had even become sort of an aunt to Rachel and Finn's two children and almost like a sister to Puck and Quinn's little daughter, Anne.
Puck and Quinn meet Beth's gaze, and Beth watches as her parents join hands. She swears she sees tears in her mother's eyes.
Beth leans her head against her new husband's shoulder, feeling like she might cry to.
She feels like she's been waiting for this family forever, and now she finally has it. Their hers forever.