Author's notes:
[ Re-upload ] This was originally written for Faberry week a year ago and was posted on my old FF account, which I've since deleted. I figure I'd upload this again. This was inspired by (and is loosely based on) an episode of Modern Family.
I appreciate all the feedback and reviews you can provide. Many thanks for reading.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Glee or Modern Family.
Today was the day. Their baby girl was moving out of their home and moving in to a college dormitory.
To say that Quinn Berry-Fabray was devastated was an understatement. She was crushed and heartbroken. She didn't think this day would come so soon. She still remembered holding the delicate baby Beth in her arms.
Quinn was falling apart on the inside, but she was doing a much better job at holding it in than her wife.
Her wife, Rachel, was standing next to her and holding tightly on her arm as they watched their daughter pack the last of her things into her suitcase.
Rachel's tears were rolling down her cheeks and her lips were quivering.
Quinn can tell that her wife was doing her best not to start bawling again.
From Beth's bedroom doorway, both women were sadly watching their daughter's look bare and emptier than they were used to.
Beth packed several of her photos, her favorite stuffed animals, books, DVDs, and CDs, and cleared most of her clothes and shoes.
The three of them were driving up to Yale and helping Beth move and settled in to her dorm.
Quinn and Rachel were sad to let Beth go, but they knew this was going to happen sooner or later. They were going to get through this with as little break down – especially on Rachel's part – as possible.
Quinn was showing to be the strong one and had been doing a good job holding it together, and comforting Rachel the past few days.
Rachel knew that Quinn was just as devastated as she was, despite her composed exterior, but she was grateful for her wife's control of her emotions, especially in times like this. It would not benefit anyone if both adults were a mess.
"Baby girl… Do you need any help?" Rachel managed to ask through her tears.
"I'm good, mama. I just need a couple more things, then we can go," Beth answered without looking at her mothers, and threw a few smaller items into her purse.
The doorbell rang and pulled the women's attention away from their daughter.
Rachel took a deep breath to compose herself. Letting go of the death grip she had on Quinn's arm, she sighed, "Alright, sweetie. I'll go get the door. We'll be waiting for you in the living room." She left to answer the door.
"Here, let me grab these and put them in the car," Quinn grabbed the last two large bags from Beth's bedroom floor, and walked out of the room with a bag in each hand.
"Thanks, mom," Beth called out.
Quinn exited to the garage. She set the bags inside the already full trunk of their SUV and slammed the door shut.
They had everything ready for the road trip, and were pretty much all set for the hour and a half to Beth's campus.
Quinn went back inside and into the living room where Santana was sitting sullenly on the couch, while Brittany was hugging a sobbing Rachel.
Quinn smiled to herself as she looked at the scene before her.
One would think that somebody had passed away with the amount of tears her wife was shedding the last few days, and the sullen looks her friends were sporting. She was very aware that her family could get overly dramatic sometimes.
Loud footsteps running towards the women broke the silence.
Their eight-year old twin boys ran toward their mama and Aunt Britt-Britt and joined in the hug.
"Mama, we're sad Bethie's leaving, but she'll come to visit a lot, right?" Nate asked Rachel in a hopeful voice.
Rachel looked down at her son, and nodded with a smile, "of course, she will."
This brought smiles to the two boys' faces, "why don't you two go see if Beth needs help," Rachel suggested.
"Ok, mama," Jake agreed while his brother nodded, and they both quickly ran towards Beth's room.
This made Rachel giggle, as she wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks, pulling away from Brittany's hug.
"God, Berry. Your spawns have too much energy. I don't think watching them for a few hours would be a good idea anymore," Santana jibed as she watched the twins disappear upstairs to Beth's room.
"Stop it, San. I think they're really cute," Brittany reprimanded as she sat down beside her wife on the couch.
"You know you love them, Lopez. Admit it." Quinn pressed Santana with a smirk, as she made her way towards her wife and wrapped her arms around her, and Rachel laid her head on Quinn's chest.
"Fuck off, Fabray. I can do without them just fine." Santana scowled, crossing her arms on her chest.
"Santana, must you always be so crass?" Rachel growled at Santana, shaking her head at the Latina.
Beth finally came down the stairs with a couple of small bags on her shoulders and the twins trailing behind her.
"Auntie S, you don't mean that." Beth questioned with an adorable pout that even Santana couldn't resist.
"Yea, you said you love us." Jake echoed, jumping on Santana's lap and wrapping his arms around Santana
"And don't wanna give us back to mama and mommy." Nate added, hopping on the couch beside the Latina, hugging her torso, and resting his small head on her shoulder.
Santana's scowl instantly disappeared and was replaced with a large happy smile as she chuckled at the boys and all at once hugged them both back.
"Such a softie," Quinn scoffed at the scene before her.
"Watch it, Fabray, or I will ends you for realz," Santana snapped back trying to sound intimidating, but failing at it since she wasn't able to wipe the smile off her face caused by the hugging boys.
"Doesn't Auntie Britt-Britt get a hug too?" Brittany pouted from beside Santana, and the boys happily jumped off of Santana and melded into Brittany's open arms.
"Ok, mama, mom. I'm ready," Beth announced as she gave Santana a hug, and opted for a kiss on the cheek for the tall blonde whose arms were already occupied by her brothers.
"When did you grow up so fast, super star?" Santana sniffled at the sight of her niece being all grown up. Even though she was a bad-ass, she couldn't resist the young blonde. She saw the girl grow up right before her eyes, and even took care of her in a few occasions.
"Auntie S, you're such a softie," Beth teased lovingly.
"That's what I said," Quinn noted glaring at the Latina who was still fighting back her tears.
The Latina opted to flash Quinn her middle fingers making sure the boys didn't see what she was doing.
Beth rolled her eyes at her family's antics. "We should get going."
The boys quickly ran to Beth and tackled their big sister in a fierce hug. Beth chuckled at the boys and wrapped her arms around their heads.
"We will miss you, Bethie. Be good now," Brittany told Beth as she got on her feet and hugged Beth over the boys below them.
"Yea, if any boy messes with ya, just let Auntie Santana know and I'll go all Lima Heights on them," Santana added slamming her fist on her open palm to show that she was serious.
Beth giggled at her Aunt and gave both the Latina and the dancer a quick peck on their cheeks. "I love you, Auntie S and Auntie Britts."
"Alright, let's get going. We still have a long drive ahead of us," Quinn said as she let go of her wife, and they both gave their twin boys a hug.
Quinn did her best to focus on driving. She needed to get them all to Yale in one piece.
Rachel was sitting beside her on the passenger seat of their SUV while Quinn drove the few hours from New York to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Rachel was wordlessly looking out the passenger window. Her left hand firmly intertwined with Quinn's right hand, streams of tears flowing down her cheeks, and her lips were quivering as she fought hard and failed to keep her tears from coming out.
Beth was seated in the back quietly texting and checking her social network pages on her smartphone. She didn't know what to say to her mothers. She was excited about going to college, but she didn't want to express her excitement too much and hurt her mothers' feelings.
Beth knew that her mom was trying to put on a calm exterior, and her mama wasn't even trying at all.
Her mama had been bawling her eyes out ever since she got out of bed. It took hours for her to finally calm down a little bit, but the tears were still coming.
Beth loved her mothers and they were the best parents any child could ever ask for. She knew how much her mothers had sacrificed for her. They had finally told her everything – their story, their past – when she turned thirteen.
Her mom got pregnant with her when she was sixteen and was kicked out of her parents' house.
Thankfully, her mama and granddads had taken her mom in. It was because of her mama that her mom eventually decided to keep Beth.
Her mothers' got together not too long after, and did everything they could to raise her right and provide for everything she needed.
Her mom got accepted to Yale but decided to go with her mama to New York instead, so they could keep their family together. It worked out for everyone because her Aunt Santana, Aunt Brittany, Uncle Kurt, and Uncle Blaine also moved to New York.
Her Aunts and Uncles were a great help to her mothers and were able to give her mothers a break when they needed it by babysitting her once in a while.
Beth did enjoy spending time with her Aunts and Uncles.
Her mom ended up attending NYU with her Aunt Santana and majored in English and Literature, while her mama went to NYADA with her Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine, and her Aunt Brittany attended Julliard.
Her mothers got married right after graduating from college and her mama had her little twin brothers ten years after her mom had her.
Beth had met her father at least once a year when he came to visit New York. He traveled a lot with his band and was always on the road.
Beth didn't mind because she was fine with her little family and rarely missed her father.
Her mothers were there for every single life event she had. One of them – if not both of them – was always there for any of her school performances, sports games, parent-teacher meetings, etc.
Beth was definitely sad to leave the home she spent majority of her life in, but she was also ready to go out into the world and live her own life.
The three women arrived at Yale. It was bustling with cars coming in and out, students moving in, and families helping their teenagers move in.
Quinn parked at the next available spot, and they unloaded and carried most of Beth's things except for two small bags.
"I'll come back for those once we drop all these off," Quinn volunteered as she locked the SUV.
Rachel was completely calm now and her tears had dried, as she followed her daughter to her dorm.
Beth quickly found her room. Her roommate was not there, but her bags and boxes were scattered on one side of the dorm.
They settled all of Beth's things on the floor and bed on the empty side of the dorm room.
Rachel proceeded to take out the bed covers and started working on setting up Beth's bed, while Beth worked on her closet.
"I'll grab the rest of the bags. I'll be back," Quinn said as she walked out of the room.
Quinn came back to Beth's dorm room with the two bags. She set them down on the floor near the door and saw her wife bent down beside the desk, her back to Quinn, and shuffling through a bag.
Quinn glanced around and saw that no one else was in the room. With a mischievous smile, she slowly walked closer to the woman and grabbed her butt with both her hands.
The woman yelped in surprise and spun around in horror at being inappropriately touched. When she saw the strange woman standing so close to her, she screamed.
Quinn quickly realized it wasn't her wife. It was in fact a teenager about Beth's age with the same long brunette hair and body type as her wife, but definitely not Rachel.
Her eyes widened when she realized what she just did, "Oh my fucking God. I'm so sorry. I thought you were my wife," she apologized quickly, turning beet red.
The loud scream brought a lot of people scrambling in to the small dorm room.
Rachel and Beth ran in quickly and a few other students and parents were standing outside the door, while some tried to peek in to see what was going on.
"Quinn, what did you do?" Rachel sternly asked looking at her nervous wife and a red-faced shocked teenager.
"I thought it was you, Rachel," she defended and turned back to the young girl, apologizing again, "I'm really sorry. It was an honest mistake."
"You grabbed my butt," the roommate mumbled still in shock and still processing what exactly happened.
Beth didn't know what to say. Her mom did something inappropriate to her roommate. She was sure that this was one of the most humiliating experiences of her life – thus far.
The bystanders were listening and watching closely at the scene before them, and they were now mumbling among themselves.
Rachel turned her attention to the audience before them, and she hurriedly pushed them all out away.
"Nothing to see here. It's just a misunderstanding," Rachel loudly announced as she forced the door close.
The roommate finally snapped out of it once the door closed, and her eyed roamed to her new roommate then to the older brunette standing by the door. She instantly recognized her.
"Oh my God, you're Rachel Berry," the roommate shrieked, and started rambling a mile a minute as she made her way to Rachel and ignoring all the other people in the room, "I'm such a big fan. I love your work. I think you're amazing. You were wonderful as Elphaba, and your rendition of Don't Rain on my Parade at the Tony awards last year was by far the best I've ever heard in my humble opinion."
Hearing this, Rachel beamed her signature Rachel Berry smile at the gushing fan standing in front of her.
Quinn sighed and Beth shook her head, and both blondes slumped down on the bed.
This was not the first time that adoring fans fawned over Rachel. It actually happened a lot and Beth and Quinn were used to it. They had always just stepped back and let Rachel have her moment. It always worked out better that way.
"I'm like your biggest fan," the roommate continued to ramble, completely forgetting the awkward event that happened a few minutes ago.
"Thank you. It's always a pleasure to meet a big fan. What's your name?" Rachel replied demurely and politely.
"I'm Gina. I can't believe I finally get to meet you, Miss Berry. It's always been a dream of mine," Gina continued to gush, "Oh, may I please have your autograph on my Rachel Berry collection? Please?"
"Sure, I would love to."
Gina ran to her side of the room and started rummaging through her things, pulling out CDs, DVDs, posters, photos, and other items that all had Rachel's face or name on it.
"Well, I guess you're off the hook, mom. No sexual assault charges for today," Beth whispered to Quinn as both blondes quietly sat on the bad watching everything.
Quinn let out breath of relief, "I'm sorry, baby girl. I honestly thought it was your mama."
Beth sighed, "I know mom."
This was not the first time that Beth's family had embarrassed her. In fact, it was almost a common and typical event. Her family could get really loud even in public, especially when her Aunt Santana, mama, and mom argued with each other.
This was the first inappropriate groping of strangers she had witnessed though. She had a feeling this would probably not be the last.
While Rachel was signing all of Gina's Rachel Berry collection, Quinn and Beth unpacked a lot of the bags and started organizing and putting away Beth's things.
It was getting warm in the room, so Quinn decided to take off the sweatshirt she had on and leaving her in only a bright neon orange t-shirt.
Beth saw the shirt her mom was wearing and gasped.
Smack right in the center of the t-shirt was her face – and right under her printed face were the faces of each member of the Berry-Fabray family. Large bold letters were printed above her face saying 'Team Beth. We love and miss you.'
"Mom, what are you wearing?" Beth asked in embarrassment.
The message on the shirt was touching but the photo they used of her was definitely not flattering. Needless to say, the shirt was very unappealing and oversized.
"What? The boys and I thought it was a nice gesture. They even designed it themselves," Quinn replied defensively.
"It's embarrassing. Can you please take it off?" Beth pleaded, and Quinn sighed in defeat. She proceeded to take off her shirt and leaving her in her sports bra.
"MOM! Put your shirt on," Beth yelled just as Quinn stripped off her shirt.
"Ugh! What? What do you want me to do? You told me to take off my shirt and now you want me to put it back on," Quinn was frustrated with the inconsistent requests her daughter was asking of her.
Rachel decided to intervene and take care of the situation. If not, she knew the two blondes would go at it for a long time arguing back and forth. They were too much alike and very stubborn. So she grabbed Quinn's abandoned sweatshirt from the bed.
"Honey, here. Just put this on," Rachel handed her wife the sweatshirt, and Quinn resigned and put it on.
"Better?" Quinn asked Beth unhappily.
"So Gina, I think it's best to introduce you to my family. This is my wife, Quinn, and our daughter, Beth," Rachel quickly changed the topic before another argument could start up, and directed all the attention to Gina.
Quinn gave a forced smile and a small wave to the young girl, and Beth offered her hand to her new roommate, "Hey Gina!"
Gina nodded at Quinn in acknowledgement and happily shook Beth's hand. She was still flying high from meeting her idol.
An hour went by when the three Berry-Fabray women decided to get lunch in the university dining hall.
Leaving Beth's dorm room and Gina to attend to her own appointments, they made their way to the dining hall with Quinn guiding them around the large campus using the university map that Beth received in her welcome packet.
After passing by the same area twice, Rachel grabbed the map from Quinn, and both Rachel and Beth successfully navigated them towards the dining hall.
Much to their surprise, several students immediately recognized Rachel. They swarmed towards her like vultures to a carcass, and started asking for photos and autographs.
Quinn and Beth were essentially pushed off to the side.
Normally, Beth would just shrug it off and patiently wait until her mama's fans disperse, but in this case, she really didn't want to draw any more attention to herself by being associated with a famous Broadway actress.
Her mama might love the limelight, but she didn't. She focused on academics more than the arts, and sure, she was a cheerleader in high school, but she didn't crave the attention. She only did it because it gave her a good workout, and she enjoyed it enough to stay in the team.
Quinn decided to wander off and grab some food because she was really hungry.
When Quinn was hungry, she could get really grumpy if she wasn't fed right away. Beth definitely didn't want to see her mom grumpy, so she didn't bother stopping her mom from wandering off in search for food.
A few minutes after, the crowd around her Rachel had thinned but she was still surrounded by a few more students patiently awaiting their turn to talk to the Broadway diva and take a photo with her.
Rachel embraced the attention and had been attentively catering to the crowd, giving them plenty of smiles, autographs, photos, and polite answers to inquiries.
From this setting, one would think that Rachel Berry was a very demure and soft spoken woman, but Beth knew better.
Her mama was merely putting on an act. At home she was loud and very intimidating. She was the scary mother while her mom was the nice mother.
Quinn was making her way back to where Beth stood. She was holding a tray full off food. She was so hungry that she couldn't wait to start digging in.
Quinn decided to walk faster, but then a group of jocks were kicking a soccer ball around as they entered the dining hall. They kicked the ball a little too hard and it rolled right on Quinn's path.
Quinn tripped and stumbled to regain her footing. She managed to hold on to the tray, but the contents flung out of the tray and landed on the students who were still surrounding Rachel.
Quinn somehow regained her balance without falling on her face, but her tray was not empty.
Beth was standing several feet open. Her eyes widened in shock as she helplessly watched her mom stumbled, and throw her food on a group of innocent bystanders.
Rachel remained untouched, protected from the spraying food by the shield of adoring fans.
"What the fuck?" One of the unfortunate victims of Quinn's food yelled angrily.
The rest of them spun around to find Quinn awkwardly standing behind them with an empty tray still clutched in her hands.
"What's your problem, lady?" Another student furiously demanded, as they try to push the food out of their clothes and hairs.
The angry food-covered students were slowly making their way towards Quinn. They looked intimidating and out for blood.
Quinn tried to say something but no words were coming out. She nervously scanned the crowd that was now curiously watching and waiting to see what would happen. She was silently pleading with her eyes for someone, anyone to step in and help.
Feeling sorry for her mom, Beth was about to step in to help her mom out, but Rachel spoke up first.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry about this," Rachel said sounding remorseful as she stood between Quinn and the angry students.
"Miss Berry, you know this lady?" One of the students asked curiously with no hint of anger in her voice.
"Yes, this is my wife. I truly apologize for her clumsiness. I do hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive her," Rachel pleaded with her fans with her round adorable eyes that she knew no one could resist.
"Eerr.." Her fans replied unsurely. Their resolve was definitely melting at their idol's request.
"How about I give each of you tickets to my show?" Rachel added for good measure.
"Really?" They questioned. The excitement at the possibility of free tickets to Rachel's show was evident in their voices.
"Of course, and these tickets will be within the first ten rows." Rachel confirmed, giving them her word, and that was enough to pacify the food-covered students.
"Yes!" "You're wonderful, Miss Berry." "Perfection. That's what you are." "I love you." The food covered students responded happily, completely forgetting about what just happened to them earlier.
Rachel beamed and she pulled out a little piece of paper for them to list down their names and addresses, so she could make sure they received the tickets she promised.
The students happily complied.
The three managed to get out of the dining hall unscathed, specifically Quinn. She trailed behind Rachel and Beth who were walking in front of her. Today wasn't her day and she was feeling a little down that she couldn't get anything right.
Rachel noticed Quinn trudging behind them and looking sullen.
"Hey sweetie, go ahead back to your dorm and your mom and I will catch up, ok?" Rachel told Beth.
Beth glanced behind her where her mom was lingering and looking down at the ground. She nodded in response, gave both her mothers a quick hug and kiss on their cheeks, and whispered 'I love you's' to each of them.
Then, Beth continued on her way back to her room, leaving the two women alone.
Rachel studied Quinn's demeanor. She reached out and gently took hold of her wife's hand.
"What's wrong, love?" Rachel softly asked.
Quinn was still staring at the ground, but she sighed without responding.
Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn's waist and hugged her, then rested her head on Quinn's shoulder, she whispered, "You're such a dork, but you're my dork, and I love you."
Quinn looked down at the brunette, finally meeting Rachel's eyes, and a small smile starts to form. "I love you too, Rach," she whispered back, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman. She leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"What's going on then?" Rachel pried even though she had an idea. She was always trying to get her wife to open up, something that didn't come naturally to the taller blonde.
Quinn signed again and mumbled, "Today's not my day. Whatever I do just seems to blow up in my face."
Rachel gently cupped Quinn's face with her hands. "Baby, you've been distracted and unfocused all day. I know you're sad that our baby girl is growing up too fast. I'm sad too, but at some point we just have to let go. We'll be alright, ok?"
Rachel got on her tiptoes and gave her wife a sweet and long kiss. She pulled back shortly and Quinn rested her forehead on her wife's own.
"I know." Quinn quietly said with a smile, feeling a lot better now.
"What do you say we go find our daughter and see how much more we can embarrass her?" Rachel suggested with a bright smile.
"Sounds like a brilliant plan to me, baby." Quinn chuckled at that, and then gave her wife another quick peck on the lips.
The two women slowly and happily made their way towards Beth's dormitory.
Rachel's arm was wrapped around Quinn's waist, and Quinn's arm was perched around the brunette's shoulder as they stayed close to each other all the way to their daughter's dorm room.
The End.
[ Thanks for reading. :) ]