Here's the latest update. I'm really not sure where the story is going to go from here, so any suggestions would be welcome! I have a little less time on my hands now, so I'm going to aim to update every 2 weeks. Hope you all enjoy!
Puck glanced down at his cell phone as he sat on the McKinley bleachers, watching the football practice that was taking place. It was 10.11am; he'd agreed to meet with Quinn at 10am, and Quinn was never late to anything. Surely she hadn't bailed on him? Just as Puck considered leaving, he spotted the skinny blonde in the distance.
"You took your time" Puck quipped with a wry smile.
"I had to take a phone call" Quinn replied in a sincere tone. "It was child protective services, they're going round to Shelby's apartment later this evening."
Puck shook his head, "they won't find anything".
"What do you mean? We put the stuff there when we were babysitting you idiot!"
"Quinn, I went round to Shelby's and removed it all."
Quinn could feel the anger building up inside her. "You did what?!" she exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"
"It's not right Quinn. What you did isn't ok. Shelby's a good mom. I know you wanted to get Beth back, but we need to do what's right for our daughter. Beth is happy with Shelby, and she'll have a good life." Puck looked up at Quinn to find a vacant expression on her face.
"I know. I just don't even know what to do anymore" Quinn responded quietly. "I know Beth is much better off with Shelby, but I just can't let her go. I feel totally lost. I'm scared Puck, I've never felt like this before" Quinn added as tears started to roll down her cheek.
"Hey, come here." Puck gestured at Quinn to come closer and pulled her into a hug. "It's ok to feel scared Quinn. You've been through a lot these past few months."
"I just don't feel like myself anymore. I can't believe I did that to Shelby. The real me would never do something like that" Quinn said softly as she looked up at Puck.
"Maybe you should go talk with a doctor. I'll come with you if you'd like?" Puck suggested thoughtfully. "I've heard sometimes women get this thing after they've had a baby…"
"Postpartum depression" Quinn interjected.
"Yeah, that's the one. It's worth getting checked out Q, then hopefully you'll start to feel more like yourself again."
"For once in your life I think you might actually be right Puckerman" Quinn replied with a small smile. "Thank you" she added gratefully. Puck smiled back; this was going a lot better than he had expected. Now for the tricky bit.
"Q, there's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about" Puck said cautiously.
"What's that?" Quinn responded.
"Shelby had a really bad asthma attack the other day, and she couldn't find her inhaler. She told me that she always keeps one in her purse, but when she needed it the other day, it wasn't in there." Quinn bowed her head solemnly, knowing where this was going. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. She reached into her backpack and pulled out the inhaler.
Puck was devastated, even though he knew deep down that it had to have been Quinn who had taken it. Puck shook his head, "she could have died Quinn".
"I know. I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking" Quinn responded, tearing up again.
"It's not me that you need to apologize to" Puck said gently. "You need to go and talk to Shelby".
..
Later on that day, the Troubletones gathered in the choir room for their daily practice. Quinn offered Shelby a smile as she walked in, but Shelby wouldn't even look her in the eye. Quinn couldn't blame her really. Quinn sat quietly at the back, zoned out for the majority of the practice, until finally the bell rang signaling the end of class. Quinn waited for everybody else to leave before making her way over to the piano, where Shelby was organizing sheet music.
"Shelby?" Quinn asked tentatively.
"What is it Quinn? Shelby responded bitterly.
"I…I just wanted to apologize" Quinn started. Shelby turned around so that she was now looking Quinn in the eye. "I've done some really stupid things. And I'm so, so sorry" Quinn added reaching into her backpack and producing Shelby's inhaler. "Um, this is yours."
Shelby shook her head as she took the inhaler from Quinn. "I don't even know what to say to you. I can't believe you would do that Quinn" Shelby said, not quite sure what to say.
"It was so, so stupid of me, and I'm truly sorry. I wasn't thinking" Quinn breathed out slowly. "Honestly, I don't know what's been happening to me. All of these things that I've done, they don't feel like me at all."
"You need to get help Quinn" Shelby stated, straight to the point. " I think you should go and see a doctor or maybe even a therapist" Shelby suggested.
"I'm going to. That's what Puck said as well" Quinn replied.
"Good" Shelby responded flatly.
Rachel wanted to speak to her mom, and she knew the Troubletones had the choir room booked for their practice today. If she hurried, she'd just about make it over there in time. Rachel walked into the choir room, and stopped dead in her tracks. Standing in front of her were Quinn and her mom. She noticed that Shelby was holding her inhaler, and then it clicked.
"It was you!" Rachel screamed, startling Quinn and Shelby, who were both unaware of her presence. "You took it didn't you?" Rachel directed the question at Quinn even though she had no intention of letting the blonde answer. "How could you do that; she almost died because of you" Rachel yelled shooting daggers at Quinn.
"I…I…" Quinn mumbled.
"Rach, it's alright" Shelby started before being cut off by a seething Rachel.
"No mom, it's not alright! You nearly died. And it's all her fault." Rachel tried desperately to stop the tears that had started falling down her cheeks. She didn't want to cry, but she was so angry.
"Rachel, I already apologized to Shelby" Quinn protested.
Rachel was furious. "Sorry isn't good enough Quinn. You could have killed my mom. And all you can say is sorry!?"
"I don't know what else you expect me to do" Quinn shouted back before running out of the choir room. Rachel was about to follow when she heard her mom's voice.
"Leave it Rach. It's done now. She's apologized."
"But…" Rachel started, trying to wipe away her tears.
"But nothing" Shelby replied sternly. "That's enough. Quinn and I have resolved the issue. This ends here."
"You can't just forgive her like that; you almost died" Rachel protested.
"But I didn't die Rach. Besides, who said anything about forgiving her?" Shelby smiled at Rachel. "We may have resolved the issue, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven her. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her for what she did."
"I certainly won't" Rachel responded sternly. Shelby just laughed, and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "I'm being serious Mom. Why are you laughing?" Rachel moaned.
"You're like my own personal bodyguard" Shelby giggled.
"Hey! No I'm not" Rachel argued back, breaking into a small smile. "I just don't want to lose you again" she added quietly.
"You won't. I'll always be here for you Rach. I promise."
..
Later that evening, Rachel returned from school to find Shelby already home. "You're home early" Rachel remarked, wondering why Shelby wasn't still at school grading papers, or whatever it is that teachers do after school.
"It's been a long day" Shelby mused. "Besides, I was done for the day anyway. The only thing I have left to do is plan tomorrow's Troubletone practice." Rachel rolled her eyes upon hearing the name of Shelby's glee club.
"I don't know why we have to have two separate glee clubs anyway" Rachel said thoughtfully. "It just seems silly; neither of us have enough members to compete at sectionals. And besides, I'd much rather not have to compete against you."
"You could always come and join us?" Shelby offered, already knowing what her daughter's response would be.
"No chance!" Rachel laughed.
Shelby smiled. "I thought you might say that. It's true what you said though, we don't have enough members for sectionals, and neither do the New Directions. Combining the two clubs does make a lot of sense."
"Please talk to Mr Schue!" Rachel begged. "We'd have an awesome team, and it would be even better with you as co-director"
"I'll see what I can do" Shelby responded. "But I'm not making any promises."
"Thanks" Rachel grinned.
Beth had started to whine for attention, so Shelby leant into her playpen to pick her up. "What's up sweetie?" Shelby soothed gently. "Are you hungry?" Shelby looked over at Rachel questioningly, "How about you play with Rachel, while mommy makes some dinner?"
"Come on Beth, let's go and play with your toys" Rachel smiled as she took the little girl from Shelby's arms. Shelby mouthed thank you, as Rachel carried Beth over to her play mat. "You wanna play with this?" Rachel asked handing Beth a small cuddly dog. Beth smiled as she clutched at the dog, but she was more interested in Rachel's cell phone. "Oh, you want this instead?" Rachel chuckled, before passing the phone over to Beth. Rachel wasn't particularly possessive about her phone, and besides she couldn't see any harm in letting her baby sister hold it. It would keep her quiet after all.
Rachel watched on as Beth continued to fiddle with the phone, before trying to bite the corner. "Whoa, okay Beth we don't want to eat the phone" Rachel laughed, whilst gently sliding the phone from Beth's grasp. Beth looked as if she was about to start crying, so Rachel gently gathered her into her arms and walked towards the kitchen.
"I'm almost done" Shelby called over, sensing that Beth was getting impatient.
"It's alright" Rachel responded. "I'll get Beth settled into her highchair."
"Thanks Rach" Shelby smiled.
The three of them ate dinner together, before Rachel helped Shelby to tidy away. After all the dishes were done, Shelby picked up Beth before making her way over to the couch where Rachel was already settled. Shelby sat down on the couch next to Rachel and placed Beth between the two of them, silently hoping that she would fall asleep.
"Mom?" Rachel enquired.
"Yes sweetie"
"As lovely as it looks in here with pieces of crib all over the floor, don't you think it's about time to actually put it together?"
Shelby shot Rachel a glare, before letting herself smile a little. "Knock yourself out! I've been trying to put that thing together for days now, but when the only instructions it comes with are tiny, black and white pictures, it turns into quite a challenge."
Rachel tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. "Surely, it can't be that difficult?" she questioned cheekily.
"Like I said, go ahead" Shelby replied rolling her eyes. Shelby spent the next 20 minutes watching as Rachel tried, and failed to assemble the crib. "How's it going down there?" Shelby questioned, not even bothering to try and hide the massive grin on her face.
Rachel just glared back at her. "I'm getting there" she replied, as the two planks of wood that she had been holding together fell to the ground for what must have been the tenth time.
"It looks like it" Shelby responded sarcastically.
"Ok, well maybe it's a little bit more tricky that I expected, but I'm getting there" Rachel huffed. " I could always ring Noah? I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help?" Rachel suggested more out of hope than expectation.
"No!"
That had gone just about how Rachel had expected, but she wasn't giving up yet. "Why not? He's good at this sort of thing, and there's no chance of me and you doing it."
Shelby thought it over for a minute. Rachel did have a point; Puck would probably have the crib up in 10 minutes. But could she trust him? Rachel would be here after all; he wouldn't dare try anything with her around.
"Fine" Shelby replied reluctantly.
"Great, I''ll give him a call now" Rachel beamed happily.
"Why are you so keen for him to come over anyway?" Shelby questioned sensing the excitement in Rachel's voice.
"I'm not" Rachel replied defensively. "We just need to get this crib up, and Noah's the best person for the job."
"Ok" Shelby said chuckling to herself.
..
Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it" Rachel chirped.
"I'm sure you will" Shelby said to herself.
"Hi Noah" Rachel said happily as she opened the door.
"Hey Rach" Puck replied. "Hi Shelby" Puck nodded.
"Hi" Shelby replied softly from the couch, where she was sat with Beth laying across her lap. Beth perked up when she heard Puck's voice, and started wriggling on Shelby's lap to try and see where it was coming from.
"Hey Beth" Puck said sweetly as he noticed that the little girl had turned to face him. "I'm here to help make my little princess a crib." Beth smiled as she heard Puck's voice.
"Can I hold her?" Puck asked Shelby carefully. Shelby wasn't sure, but could see Rachel nodding enthusiastically behind Puck.
"Sure" Shelby replied handing Beth to Puck. Beth's face lit up as she stared intently into Puck's eyes.
"Hey gorgeous" Puck cooed, gently bouncing Beth up and down. Beth started giggling, clearly enjoying being in Puck's company. Rachel looked on happily, very impressed at how good Puck was with her little sister. She didn't have Puck down as the paternal type, but Beth seemed to love him.
"Come on princess, let's give you back to mommy now" Puck said gently after a few minutes. "Your big sister and I have a crib to build!" Puck passed Beth back to Shelby, who nodded her thanks, before settling back down onto the couch.
Within 10 minutes, Puck and Rachel had successfully assembled the crib. "See, I told you I would do it" Rachel gloated to Shelby.
"Hey, I think you'll find it was me that did most of it" Puck interrupted, giving Rachel a nudge in the side.
"Not true!" Rachel shot back, giving Puck an even bigger nudge.
"Ok, that's enough you two! Shelby laughed. "I'm trying to get Beth to sleep, so I'd appreciate it if you could take your flirting elsewhere"
"We're not flirting!" Rachel almost shouted back, before being hushed by Shelby.
"Definitely not flirting" Puck added quickly.
"Whatever" Shelby responded, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, it's getting late now. Thanks for all your help Noah."
Puck took the hint and started gathering his things. "No worries. I'm always more than happy to help my favorite family."
"Yes, thank you Noah" Rachel said with a massive grin on her face. "See you at school tomorrow."
"See you!" Puck responded as he made his way out of the apartment.
Rachel waited for Puck to leave before turning to Shelby. "Mom, you're so embarrassing! I can't believe you said we were flirting. We were not flirting"
"It looked very much like flirting to me" Shelby laughed back as she made her way over to the newly assembled crib, carrying a sleeping Beth in her arms. Shelby gently laid Beth in the crib before placing her toy monkey next to her and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Well you were very much mistaken" Rachel responded, before breaking into a small smile herself.
"We'll see!" Shelby laughed.
