Quinn couldn't help but notice a change in Beth since the revelation. They'd spent the rest of the school year getting to know each other much better than just teacher-student. Quinn had even had Thanksgiving dinner with the Corcorans. She'd discovered so much about Beth –that her favorite color was a specific light green, that she had been to twenty-seven Broadway shows and counting, that Shelby had been in half of them. And there was still so much to learn. Shelby began bringing Beth to work with her, where she would hang out backstage and learn what it's like to be in a theatre. They fired the nanny. Beth dreamed of becoming a Rockette. And Quinn? Well, she scored a leading role in an off-Broadway play. It seemed as though fate put her in her teaching position for that one year simply to reconnect with her daughter.

And now the three women stood in the JFK airport on a very, very hot summer day. Beth stood between her "two moms" as she often phrased it, holding a poster board over her head, waving it frantically. It read, simply, "PUCK".

A few days after the day at the ice cream shop, Quinn mustered up the courage to dig up Noah Puckerman and tell him the news. After many-a shaky-handed attempt at dialing his number, she did it. Actually punched in the digits, and waited agonizingly for him to pick up. When Lauren Zizes picked up the phone, Quinn was taken aback- when did they get back together? After a bit of small talk, she finally asked that the phone be given to Puck.

Quinn assumed he had to be suspicious of something, since they hadn't spoken since…well, graduation day.

"Long story short," she had said after the "hello"s, ",Shelby wants to let us back in Beth's life." The silence they found themselves in wasn't at all uncomfortable. She and Puck merely basked in happiness. The three of them figured out when would be best for him to fly to New York, and decided that June would be perfect.

So here they were, waiting for him in the airport. Quinn couldn't say she was really anxious to see him again, since she'd gotten over him such a long time ago, but she was more excited. For Beth, for Shelby, for the fact that Puck would be feeling what she felt back in November.

His flight had just come in, so all they had to do now was wait. Quinn could feel Beth getting a bit impatient and, perhaps, afraid that he wasn't showing up, but Shelby kept giving her reassuring pats on the shoulder. Quinn felt slightly responsible for whether Puck showed up or not, since she had been the one to tell him to come. What if he'd missed his flight, or chickened out? No, she had to remind herself. Noah Puckerman wasn't a coward. And he didn't play around when it came to Beth.

Then, as if in slow motion, a mohawk rose over all of the heads in the airport. The crowd parted, and Puck, clad in his classic t-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses, rolled his bags behind him. Though she couldn't see his eyes, Quinn could tell his expression was nervous as he scanned the airport for them. She grabbed Beth by the shoulders and knelt down to her ear.

"There he is!" she whisper-shouted to the girl, pointing a tad obnoxiously. She had spent a year telling children that it was rude to point, but oh well. Quinn felt the girl's hummingbird heartbeat increase its speed as she held up the sign once more. Puck's gaze found the sign, and Quinn could see the large, goofy grin spread across his face.

He all but ran to them, the sweater over his shoulder bouncing, and the suitcase behind him screeching across the airport floor. Once he came within a comfortable distance of them, Puck stopped. Quinn had expected him to pull Beth into a hug, or something, but he was respecting the girl's personal boundaries right now.

Shelby broke the silence. "Hello, Noah." She smiled. The two shared a glance that made Quinn a bit uncomfortable, knowing their history, but after answering Shelby, Puck turned back to Beth.

"….This must be your little girl." He sighed.

Shelby nodded her head, then added with a shrug, "Our little girl." Puck's smile was beaming as he knelt down to be face-to-face with Beth.

"Hi, Beth. I'm-" ,he began, but Beth cut him off.

"Noah Puckerman. My birth dad. You're Jewish, like me and my mom, and you live in Los Angeles. You run a pool cleaning business and I've wanted to meet you my whole life."

Quinn had to admit; the past few months she'd done more crying than ever. Happy tears, sad tears because of all she'd missed out on…And that made her choke up a little more. She watched as Puck silently pulled Beth into a tight embrace. The girl clung to him for dear life, her tiny hands clutching the cotton of his t-shirt. Quinn couldn't see his face, so she wondered if he was crying yet or not. Had she ever seen Noah Puckerman cry? Maybe his eyes were a bit misty right after Beth was born…but no more than that.

He pulled back, and examined Beth. Still no tears. "God, I hate the way the airport smells." He groaned.

"Me too." Beth chuckled.

Puck picked up his bags and let out a breath. "Let's get out of here." It hadn't registered to Quinn just yet that she'd been pretty much ignored, but this wasn't hers and Puck's reunion- it was the reunion of their strange, dysfunctional family.

Puck then turned his attention to her. "Hey, Q." he sighed. Quinn gave a small smile before opening her arms up for a hug. The two gave a tight, comforting embrace.

"Is she all you dreamed she'd be?" she muttered into his shoulder. Puck's body shook with laughter.

"Ambitious, smart…she's the exact opposite of me. Hell yeah." The two laughed before parting their hug.

"Yeah, well, she's also quick-witted and quick-tempered. That's all you." Quinn assured him. Puck eyed the girl, who was now having a quiet conversation with her mother. He chuckled, his gaze downward.

"This is so unreal." He sighed. "I mean, here we are…I'm married, running Puck's Pools. You're some bigshot actress in NYC." Quinn's eyes widened- he hadn't mentioned being married to Lauren.

"You're married?" she cocked an eyebrow. Puck gave a laugh.

"Just last weekend. We eloped…Vegas. Life's too short, you know?"

Quinn gave a nod and a smile. "Yeah, I know." Her own love life hadn't been at all in the question the last few years. She'd been too hard at work. But now she was a bit jealous- Puck was married to Lauren Zizes, and Quinn was still trying to muster up the courage to talk to that guy at the book store. That night that Beth showed up at her door and the way Quinn asserted herself on the phone with Shelby…She wanted to be that assertive all the time. Her college years had definitely taken that out of her. Four years of passivity, focusing on nothing but becoming successful, Quinn had become Lucy Caboosey again, stuck in her little shell once more. But that night that she had stood up to Shelby, she finally felt like Quinn Fabray again. And she had Beth to thank for that.

"Oh, shoot!" Beth's voice rang out. (Quick-witted like Quinn, quick-tempered like Puck, dramatic like Shelby.) "Mama, I forgot his card at home." She muttered through her teeth.

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Sweetie, we'll give it to him another day."

The girl shook her head worriedly. "No, it has to be today." She whined.

Shelby rolled her eyes, then turned to Quinn and Puck. "We'll take separate cabs and meet you guys in Central Park. Sounds good?"

"Sounds awesome." Puck answered, kneeling down to take Beth in his arms once more. "You turned out so awesome." He muttered into her curls. Quinn couldn't help but give a chuckle. He never did have a way with words. "But remember," the two parted, ",you get your good looks from me." His smirk made Beth erupt into laughter before she grabbed her mother's hand and ran to the exit.

Quinn and Puck strolled along together, a couple of Ohioans in an airport full of fast-pace New Yorkers. "She looks just like me." Puck said, his voice monotone.

"She does." Quinn agreed, "She has my nose, though." Puck raised an eyebrow to her, which made her laugh. "Okay, she has my old nose. Regardless, it's mine."

The two exited the airport, and got into the first cab they saw.

"So, Mizz Fabray." Puck began, as he got himself situated in the seat of the cab. They moved slowly in the airport traffic. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you since high school ended."

Quinn gave a smirk. "And what's that?"

"Why'd you kiss me that day?" his eyebrow was raised and he, too, was smirking. "I'm not hung up on it or anything, I'm just curious."

Quinn hadn't really thought much of that for the last few years. Why did she kiss him? She remembered saying something like she still loved him, and she remembered herself knowing that wasn't true. "High school was a weird time for me." Was all she could say. "…But I think the answer to that question is that I kind of wanted to come full circle. I wanted to see what I was leaving behind. As much as I wanted to say how excited I was to leave Lima, I was afraid…Of leaving. And I guess I wanted something to tether me back home. And when I kissed you, I told you it was because I loved you…I do, just not the way I said it, but I think it was because I wanted to love you. I wanted to love someone so I wouldn't have to leave. But then when it happened, I realized there was really nothing holding me back, and that I should just…go for it."

"Wow." Puck nodded, "That wasn't the answer I was expecting." Quinn gave a laugh, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, I'm full of surprises."

Puck smirked once more. "You're a real piece of work, Fabray." He chuckled. Quinn had never felt more comfortable around him. Those two years after Beth's birth she spent clenched up beside him in the choir room, her mind reverting back to that night that changed their lives forever. Wine coolers, "Trust me." Half that time she spent hating him. The other half, she spent angry at herself for blaming anyone but fate.

"Beth is amazing, isn't she?" Quinn sighed. She had to pinch herself every day to come to the realization that she truly was as great as she was. "…You were surprisingly quiet in there.

Puck gave an embarrassed nod. "I was speechless. But, you know, I have a whole week to talk to her. To learn about her. I can still crash on your couch, right?"

Quinn chuckled. "Of course. Trust me, it gets easier to talk to her once you realize how grown up she is for her age. For the first time in five years, I really sang. And I did it with Beth. Karaoke, of course, but it felt good."

She could see a moment of nostalgia in Puck's eyes. "You know, back when you were at your craziest..." Quinn was taken aback by the statement, and let it show. "…No offense. But back when you weren't allowed to see her, I sang Waiting for a Girl like You to her. And since then, I haven't been able to listen to it without thinking of her. How she was doing, what she was doing, if she knew I existed."

"Tell me about it. Try having to teach her for months without giving any inclination that you were her parent. It was torture."

The two continued to talk (about Beth, life, anything imaginable) until their cab finally made it to Central Park. Quinn assisted Puck with his luggage (one suitcase and a guitar case), only to find Beth and Shelby standing next to the lake. She didn't expect them to be there for another few minutes, since they had to take a detour.

Just like that day in the ice cream shop, Shelby pointed to Quinn and Puck, and Beth gave an excited wave before running over to them. Like a true ballerina, she was graceful and leapt more than ran. "Are you guys back together yet?" she asked as soon as she got within speaking distance of them.

Puck gave Quinn a questioning look, to which she responded with one that said "I have no idea what she's talking about." Quinn knelt to meet Beth's eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Beth glanced between them. "We didn't really leave the card at home. We just thought you guys needed some alone time to fall in love again."

Quinn shared a perplexed glance with Puck, who was now kneeling next to her. "Beth," he began, "I'm married." Beth never looked so young and confused. All this time Quinn had known her, she was this mature little woman. Her true age was showing, now.

"But my mommy says that when two people love each other, their love makes a baby. You guys have to love each other!" she was pouting, now, upset that her plan had been foiled.

"Oh, sweetie." Quinn moaned before pulling the girl in for a very one-sided hug. "You know what? I do love him. You know why?" Beth's big, green eyes peered up at her, gentle beneath her stern expression. "Because he helped me make you. And you are all anyone can ask for. I love him in a way that I can never love anyone else, but I do not love love him. Understand?"

She felt Puck's hand on her shoulder. "Same with me." Beth gave a small smile.

"I understand." She nodded, then her expression became confused again. "…What can I call you?" she asked Puck. "I call Quinn Quinn because I already have a mom. But I don't have a dad, so what do I call you?"

Puck stared at the ground for a second before looking up. "You don't have to call me dad. For now, I'm Puck. Or Puckzilla. Or Puckasaurus." His expression became gradually more comfortable once he heard Beth's laughter.

"I like Puckzilla." She nodded, baring her snaggle-toothed smile.

"Then Puckzilla it is." He smiled, holding out his hand for a fist bump. The two touched fists, then opened their palms for the "explosion". "So, talk to me. What do you like to do?"

Quinn watched as the two held hands and began walking across the grass. "Well, I like to dance. I'm a ballerina. "

"Have you ever seen the movie Black Swan?" Puck asked absent-mindedly. Classic Puckerman. Their voices trailed off into the distance as the got farther and farther away from Quinn. She couldn't help but smile at the scene. The two looked so happy, so invested in each other. And then, once again, Quinn was alone, her sun dress blowing in the summer wind, her blonde hair whipping around her face. Shelby then approached, her jeans rolled up to her calves, a pair of shoes in hand. She'd been less guarded around Quinn since she reunited her and Beth, and even decided not to wear makeup to the airport. Her age showed, as well as years of stress from never knowing Rachel, and then keeping Beth's parents a secret. But now she was happy, and Quinn could see that.

"Have I ever thanked you for making me let Beth stay with you that night?" Shelby asked, linking arms with Quinn.

She gave a chuckle. "A few times, yeah." She nodded, "But I never get tired of hearing it." The two women began slowly strolling to the lake.

"Really, Quinn. I just know that in ten years, I'd be kicking myself for making Beth end up like Rachel, not knowing who gave birth to her, and having no reason as to why she couldn't know her. Thank you again."

Quinn shook her head, "I should really be thanking you. These have been the happiest months of my life, getting to know Beth." She paused, then dared say it. "We're kind of a family, aren't we?" she smirked. Shelby laughed out loud.

"…Kind of." She nodded, "Kind of."