I am so sorry for the wait on this, guys! :(

Between school, unknown sicknesses (Doctor told me I had mono and it was actually a horrible sinus infection…how aggravating but relieving at the same time.), and trying to maintain a social life left me with no time to write. I definitely don't claim this chapter as one of my good pieces of writing. :/

Finally, I have found time, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! This chapter, and maybe… one or two others are going to contain letters and memories, but after that we are going to be coming back to the present full time. :)

Thank you everyone for the supportive reviews, and as you all know, I don't any of the characters or anything from Glee.

"Mail time, boys! Last stop this week, send offs are tomorrow!"

Finn's head perked from his pillow at the rough voice travelling across the barracks. This was the first delivery that his team had received since they had arrived, and almost everyone in the area was making their way towards the pile that was being emptied onto the desk. The men that had been laying down and resting on their time off were all crowded around, but Finn noticed one absent figure from the excitement; Puck.

Running a hand through his dark hair, Finn closed his eyes. His heart ached for his best friend, but he didn't know what to do to help him. It had been almost two years, and he knew Puck hadn't recovered from it yet. "Hell, none of us have," he thought to himself as his eyes searched the room. He found Puck's body facing the wall, lying down in a bed. He loved Puck as his best friend, and it hurt him to see him that way, but there was nothing more to do to help. Puck loved Finn and Quinn, and Finn knew it, but there was only so much that could be repaired.

As his eyes remained on Puck, Finn's thoughts travelled to Quinn. He knew there were days that were considerably worse than others, but she never seemed quite as down as Puck did. He wondered if she was just better at pretending to be okay, or if she had finally accepted the tragedy that had been dealt their way. He shook his head once more, trying to clear his thoughts. If he thought too much about Quinn or Puck… or their situation, he would surely start crying, and this was no place for tears.

"Hudson! The big one is for you!" A man named David playfully slapped him on the back as another guy chucked the large box towards him. Finn's eyes scanned the address label, and quickly identified Quinn's loopy writing. With a big smile on his face and a warm feeling of joy in his stomach, he moved back to his bed to tear the box open. As he did, several things became revealed, including goodies such as snacks, magazines, an extra pillow and blanket for both of the boys, and a picture frame that held two pictures. The first picture was only Quinn and Finn. It had been taken on their two year anniversary, a little over a year ago. They were standing next to the Christmas tree that had just decorated together. Although the scenery was beautiful, the picture clearly depicted the two people only having eyes for each other. The second picture was of Quinn, Finn, and Puck all stuffed on Carole's couch. They had been celebrating Quinn's twenty sixth birthday only a month ago. The last things in the box were two envelopes.

The first envelope simply said the words 'My Finn' on it, and felt light. The second was addressed to Puck, and felt a bit heavier. A grin graced his features as his quietly thanked Quinn for thinking of Puck as well. Sometimes she was the only one that could really get through to the damaged man. He knew Quinn and Puck had been through the ringer, but he was glad that they were able to remain close friends.

Silently, Finn made his way to Puck's area and sat down on the edge of the bed, shoving his feet over slightly. "Puck, Quinn sent you something. She also sent us some goodies. You can dig through the box whenever you want to." He handed over the envelope to an eager Puck and stood up again to retrieve his own letter, but not before giving his best friend a pat on the back.

As he sat down, Finn took a deep breath before opening the letter. He had anxiously been waiting for Quinn's reply since the moment he dropped off his own letter. Finally, his shaky hands opened the carefully closed envelope and unfolded the letter that was inside. Finn's smile broke out into an enormous grin as soon as he saw Quinn's writing again.

My Finn,

You know me too well. The breath of anxiety was definitely being held until I read the first sentence of your letter. Everything here is going pretty well, as expected. Your mom and Burt have been so accommodating. I think your mom calls me at least twice a day to make sure I'm feeling alright. And to put your fears down, I am doing wonderfully. My only complaint is not having you to wake up to every morning and fall asleep to every night.

The baby is thus far healthy and perfect, just like a certain someone I know. I had my first ultrasound done yesterday, and I enclosed a picture with this letter. You can't really tell what anything is yet, but at least we know he/she is there. Speaking of gender, do you care what gender the baby is?

Finn rested his hand holding the letter on his knee as he thought about her question; did he care? Absolutely not. In his mind he had always thought of his first child being a boy, much like him. He had had images of teaching a young boy to play football and basketball. Having a daughter had never even occurred to him until they found out what Beth's gender had been on the ultrasound. Things had started to change then. Finn then started to see pictures of a little girl running around, looking exactly like Quinn. Of course, Beth had ended up not being his, but she did look strikingly identical to Quinn. Even after he and Quinn broke up, he always imagined his daughter being a beautiful mini Quinn. Thinking about it at the moment, Finn knew that whichever gender the baby turned out to be, he would love it unconditionally.

Okay, no fair. You can't be all sweet and make me cry, that's no fun! At least not for me. I miss you too, so much. There's never a moment that passes in which my thoughts aren't centered on my Finn. I love you, Finn.

As for Puck, I had feared he wouldn't handle everything over there very well. I imagine you don't see wonderful things on a daily basis, and he's seen enough trouble for a lifetime without being reminded of how cruel the world can be. I sent him a letter, but nothing in it would show any of the concern you have confessed to me. We both know how can be with us worrying. I also sent him a few pictures and something he left behind. I knew he wouldn't feel right without his feign dog tag with Beth's named engraved in it. I don't believe I've ever seen him without it until the day he left.

There were a few skips in the lines, and it looked like the little blue guidelines of the paper had been smudged with some tears. Before he even read the first word, Finn knew the next part of the letter would be about her return home four years ago. So much had happened; too much. Finn hated the reason of Quinn's return, but was incredibly thankful that he was presented with an opportunity to reestablish a relationship with the woman of his dreams.

This is so hard to write about, Finn. It's such a bittersweet memory that my emotions are just all over the place. I returned home in a frenzy of worry and fear, and somehow fate led me to the only person who knew how to console an irrational me. I had promised myself to never fall back into anything with you, but I couldn't resist. You were my support in the time that I most needed it.

You have always been my savior. You still are to this day. You are so brave Finn, and it only makes me love you more. The day that we ran into each other at the hospital was the one of my worst days, but you made it okay. You always make everything okay.

Finn grasped his bed sheets as he picked up on the pain that Quinn must have been experiencing while writing to him. He had left her at home, and he knew she felt at a loss again. In his mind, Finn angrily screamed at the world. Quinn had enough loss in her life, why did he have to be taken away from her for who knows when? At fifteen she had lost her 'stable' family that the Fabray's had been known for. She lost Finn after Babygate had been solved. Several months later, she lost the baby that had ripped her family and relationship apart when the little girl was given up for adoption. She soon after lost Finn again in Junior year, and within a summer's time had lost herself. Finally she had built her life up again, and she was thrown into a horrible accident, losing every ounce of self-esteem she contained. After several years away from Lima, she lost contact with all of the friends she once claimed. When she finally returned to Lima, she lost her sense of the world because of Beth's condition. After two years, she had lost her beautiful daughter that had started to refer to her as Mommy after Shelby's leave of absence. Now she seemingly lost Finn once again, at least for a little while. Consequently, Finn knew the strong and brilliant woman he loved so much had lost her teenage years and was forced to grow up much faster than most.

Remembering the exact day Quinn had bumped into him in the elevator, Finn wasn't sure to smile or cringe. It would surely be a day that was always on his mind.

Quinn closed her eyes, a shaky breath coming out. It was small and hard to hear, but Finn finally heard the one word she was whispering; "Beth."

Finn's eyes widened at the mention of the child who had to be seven years old at this point. "What's wrong with Beth?" He questioned her, hoping for an easy solution. Maybe the child had simply fallen and sprained a wrist. He knew by the look on her face that this was something much more serious, but instead of filling him in on the situation, Quinn only started to shake and was making noises that sounded like gasps. Finn reached forward firmly, placing a steady hand on either one of Quinn's arms. "Quinn, it's okay. I promise it's okay, Q, what's wrong with Beth? Please tell me… I love her too."

He watched the shaking woman's eyes flutter open and stare at his own for a few moments. He knew it seemed unrealistic for him to love Beth, but he did. Although she was not his own, Finn had spent many months thinking she was. To him, she was still partly his daughter. "Quinn…"

Seeing that she wasn't calming down, Finn moved from his stance on the ground and moved to sit on the bench beside her. In a swift motion, he pulled the delicate Quinn into his lap. Instantly, her head found his chest and he found himself rubbing her knee and running a hand comfortingly over her head and through her locks.

They remained on the bench like that for ten minutes in silence until the tears and shaking finally stopped. The tear stained face that looked up at Finn's immediately broke his heart. Something was incredibly wrong. "Why are you here, Quinn?"

His eyes examined every move she made before she answered. She didn't move from his lap, but she did sit up considerably straighter. Her hazel eyes shifted around the empty room, looking anywhere but at him. Finn knew he brain was spinning in circles when her top teeth lightly bit into her bottom lip. It seemed to be years, but finally Quinn came up with an answer.

"Beth has cancer, Finn. Leukemia. She's only in here for a check-up today, but who knows? The next time she's here it could be for a really long time… she could be really sick then." Once again, she fell silent, but this time it didn't take her near as long to keep talking. "It sucks. This is just a bunch of shit. She's almost seven years old. No child should ever have to deal with the things that she's going to be experiencing. And you know what just tops off this… this… shitty day? Shelby decided to call me and tell me about Beth. Which, I am so glad she did. Not only did she call me to tell me that horrible news, she also decided to tell me she was leaving. Although Beth is legally hers, she says she can't handle it anymore. She can't handle the stress of being an older mother. She can't handle the stress of having a daughter who has Leukemia. She's stressed? What about Beth? What about my little girl who is going to lose the woman she knows as a mother as soon as I go up there." She stopped for only a second this time, swallowing a giant lump in her throat. "She… Shelby is leaving and going God knows where as soon as I go up there and 'relieve' her of her duties. What mother thinks of their child as a duty that can just be taken away without a care?"

Finn stared at Quinn, at a loss of words. Nothing made sense to him. How could Beth have Leukemia? How could Shelby be abandoning her daughter? He knew Quinn was feeling especially angry with Shelby for not only being a bad mother, but for doing exactly what Quinn's father had done to her.

He let go of his grip on her temporarily to wipe the sweat from his sticky hands onto his genes. "Quinn… I know I haven't been around, or really in your life since Junior year, but I promise you, I am not leaving you now. I will not leave you alone to take care of Beth." His brown eyes met her hazel eyes, holding eye contact to make sure she knew he was beyond serious. "I don't understand Shelby's actions, but I know you can do this. I know you can take care of Beth. You're Quinn Fabray. You can do anything. I do have one question though, does Beth know you?"

The problem of Beth possibly not knowing Quinn was the only thing Finn could see that would cause a problem in Quinn taking care of Beth, besides the fact that Shelby abandoned her. Fortunately Quinn shook her head up and down at him while collecting her tears with her thumb. "Shelby and Beth flew out to see me in New Haven every year during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and over my spring break. She also flew in on Beth's birthday, and Puck would always come around for them too. I… I can't help but feeling like she only kept in contact so one day she could just drop Beth."

Finn couldn't find an answer for her statement, so he hugged her close again. "I know you're afraid of me hurting you, because I'm afraid of hurting you. But I'm not going to. We're going to be friends, and I'm going to help you through this. And you're going to help me too. Does Puck know about this yet?" This time the shake of the head confirmed what he had thought, "We need to call Puck. He'd want to be here, and he'd want to help. We're all going to help each other. We're a family, an odd family. But a family. We're doing this together."

As he remembered the words he had told her, Finn started to feel light headed. The memory had been too real, and for a moment he had felt like he was actually back to the day that was almost too event filled for one day's time. Trying to take his mind off of it to control his emotions, Finn started to read Quinn's letter from where he had left off.

I want you to be safe over there, do you hear me? I want you to be able to see our child one day, and if you're safe, I know you will. Speaking of the baby, I've been having some morning sickness. But don't fret, I've been through it before and I know how to handle it. It's a healthy thing, even if it is inconvenient.

Keep an eye on Puck for me. I know he still struggles immensely, and I don't want him doing stupid things in a reckless manor. Keep him in line and safe as well. We both need him. I love you Finn, and I can't wait to have you back to being just mine.

Your Quinn

Finn's fingers slipped into the envelope, and sure enough, they found a small ultrasound picture. Quinn was right, you couldn't tell what anything was, but he knew it was their child; making it priceless. Behind the ultrasound picture was a picture of Quinn at his mom's house, holding her shirt up to reveal her stomach. The smile on Quinn's face matched Finn's as he stared at the picture. On the back of it, Quinn had titled it "8 weeks along". There was barely any signs of a baby bump yet, but this was a sure sign that Finn was going to be kept up to date on every event of the pregnancy. Although an ocean apart, they were still doing this together, that was a promise.

Just one question!

Do you guys want to see Puck's letter from Quinn and his emotions? Or do you want this story to remain strictly Finn/Quinn's POV. Please review and let me know!