For once, I'm dedicating a chapter to someone. I'm dedicating this to my mom, who passed away 5 years ago from cancer. She was the best mom a person could ask for and I miss her every day.

Tana: You were right; I completely forgot I wrote that. It's what happens when you're working on so many stories at once.

skittles84: I have absolutely no idea…

Chapter 10 – The Greatest Gift

Quinn watched in amusement as Rachel scrubbed at a spot on the table and then frowned when it still didn't come off. She had been working on trying to remove it for the past ten minutes, but nothing was taking it away. She didn't seem to be giving up, though.

"Rachel," Quinn said, stilling her hand. "It's fine."

"Why won't this spot scrub off!" Rachel said, sounding exasperated.

"Sweetie, you need to calm down," Kurt said as he opened the refrigerator.

Rachel huffed. "I am not un-calm."

Kurt's eyebrow rose. "Then why are you using words like 'un-calm'?"

"Rachel, it's only my mother," Quinn said, taking the sponge and bottle out of Rachel's hands.

"I know," Rachel replied.

She had been furiously cleaning for the past few days, trying to—as Rachel had said several times—make the apartment as presentable as she could for Judy's arrival. Quinn had moved all of her stuff in on Friday, leaving New Haven as soon as she was done with her last final, which had put Rachel behind since she was trying to help her unpack even though Quinn had insisted she could do it herself, but her girlfriend was stubborn and didn't listen. Luckily, Quinn didn't have a lot of stuff since she normally lived in a modestly sized dorm room, which was good since she and Rachel were sharing the brunette's room.

Quinn almost couldn't believe that they were going to have the whole summer together. She had a summer job lined up at a small coffee shop just down the street from the apartment, while Rachel had one of the lead roles in a student film that a friend of a friend was directing. As Rachel had said, it wasn't Broadway, but it was something to do over the summer that would give her some experience with acting. Plus, Rachel said the script was amazing and she was hoping it could lead to something bigger.

"Relax," Quinn said, kissing Rachel's cheek.

"I just want the place to be presentable," Rachel replied.

"It already is," Quinn said, looking around. "It's more than presentable—it's the most presentable apartment ever."

"You're mocking me," Rachel said, narrowing her eyes.

Quinn laughed lightly. "A little, yes, but the apartment is spotless, so don't worry so much, okay? Even if it wasn't, my mom wouldn't care."

"I just want the place to look nice for her," Rachel said, wrapping her arms around Quinn's neck. "I know how hard she works and I want her to be able to relax while she's here."

"Which is very sweet, but my mom is much less high maintenance than her past would suggest," Quinn said, giving Rachel a quick kiss. "Everything is fine."

Rachel sighed and looked away. "I still think we should have picked her up from the airport."

"I know, but she can be very stubborn sometimes," Quinn commented.

Rachel smiled. "So that's where you get it from."

"Ha ha," Quinn replied.

They both turned their heads when there was a knock at the door and Rachel whispered, "That's her."

"Right on time," Quinn said, gently removing Rachel's arms from her shoulders, so she could go get the door.

"I've got it," Kurt said as he breezed past them.

Quinn took Rachel's hand and followed Kurt, pulling her along. Kurt slid the door open and Judy was on the other side with her suitcase next to her and a small bag in her hands.

"Hello, Ms. Fabray," Kurt greeted, reaching out for her luggage.

"Call me Judy," she said, smiling at him before turning to Quinn and Rachel. "Hello, dear."

"Hi, mom," Quinn said, walking up to the older woman, and giving her hug.

"You too, Rachel," Judy said, holding out her other arm.

"Hello," Rachel said, receiving a hug. "How was your flight?"

"Not too bad," Judy said as she pulled away and smiled at them. "I talked to a nice man at the airport and we've agreed to have drinks when we both get back."

Quinn's eyebrows shot up; this was the first time her mother had ever mentioned another man, but it had been a while since she and Russell had split. Still, though, the thought of Judy dating was a little weird for Quinn, but she knew it would happen eventually.

"Well, if you need any help picking out an outfit, let me know," Kurt said. "In fact, we could do some shopping while you're here. We can get you something that will completely wow him."

Judy laughed. "I would like that, actually. My wardrobe could use the update and I know I would be in excellent hands."

"Please don't inflate his ego," Quinn said, turning, and walking toward the living room.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Rachel asked.

"No, thank you," Judy said, looking around as she followed Quinn. "Your place is lovely. Very spacious."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "I only wish we had walls sometimes."

Quinn snorted at the understatement; half of Rachel's complaints were about how the loft didn't have walls. It was usually because Santana had walked into her room unannounced or was being loud at night while Rachel was trying to sleep. Quinn wasn't used to how easily sound travelled through the apartment, which was a little awkward when she and Rachel were being intimate. Luckily, Santana wanted to walk in on them having sex about as much as they wanted her to, so they had made a rule that if there was a green ribbon pinned to the curtain, she needed to stay out.

"Are you hungry?" Quinn asked. "We were thinking of ordering a pizza."

"That would be wonderful, actually," Judy said, taking a seat.

"I'll order it right now," Kurt said, grabbing his phone from the table, and walking toward the kitchen.

"Wait, Kurt," Rachel said, following him.

Quinn smiled softly as she watched her girlfriend run after Kurt; when she looked at her mom again, the woman was staring at her—studying her.

"What?" she asked, feeling self-conscious.

"I've just never see you so happy," Judy stated.

"You only have Rachel to thank," Quinn replied.

"I know." Judy smiled as she looked toward the brunette. "You're lucky you found someone like her, Quinnie."

Quinn laughed lightly. "I know."

"What did I miss?" Rachel asked as she walked over.

"Nothing," Quinn said, smiling up at her.

"You were right," Judy said after taking her first bite of food. "This place is wonderful."

Rachel smiled. "I'm glad you think so."

Quinn smiled as well; she knew her mother would never complain about the restaurant, but she also wouldn't praise it if she didn't mean it, which meant she actually was enjoying her food. Rachel and Quinn had debated about where to take her on her first night in the city and ultimately decided on a nearby place that offered a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan food. Quinn hadn't quite made it to only eating a vegan diet and didn't know if she would ever, but had forgone any meat for quite some time now. It was actually easier than she thought; it was easier than any of the diets Sue ever had them on.

Tomorrow they were going to take Judy wherever she desired since it was Mother's Day. Rachel was beyond excited, which Quinn found adorable. Quinn had never thought of Mother's Day as being that big of a deal—she usually just bought Judy something nice and the family would eat at a fancy restaurant—but she guessed it would be if you never got to celebrate it.

"It's alright," Santana said with a shrug.

Quinn rolled her eyes; she knew Santana loved this place, but she'd never admit it because that would mean agreeing with Judy. "Uh huh."

"What?" Santana asked.

"I thought you loved it here," Rachel said, furrowing her brows.

"I never said that," Santana lied.

"Yes you did," Rachel argued.

"Just last week you said you would marry this place if it was legal to marry property," Kurt added.

Santana grumbled and went back to devouring her food now that the pretense was up. Quinn shook her head, wondering if Santana was ever going to forgive Judy for letting Russell kick her out. Luckily they were rarely in the same room, but it would be nice if her friend and her mother got along. Not that Judy really had anything against Santana, or at least not anymore. She used to say that Santana was a bad influence, but Quinn thought that had more to do with her father's opinion of the girl, and Judy was just following his example.

"What're we doing tomorrow?" Santana asked through a mouthful of food.

"We're not doing anything," Quinn said. "Rachel, my mom, and I are going sightseeing."

They were also taking Judy to her first Broadway show—at Rachel's insistence, of course—but that was going to be a surprise. Her mother had a large collection of old musicals, so she thought it was something the older woman would enjoy.

"I can't come?" Santana asked, scowling.

"Quinn wants to spend time with her mother," Kurt said.

"Rachel's going," Santana pointed out.

"Rachel's my girlfriend," Quinn replied.

"And I'm your best friend," Santana said, leaning back, and crossing her arms.

"She can go with us," Judy chimed in.

Santana smirked triumphantly and Quinn rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you've already seen everything, so don't whine to me when you're bored."

"Whatever," Santana replied.

Judy laughed. "You can come too, Kurt, if you would like."

"I might do just that," Kurt replied, taking a sip of water. "I always liked Mother's Day. I would usually make my mom a card and pick flowers from the backyard; they were usually dandelions, but I thought they were pretty."

"I'm sure she loved them," Judy said, giving him a sad smile.

"I am so tired," Rachel said, throwing off her shoes as she walked into the apartment.

Quinn shook her head. "I told you to wear different shoes."

Rachel sighed. "But they go so well with this dress."

"Yes, but they also hurt your feet," Quinn said, smiling at her.

Rachel frowned at the shoes. "Remind me to donate them."

"You could always give them to Santana," Quinn said, smirking.

"Give me what?" Santana asked as she walked by.

"Nothing," Rachel said, laughing.

"Would anyone like some coffee or tea?" Kurt asked, breezing by them. "Judy?"

"Tea would wonderful," Judy said as they all made their way to the living room.

It had been a very long day; they took Judy to all the usual tourist spots before taking her to dinner. After dinner, they surprised her by taking her to see Wicked. They only had the three tickets, though, so Kurt and Santana decided to go to some place that Kurt heard was going to have a band playing. Quinn had no idea what they actually did, but when they met up with them, Kurt seemed very disgruntled, so it was no telling what Santana had done, and neither of them were talking about it.

Quinn sat down and let out a sigh of relief; it had been a very long day and she was happy to finally sit down. Despite Rachel's shoes, she had insisted on hitting every single spot on their list. She had been concerned about whether or not Quinn was okay, but even though Quinn was tired, she never said anything. She didn't like to think about the accident and would deny it if anyone asked, but even though it had been over a year, she still felt the effects of it sometimes. Usually everything was okay, but on days like this, she would get tired a lot easier than before the car wreck.

"Are you okay, Quinn?"

The blonde looked up to find her girlfriend's worried eyes on her. "I'm just tired."

"I pushed you too hard," Rachel said, frowning. "I knew we did too much today."

"I'm fine, Rachel," Quinn stated. "I might be a little sore tomorrow. Don't worry, okay?"

"I'm your girlfriend, it's my job to worry about you," Rachel replied. "Especially when your girlfriend is very stubborn and doesn't like to admit that something might be wrong."

Judy laughed. "You know my daughter so well."

"She's always known me well," Quinn said, staring at the brunette.

"Yes, well—you always intrigued me, Quinn Fabray, so I spent far too much time trying to figure you out," Rachel replied. "And I must say, it's mutual. Even when we weren't friends, you always told me what I needed to hear, though it may not have been what I wanted to hear at the time. Sometimes I think you knew me better than I knew myself."

"Don't make me gag," Santana said as she plopped down in her chair.

"You might want to be nice, Santana," Kurt commented, brining over Judy's tea.

"Or you'll do what?" Santana asked.

"I'll tell Blaine to tell Brittany, and I don't think she'll be very happy with you" Kurt replied.

Santana scoffed and then scowled, crossing her arms. "You don't scare me."

"I have Brittany's number if you want to call her directly," Quinn said, reaching for her phone.

"Wait!" Santana said, holding up her hands. "Fine, but just so you know, I hate you all."

"No you don't," Rachel argued. "We're your best friends even if you don't want to admit it. You wouldn't have moved in with us otherwise."

Santana rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked into her room without saying anything. The four in the living room laughed and Santana poked her head out to say, "Seriously, I hate you all."

Rachel shook her head and looked at Judy. "So, Ms. Fabray—Judy—did you enjoy your day? If there's anything else you would like to do, we still have a few days."

"We're shopping first thing tomorrow, before I have to be at the office," Kurt interjected. "Speaking of which, I'm going to head to bed; I need my beauty rest if I'm going to perform a makeover tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Kurt," Rachel said, smiling at him.

"See you in the morning," Kurt said, looking over his shoulder on the way to his room.

"We should probably all get to bed, I guess," Rachel said, putting her head on Quinn's shoulder. "It has been a very long day and I anticipate tomorrow being just as long."

"Good, because I'm exhausted," Quinn said, standing up, and stretching.

"I think we all are," Judy replied.

"I'll make breakfast in the morning," Rachel announced. "Is there anything specific that you would like?"

"Whatever you fix will be fine, dear," Judy said, looking at Rachel.

Quinn snorted. "You clearly haven't had her cooking; I'll make breakfast in the morning, so it's edible."

"I'm not that bad." Rachel frowned, crossing her arms, and Quinn's eyebrow rose. "Okay, fine—you can fix breakfast in the morning."

"We'll see you in the morning, mom," Quinn said, laughing lightly.

"Wait," Judy said. "Rachel, I wanted to thank you for today."

"It was nothing," the brunette said, waving her off. "I had a lot of fun today, and Quinn really planned most of it."

"Not for that, though today was wonderful," Judy said with a shake of her head. "Thank you for making my daughter so happy. As mother, you want to see your child like that, and for a long time I wondered if she would ever be happy. Then you came along and changed everything. I think that's the best gift I could have gotten for Mother's Day—to know my daughter is going to be okay."

Quinn looked over and saw tears in her girlfriend's eyes; she reached over and took Rachel's hand, knowing the brunette—probably for the first time in her life—didn't know what to say. She glanced at her mom, smiling, and tugged on Rachel's hand, guiding her into their bedroom.

Quinn narrowed her eyes as she watched Kurt; he seemed really nervous for some reason and she wanted to know what he was up to. And it was just him; her mom had been acting strange as well, but neither of them was saying anything. Rachel was acting normal, though, and since she knew her girlfriend couldn't keep a secret, she knew the brunette wasn't in on whatever was happening. Plus, Rachel kept looking questionably at Kurt.

"Okay," Rachel said, crossing her arms. "Will you tell me what is going on."

"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked completely unconvincingly.

"Kurt Hummel, I know when you are lying to me," Rachel said with a scowl on her face. "Now, tell me what is going on and why you keep looking at the door."

"I'm not," Kurt replied.

"Why does he keep looking at the door?" Rachel asked, turning to Santana.

"Don't look at me," Santana said, shrugging. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

Rachel huffed. "Fine."

There was a knock on the door and Kurt jumped up, saying, "Thank god."

Quinn and Rachel both furrowed their brows as they watched Kurt quickly walk over to answer the door. The blonde looked over at Judy and noticed she had a smile on her face, which made her frown even more.

"Oh my," Quinn heard Rachel say beside her, and she looked to the door.

"What are—" Quinn closed her mouth and took a step forward.

"Surprise," Shelby said, walking into the room with Beth in her arms.

"What are you two doing here?" Rachel asked.

"We thought we would surprise you, didn't we?" Shelby said, smiling down at Beth. "Judy called me last week saying she was going to be here. We thought it might be a nice idea if Beth and I stopped by."

"I didn't know you two talked," Quinn said, looking at her mother.

"I must say, I am definitely surprised," Rachel said with a light laugh.

"Yeah," Quinn replied.

"We'll be right back," Rachel said, grabbing Quinn's hand, and pulling her toward the bedroom.

Once inside the room, Rachel pulled the curtains shut and turned around, looking at Quinn.

"What?" the blonde asked.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked. "With Shelby and Beth just showing up here. Are you okay? If you're not, I can—"

"Rachel," Quinn said, stopping her girlfriend before she could go into a full rant. "I'm okay. I'm surprised, but I'm okay."

"Good," Rachel said, letting out a long sigh.

"Are you?" Quinn asked. "Okay, I mean."

Rachel nodded. "Yes. Like you, I'm surprised, but you know Shelby and I have been talking lately, so I'm okay with seeing her."

Quinn nodded, knowing that Rachel was telling the truth since the brunette was a terrible liar, and she could always tell. Quinn was surprised her mother had sprung this on her, but she knew it was because of one of their last phone conversations. They ended up discussing Beth and Quinn had admitted that she wished she could see her daughter again.

"Does that mean we can go back out there?" Quinn asked, smiling.

"Yes, sorry I drug you away," Rachel said with a laugh.

Quinn gave Rachel's lips a quick kiss and then turned to walk through the curtain. Kurt was sitting on the floor, playing with Beth, while Judy was now in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and Shelby was sitting at the table. Rachel reached out, squeezing Quinn's hand, and then headed toward Shelby. Quinn looked at Kurt and Beth; she smiled as she watched them playing with dolls, and went over to them.

"Want to join us?" Kurt asked. "There's an extra doll."

Quinn laughed and sat down. "Hi, Beth."

"Hi," the little blonde said, not looking up.

"How long did you know about this?" Quinn asked.

"Since Judy came," Kurt admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but she wanted it to be a surprise."

"Santana really didn't know?" Quinn asked.

"Like she would have been able to keep it a secret," Kurt said, rolling his eyes before looking serious. "You know why she insisted on coming Sunday, don't you?"

"To be a pain in the ass?" Quinn asked.

Kurt tilted his head. "She thought Mother's Day might be hard for you; she wanted be there for you. In her own Santana way, at least." Kurt shook his head. "I'm not saying I like living with her or that I don't want to kick her out on the street most days, but I did learn something about her this week. She doesn't act like it, but she does care about people—especially you. So, as much as it pains me to say it, I think we should give her a break sometimes."

Quinn looked across the apartment, her eyes falling onto Santana, who had emerged from her room.

"Is Rachel okay with this?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Quinn replied. "I'll be right back."

Quinn smiled at Beth as she stood up. She walked over to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Judy.

"What's this for?" the older woman asked.

"Thank you," Quinn said.

"Don't mention it, dear," Judy said, squeezing her arm.

Quinn smiled as she looked over her shoulder, looking from Beth to Rachel. It was rare when the three people she loved most were in the same room and she was going to enjoy every moment of it.

The next chapter will probably be Father's Day, so I'll see you all then.