So sorry for the delay in updating! I've been caught up in drama with some friends, so I completely lost my muse. Hopefully this chapter will suffice :) This may, very well, be the end. Though, I may write an epilogue. Let me know what you think in reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Uptown Girls

A few weeks had passed since Beth ran away. Quinn hadn't heard from Shelby since then; Except for the day after when she called to thank her and Puck again for finding Beth. Of course, Quinn was still heartbroken after everything that had happened, but she was slowly, but surely getting over it. Puck had been helping her along the way. He was pretty much living with her at that point. He stayed with her at night, and they went their separate ways during the day. Quinn went out on a job hunt while Puck went to find places to play gigs for upcoming nights. They weren't dating, but they were more definitely more than just friends. They knew exactly how they felt about one another, but were taking things at a snail's pace. Quinn still wasn't ready for an actual relationship yet. And Puck was willing to wait as long as she needed.

It was a Saturday, now. Exactly three days before Beth's birthday. Quinn had gotten Beth a gift card that she could use anywhere. She wasn't entirely sure what she could have gotten the little girl that she didn't already have. Plus, she didn't even know if Shelby would let her give it to her. Quinn had it ready and addressed to mail. It was just a matter of working up the courage to actually mail it, now.

"What are you gunna want for dinner, babe?" Puck asked her from the kitchen. He called her 'babe' all the time. Of course, it meant something, but Quinn didn't mind. It had always been his term of endearment for her, even when they weren't dating.

"Doesn't matter to me," she let out a heavy sigh as she looked down at the pink envelope in her hands.

"You gotta mail that thing sometime," Puck looked over to her, "If you don't mail your card, I can't mail mine. That'd just be weird."

"I know. I just...what if she hates us?"

Sighing, Puck set down his drink and strolled over to her, wrapping his arms comfortably around her waist from behind, "She doesn't. She can't, Q, I mean, she's eight. She doesn't have the ability to hate yet."

"Seems like she could," Quinn leaned her head back, resting her head in the crook of his neck and closing her eyes. The phone rang just then, and she gently released herself from his grip to answer it, "Hello?"

"Hi, Quinn. It's Shelby."

Dumbstruck, Quinn's eyebrows knit together briefly before she finally answered, "H-hi, um...How are you? Is Beth okay?"

"She's fine, just fine. But we're having her birthday party with a few of my close friends and my mother, and she actually requested that you and Noah come at last minute."

Of course, Quinn was shocked. She hadn't been expecting a phone call from Shelby, and she definitely hadn't been expecting Beth to invite them to her birthday party. "Of course! I mean, sure, but what-"

"I don't know. She just came to me and asked if you and Noah would come. She's having some friends over tonight for a sleepover, and all the adults are leaving around seven. So, I guess she wanted to see you before her friends came."

That sentence alone almost brought Quinn to tears. Not only was Beth making friends, but she was actually inviting them over for a slumber party like she had suggested. "I, um...Absolutely. We'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you so much."

"No problem. I'm just glad to see she's forgiven the situation. I'll see you and Noah soon."

Hanging up the phone, Quinn turned to Puck with a watery smile, "Shelby said that Beth wants us at her birthday party."

"Really?" His eyes widened.

"Yea, but the adults are only there 'til seven, so we gotta go!"

xoPQox

Knocking on the door, Quinn stood nervously with a neatly wrapped package in under her arm. Puck was on her other side, looking just as nervous. He always played it cool and collected, but he really wasn't. He hadn't seen Shelby since their little fling back when he was in high school. Lord knows, he regretted every minute of that. Except getting to see Beth. That was the only good thing that came out of that. And the fact that Shelby was the last 'cougar' that he ever slept with. After Shelby, Puck had decided that he was done with that game. He needed to grow up and stop acting like a juvenile.

The door swung open, revealing Shelby grinning widely on the other side. "Hey! Come on in! We're basically just all socializing in here. I'll take those for you if you want."

Quinn and Puck handed her the gift and their cards and walked slowly inside. They didn't know anyone here. It was all Shelby's friends. Beth was sitting in the corner of the living room on the lap of an elderly woman. That must be Shelby's mother. Beth seemed pretty content. She was just chatting it up with her grandma, fiddling with the hem of her pink party dress. The little girl glanced over, seeing Quinn and Puck. Her smile faded quickly upon seeing them. Kissing her grandmother on the cheek, she climbed off her lap and padded carefully over to her biological parents.

"Hi," Quinn whispered, looking down at the little girl with a small smile.

Without a word, Beth turned to Puck with a look that said, "Can you give us a minute?", and he immediately understood, backing off and going to find someone to talk to. Beth started walking off towards her bedroom, looking back and waving for Quinn to come along, and she followed hesitantly.

Quinn sat on Beth's bed once she was in her bedroom, wondering what her daughter was going to say. After closing the door behind her, Beth came over and sat on her bed about a foot away from Quinn.

"Mom told me everything," was all she said.

"Really?"

Beth nodded.

"So she told you about Rachel, and Puck and me?"

She nodded to it all. "She even told me about the baby sacrifice books you planted on her."

Quinn cringed, "It wasn't my best idea." At least that got a small chuckle out of the smaller blonde. "Did she tell you why I did it?"

"She said you went to desperate measures to try to get her in trouble so you could get me back."

Nodding, Quinn pursed her lips into a straight line, "I meant well. I really did. I just...I don't know. I went kind of crazy. I went through a really hard time after I gave you up. I stopped talking to Puck for a year and a half, and I just, isolated myself from all the my real friends and the people who had helped me when I was pregnant."

"Why?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "It was a while ago. But I remember that everything and everyone reminded me of you. I tried to forget everything that had happened my sophomore year and tried it all again during my junior year. My plan in school was to be cheerleading captain, date the quarterback of the football team, become prom queen, and be at the top of the social food chain. I had it all going for me during sophomore year until I got pregnant."

"So I was a mistake?"

"No. No, not at all. You weren't planned, but you've never been a mistake. I don't regret any of my mistakes when I was sixteen, because every move I made lead me to you. And you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Really?" the little girl's hazel eyes brightened a bit.

"Really. I always put up this attitude, making people think that you were ruining my life. But you weren't. Puck didn't ruin my life either. You and him were actually the only good things I had going for me for a while. Y'know, he used to sing to my belly when I was pregnant with you? It always calmed you down."

"What kind of songs?"

"He would always sing some Neil Diamond or Billy Joel here and there. But I think your favorite song was your song: 'Beth' by KISS. That's how we came up with your name. He sang it to me in glee club one day, and suggested the name. I fell in love with it."

"I've never heard that song."

"Oh, yes you have. You just don't remember. You've had pizza before, too. Puck gave some to you when we babysat."

"He's pretty cool. Mom told me he drew me that clown pig," Beth's eyes wandered to the colored picture on the wall.

"He did. From what I hear, he worked pretty hard on it too." Beth giggled a little, causing the load of bricks of Quinn's shoulders to lift off, "I always loved you, Beth. And I always wanted what was best for you. That's why I put you up for adoption in the first place. It wasn't so that I could get my life back, even though that's what everyone thinks. It wasn't so that I wouldn't have to deal with the responsibility. It was because despite how much we loved you and wanted to keep you for ourselves, we knew that we couldn't provide for you. We were just kids. We didn't know anything about raising a baby. And we knew that there was someone out there who could give you everything we couldn't. "

Beth just stared at her, listening to the story intently.

"Puck didn't make it easy on me either. After you were born, he told me that he loved me. All through my pregnancy, he tried to convince me that we could do the whole parenting thing. He wanted to get a house and be a family. But I knew that it wouldn't work out. Neither of us were financially or emotionally stable enough. I think a part of him still hates me for giving you up. But I want you to know that we love you so much. We always have, and we always will. And I don't want you to ever have a doubt in your mind about that. Okay?"

The small girl just nodded with her eyes cast downward.

"Wait here," Quinn got up and ran to the living room where the presents were stacked, grabbing for her own and running back to Beth's room, "Here."

"What's this?"

"Open it, silly. It's a birthday present." Quinn knelt on the floor in front of Beth's bed, resting her chin on her arms as they settled on the bedspread. Beth had the thick, pink scrapbook unwrapped and she was just running the tiny tips of her fingers over the edges of it.

"I figured you might want it...y'know, just to look at whenever you feel sad or lonely. Maybe add to it if we ever take more pictures? It needs a new home. It was suffocating under my pillow," Quinn smiled; So did Beth.

"Thanks."

"Happy birthday, kiddo."

Beth raised her arms for a hug, which Quinn gladly gave in to. The feeling of those little arms wrapped so tightly around her neck was the best feeling in the world. And she never wanted to let go.

"You can have your job back, y'know," Beth looked up at her mother after they pulled back from the hug.

"Nah. I think I'm done nannying for a while. I might go find a job I'm actually qualified for." Quinn smiled warmly back down at her, "But we're gunna be friends, you and me. Nothing needs to change. Things can be any way you want them to from now on."

Nodding a little, Beth glanced around her room, as if looking for the next thing to say. Finally, she looked up into Quinn's matching hazel eyes.

"Can you stay for the sleepover?"

Weird, awkward ending, but that's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to all of you who reviewed! And if you would like me to write an epilogue, please let me know in the reviews :)