A/N: This chapter...emotional build up and Quinn's decision about Beth. Next chapter...the Fabrays.

Thank you for the reviews. They are always a joy to read and I am so glad you are still enjoying this fic that turned into this seemingly unending epic tale.

Enjoy!

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The best thing about the fall was the cooler weather. Quinn loved the light chill in the air and opted out of taking a taxi back to the Berry house. Instead, she walked. In the half hour it took her to make it back she thought about one thing, Rachel. More specifically, how Rachel was going to be impacted with Quinn's next personal milestones. The diva had never met her parents, not even at school. And now she was going to be present when she told them the only other thing worse than that she was pregnant at sixteen. She was going to be there when her mother started crying and her father started screaming, if they weren't just thrown out of the house right away. She almost hoped they would be. That would be easier for Rachel to handle. But in the back of her mind, Quinn knew she, herself, would not be satisfied unless she tried to make them see that there was nothing wrong with her life style. That, however, would most certainly induce the screaming and hurtful comments.

Then there was Beth…and Shelby. So many emotions played into that one. Rachel wanted Quinn to meet Beth and give her what the diva could never have. Quinn was terrified of meeting her daughter in fear of rejection, but wanted to none the less. But complicating that was Shelby. Quinn was angry with the woman for what she had done to Rachel and was more so after the diva's break down last night. Yet she was thankful to the woman for raising her daughter and allowing her the opportunity to see her. Such mixed feelings. She needed Rachel to be there with her, but then she would be causing the brunette further pain by not only being in Shelby's presence, but watching Quinn give Beth everything Rachel had wanted.

Quinn stood in front of the Berry house and looked up to Rachel's room and just thought. She knew what she wanted and knew she wasn't going to get it. She was either going to keep Rachel safe, or see her daughter. Having both was not an option. But there was something she needed to do first. The blonde turned on the side walk and kept walking, leaving the Berry house behind her.

She pulled out her cell phone, called 411, and waited for the operator. "Shelby Corcran of Lima, Ohio." She was going to make sure Shelby knew exactly how she felt and what she was wanting before Rachel was put in the position to get hurt. It was only when the phone began to ring, that Quinn thought of the possibility of Beth answering the phone and her heart thudded in her chest.

"Hello?" It was Shelby.

"Shelby, it's Quinn."

There was a pause on the other line and then a nervous laugh. "I take it Kevin has talked to you then? D-did you…are you wanting to-"

"Yes." She answered confidently. "But first, I was hoping to meet you alone. I thought we should talk before we jump into anything just yet."

"Yeah. Of course. That sounds like a great idea." She actually sounded relieved with the offer.

"Great. There's a park on 7th street. Can you meet me there?"

"Yeah. Let me just get a few things squared away and I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

~/~/~/~

Shelby looked older. Not really older, but stressed…worn. Quinn knew people said raising kids could do that to you, but by the looks of Shelby, Beth must act just like her father. Her hair was graying and her face had thinned, but her smile was still the same. It reminded her of Rachel's smile just a little. The diva definitely looked like her mother. "Look at you. It's something else…" The older woman greeted as Quinn stood from the picnic table.

"Hi. Thank you for meeting me."

"Of course. I'm actually glad when you called and suggested this. Things seem to be a little complicated. Kevin said he believed you would be torn in your decision. That you might feel your loyalty to Rachel was more important than meeting Beth."

Quinn took in a deep breath as they both sat down on opposite sides of the table. "They are two things that can't really be compared. They're both very important. But…what all did he tell you about my loyalty to Rachel?"

Shelby dropped her brow and her eyes shifted in thought. "He didn't really. Just that you two had met up in New York recently and that you were down here for Thanksgiving. I thought it was a little odd seeing as you two were definitely not close friends in high school."

Quinn nodded slowly as she debated where to move the conversation to next. "Things changed and now Rachel means a great deal to me. She is actually my biggest concern with meeting Beth."

"Because of me?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Quinn nodded. "I knew this was going to be uncomfortably for her. I knew that the first time I called Kevin, but I needed someone to talk to, someone who understood. You know? I thought with her being in New York, she would never know and I wouldn't end up hurting her any more than I already had."

"Why did you hurt her?" Quinn cut her off, looking into the woman's chocolate brown eyes. "I understand what she had said about you feeling like you missed out on part of her life that you could never get back. I've missed out on time with Beth. I missed her first word, her first step, her first day of school, her first everything. I know that if we meet, I'm not going to instantly become a mother figure to her or particularly close to her, I gave that right up. But Rachel tried to hand it back to you. She just wanted you to be there, to talk to, to know."

"I know, but looking at her all grown up just made me realize what I had lost even more."

"So what?"

Shelby's eyes widened slightly with the unexpected aggravation in the blonde's voice and she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, searching for her words to continue. Quinn beat her to it.

"What about her? You wanted to be her mom so why weren't you? Why didn't you pull yourself out of your own pain to see hers? I use to think that you and I had something in common, an understanding of what it was like to give up a child, but I was wrong. I gave up Beth for her sake. You abandoned Rachel for yours. All you had to do was talk to her for thirty minutes in a phone conversation and she would have been happy. She would still be happy with just that. That's the thing about Rachel, it doesn't matter how much or for how long you have hurt her, she'll always give you a second chance."

Quinn was begging the woman to take the hint. It was the only way to get both things that she wanted, but she also knew it was going to take more time then what she had remaining in Lima.

"I want to meet Beth. But I'm honestly not sure if I am ready to yet. I'm not wanting to walk into her life and then right back out if something happens and I have to honor my loyalty to Rachel. I want to make it right. So, I would like to think about it and give you a call before we head back to New York. I hope that if it doesn't work out for us to meet up this weekend, that maybe we could schedule it for another time. I would really, really love to meet her."

Shelby nodded, lost in thought. This meeting obviously didn't go as she was excepting. "We can do that. I haven't mentioned that you were in town to her or anything like that. I…I was actually planning on taking Beth up to New York to go see a show or something. You know, a weekend get away. Maybe we could work something out then. That way she could see you in action, the famous photographer."

Quinn smiled. Famous photographer. She use to cringe when people said that, but now, she hoped it was something that her daughter would be proud of. Strange, how she wanted her daughter's approval more than her own parents'. "I would like that. That would be great actually."

"Well, perhaps we should just plan on that then. I was looking at taking her up there in a few weeks. Sometime before Christmas. I'll look you up when we get there?"

Quinn nodded her head and stood from the table. It was strange when the women hugged goodbye. They were connected to each other in so many ways, yet were practically strangers. But Quinn pushed it to the back of her mind and began her walk back to the house. Knowing that she wouldn't have to choose between her daughter and Rachel right now lifted a weight off of her shoulders. She could see Beth. She would see Beth, and doing it in New York gave her more options on how to spend their visit. It wouldn't be the awkwardness of showing up at Shelby's house and just sitting around talking They could go do things. Quinn could show her things. She could see Quinn's life, not just hear about it. It would be fun and not awkward.

Rachel would have more time to adjust to the thought as well. More than twenty-four hours at least. It was the best possible solution. Wait and allow Rachel to adjust and pray that Shelby took the hint and could fix things entirely.

When Quinn got back to the house, Rachel was still asleep. The blonde looked at her watch and just laughed, three hours. "Rachel?" The diva didn't move and Quinn arched an eyebrow. "Baby…" She cooed in a soft voice as she sat on the edge of the bed and tucked a strand of hair behind the diva's ear. She still wouldn't wake up. She trailed the back of her fingers over the brunette's cheek before leaning down and kissing it lightly.

"That's what I was waiting for…"

Quinn pulled back to see the diva with a proud smile on her lips and her eyes slowly opening. "How long have you been awake?"

Rachel grabbed Quinn's hand as she retracted it and kissed it lightly, pulling the blonde to lay on the bed with her. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and rested her head on her chest, smiling contently as Quinn ran her fingers through her hair. "I heard you come in the house. What time is it?"

"Nearly three. You slept through the day. Are you going to be able to sleep at all tonight?"

"Probably not, but I'm definitely not complaining. That was…I…there are no words for what that was. Whoever taught you to do that, I love them by extension." Quinn laughed to herself, wondering if she should tell Rachel that she just confessed love for Adrianne or not. "How did everything go with Santana?"

"Things went smoothly. It was a rather short visit but enough was said. We kinda reached a point where we agree that the past is the past and to just move forward from here. I need to call her at least once a week though. Otherwise she is going to hunt me down and beat me."

Rachel pushed herself up to rest her chin on the blonde's chest and looked into her hazel eyes with authority. "She better not. I'm not scared of her anymore and I will beat her ass if she tries to touch you."

"There's that possessive side of yours. I like it."

"I thought you liked control."

"I like both." Quinn stated kissing the diva's forehead. "I also made my decision about seeing Beth."

Rachel's smile faded with her anxiety and she sat up onto her knees, pulling the covers around her chest, and looked down onto the blonde. "And…"

"And I've already talked with Shelby about it. We are going to wait for a while. Let the shock and emotions settle a little bit. I don't want to rush this. So, she was planning on bring Beth up to New York in a few weeks and thought that would be the opportune time to meet up. I know I would be more comfortable with it happening on my turf, so to speak." Quinn ran her hand over the pensive diva's leg and waited for her to respond.

"I can still be there for you though, right?"

Quinn nodded. "Of course. If you want to be. I still don't want to see you hurt by all of this, but at least you would have some time to prepare."

Rachel nodded her head again. "So…you called her? You could have had Daddy do that. You didn't have to risk hearing Beth again. He wouldn't have minded."

"I know, I just felt like it was something I needed to do. I needed to talk to her. Make that first actual connection about the topic and all of the emotions running through my head. So, that is all dealt with. Now I just have to figure out exactly how I am going to do this thing with my parents…Where are you going?" Quinn asked as Rachel abandoned the sheets and started to climb off the foot of the bed.

"To get dressed."

The blonde dropped her brow, sat up, and wrapped her arms around the fleeing diva's waist, pulling her back to the bed. "I like you like this. You know, naked and your hair all sexed up." Rachel laughed and resumed her spot, wrapped against Quinn's side, as the blonde respected her modesty and covered her with a sheet. "Do you have any suggestions on how to handle my parents other than ringing the doorbell after seven years?"

"You could call…"

Quinn thought about it as she traced small circles with her fingers on the diva's bare shoulder. "I think I would rather ring the doorbell."

"Why?"

"I guess I just don't want to give them warning that I'm coming over." Quinn didn't need to see the diva's face to know she was confused. "If they are prepared for it, they will be all rehearsed and fake and it would just aggravate me to no end. They'll probably act like nothing was ever wrong and that I was never gone, try and start over with our happy little family thinking that I've 'come home'. I don't want to deal with past drama, just tell them about now and leave, you know? I want them to know I'm in town, but not that I have any intentions of meeting up with them for a real visit."

"You want to catch them off guard but not blindside them…You are strange. You want to show your parents that their opinions don't matter and that they have no control over your life, but you are still considerate of their feelings. Are you feeling guilty for doing this to them?"

Yes. "A little. The guilt comes more with walking in unannounced, slapping them in the face with something I know they will hate, and then leaving just like that. I want to do it. I need to do it, but I still feel kinda shitty for doing it."

Rachel wiggled closer to the blonde. "Well, is there any chance that they would be more accepting than you are anticipating?"

"Not a chance. Mom maybe, if it was just her. But with Dad by her side…very doubtful." Still doubt pulled at the back of Quinn's mind. It had been seven years. What if things had changed in ways she wasn't expecting. Obviously not too drastically since her father told everyone that she called home all the time. He still felt the need to keep up his appearance, but she really had no clue about Judy.

After Quinn had moved back in with her mother when Beth was born, the two started to repair their lacking relationship. They were making decent progress until her father showed up and started begging for forgiveness, that he had made a mistake and learned from it, and that it would never happen again. Judy had slammed the door in his face, but the man was persistent. He would call and leave apologetic messages. He sent flowers and chocolates. Accidentally bumped into them at the store. It was only a few weeks before Judy was second guessing her decision to file for divorce.

Quinn wanted to beg and plead with her mother not to take him back, but she didn't really feel like it was her place. She was just a child and it was a marriage, over twenty years of a relationship. She made it known that she thought they were better off without him but never directly asked her mother not to allow him back into their lives.

When he did come home, Quinn didn't give him a chance, not like it would have mattered. Things seemed to fall into the exact same pattern as before except this time, she just didn't care. He wanted her home by nine, she stayed out later until Santana drove her home. He said she couldn't do something, she walked out the door and did it anyway. She stayed out of the house as much as possible with Cheerios, Glee, a job…anything to keep her busy. The times when she was home, she kept herself locked in her room. The day after graduation, she left, only giving her mother a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Judy had called a handful of times to see how Quinn was adjusting to school but the conversations were quick and ended as soon as her mother mentioned her father. After awhile, Quinn just stopped answering the phone. Guilt had seeped into her every time the phone rang so she got a new number. If anything important happened and they needed to get a hold of her, they knew what school she was going to. Until then, there was nothing left to say. She couldn't move past the hurt and anger if she was constantly reminded of it.

"Well, with any luck…they saw your name in the paper or someone pointed it out to your father at work today. That would definitely let them know you are in town but have yet to visit them."

"Not exactly the best way for them to see how great my life has turned out without their influence, but I guess it would work. I don't know, I guess I'm just nervous because I don't have a plan. I don't know what I'm going to say."

Rachel smiled and crawled up the blonde and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "That is the perfect thing to discuss with my dads."

~/~/~/~

"You're situation is particularly tricky." Elijah stated as they sat down at the table after diner. "It would be very awkward to walk in, exchange formalities, inform them you are gay, and then leave. But you also don't want to have additional conversation."

"Are you saying I have to choose?"

"Afraid so, Kiddo." Quinn tweaked her eyebrow at Kevin. She hadn't been a kid for a long time but compared to him, she guessed she always would be.

"Honestly, from our own experience, you can't really prepare yourself for this type of thing." Elijah admitted as he pushed his empty plate away and rested his elbows on the table. "I thought I would go into a coming out speech with my parents but I didn't even get half way through it before I was cut off. You never really know how or when people are going to react."

Kevin nodded. "When I came out, it was after my mother asked me that age old question of if I had found someone yet. I nodded and told her it was a guy. There I was, out of the closet, and out of things to say. She wasn't too impressed and felt a little sucker-punched, but it worked. However, to get to that topic you're going to have to sit through all of the catch up questions." Quinn sneered her lip. "Why exactly are you dreading just talking with them? Of answering a few questions?"

The blonde ran her hand through her hair and sipped her wine, sighing out her tension. "I feel guilty, for not keeping in touch, at least with my mom. Sitting there are seeing her be her chipper self because I'm finally home…when I'm not."

"When did your feelings on this change?" Rachel asked as she pulled her feet into the chair and rested her chin on her knees. "Because you were all about rubbing their faces in it yesterday."

Quinn paused and looked out of the corner of her eye to Rachel. "Last night. Honestly, I feel like it would be the reverse situation of you and Shelby. That my mom wants her daughter, I show up for my own benefit, and then I walk away after I get what I want…I'm being selfish. I could just let them find out in the papers."

"Okay. Can I ask a few things for clarification?" Quinn looked at the short man across the table from her and realized exactly who Rachel took after. She nodded her head. "You left and never looked back because of past hurts, correct?" She nodded. "When you had moved back home in high school, did you deal with any of those, particularly with your mother?" She nodded again. "And that is where your guilt is coming from? Because you patched things up with her."

"Yes. Not everything, but I had forgiven her for most of it."

"Okay. A few more questions. You are wanting to tell them to show them that you're happy despite those past hurts, yes?" Quinn nodded and sipped her wine again. "Which means that you have dealt with those demons. So, why not do with your mother what you did with Santana today? If it is about your dad, then that becomes your mother's choice to make. Not yours."

"Yeah." Kevin agreed. "Go and talk with your mom and try and restore things now that you have moved on from the past. If…or when, you dad freaks out about you, it will be your mother's choice as to whether she would prefer a relationship with you or with him. Now, that would require you to be prepared for rejection."

"I'm already kinda set on that. I know my dad will hate me, it's my mom that is up in the air still. But I see what you're saying. Give her the opportunity and alleviate my guilt at the same time. Give her what she wants, her daughter, but inform her it comes with some new…baggage."

"Are you saying I'm emotional baggage?" Rachel asked, feigning hurt.

"You are a drama queen, how could you not be?" Both men laughed as Rachel's jaw fell. Quinn reached over with a playful smile on her face and squeezed the diva's leg. "I love you."

"Oh, you so aren't getting any for a while."

"Empty threat, Baby. That is an empty threat." She winked at Rachel who knew it was true, especially after this morning. She was addicted and was going to need a regular fix. "That does bring me to my last concern. And that is you being there with me. I want you there but I'm scared for you and it's kind of a red flag."

"She's emotional support." Kevin stated. "That's all your parents need to know until you decide to tell them any different. It's not a lie nor an exaggeration. As for the fear…that kind of comes with the territory. At least Rachel knows what to expect."

"No she doesn't." Quinn corrected him quickly in a matter of fact tone. "She has no clue what my parents are like, or how it is going to feel to be berated by them. They are very good at making you feel lower than dirt."

"Baby," Rachel patted the blonde's hand that was still on her leg. "I hate to bring it up, but I know exactly what it is like to be berated by a Fabray." Rachel was expecting Quinn to looking remorseful with the reminder of their past, and was shocked when the blonde actually laughed at her instead.

"No…You don't. You know what it feels like to be berated by the head cheerleader, not a Fabray. I made fun of you for the way you dressed, how you did your make up, and quirky general appearance. Fabrays breeze over those type of things and go straight for the jugular. They will rip your self-worth to shreds by finding your weakness and exploiting it. I called you Man-Hands and RuPaul." Quinn reminded her in a quizzical tone, a light laugh in her words, before looking down to her wine glass and turning it in her fingers. Her smile slowly drooped. "They'll call you a disgrace…an abomination…someone who deserves to burn for all eternity and rot in Hell. That you aren't worthy of being loved because you have a disease that you have chosen to carry and spread, infecting the rest of the pure and innocent world with your dirty, vile, sickening, repulsive, horrid, and foul existence. That the very thought of breathing the same air as you makes them sick to their stomachs…and that God should strike you dead where you stand for all your sins."

The table sat in stunned silence as Quinn took the next few seconds to finish the wine in her glass.

"They make the head cheerleader look like an angel, don't they?" She asked looking at a fearful Rachel who swallowed hard and played nervous with the back of her neck. "Are you sure you are ready to meet them?"

"No…but I'm going to anyway."