A/N: Okay originally this Chapter was meant to be posted after Chapter 27 as it was a flashback chapter. It however didn't make as much sense when put into the rest of the story. Here is the Chapter when you find out why I put Britt & Quinn together. It was one of the first I wrote and I have been pretty proud of it since. I don't know much about postpartum depression, I haven't had kids, so this is going from what I've read or seen in movies.
It was now four months since the birth of Willow Fabray Pierce and poor Brittany was at her wits end. Brittany bounces Willow on her hip as the baby girl starts to scream her head off. Brittany looks at Quinn's mini me with worry in her eyes, not knowing what is wrong with the beautiful baby girl. She looks over to Isabella and sees the 3 year old watching old re-runs of Scooby Doo with no care in the world and smiles, knowing Bella doesn't understand why only Brittany was looking after her and Willow now.
Rachel & Santana had always said they were worried about Quinn. She never really got over the fact that she gave up Beth, and they said when Isabella was born that Quinn would struggle, but she took to being a mother, just like Brittany hoped she would. They all seemed to forget this when she was pregnant with Willow, and the depression hit Quinn quickly and like a freight train. She didn't even want to be near the girls, and wouldn't touch Brittany half of the time. Brittany was left to look after Willow & Isabella and for the ditsy blonde it was hard.
The doorbell goes and Brittany quickly walks over to it, hoping that Santana or Rachel have heard her silent plee and come over to help her with the screaming baby. When the door opens, she stops in her tracks. The woman in front of her, is the woman who used to look after her when she was much younger, the woman who kicked her wife out of her home when she was pregnant with Beth, and then again when she found out Quinn was a lesbian and in a relationship with Brittany.
"Please don't shut the door on me. Please."
Brittany holds it open tighter and breathes a sigh of relief when Willow stops screaming and just takes in the new person who looks just like her mommy at the door. Brittany stumbles over her words. "Judy. Why are you here?"
Judy runs a hand through her long blonde hair, reminding Brittany of her wife. "I got a phone call the other night from Rachel Berry. She said Quinn needed me, or someone right now. She has postpartum depression right?"
Brittany stares at the older woman in shock, especially when she hears her best friends name. She lets out a loud breath, "Rachel called you. Oh god I love that girl."
Willow starts to squirm and Judy can see the exhaustion on Brittany's face so steps forward and takes the 4 month old out of her arms, making Brittany stare in fear.
"I won't hurt her. You need a rest, you look exhausted."
Tears fill Brittany's eyes and Judy looks on in shock. "I don't know what's wrong with her. She's crying constantly."
"Quinnie did at this age. Have you had her tested for colic?"
Brittany looks at Judy with wide eyes and shakes her head.
"No, is it bad?"
Judy shakes her head, smiling at remembering the blonde girl from when she was younger. She seems more mature but this is the same girl who was called ditsy all her life but here she was, a successful married woman with a baby girl. "No. A lot of babies have it. She'll be fine Brittany don't worry. How is Quinn?"
Tears fill Brittany's eyes even more and she looks down to Willow who is enjoying being in this strangers arms. "Oh god Judy. She is... I have never seen her like this before. She won't hold Willow or Bella at all. We've tried everything, even Beth has tried but she won't even look at her."
"Beth... you talk to... is that the baby she had?" Brittany nods.
"Rachel's mom adopted her, Quinn's had a relationship with her before we even left Lima."
Judy looks at the taller woman with wide eyes. "Oh my god. That's. Okay, Rachel said that she thinks all Quinn needs is me here. She thinks talking will be the think to get her out of her depression."
Brittany nods. "That's what I think too, but I can't get her to talk. She's even sleeping in the guest room now." Brittany pouts making Judy smile.
"I'll sort her out. Now take this cutie and go over to Rachel's for today. She's waiting for you. I will message Rachel when it's okay to come back."
Brittany squeals and hugs Judy and Willow tightly, making the older woman step back in shock. She turns to her eldest daughter with a small kind smile on her face. "Bella. Get your toys together baby girl, we're going over to see Auntie San & Rach."
"Will Vee & Lil be dere?" Isabella asks.
"Probably sweetie."
Isabella looks at Judy who is holding her sister and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Who you?" Isabella asks Judy.
"I'm your grandmother sweetheart."
"Like Grandma Di?" Isabella asks innocently.
"Yup Bella. Come on kiddo. Lets get you buckled up in the car."
"Do you need to tell her you're going?" Judy asks looking up the stairs. Brittany shrugs and takes Willow from Judy who curls into her mothers arms, quiet for the first time in a long time.
"She doesn't even hear if Willow is screaming, she won't notice if we're not here. Thank you for this. My number is near the phone if you need us." With that she walks out of the house with her children, leaving Judy to try and pick up the pieces of her wife. Judy looks around for a moment and realizes that Brittany didn't even tell Judy where Quinn was. She takes a moment and looks at the pictures in the foyer. The first one is a picture of Quinn holding Willow in her arms, the smile on her face is bright and it looks like it's strategically placed so Quinn sees it if she leaves the house.
The next photo is Brittany dipping Quinn as they are both wearing white wedding dresses. They look beautiful and happy. The picture next to that is Brittany and Isabella in their dancing outfits smiling at the camera. She goes down the photos, and sees many more but decides she needs to make her way and find Quinn.
Walking up the stairs, she sees five doors, four of them open and the last one at the end of the hall is closed and has a small light underneath the door. Deciding that Quinn wouldn't open the door if she knocks, she decides to open in and walks straight in, stopping when she sees the sight in front of her, the sight looking just like herself years ago.
"Oh my god." With that, Quinn's eyes snap up from the vodka bottle in her hands and her eyes connect straight with Judy's and Judy can see the fear in her eyes. She quickly pulls away and looks back down at the bottle and takes a sip from it. Judy takes in the room and sees it is a complete and utter tip, and the smell from the room, smelt just like a teenage boys room would. The thing that makes her smile is the bed is covered in photos of Quinn's family, including photos of Judy, Russell and Dylan.
"Have you even opened a window in here? It smells disgusting." Judy walks over to the windows and pulls apart the curtains and hears a groan from Quinn. Opening a few windows she takes a seat on the chair and looks over at her daughter.
"Did Brittany call you?" Quinn says weakly and Judy shakes her head.
"No Rachel did."
"That fucking bitch. She had no right." She shouts louder and growls at her mother.
"She had every right. She has two nieces who are getting treated like nothing from their own mother." Judy says back quickly seeing Quinn get even more angry.
"They're not her nieces."
"I think Brittany may have something else to say about that, and considering she is the only one parenting those beautiful girls, she has the final say."
Quinn glares at her. "Fuck you."
"So you can treat them like this, but you can't take any one telling you the truth? You are so much like your father." Quinn growls and Judy can see the anger in her eyes boil up even more. Good. There is still emotion there. "What? What's wrong with me saying that Lucy?"
Judy shrugs her shoulders and keeps her eyes on her daughter. "Don't call me that."
Judy smiles knowing she is getting somewhere. "Why? That's your name. No matter how hard you worked to get away from that, it's who you are Quinn. You are not the blonde haired skinny Cheerio."
"I worked too hard to become that person. It's who I am."
Judy shakes her head. "You and I both know the truth so don't lie to yourself Lucy Quinn Fabray. You know, I can't speak for myself. I disowned my daughter twice and have regretted it for years, but you, you have done so much, you have worked so hard not to become me and look at you. You're ignoring your two beautiful baby girls and don't seem to care anymore."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Quinn spats.
"Quinn. If this is going to be your argument, then I might as well go back and tell your daughters that it's useless. Your nothing if you carry on like this, you're nothing if you keep acting like me."
"I'm nothing like you Judy." Judy opens her arms and looks around the room.
"No. Maybe not. I would never let my house get this messy and I still was there to feed my daughters, but you, no you're more like your father."
Quinn starts to get even more irate and shouts. "I'm nothing like that man."
"Look at this room. I just saw your wife break down and hug me, just for being here because of how horrible you've been. You've been sleeping in the guest room, you've left that sweet young woman to look after your toddler and baby. How cruel can you be Lucy?" Quinn looks away and takes another swig of her drink. "Talk to me Quinn. Don't you want to be apart of Isabella & Willow's lives because at this rate, Brittany can run off and take them. You will loose them both and Beth as well whilst your at it."
Judy knows this is probably going to be the thing that makes Quinn flip and she's right. Quinn is out of the bed in a second and stands in front of her mother with anger on her face. "Don't you fucking talk to me about Beth. You have no fucking right."
"Why not? She's my granddaughter, just like those beautiful girls earlier. She'll be about twelve now I guess?" Judy can see the tears filling Quinn's eyes and knows she's starting to get through to her. "Just think, if I had been a better mother, then maybe Beth would be here with you today."
"Don't." Quinn says harshly. Tears start to come into Quinn's eyes and her hands and arms are shaking as she thinks about what her mother is saying.
"What? Do what? Admit my mistakes? I can do that now. It's been 12 years since I made my first one and that was not helping you when Russell kicked you out. The second when you told me about you and Brittany. I made a multitude of mistakes, but I've had to live with them and it hurts Luce. It fucking hurts." She admits. "I've lived with not having my baby girl in my life because of the decisions I made, and look at you, doing the exact same thing. I bet Willow doesn't even know who you are does she? That photo of the two of you in the hall? Is that the only photo there is? You are wasting your time with your daughters Quinn."
Quinn shakes her head. "I can't go back now."
"You can. Brittany is still here, you still have your daughters in your home, you still have the chance but you need to take it now because from what I've heard from Rachel, Brittany will go. She will take those babies and will go if you don't buck your ideas up. Do you want that to happen Quinn?"
"I'm not good for them." She admits.
Judy shrugs. "Not like this no, but the girl that Rachel talked about, is perfect for them. Isabella loves you Quinn. Willow needs the chance to know you."
"I'm a horrible mother."
"I'm not going to say differently. Quinn I can't believe you. You have had everything thrown at you, a baby at 16, shitty parents, finding out you were gay, changing from Yale to NYU. Why is this the thing to send you into depression? You have a beautiful baby girl who needs her mother. She doesn't have any idea what she's done and I think you don't understand what she's done."
"I don't feel anything for her mom. It doesn't feel like she's mine." This hurts Judy deeply because it must be hard for Quinn to admit this.
"She's yours Quinn. Oh my god, that little girl is yours. All you have to do is look at her. What about Isabella?"
Quinn looks up at her mother, knowing what she was asking and Quinn was starting to see that her mother was struggling more getting why she couldn't connect to Willow but was fine with Isabella who wasn't even hers biologically. "I'm struggling to be a mother. It doesn't matter if it's Bella or Willow, I can't do it."
Judy nods. "Yes you can. It's going to take time, but you need to wash at least first. You stink Luce, secondly, you need to hold your baby girls and let them learn to love you." Quinn looks away and collapses onto the bed, her head falling into her hands.
"I'm going to kill Rachel for this. I can't believe she would do this to me."
"Do what? Try to fix your relationship with not only your wife and daughters but your mother? Yeah, what a bitch." Quinn looks up and Judy can see the start of a smile and knows they are starting to get somewhere. "Look, yeah maybe she shouldn't have rang me, but you can't moan at her for trying to help. Now, you, please go shower. I will clean up this tip. Go!"
Quinn gets off the bed and makes her way towards the en-suite, leaving Judy to clean up the mess in the room.
4 Hours Later
After hours of talking, Quinn was now cuddled into her mom's embrace and was trying into her arms as she struggles to cope with everything they have talked to. They still haven't got down to the crux of the matter, but Quinn was crying and apparently that's more than she's done in the last 4 months.
She pulls away and wipes her tears and Judy can see her start to go back into herself. Judy grabs hold of her daughter and hugs her again, holding her tight to her so she doesn't close back up.
"I am so proud of you Lucy. You have done so well, you have done all of this on your own, and this fall, you can overcome it. I will help you overcome this."
2 Days Later
Judy smiles over at Quinn. They had the whole house to themselves, Brittany had taken the girls on a trip back home to Lima for a few days, leaving Quinn to sort herself out with the help of Judy. "Mom. Why are you doing this? You're helping me solve my relationship with a woman."
Judy nods, knowing where Quinn was coming from. "I know what I'm doing Quinn. I'm not the same person I was ten years ago. I have grown up, like you have. Plus I watched every lesbian show on tivo to get used to it."
Quinn chuckles and plays with her fingers as she tries to calm her nerves.
"What about dad and Dylan?"
"Dylan knows I'm here. She also knows that, look Quinn, I may not understand your relationship with Brittany, but I support it. You make a beautiful young couple and you have given me the grandchildren I thought I may not get."
Quinn looks up hopeful. "And Dylan."
"I think you will have a chance to patch up your relationship with your sister. She divorced Kevin and has been dating this boy called Hunter. Let's just say, you and Brittany are normal in comparison."
Quinn chuckles when her mother grimaces at the thought of her eldest daughters love interest. "And your father... Quinn you are better off without him. I know you want his support, but he doesn't even give it to Dylan anymore and I haven't seen or talked to the man in 6 years."
Quinn shakes her head. "I don't need his support. I just... I need yours, I need Dylan's. He stopped being my father a long time ago."
"I'm glad because he doesn't deserve you in his life Quinnie." Quinn smiles and looks back down at her hands.
"Tell me about you and Brittany. I wanna know more about the girl who is married to my daughter." Quinn's smile brightens as she thinks about her wife.
"You remember her from when we were younger?" She asks quietly.
"She was always after that other girl, the Latina right?"
Quinn chuckles, realizing that Rachel hasn't told her about her and Santana. "Santana. Yeah she was, but Santana is actually married to Rachel now. They got together nearly a year before me and Britt did."
Judy looks up in shock and rolls her eyes. "Why didn't Rachel tell me? It would have made it much easier trying to explain who she was."
Quinn lets out a giggle which is music to Judy's heart. "Coz it's Rach. San and Britt broke up and San fell really hard for Rachel. Ray was depressed, probably as bad as me, and I know she came very close to doing some unspeakable things. San saved her." She sighs. "She brought her out of that dark place and they're together now, still strong and with 3 kids. When San and Rach got together, me and Britt started getting closer. San and Rach got married just after college, and at the insistence of them, I proposed to Brittany the night of their wedding."
"My little romantic daughter." Quinn nods and smiles slightly.
"I love her mom. I love her so much and I love our girls but I can't... I can't do this anymore. I'm not strong enough. I failed one daughter and now I'm going to fail the other two."
"You did not fail Beth, Quinn. You gave her her life and you gave her to someone who loves her like her own but who has also given you the chance to be apart of her life. That is something very special."
"I know."
1 Week Later
Quinn sighs and straightens her top as she looks at herself in the mirror. There was a light in her eyes that wasn't there before, she was clean and she was ready to get her life back into gear.
Walking down the stairs she hears Brittany and Bella giggling in the living room and she makes her way inside. It's Willow who sees her first, her babbling and clapping hands make the other two look over at where Quinn stands.
Quinn smiles and Brittany gets up off the floor, making sure that Bella and Willow were safe and walks over to her wife, looking into her eyes and letting out a smile when she sees the familiar shine in them.
"Quinnie?" Brittany asks in shock.
"Hey beautiful" She whisper back.
"Are you back?" Quinn steps forward and connects their lips, moaning into her wife's mouth and wrapping her arms around her.
"God I love you Britt. I am so sorry for everything I did. I was so far gone and I can't thank you enough for waiting until I came back. I love you baby."
Brittany kisses her again and holds onto her tightly. "I love you. I love you. Thank you for coming home. I can't... I can't do this without you Quinnie. I can't."
"You won't have to. I will be here baby." Willow lets out a loud noise and they turn to see Bella sat on her knees looking up at her mothers with tears in her eyes. Quinn pulls away from Brittany and walks over to her baby girl, opening her arms and hugging Bella when she jumps into her arms. Kissing the top of her beautiful daughters blonde hair, she holds onto her tighter, her heart breaking when she hears her baby girl sobbing in her arms.
"I'm so sorry Jelly Belly. I'm so sorry. I love you Belly so much. I love you baby girl."
"Love oo mama." Isabella says quickly.
Quinn holds onto her baby tighter before she sees Brittany holding her youngest daughter. A child she has held 5 times since her birth 4 months ago. Isabella steps backward allowing her mom access to Willow. Brittany hands over Willow and the little girl curls up naturally into her mothers arms and Quinn starts to cry even harder.
"Hey Willow. Hey my beautiful girl. Momma's so sorry. I love you Will. I really do love you, no matter how I treated you or your mommy and sister, I love you. So much. So much. C'mere Jelly Belly." She opens her spare arm and Bella runs into it, holding onto her daughters tightly, her life finally back on track thanks to her mother.
A/N: what do you think? Please review. I will be trying to get this story posted by the end of the year now. There doesn't seem to be too much interest, so I'm getting it out of the way.