Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"

A/N: This is by far the longest story I've ever written. I find I'm very excited for the conclusion. To those that have reviewed saying you're sad to see it go, I did say that I was retiring this story, rather than just ending it. You can come out of retirement if you want. I have no idea if I will or not, but the ending will leave it wide open should I choose to.

Chapter 36

The Build Up

At six o'clock New Directions got the official word of what they had all been pretty sure of already, they were moving on to Showcase the following day. At this news, the parents and family in attendance decided that tonight was a night to celebrate, and so it was that all twelve members of New Directions plus Mr. Schuester, Miss Pillsbury, Shelby, Beth, Jeffrey and Mary Ann Pierce, Naomi Cohen and Stephen Chang, Maria Lopez, Hiram and Leroy Berry, Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson, Olivia Jones, Darryl Rutherford, Li Chang, Amy Abrams, and Dana and Sarah Puckerman invaded and virtually took over Bone's Steakhouse… after, of course, confirming that they did in fact have vegan menu options.

The conversation was diverse and boisterous as parents bragged on their children to one another. Children rolled their eyes and huffed their embarrassment of their parents. Dana Puckerman met her granddaughter for the first time and was instantly smitten. Beth took an immediate liking to her Aunt Sarah who seemingly almost reluctantly took a liking to the small child. The baby was passed back and forth to anyone and everyone that wanted to see her.

Eventually she got tired of being passed around and started getting fussy, necessitating hers and Shelby's departure. However, before Shelby left she pulled Quinn, Puck, and Rachel aside and said, "I want all of you to be as much a part of Beth's life as you can. To that end, sometime this summer, it's looking like sometime after the Fourth, I'm moving to Lima."

"You don't have to do that," Quinn said.

"I want to," Shelby quickly countered, "I'm going to have to move before Beth starts walking anyway. My house isn't remote suited to having a toddler in, and besides there's nothing left for me there. I don't have any family left besides Rachel, and only a few friends who I can make the drive to see regularly enough. I was an only child and so were both of my parents so I never really had much family. I want Beth to have both of her mothers, her father, her sister, her aunt, her grandmother, Quinn, your family as well."

"They won't come," she said with no small amount of certainty in her voice.

"Well, your surrogate family, then," Shelby said, "The Abrams. They're wonderful people. I want you guys to come by after school and on breaks whenever you want as often as you can make time. I want this little girl to grow up engulfed by people that love her."

Quinn, smiling with tears in her eyes, responded, "I want that, too."

"Good," Shelby said, "I'm glad. Now I need to get her back to the hotel. You two go say your goodbyes while I say mine to Rachel."

"Yeah," said Puck, "I'll see what I can do about getting her away from my mom, won't be easy. Oh and hey, if your new place has a pool, I'm your pool cleaning guy, Miss C. No charge."

"Thank you, Noah," Shelby said as he and Quinn made their way back to the group.

"He must like you," Rachel said, "I am, as he says, his fellow hot Jew and he doesn't clean our pool for free." They both laughed at that.

"I hope this is all alright with you. I did sort of spring all this on you."

"It's wonderful," Rachel said, quickly adding, "fantastic, even. There's a family show choir legacy that we have to get to work passing down, after all. Voice lessons and dance practices will be much easier to schedule without the long commute. Please let me know when you're ready to start moving. I shall be there to help… Mom."

"You know, you don't have to keep calling me that if it makes you uncomfortable," Shelby said.

Rachel shook her head quickly, "Not uncomfortable, I'm just not accustomed to saying it, something I am certain to change now. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything."

"Can you come backstage tomorrow before we go on? I would really like it if you would help me warm up before my performance. I believe one or more of the thirty people at the table would gladly watch Beth for you."

Shelby smiled brightly at her daughter. "I would love that," she said enthusiastically.

Rachel smiled back. "I'm going to hug you now, and fair warning, this is what we in New Directions call a 'Brittany-hug.' It only hurts for a moment."

When Rachel glommed onto her mother, Shelby felt a kind of warmth she's never felt before. Her darling baby was clinging to her as though her life depended on it. She could feel Rachel's heart beating against her body. Shelby wrapped one hand around the small of Rachel's back. The other went to Rachel's head to hold it tight against her chest. "If this is how Brittany hugs people, then I'd say it's pretty obvious why everyone is so fond of her."

"It is an altogether pleasant experience. I'm not even sure I'm fully doing it justice. Brittany is considerably stronger than I am."

"I can't imagine it feeling any better than this," Shelby sighed contentedly.

"Mom, thank you for paying for all of this and thank you for being here for me. I…" words caught in Rachel's throat momentarily, "I love you."

"Oh God, Rachel," Shelby's voice cracked as she spoke and instantly there were tears flowing down her cheeks, "you have no idea how good that is to hear. I love you, too, honey, so much. I'm so sorry I screwed up our first meeting, I…"

"Stop," Rachel said softly, "It's in the past. You've already apologized. I accept, I forgive you, and assuming it never happens again we need never speak of it again, okay?"

"Okay," Shelby answered, "For as much as I never want to leave this hug, I do need to go put your sister to bed." She caught Quinn's eye who nudged Puck in Shelby's direction. Puck carried his baby girl to her adoptive mother.

"Mom wants to know if she can take her to Temple for Shavu'ot," Puck said. "It's…um, I dunno, soon. The Jewish calendar confuses the crap out of me. She knows when it is."

"It's fine, Noah. Give her my number, have her call me," Shelby said reaching out for Beth. "You ready for bed, Angel?"

"Goodnight, Baby Girl," Quinn said.

"Goodnight, you guys," Shelby said.

"Text us when you get back to the hotel?" Rachel asked.

Shelby nodded, "We'll see you tomorrow."

When she was gone, Quinn turned to Rachel and said, "Your mother is kind of amazing."

"She really is," Puck agreed. Rachel couldn't disagree.

X X X X X

For Showcase, New Directions had drawn lot number 10. They were performing last which meant performing sometime around four in the afternoon. Rather than spend all day watching their competition and psyching themselves out, Mr. Schuester ordered them all out of the competition hall until 1:30. Pretty much everyone slept in that morning, even Rachel made exception to her traditional 6 am wake-up time, sleeping until 6:45 and making her way down to the gym for her elliptical time. Brittany and Tina got their morning sexy times in while she was gone, fortunately for them Santana sleeps like the dead. However, they had neglected to get dressed after and found themselves stuck in bed naked when Rachel returned. The diminutive diva looked and the pajamas scattered around the room, then looked at the glowing couple in bed. "Are you two…?"

"Yeah," Tina answered.

"And you..?"

"Maybe," Tina replied with an enormous grin on her face.

"Santana is right there! Sleeping," Rachel said softly.

"No she's not," said the Latina, "and 'maybe' nothin Tina. Your ass woke me up or rather the things you were doing to our Britt caused her to wake me up. Gotta say, Britt, I'm a little jealous, I never heard you scream like that."

"No one else ever made me," Brittany said smiling at Tina. "Though it's kinda too bad you two aren't having sexy times yet. This hotel room could be way fun if you were."

"Brittany!" Rachel exclaimed as she turned bright red. Tina and Santana broke out laughing at her embarrassment.

Brittany quickly threw the covers off her side of the bed and sprang out of bed to stand in front of Rachel stark naked. "RaeRae, tell me you wouldn't want some of this hotness. Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't do me." Rachel didn't, couldn't as a matter of fact. She was thoroughly transfixed with the sight of Brittany's nakedness. "Rachel, my eyes are up here," Brittany continued.

"I…" Rachel started but quickly lost her train of thought. Back in the beds, Santana looked across to Tina eyebrows raised. The Latina waggled a finger between the two and then turned her hands palm up, essentially asking if she was okay with the potential happenings. Tina shrugged back, uncertain. "Brittany," Rachel continued at length, "I'm reasonably certain that had you wanted me to look you in the eyes, you would not now be standing in front of me naked looking like an porcelain goddess." Rachel raised her right hand like she wanted to touch Brittany.

The blonde raised her left hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Rachel's ear. She leaned and whispered, "Rae, you look totally sexy all hot and sweaty in your workout clothes, and I'd completely do you in a heartbeat if Tina and San were down for it, but your first time shouldn't be a foursome with your best friends." Brittany then swatted Rachel firmly on the ass. Rachel yelped and Brittany whispered again, "Some other time, maybe." Brittany took a step back and said, "Now hit the showers, Berry."

An obviously very worked up Rachel shot into the bathroom and began running what was sure to be an interesting shower. Meanwhile, Brittany grabbed pj's and climbed back into bed with Tina. Santana looked over at the couple and said, "That was hot as shit."

"T, you're being all quiet," Brittany said softly. "Should I not have done that? I was just teasing RaeRae cuz I know how embarrassed she gets about sexy stuff. I wouldn't have really done her… unless you guys were okay with it."

"My God am I okay with it, that is assuming you'd let Tina do me, too," Santana interjected.

Tina quickly raised herself off the bed holding the covers over her and shot an odd look at Santana then flopped back onto the bed and looked at her girlfriend and said, "Santana's a bottom?"

"Duh," Brittany replied, "Where do you think I got so good at being a top? Plus, it's good for them, cuz Rachel? Top much?" All three girls laughed at the mental image. "So you're not mad at me?" Brittany tried to clarify.

Tina pulled the blonde against her tightly. "Mad for what? All you did was stand in front of her naked and tease her a little. I was just thinking and I don't know where I stand on the subject of group sexy times, but I'm pretty sure they're the only ones I'd ever be comfortable enough to even entertain the idea with, and they haven't even started having sex with each other yet so I've got quite a bit of time to figure it out."

"Y'know," Santana said, "when you bitches talk about me like I'm not here, it's fucking annoying."

X X X X X

After a round of showers, the girls went out for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning shopping, laughing, goofing around, and generally having a great time. The mall they went to was fun. In the music store, Rachel introduced Santana to Ella Fitzgerald and it was love at first listen. Tina shelled out entirely too much money at Build-a-Bear for a stuffed duck for Brittany. At Macy's Santana bought Rachel some non-animal print sweaters while Tina found some other items much more interesting. After the mall, Brittany dragged them to a sex shop needing to complete her football player ensemble. It was an interesting experience for Tina and an entertaining one when watching the constantly mounting level of embarrassment on Rachel's face. When Santana disappeared into a dressing room and reappeared in dominatrix gear complete with a black faux-leather flogger, Rachel looked like she was ready to pass out. Brittany made her purchase and they quickly dropped their stuff at the hotel and after a late lunch, made their way to the performance hall. After changing into costume and trips through hair and make-up, it was a little after three and group number nine was on stage.

Rachel was warming up with Shelby, both thrilled to be doing so together. Tina was sitting in a chair, slumped forward while Brittany stood behind her massaging her neck and shoulders. There was a palpable nervous energy in the room. Brittany was paying attention to Tina and Tina was paying attention to the floor in front of her, so neither of them noticed Puck walking in their direction until he said, "Sup, Princess?"

"Hey, Puck," Tina responded looking up at him.

"So…" he said, "you got this?"

"Pretty sure," Tina said. "What about you?"

He shrugged, "The lyrics, the guitar part ain't hard. The badassness just comes natural."

"But?" Tina prompted.

"My kid's in the audience, man. I just…" Puck trailed off shaking his head slightly. "I want her to be proud of her dad, y'know? My dad's a complete bum. I don't want to be that guy."

"Puck, not to be too terribly harsh, but she's two months old. She's not going to remember this," Tina responded, "but even if she did or if Shelby buys a DVD of us and she watches it later, you're a total rockstar. She's gonna have the coolest dad on the planet."

"Damn right she is," Puck muttered smiling slightly.

"Puck, I wanna ask you a question that will totally distract you from your nervousness," said Brittany.

"Yes, I'll have a threesome with you," he fired back quickly.

"Eeeew!" said Tina.

"We need to borrow one of your football uniforms. I've got a football player fantasy that Tina's gonna do with me," Brittany said.

The smirk on Puck's face was epic. "I want pictures," he demanded.

"One picture," Brittany quickly corrected.

"Deal, full pads or just the jersey?"

"Everything," Brittany said, "Pads, helmet, cleats. You can keep your cup, but everything else."

"That is so incredibly hot," Puck responded, "Come by the house when we get back to town, we'll go to the field house and get your gear."

When Puck walked away, Tina looked at Brittany and said firmly, "I am not giving him a picture of us having sex."

Brittany just smiled and said, "Chill, Boo. He forgot to specify that the picture had to be of us having sex."

The lights in their room flashed three times signaling that they had ten minutes. The group gathered up and started making their way towards the stage. They made it into the wings and Brittany looked at Tina and said "You've totally got this, Boo." Tina nodded but didn't have a lot of confidence behind it.

"Brittany," said Shelby approaching from behind Tina, both girls turned to look at her, "Rachel wanted to ask you some last minute question about her steps. You know her."

"Okay," Brittany said, "will you keep Tina company and keep her calm, for me please?"

"Of course."

Brittany kissed Tina on the cheek and said, "I'll be right back." She made her way over to Rachel and Mercedes and quickly started running through their choreography for the hundredth time.

"You're nervous," Shelby said to Tina. Tina nodded even though it wasn't really a question. "I've got something that might help you relax." Tina nodded again. "Okay, close your eyes, and take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Now think back to a time in your life you were most at peace, the most relaxed you've ever been. Do you have an image in your mind?" Tina nodded vigorously. "Good, now hang onto that feeling of tranquility. Don't let it wash over you entirely because you have a performance to give, but just use the tranquility as a defense against any pending anxiety. Can you do that?"

Tina's eyes popped open suddenly much more relaxed. She said, "Thanks, Miss C."

"So what did you think of?" Shelby asked.

"Brittany… after our first time, she… when we were drifting off to sleep she was holding me and running her fingers through my hair."

"She means the world to you doesn't she?" Shelby asked.

Tina nodded and said, "I was looking at engagement rings today. Rae and San and Britt were all looking at clothes and I kinda wandered over to the jewelry department and I found myself wondering what kind of ring she'd like. I mean, we're way too young to get married or even engaged, but we will someday. I've never been more certain of anything in my life."

Shelby smiled at the girl. "Then, you're incredibly lucky, honey."

"Why's she lucky?" Brittany asked making her way back over.

"Because I've got you," Tina answered.

Mr. Schuester spoke up to talk over everyone and said, "Alright, it's time places everyone."

Miss Pillsbury handed Tina her violin which she accepted. She looked back to her girlfriend and said, "I love you, Britt."

"I love you, T," Brittany kissed Tina on the cheek again. "Now go kick some ass."