A/N – Sorry about the slight delay in getting this posted. I was out of town last week, you know, just living and loving life and I didn't get many chances to work on this. But here it is! Thank you so much for all of your reviews and kind words. I really do love getting to see what you guys think about each chapter. And I can't believe this is up to chapter 50. That seems crazy to me. Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer – I don't own Glee. Although I've got a few things I'd love to tell Ryan Murphy.

Quinn kept her eyes focused on Beth after her offer to give Rachel her part in the duet at Sectionals. Shelby looked at Rachel and silently asked the obvious question with her eyes, but Rachel just shrugged and turned her attention back to her friend.

"Quinn, what's going on?" Shelby asked. "I thought you were excited about the duet."

"I am. I mean, I was," Quinn answered. "And nothing's going on. I just don't want to do it anymore and I know that Rachel will be great."

"But Quinn, you've been working really hard on it," Shelby said. "You and Sam sound great. The competition is just a couple of weeks off so why would you want to give it away now?"

Rachel stayed quiet because she was dying for the chance to have more of a featured part than the few lines she sang during the group number and everyone knew it. She wasn't as vocal about it during rehearsals as they all feared she would be, but she still found ways to bring it up and make her comments nonetheless. Mr. Schue and the rest of the kids knew that Shelby had a lot to do with Rachel's new-found restraint because they had all been witnesses to Shelby being able to quiet her with just a look or a whisper in the ear. And by the same token, Rachel was happy for her friends that were being featured, but that didn't mean she desired it any less.

"I just am," Quinn answered Shelby. The woman wanted to roll her eyes at that response.

"That is not an answer, Quinn," Shelby told her. "The assignments have been given out and a lot of work has been put into the routines. You can't just decide at the last minute that you don't want to do it." Quinn averted her eyes from Shelby as the woman let the coach in her shine through. In Vocal Adrenaline, backing out of a song was unacceptable except in the case of illness or injury, neither of which Quinn was afflicted with as far as Shelby could tell. She had dealt with kids who tried to give back assignments before and now she would deal with it again.

"But-" Quinn tried to argue but she was cut off by Rachel.

"Is it Sam? Did you guys break up?" she questioned.

"What? No," Quinn said.

"Then why?" Shelby asked. "And no excuses."

Quinn once again looked away from Shelby and trained her eyes on Beth who was pulling at one of her bracelets. "It's just that we all know that Rachel is the better singer and she would be better suited to perform it at the competition."

Rachel had found herself unconsciously nodding along in agreement until her mother shot her an admonishing look.

"Quinn, where is this coming from?" Shelby asked. "Did Rachel say something?" Rachel's eyes widened and she shook her head knowing that her mother was ready to pounce.

"No," Quinn said. "Well I mean she always does, but we're all used to it."

"Rachel, what have I told you about that?" Shelby scolded. She wanted to get to see Rachel shine more than anyone, but Shelby also wanted her daughter to understand that the spotlight was not going to be hers every time and that no amount of whining or complaining would change that.

"I didn't," Rachel insisted. "I think Quinn is doing really well with the song. I've told her that too." She shot her friend a look and wondered if Quinn was trying to get her in trouble on purpose.

"It's not Rachel," Quinn said. "I just can't do it. I'm not the strongest singer. I knew I should have talked to Mr. Schue first. It wouldn't have to be Rachel; Mercedes or Santana can have it."

"What? No," Rachel said quickly. "That song would not be suited to either of their particular styles. If you give it away, it has to come to me."

"Ok enough," Shelby said. She'd had it with Quinn's non-answers and she could tell that Rachel was already planning the whole thing with her as the lead. "Get up, both of you."

"But Mom-"

"Why-"

They were both whining and Shelby shut her eyes for a moment in annoyance. She then put her hands on Rachel's waist and stood the girl up from her lap and then got to her feet as well. Quinn didn't make any move to follow suit and so Shelby reached down and lifted Beth from her perch and placed the girl in Rachel's arms.

"Rachel, take Beth and go to your room," Shelby instructed.

"Why?" Rachel continued to whine. "What did I do?"

"Nothing-"

"I don't know what's going on, but I shouldn't be sent to my room because of her," Rachel said.

"It's not my fault," Quinn said, finally sitting up. "I was trying to be nice."

"But you blamed me!"

"I did not!"

"Girls!" Shelby interjected. She wished she could tell them just how much like siblings they sounded, but she figured now wasn't the time. "Rachel, you are not in trouble; I just wanted to talk to Quinn for a few minutes."

"But I want to know what's wrong with her too," Rachel said. "Are you nervous about performing in front of other people?" Rachel asked Quinn. "You shouldn't be that nervous after all this time. Plus you were a cheerleader and have performed lots of times in front of large audiences so you really should be somewhat used to it. Of course, it is natural to get a little nervous before a performance, but not so much that it would impede your ability to perform."

"I'm not too nervous," Quinn said.

"Well then are you worried about your singing voice?" Rachel asked. "Because it really is very pleasant, Quinn. It has a really nice tone to it. It's nothing like mine, of course, but-"

"That's enough," Shelby stepped in and physically moved Rachel toward the stairs.

Rachel shifted Beth in her arms and gave her mother an innocent look. "What?"

Shelby rolled her eyes and pointed up the stairs. "Just go."

"I don't understand how I am always the one who ends up punished in these situations," Rachel said, the mischief evident in her voice.

"I'll show you punished," Shelby said as she took a step closer to her daughter.

Rachel backed up a step and quickly found her footing on the stairs and made her way up and Shelby smiled at her hasty retreat before turning her attention back to Quinn.

"Ok Quinn," Shelby said as she moved back over to sit next to the girl. "What's going on?"

"What if I'm not good enough and we lose?" Quinn said. "Everyone thinks this could be the year we make it to Nationals and I could ruin it all in the very first competition."

"Honey, these are normal worries," Shelby said. "I guarantee you that you are not the only one who feels this way. All of the performers from all of the schools competing feel this way."

"Rachel wouldn't."

"Sure she would," Shelby said. "She just hides it better."

Quinn nodded in agreement and sat back so she could lean her head against the back of the couch.

"I agree with Rachel, though," Shelby continued. "You've been in lots of Cheerios competitions, and even won Nationals with them. Weren't you nervous then?"

"Not really," Quinn shrugged. "Everyone knew that Coach Sylvester is the best and she didn't allow any of us to be nervous. And I guess I just care about glee more." Shelby smiled.

Quinn leaned over and rested her head on the woman's shoulder. "Shelby?"

"Hmmm?"

"My mom will be there."

Shelby nodded and felt like they might finally be getting to the real reason for all of this. "Of course she will. She was at Regionals last year too."

"But I just sang in the background at Regionals," Quinn said. "I didn't even have to dance that much because I was pregnant. I don't even think she came to see me perform; she just wanted to apologize."

Shelby was confused. Apologizing was a good thing, right? "She wanted to see you," Shelby finally said.

"But this time she's coming to see the performance and I might screw it up," Quinn said.

"Oh Quinn," Shelby said before turning to kiss the girl on the top of her head. "First of all, your mother is excited about the performance. Trust me, we've talked about it. She's so proud of you."

"I just want her to think that I deserved it," Quinn said. "And that I'm good at more things than just cheerleading."

"She knows that," Shelby said. "She told me that you used to sing to her when you were little and that she always loved that. She said she was glad when you joined the glee club because it would get you singing again."

"She never told me that," Quinn said.

"I know that she is going to love your performance," Shelby told her.

"But what if I-"

"You are not going to mess it up," Shelby cut her off.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm not going to let you," Shelby said. She got to her feet and walked towards the stairs. "I've been working with you and I don't let my performers 'screw it up.'"

"But what if they do?" Quinn asked.

"They know better," Shelby said. She gave Quinn a look that dared her to argue with that logic.

"But what did you do if one of your performers started to feel like I do?" Quinn questioned.

"I made them work harder," Shelby answered with a pointed look at the girl. She was standing by the stairs and Quinn understood what Shelby's plans were.

Shelby crooked a finger at Quinn to beckon the girl to her and, "up to the music room."

Quinn got up and stood in front of Shelby and started to protest. "Right now? But it's a duet and we don't have Sam here."

"Which just means that we get to concentrate on only your part," Shelby responded. She pointed up the stairs and put a hand on Quinn's arm to try and turn her.

"It's not that I don't appreciate it," Quinn said, "but I don't want to take up your Saturday."

"I don't have anything better to do," Shelby assured her.

"But Rachel and I have plans," Quinn tried again.

"Yes I know," Shelby said. "To do nothing. Now go." She took Quinn by the shoulders and spun her around and planted a firm swat on the girl's rear causing Quinn to yelp and scamper up the stairs.

Three hours later Quinn was certain that she wanted to strangle whatever old, dead men wrote the song she was singing. She and Sam had been working with Shelby for a couple of weeks, but it had never been anything like this. At some point in their walk up the stairs earlier, Shelby had transformed into Coach Corcoran and Quinn was getting a full one-on-one practice session with the four-time national championship winner. Perfection was mandatory and Quinn now understood why Shelby's performers simply knew better than to mess up. Quinn was exasperated and Rachel was loving it. She was sitting off to the side behind Quinn taking notes.

Quinn had only sung through her part of the song a few times and Shelby spent every moment focusing on every minor technical detail that went into singing and performing. Shelby would make her stand up straighter or stop her after a couple words and tell her how to fix inflection or enunciation or where to breathe so that the melody flowed properly. Quinn felt like she had sung one line a thousand times and Shelby always found something to say or correct about it. Rachel had offered multiple times to demonstrate, but Shelby never let her. She didn't need Quinn still thinking that Rachel's way would be better and have the girl try and give Rachel her song again.

"Shelby, can we take another break?" Quinn asked.

"In a couple minutes," Shelby told her causing Quinn to slouch her shoulders.

Shelby took a quick glance past Quinn to the door behind her. Judy had come in and was standing by Rachel and motioning for the girl to stay quiet. Shelby had taken an opportunity to send Judy a text message about her conversation with Quinn and had asked her to come over and listen to her sing. She just didn't mention it to Quinn.

"Shelby," Quinn protested.

"Stand up straight now, Quinn," Shelby instructed and Quinn did as she was told. "You're going to take it from the top now and sing through your whole part."

Shelby played the piano and Quinn started to sing. She worked hard to remember to apply the lessons Shelby had been teaching her and she even started to smile when she realized her confidence was growing.

Judy put an arm around Rachel's shoulders and they both stood back and listened. A smile played on Judy lips and part way through the song she closed her eyes and let the song was over her. When she opened her eyes again they were glistening with unshed tears. Shelby's text message had upset her and she had come over at the time her friend and told her.

Quinn finished the song and smiled to herself before she caught Shelby's eyes and the proud look the woman was giving her. A clapping from behind startled her and Quinn spun around to find her mother and Rachel applauding enthusiastically.

"Mom. What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.

"Shelby invited me over to hear you sing," Judy explained. "You were wonderful."

"I, umm…" Quinn turned to look at Shelby who nodded her head in agreement with Judy. "Thank you," she finally added as she turned back to her mom.

"You really were good, Quinn," Rachel said. "Your tone was much richer than normal and you didn't-"

"Rachel, why don't you come with me so we can check on Beth," Shelby said cutting her off. "She should be getting up from her nap by now."

"But I've written down some points that I want to go over with Quinn," Rachel said, not picking up on Shelby's hint at all.

"We can do that later," Shelby said as she ushered Rachel out of the room and shut the door behind them.

"That looked like so much fun, Mom," Rachel enthused to Shelby. "Can I pick a song and you do that with me sometime?"

Shelby smiled at her as she pulled Rachel in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. Leave it to her daughter to find one of her one-on-one sessions fun. Most of her students used to groan and complain if they knew they were in for one of Coach Corcoran's technical tutoring afternoons. She'd made more than a few people cry.

"Of course, sweetie," Shelby said. "Come on, let's go look in on Beth."

Once they were alone inside the music room, Judy pulled Quinn into a tight hug and held her for a long few moments.

"Quinnie, why would you be worried about me seeing your show?" Judy asked after they separated.

"I didn't know Shelby would tell you," Quinn said instead of answering.

"She didn't go about trying to break your trust," Judy said. "She just felt I should know. She struggles so much with Rachel's self-esteem that she didn't want to see you going through it as well. I can't tell you how excited I am about your competition. I'm so proud of you, honey. Don't you know that?"

Quinn nodded and tears pooled in her eyes. "I just don't want to mess up in front of you." She almost added 'again.' "I want to do well for the team and for Rachel and Shelby. But most especially for you. You've been so strong these last six months when you finally stood up to Dad and came and found me. I didn't even realize how much I missed having you in an audience until you showed up and told me you'd seen me sing. But this time I know you're going to be there and everything is just so different from the last time we performed and I just don't want to mess up."

"Sweetheart," Judy said as she pulled Quinn close for another hug and rubbed the girl's back as she cried on her shoulder. "You're going to do great. From what I just heard, your song is going to steal the show."

"I doubt that," Quinn said. "The lines Rachel and Mercedes sing during the group number are going to steal the show."

"Not for me they won't," Judy said. She wiped the tears from Quinn's face and held her head so that the girl would look at her. "I love you, Quinn. And I am proud of you. You are not going to mess up on that stage or anywhere else."

"Thank you," Quinn said as a few more tears made their way down her cheeks. They both took a few moments to compose themselves before Quinn added, "I'm going to remind you of this if I mess up the song and we lose and the club wants to kick my ass."

"They'll have to come through me first," Judy said.

"No offense, Mom, but I'm pretty sure even Rachel could take you."

Judy stopped short and put her hands on her hips. "Even Rachel? Come on, Quinn, give me a little more credit than that."

"Fine," Quinn conceded. "But you'd have no chance against Santana."

"Well you're right about that," Judy agreed and Quinn laughed.

They linked arms as they left the room and headed back downstairs.

"Mom, why are we baking a cake again?" Rachel asked as she and Beth sat at the table watching Shelby gather up ingredients from various places around the kitchen.

"Tomorrow is Katie's birthday and she watches Beth for me whenever I need someone and so I thought it would be nice," Shelby said. "You don't have to help."

"In fact, that might be better for your kitchen," Judy said when she and Quinn entered the room. "Considering what they did to it the last time they tried to bake anything."

"That is very true," Shelby said with a laugh.

"I have a great idea for Sectionals," Judy said as she poured herself a cup of the freshly made coffee. "I think I'm going to make a big sign with Quinn's name on it so I can hold it up and yell for her when the song is over. I'll yell out, 'that's my daughter!'"

"Oh my god," Quinn muttered as she hopped up and perched herself on one of the counters.

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Shelby said with a laugh. She placed a few eggs and two containers holding flour and sugar on the table so she could wipe down the counter.

"Don't encourage her," Quinn said.

"Maybe I'll bring a cowbell too," Judy added and Quinn put her head in her hands.

"There are many occasions in which a cowbell is called for," Rachel said, "but our Sectionals performance is not one of them."

Judy and Shelby laughed and the doorbell rang in the background and Rachel got up to answer it. She opened the door to find Jesse waiting for her on the other side.

"Hey Rach," he greeted. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Rachel said. "Mom understood."

"Good." He stepped past her into the house when she moved to let him by. He leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss after she shut the door and then returned to his full height. "I can't believe how big she's getting," Jesse said looking at Beth. He held up a hand for him to hold and she held her arms out to him. He obliged by taking the baby and holding her.

"Jesse," Shelby greeted when the trio stepped back into the kitchen.

"Hi, Shelby," Jesse said.

"Jesse," Quinn said, doing little to hide her dislike of him.

"Quinn," Jesse matched her tone and they narrowed their eyes at each other.

"Jesse, this is Quinn's mom Judy Fabray," Rachel said as she tried to cut off the staring match. "Judy, this is Jesse St. James. He's the one I went out with last night."

"It's nice to meet you, Jesse," Judy said as she reached out to shake his hand.

"The pleasure is mine," Jesse said in a charming manner and Quinn scoffed. "I just came by to see Rachel. I didn't know she had company."

"You came to rescue her in case I had her locked away," Shelby said and Rachel blushed in embarrassment.

"Well, of course," Jesse said. "I wanted to see you before I left," he said to Rachel. "And I know your mom could never say no to me."

"I think I'm going to sick," Quinn said, not buying his charming act. Judy hit her on the leg.

"Is that a challenge?" Shelby asked as she stared incredulously at him with her hands on her hips, a dish towel hanging from her left.

"No of course not," Jesse said. He sat down at the table and set Beth in his lap while Rachel took another chair. "Just stating a fact."

Shelby swung her towel and whacked him in the back of the head. Rachel couldn't help but smile at their ease with each other and Jesse caught her look and returned it before looking back to Shelby. He had missed her. Rachel took a moment to contemplate the lasting role her mother had surely played in so many of her student's lives. They would never forget her.

"I really just came by to ask Rachel out again," Jesse said. "I'm flying back to California on Monday and I wanted to spend tomorrow with Rachel."

"I'd love to," Rachel answered.

"Well there you go," Shelby said. "And perhaps tomorrow you can remember to not have her home an hour and a half late."

Despite her dislike of Jesse, Quinn smirked at Rachel and nodded her head in approval. Judy took a different stance and sent a reproachful look Rachel's way. Rachel saw Quinn's look first and sent her a mischievous smile before noticing how Judy was looking at her she immediately wiped the smile off her face and looked contrite.

"It won't happen again," Jesse assured Shelby.

As the conversation continued, Beth started to squirm and Jesse helped her stand up in his lap and turned her so she was facing him. Beth didn't pay much attention to him because she found the objects on the table much more interesting. Jesse's attention was on Rachel as he listened to her talk about the upcoming Sectionals performance and he didn't notice what Beth was reaching for. When he looked back to her, he noticed too late that her tiny hand had a precarious grip on one of the eggs Shelby had left there a few minutes ago. She held it up to look at it before swinging her arm and crashing the egg down on Jesse's head. It broke and the yolk spread from his forehead and down his face. There were four gasps and one peal of laughter.

"Oh my god, Jesse," Rachel said as she stood up to quickly grab something to clean it up.

Quinn hopped down from the counter and took Beth from Jesse and held the baby up to her. Shelby's initial shock wore off and she looked to her daughter and Quinn to find them wearing matching troublemaker grins. She couldn't help but start to smile herself at Jesse's predicament. The egg was dripping down his face and onto his shirt and he was pouting like a little boy.

Quinn did nothing to hide her pleasure when she spoke.

"Payback's a bitch, St. James."

A/N – I hope everyone liked this one. Please leave me a review. I wanted to wrap up some of this stuff before I get into the heart of what I've got planned for Sectionals.

Also, on an unrelated note, I've been tossing around ideas for other stories and I've got a few in mind. But I would love to hear some ideas that you guys might have. Rachel and/or Quinn could be any age because some of the things I've come up with involve a little Rachel with Shelby. So please give me any ideas for stories – past, present or future. And they don't have to include the world of this story, but they can. I offer no guarantees, of course, but I'd love to hear from you guys. Thanks!