Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do own all OCs unless ownership is otherwise given to a specific person.
Spoilers: None
Rating: T for language.


Reply to reviews: (chapter 27)

Boris Yeltsin: Thank you. Quinn is definitely in for a surprise, and for once, it will be the best kind. She is safe now and knowing that will help her recovery tremendously.

chloe2007: part 1: Thanks for the review. Judy & Russell will have trial, and I have actually wrote part of it (where Quinn gives her "victim" statement). I will begin mentioning that every once in a while in a few chapters. Their defense team is getting the right evidence, statements, etc. ready.

Part 2: Quinn will not be testifying (because as of now, she is considered mute, and the stress added on of seeing Russell again could actually lead to a miscarriage). However, Santana and Brittany will have a recorded testimony that will be played so they do not have to actually face him until they are ready (at the sentence hearing/Quinn's "victim' statement).

Isa Yodice12: Thank for the review! I am so glad you are enjoyed it! This one was so much fun to write. It reveals some important details, as well as, lets Quinn know she is officially 100% safe, and will not be made to leave any time soon. I hope you like it!

auntdedra: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one, as well. :)

Lord Jeremy Silver: Thanks for the review. Things will start to be a little better from here on out, but they do have some bumps they have to get over first. This is step one in Quinn's recovery, and from now, things will begin to also get better, instead of just being steadily worse.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! And welcome to my new followers Aduncan, D.93, and nzlouise.


Hey, everyone. I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but we have officially hit over 100,000 words with this story! Thank you to everybody who has made that possible! :)

Notes: Here it is! Also, YOU find out something NEW. I have had this planned out for a while, way back in 2016 when this story was nothing more than a few thousand words long. I am not sure when I will post #29. It is being a major pain in the ass to write, but I do have #30 & #31 completed, so there's that…

Noah has part in this, though it is small. And Quinn speaks but only a few words. She does use Morse Code with Rachel, so a reminder that (words in italics and parentheses) are words Quinn taps out in Morse Code to Rachel.

Enjoy! :)


Previously on… Is It Worth Giving Up?…

The Diva understands perfectly, because she i sniffling, half-laughing, and saying, "When–… When J-Judy signed the papers, terminating her rights, they… It was… It was transferred. Legal Guardianship of Quinn Fabray was transferred over toto David and Josiah Berry."

Santana suddenly feels like she can't breathe because it sure seems like Rachel is saying… "That means…"

Rachel gives a tiny smile. "She's ours, T." She looks up. "We've got her. We have her, and we are never letting go. She's… She is going to be ok."

Whatever happens now…

Whatever shit the police, or the courts put them through, whatever happens at Russell and Judy Fabray's trial…

Santana knows.

She knows that everything is going to be… just fine.

Now if only they had a good explanation for the way they look because they are certainly unprepared to hear the words…

"What the hell is going on in here?" Come from the very girl whom they were just speaking about.


It jolts them both because they did not even hear the door open. Rachel is up first, though she stumbles, and Santana has to catch her. Quinn puts Zeke down, and he runs straight for Rachel's bed, jumping up to settle on the pillows.

Quinn is across the room in the next second, looking first at Santana, – well, actually, glaring at her, the Latina holding up her hands in defense, – and then she is looking Rachel over for… for an explanation as to why she was on the floor, with their friend, crying.

"I'm ok, LuLu," Rachel reassures her, although it lacks the ability to actually do that, as her eyes are still red and puffy, and tears are still falling down her cheeks. Quinn has her wrist in her grip, and obviously, even now, in her anger, the connection between her brain and mouth refuse to work.

So, instead, she taps out (That's hard to believe. You were fine when you left the basement, and now you are crying.)

It is tapped out in such rapid succession that even Rachel nearly has trouble processing the taps and presses. Giving her no time to response verbally, Quinn continues with, (What did she do to you?)

She turns around, to where Brittany is standing with Santana, the two in a hug. And this, this Santana does understand, at least, to the point that it has something to do with her because Quinn is leveling her with a glare the moment she finishes the taps and presses on Rachel's wrist.

Santana returns her glare from where she is wrapped in Brittany's hug, and Rachel senses exactly what is about to happen. She steps around Quinn, who is now facing the Latina completely.

"Back off, Q," Santana says lowly at the same time Rachel grits out, "Quinn!"

"Lucy Quinn, don't. She is not… She is not the reason I am crying, alright?" Rachel says this even as she knows Quinn's attention is no longer on her, but on her friend across the room.

The Diva knows this, so she does the one thing she knows will get it back; she gives a sharp twist of her wrist and then… yanks it free of Quinn's grip.

When the blonde snaps her attention to her, she steps back in a move that tells Quinn not to reach for her. She sees that stupid, fucking panic clear as day in hazel eyes, and she deflates a little, hating that she was the direct cause of it this time.

Rachel holds up both hands, in a stop motion, when she reaches out.

"Stop. Look at me, Quinn." Once she has the blonde's attention, albeit panicked, – which hurts more than she thought it would, – she points to Santana, "She is not the reason I am crying, ok?"

Any other time, she would be pissed; Quinn knows that Santana would not do anything to intentionally hurt Rachel, not now, not after everything that has happened.

But she also knows that whatever happened on Friday, whatever has made her so panicked when Rachel is out of her sight, or when she is upset, which is new, since Monday, when they came back from school, nearly a half-hour late, and it was clear something had happened…

Rachel knows that it skewed Quinn's perception of knowing who would or would not hurt her deliberately. She is acting on instinct right now, her new instinct, the one that keeps telling her the Diva will get hurt if she is not with Quinn at all times.

She sighs, raking her hands over her face. There are two things that need to be done right now before anything else is said or otherwise happens.

"Okay." She puts a hand on Quinn's arm. "Alright. Let's sit. We need to… We need to talk." The panic is laced with… something… and she realizes her mistake. "I'm not mad, LuLu. Okay? And... And San isn't either, right?" She turns to the two girls across the room.

Santana shakes her head, "No, I'm not." Because as much as she would love to be pissed off that Quinn thinks she would hurt Rachel, in the safety of her own home, her own bedroom, she, just like the rest of them, understands that something has made Quinn to be this way.

Rachel notices the photograph laying on her bed. She needs her dads' permission if she is going to tell Quinn, so she picks it up, saying, "I'll be right back." and emphasizing it to Quinn, who protests. "I'll be right back. Three minutes, ok? Count to 180 in your head, Angel, and I will be back before you know it."

Once she has a nod in return, Rachel looks to Santana, who understands what she is going to do. The Latina opens the door, whispering, "Do I need to come?" so that only Rachel can hear, but she shakes her head and tells her to just stay here with Quinn and Britt.

She finds Josiah and David in the kitchen, whispering to one another, along with Noah and, not surprising, Jacob. The two boys seem to have just as permanent a stay here as San and Britt do.

Her dads usher her into the dining room, so Jacob does not hear what they are about to say. He should find out because his parents were the ones to tell him, not because he overheard his uncles and cousin talking about it.

"Rachel, we were just about to call up to you," David tells her. "We have been talking and…" He looks to Josiah, "We think it was unfair of us to ask you not to tell Quinn about… well, about our relation to her. And we think you should tell her. Or, we can tell her, if you would like."

Rachel lets out a breath, looking down at the photo. That clears things up. She nods, "Ok. That is actually what I was coming down to ask, but I guess the question is answered now. We will be upstairs if you need us."

With that, she calls for Noah, asking him to follow her, and then they head back to her bedroom.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/

It was less than three minutes, so Quinn is relieved, not worried (as much), when she shows back up. Santana and Britt are laying on her beanbags, and Rachel motions for Noah to take a seat before she starts in.

"Santana already knows what I am about to tell you three. This is going to be as brief as possible, but I would like to ask you to, please, save your questions until I am finished. Does everyone understand?"

They all nod, although they are confused, except for Santana, who already knows what is about to be told. Rachel takes a seat next to Quinn on the bed.

"I recently was told some very important information about… about mine and Lucy's families." She is holding the photograph, but it is covered up, so she places it at the end of her bed.

"I need you all to, first, please look at this. It is… important to what I am about to… reveal."

Brittany scoops it up, holding it so Noah can see since Santana already knows what the photo is of.

"That looks like Papa Josiah," She says first, with Noah chiming in, "That's your Nana Lydia and Papa Kai."

Quinn, who is sitting beside her, with her head on Rachel's shoulder, and Zeke in her lap, holds out a hand, and Noah gives her the photograph. She looks it over, and, of course, just like everyone else, recognizes every person in the picture.

Rachel watches her anxiously, waiting for it…

She knows the second it happens because Quinn pops up and looks at her with… confusion and… She silently begs her to tell her that… this is not what it looks like. Rachel just maneuvers her hand so that Quinn's slips from her wrist into an interlocked hold on their fingers.

She tries to convey, silently, that it will be okay.

"I am going to say this the way I told Santana… in the fall of 1959, my grandparents had… they had a daughter." She swallows roughly. "Two years later, they had a son."

She looks up at Santana, who already has tears in her eyes again. Her bottom lip trembles. "Their son was Josiah Matthew Brown. My daddy. He and his boyfriend, David Berry, adopted me, and then got married several years later."

Rachel sucks in a breath. "Their daughter…" She feels Quinn's grip tighten on her hand and looks over at her. "Their daughter was named… Judith. Judith Lynn Brown."

She knows Quinn is catching on. The blonde is too smart for her own good sometimes. She brushes away the tears, smiling in, what she hopes, is a reassuring away.

"Judith grew up. She met a man, and she married that man." Rachel continues and hears a sharp intake of breath from her left, where Noah, Brittany, and Santana are sitting.

Her voice is barely a whisper now. "She had three daughters," Santana knows this, but there is something she did not find out earlier. "But before she had three daughters, Judith Lynn Fabray–"

There it is…

"–had a son. In the summer of 1977."

This is the part that kills her. So very fucking much.

"His name was… His name is Jacob."

Her vision is blurry, and she swipes at the tears on her own cheeks before using her sleeve to do the same to Quinn.

"Jacob Isaiah Holiday was born Jacob Roger Fabray, on July 12th, 1977, to… unwed… parents; to 18-year-old Russell and 17-year-old Judith Fabray."

It's silent. Deafening silence.

Quinn breaks, and Rachel catches her, hugging her, and pressing her face to the top of her head. Zeke freaks out, pawing at his owners and meowing. Rachel shushes him, saying, "She's ok, Zekey. Come here, Bub."

Meow.

"She's ok…" Rachel just keeps repeating it, trying to get the kitten to calm down. Finally, Noah grabs him, shushing him quietly as he settles back on the beanbag.

"Jake is–… He's her brother?" Brittany breathes, wide-eyed, as she takes Zeke from Noah. "An-And…" She makes a motion with her hand. "You are her–… her cousin?"

"Yeah, B." Santana pulls the dancer closer to her. "…They're cousins."

"That fucking bastard," Noah spits angrily. "Those hypocritical, fucking assholes… They want to preach about being good Christians. About saving themselves for fucking marriage. He fucking beat the shit of Quinn for being pregnant out of wedlock, when they did the exact same thing?!"

Rachel feels Quinn flinch at Noah's raised voice, and she cuts her eyes over to Santana, who then leans over and flicks the boy on the side of the head.

He swats at her, irritably asking, "The fuck, Lopez?"

Santana opens her mouth to tell him off, but Britt beats her to it, giving a gritted-teeth comment of, "I know you are upset, but keep your voice down. Q does not need to have to deal with you and your raised voice."

His eyes flicker to Quinn who is hiding in Rachel's arms, the Diva whispering to her, pausing to let Q tap something out on her wrist before she replies.

He takes a deep breath, reminding himself to just… breathe. Britt is right – raised voices are not an ideal thing at the moment, and no matter how much he was to cuss and shout and be pissed about the incredible failure of being parents on Russell and Judy's part…

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I–…" He sighs, "I didn't mean to yell, you know that, right? I would–… I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. You know that… don't you?"

Suddenly, he sounds unsure. Like he needs to know that, she realizes he would never stoop to that bastard's level. Because if even one part of Quinn categorizes Noah even in the vicinity of fucking Russell Fabray, then…

He has really screwed up somewhere along the way of trying to establish himself as part of her support system.

His girl shifts so she is still huddled against Rachel but now her face is towards Noah. They make eye contact, and he swallows, the green of her eyes making butterflies go wild in his stomach.

Rachel and Santana look at each other, silently communicating something. Rachel needs to tell them the rest. She needs to give them the peace of mind that Quinn is going to be ok.

So, she takes a deep breath, and she pushes Quinn slightly away from her.

"Leone Coraggioso, can you look at for a minute? I have something else that is very important for you three to know."

Quinn sniffles a bit, looking at Rachel through watery hazel eyes, which seems to have more dark green flecks in them right now.

Rachel uses her sleeve to wipe her tears as Quinn soaks in the soft gesture. "Hi there, Leone Coraggioso," Quinn has no idea what those words mean, but she does understand they are a nickname, a new one added to list Rachel has for her, as of a few days ago.

It calms her, much like Angel and LuLu do.

She could probably look them up, because she knows as far as they are Italian, but not what the translations are. Quinn does not want to do that, however, because it would mean taking away a part that is just… simply…

Brittany and Rachel.

So, she keeps herself in the dark about it, which makes it better. Estrella is known to them all, but aside from that… having a nickname in a different language makes it more… personal. More, special.

Rachel sucks in another deep breath, and this jolts Quinn out of her thoughts, "What I have to tell you is about your living situation." It is easier, somehow, to speak the words to Quinn, but address the others as a whole.

However, at this moment, she does not realize that wording the sentence in such a way was not exactly a good idea. The words living situation cases panic to flare inside of Quinn, and it must show on her face because suddenly, Rachel is frowning.

"What's the matter, LuLu?" She tries to figure out the reason for the blonde's sudden panic.

Then… it dawns on.

Fuck, she should have known to approach this subject with way more caution than she has. Of course bringing up where Quinn is going to live would sound off alarms in the blonde's mind, and not exactly the good kind of alarms, either.

She sighs and brings Quinn to her, the blonde burying her face in her neck as the Diva shakes her head, trying to convey how sorry she is.

"Oh, Angel, no. No, no, no. This is good news. Really, really good news. Okay? I–… I promise. Just–… Just take a deep breath for me, ok? Just breathe, Leone Coraggioso."

"Now, can you look at me, please? Just for a moment. I promise this is going to be good news. The kind you want to hear, alright? First off, before I say anything else, I want you to know that you are not going anywhere. Ok? Nowhere. Not now, not a few months from today, not even in a year."

She holds Quinn's face in her hands, keeping eye contact, so she can see that her friend is understanding what she is being told.

Once Quinn is nodding, she continues, "As you know, the Judge terminated… Russell's… Parental Rights." She just about spits the name, hating having to say it, despising the anxiety it causes to flash in the watery hazel-greens looking back at her.

"Judy also signed away her rights, along with serving him the divorce papers. You know all this, though…"

She sucks in a breath at the same time, trying to blink away the tears. "The Custodial Rights over you, LuLu, they were transferred…–"

Rachel does look to Brittany and Noah now, and to Santana. "–to my dads. The rights were transferred over to Josiah and David Berry."

Quinn suddenly jerks back at this, narrowly missing hitting her forehead against Rachel's chin.

"What?"

It's low and raspy, and barely audible at that, but it comes in her voice, and it stuns the girls and Noah's eyes widen as he wonders…

"My dads have custody of you, Angel. You're ours. And no one gets to take that away from you, away from us."

Rachel is suddenly tackled by the blonde, knocking her back on the bed, and this is soon joined by Brittany, who tries to jump, and land, on Rachel but also without hitting Quinn's back, which goes poorly, so they adjust, to where Quinn in laying on top of her on the right and Britt on the left.

Oof

"Guys, you're squishing me! Ugh…" She tilts her head up and backwards, to get an upside-down vision of Noah and Santana watching them. "A little help here, please?"

They get up together, and Santana tries to stifle her laughter as she pulls on Britt's arm. "Come on, B. You're squishing Tiny, here."

Santana lets out a sudden shriek as she gets no resistance from the dancer and falls backwards because Britt stands up and then trips over their feet, sending both her and Santana down onto the beanbags.

Noah throws his head back in laughter, getting a 'shut up, Puckerman' from the Latina.

He then looks over at Rachel. He makes eye contact with her and nods. He nods his understanding that whatever has happened… it's in the past.

And Santana looks over at Rachel and Quinn, still on the bed. Rachel still has the upside-down view of her, Noah, and Britt. She smirks at the Diva, because yeah…

These are the people she calls family.

And they are absolutely insane, but…

She wouldn't change it for the world.


And there it is! Everyone who should know is aware of the relationship between Quinn & Rachel, and also… Jacob is Quinn's brother! He was born in 1977, making him 16 years older than Quinn. He does not know this. He thinks his parents, Keith and Elaine Holiday (David's sister and brother-in-law) are his biological parents. It will be revealed to him soon. That will come up later on in the story.

Were any of you expecting it? I have had that idea for years, and I decided to follow through with it. Russell and Judy do not know that Elaine and Keith Berry adopted Jacob. Jacobs's parents kept him away from them while he and the girls were growing up.

**IMPORTANT: I have a poll up on my profile about the prequel to this story. Please go and vote on it for which version of the prequel you'd like to see. :)

Next up is still a Thursday chapter. Quinn reveals more about what happened last Friday. Then we move to Friday where Glee Club sings Keep Holdin' On to Noah and Quinn! And finally, a timeskip. Chapter 30 is going to set on Sunday, before we really start to get moving to after Thanksgiving.

Please review and let me know what you thought! :)