A/N: Sorry I haven't updated. I truly am. I know how much it sucks when a story doesn't update. I had a lot going on this past year. Holy shite, a year, sorry guys. You can tell how old it is by the PLL reference from last season. Anyway, here's the story. I WILL finish this no matter how long it takes me so bear with me. It will start picking up soon.

Disclaimer: I own nada.

Chapter 2: Cardiovascular Fusion

The Berry-Fabray residence was quaint and understated. Normally those words could never be attached to Rachel Barbra Berry-Fabray but married life gave her a much more practical attitude towards interior design. Quinn had compromised with Rachel on decorating the house as long as she got to design her office and she had some say in their bedroom décor.

Right now Quinn was heading back to the living room after having put the younger of their two kids to sleep. Grace was 6 and Lydia was 13, and they were both adopted. Quinn and Rachel knew they were taking on a lot when they decided to adopt, and not only that but adopting older kids. Quinn is pretty sure Rachel had scared them at first with her large personality. She had also done possibly way too much to make them feel like part of the family when each of them first arrived.

They had taken Lydia in 2 years ago after Quinn had been on the prosecuting team that sent her abusive parents to jail. Sometimes, just sometimes, the system actually works. Being that they were only 26 when they adopted her they were a bit young to have a then 11 year-old but they did what they felt was right. They were well aware of the bad sides of the system; where Lydia would have gotten bounced from foster home to foster home, they weren't going to let that happen if they could stop it before it began.

Quinn had a lot of regrets about her time in high school. Getting pregnant at sixteen was one of them. She was too young and too unhappy to care for a child the way they deserved. While she knew that giving up Beth for adoption was the right choice for her, she probably wouldn't have been able to go through it if she didn't know exactly whom her baby was going to. She had known, so Beth was theirs and Quinn was left with questions. Questions she thought about almost daily. How was Beth doing? What was her life like? Was she a good student? Did Beth remember meeting Quinn?

Grace they had adopted about a year later when Rachel and Quinn decided that a second child would make their family complete. She had fair skin, honey brown hair and cheekbones that gave away her eastern European heritage. Her sweet hazel eyes made it hard for Rachel to not give in to her.

In an attempt to make her feel comfortable they had tried to talk to Grace and let her know that she could talk to them, but it seemed as though the girl was content to just enjoy the good that was happening to her now. The social worker had relayed a bit of how Grace ended up in foster care and it had just made Quinn and Rachel even happier with their decision to take her in. The girl's birth mother was a strung out addict who never left the couch. Neglect seemed to be utterly inadequate to describe the situation.

Lydia had been so happy get away from her parents, and avoiding the foster-care system, that she hadn't been phased at all that it was two women taking her in. Surprised, sure, but after a while she had started feeling right at home with the Berry-Fabrays. Grace was still young enough when they adopted her that Quinn and Rachel were able to answer her questions and explain the situation to her.

Quinn plopped down on the couch in the living room where Lydia was watching TV with her dark brown hair tied up in a bun and with her green eyes' unwavering focus on the screen.

"Why didn't you remind me Pretty Little Liars was on tonight?" Quinn scolded her daughter.

"Shhhh! Aria is about to get locked inside the magic box."

Quinn lowered her voice "I missed a lot didn't I?"

"Yup."

"Is your homework all done?"

"Finished it after dinner."

"I could keep going but I'm not going to find anything you missed am I?"

"Nope. My room is clean, I put away those DVDs out here, and I even started on a project that's not due 'til next month."

"Well, you've earned your adventure with the Pretty Little Liars then."

It turned to a commercial and Lydia looked over at Quinn's pouty face. "The episode will be on OnDemand tomorrow. I'll watch it with you if you want."

"That would be nice. I don't get a lot of time to spend with you kids."

"It's ok. You're a lawyer. We both get it, and you're not gone all the time. You're here right now."

Quinn pulled Lydia into a one armed hug and Lydia rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"Yeah, I am. Even though I may not physically be here. I'm always here with you, and for you. You know that right?"

Lydia nodded and they sat like that until the show came back on a few minutes later. They watched Aria use her newfound martial arts skills on Cece Drake and watched Hannah pull Emily out of the way of the industrial saw. When the show was over Quinn went into the spare room that serves as a den/office while Lydia started getting ready for bed. When it was time Quinn kissed Lydia goodnight and went back to the office much like every other night.

Quinn was still in the den when Rachel got home from her show. She saw the light on in the spare room and she tapped lightly on the door.

"Come in." Rachel entered and Quinn turned to greet her.

"Honey I'm home." Rachel singsongs.

"So, I see.

Rachel looked into her wife's eyes and sensed the sadness. She knew what day tomorrow was, technically that day since it was past midnight. It was Beth's birthday. Rachel wanted so bad to comfort her wife but she couldn't do anything more than be there. Reminders of Beth tend to be reminders of regrets for Quinn; all her insecurities, and half buried memories that Quinn has never been able to completely bury. Rachel walked over to the chair where her wife was sat and placed her hands on Quinn's cheeks. "I love you." She said softly. She leaned down slowly and placed a soft kiss on Quinn's lips.

"I don't think I'll ever know what you saw in me."

"I saw someone who was hurting, and very afraid. Someone who did everything to hide that, but was very much full of love and goodness. I saw you, Quinn. I saw the real you, and I always will."

The time it's Quinn who closed the gap between them and the kiss lasted slightly longer that time. They moved to lie together on the sofa bed in the room. The silence was calming and comfortable. Rachel laid back on Quinn's chest while Quinn stroked her hair.

"How was your show tonight?"

"For having multiple understudies it went extremely well."

"You know Lydia asked if I would take her to see you perform. She said that she's heard you sing but she'd like to see you perform."

"What did you say?"

"That seeing you perform is definitely something she needs to see."

"Grace is too young for Funny Girl but I think I could get two tickets for you and Lydia. We could ask Santana to babysit for Grace. I'd love to have you both in the audience."

"We'll let her know tomorrow, but you get to talk to Santana."

"Sometimes you're a real pain, Quinn."

"Yeah, but I'm your pain."

Tina Cohen-Chang has known her friends for a long time. She saw in high school how close Santana and Brittany were. She saw how scared Santana was, and how hurt Brittany was. She saw Santana try, and then she saw Santana let fear get the better of her.

Then she saw Santana finally be brave and how happy they were; the way Santana would glow when Brittany brought her lunch or dinner at the hospital. She saw Santana run out of the lounge and up to the floor where Brittany was being brought to deliver their son.

It was painful when she watched as Santana walked into the ER with a look of hopelessness and dejectedness. These people she grew up with and sang with were her family and she knew even Santana cared about all of them as well. She had actually become quite close with Santana since they began working at the same hospital. Her husband Mike Chang had been Brittany Pierce's dancing buddy in high school glee club so when Brittany joined Santana in New York and Mike joined Brittany's dance studio, Tina applied for a nursing position at the hospital and got it. Everything had fallen into place.

Everything was starting to fall back out.

It's weird that I'm more upset with Brittany about this, right? I'm going to go visit her as soon as I get the chance, or maybe I'll have Mike talk to her at work. Tina was brought out of her thoughts because Santana bolted into the ER.

In all honesty Santana thinks Tina is one of the coolest people she knows. Tina is nice, obnoxiously nice at times, but she also is definitely not afraid to defend herself or those she loves. Santana considers her to be a special type of badass. She respects Tina; besides, Tina knows when to leave Santana alone and just how to go about a situation. Santana figures it's some kind of Asian intuition. Stereotypes, schmereotypes. Asian or not, girl's good with people. It's why she makes a great nurse.

"Don't bother rushing. Dr. Mendoza just took the chart." Tina hadn't even looked up from her spot at the Nurse's station as Santana breezed towards her.

"Damnit! I'm sure that little weasel loved the chance to show me up."

"Where were you anyway?"

"Central Park. I needed to clear my head. Kurt found me."

"Yeah, he came in here earlier and asked where you were. I told him you just left. He must have known where'd you'd be."

Santana shrugged and headed off to check on the patient she was paged for. Apparently Mrs. Hitchins had gone into cardiac arrest. Santana headed to the lounge and lay back on the sofa. Thank God my shift ends in three hours.