First i want to start by apalogizing for taking so long but ive been so busy lately and with school starting in a couple weeks it probably wont die down. Im going to do my best to update at least once a week but the more reviews i get the more i will update.

Also for a little while i accidently had chapter 2 posted twice so if you read it while that happened i have fixed it and chapter 1 is back up so you may want to go back and read it so you wont be confused. Sorry for all the mix up there.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please continue to do so, it means so much to me everytime i get one :)

Lastly thanks to my amazing beta scarlett88... thanks for taking your own time to make this chapter amazing!

Enjoy the chapter and remember to review when youre done!

Chapter Three

"Hi my name is Beth…I think I'm your daughter."

Quinn suddenly forgot how to breathe. Her daughter, Beth, was calling her. Was this some kind of joke or was this real? Quinn sat, paralyzed on her bed for a few moments before remembering that the only way to find out would be to ask.

"Beth?" she said as silent tears made their way down her face. This was so unexpected that Quinn didn't quite know how to react. All she knew was that her girl, her baby girl was on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it's me," came the gentle voice of her daughter. Quinn had longed to hear the sweetness of that voice for sixteen years. She felt as if she could sit and listen to Beth's voice for hours.

"Oh Beth," Quinn said, tears still flowing from her eyes like a waterfall. "How… how is your life?" She asked. She knew it was probably a stupid question but she had to make sure her baby was okay, that she had in fact done the right thing sixteen years ago by giving her up.

"It's good," she heard Beth's voice say a little lighter this time. "I go to your old high school and I'm in glee club. Mr. Schuster told me all about you today."

"I hope it was good," Quinn said her tears finally starting to subside. Mr. Schuster had been the main adult influence in her life for most of high school and had watched as she turned from the self-centered queen bee to the sweet and caring person she was today.

She heard Beth laugh on the other line and she was suddenly breathless. Her daughter's laugh was so much like her own that it made Quinn's heart ache. "It was."

It was silent for a couple of minutes as Quinn contemplated what she wanted to say next. She wanted to choose her words carefully; this could be the only opportunity she would ever have to talk to her daughter. "I think about you everyday," she finally said. She wanted Beth to know that even though she wasn't physically present in her life, she had never forgotten about her.

"I think about you, too." Quinn closed her eyes and smiled, imagining what her daughter looked like at the moment. Did she have her blonde hair or her tiny petite hands? Quinn didn't know if she would ever find out but just hearing her voice was more than she ever imagined.

Suddenly Quinn heard a loud yell on the other end of the line. "I…I've got to go," she heard Beth say, in a panicked tone. Before Quinn had time to say anything Beth had hung up and the call had ended. Quinn sat on her bed for at least five minutes just staring at her phone. Did that really just happen to her? She began to cry, a mix of shock and happiness. She then became worried. Why had Beth hung up so fast and why was her voice so panicked. Quinn tried not to worry herself. There could be a million reasons why she had to hang up and Quinn tried not to think of any bad ones.

All night Quinn sat in her bed thinking about what just happened. She wanted to call Beth back more than anything but knew she couldn't. She prayed that someday Beth would call her again, she wanted to know everything about her life and she wanted to tell her how much she loved her…she didn't get a chance to tell her during the phone call.

Quinn didn't know how long she sat on her bed before she heard the front door open and the sound of familiar footsteps making their way to her bedroom. Soon her door opened and in the doorway stood her tall, handsome husband. She could tell he was

surprised to see she was still awake.

"I didn't think you were up," he said walking to the dresser, taking off his work clothes and changing into his pajamas.

"I decided to stay up…I needed to talk to you." Quinn had actually forgotten her original plan to stay up and talk to her husband; she had been so distracted when Beth had called- but now she was pulled back to the reality of her life.

"What about?" he asked as he went into their bathroom to brush his teeth. Quinn decided to wait patiently for him to come back into the room.

"I just…I think you need to be home more often," she blurted out. She knew her husband hated when she told him what to do but she couldn't live like this anymore.

"You know I try to be home as much as I can, but ever since my dad's become ill there's so much more work for me to do."

"Then hire a new partner for Christ's sake!" Quinn said throwing her hands up into the air, her voice raising slightly as she became more irritated.

"It's not that easy Quinn," he answered.

"You know what's not easy?" Quinn began, her voice rising even more. "What's not easy is watching as your daughter cries herself to sleep, night after night, because she misses her dad. What's hard is to see the look on your kid's faces when you tell them their dad is not going to be home for dinner…again."

"It's not like I like being away all the time," his voice rising to match hers. "But someone has to make a living to support this family."

"We were doing just fine on your salary before the promotion." Quinn didn't understand why this was so unimportant to him. Didn't he miss his family as much as they missed him?

"Don't you understand Quinn? This is the job I've been working my whole life to get! Everything I've worked so hard for is finally paying off."

Quinn did feel bad, she knew he had been waiting for a job like this since he was five and decided he wanted to be a lawyer like his father, but was a job really worth what was happening to his family? "This stupid job is causing our family to fall apart!" she said as a stubborn tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away as quickly as she could.

"Okay Quinn why don't I just quit my job! I'll just sulk around the house all day, miserable that you made me give up my dream."

That statement was like a blow to Quinn's chest. "This family should be your dream!" she said not even caring anymore as more and more hot tears rolled down her pale skin. "Why don't you seem to be as invested into this family as everyone else?" "Not invested in this family!" Both their voices were at their highest volume at this point. "I'm busting my ass, working 16 hour days to make sure this family has enough money for everything they need!"

"What this family needs, Joseph, is you!"

"I can't do this anymore!" he yelled, shaking his head, stomping towards the door.

"Don't you dare leave, Joseph!" Quinn yelled to him. "We are not done here!"

"I think we are." Quinn watched in amazement as he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Quinn was too angry and too tired to chase after him. Instead she collapsed in her bed. Maybe it was a good thing she had not kept Beth, it kept her from having to live through the craziness that was her birth family, but Quinn had two more kids to think about, two kids who were sleeping just down the hall and who deserved better. Quinn pulled to covers up over and her head and slowly cried herself to sleep.

X-X-X-X-X

Noah "Puck" Puckerman was awoken, as usual, by the light that streamed through the single window in his small New York apartment. He looked to his right to see an unfamiliar woman lying next to him, sleeping. He let out a sigh as he tried to remember the events that had taken place the night before, and as usual Puck couldn't remember. He pulled the covers off himself before making his way over to his small kitchen to make a pot of coffee; it always helped with the hangover. He got dressed while waiting for the coffee maker to finish and when it finally was he poured it into his coffee thermos before grabbing his keys and heading out the door to go to work. He didn't even bother leaving a note for the girl lying in his bed, she would be gone before he got back- they always were.

As Puck walked the three blocks to the diner where he worked he couldn't help but think about how his life had turned out nothing like he had expected. After Quinn had decided to give the baby up for adoption sixteen years ago, the two began to grow apart. Puck was mad that she had not given him a chance to be a good father and Quinn was afraid to face him because she knew he resented the fact that she had given Beth up. Even through all that, Puck had never stopped loving her, he lost his breath every time she entered a room. It had taken him a year to work up the guts to tell her how he still felt. He pulled her aside one day after glee, fourteen years ago, so he could tell her what he was feeling.

"Quinn, can I talk to you for a minute?" Puck asked the beautiful blonde girl sitting in front of him. Puck could see hesitance in her eyes but she nodded anyway. "I just wanted to apologize for the way I've treated you this past year," he said, his face focused on the ground. He had never been one to share his feelings. "I just…I didn't really know how to act after, well, after Beth and everything." He looked up into her face and saw the pain in her eyes.

"It's okay Noah, I understand. I mean I know you wanted to keep her but I just couldn't…I wasn't ready." He watched as a single tear made its way down her perfectly pale cheek. He reached out and wiped it away with his finger, feeling the electricity as his skin touched hers.

"I know," he said softly. "And I don't blame you for the choice you made." She furrowed her perfectly shaped eyebrows at him. "I mean, I did at first, but I was just angry back then. I was a confused kid but I've had time to grow up this past year and I've realized you made the right choice. I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure it out."

"I'm glad you finally came around," she said giving him a small, fragile smile.

He took her hand; it was so small inside of his. He looked up into her beautiful hazel eyes and his heart almost melted. They were so full of pain from everything that had happened to her the last two years;

first Beth and now her parent's ugly divorce. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his strong arms and keep her there forever, to make sure nothing else bad could ever happen to her again. "I need to tell you that I love you, I never stopped loving you."

She shook her head. "Noah, I can't do this with you." His heart sunk. This wasn't the reaction he was expecting to get out of her.

"Why not?" he asked, unable to disguise the disappointment in his voice.

"I just, I'm going to college in a couple months, hours away from here. I need to get away from everything for a little while. I need some time without any stress or drama."

He took a step closer. "If you take me back I promise I will do everything I can to keep you from hurting anymore."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I just can't do this." She took her hand away from his and quickly collected her books and headed towards the choir room door.

"Quinn," he called out to her. For a split second she hesitated at the sound of him saying her voice and he convinced himself she was going to stop, turn around, and jump into his arms, giving him a second chance at loving her but instead she continued through the door and didn't turn back.

Puck finally arrived at work and was forced back to reality as the requests of annoying customers filled his ears.

X-X-X-X-X

It was Sunday which meant Beth's mom would finally be coming home that night. Beth, not wanting to be in the house all day with Jim, decided to go and hang out at her best friend, Emerson's house. Beth was lying on Emerson's bed trying not to think about the events that had transpired this past weekend.

Beth could feel a tingle of heat go through her back when she realized her best friend was staring at her. She turned over to face her friend, who was sitting at the chair for her desk.

"Are you okay?" Emerson finally asked after a couple minutes of staring at Beth.

Beth nodded, putting on her best fake smile. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Emerson furrowed her eyebrows at her best friend.

"You've been lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling with this weird glassy expression for the past hour. There's got to be something you're not telling me." Beth knew she couldn't hide her weekends alone with Jim forever. She seriously considered telling her friend everything, telling her about her mom's monthly trips and everything that happened with Jim, maybe it wouldn't be as hard as she imagined.

"You're right I have been hiding something." She swallowed hard. "I, well, I…I talked to my birth mom on the phone Friday night," she chickened out. It was true, talking to Quinn on the phone was big news, but she had really wanted to tell Emerson about Jim. She just couldn't get the words out her mouth because as soon as she said them, they became real and she couldn't pretend that nothing was wrong anymore, she would have to face reality.

"What you talked to your birth mom!" Emerson practically screamed as she jumped out of her seat and joined Beth on the bed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Beth shrugged. "I don't know it's still all new to me and everything."

"Tell me everything. How did you even find her number?" Emerson was now lying on her stomach, her elbows on the bed and her tiny fists holding up her head. She was clearly ready for a story. Beth took a deep breath as she went through the whole story, starting from the beginning, telling her about how she had finally gotten the courage to ask Shelby about her birth mom and ending with the phone call. The only part she had left out was the part about Jim barging into her room, drunk, and making her hang up.

When she was finally done with her story she looked at the clock to see that another hour had gone by. "I…I should go my mom should already be home by now," Beth said quickly getting to her feet.

"I'm really glad you got to talk to her," Emerson said, also standing up. She pulled her best friend into a tight hug and it was all Beth could do not to break down in her arms. She ended the embrace and gave her friend one more forced smile before leaving her room and finally her house and driving home.

On the drive home Beth decided she was going to tell her mom. She had chickened out when it came to Emerson but her mom was different, she needed to know. No matter how painful it was going to be her mom deserved to know the truth. Beth had been keeping this secret for too long and she knew if she didn't tell someone soon she would explode.

When Beth opened the door to the house she was surprised to find the lights in the kitchen were off. She was almost sure her mom would be home by that time. She was walking to the living room when she suddenly heard the sound of laughter, it was her mother, but why were the lights off? She quietly walked to the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen and peered her head around the corner. What she saw made her want to vomit. Her mom and Jim were lying on the couch, tangled in each others arms. There were rose petals sprawled across the whole floor. Her mom and Jim were talking and laughing. Beth took one look at the huge smile on Shelby's face and knew she couldn't tell her the truth. Her mom was so happy, how could she take that away from her? Her mother's happiness was more important than her own. She quietly turned around and tip toed to her bedroom. She got out her iPod and put the headphones into her ears, turning the volume as loud as it could go so she could drown out the noises coming from down the hall.