Thanks, as always, to everyone who reviewed!

And thanks to my friend Annie for loving this story as much as i do!

And to my beta Scarlett88, who is awesome.

This chapter's a bit crazy, so get ready! Remember to review after you read :) and for updates on the story you can always check my tumblr (links on the page) because i love talking to my readers :) Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

They were going to go on a picnic. Beth suggested it and Quinn jumped at the chance; she just loved picnics!

Beth, Quinn, and Puck were all in the kitchen packing the picnic basket. Beth was in charge of cutting and packaging the fruit, Quinn was in charge of the sandwiches, and Puck was in charge of the cooler. They had only been together one day, and yet they moved smoothly throughout the kitchen as if they had been doing it for years.

Suddenly a knock at the back door could be heard and Quinn took the few steps from the kitchen to go answer it. When she opened the door she heard a loud, "Mommy!" before her kids began to attack her with hugs.

"Hi critters," Quinn smiled as she picked Ella up and sat her on her hip. She looked back at the door to see Joe standing in it, dressed for work.

"There was an emergency at work and I couldn't keep them any longer," he explained.

Quinn nodded. "That's fine we were about to go on a picnic, and I know how much Miss Ella loves picnics!" She tapped Ella lightly on her nose and the little girl beamed.

"Yay, a picnic!" she screamed.

"Who's we?" Joe asked suspiciously. He looked around Quinn in the doorway and into the kitchen to find Puck and Beth still packing the basket. "Who's that man, Quinn? You're such a hypocrite!"

Quinn breathed deep. She knew it was time to tell Joseph about her past because, quite honestly, it was something she should have done years ago. She wasn't sure how he would take the news, so she thought maybe her kids shouldn't be around when it happened. "Ella, Ayden, you remember mommy's friend, Beth?" Both kids nodded. "She's right over there making food for our picnic. Why don't you go see if you can help?"

"Okay," Ayden said as he made his way over to the counter where they were working. Quinn put Ella on the ground and she followed her brother.

"Outside," Quinn said to Joe. He opened the door and stepped outside into the crisp fall air, Quinn at his toes.

"Don't you dare call me a hypocrite, Joseph!" She yelled once they were outside. "I am nothing like you, you no good cheater!"

"Nothing like me?" he laughed. "Well the fact that there's another man inside my house makes me beg to differ."

"There's a difference…" Quinn began before he cut her off.

"Oh yea, I'd like to hear it," Joe said.

"Alright, you want to know what the difference is! The difference is I didn't sleep with him, I didn't even kiss him. Did I want to? Yes. But did I? No. You want to know why? Because I couldn't live with myself if I did to you what you did to me. What you did was unforgivable, Joseph. It made me feel stupid and worthless, and as much as I dislike you right now, I wouldn't wish that feeling on you or anyone else." A tear started to fall down her face, but she quickly wiped it away.

"You expect me to believe there's a man in that house that you obviously have feelings for and you didn't do anything? Then why is he even here?" Joseph asked.

Quinn sighed. She knew she should have told Joseph about Puck and Beth from the very beginning, but back then all she wanted to do was forget, and now it was all blowing up in her face.

"Why don't you come and sit down," Quinn suggested. They both moved to the patio and sat in the chairs.

"Did you see the teenage girl in there, Beth?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, she's my daughter." Quinn ignored the look of shock on his face as she continued. "I gave her up for adoption sixteen years ago, but yesterday she found me, wanting to tell me a horrible, horrible secret I don't want to talk about right now. Anyway, Puck, the man in there, he's the father. I didn't even call him myself. It was Rachel, Beth's sister and my f-friend from high school." She knew that last part was a lie, she had been anything but friendly to Rachel in high school, but that was a conversation for another time, so Quinn just continued. "She called him and told him to come down from New York, knowing Beth would want to meet her father, too. And so, here we are."

"So all this time you had a daughter you never told me about?" Joe asked, stunned and a little angry.

"You have to understand that sophomore year was the most shameful of my life. When my parents found out about me being pregnant they threw me out in a heartbeat. I went to stay with my boyfriend at the time, Finn, because I had convinced him he was the father, even though he wasn't." Bringing up all these old memories Quinn had pushed to the back of her mind for so long was almost too much for the blonde and she began to cry. "Well, eventually Finn found out he wasn't the father and I was kicked out of his house, too. I was alone and had nowhere to go. Puck decided to step up and be a man about the whole situation. He let me move into his house. He tried so hard to show me he would be a good father, but I wouldn't listen. All I wanted was for things to go back to normal; I wanted to be popular again. So when the day came I decided upon adoption. Puck tried to tell me he wasn't mad, but I knew I had hurt him with my decision. I didn't want to deal with the hurt I had caused him, so I ignored him and he ignored me." Quinn knew this was probably too much detail for Joe, but once she started she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"At the end of our senior year he came up to me, apologized for the past year and told me he still loved me, but I wouldn't give him a chance. All I wanted to do was forget because it hurt so much; it was killing me on the inside and all I wanted was for the pain to go away. So for college I went as far as I could and never contacted anyone from my old life again. Oh, God, I'm such a bad person," Quinn wept.

"You were right, I am a hypocrite," she continued as realization swept over her. "I slept with Puck that year when I was dating Finn, and I ended up pregnant. You don't get more hypocritical than that." Her face was now in her hands as she cried.

"Quinn, I didn't mean to make you feel bad," Joe soothed, rubbing her back. She didn't understand why he was being so nice to her. She had just told him what an awful person she was, and he was soothing her? "I was just angry about you having another man in the house, this is my fault. You are not a bad person; you are the best person I've ever met. Why do you think I married you?"

"I never deserved you, Joe," Quinn cried.

"No Quinn, it's me who never deserved you," he said. "I think that's why…" Suddenly his phone began to ring, interrupting his speech. "That'll be work," he said. "It really is an emergency." He walked over to her chair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Call me if you need anything. I'll call you later so we can talk about this."

Quinn nodded as she watched him walk away. Now she was as confused as ever. She knew if she tried she could forgive Joe for what he had done, but the question was did she want to try. He was being so nice about everything, but she didn't want that clouding her judgment because on the other hand she knew she still loved Puck. That hadn't changed since high school and she honestly didn't know whether it would at all. Quinn never knew it was possible to love two men at once.

She sighed as she got up from the chair and wiped her eyes, hoping her face wouldn't be too splotchy and red. She walked over to the back door and opened it and stepped into the kitchen.

When she opened it the first thing she was met with was the sound of Ella's familiar high-pitched giggles. She smiled as she saw Puck playfully poking the little girl's belly, her blonde curls bouncing around as she laughed. Ayden was sitting on the counter, putting the fruit Beth handed him into the picnic basket. Everyone was smiling and Quinn thought maybe this was what being family is supposed to look like.

X-X-X-X-X

Lunch had gone wonderfully. Ella and Ayden kept everyone entertained with their outlandish imaginations. The two really seemed to be taking a liking to Puck and Beth, which made Quinn feel a whole lot better.

After everyone had finished eating, Beth took the younger kids to the playground, promising to play hide-and-go-seek with them. Quinn and Puck sat on the picnic blanket and watched.

"You've got some great kids," Puck said.

Quinn looked over to the playground to see Ella and Ayden running from Beth, smiling and laughing. "Yea, I do. All three of them."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, just watching and taking in the company of the other person. Puck really wanted to ask her about earlier, with her husband, but he knew it was really none of his business. He tried to push it to the back of his mind and just enjoy spending time with the girl he loves (even if she doesn't love him back), but he just couldn't get it to go away.

Finally, after he couldn't hold it in any longer, he asked. "So, that was, uh, your husband earlier?"

Quinn turned her head from the direction of the playground to him and nodded. "That's him."

"Oh, so why wasn't he there last night?"

Quinn sighed. She really didn't want to talk about this, but when she looked over at Puck she could see his eyes, they were so filled with hurt because he knew he couldn't have her, and she just wanted to give him an ounce of hope because she honestly didn't know who she loved anymore.

"He moved out for a while. He, uh…I caught him sleeping with his secretary," she answered.

"Oh. He must be the biggest jackass ever to cheat on someone as beautiful and perfect as you," Puck said. "You know I would never do something so awful to you. Ever."

Quinn nodded. "Thanks Puck, but I wish everyone would stop calling me perfect. I'm so far from that."

Puck looked her right in her hazel eyes. "We all make mistakes, Quinn. But what makes you so perfect if your ability to admit that, and I hope one day you give me the chance to prove I would never do something to hurt you like that."

"I think right now I'm taking things one day at a time," she answered. He smiled wide at her because nowhere in that answer did she say the work 'no'.

X-X-X-X-X

Shelby was angrily pacing back and forth through the living room. She was trying to decide how she wanted to handle confronting Jim. He wouldn't be home from work for at least two more hours, so she had plenty of time to devise a plan. She went to work planning every little detail until she knew exactly what she was going to do.

She was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall when she heard his car pull up. As she heard his footsteps get closer and closer to the door all she wanted to do was grab a knife from the kitchen and stab it through his heart when he walked through the door. But she couldn't because she knew she would be no use to Beth behind bars.

The door opened and Jim stepped inside. As Shelby set her eyes on him for the first time since she heard the news, she couldn't help but notice all of the things she once loved about him now totally repulsed her.

"Hey babe," he said once he noticed her sitting on the couch, staring at him. He gave her a large smile and Shelby felt like her insides were being ripped out; he didn't deserve to smile. Ever. Again.

She wanted so badly to rip him a new one right then and there, but she couldn't; she had to stick with her plan. It was a good thing she was such a good actress.

"Hi sweetie," she said as she stood up and walked over to him. He gave her a peck on the lips and she tried hard not to vomit in his mouth.

"How was your and Beth's girls night in Cinci?" he asked. She had texted him the night before, telling him Beth and her were having a girls night out in Cinci and wouldn't be home so he wouldn't get suspicious. "Where is she?"

"What's it matter to you where my daughter is?" Shelby asked angrily.

"I guess it doesn't," he said confused. "I just thought I'd say hello since I didn't see her last night."

"Well she's not here."

"Alright."

Shelby could feel the tension she was building between the two of them.

"Is everything…alright?" he wondered, bewildered as to why she was suddenly so angry with him.

"Oh, everything is peachy," Shelby fake smiled. "Now tell me Jim, I was wondering what Beth and you do on those weekends I'm out of town. I asked Beth last night, but she just changed the subject."

She could see his face turn to sudden panic, but he quickly caught himself. "Usually she goes to a friend's house, or we just watch movies. Nothing too exciting."

"You no-good lying son-of-a-bitch!" she yelled as she slapped him across the face. She caught him off guard so the slap made him stumble backwards a bit. "You think you can come into my house and lie to me about what you've been doing with my daughter?"

Now his face was now pure panic.

"Yea, that's right I know what you did to my baby. She told me everything! I hope you burn in hell!"

"Shelby, baby, please let me explain!" He tried to reach his hand out in desperation, but Shelby quickly backed up.

"You do not get to touch me! Never again will you touch me or my daughter!" Shelby yelled. She willed the tears forming in the back of her eyes to stop. It wasn't time for them to fall yet.

"I trusted you, Jim! I trusted you with my daughter, the most important thing in my life and look what you did to her! You broke her! She will never be whole again. Ever. And it's all because of you!"

"Shelby, you have to believe me, I never meant for it to happen, I…" Jim begged.

Shelby cut him off. "No, you don't get to explain. You've made your choices and you're going to have to live with the consequences. I'm going to make sure your ass rots in jail for the rest of your miserable life."

"Shelby, please, no, I can't go to jail!"

"You should've thought about that before you stole my daughter's childhood away from her! You should have thought about that before you ruined her life!"

"No, I'm not going to jail!" he yelled. "I won't." He quickly opened the door and began to run to his car, but before he could get inside he was stopped by a police officer.

"Jim Sullivan, you're under arrest for the rape of Beth Corcoran," the officer said as he put Jim's hands behind his back and put hand cuffs around them. He started reading him his Miranda rights, but Jim wasn't listening; he knew his rights.

He looked at the front porch to see Shelby standing on it. She smirked at him before walking down the path to the driveway where he stood. "You don't think I didn't know your pansy ass would run?" she said to him as if he were stupid.

He didn't even know what to say.

"I told you I was going to make you pay," she said.

All he could do was grunt as the police officer pulled him to his car and forced him in the back seat. The officer nodded at Shelby before getting into the driver's side and backing out of the driveway.

As Shelby watched the police car take off she expected to feel a wave of relief hit her body, but it never happened. She had gotten Jim arrested, sure, but now there had to be a trial, and even she knew there would be little evidence on their side.

Shelby stood outside the house for a little while longer, just standing and taking in the scene that had just happened. Once she felt like she could actually move her legs, she walked back into the house. She was too tired and exhausted to do much of anything, so she put her pajamas on and laid in bed.

She wasn't surprised when she couldn't fall asleep. The tears fell freely from her eyes as she sobbed loudly. Within two days her world was turned upside down; she now had to fix her broken daughter, as well as losing the man who was supposed to be love of her life, forever. She no longer loved Jim, but that really didn't make it hurt any less. And with millions of thoughts swimming through her head, Shelby finally fell into a light, uncomfortable sleep.

The next morning she was woken up by someone turning the light on in her room.

"Mom, are you really still sleeping?" she heard Beth say.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Cinci?" Shelby asked, still half-asleep.

"Quinn and dad drove me down," Beth explained. "They went to visit Quinn's mom since they were in town, but I wanted to come see you. I can't believe you're still sleeping."

Shelby rolled over to look at the clock which read 1:17. She had been asleep for more than 12 hours!

"Wow, I can't believe I'm still asleep either," Shelby said.

Beth giggled as she jumped on the bed next to her mom.

"So what happened to…um, Jim?" Beth asked.

"He's in jail," Shelby answered. "Don't worry; I'm going to make sure he pays for what he did to you."

"No!" Beth said. "No, I don't want to go to trial! I don't want to have to relive those disgusting details! I just want to forget. Why won't you let me forget?"

"Beth, if you don't go to trial then Jim's not going to get into any trouble for what he did to you," Shelby explained.

"But I don't think I can do it mom," Beth cried. "I'm not strong enough."

"Beth, you're the strongest person I know," Shelby said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. She looked deep into Beth's beautiful hazel eyes. "And besides, you know Puck, Quinn, Rachel, and I are going to be with you every step of the way. You're not alone, Beth. You'll never be alone."

"Okay," Beth cried. "I'll do it,"

Shelby picked Beth's chin up with her hand and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "I love you, you know that."

"I love you too, mom."