Author's Note: This chapter is a little bit more serious than previous ones...probably because it has a little less Brittana than usual...I hope you like it anyway! And, as always, thank you all for your lovely reviews!

Rachel glanced up at the clock. It was 8pm. She'd been up since 6 that morning, and it was beginning to dawn on her that it was going to be a very long week. She rode the elliptical when she awoke, and then made a quick fruit salad for breakfast. She paid all of her bills, she'd cleaned her apartment, and she finally made some time to go on the Pottery Barn website and order some furniture for one of the spare rooms in her apartment that she was turning into an office. She wasn't sure why—she basically didn't know what else to do with the room. She talked to her dads on the phone for an hour. She played around with her karaoke machine for a bit. She'd read, and watched TV, and went on a walk, and puttered around the house. She ordered in food for lunch and for dinner. Now it was 8, and with shooting cancelled for the next three days, she was at a loss for how to spend her time. She knew that Quinn was busy with Justin, and she also knew that Santana didn't really like her. They were adults now, so Santana had (mostly) learned how to be polite, but they definitely weren't friends. That only left Brittany who had two babies to take care of and Mercedes who was always working. That said, it came as a pleasant surprise when her phone began buzzing on the table.

"Hey, Quinn! What's up?" Rachel said, surprised that Quinn was calling her again.

"Can you come over, Rachel?"

"Sure…what's going on?" Rachel thought Quinn was crying and wasn't sure why she wouldn't have just gone to Brittany and Santana with whatever this was. They were her best friends, after all.

"I'm just so mad. Justin isn't going to get here until Thursday! Thursday. So he'll be here for Lily's birthday and for the birthday party Saturday and then he's leaving again Monday morning! And I would have called Brittany and Santana, but after talking to Hannah it seems that Santana only told us the tip of the iceberg of what they put those two through yesterday and I'd just feel bad asking for a favor again…"

"Of course, I'm on my way."

Rachel Berry wasn't used to this. She wasn't really the kind of friend people called when things were wrong. She was too…well, self-involved for that. Plus, to have Quinn Fabray being the caller was even weirder. Sure, by their senior year in High School they had lost the animosity that existed the first few years, but Rachel would never have gone so far as to call them friends. Then again, there wasn't really anyone in Rachel's life who she would call her friend. Plus, they did have that weird moment their senior year after a party at Puck's, but Rachel had always written that off as alcohol and confusion due to Glee Club's sudden gay frenzy. She pushed the memory out of her mind. Rachel was thirty and had finally come to terms with herself. She loved herself, and she loved to perform, and that didn't make her the most pleasant person to be around. She had finally realized that if something terrible were to happen to her, there would be no one to cry at her bedside, no friends to bring flowers, no one to sing at her grave. Rachel thought about things like that. And Rachel had matured enough to realize that as long as she cared only about herself, no one else was going to care about her. And, frankly, Rachel was lonely. So, she headed over to Quinn's at 8 on a Monday because she was slowly starting to realize that being a star might not be enough for her. Being a star was seeming less important once she realized that a star is only valuable because there are people to watch it shine.

Twenty minutes later, Rachel rang the doorbell at Quinn's house.

"Ugh , thank god you're here." Quinn said, grabbing Rachel's hand and leading her towards the kitchen. She pulled a glass out of a cupboard and filled it half with vodka and half with tonic. "You have to catch up. I don't want to be the only one drunk here." Rachel tentatively took a sip of the drink. "I am just so tired, Rach. I'm tired of having to be the single mom. I'm tired of having to tell him it's okay that I only see him eight weeks of the year and the team gets the other 44." Rachel just nodded, sipping her drink.

"You should tell him, Quinn," Rachel suggested.

"You think I haven't told him? This is his job, Rachel. I don't need to be reminded again that this is what keeps us in this unnecessary house, keeps the kids in private schools, and me in these stupid $900 heels. I don't need $900 heels!" Rachel just nodded. "Do you ever feel, when you're over at Brittany and Santana's, like they did everything right?" Rachel scrunched her forehead.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, their house is nice, and has such Brittany character, but it's not over the top like this monstrosity. And they live in a good school district, so they don't have to worry about that. Brittany's a dancer, which she loves, and Santana loves her work, but they're not filthy rich and they're not famous, but they're…well they're happy."

"Yes, I do know what you mean, but I don't really think it's worth your time to compare your life to them. None of us will ever have what they have. It's like they were born for the sole purpose of loving each other. The rest of us have to work at it a little bit….why don't we say we do something to get all of this off your mind. What was that stupid movie you liked so much when we were in high school?"

"I liked lots of stupid movies when we were in High School..."

"That's right, I bet we could find one of them and stream it on Netflix." Quinn and Rachel settled into the couch, and started browsing the "Teen Romantic Comedies" secton. Quinn rested her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Thanks for coming over, Rach."

"Of course." Before long, Quinn was passed out. Rachel helped her up the stairs and led her into her bedroom, and removed her $900 shoes and tucked her into bed. Rachel was pulling the sheets up on her when Quinn woke up.

"Rachel, can you set the alarm for 6am? I need to make sure that Hannah and Lily are at the bus stop by 7:03 and that Harper is at Preschool by 8."

"Of course." Quinn reached out her hand and cupped Rachel's cheek.

"Thanks, Rachel. Thanks for being so nice." Rachel just kissed Quinn on the forehead and got up and turned out the lights.

Quinn groaned at the throbbing in her head the next morning as the light poured through her windows. She opened her cell phone. 10:02. 10:02! She jumped out of bed and threw her robe on her. Her children were late for school. She couldn't believe that she could be so irresponsible. She ran downstairs, silently cursing herself for allowing her personal problems to affect her children. Rachel was sitting in the kitchen, reading the paper.

"RACHEL! Why didn't you set my alarm? Where are my kids?"

"Calm down, Quinn," Rachel said, "I figured you'd need to sleep off that hangover so I stayed over last night. Hannah and Lily told me where there school bus stop was and so they're off at school right now and I called Santana and after receiving a long lecture on interrupting their apparently very scheduled morning routine she gave me directions to Harper's preschool, and Brittany informed me that the only cure for your hangovers is coffee, juice, Diet Coke, water, and the Grand Slamtana. Which, in your case, I have altered the portmanteau to Grand Slambray." She pulled out a chair for Quinn. Quinn didn't even have words. She literally had no idea what to say. So, she sat down and took a sip of each of her beverages while Rachel brought her a plate of food.

"Extra bacon, of course," Rachel said as she placed the plate in front of Quinn.

"But, Rach, don't you have to work or something? I can't believe you did all of this…"

"There was a problem securing a location. I'm off until Wednesday afternoon."

"Oh my god! I'm sorry Rach, you shouldn't have to spend your days off taking care of my dumb, hungover ass."

"No worries, Brittany is bringing the babies over around lunch time and then we figured we'd get some sun and hang out for a bit, maybe get your mind off of Justin? I also went home to get my karaoke machine—singing about your feelings has never been a bad thing, Quinn." Quinn raised her eyebrows at this. "I think Santana is going to come over for dinner, if that's alright? They both felt pretty bad that they couldn't be here for you last night. Well…I think Brittany felt bad and probably pouted. I think Santana might actually be scared of Lily now."

"She probably sees too much of herself in her," Quinn chuckled, eating another piece of bacon.

Brittany arrived an hour later with the twins. Quinn had managed to take a shower and get dressed, but she definitely wasn't her usual self by the time Brittany got there.

"I'm sorry, Q," Brittany said, as she rolled in extra long stroller. "I can't believe he did this to you again. You should have called us last night."

"I couldn't do that to you, Britt. You guys already do too much for me." Quinn couldn't help but feel a little bad; Brittany was smiling, but she definitely looked a little frazzled.

"Well, I fed them before coming over, so they're about ready to pass out, I was hoping you hadn't completely dismantled your crib?"

"Of course not," Quinn said. "Justin has been saying he would do it for years, but, of course, it's still fully intact in the basement. Rachel and Quinn went downstairs to carry the crib up and Brittany placed both babies in it and set up the rain machine, so she could spend some time with her friends.

Rachel opened the door when Santana showed up around 6, still in her suit for work, which made Rachel chuckle to herself. She had never seen Santana in her professional clothes. Santana had a clear look of panic in her eyes when she heard three squealing girls running down the hall to greet her. Rachel couldn't contain her laughter at seeing the fear in Santana's eyes. If she had known in High School that all she needed were a few children to scare the cheerleading bully, her life would have been so much easier. The girls had apparently forgotten what they had put Santana through over the weekend however, so she pulled them in for a tight hug, and then walked hand in hand with Lily to the kitchen to find her wife.

"Hey B," she said, giving Brittany a quick kiss on the lips.

"Rough day?"

"As always. Where are my babies?" Brittany gestured over to the playpen they had also dragged up from the basement. Santana picked up each of the twins individually and gave them a kiss on the head, and then picked up Olivia and sat her down in her lap playing peek-a-boo. Some of the stress immediately lifted off of Santana's face. Rachel watched them from the other side of the kitchen. The tension in Santana's face completely disappeared as she watched the baby giggle every time she revealed her face. That big, signature, Santana smile that Rachel had seen so rarely when she saw Santana everyday in High School now seem plastered to her face. Brittany walked over to Santana and picked up their other child. They appeared to be talking about their days, all while nuzzling the babies who were crawling all over their mothers' laps.

"It's so natural for them, isn't it?" Quinn said, noticing that Rachel was staring. Rachel just nodded. At thirty, Rachel was finding experiences like these to be the funniest. At sixteen she would have guaranteed that she would never be in this scenario; watching Brittany and Santana fawn over infants, a perfectly happy and normal couple, while she and Quinn basked in their loneliness together. It would have seemed…impossible. She guessed that this was the reality of getting older. Life never takes you where you expect. As though Quinn was reading her thoughts, she leaned over the counter.

"Crazy, isn't it. Who are we?" Rachel just shrugged again.

By the time they sat down for dinner, Quinn's hangover was finally starting to wear off. Quinn sat at the head of the table and Harper, Lily, and Hannah sat on one side with Brittany, Santana, and Rachel on the other side. Brittany and Santana both had a baby in their laps.

"I think you all owe Aunt S an apology," Quinn said, after everyone was settled at the table. "How about you start, Hannah, you're the oldest."

"Sorry, Aunt S." Santana smiled.

"Specifics," Quinn said. Secretly she really just wanted to rehear her daughters' versions of their sleepover.

"Sorry for sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night, and for asking you inappropriate questions, and mimicking the sounds you and Aunt B made when you were doing it when old people walked by in the park, and for making Harper vomit on you, shooting grape juice at you, poking Harper until she had a temper tantrum, and putting Lily's skateboard in front of you to see you trip on it."

"Lily?" Quinn prompted.

"Sorry for asking you inappropriate questions, mimicking Aunt B when you guys were doing it whenever old people walked by, playing with that dog when you told me not too, shooting grape juice at you, hitting Hannah in the nose so she got a nosebleed, throwing my football at your face, and telling that boy that if he didn't get off the swing my lesbian Aunt was going to beat him up."

"It's okay, girls," Santana said, softly smiling to her nieces across from her. They all had sheepish smiles on her face.

Quinn just smirked.

After dinner, Brittany and Rachel did the dishes while Quinn, Santana and the girls played with the babies in the family room.

"You think you're going to stay here again tonight?" Brittany asked Rachel.

"No, I suppose I should probably go home…water my nonexistent plants or something."

"It probably would mean a lot to her if you stayed," Brittany said cautiously, worried about overstepping her bounds. "You know, before the babies, Santana and I would stay here all the time when Justin was away for long periods of time. It's kind of like a vacation in Beverly Hills. I feel bad, you know, a little bit like we've abandoned her, but we just can't stay here anymore, with the kids and all…"

"She understands that, Britt." Rachel smiled at Brittany.

"Anyway, think about it," Brittany said to Rachel.

In the family room, the girls had started to play a game in which they made towers with their blocks and the babies knocked them down, resulting in hysterical laughter from the babies, which in turn made the older girls laugh. Santana didn't understand it, but it was one of the cutest things she'd ever seen. She leaned against the couch next to Quinn, stretching her legs out.

"You doing okay, Q?" She asked, reaching out to hold Quinn's hand. Quinn nodded.

"Just disappointed." They sat in silence. "Why wouldn't he want to be around this?" She was looking longingly over at her three daughters who were giggling and rolling around on the carpet. "I think it's them I feel the saddest for. Look at them. I know," she looked at Santana, smiling, "maybe sometimes they can be a little bit of a nightmare, but look at them now. They're just so happy, and so innocent, and they deserve a dad who wants to get to know them, who wants to spend time with his daughters. Hannah idolizes him, and Lily…well Lily wants to be him…" Santana thought it best not to make any lesbian jokes at Lily's expense in this moment. "You know, I don't think Lily even likes football, but she practices everyday, and all three ask me every single night when he's coming home, and every single night I have to tell them that it's soon, even though, I never know if that's the truth." Santana looked down. She didn't know how to help Quinn, had absolutely no frame of reference for the way Quinn was feeling. "It'd be different, I suppose if it were just me. I can understand if he doesn't want to be with me anymore. But how can he not want to be around them?"

"I don't know, Q, I just don't know." Santana tightened her grip on Quinn's hand. "He must be crazy."

"I think I might stay here again tonight, Quinn, if it's alright with you?" Rachel said after Brittany and Santana had left and the girls had been put to bed. "It's late, I don't feel like driving, and I don't have anywhere to be in the morning."

"Oh!" Quinn said, surprised, but definitely not disappointed. "Great, well do you want to watch a movie or something then?"

"Sure." The two settled on the couch and argued about what to watch on Netflix for the second night in a row.

Santana and Brittany had driven separately, so Santana stopped on the way to pick up a gallon of milk and by the time she got home Brittany had already put the babies in bed. She walked into the kitchen to put the milk away and was surprised to find Brittany sitting at the counter.

"What's up, B?" She asked, sitting down next to her wife and taking both of her hands.

"I'm worried about Quinn."

"What do you mean?"
"She seems sad. Sadder than usual."
"I know."

"She seems sadder than she was after Hannah was born, which was kind of scary sad." Santana thought back to that period. Quinn was 22, dealing with terrible postpartum depression, her new husband was gone for six months, and she had a newborn that she suddenly had to learn how to take care of on her own.

"Justin is coming home soon, B. Hopefully that will make a difference," Brittany nodded.

"I'm sleepy."

"Me too, B." They got up and walked towards the bedroom. Brittany went in, but Santana kept walking.

"Where are you going, San?"

"Just wanted to say goodnight to the babies." Santana walked into the nursery and kissed each of the babies on the head. She stopped for a moment, standing between their cribs, watching them sleep. "You know I'll never leave you, right?" She whispered, rubbing Nico's back and then placing a kiss on the top of Olivia's head.

The light was already out in their room when Santana got there. She brushed her teeth and quickly slipped out of her work clothes into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and crawled in bed with her wife.

"I love you, B," Santana said, kissing her on the nose.

"I love you too, San."

"We're lucky, you know."

"I do," Brittany said, snuggling closer into Santana. Santana wrapped her arms around her wife and they drifted off to sleep.