A/N: OH gosh. Really really long time since my last update and I apologize for that. Life has been hectic and I had the end of my semester coming up which means I had a lot of tutoring to do because apparently nobody knows how to write a research paper. Anyways, I am officially on break from school so my life is less hectic and hopefully I will be able to write more. I can't promise anyone consistent updates, but I will try.
Ch. 24: Duets
"Is everything ready for dinner tomorrow night?"
Quinn looks up from her book as her wife walks into the bedroom. Rachel had just come up from locking up the house and turning off the lights.
"Yes, the menu is all planned. My sister and my mother are both coming and are both really excited about it."
Rachel sheds her jeans and shirt and walks into their bathroom to brush her teeth.
"Also, I've been coming up with possible ideas for glee club assignments including boys vs. girl's competition."
Rachel comes out of the bathroom with a smile and walks to her dresser for a pair of sweats and a tank top.
"I'm excited. I'm happy you agreed to help run glee club for a little while. It'd be like high school all over again," Rachel says as she crawls into bed.
"High school wasn't all filled with happy memories, baby," Quinn says with a frown.
Rachel settles against the headboard.
"I know that Quinn. I honestly didn't mean to make you feel bad. I just meant that it would be fun to teach together is all."
Quinn leans over and gives her wife a loving kiss.
"I'm just giving you grief," Quinn says as she pulls away with a smile. Rachel shakes her head with a grin.
"You're lucky I love you."
A knock on the door brings the two women's conversation to a halt.
"Come in," Quinn gently calls out.
Lucy stands in the doorway in a tank top and cheerleading sweats.
"Can we help you with something sweetheart?" Rachel asks.
Lucy closes the door and sits down on the bed.
"How come you haven't reinstated your rights to Beth?"
"I never had rights to begin with," Rachel replies honestly.
Lucy looks at her mother.
"What about you, mom?"
Quinn had thought about reinstating her rights. Everything with Beth was new and she didn't want to overwhelm the girl. She never thought of the downside of doing so.
"Luce, do you know something that we don't?" Quinn asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I know a lot of things you don't, but none that I can repeat right now. What I can say is that Beth and I were talking earlier and I got the feeling that she's waiting to be a part of this family. She doesn't even have a last name mom. She goes by her middle. She deserves the last name Fabray."
"Of course she does. I guess Beth is more like me than I realized. We're both scared of things not working out and neither one of us has brought this up, but I will make sure that I do that in the next couple of days, okay?"
Lucy nods her head and kisses Quinn on the cheek.
"Love you mom," Lucy does the same to Rachel. "Love you mama."
"Night baby," Quinn and Rachel reply at the same time.
Lucy exits the room and quietly shuts the door. Quinn turns to her wife.
"I really dropped the ball on this one."
"We both did," Rachel responds as she lies down in bed. Quinn follows suit and snuggles closer to Rachel's side.
"You are going to adopt her with me, right?"
Rachel places a kiss on her wife's forehead.
"If Beth agrees, then yes, I will."
*Friend to a Stranger*
Brittany sits in her seat bouncing excitedly. She was waiting for Michael Chang to show up for their lunch meeting. Since high school, she and Mike had stayed in contact with each other because of their love for dancing. Mike had been her only friend when she had gone on tour and left her family behind. For this meeting though, she was excited to give Mike her ideas on a new dance studio and she had an offer for him as well. She hoped he would accept it.
"Brittany Lopez, it's been awhile."
Brittany looks up with a grin. She stands up and wraps Mike in a hug.
"It's good to see you."
Mike sits opposite of Brittany at the table.
"How're things at home?"
Brittany smiles brightly.
"Things are better. Santana and I are back on the right track and my relationship with Mandy has improved greatly. I made the right choice in coming home."
"I'm glad that things are working out for you Britt. You and Santana have been in love since you two were little kids whether you two realized it then or not. You two belong together. Tina and I both agreed that you two would work things out."
"How are you and Tina doing?"
Tina and Mike had gotten married out of college. They were both 23 years old at the time. As of right now, Tina is working in Chicago as a drama teacher and Mike is a dancing instructor. Tina and Mike have two children. Their oldest, a son, Michael, is 7 years old and their daughter, Mia, who is 5 years old.
"Things are going okay. Mikey and Mia are doing well." Brittany smiles at the mention of Mike's kids, "Money is rough, though. Tina had to take a pay cut as well as me so we haven't been able to do much. We are currently visiting our parents now and heading back to Chicago at the end of the week."
Brittany frowns at the news. She didn't want anybody to be in financial trouble. She remembered how Sam had to move in high school because he was poor. She didn't want anybody to be poor.
"How about we get some lunch and then I can tell you about the reason why I brought you here in the first place?"
*Friend to a Stranger*
"Are you ready for this?" Santana asks as she pulls into the parking lot of Hermosa Familia; their family restaurant.
"Not really," Amanda says with a pout. "I'd rather be spending time with my girlfriend, but no, I can't do that because I need to help out at the restaurant that I don't know anything about."
"Kid, this is the final punishment for you running away. I suggest that you suck it up and get out of the car."
Amanda grumbles incoherently but gets out of the car. She and Santana walk into the restaurant. Amanda raises an eyebrow when she notices the hostess missing.
"Shouldn't a hostess be here?"
"Someone should be here, but I thought you didn't know anything about a restaurant."
Amanda rolls her eyes and follows her mom as she heads into the kitchen.
"Where's Jeff?" Santana questions the kitchen.
"He's handling something in the restaurant. What can I do for you Santana?" the head chef asks with a grin as he finishes preparing the food on the ticket.
"When you get a minute I'd like to introduce my daughter to you Kevin. She's got a lot to learn."
"Sure thing," Kevin says with a grin. "Give me about a half hour and I'll have someone take over."
Santana nods and turns to her daughter.
"Now it's time to look at the paperwork side of the business."
On the way to the office, Santana had gotten in touch with Jeff and all three of them headed to the office. Amanda took a seat off to the corner and watched as her mamà worked.
"So, why is my business going to the drain Jeff? I personally trained you before I left so what's going on?"
Jeff loosened his tie and shrugged his shoulders.
"You put the wrong person in charge Santana. I can't handle this anymore. I don't have the patience. I can't understand why numbers aren't matching up like they are supposed to and our food cost is out of control and I don't know how to stop it."
Santana sat at the desk and looked at Jeff. When she had him become general manager of the store, Jeff had been fresh out of college. Santana had seen Jeff grow from busboy to waiter and then to manager. Before Santana left she needed to hire a general manager so that she could be at home with Mandy and take over the Cheerios. Instead of hiring someone new that had general manager experiences, she had decided to promote Jeff.
"Jeff, we can handle this a couple of different ways. I can get someone in here to take over your job and you can go back to being just a manager," Jeff nods his head. "I don't want to do that, but if you want me to I can. Or maybe we can leave some of the food costs and food buying and all things involving food to Kevin. Maybe he will be willing to take over that for you. If he isn't then I can promote Jesse to a second general manager."
Jeff scratches his neck and sighs.
"Can I think about it?"
Santana nods her head.
"I'll give you until the end of the week. Hopefully by then things will be okay. Plus you will get another waitress, my daughter Amanda." Amanda groans and Santana smirks. She was going to love seeing her daughter work.
"Thanks Santana. I'll see you later Amanda," Jeff says with a nod of his head as he leaves the office.
"MamÃ?"
Santana looks up from the paperwork in her hand and looks at her daughter.
"Yeah baby?"
Amanda bites the bottom of her lip and gets up from her chair.
"Can you show me the business side of a restaurant?"
Santana smiles and nods her head.
"Alright, so first we are going to look at our costs for the month and then see our profits to find out how we are doing."
*Friend to a Stranger*
Brittany and Mike finished their lunch and Brittany had informed Mike about Mandy's girlfriend and how she was totally in love with Beth Fabray.
"Alright so I am starting a new project and I am here to get your ideas as well as offer you something."
Mike grins and nods his head.
"Are you going to tell me what it is?"
Brittany nods her head with a smile.
"I am going to start my own dance studio. There really aren't any dance studios in Lima and I know that you are based in Chicago, but I am here to offer you a job. Plus McKinley High is always looking for drama teachers. The one they have right now kind of sucks from what Santana has told me."
"I'll have to talk to Tina about it, but it may be worth it. We both took pay cuts and it's not working out so well."
"I want you to be my partner, Mike. We both have different dance styles and we can really teach these kids something amazing."
"You really want me to do this don't you?"
Brittany nods her head. She really wanted her friend to be back in Lima with her.
"I'll ask Tina, but I don't think that's going to be a problem."
*Friend to a Stranger*
"Girls, they are on their way. Are you all ready?" Quinn asks.
Lucy and Beth look at each other and roll their eyes. Quinn had been running around for the last few hours trying to make everything right for dinner. Only problem was that it was really annoying to the rest of the family.
"Yes mom, we are ready. We have been for the last two hours," Lucy responds as she moves to sit down in the living room. She had never met her aunt or her grandmother before and in truth, she was nervous about it. Lucy had heard the stories about her mother growing up and how Judy wasn't really around after Russell had died. Lucy also heard the most recent tales of the new Judy that Quinn appreciates and loves.
"Please don't take a tone with me tonight. I can't handle it."
"There is no tone," Lucy responds softly. "It's just that you don't need to make things perfect. Nobody can be perfect." Beth nods her head in agreement. "Chill mom. They will be here soon and when they are hopefully the nerves will disappear."
Rachel walks into the living room when she hears the doorbell ring. Quinn looks at her wife with wide eyes.
"That's them."
Lucy and Beth look at each other and roll their eyes. Their mother was a nervous wreck. It should've been them that were like that considering they have never met the two women behind the door.
Rachel walks over to her wife and places both of her hands on Quinn's cheek.
"I will answer the door. You just take a deep breath and then let it out," Rachel drops a kiss to Quinn's lips and heads to the door.
"Judy, Fran, how nice of you to join us?"
*Friend to a Stranger*
Things were awkward at the dinner table. The meal was slowly coming to an end and not much conversation had been going on. Most questions were directed towards Lucy and Beth, but neither girl really had any idea on what to say. They were uncomfortable.
"How is school going for you, Beth and Lucy?" Judy asks as she sets her fork on the plate.
"Things are good. Cheerios is okay, but I like glee better."
"So did your mother," Judy mentions. She directs her attention to Beth. "What about you Beth?"
Beth looks up from her glass and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.
"I'm gay!"
All eyes turn to Beth. Quinn has a smirk on her face. Rachel blushes. Judy has wide eyes. Fran is biting the bottom of her lip to stop from laughing and Lucy explodes with laughter. Beth blushes.
"I'm not good with family interactions, okay? I get nervous and then I say the wrong the thing. School is school. I don't really like it, but I have glee and that's cool."
"I wish I had been in glee in high school. It seems like it's a lot of fun."
Quinn smirks at her sister.
"You're tone deaf Frannie, you would've been horrible."
"Bite me Quinnie," Fran retorts with a grin.
Rachel clears her throat before speaking.
"I for one love glee club. Music should be a part of everybody's life. It's cathartic and if you have talent why not sing."
"Coming from someone who has incredible talent I for one, do not have such talent," Fran responds with a small smile. "It's seems our Quinnie was the one that got the singing gene."
Beth and Lucy chuckle at their mother's nickname. Quinn sends them a playful glare.
"Who's up for dessert?"
*Friend to a Stranger*
"I am so not in the mood for glee today," Beth complains as she closes her locker. "I am not in the mood to sing or to hear people sing and to top it all off Quinn is going to be there."
Amanda grins and leans down to kiss her lover's lips. Beth pulls Amanda closer and grins into the kiss.
Amanda pulls away with a grin.
"Look, you may not like it, but glee is keeping me sane at the moment. I have to work tonight and I'd rather spend time with you and if glee is the only way to do that then be happy and cuddle up to me."
Beth reaches for Amanda's hand and they walk to glee together. They were the last ones to arrive, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Rachel and Quinn were talking quietly around the piano. The girls quickly sat down and Rachel walked to the front of the room.
"Alright guys, for the next few weeks my wife will be with us for every practice," Quinn smiles at the group. She knew every person in the club already so it wasn't nerve wracking for her. "Quinn and I have prepared something for you guys. We have sung this song when we were in glee club, but considering today's lesson I figured that it would be appropriate for today." Rachel turned to Quinn. "Are you ready?" Quinn nods her head with a grin.
The music starts playing and Quinn starts singing.
Quinn
Rachel
Both
I wish I could tie you up in my shoes
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you
Look into the mirror who's inside there
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I'm just trippin'
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the makeup that M.A.C can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty
I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and bright
Never insecure until I met you
Now I'm being stupid
I used to be so acute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look at all these things
To keep you happy
Maybe get rid of you
And then I'll get back to me (hey)
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I'm just trippin'
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the makeup that M.A.C can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty
I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and bright
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me tonight
Oh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
QOh oh oh oh oh
QOh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
QOh oh oh oh oh
QOh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
Oh oh oh oh oh
I feel pretty (You can buy your hair if it won't grow) Q
Oh so pretty (You can fix your nose if he says so)
I feel pretty and witty and bright (You can buy all the make-up that M.A.C. can make)
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty
I feel pretty
But unpretty
When the song was finished the room remained quiet. From time to time the glee club would get to hear Rachel sing, but very rarely do they hear her sing a duet. The duet they had just heard was incredible. You could see the passion in both women's eyes as they sang to the crowd.
"That was amazing," Sara compliments as Rachel walks up to the board and writes down one word in big bold letters.
DUETS
"Now I know some of you aren't happy about preforming duets, but it's important that we do so because we have to include a duet in our performance at regionals so Quinn and I have decided that today would be a great day to get started."
Quinn decided to take the lead as she instructed the group to write their names on scraps of paper. Quinn placed them in a hat.
"So, glee club is important. It can literally change lives, but I don't know if any of you actually really know each other. So along with duet I am asking you to get to know your duet partner. You don't have to present or anything, but I'd like for you all to try and get to know each other a little bit. Can you all do that?"
Everyone in the group nod their heads because some of what Quinn had mentioned was true. Nobody really knew each other and maybe this assignment would be the starting point to getting some really great friendships.
"Also, no changing partners once they are chosen. Jason, why don't you come up and pick a name?"
Jason heads to the front of the room and reaches for a name. He was hoping to get Lucy. Quinn and Rachel were hoping for anything but her.
Jason looks at the name.
"Seth."
Seth looks up in surprise, but nods nonetheless. One by one Quinn calls up people to choose names from the hat.
Jack ends up with Hannah. Kasey ends up with his sister, Kristine. Amanda ends up with Patrick and Zeke ends up with Lucy. All eyes turn to Beth and Sara. They were the ones that were left and they were the ones that were the final pairs.
Beth looks at Sara only for Sara to look away.
"This is going to be bad," Lucy comments. "This is going to be really bad."
A/N: The next chapter is going to focus on the glee club. I feel like I have neglected them a little bit and decided to have them be present in the next chapter as they work on the duets. Plus we may be learning some new things about Beth as she and Sara learn more about each other.
I have also added another song to the playlist for this story.
/
playlists/tEWc