Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: You didn't want me but you want this one? How is that fair?
Beth laid in her bed trying to get to sleep, but her eyes refused to close. Even in the darkness, she could make out shapes in her room. She sighed as she turned over for the millionth time since going to bed. She wasn't sure she exactly liked the outcome of the meeting with Puck and Quinn - as she'd been invited to call them, except for at school, then it was Ms Puckerman. It still really niggled at Beth that they seemed so intent on her knowing how much they loved her, how much they loved each other. But what if they had more kids? Then what? Would they give them away? Would they keep them? Did that mean they would love them more than they ever loved her? Beth sighed and turned over yet again.
"Can't sleep?" Shelby asked from the doorway.
"Nope," Beth sighed and flopped onto her back.
"Can I come and give you a snuggle?" Shelby asked, using their phrase, their little thing they'd had from Beth being small. Whenever Beth had trouble getting to sleep, if she felt sick, if she just felt out of sorts, or if Shelby did, one or other of them asked for a 'snuggle', then they cuddled up together and everything seemed better again. Beth nodded, just a little tearfully, a bit emotionally. "Oh, baby," Shelby sighed as she climbed into Beth's bed beside her. "You don't have to worry about anything, you know that, right?" she murmured into her daughter's dark blonde hair. "I love you so much."
"But I still don't get how they could love each other and get married and stuff but still have given me up," Beth said, sadly. "I mean, why didn't they just wait till they were older and have me then?" she asked.
"Oh, sweetie," Shelby crooned and hugged Beth even tighter, her hand rubbing roughly up and down Beth's back. "One day, when you're a lot, lot older, you'll understand how that can be difficult," she added with a knowing smile.
"You mean like sex and hormones and stuff?" Beth asked, slightly disgusted, her mom shouldn't know about stuff like that, she was way too old.
"Something like that," Shelby agreed and worked hard to hold back the giggle that threatened to escape.
"Do you think they will have more kids?" Beth asked, her voice sounded very weak, fragile, almost as if she didn't want to say the words out loud. She already felt rejected, despite Puck and Quinn's reassurances, and her mom's. She wondered if she would feel even more rejected if they ever did have more kids.
"I would be very surprised if they didn't," Shelby answered honestly. "They have loved each other for so long, and for a long time, neither of them was happy," she added, and remembered with embarrassment the moment in her bed that Puck had given himself away. Shelby had never told him, but at the crucial moment, in the throes of passion, it was not her name that Puck had called out, it was Quinn's, and he wasn't even aware that he had. And that was why she'd asked him to leave, that was why she ended it. It had nothing to do with Quinn's threat of going to the authorities. Well, it had a little bit to do with that, but mostly it was hurt pride. It was also why she'd left, taking Beth with her, her jealousy had started to rise once again and Shelby hated that. Both Beth and Shelby sighed and stared into the darkness. Sleep was a long, long way away.
Quinn stayed in bed on Sunday morning. She clung to the mattress and her pillow, almost in desperation, until Puck left to go on his morning run. The second she heard the front door close behind him, she crawled out of bed, made it to the bathroom and threw up with immense force. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," she wailed as yet another vile onslaught had her retching. "Every damn day," she cried to herself, as she lay on the bathroom floor, hoping that the coolness of the slate would help her to feel better. "Oh God. Every damn day," she repeated silently as a thought struck her.
Quinn hauled herself back to bed, she lay for a few moments until the room and her stomach had stopped spinning, then picked up her phone. "Becks? Hi, it's me," she said when her sister-in-law answered the phone. "Is your mom there? No? Good. Can you do me a favour?" she asked then proceeded to let Rebecca know how she could help.
"No prob," Rebecca Puckerman replied. "See you soon," she added and hung up. Quinn cried pitifully and almost fell back to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, Rebecca let herself in with the spare key that Ruth kept for them. "Hi," Quinn sighed, she felt as desolate as she sounded. "Did you bring it?" she asked, Rebecca handed over the package. "Thanks," she said, although most of the word disappeared as she began to cry.
"You don't need me for this part, I'll go start breakfast," Rebecca offered, she knew her brother would be back from his run soon.
"Thanks," Quinn sniffed and hauled herself out of bed again.
"Hey, Becks," Puck panted when he got back in from his run. "What are you doing here?" he asked, he didn't usually see his sister so early on a Sunday morning, she was more of a stay-in-bed-all-day-on-a-Sunday kind of a girl.
"Oh, you know," Rebecca shrugged and flipped the eggs over, "I missed you the other day, haven't seen you for a while, thought I'd come and bug you," she said with a huge, cheesy grin.
"And mom went off on one of her antique hunts?" Puck asked, nodding more to himself than his sister.
"Yup, who knows what crap she'll come back with today," Rebecca sighed and pulled a face. Ruth's passion was discovering unloved ancient items that she bought with the intention of restoring them to their former glory. The basement and the garage were full of unfinished 'projects'. Garbage, was what Rebecca thought all the projects should be filed under, but Ruth wouldn't let her toss any of them.
"Looks good," Puck complimented over Rebecca's shoulder, "give me a couple of minutes, I'll be down for breakfast. Where's Quinn?" he asked, belatedly realising that his wife was missing.
"Upstairs, getting dressed, I think," Rebecca replied, sounding distracted as she stirred and shifted pots and pans.
Puck ran upstairs and went straight into his and Quinn's bedroom. "Hey, babe," he said through the fabric of his shirt, he was already dragging it over his head. Quinn stayed silent. "Hey," Puck repeated when he could actually see, just as he dropped his shirt in the hamper. "S'up?" he asked. Quinn hadn't moved, she was perched on the edge of the bed, she seemed almost frozen to the spot, just one lonely tear was sliding down her face. "You alright?" Puck asked, concern was building in him over the way that Quinn seemed to be out of phase with everything around her. "Quinn? Are you ok? Talk to me," he encouraged as he crouched in front of her and took her hands.
Quinn jumped, startled, she hadn't realised that Puck was back from his run, she hadn't heard him come into the bedroom, she must have been in a trance or something. "Hey," she croaked and sniffed back the rest of the tears. Quinn coughed a couple of times to clear her throat. "Did you, erm, did you enjoy your run?" she asked, although her question was clearly uncomfortable, it was just words to fill the air around them.
"Yes," Puck replied, he was still trying to puzzle out what was wrong with her. "Becks has breakfast under control. I'm going to take a shower," he informed Quinn, he looked back at her from the bathroom doorway. Something was definitely wrong with Quinn, she seemed like she'd slipped back into whatever day-dream she'd been in when he first walked into the room. Puck sighed and turned on the shower. He dropped his shorts and socks on the floor then decided it wasn't worth the hassle so bent to pick them up. As he reached out for his clothes, something in the waste basket caught his eye. Slowly, Puck straightened up, his shorts in one hand, the empty package in the other. Puck walked back into the bedroom, naked, reading the box as he went. "Should I ask?" he enquired, showing Quinn what he held in his hand.
Quinn glanced over at Puck, two tears now fell from her eyes, she sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, her mother would have been in bits if she'd seen that. "Do you need to?" she answered huskily.
"I don't know, give me a clue here," Puck suggested. He could see that she was upset, but what did that actually mean?
"Well, we always said we'd try again when we were thirty," Quinn shrugged and straightened her robe across her knees. "It's just a little earlier than we expected, that's all," she mumbled and shrugged once again.
Puck gulped as Quinn's words jumbled around in his brain and then sorted themselves out into the correct order. "Seriously?" he asked, his breath seemed to have left him for the time being. "We're pregnant? Seriously?" he demanded as joy descended on him. He felt so happy, so fulfilled. "Oh my God," he sighed as he dragged Quinn into his arms.
"Oh God," Rebecca cried from the doorway, she slapped her hand over her eyes. "Noah," she shouted. "Get some pants on," she ordered. "God, you're a freak," she grumbled and looked at the floor. "I came to tell you that breakfast is on the table," she told them both without looking up. "I'll put yours to keep warm, shall I?" she asked.
"We'll be down in a minute," Puck replied. He wasn't too worried, it was only his ass on show. He hoped. "And this is our house, our bedroom, by the way, we're allowed to be naked in here," he called after Rebecca as she ran back downstairs. "How do you feel?" he asked Quinn, he was full of concern, he was full of excitement, worry, joy, fear, pride and a million other things he just couldn't put his finger on yet. But most of all, he was concerned. Quinn seemed to still be a bit out of it, in shock almost. "This is a good thing, right?" he asked, just to check.
"No, yes, it's good, it's very good," Quinn stuttered. "It was just a surprise, is all," she dismissed her earlier confused state. "Ok, breakfast," she said as she gave herself a mental shake. "What would you like for breakfast, did you go on your run yet?" she asked.
"Erm, Quinn, Becks is downstairs, she made breakfast already and I just got back, that's why I smell as sweet as I do," Puck informed her, his worry and concern factor had just gone through the roof.
"Oh God, yes, I know this," Quinn wailed to herself, she thrust her hands into her hair and dragged it up and off her face. "Go shower, sorry, I'm being pathetic, sorry," she apologised. "I'm going to put some clothes on, I'll go downstairs, we'll wait till you come down, ok?" she suggested, suddenly snapping herself back into the present.
"Ok," Puck agreed gently and watched her spring into action. Puck turned to go shower, Quinn seemed more like her usual self. "Hey, let's keep this to ourselves for now," he suggested.
"Well, Becks brought me the test so I think she has a fairly good idea," Quinn replied with an apologetic look on her face.
Puck shrugged, he was fine with his sister knowing, as long as she didn't spill to a single soul. "I think we should tell Beth first," he said and waited for Quinn's reaction.
"Me too," Quinn replied and bit her lip as more tears fell.
"So?" Rebecca asked the second that Quinn entered the kitchen. Quin didn't reply, she intended to wait until Puck was with her. "You aren't going to say anything, are you?" she pouted.
"Nope," Quinn replied and fixed both hers and Puck's plates. "Turkey bacon," she almost sobbed, she always felt a slight smack of disappointment that they had the turkey rashers instead of the real deal, but in deference to Puck's beliefs, she adhered to the no pork rule.
Puck stood in the doorway, his shower had been the quickest on record and it hadn't taken him more than ten seconds to don his sweatpants and a clean shirt. "And by that face, I see some midnight Burger King runs coming my way," he teased and came to sit down at the table. Puck glanced at his sister. "I know that you know, so I'm sure you can take an educated guess," he told her.
"So I take it I am going to be an aunt?" Rebecca asked with excitement. Puck and Quinn nodded. "That is so cool," she breathed, she couldn't wait, she was going to teach the kid so many bad things, it was going to be such fun.
"But you have to keep it to yourself for now," Puck instructed. He brushed past the few 'oh buts' that Rebecca threw at him. "Promise me," he asked of her, "just until we speak to Beth, we have to tell her first, I mean, it's only yesterday we were telling her why we gave her up for adoption and now this? It's got to smart," he said, Rebecca nodded, she agreed, it would probably hurt like a son of a bitch. "We'll tell mom and Quinn's mom as soon as we've told Beth," he said with a firmness that he didn't really feel.
"I know we only saw her yesterday," Puck began after the initial greetings with Shelby, "but do you think we could see Beth for an hour today?" he asked. "There's something we want to talk about with her," he added, he hoped it would swing the jury in their favour.
"I'll ask her," Shelby offered. She glanced at her daughter who was shaking her head from side to side quite vigorously and mouthing the word 'no'. "Here she is," Shelby said aloud. "Beth, Puck would like to know if he and Quinn could have an hour of your time this afternoon," she said, Beth pouted and gave Shelby the dead eye.
"Sure," Beth just about growled, she narrowed her eyes and stared at her mom. "That was mean," she mouthed, Shelby blew her a kiss and turned away. Beth flounced off into the kitchen leaving Shelby in the den.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Shelby offered, she knew that Puck sounded different from yesterday.
"No, it's just something we want to talk about with Beth, it's nothing, don't worry," Puck lied, he was sure Shelby would be able to hear the lie.
"Fine, pick her up at two, she'll be ready," Shelby sighed and gave Puck the address. "Later," she said before ending the call. "I wonder what that is all about?" she muttered to herself.
"Hey," Puck said as Beth answered the door. "We'll only be an hour, maybe less, depends," he assured Shelby. Shelby nodded and looked past Puck to wave at Quinn who was still in the car. "Later," he called over his shoulder as he closed the rear passenger door once Beth was safely inside the vehicle.
"So where are we going?" Beth asked, she still wasn't sure she was happy with this, she hadn't finished working everything out in her head yet.
"Just for ice cream," Puck answered and smiled at Beth in the rear view mirror.
"Cool," Beth said with a touch of mockery.
"I see what you did there," Puck grinned, Beth couldn't help but grin back. It was only a couple of seconds till she was laughing. A few minutes later Puck pulled up in the parking lot outside Cold Stone Creamery. "This was always my favourite place," he sighed. "Remember when you used to make me come here to get you a pint each of cake batter, cheesecake, and strawberry flavoured ice cream?" he reminded Quinn, bringing up the topic of pregnancy straight away. "She craved that every single day when she was pregnant with you," he added and glanced back at Beth. Puck gulped, he wondered if he should just get it over with, like ripping off a band aid. Puck cleared his throat and took his keys out of the ignition, suddenly silencing the cd that had been playing. He coughed again to clear his throat. "I wonder if you will this time?" he asked Quinn, then looked at her with almost pleading eyes.
"This time?" Beth asked, her voice was just barely there.
"Erm, yeah," Puck replied and turned in his seat. "We wanted you to be the first to know," he said with conviction, with certainty. "We found out this morning, that we are expecting a baby," he said clearly then waited for Beth to say something.
"Oh my God," Beth cried in her head. "Less than twenty-four hours," she reminded herself. "Already discarded for the next model," she told herself dramatically. "Was that what yesterday was about? Insurance in case you never had any more kids? And now it doesn't matter because you find out you're pregnant? I bet you wish you'd waited before you poured your heart out, right? What a waste that was, I mean, you could have ignored me for another twelve years, right?"
"No, absolutely not," Quinn insisted. Beth realised she must have spoken out loud, not in her head. "You're right, yesterday we didn't even know that it was a possibility," she explained then stopped abruptly. Suddenly Quinn was at a loss, she wasn't sure how much Beth knew about sex education and she really didn't want to piss Shelby off this early in their relationship. Quinn turned to speak directly to Beth. "Up until this morning, I never even realised, I never gave it a thought," she said with absolute honesty. "We've never been particularly meticulous when it comes to birth control," she admitted with a slight flush to her cheeks. "I suppose it was just a matter of time till we did it again," she suggested, she glanced and saw that Beth looked less defeated.
"And you wanted to tell me first?" Beth asked, strangely touched by that. "My mom doesn't know?"
"Nope, there's only four of us that know," Puck replied, he too had twisted in his seat. "There's Quinn, obviously," he said, counting off on his fingers. "There's you and I," he said, raising another two fingers, "and my sister, but only because Quinn called her this morning to buy the test for her because she suspected it might be a possibility and felt too sick to go buy one herself," he explained. "We wanted to tell you first, then later today, we'll tell both of our moms, Quinn's sister. Maybe even our dads," he added then screwed his nose up at that idea. He rarely saw his own dad, unless the asshole wanted money for his rent or something, and Russell Fabray still detested the ground that Noah Puckerman walked on. Quinn felt sure that Russell prayed every day for something evil to befall Puck.
Beth nodded as she listened to Puck, she watched Quinn's face, saw how nervous she looked, how fearful her eyes were. "Are you ok?" she asked Quinn. Quinn's eyes filled with tears but she nodded that she was fine.
"She's really emotional right now," Puck explained with a sigh. "We should have realised this before, you were super emotional when you were pregnant with Beth, I don't think I've seen you like it since, right up until we moved back here to Lima," he said, with a ponderous look on his face, it made sense of a couple of other things too. "So, the other thing we wanted to talk to you about is, when we have doctor appointments, do you want to come with us? Be involved? This is going to be your brother or sister, after all," he added with a hopeful smile.
"So the baby will know I'm his or her big sister?" Beth asked, not totally sure how it would work.
"Mhm," Quinn agreed, nodding her head with her lips pressed tight together. "You will always be our firstborn," she told Beth and held a hand out to her, she felt kind of left hanging when Beth didn't take it. "You will always hold a special place in my heart, in his too, I'm sure," she added with a nod in Puck's direction, Puck nodded his agreement. "And you are a part of our family, if you want to be, it's your choice," she said, feeling much happier to have said that our loud. "There's no rush, you don't have to decide right away, you can change your mind at any time," she said, handing the control firmly back to Beth, just as Shelby had wanted her to have.
Beth nodded but didn't reply, she was clearly deep in thought. "Can I meet any of them today?" she asked.
"Let's see, we said we'd only be an hour and we've talked for almost all of that and we haven't even had ice cream yet," Puck muttered. "I really think we should get you home right now then we'll call you later when we've arranged something, dinner maybe, for you to meet my mom and sister and Quinn's mom," he decided. "Does that sound like a plan?" he asked, both Beth and Quinn nodded.
"You look a little down, Boo," Shelby said as Beth sighed once again while flicking through the TV channels. "Feeling ok?" she asked.
"Yes," Beth sighed then pouted, she was sure she was feeling ok, but then she would suddenly remember that she was the discarded one and that her birth parents intended to keep the next one. "No, not really," she said with an even bigger sigh. "But I can't talk about it yet," she added when her mom settled down next to her with the 'lets talk' look on her face.
Shelby stood to answer the phone when it rang. "Hello," she said politely with smile on her face, she always answered with a smile, she always said that people could hear the smile in your voice and it made the world a nicer place. "Quinn, hi," she added and smiled with even more determination. "No, she hasn't said anything," she answered the question. "Oh, congratulations," Shelby cried then turned to look at Beth, saw the sadness that drifted over her daughter and she understood, she got it right away. Beth was feeling a little pushed out, a little jealous. Shelby could relate. "That's fine, no, I have no objections to that. Thank you, I appreciate being included. No, we'll meet you there, thank you, see you tomorrow," she said before she ended the call. "So, another baby, huh?" Shelby said and watched Beth nod unhappily. "I can't say I'm surprised, there was something about Quinn's face yesterday that looked familiar, now I know what it was," she said and patted Beth's thigh. "She had the same look about her when she was pregnant with you, she never did any other time," she said and glanced at Beth, saw that she was listening with interest, Shelby knew that she had to be nice. "I mean, Quinn is always classically beautiful, the blonde hair, the fine features, her beautiful green eyes, porcelain skin," she listed, "but there's just something else, a glow, something, I don't know, maybe it comes from the inside?" she asked of no one, then patted Beth's thigh more firmly. "Anyway, we're going to dinner tomorrow evening for you to meet Ruth and Judy, who are, in essence, your grandmas and Rebecca who is your aunt," she informed her daughter. Beth frowned, again all this seemed to be happening pretty quickly, she wasn't sure she liked it, all this change, but she thought she'd hate it even more if she was left out of things.
Quinn's day at school seemed endless, absolutely endless. Beth had been very quiet in her class, sullen almost. Quinn mentally excused the mood. "Hi," she sighed wearily when she got into the car. "I really wish we hadn't arranged this dinner," she admitted. "But I suppose our dads had to find out sometime," she sighed once more.
"Gets everything over with in one go," Puck reminded her. "They all get to meet Beth, my dad won't ask for rent money in front of my mom because he knows she'd kill him, your dad will pretend he likes me to keep the tattooed freak happy and our moms will stand united as divorced women," he declared. Really it would be more or less a replay of their wedding but with the addition of Beth and Shelby. "It's a shame that Frannie and her husband couldn't make it," he added without a touch of sincerity, he neither liked nor got on with Quinn's older sister or her husband, he thought they were too far up their own asses to be even remotely likable.
"You know, I am so impressed with your acting abilities," Quinn grinned and leaned over the centre console to give Puck a kiss before they joined the traffic, "that almost sounded like you meant it," she praised. "Well done." Puck grinned and acknowledged the mocking praise.
Puck and Quinn met Beth and Shelby at the entrance to Breadstix. Quinn had wanted to go someplace different, but the imp inside Puck made him call and make the reservation there. Puck could quite happily admit that the biggest joy of dining at Breadstix was that Russell Fabray hated, absolutely detested, the place. "Hi," he said as they reached the doorway. "Are you ready for this?" he asked Beth with a grin. Beth gulped and nodded. Puck glanced over at Shelby. "Thanks," he told her quietly, "for doing this, I know, I know, nothing for years then three days in a row," he mocked himself and rolled his eyes. "But I hope we can at least speak often, even if we don't see each other ever day," he added, more to Beth than to Shelby. Beth bit her lip and nodded. She had never looked more like Quinn than she did in just that second. Puck smiled and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "Ready?" he asked everyone. Quinn, Shelby and Beth all nodded. "Let's go," he muttered under his breath then opened the door for them to enter before him. "Reservation for Puckerman," he informed the hostess, the same one who had been on duty on Saturday.
"Right this way," the hostess encouraged with a smile and led the party through to the more private, bigger tables in the back of the restaurant.
When they arrived at the table, they were glad to see that everyone else had arrived and were seated. Ruth was managing not to glare at her ex husband. Rebecca was sat strategically in between her parents. Russell and the tattooed freak were on the other side of Ruth, Judy was next to Puck's dad but throwing dagger-like glares across the table at Russell, who was pointedly ignoring Judy. "Hi," Quinn said quite loudly as they approached. "Glad you could all make it," she announced and then drew Beth closer to the table. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Beth Corcoran," she said with a smile, introducing the nervous young girl. "I know that you all know who she is, but just to be perfectly clear, this is our beautiful daughter, Beth, and her mom, Shelby Corcoran," she added, and introduced her too. "Beth, Shelby, this is," she began and pointed her way around the table introducing the family, one member at a time. Beth and Shelby politely nodded and murmured 'hi' at each person. When the introductions were over, Beth and Shelby took their seats, Puck and Quinn remained standing.
"So, we come to the reason why we've asked you all here this evening," Puck said, taking a step towards Quinn, his hand slid around her back to rest on her hip. "And that is to tell you all that we are finally pregnant again," he announced with the hint of a blush on his cheeks. He glanced at Quinn and saw that she was blushing slightly too. He had no idea why they should be embarrassed, they were almost twenty-nine years old, they had been a couple for nearly ten years, they had been married for five years, surely it would be expected that they would have more children at some point. Puck glanced around the table, he saw the happy smile on both his and Quinn's mom's faces and on Rebecca's, but they already knew the news before. Puck glanced at his dad, he looked like it was a shock, Russell looked like he'd been slapped. "What? You thought we never had sex?" he thought to himself, wondering how it could be such a shock to the guy.
"Congratulations," Rebecca cried and rushed to hug her brother and sister-in-law. Puck and Quinn finally sat down in the two empty seats, between Beth and Russell.
Russell grunted and cleared his throat after being elbowed in the ribs by the tattooed freak. "Con-congratulations," he muttered then glared at the woman at his side. She didn't look intimidated, she just glared back.
"So, Beth, how will you feel about being a big sister?" Ruth asked, her attention was focused totally on the youngest person at the table.
"Well, I won't really..." Beth began to reply but was cut off.
"Nonsense," Ruth cut in, "you are the oldest, this one," she nodded towards Quinn, "will be the youngest, but rest assured, you are definitely equals," she said with a quiet intensity in her voice. Ruth glanced towards her ex and then Judy's. "At least in my eyes," she mumbled, but Beth heard it and appreciated it.
"The job you do and you want to bring kids into the relationship?" Puck's dad finally managed to ask, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Puck responded after taking a gulp of his beer. "I fly planes, big ones, cargo ones. Sometimes I drop paras into dangerous places, sometimes I drop food and medical supplies into needy places, sometimes I refuel jets in flight," he listed various parts of his job. "And sometimes I spend weeks just ferrying equipment around different airbases," he finished. "There's very little of my job that actually involves danger," he explained, "and I'm good at it, I'm good at my job. I know the dangers, I know how to avoid most of them, but at the end of the day, I serve my country and I am proud to do so," he informed his dad.
"And we're all very proud of you too," Quinn added quickly, she brushed her hand up Puck's arm to soothe the nerves that she knew would be ragged. If anyone could ruffle Puck's feathers, it was his dad. Absolutely every time. The man just always seemed to find that one thing, that little chink in Puck's armour and he always went for the killer strike. Quinn thought it was because he was jealous of Puck, but Puck couldn't see that. Quinn was spot on.
Despite the initial awkwardness, the family dinner at Breadstix was fairly successful. Russell almost managed to smile not sneer at Puck. It was more of a grimace, but it was closer to a smile than he had ever managed before, so Puck was counting that as a success. Ruth had managed to hold her tongue and not berate her ex for his lax attitude to his paternal duties. Judy had almost managed to look at Russell's new wife, although she still couldn't call her anything but the tattooed freak. Rebecca had been the one who had got Beth to interact more than anyone else and Shelby finally felt at ease, she finally realised that it was a bonus for Beth to be welcomed and accepted into this weird extended family, because without it, she only had Shelby, and what if something happened to her one day?
"Beth, sweetie," Shelby called before Beth climbed the stairs. "There's something I'd like to ask you," she said when Beth returned to the den and walked towards her mom. "I was thinking of contacting Rachel, asking her to meet, what do you think?" she asked nervously.
"Would I get to meet her too?" Beth asked, she knew who Rachel Berry was, she had followed her career for a few years now. Beth loved Broadway, she loved going to New York with her mom, just to watch a show, stay overnight in some luxury hotel then fly back to Lima the next day.
"Yes, I think it's about time both of my daughters knew each other," Shelby replied with a breathless laugh.
"Cool," Beth nodded then turned to walk away. "Everything's changing, isn't it?" she asked when she reached the door, she waited for her mom's reply but she didn't turn around.
"Yes," Shelby agreed softly, "but for the better, right?"