AN: And with this chapter it's back to the angst I'm afraid, LOL!

Chapter Twenty-Four: Back to Reality

New Year's Day dawned bright and chilly, with weak sunlight streaming through the windows of Quinn and Santana's hotel room and slowly easing the girls into consciousness. After a lazy start and an amazing surprise breakfast in bed ordered for them courtesy of Quinn's mom, Quinn was anxious to get home to Beth so they checked out of the hotel in the late morning and flagged down a cab to take them back to their apartment.

Although neither of them had gotten much sleep, Quinn felt refreshed and energized, ready to face the challenging few days ahead. As she snuggled close to her fiancée in the back of the taxi – all hands kept in respectable places as neither of them wanted to give the cab driver a free show – Quinn's phone chirped to announce a new text message. She fished it out of her pocket, expecting it to be her mom checking what time they'd be home, or maybe one of their friends wishing them a happy new year. When she saw the caller ID her heart began to race slightly and her brow furrowed.

"Who is it?" Santana asked, as Quinn swiped her phone to open the message. Quinn scanned the text quickly before responding.

"It's Oliver," she said with a sigh as her good mood all but evaporated. "He says he's sorry he didn't get back to me sooner but he's been busy with planning Shelby's funeral – it's the day after tomorrow," she added, "but he wants to meet with me tomorrow to discuss, and I quote 'my niece's future'."

Santana frowned, reaching for Quinn's hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. "He doesn't even mention her by name?" she asked, shaking her head incredulously. "Does he want you to bring Beth to the meeting?"

Quinn shook her head quickly. "No, he doesn't mention her at all other than the bit I just read out," she admitted.

"Well, it doesn't sound exactly sound like he wants to be a father figure to her," Santana said hopefully. "If he's not even interested in getting to know her while he's in town…" She trailed off thoughtfully.

Quinn considered Santana's perspective for a moment, and tried to push aside the anxiety that was clawing at her stomach.

"I hope you're right," she said softly. "I guess I'll get a better idea tomorrow."

"We'll get a better idea," Santana corrected, reaching over to tuck Quinn's hair tenderly behind her ear. Quinn raised an eyebrow and the brunette flashed her a brilliant smile. "You don't think I'm going to let you go alone, do you?" she asked, shaking her head. "We're in this together, okay? Your mom's going to be in town for a couple more days so she can watch Beth for us."

Quinn chuckled. "I don't know, you might want to wait until we get home before you start banking on that. I have a feeling Beth might have been running rings around her. She might run away screaming."

Santana grinned at the image but shook her head. "No, she loves her already. I bet she's going to spoil her rotten… And just wait until my parents get to see her – they're going to flip over her, I know it. Maybe we could take a trip to Lima for Spring Break – introduce Beth to her new extended family? My mom's dying to meet her."

Quinn felt a little uneasy about Santana planning for their future with Beth when everything was still so unsettled, but she tried to ignore her doubts and focus on the present.

"Do you think we should ask my mom to watch Beth when we go to the funeral?" she asked Santana, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip.

"You're not planning to take her?" Santana seemed a little surprised.

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "She's only four years old, San. Is she even going to understand what's going on?" She sighed and gazed out of the car window for a moment before continuing. "I kind of had this idea that we could do something else with her to celebrate Shelby's memory – maybe after the funeral? We could invite Rachel too." She proceeded to outline her plan to Santana and by the time she was done, the brunette's eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"I think that's a perfect idea," she agreed, nodding fervently. "I think Shelby would have loved it too. I love you so much, you know." She leaned in to kiss Quinn softly on the lips before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I know," Quinn murmured against Santana's chest. "You told me last night – several times as I recall. In fact, you seemed compelled to tell me over and over at one point." She giggled to herself at the memory and Santana gave her shoulder a gentle slap.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one making declarations of love last night!" she pouted. "Don't tease me when I'm trying to be nice."

Quinn held up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "And I love you too."

Santana seemed placated and the girls continued to cuddle and revel in the last few minutes of alone time they could guarantee for the foreseeable future as the cab traveled the last couple of miles back to their apartment.

After paying the cab driver, Quinn and Santana hurried inside the apartment building, eager to see how Beth had coped without them. Turning the key in the lock, Quinn steeled herself for whatever she might find inside. Her mom may have texted the previous night to say everything was going well, but Quinn wasn't going to let herself believe it until she saw it with her own eyes.

"Quinn! Tana!" came an excited squeal from the couch and hurricane Beth came flying towards them to say hello.

"Beth, your hands!" Judy called lightly as she stood up and turned towards them. Beth held up her hands gleefully to show Quinn and Santana the reason for Judy's warning. At least six different paint colors decorated her small palms and Quinn chuckled at the sight as she bent down to gingerly hug the little girl, careful not to transfer any paint onto her clothing.

"We're finger painting," Beth said excitedly. "Come see!"

Quinn and Santana exchanged relieved grins that the babysitting seemed to have been a success. Beth was clean (except for her hands) and neatly dressed, and Judy had even managed to tame the four year old's unruly curls into two immaculate bunches of ringlets.

Even more surprising was the fact that Judy had foregone her usual Jackie Kennedy wardrobe in favor of jeans and an old shirt which bore the result of Beth's foray into finger painting.

"Don't look so surprised, Quinnie," chastised Judy as they embraced briefly. "I told you Beth and I would be fine."

Quinn chuckled. "I know, it's just..." She trailed off and shrugged. "Thank you," she said simply, deciding that if Beth and Judy were both happy then the night had definitely been a success.

After admiring Beth's pictures, and exclaiming over the exciting discovery that mixing all the colors together created brown, Quinn quickly filled her mom in on the text message from Oliver. Judy confirmed that she was more than happy to look after Beth again, and to Quinn's immense surprise she offered to take them all out for lunch before heading back to her hotel for a well-earned break.

"But first we have to get you cleaned up, Little Miss Rainbow," she teased as Beth wiped her hands on her dress absently. Beth giggled but allowed Judy to lead her into the bathroom to wash her hands and put on a clean outfit.

"Wow," Quinn whispered, keeping her voice down so Judy wouldn't hear. "I can't believe she's finger painting with Beth. She never did that with me. I don't think I was even allowed markers until I was about six in case I made a mess!" She couldn't help but smile as she thought about how far her mom had come.

Santana couldn't resist wrapping her arms around Quinn's neck and pulling her close for a hurried kiss.

"She's going to be a fantastic grandmother to Beth," she confirmed, sharing Quinn's smile, and planting another kiss lightly on the tip of her fiancee's nose.

"Hmm," mused Quinn anxiously, casting her eyes towards the bathroom door. "I just really hope she gets the chance."

The following day, Judy arrived at noon to take Beth to see a movie whilst Quinn and Santana were due to meet with Oliver Corcoran. Quinn had been snappy and nervous all morning and was almost relieved when Judy and Beth headed out and she could have a few moments peace to try to get a handle on her anxiety. Santana thought she was being pessimistic and melodramatic about the whole thing, but Quinn had a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach and as the day progressed she was convinced the whole thing was going to go wrong.

In a hushed conversation after Beth had gone to sleep the previous night, the girls had decided that Quinn would talk to Oliver alone initially, as his text message hadn't mentioned Santana and Quinn was worried about doing anything that could affect her chances of gaining his support. Santana was going to accompany her to the rendezvous for moral support, but give her time to talk to Oliver first before joining them.

By the time they arrived at Oliver's hotel and Quinn headed into the bar area alone her palms were sweaty and she felt like her stomach was full of writhing snakes let alone butterflies. She was wearing one of her prettiest dresses, a conservative pale yellow dress with eyelet embroidery around the hem, but when she saw Oliver stand to greet her clad in yet another designer suit, she suddenly felt like an under-dressed school girl.

"Quinn," Oliver acknowledged, pulling out a chair for her to sit. "What would you like to drink?"

"Oh, um, water's fine," Quinn replied, caught off guard. Oliver flagged down a waiter and gave him their drinks orders before fixing his full attention on Quinn.

"So," Oliver said in an authoritative tone. "You know why I asked you here. I wanted to discuss my niece, Beth." Was it Quinn's imagination or did he frown slightly at her name? She chose to let it go and nodded.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about her too," she began, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "She's handling the situation extremely well. I mean, of course she's sad about her moth-"

Oliver cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Are you aware that my sister's will names me as the child's legal guardian?" he asked, his tone as unemotional as if he were talking about the weather.

"No," Quinn replied quietly, feeling like all the oxygen had just been squeezed from her lungs. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes but she was determined not to cry. Santana's voice inside her head was willing her to be strong, not to give in.

"Shelby and I didn't always see eye to eye," Oliver continued brusquely, either unaware or unaffected by Quinn's reaction to his announcement, "but we were family and family is important, don't you agree?" He fixed his gaze on Quinn and waited. His eyes were exactly the same color and shape as Shelby's but showed none of her warmth. The waiter brought over their drinks but still Oliver sat in silence.

When it became clear that Oliver wasn't about to continue until Quinn gave an appropriate response she nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak, but perhaps that was a good thing as Oliver seemed to relax a little at her response.

"I have two children of my own," Oliver told her and Quinn tried not to let her surprise show through. Oliver seemed so uninterested in children that it was a shock to discover that he was a father. "My son Lucas is seventeen," Oliver explained, "and Emily, my daughter is almost twenty. She's a sophomore at Dartmouth. My wife and I weren't expecting to have to raise another child at this stage in our lives." He looked at Quinn appraisingly and she forced herself to meet and hold his gaze defiantly.

Quinn took a deep breath and prepared to make her pitch. "Mr Corcoran," she began, before pausing to clear her throat. "Oliver. We're all devastated about what happened to Shelby. Beth has lost the only mother she's ever known, and that's tragic, but it's up to the rest of her family to bring some stability back into her life, to bring her happiness. You're her uncle, but I'm a part of her family too. She's a part of me and I love her - so much. Shelby encouraged me to have a relationship with Beth and I believe that she'd want that to continue. She named you Beth's legal guardian and trusted you to make the right decision for her future. I wanted to ask you..."

"You want the child to stay with you," Oliver stated, nodding slowly. "I thought as much. You believe you can provide her with everything she needs even though you're barely more than a child yourself?"

Quinn nodded fervently. "Mr Corcoran, I'm a junior at Columbia with a 4.0 average. I have a steady job in the university's library, and I've been a stable presence in Beth's life for a year. Maybe I am young but that doesn't mean I'm not mature enough to take care of Beth. I love her. I know that her favorite color is pink, and her favorite TV show used to be Doc McStuffins but now it's Sofia the First because she wants to be a princess when she grows up, but I also know that her paediatrician's name is Dr. Greenberg, and her pre-school teacher is Ms. Appleby. I know that Shelby used to sing Tomorrow from Annie to her whenever she got sick and that she's afraid of storm drains because she thinks trolls live in them. I know that she loves to dance and that there's a boy called Henry at pre-school who she says is her boyfriend. She can write her name and count to twenty, but she always misses out the number fifteen." As she reeled off her list, she couldn't keep the emotion from creeping into her voice. "I'd make sure to keep Shelby in her heart," she said finally. "I'm more grateful to Shelby than I can ever express for all she's done for Beth, but yes, I believe I can provide everything she needs."

"I see," Oliver said, his expression unreadable. "Well, I must say Quinn, you're not what I expected. You don't fit the usual profile of a teen mother. Your friend Rachel told me as much but I wanted to see for myself."

"You've spoken to Rachel?" Quinn was surprised but pleased, knowing that it would mean a lot to her friend.

"Yes, she wanted to help with the funeral arrangements," explained Oliver. "She speaks very highly of you. I'm impressed that you've turned your life around and I admire the commitment you've demonstrated towards Beth. I'd like the opportunity to talk this over with my wife before I make a decision, but you've given me pause for thought." He stood up to indicate that their meeting was over. Quinn hadn't even touched her water and her mind was reeling but she stood as well and Oliver nodded curtly. "I trust I'll see you at the funeral tomorrow?" he asked and Quinn nodded.

"Of course," she agreed, "but I thought that it may be too confusing for Beth. Unless you want me to bring her?" she added contritely.

"No." Oliver shook his head. "You're right, a funeral is no place for a child. I'll see you tomorrow, Quinn." He managed a funny sort of grimace that may have been an attempt at a smile before stalking away, his gait arrogant and self-important.

Santana must have seen him go from her vantage point in the foyer because she was at Quinn's side in an instant, desperate to know the outcome.

"What did he say?" she asked breathlessly. "It was torture waiting over there not knowing!"

Quinn smiled tremulously as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. "I think he's going to agree," she admitted, feeling relief flood over her. "He said he needs to discuss it with his wife but I think he's going to give her to us, San." Her eyes filled with tears and she let out a sound that was half-sob, half-laugh.

Santana beamed at her, her dark eyes lighting up, and she wrapped her arms around Quinn's waist, lifted her off the ground and spun them both around excitedly. "Really?"

"Really," confirmed Quinn, although she hardly dared believe it. Santana set her back down but kept her arms looped tightly around her as she brought her lips down on Quinn's in a tender kiss.

Suddenly, Quinn became aware of someone clearing their throat. Assuming it was the waiter, she disentangled herself from Santana with an embarrassed grin. She turned expectantly and what she saw made her feel like she'd just been doused with icy water. Oliver Corcoran was staring at them with a mixture of shock and disgust clouding his expression.

"I forgot my cell phone," he said coldly, his eyes still firmly fixed on Quinn. "I believe you left something out of your impassioned little speech about what a model student and upstanding young woman you are, Ms. Fabray."

"I... I don't know what you mean," stammered Quinn although she had a pretty good idea why Oliver was so angry. She just prayed to God that she was wrong. "Everything I told you was true." Her temper flared at Oliver's judgement of her. "I love Beth and I would be a good mother to her," she said in a low, dangerous tone. "My sexuality has nothing to do with this."

Oliver studied her carefully before responding. "I'm afraid I have to disagree" he said calmly before picking up his phone, turning on his heel, and stalking away.

Quinn looked at Santana, an anguished expression on her face. Santana looked near tears.

"You didn't tell him about me?" she asked softly. Quinn was horrified by the pain in her fiancée's voice.

"I wasn't hiding anything," she swore fervently. "I thought he knew. He knew where we lived, and I figured Shelby must have told him about us. He said he'd spoken to Rachel about me too." Then the full reality of the situation hit her and she sank back into her chair. "Oh God, San, did you see the look on his face? He was so close to letting me keep Beth but he looked so disgusted." Her voice cracked and she couldn't stop the tears from spilling over. A few other patrons were watching them curiously and Quinn suddenly felt claustrophobic. As the sense of panic threatened to overwhelm her she buried her head in her hands. "There's no way he'll let her stay now," she whispered brokenly.