Author's Note: Set after Getting Crazy By the Bottom of the Bottle and the If I'm A Fool For Love ficlet and before Forget the Wrong That I've Done.

I've Seen the Light

It's giving more when you feel like giving up.
I've seen the light.
It's in my daughter's eyes.
~In My daughter's Eyes, Martina McBride

Judy is exhausted.

She'd forgotten what it was like to try to keep up with a ten-year-old, and even with the vague memories slowly coming back to her, she doesn't recall either Frannie or Quinn being quite so rambunctious when they were that age. TJ could probably light up half of Broadway with the energy that he'd expended as he'd raced from exhibit to exhibit in the Brooklyn Children's Museum today. Luckily, Quinnie had been there to keep him from completely disappearing into the crowd of eager children. Still, Judy is glad to finally be back at her daughter's apartment and able to sit down and catch her breath.

At least Frannie won't be able to complain that this trip to New York hasn't been educational—not that she has much room to complain about how Judy has chosen to entertain her grandson when she and Timothy had left TJ in her care for ten days to go sailing off to the Bahamas on a Christian cruise in a last ditch effort to save their failing marriage.

Judy does feel badly about that. She'd been where Frannie is now, clinging to the status quo with sharpened nails cutting into numb skin and senses dulled in a haze of liquor. In some ways, Judy thinks that she was lucky to have her heart shattered by a series of hard blows, one after the other—Quinn's teenaged pregnancy, Russell kicking their baby girl out of the house, and the slaps that Judy had taken across the face every time she'd begged him to bring Quinnie home until she'd finally caught him in bed with that woman. Judy finally hit rock bottom in her empty bottle of merlot.

Frannie is still slipping down the hillside, inch by painful inch with her eyes half-closed.

If not for TJ, Judy wouldn't hesitate to wish that Frannie would finally open her eyes fully and leave her husband, but children always make everything so much more complicated. It had taken Judy far too long to realize that sometimes doing what's best for your children means not staying and trying to make the marriage work. Frannie isn't quite there yet.

She also isn't quite there with the mending of her relationship with Quinn. She'd refused to attend her sister's wedding to Rachel Berry last summer—thanks in large part to Timothy—but at least she'd sent them a gift. And TJ had offered to be his grandma's date, wanting to see his Aunt Quinn—he'd finally stopped calling her Aunt Lucy shortly after Judy had moved to Chicago—but Timothy had rather adamantly vetoed that suggestion.

So Judy made an executive decision in her role as grandmother and temporary guardian, and she'd bought herself and TJ two tickets to New York City to visit Quinn. And Rachel.

Well—right after she'd called and asked Quinnie if it would be okay if they stayed with them for a few days. Quinn had seemed surprised by the request, and of course, she'd had to check with Rachel before she could say yes, but she had, and now Judy and TJ are spending five days with them.

The apartment is a little on the small side with three grown women and an inquisitive child running around, but it's comfortable enough. TJ is certainly enjoying the pull out sofa bed and the cat that has taken to curling up with him for the last two nights.

Judy is glad that her daughter and daughter-in-law have been fairly circumspect with their affections with TJ in the apartment. TJ knows that they're married, of course, and he understands what that means, and what it means that his aunt likes girls the way his mommy likes his daddy. (The way she used to like his daddy, anyway, since Judy isn't so certain how unwavering Frannie's devotion is these days.) Somehow, despite what Frannie and Timothy have tried to teach him about what a family should look like, he's learned to see things with a more open mind. Judy suspects that it's because most of his friends come from families that look nothing like his own, and he likes them all just the same. Still, he is only ten, and Judy isn't prepared to explain sex to him in any incarnation—but especially not that kind.

Still, anyone can see that Quinn and Rachel are happy and in love. Being in this cozy apartment amidst their warm smiles and easy laughter is so drastically different than being in Frannie's big, drafty house with deafening silence filling every room.

Rachel is busy today with rehearsal, so she'd gone off to wherever it is she goes to do whatever it is she does to prepare for her next show. Quinnie had put her latest novel aside for the day to take Judy and TJ to the museum, and Judy was happy to spend the day with her daughter and her grandson, even if she did feel her heart break once or twice when she'd looked at them together and remembered what Quinn had been forced to give up with Beth. She would have been such a good mother.

Maybe not at sixteen—but then Judy hadn't been a very good mother at forty-something. Sometimes you have to grow into the role, and sometimes it takes much longer than it should.

Quinnie is fussing in the kitchen right now, getting dinner started for them. Judy had offered to help—she's very good in the kitchen, after all—but Quinn shooed her away and into the chair, reminding her that, "You're a guest, Mom. Let me cook for you for a change."

Judy had smiled and agreed, but as she watched Quinn carefully replace the pan that Judy lifted and moved from its resting place before she'd been sent away, she thought of Rachel's whispered warning that, "Quinn is very particular about her kitchen. She notices everything. Even when you think there's no way she could ever miss one little skillet when she has six more of them."

Judy had thought Rachel was exaggerating, as Rachel is prone to do, but now she isn't so certain.

TJ is currently playing with the cat, laughing as he points a laser pen-light around the room for Oliver to chase after like a maniac. Judy knows that one of them will undoubtedly get bored soon enough, and TJ will probably go back to staring at one of those little video games that he carries around with him on his phone. Judy still thinks he's a too young for that, but Frannie insists it's a necessity in this day and age.

Judy watches as Oliver suddenly abandons his chase, ears perking up as he trots over to the door and stares it down. A moment later, the doorknob rattles and turns right before Rachel enters the apartment, and Oliver practically wraps himself around her feet with a demanding mewl.

She reaches down to scratch his ears, and he bumps his head up into her fingers for just a moment before he races ahead of her in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hi, Aunt Rachel!" TJ exclaims, bouncing up onto his knees on the sofa with an excited grin.

"Hello," she echoes sweetly, offering a tired smile to both Judy and TJ before she asks the boy, "Did you have fun at the museum today?"

"So much fun. I got to see a shark's jawbone and build this monster tower out of building blocks," he exclaims with twinkling eyes as he reaches one arm up over his head as high as he can, "and play with all these cool musical instruments. You shoulda come."

"I should have," she agrees easily. "It probably would have been more fun than reblocking choreography all day."

Quinn walks out of the kitchen at that moment with a grin—Oliver following after her with wide, expectant eyes—as she wipes her hands on a towel that she then slings over her shoulder. "Is Derek still being a pri-," she glances at TJ before she changes her word choice to, "perfectionist?"

"Yes," Rachel sighs with a mild pout.

"Don't worry. You'll be wowing him with your talent in no time," Quinn promises, brushing a brief kiss across the corner of Rachel's mouth with casual intimacy. Judy is struck again by how comfortable they are together—so very different from how she'd been with Russell or how Frannie is with Timothy.

Oliver lets out another mewl as he paws at Rachel's leg, and she sighs as she glances down at him. "I know. I know. No one but me ever feeds you."

TJ giggles while Quinn scoffs. "I fed him thirty minutes ago."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "But you are not me," she points out. "We both know that he only believes he's actually been fed when I feed him. It's the only time he loves me."

"Can I feed him?" TJ asks.

Rachel grins down at him. "He already loves you," she tells him, ruffling his hair affectionately. "But you can help me clean out his bowl and get him some fresh water."

TJ flashes a smile and jumps off the sofa. "Cool. I really like Ollie," he says, using Quinn's nickname for the cat. "I really want a dog, but Mom won't let me have one. Cats are pretty cool though," he reveals as he lets Rachel lead him into the kitchen. "But I was asking for a dog, so maybe I should ask for a cat instead."

"Maybe you should," Rachel agrees conspiratorially, glancing back to wink at Quinn. "After all, a cat is how I convinced your aunt to agree to a pet."

Quinn smiles fondly as she watches them shuffle into the kitchen together, and Judy can see the soft look in her eyes. "She's very good with him," she comments.

"Yeah," Quinn breathes out. "With Beth too," she says, momentarily lost in her own thoughts before she shakes her head and looks at Judy with a sudden grin. "How pissed is Frannie going to be when TJ starts begging for a cat?"

Judy chuckles. "I'm sure I'll be hearing an earful about that and everything else when they get back from their cruise."

"Well, you know...you're always welcome here if you need a vacation from them," Quinn offers with a vaguely hopeful look in her eyes.

"I know, dear," Judy tells her gratefully, thinking that perhaps she should try to get to New York more often in the future.

Quinn nods, glancing back toward the kitchen where TJ has somehow transitioned from talking about pets to asking if they can have a How To Train Your Dragon marathon tonight. Rachel's enthusiastic, "I adore Toothless," tells Judy what she'll probably be doing after dinner.

Quinn smiles indulgently. "Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes," she tells Judy, dragging the towel off her shoulder, and with a sigh, she murmurs, "Thanks, Mom. For...this. I'm really glad you both came to visit."

"So am I," Judy agrees with a smile, reaching out to take Quinn's hand and give it a light squeeze. "So am I."