PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE :)

Wow, I cannot believe this story is actually over. I want to thank each and every one of my readers; whether you've been with me from the beginning, middle, or are just now reading it, I love you all! Words cannot describe how thankful I am for each review and alert I recieved.

Since this is the last chapter, I do have one request of all of you; please leave a review. If you've been reading but haven't left one yet, this is your chance. I really want to know the opinion of each and every one of you. I want to know what you thought, whether you loved it or thought it was just okay. Give me suggestions as to how I can improve and just let me know what you thought about it. I would really mean so much to me.

And of course I want to thank my amazing beta Scarlett88 for sticking with me and helping me throughout this process.

And because I know some of you will ask, there will be no sequel to this story. I'm happy with where I left it and I just have too much on my plate as it is.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy this last chapter!

Chapter Eighteen

Six months later, Quinn sat by the window overlooking her front yard, eager. She grew impatient as she watched the mailman stop at each house, slowly but surely making his way towards her own. Minutes tick by before he stopped in front of her house. She watched meticulously as he reached to his left, gathering a pile of envelopes and magazines. Quinn scanned those in his hands and found a large white envelope within the shuffle. She smiled as she watched him open her mailbox and shove everything inside. A couple seconds later he is on his way to the next house and Quinn hopped off her couch and ran to the front door. She stopped to collect herself, took a deep, calming breath, and walked down her front sidewalk out to the mailbox. She took out the envelopes and magazines, before coolly walking back to her house. When she was inside she threw everything on the kitchen counter except for the large white envelope. Excitement churning in her stomach, she opened the envelope carefully. Happy to see what she expected she picked up her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello."

"Puck!" she exclaimed. "Guess what I got in the mail today!"

"The papers?" he said, Quinn noticing the excitement in his voice.

"Yes!" she answered.

"I'm leaving work now; I'll be there in an hour and a half."

"I'll tell Joe to keep the kids tonight."

"Good; more of you for me then." With that he hung up the phone and Quinn followed suit. She put the phone down and took another look at the papers in her hand, her final divorce papers. She flipped to the back page where both she and Joe's signatures were signed in permanent ink. Quinn wasn't exactly ecstatic about being divorced, but she had had six months to grieve the loss of her marriage, and now it was time for her to move on…to Puck more specifically.

He had been patient with her over the last six months. She could tell it was killing him inside to be so close to having her, but not quite there yet. But now they could start over and be the family they were always meant to be.

X-X-X-X-X

An hour and eighteen minutes later there is a knock on Quinn's front door. "That was fast," Quinn smirked as she opened the door.

"I might have gone a little over the speed limit," Puck answered. He smiled at her before wrapping his arm around her small waist and pulling her close to him. She looked up into his hazel eyes, which shone with happiness. Their faces moved closely together before their lips connected and lust took over their bodies. Quinn cupped her hands around his cheeks, scruffy and warm. He pulled her closer, as close as their bodies would allow, and kissed her with more ferocity than he can ever remember with anyone else.

Tongues dueled in a heated battle as the two continued to kiss. It wasn't until Quinn felt lightheaded from the lack of air that she pulled back, inhaling a large gulp of air as she did.

"Wow," was all she managed to say.

"Yea, wow," Puck nodded in agreement.

He looked at her with a smile so large, Quinn wasn't sure she'd ever seen one so happy on his face.

"What's all that smiling about, Mr. Puckerman?" Quinn asked.

He took her hand and interlaced their fingers together. "I just can't believe I finally get to be with you. I've waited sixteen years for this moment."

Guilty tears began to form in Quinn's eyes. "You would have been with me sixteen years ago if I would have grown up and accepted my feelings towards you."

He shook his head as he wiped a tear away from her green eyes. "We can't change the past, Quinn, but we can control what happens now. And now, all I want is you."

"When did you become the wise and mature one?"

Puck shrugged. "Gotta grow up sometime, right?"

She nodded as she leaned in for another passionate kiss. When they broke apart, she took his hand and led him upstairs to her bedroom so they could finally continue what they had started sixteen years before.

X-X-X-X-X

Rachel had just arrived home from a long day at play rehearsal. The play was to begin showings in two weeks and as co-directors, she and Shelby had a lot of things to get done. But those things could wait because right now her comfy bed was calling her name. She changed into a t-shirt and comfy shorts before collapsing into bed and snuggling with her pillow. Right as she was on the brink of sleeping her phone began to ring. She let out a grunt before turning over and grabbing her phone. She saw it was Finn who was calling so she answered.

"Hello."

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, his voice a bit frantic. "I need a favor from you."

She shot up to a sitting position. "Of course," she said, "Is everything okay?"

"Burt's had another heart attack," Finn explained. "Not a major one, but he's in the hospital and my mom's not good in that situation alone, so I was going to go down there and keep her company until Kurt can get a plane from Los Angeles. But I needed someone to watch Kennedy for me."

"Yea, of course, I'll be right over," Rachel said.

"Thanks babe."

"No problem."

They both hung up as Rachel got out of bed and grabbed her purse and keys. She ran down the steps of her apartment and out to her car.

Rachel was a bit nervous on the ride to Finn's house. In the six months they had been dating she had never been with Kennedy by herself. Although she was actually really good with Kennedy, and enjoyed spending time with her, she was still nervous that she would do something to upset the young girl and not know what to do to make it better.

But Rachel had no choice because Finn needed her, and five minutes later she pulled into his driveway. She got out and before she had time to knock on the front door, it opened. Rachel walked forward and gave Finn a tight hug. He hugged her back and for a moment they forgot about everything that was happening. But then Rachel suddenly snapped out of it and let go.

"So, where's K?" she asked, stepping into the small living room.

"In her bedroom playing with stuffed animals," he answered. "Here's a list of Kennedy's routines with times and everything." He handed her a small piece of paper with his childish scribbling on it. "If you have any questions about any of it, just call me."

She nodded. "We'll be fine."

"Good, thanks again for doing this."

"Anytime."

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

Once he had gone Rachel made her way back to Kennedy's bedroom where the young girl was organizing her stuffed animals by color.

"That's pretty, Kennedy," Rachel said softly as she walked into the room.

The little girl turned around and looked at her before turning her attention back to her animals without a word.

"I really like this yellow duck," Rachel persisted. She reached over and picked it up to show the little girl, but as soon as she did Kennedy let out a high-pitched scream.

Panic filled Rachel's stomach. What had she done?

"Shhh, Kennedy, it's okay," she soothed. She reached out her hand to comfort the girl which was an even bigger mistake. Kennedy jumped back and began to scream even louder. She shook her head, her light brown hair moving every which way. Rachel looked down at the paper that was still in her hands to see if it would help in any way. At the bottom she read: The yellow duck is K's new object of obsession. Don't take it away from her or she may throw a tantrum.

Rachel looked at the yellow duck in her hand and cursed herself. Why hadn't she read the paper before interacting with Kennedy?

"Here, K," she said, sitting the yellow duck on the bed in front of the screaming girl. Her little face was red and her blue eyes filled with tears. She snatched the duck off the bed as soon as Rachel sat it down. She cuddled the duck close to her and rocked back and forth. The screaming ceased and she began to calm down.

Rachel let out a deep sigh of relief when Kennedy soon went back to playing with the stuffed animals.

She stood in the doorway reading the paper over twice just in case she missed anything. She looked at the clock to see it was almost seven, which was Kennedy's dinner time. Finn wrote that on Wednesdays she always had chicken nuggets and fries and there was some in the kitchen for her to heat up.

Rachel made her way to the kitchen where she found the food and heated it up for Kennedy. Then as soon as the clock turned seven (she was scared to do it a minute too soon or too late) she walked to Kennedy's room to tell her dinner was ready.

Without even looking over to Rachel, Kennedy grabbed her duck and stood, walking to the kitchen and plopping down in her seat at the table. Rachel sat the plate and a glass of milk in front of the young girl, who ate it happily as she swung her head from side to side rhythmically. Rachel sat across from her and watched, but didn't say a word, knowing it would be pointless to anyway.

Kennedy finished her dinner at 7:20 promptly and it was time for a movie. Kennedy went to the stack of Blue Rays and pulled out Tangled, placing it in Rachel's lap.

"Is this what you want to watch?" Rachel asked.

The little girl didn't answer; instead just sat on the couch and waited.

Rachel put the disc in and started the TV. When the movie came on, Kennedy clapped excitedly, her favorite duck sitting in her lap.

Rachel hadn't ever seen the movie Tangled before so she watched as intently as Kennedy. Towards the end of the movie, Rachel saw the young girl was yawning. A minute later Kennedy lay down on the couch, laying her head in Rachel's lap. Rachel smiled at the first contact she had with the little girl.

By the time the movie was over Kennedy had fallen asleep. Rachel was too afraid to move her, though, so she changed the TV back to regular television and watched What not to Wear as she gently ran her hand through Kennedy's silky brown hair.

Two hours later, the front door opened and Rachel saw Finn walk through.

"Shhh," Rachel said before Finn could talk. He looked at Kennedy asleep in Rachel's lap and smiled.

"I didn't want to wake her by moving her to her bed," Rachel whispered.

Finn nodded as he carefully picked his small daughter up and carried her like an infant into her room. Rachel pulled back the covers so he could lay Kennedy in the bed. He then kissed her forehead gently and turned off the lights as they left.

"How'd it go?" Finn wondered as he sat down on the living room couch.

"Great," Rachel answered, joining him. "There was one small meltdown at the beginning, but it was my own fault. I didn't read the paper first and accidentally picked up the yellow duck."

Finn chuckled. "I tried to warn you."

"I know," Rachel laughed. "I guess next time I'll read the instructions before."

"So you will do it a next time?" Finn wondered. "I know it's not exactly easy taking care of K, but she really does seem to like you. She doesn't snuggle up on the couch with just anybody."

Rachel smiled proudly, "Of course. I really love that little girl."

"And I love you," Finn said as he leaned in for a kiss.

"How's Burt doing?"

"The doctors say he'll be fine," Finn answered. "It was his first heart attack since we were in high school and it wasn't nearly as bad. He just needs to eat more fish and things like that."

"I'm so glad," Rachel smiled.

There was a little silence before Finn spoke up. "I have, um, one more thing I wanted to ask you," he said nervously.

"Mmhmm."

"Well, it's been six awesome months since we started dating again, and I've been so happy, happier than I think I ever have in my life. And you're so good with Kennedy and she adores you, too. And I love you, Rach, I really do." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small box; Rachel gasped.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he continued, his voice shaking with nervousness. "And I know this isn't some huge romantic gesture that you were probably expecting. Well, I wasn't expecting it either. I planned to do this this weekend; take you out to a nice dinner or something, but seeing you on the couch with K and how good you were with her, I just can't stop myself. So I'm just going to say it; Rachel Berry, will you marry me?"

Large tears filled Rachel's chocolate eyes as her breath was momentarily caught in her throat. For the first time in her life, words would not escape her lips, so all she could do was nod.

Finn let out a large sigh of relief as a smile spread from cheek to cheek. "You don't think this is too fast? "

"Finn, we've loved each other sixteen years; this isn't too fast," she managed to say through her tears.

He opened the box and showed her the ring. "I know it's nothing too special, but one day I promise I'll get something better for you."

Rachel shook her head as she looked at the ring with three small diamonds in front of her. "No, this one is perfect."

She leaned in and kissed Finn with everything she had. How had a day that started out so ordinary had turned into one of the best days of her life?

X-X-X-X-X

That Friday night Beth was pacing back in forth in her room. What started out as nervous butterflies in her stomach had turned into something more like nervous elephants.

There was a knock on the door before it opened and her mom stepped inside.

"Mom, I can't do it," Beth whined.

Shelby sighed as she sat Beth down on the bed before sitting next to her. She started playing with Beth's blonde ponytail. "Beth, I have no doubt that you will do anything but blow the judge's socks off when you sing tomorrow at Regionals."

"But at rehearsal today I started to sing when I looked into the empty auditorium and there Jim was, sitting front and center, smirking at me," Beth shuddered. "I…I couldn't do it and I ran off the stage."

"Bethy, he can't get you anymore; he's in jail," Shelby explained as her fingers continued to gently comb through blonde hair.

"I know," Beth said. "And I tried to make him go away, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get him to disappear."

Shelby looked at her daughter with big sympathetic eyes. "You know what will make him go away?"

Beth shook her head.

"Tomorrow, when you sing, I want you to look out into the crowd. Look and see all the people who will be there watching; who are rooting for you. Me, Rachel, Quinn, Puck, Finn, Carol, we're all here for you. You're going to see how much love you have gained and you're going to sing, better than you ever have and you're going to show Jim and everyone else how far you have come. You are going to show him he didn't take everything from you. That you are still Beth Corcoran and no one can take that from you."

A tear slid down Beth's pale cheek. "What would I ever do without you, mom?"

"Let's hope you'll never find out," Shelby smiled as she pulled her daughter into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

The next day as Beth waited backstage for her group to sing, she didn't feel as nervous. Her mom was right; she couldn't let Jim keep getting the better of her, and she wasn't going to let him ruin her moment in the spotlight.

"You ready for you big solo?" asked Emerson as she walked up behind her best friend.

Beth nodded. "I think I am."

"You'll do great," Emerson assured her before giving her a good-luck hug.

The lights began to flicker, which indicated Beth's group was about to start performing. They huddled together, Mr. Schue in the middle, as they wished each other good luck.

"Just remember to try your best and have fun out there," Mr. Schuster said. "If you do that, winning will only be icing on the cake."

Everyone nodded and smiled. They did a little cheer that was ritual before every performance. Afterwards Beth walked over to the curtain. She took one last deep, calming breath before opening it a little and walking onto stage by herself. There was a mike in the middle of the stage; she walked over to it, spotlight on her. Beth scanned the crowd before she saw her mom sitting in the middle, about four rows back. Shelby smiled and nodded at her daughter. Beth gave her a small smile as the music to Anyway by Martina McBride started.

You can spend your whole life buildin'
Something from nothin'
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

She looked at her mom again. She wasn't even done with the first verse of the song and Shelby already had tears flowing from her eyes. Beth thought about how lucky she was to have a mother who loved and cared about her so much. Her mom had gone through a lot these last couple months, just as she had, but Shelby had stayed strong for her. Her mom was her rock; she was her everything.

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

She looked over at Rachel, who was sitting next to her mom, tears evident in the brown eyes that so resembled her own mother's. Rachel, a sister she had never known she had until this year, had become one of the most important people in her life. Beth admired her sister's determination more than anything. Her whole life, Rachel was constantly put down and told her dream would never be a reality, but she chose to ignore those who ridiculed her and showed every one of them by ending up on Broadway. And now she was to marry Finn; another dream come true for Rachel. Beth only hoped she could do the same as her sister.

God is great
But sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

Beth thought about her own situation, about everything that happened with Jim. The only thing that kept Beth going through those times was the realization that she knew things would get better. And she prayed and prayed that someday they would. She had no idea they would turn out better than she ever expected, with so many new people in her life to love and care for her. God acted in mysterious ways; that much had been made clear to Beth.

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

Beth looked to Quinn and Puck, who were sitting on the other side of Shelby. Their hands intertwined as they watched their baby girl sing with a bit of déjà vu. They were her birth parents, their DNA coursed through her veins- in every aspect of her body. She watched as they went through a difficult time in their life; when love seemed so hopeless to the both of them. She watched as they found each other, and chose to love each other, even after everything they had been through. They showed Beth what true love was.

You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yea, sing it anyway
Yeah, yeah!
I sing
I dream
I love
anyway

Tears formed in Beth's eyes as her song came to an end. She put everything she had inside of her into singing this song well. It wasn't just about the team winning; it was about Beth showing she was strong. And even if tomorrow everyone in the whole auditorium forgot about her performance- even if her team loss- Beth knew she would look back on this moment with nostalgia and pride. She is Beth Corcoran, and no one can take that away from her, and in this moment she proved that.

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