A/N: It's back. You asked for it and here it is. The sequel to Beautiful When You Don't Try. I have to be honest and say that I have been feeling the pressure. Not only to get this out there but in ever aspect of writing it. The first one got such a huge response and sits on a pedestal for most of you so it has been daunting trying to live up to it.

I have to send huge thank yous out to everyone who continued to read the story and send me emails and messages. Thank you to those of you who I bugged the hell out of, picking your brain for thoughts and ideas. And a special thanks to Amy for taking on the task of editing my endless misspellings and for helping me finally pick a title. THANK YOU.

But alright... chapter one.

~/~/~/~

"It's too small." Rachel stated, turning in circles with Madeline on her hip.

"Too small? It has five bedrooms." Quinn reminded her, walking around the living room.

"Five small bedrooms and a narrow living area. We have two energetic four year olds and a one year old who is starting to think that she can keep up. Not to mention a seventeen year old who is going to want a room that will fit more than just her bed in it. We need more space."

The blonde took in a deep breath. "More space means more money. And in Manhattan, that more money can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions."

"You're exaggerating." Quinn arched an eyebrow, challenging her wife but Rachel ignored it. "I'm going back to work. We can manage mortgage payments for a slightly larger house. And you were asked to show some of your work in a gallery and do some lectures in London. That will help... I know that look. What are you thinking?"

Quinn's show of conviction faded and she shyly ran her fingers along the kitchen counter top she had come to rest by at the end of their tour of the potential new place. "I'm not sure if I want to go to London."

Rachel dropped her brow. "You were thrilled about it just last week."

"That's because it was cool. But now that the thought of it has really sunk in... I don't think I can leave this cutie for two whole weeks." She cooed as she approached her daughter in her wife's arms and lightly tickled her sides. Quinn's heart melted at the sound of her laughter. It was so much like Rachel's with it's musical quality. Quinn's heart melted more when Madeline stopped and rested her head on Rachel's shoulder, looking up at the with a full smile. "I can't go."

"You can and you will." Rachel wasn't having any of it. She didn't want Quinn to go, but she knew this was something that her wife was really wanting to do.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"I thought that was obvious. I mean, how often do I get the opportunity to invite my girlfriend over for a quick fling? I have to sneak it in there before Beth comes too."

"Ah! But Bethis coming before I would leave, so your affair is once again ruined."

"Damn. Maybe one day I'll actually get to cheat on you."

"So..."

"You're going. Either that, or I'm kicking you out of the house for two weeks. Therefore, you wouldn't see the children or myself for the same amount of time and accomplishing nothing in the process. So, pick your poison. Also, we still need more space."

Rachel quickly pecked the blonde's lips and vanished from the room. Quinn turned to look at the confused relator with as much of a belated smile as she could manage while her lips were mashed between her teeth. "The boss has spoken. We need more space."

"Near a park!"

The blonde turned to face the direction her wife exited from and then back to the realtor who stood silently with an arched eyebrow. "Near a park would be preferable." Quinn gave the woman one more nervous smile before walking out of the kitchen with as much dignity as she could, catching up to Rachel as she walked out of the front door. "So we need a park now?"

"It's summer time. I don't want the kids cooped up in the house and studio anymore."

The blonde dropped her brow as she accepted her daughter who was calling for a change of arms as they stood next to the car. "Since when are they ever cooped up?"
"They aren't because we have the terrace. But the backyards on all the houses we've looked at are tiny."

"No smaller than the terrace." Quinn argued, getting a diva pout in response. "What is this about, Rachel? And don't tell me nothing, because I know you better than that."

The brunette leaned against the passenger side of the car and played with the hem of Quinn's shirt, dropping her eyes bashfully as she slowly pulled her closer. "We're buying a house. Our first house. Maybe even the only house we will ever buy. I just don't want to settle for anything less than perfect for it."

Quinn smiled broadly and shifted Madeline on her hip, looking at the one year old. "You know what that was, Maddy? That was your Mama doing what she does best, getting her way because of an irresistible pout. I just hope you didn't inherit it too, because I might be in some serious trouble then."

"Push over." Rachel teased as she pushed off of the car and into a hug with Quinn's free arm.

"You say push over, I say in love."

"I'm in love and I'm not that much of a push over."

"Well, you're just special then."

"Don't you know it." The diva remarked, lifting up on her toes and into a tender kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

~/~/~/~

"We need more space." Kim stated as she leaned slightly into the kitchen counter, her palms pressed against the tile top, holding her weight as she scanned over the living area of their loft. Their dinning table had been pushed flat against the wall to make way for Aubrey's mountain of toys that overflowed from her bedroom. Adrianne was sitting on the floor with her back pressed against the wall between the windows, passively playing with her daughter while looking around the tiny apartment as well. They had lived there for five years and it only seemed to be getting smaller and smaller.

"We do, don't we?"

Kim slowly nodded her head and brushed her hair out of her face before leaning down further and resting her elbows on the counter top. "Perhaps we can find a realtor of our own while Rachel and Quinn are looking for their place as well? I don't know if this place can hold another child."

Adrianne head shot back to her wife in hesitant eagerness but the shorter brunette mashed her lips between her teeth and shook her head before dropping her eyes. The photographer stood up and made her way to the kitchen, being met in a hug before she could even ask for one. "It will happen. When the time is right, it will happen. Until then, we will schedule another session when you're ready." She tried to calm Kim's fears, slowly running a hand up and down the smaller woman's back and kissing the top of her head. They had been trying for six months to get Kim pregnant. It wasn't taking. It took once but she miscarried shortly after.

"Until it does though, I need something to occupy my time. Beth will be up here soon and she'll start helping out in the studio, freeing up more of my time. I would like to have something to occupy it with."

"Anything you want, Babe. Anything you want."

That earned a smile from the shorter woman who wrapped her arms tighter around her wife's waist as she looked across the room to their daughter. "We got lucky with her."

"We did." Adrianne agreed, resting her chin on the top of Kim's head and watching as Aubrey played with her toys by herself, content. "And we will get her a playmate. When the time is right."

"Right." Kim agreed standing up from their embrace and letting out a quick breath of air, blowing away all the negativity. "So!" She started with a renewed energy. "When you go tomorrow to find a relator, you'll know to tell them we need at least three bedrooms."

"Oh, I'm going?" Adrianne asked teasingly as she moved to the other counter and let Kim continue preparing their dinner.

"Yes, you are. I work and you don't have anything scheduled. You can take Aubrey with you too. It would be nice for her to get away from the studio too."

"I can do that. But you know, there is a drawback to you being the one to set up my schedule. It gives you the upper hand in being able to boss me around."

Kim looked over her shoulder as she washed the lettuce in the sink and smirked. "Adrianne, we're married, I already have the ability to do that."

~/~/~/~

"Are they all asleep?" Rachel asked as she pulled her tank top down over her head, readying herself for bed. Quinn paused, resting against the bedroom door frame and nodded her head while she looked at her wife lovingly. They stood there for a moment in silence, never needing to speak a word as their eyes locked together and said everything for them. Five years of marriage and their connection was stronger than ever. The papers told their lies, each one more ridiculous than the last. Anywhere from affairs with models, to cheating with men, to divorce papers being filed months ago. The latest one started after Quinn visited a relator when they decided it was time to start looking for a bigger house now that Madeline was starting to walk and Beth would be arriving soon. The next week the papers read that Rachel had kicked her out and refused her rights to visit the children. But they didn't let any of it bother them anymore.

Quinn smiled and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman's waist and nuzzling into her neck, taking in the smell of her wife. Rachel gave her her time, knowing that this, them being this close, calmed everything that went wrong through the day and what promised to go wrong tomorrow. That had never changed from their first day together.

A smile spread across the brunette's face as she felt more and more of Quinn's weight being pressed against her, slowly leaning her back against the bed until she lost her balance and they both collapsed onto the mattress. Rachel's boisterous laughter rang out until she slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise, not wanting to wake up their children, but Quinn pushed up to hover over her and gently removed her hand.

"I love your laugh. I want to hear it."

"I just don't want to wake the kids up, Baby." She explained as their eyes met again and she ran her hands down Quinn's neck to her collarbone and back up again. "Do you ever wonder-"

"How we got so lucky?"

Rachel blushed slightly and diverted her eyes before playfully arching one eyebrow. "I was actually going to ask if you ever wondered how many nights we've done this and asked each other how we got to be so lucky."

"You always have to make things difficult, don't you?" Quinn teased with a beaming smile. "Once I get you to be predictable, you have to go and change things around, making me look bad."

"It is an outlet for my creativity. I mean, I haven't worked in over a year now and I need some sort of release before I-"

"Shut up and kiss me already." The blonde smiled a little softer as she leaned down and captured her true love's lips in a lingering kiss. There was nothing rushed about it. It wasn't leading to anything else. But that wasn't what either of them were looking for. What they wanted was that feeling where the other's presence shut out the rest of the word, isolating them and allowing their shielding walls to be let down for what seemed like the first time in their lives. There with each other, they were safe, trusting and knowing completely that the other would never do anything to hurt them and would be there without fail if needed.

It was the most surreal feeling to know that there was that one person in the world that they could trust unconditionally but it was also the most real feeling either of them had ever experienced. It was as if the fog of life lifted when they were together and what the world was suppose to be seeped through. Senses were stronger. Each touch was felt purer. Even now as Quinn ghosted her lips along Rachel's jaw line and down to the curve of her neck, never kissing but only feeling, all of her senses focused on the minute connection between her skin and Rachel's.

The action wasn't sexual in nature, but rather sensual. Taking in every touch and feel because that was what she wanted, not anything that would come after. It was about the presence of the woman there with her, everything about her. How Rachel's fingers lightly grazed the back of her arms, taking in Quinn's feel as she moved her lips over the exposed skin of the brunette's shoulder. It was about that pounding of the woman's heart beneath her, resonating into her own chest, bonding them even further. The smell of her skin, every inch as appealing as the last, pulling her senses away from herself and to the woman who held a part of her heart that she never wanted back.

"Can we stay here forever?" Rachel asked in the lightest whisper that she knew Quinn would still be able hear, not wanting to ruin the moment between them now. This was a healing process, taking away the burdens of the day.

"If it wasn't for the three beautiful children down stairs, I would say yes, and I would die contently in your arms."

The diva smiled and raised her hips slightly, rolling them over to lay facing each other on their sides. She brushed the blonde tresses away from Quinn's hazel eyes and studied them with her own, each movement met by the blonde's as she studied her wife's eyes as well. They were the key to everything. They told her so much that words never could. "I love you, Quinn Fabray."

"I love you too, Rachel Fabray."

Rachel smiled a little deeper and leaned forward, pushing Quinn to lay down so she could snuggle into her side. "Good, then you'll be sure to call me every day that you're in London."

"Rachel-"

"Don't Rachel me. You were so excited to get that offer. You can't tell me that you don't want to go anymore."

"I want to go." Quinn assured her running the tips of her fingers up and down the back of Rachel's arm while placing her other hand on top of the smaller one resting on her chest. "I just don't want to go if that means I'm going to be away from you and the kids for two weeks."

"We've done the separation thing before." Rachel argued, not wanting Quinn to give up more opportunities that she already had. That quality of the photographer's personality was unchanged by time. Every sacrifice had to be hers or she was compelled to preform grand romantic gestures to make up for whatever Rachel had given needlessly in her eyes.

"And we promised never to do it again unless we could both go or at least visit easily. London is a whole ocean away."

Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose as she studied the hand on top of hers and the rings decorating her wife's finger. "Quinn."

There was a change in her tone of voice and the blonde's eyes shifted over the ceiling above her. Rachel was being serious now. There was no more playing. "Yes?"

The brunette wiggled closer and repositioned her temple on her wife's shoulder, showing her love and support in the move. Telling her silently that she loved her and didn't want to spend any amount of time away from her, but she still needed to say something. "I want you to go. I want you to have your moment and experience something new. I know it will be hard on both of us but I don't think I could live with myself seeing the regret on your face everyday."

"I wont regret-"

"You will." Rachel cut her off and waited until the blonde let out a long breath of frustration through her nose. It wasn't frustration with Rachel, just the fact that Rachel was right. The whole what-if game would kick in and the constant reminder that a once in a lifetime opportunity slipped by because she was being a lovesick baby instead of an adult who should be able to handle a two week business trip. "Please?"

"...okay."

~/~/~/~

"How about this one?" Quinn asked as she placed a printed paper on the counter next to Rachel before grabbing the breakfast plates the brunette had just finished making.

Rachel's eyes scanned over it as she called out blindly. "Boys, breakfast is ready."

The blonde quickly deposited the morning meal on the table before rushing back to the kitchen for a warm towel to clean up the mess Madeline had made with hers. They had a system in place. It was rushed and a little sloppy, but it worked for them. Quinn got dressed while Rachel cooked, then served the boys and cleaned up Madeline. Rachel was then waiting with a cup of fresh coffee as soon as her wife finished rinsing out the rag and they all sat down for twenty minutes together in the morning before Quinn was normally scheduled to be in the studio.

"I like it. It has the space we need." Rachel observed as she took a seat at the table that the boys had just bounced to. Quinn sat down then stood right back up, quickly swapping the boys' plates before the complaints could be heard that she forgot again. Gabe had started an apparent 'Berry habit' of demanding the crust of his toast be cut off before he would eat it. That habit was Rachel's job to break as were all of his other expanding diva traits.

"It only has four bedrooms so the boys will still have to share." The blonde explained before sipping her coffee. "But the basement is huge. We could make that the play area as well as a section of it for my office because that house is further away from the studio than this apartment."

"Boys, knock it off." Rachel called out without even removing her eyes from the paper. Both boys slowly lowered their hands back to their plates and deposited the pieces of scrambled egg they were about to throw at each other. "Where would we put Beth?"

"I was thinking on the same floor with the boys. There are two bedrooms on the second floor and the master suite and a smaller bedroom on the third floor. The smaller one could be Maddy's room. Either that..." Quinn trailed off as she quickly grabbed the sippy cup from her daughter and tightened the lid to prevent them from having another outfit change this morning. "Or the small room could be my office and we could make part of the basement Beth's room. She would have her own space and bathroom that way."

"So why didn't you present that option first?" The diva asked setting the paper down and looking into her wife's eyes, knowing very well by now how the beauty of the blonde's mind worked. There was a reason for everything and she loved it.

"I don't want her to feel like we are shoving her to a corner. This is the first time she will be with us for more than a week or two. She's living with us, like family."

"She is family."

"I know." Quinn agreed. "That's why I'm hesitant to give her the basement instead of a room with the rest of us."

Rachel thought about it some more, returning her eyes to the print out. "Well, she wont be here for a few more weeks. So why don't we just set up an appointment to look at this place and get a better idea of what we would be working with." They both leaned across the table and shared a tender kiss in agreement.

"Ewww..."

Slowly the women pulled apart and turned their heads to look at the boys who both had their hands over there eyes but were clearly peeking through their fingers. Quinn sighed and hung her head in defeat as she slid back into her chair. "You know this is only going to get worse now that Santana is here." She informed her wife, jerking her head to the twins.

"No." The diva stated as she shook her head adamantly. "I refuse to stand by helplessly as our sweet little boys become corrupted by her."

"And what exactly do you plan on doing to prevent it?" The blonde asked with an amused raised eyebrow.

Rachel looked down at her food, undaunted by the challenge placed in front of her. "I haven't decided the best and most appropriate course of action as of yet. Perhaps I will strike a deal with her."

"Like what? We start paying her bad words fund? That could bankrupt us, Baby. But maybe you could stop trying to set her up on dates with your friends from the theater."

The diva gasped and set her fork down as if she was truly offended. "I have not been trying to-"

"Right. They just always happen to be at functions we are attending or at the same restaurants we eat at, but only on the nights when Santana is with us. It's really just all coincidence."

Rachel shrugged, diverting her eyes back to her meal. "Some might say fate, destiny, meant to be."

"You're relentless."

"I just want her to be happy."

"And she'll get there." Quinn assured her, lightening her voice in sincerity. "She just has to do it in her own time and not feel pushed. If she's pushed, she'll close off."

"Well, then... maybe I could use that as a bargaining chip anyway." Rachel finally relented, dropping her shoulders in defeat. "Am I really that pushy about it?"

"No." Quinn answered, leaning across the table again to peck her wife's lips and dismiss any doubt she may have had. "That is just your big heart trying to help a friend in need. Unfortunately, Santana isn't the kind that you can offer help to. She has to ask for it before it will do her any good. Okay?" Rachel nodded slowly, still not liking that she would have to settle for watching her friend suffer. "So, about the house?"

"I'll go. I'll take the kids and give the papers something new to write about. But prepare for the hate mail when word gets around that you kicked me and the kids out so you could have your girlfriends move in here."

"Great. I'll add it to the stack I still have from last time."