Title: Mama Who Bore Me

Series: And Then There Were Four (#21)

Author: Jamiexh

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Ryan Murphy owns Glee.

Summary: Mommy issues are brought up when Quinn receives a letter from Shelby asking her to visit.

"Mama who bore me,

Mama who gave me,

No way to handle things,

Who makes me so sad."

-January 2011-

When Quinn is called into Miss Pillsbury's office with Puck, she doesn't know what to expect. But, never in a million years, would she have thought that she would receive a handwritten note from Shelby Corcoran inviting her and Puck over to see her baby, Beth, this Saturday.

Quinn left Emma's office in disbelief. She gave up her baby less than a year ago and now she has the opportunity to see her daughter again. She doesn't have the strength enough to go alone, or even just with Puck. She needs her girls.

But, she can't call them. Well, not all of them at least. She knows that it would upset Rachel if she told her that her mother invited her over. Rachel and Shelby were on friendly terms, but she is not the mom that Rachel wanted. Instead, Shelby adopts her daughter, which is a sore spot for Rachel. She thinks her mother replaced her.

To tell Brittany, would be just like telling Rachel. Brittany is sick of keeping secrets, even though she's forced to all the time. She hates not being out to the whole school. She hates having to hide the fact that her mother is none other than the national championship winning cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester. Brittany keeps too many secrets and would not keep this secret, especially since she knows how much it would hurt Rachel.

So, Santana is the only one she could turn to. It's ironic, because she's the worst of the girls with dealing with emotional situations. But, when Quinn texts Santana right after she receives the letter, the Latina just rushes into the bathroom and holds her tight. Quinn gives Santana the letter to read, and she just nods.

"What do you want to do," Santana asks Quinn.

"I want to see her, but I can't do that to Rachel. Shelby is already a sore spot with her. I can't tell her and if we tell Brittany…"

"…she'll tell Rachel. So, we don't tell them. We tell them that you and I need to do a project for English with Puck at my house. And we can't be distracted."

"I don't want to lie to them."

Santana kisses Quinn gently. "Baby Mama, think of it more as sparing their feelings than lying to them."

…

Saturday comes along. On Saturdays it's been their tradition to all do homework together so that they can all get it out of the way and hang out the rest of the weekend together without any obligations. But this Saturday, Quinn and Santana kiss their other two girlfriends good-bye as they get ready to leave for "Santana's."

"Do you guys really have to go," Brittany whines.

Santana kisses her softly, "We'll be back soon, Baby. I promise." Santana goes to kiss Rachel and Quinn says her good-bye to Brittany.

Quinn kisses Rachel passionately. "I love you," she tells the brunette, almost as an apology. Rachel questions the gesture, but tells Quinn that she loves her too. And with that, the two girls are off to pick up Puck and head to Shelby's.

…

"Welcome," Shelby says as she answers the door for the three teenagers. "I'm sorry, who's this," she asks gesturing to Santana.

"Miss Corcoran," Quinn starts.

"Shelby," the older woman interrupts.

"Shelby. This is hard on me and I needed some moral support from my girlfriend."

Shelby takes them into the living room where Beth was sleeping in her playpen. "Would you like to hold her," the brunette asks. Quinn nods. Shelby gets up and places the baby in the blonde girl's arms. "So, you're in a relationship with a girl now?" Puck starts to chuckle and Santana elbows him in the ribs. "Is there something I'm missing?"

Quinn exhales, looking at her daughter for a second. "I'm dating three girls actually. We'll were all dating each other. This is Santana. Santana and I are also dating another girl named Brittany, and Rachel."

"Rachel? As in Rachel Berry? My Rachel?" Quinn and Santana both nod. "How is she?"

Quinn passes Beth to Puck and starts to cry. Santana holds her and answers Shelby. "She's doing well. Straight A's in school. She's on the cheerleading team now. Still obsessed with beating your Vocal Adrenaline in Regionals though."

Shelby nods as tears start to flow from her eyes. "I don't like how I left things with her. Having Beth made me realize how much I've missed out with Rachel. I would like to try again if she'll let me. I would like to see her. Tell her that for me, okay?" Quinn nods and the conversation shifts to Puck.

…

Santana suggests to Quinn that they go to her house before heading to see Brittany and Rachel. Santana pulls the blonde girl into the house and kisses her softly, before Mami Lopez stops her.

"Mija, can I talk to you?" Santana just sends Quinn up to her room and heads into the living room with her mother.

"I know that you are dating this girl, Mija, but you know that your tias and tios are coming over with your cousins. I would like it if they…"

"…if they didn't see Quinn," Santana finishes for her mother angrily. "Because you would rather not have to explain about how your only daughter is in love with not only one girl, but three gorgeous women."

"I rather not talk about this phase that you're going through with them, you're right."

"A phase? You think this is a phase? Mami, I love them. I don't know what part of that you don't understand."

"You loved Noah didn't you? And some of your other boyfriends as well. And even if you are gay, Mija, three women? You will only pick one person eventually and it might not be one of the three of them. I don't want the whole family to see all of your indiscretions."

"Indiscretions? Rachel, Brittany, and Quinn are not indiscretions. God, I can't be here right now," Santana yells at her mother. Quickly, Santana grabs a bag and packs enough clothes for the weekend. She drags Quinn back into the car and they headsback to the Berrys.

They find Brittany and Rachel on the couch watching a movie. Quinn snuggles between the two girls and Santana latches onto Brittany. Rachel snakes her arm around Quinn, seeing the blonde visibly upset.

"What happened," Rachel asks timidly.

"Had a fight with my mom," Santana half-lies. "Quinn saw it. She called this an indiscretion."

"What's that," Brittany questions.

"Something we're not," Santana tells her. "I love you. All of you."

"We love you too, S," Brittany smiles at her.

"Come on," Rachel urges. "Let's go upstairs and cuddle."

…

The weekend flew by on by Monday they were all ready for school, but Santana and Quinn weren't ready for Puck in Glee.

"Do you want to go back to Shelby's and see Beth again this weekend," he asks Quinn in front of everyone.

"Dude," Finn calls out, "you got to see Beth?"

"Yeah, Quinn, Santana, and I went to Shelby's and saw her this weekend. Got an invite back whenever we wanted."

While Puck showed off some of the pictures he took on his phone, like a doting father, Quinn and Santana couldn't look any guiltier. Rachel, clearly upset, storms out, Brittany in tow. Santana and Quinn chase after them.

All four girls end up in the Cheerios' locker room and Rachel spun to face Quinn and Santana, tears already drenching her face. "You lied to us. You said you had a project to do, but instead you were with Shelby?"

"I was with Beth," Quinn answers softly, but still filled with guilt.

"And Beth's with Shelby. My mom, Shelby. The one who traded me in for a newer model."

"Hey," Santana argues, "That's not fair. Shelby wants…"

"I don't care what Shelby wants. How could you do this to me?" Rachel leaves the locker room, and Brittany goes to follow again.

"Brit," Quinn cries out.

"You lied to us. Girlfriends don't lie to each other." With that Brittany follows Rachel out the door.

"We are royally fucked," Santana tells her blonde companion.

"I know."

…

Brittany looks all over the school for Rachel, but when she can't find the petite diva, she knows that Rachel must have taken the bus home. Brittany sighs and heads for her own little sanctuary in the school, her mother's office.

Sue is still there, working on a new Cheerios routine, when Brittany sits down opposite her.

"Can I help you," Sue asks her daughter.

"I need a mom moment," the blonde Cheerio tells her. Sue nods and waits for her to continue. "Everything's falling apart. Santana and Quinn lied to me and Rachel about seeing Shelby and Beth. Rachel's mad at them and Santana got into a fight with her mom because she doesn't think that we're going to last."

"How do you feel, Brittany?"

"I'm mad. I hate secrets and lying and I just want everything to be out in the open." Brittany raises her gaze to meet her mother's eyes. "Everything."

Sue immediately understands what she's asking. "We can't do that, Brittany. We can't tell anyone else about us."

"Why not? Are you ashamed of me?"

Sue starts to tear up at the question. "Come here," she tells her daughter. Brittany gets up and sits on her mother's lap. "I've done a lot of things wrong in my life. I have regrets and I have major accomplishments. And you are the greatest accomplishment I have. You're my daughter. My flesh, my blood. And I love you more than anything else in this world. I'd gladly give my life up for you. Now, this is the thing you need to understand. I'm not well liked here. I'm tough, and I don't take any bullshit. I can't risk that someone would take out their hatred of me on you. I love you too much to hurt you that way. And honestly, they can do whatever they want to me and I will be happy because at the end of the day, you're safe. Understand?"

Brittany nods and hugs her mother tightly. "I love you, Mommy."

Sue kisses the side of her head. "My little girl." They both smile, before Sue gets back to business. "Now, about Santana and her mother, that's their issues and all you can do is be there for Santana. And Rachel and Quinn, Rachel just needs to learn to forgive her. And I think, if you start by forgiving Santana and Quinn for lying, Rachel may be more open to forgiving them too. She's stubborn, but she loves you. She loves all of you."

Brittany gets up and smiles at her mother. "Thank you."

"Anytime, little girl. Anytime."

…

So Brittany forgave Quinn and Santana and Rachel followed suit soon after. But, things were still weird between Rachel and Quinn. They lived under the same roof and Rachel found it hard to forgive Quinn. That was until the blonde girl came into Rachel's room one night crying.

"I saw my mom today," Quinn cries softly, cuddling up next to Rachel. "It was when Santana and I went to pick you and Brittany up from dance. We were holding hands and I saw my mom and she just gave me this look. I felt so horribly but I didn't want to say anything. I hate so much that she rejected me and all of you and our love. Then I realized that it's kind of similar to how you felt with Shelby and I'm really sorry that me seeing her hurt you so bad. I mean I understood that there were issues between you, but I never really just how bad it could hurt. I'm really, really sorry. I love you. Please forgive me."

Rachel pulls Quinn close to her and smiles through her tears. "All's forgiven. I love you too."

"She wants to see you."

"Shelby."

"Yeah. She doesn't like how things ended between you and her."

"Can you come with me?"

"Absolutely. And I'm sure Brittany and Santana will too, if you like." Rachel just nods and cuddles the blonde girl close until they fall asleep.

…

Ever since their fight, Santana has been avoiding her mother. She thought that her mother would have understood by now that she loves these girls and has no intention of ever leaving them. She spent a lot of time over at Brittany's house and at Rachel's and Quinn's, but the time had come for them to finish the confrontation.

"Mami," Santana calls out. "Can I talk to you?"

"What is it, Mija," her mother asks her, sitting down in the living room.

Santana sighs, "I need you to listen to what I have to say and not say anything until I'm done. I love them, Mami. Truly, I do. It's different with them than with everyone else I've been with. It was something special when I was only with Brittany, even though we weren't in a relationship, but there still was love. And then Rachel came along and not too much later, we all made everything official, and it was good. But, we weren't whole. Not until Quinn came. Now, I know that you don't completely understand, but I need them. I need all of them. We all need each other. I don't want to lose them, and I can see a future with them. You might not approve, but I don't want to leave them. I love those girls so much. Please tell me you understand."

"Mija, I accept your choice, but I can't condone it. I would love nothing more than to see you dressed all in white and walk down the aisle with a loving man and then have lots of Latino babies."

"I can't give you that. Well, I can't give you all of that. Maybe I can get married to Brittany, Quinn, and Rachel eventually, but I can't now. And maybe, eventually, we'll give you grandchildren. They may not be Latino. They may be blonde, or come out with a real loud mouth and desire to sing show tunes for the rest of his or her life, but I can't see a future without them. Now, I understand that you don't want the rest of the family to know and we can wait to cross that bridge. But, you should know that this is the path I want."

Mami Lopez kisses her daughter on the head and finally says, "Okay. That sounds like a compromise."

…

Rachel is nervous. She might have all three of her girls with her, but it's still weird going to see her mother and adoptive sister. She sits quietly in the car as Quinn drives and Brittany finally breaks the silence.

"So, what is your relationship to Beth, Rachel?"

The brunette turns to her, "What do you mean?"

"Well, your mommy adopted her, so she would be your sister. But, Quinn's her real mommy and all of us are in a relationship with Quinn so wouldn't that make her own kind of daughter, too?"

Everyone just laughs at that, because Brittany is kind of right. And that laughter is exactly what Rachel needs when they arrive at Shelby's house.

Shelby smiles when she answers the door and she pulls her daughter into a hug with an "I'm sorry," whispered into Rachel's ear. Unsure, Rachel hugs her back and then relaxes.

Quinn tears up at their exchange and is filled with hope for her own daughter. She smiles and hopes that she can be a good "Aunt Quinn," to her daughter and that one day, Rachel and Shelby will really be okay.