A/N: Welcome to Chapter 1! Just to let everyone know, this is set about 5 years after Quinn and Puck graduate high school and they're about 23-24 years old. I don't want to give much more away because most of it will be explained in this chapter or subsequent ones. I will be eventually finishing up We Can Do This but I just wanted a change of pace for a while. This will be a full length story like JLMT and WCDT since this is the final sequel in that "trilogy". I hope you enjoy! Xoxo-Katie

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Quinn sat by herself at the kitchen table and absentmindedly twirled a lock of her shoulder length hair around her finger as she gazed around at the boxes and packing materials strewn about the countertops. Despite all of the handwork that lay behind and ahead of them, she really wasn't sad to leave the apartment.

The last place that had actually been difficult to leave had been Puck's house. So much had happened there in their little basement apartment that he made for them. It was one of the ways in which he proved to her that she was right to let him try to be the man she needed him to be. It was where they first told one another that they loved each other. It was where they brought Beth home to and realized that, together, they could do this; they could make it work and for seven years, they had. Yes, despite being able to get out of Lima for a few years during college, that had been the hardest place to leave.

When they had moved back home after she graduated with her degree in English education and he completed his police training at Ohio State they knew the small two-bedroom apartment they moved into would just be temporary. Now, within a matter of days they would have their own home for the first time ever. For years, home had been where the heart was and Quinn was a firm believer in that mantra but there was still something intangibly appealing about having a house they could call their own.

Finishing her glass of orange juice and placing it in the sink, Quinn decided it was time to go make sure Beth was actually brushing her teeth and making her bed like she had been asked to do so that they could leave and begin their day.

XXXXX

With a smile on her face, Quinn walked into her classroom for the first time since summer vacation began in early June. The sweltering August sun blazed in through the windows despite the fact that the air conditioning was on. She flipped on the light switch and adjusted the thermostat to make it several degrees cooler. There was no way she would be able to unpack boxes and put up decorations if she was uncomfortably hot the entire time.

"Mommy, it's hot in here," the little girl holding her hand whined.

"I know B-Bug, it'll get better soon. Here, let's pull your hair up," Quinn replied as she sat down at her desk and began pulling her daughter's light brown hair into a ponytail. "There, is that OK?"

"Yup! Now we match! You have a ponytail and I have a ponytail!"

"Are you ready to get to work?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. While I go through these boxes I want you to take this dust rag and wipe off the desks. Can you do that? Don't forget, we're meeting your daddy for lunch in a couple of hours. "

"Yeah! Can we go to McDonalds? I wanna go to McDonalds, but only the one with the slide!"

"We'll see," Quinn smiled as she handed the rag to Beth and the seven year old skipped to begin her task.

She knew that she would probably have to redo them all the next day with actual surface cleaner, but Beth had begged her to come and help that day so the least she could do was give her something easy to do. This would be Quinn's second year of teaching Honors English for Sophomores and Seniors at McKinley High and well as her first year as an assistant coach of the Cheerios. That position had virtually fallen into her lap. After graduating college she was surprised to be hired so quickly at her old high school and she was ecstatic to be doing what she actually wanted to do. No more than two weeks after school had let out for the summer, Principal Figgins (yes, he was still there) had called her at home to ask her if she would be willing to help coach for the Cheerios.

"What happened to Miss Reeder?" she had asked.

"She has decided to give up her position because of differences between herself and Coach Sylvester."

"That's not really surprising," Quinn chuckled. "Have you talked to Sue about it?"

"Yes and she said, and these are her words and not mine, that even though you were weak and quit the squad in your prime, you are the only person she will accept as the coach."

"I don't know Principal Figgins, I-."

"Please, it would make it much easier for us to hire internally instead of having to look outside of the school and there would also be a slight wage increase."

Money was a hard thing to say "no" to so in the end, despite her reservations, Quinn agreed to coach the Junior Varsity Cheerios.

Looking up from the box of books she was sorting through, Quinn saw her daughter diligently dusting off all of the desktops and chairs. Maybe I won't have to redo them myself after all, she thought. She couldn't believe her little girl was going to be in second grade. Beth was smart for her age, always getting high marks on her tests and report cards. Unfortunately, because she caught onto the lessons so quickly, she also had a habit of being a bit talkative in class or acting out. When Quinn and Puck had gone in for parent teacher conferences the previous year, Beth's first grade teacher noted that she tried moving her seat but Beth got along so well with everyone and still talked during class, however she responded well when asked to be quiet. When the pair questioned their daughter about it she merely shrugged and said she was bored.

"I'm done, Mommy!" Beth said cheerfully as she skipped up to Quinn's desk. "What can I do now?"

"Well, B-Bug, I'm just unpacking some books that go on these shelves. If you want, you can hand them to me and I'll put them away."

Quinn and Beth spent the next hour and a half unpacking the boxes and setting up bulletin boards. Just as they had finished putting up the border- which mostly consisted of Quinn doing all of the work and Beth giving her "approval"- Quinn's cell phone rang.

"If it's Daddy I wanna answer it!" Beth called out.

"Go ahead," Quinn said after reading Puck's name on the caller ID.

"Hi Daddy!"

"Hey, B-Rex," Puck replied on the other end of the phone. "Are you having a good time at school with your mom?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you actually helping her or just playing around?"

"I helped! I dusted off the desks and helped with books and the bulletin board."

"Good. Lemme talk to your mom."

"Hi there," Quinn said, taking the phone from Beth. "You were up and gone early this morning."

"I kissed you goodbye, Sleeping Beauty. I just wanted to try and finish up some things over here before I heard off to work this afternoon."

"I vaguely remember that, now that you mention it. How are things coming along?"

"Great but now I'm hungry. Do you still wanna grab lunch? I'd like to eat something before work."

"Absolutely. We're almost done here. Do you just want to meet us somewhere?" Quinn suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Puck agreed. "Should we let munchkin pick?"

"No, because if it were up to her, we would eat every meal at the McDonald's with a play place. Can we meet at the café downtown? That way I can get a decent salad and you can get a burger or something."

"OK, meet you there in twenty minutes or so."

"See you soon," Quinn said before hanging up her phone. "Beth, come on we're meeting your dad for lunch."

"Are we coming back?"

"Not today."

"But I wanna play on the chalkboard!" Beth pouted.

"Maybe later this week, OK? Let's get going, we don't want to keep him waiting."

Quinn gathered her things together and quickly surveyed the room. It was coming together quite nicely, a vast change from the previous year. She had been ill-prepared for just how much work she had to put into getting her classroom together. Her overall goal had been to give the room character; to turn it into a place that was comfortable and not as institutional looking as the rest of the school. She wanted it to be a place that she wouldn't mind being in for seven to eight hours a day. In a way, she wanted it to feel like a home.

This year, Quinn merely had to uncover bookshelves that she had placed sheets on over two months ago and change her bulletin boards. After airing out the room and lighting a candle- the one Principal Figgins wasn't supposed to know about- the room soon lost the musty smell that had hung about it when she and Beth first walked in. Later in the week, she would go through her papers and lesson plans in order to make sure her books were neatly in order, but that was hardly an easy task to perform with a seven-year-old running around.

Taking the girl by the hand, Quinn shut off the light and locked the door before leading her down the hallway. They weren't more than five steps away from the room when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Fabray, I'd like to speak to you for a moment."

Quinn froze momentarily, her arm tugging Beth back to prevent her from going any further. For a split second, it felt like she was back in high school again, being called out by Coach Sylvester for something and she instinctively lifted her hand to check the height of her ponytail.

"Yes Coach," she asked, slowly turning around. Even though she would be starting her second year at McKinley, it still felt strange to call her former teachers by their first names, even Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury. Actually, even though it had been nearly five years, Quinn also seemed unable to remember that it was now Mrs. Schuester, only realizing her mistake after receiving bewildered looks from her students.

"We need to have a little powwow to discuss tryouts in a few weeks."

"Sure, I'm free tomorrow afternoon."

"How about today? I have a meeting tomorrow with a firework company."

"I was actually just leaving to go out to lunch," Quinn tried to explain.

"Lunch is for the weak Fabray. That's why I gave it up. It's nothing but a gigantic waste of my time. Don't you remember that? I know it's been a few years, but still."

"Don't you remember that I haven't been Fabray in over a year?"

"I vaguely remember hearing something about that and completely forgetting it three seconds later."

"My mommy's name is Mrs. Puckerman," Beth announced proudly.

"Did your clone just speak to me?"

"Beth, what did I tell you about interrupting grown up conversations?"

"I dunno," the little girl shrugged and her mother knew she was employing the 'selective memory' she inherited from her father.

"She is the spitting image of you," Sue said, looking closely at Beth. "Minus the brown hair. You should talk to your cloners about that. It's one of the reasons I haven't cloned myself yet. There is always a chance of imperfections and Sue Sylvester never settles for anything less than perfection."

"Coach Sylvester, this is my daughter, Beth. Sweetie, Miss Sylvester was my cheerleading coach in high school."

"Hi there," Sue said, extending her hand, much to Quinn's surprise.

"My mommy was the best cheerleader ever," Beth replied, shaking the outstretched hand. Quinn held her breath and waited for Sue to make a comment about her being kicked off of the squad for being pregnant with Beth, but none came. The tall blonde in her signature track suit merely stood up straight and nodded.

"She certainly was one of the best, which is why she's going to help me coach. So, go have your little vomit inducing family lunch and pop by my office when you get back."

"Fine," Quinn sighed. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"That a girl. See you later Pu-. Nope. Can't do it. That's just weird. Just get used to me calling you Fabray and deal with it."

"Mommy," Beth said as they climbed into Quinn's car in the teacher's lot. "That lady was a weirdo."

"B-Bug, it's not nice to call people names, but you honestly have no idea."

XXXXX

Puck was the first to arrive at the small café downtown. He parked his truck and checked his hands to make sure they were clean. He changed his shirt before he left because the other one was covered in paint splatters. Even though he had been up early that morning, Puck didn't mind the fact that he had to go into work at two-thirty. He liked being on the afternoon shift sometimes because he could still do other stuff in the morning. The only downfall was not being home to have dinner with his girls or tuck Beth into bed. Still, he couldn't exactly argue with the pay and benefits he got as a police officer.

Sometimes, he still loved seeing the shocked expression on the faces of people he hadn't seen in awhile when he told them he was a cop. He would have been the first to admit that it wasn't where people expected to him end up but he loved his job. When he wasn't causing trouble when he was younger he had always liked helping people out. Growing up without a dad made him naturally protective of his family and that drive transferred to his friends and his community. Puck also felt like he had a keener understanding of the job than some of his fellow officers because of his own troubled past. Eventually, he wanted to work with some of Lima's troubled youth, but first he had to pay his dues as a patrol officer. At the end of the day, he was happy to say that he was doing something that made his family proud of him.

Puck smiled when he saw Quinn pull up next to him and waved to an excited Beth in the backseat. He climbed out of his car and walked around to Quinn's, opening her door for her and kissing her over the top of it. The trio made their way into the restaurant where they were seated at a table.

"Did you have fun today?" Puck asked Beth.

"Yes! I met Mommy's boss."

"Figgins?"

"No," Quinn shook her head. "Sue. We ran into her on the hallway and now I get to go back and have a meeting with her."

"Today?"

"Yep. I'm dropping Beth off at your mom's. Sara's going to watch her for the hour or so that I'm gone."

"Want me to take her over there?" Puck offered. "That way you don't have to go back and forth anymore than you have to."

"That would be great," Quinn replied. "How was your morning? How are things coming along?"

"Good. All of the bedrooms are painted. Finn said that the carpeting throughout the house is being done tomorrow and the flooring in the kitchen and front entryway is being done the day after that."

"So everything is on schedule?"

"Believe it or not," Puck grinned. "If it all keeps going this way, we'll be moving in next Thursday, just like we planned."

"Is my new bedroom ready yet Daddy?" Beth asked.

"Almost B-Rex. You're gonna love it. Uncle Finn's been making sure it's extra special for you."

"I still can't believe we'll finally be in our own house," Quinn almost squealed. "I need to pack some more when I get home."

After living in Puck's mom's basement throughout high school, a series of apartments in college, followed by one more after they moved back to Lima, Quinn and Puck were both thrilled to be moving into a house that they could really and truly call their own. At first, they started looking at homes that were already on the market, but frankly, Quinn was tired of living in a place that wasn't exactly what she wanted. Fortunately, Finn had recently started working as a general contractor and was always looking for business.

After high school, Finn had continued on to a local community college while Rachel pursued her dreams on the stage under the bright lights of New York City. Although they stayed together for a year or so, they eventually broke things off, much to everyone's shock. It seemed sudden and no one could get the full story from either of them. When Puck asked his friend what had happened, he merely shrugged and said he never thought city life was for him. When Quinn talked to a devastated Rachel for hours upon end over the phone, she said she was torn but she was signed onto a show and couldn't leave. Quinn tried to reassure her that Finn wouldn't want her to quit and if they were meant to be together, they would be someday.

Like Rachel, Finn threw himself into work, using one of Burt's connections to get an apprenticeship with a contractor until he had built up the money and skills to start his own business. The only time Finn and Rachel had seen each other since their breakup was at Quinn and Puck's wedding. Finn was the Best Man and although Mercedes was the Maid of Honor Rachel had been invited with the rest of the glee club. They were cordial to one another and after the wedding they went on living their separate lives.

It saddened Quinn to think that they couldn't find some way to make it work the way she and Puck had. She quickly learned to avoid the subject around Finn. Once when she brought it up after the two of them had met to discuss plans for the new house he snapped at her that "not everyone gets to marry their high school sweetheart". She wondered if seeing her and Puck so happy together bothered him.

"How much more do we have left to pack?" Puck asked, pulling Quinn from her thoughts.

"Well, I think I can get the kitchen mostly finished up tonight. That will leave more bedroom stuff for later. It's weird because at school I'm unpacking boxes and at the apartment I'm packing them. I'm living in a world of boxes."

"When I get home I can pack up some of the heavier stuff like the big mixer thingy and-."

"You should go to bed when you get home. You've been painting all morning and you're working an eight hour shift."

"Mommy, it's summer. Daddy should get to go to bed later just like me," Beth said, nibbling on a carrot stick.

"We'll see," Quinn smiled, eying Puck.

Once they all finished their lunch, Beth left with her dad while Quinn drove back to school in the blistering August heat. The humidity was so high that it was almost nauseating. Although she was excited to be coaching the JV Cheerios, Quinn dreaded the idea of working with Coach Sylvester. After she was kicked off of the team her sophomore year and quit her junior year she was surprised that Sue would have even considered her for the job.

Even though she knew it had been for the best and despite the harsh regulations, Quinn missed cheering. Sure, the glee club and her family helped to fill the void, but there was still something inexplicable that she longed for. She hoped that she would be able to temper some of Sue's less attractive qualities when it came to coaching.

"Took you long enough," Sue said, not even glancing up when Quinn appeared in her doorway.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, ignoring the comment.

"As you know, tryouts are the first week back from summer vacation. You'll be running the Junior Varsity tryouts but I'll be there to offer my input as well. These girls you choose will be cheering for me one day."

"But I still get to make the final call, right?" Quinn asked.

"Of course, Fabray. This is your squad, but it might behoove you to value my opinion highly since I have been doing this for much longer and I have twelve National Championships under my belt."

"Coach Sylvester, I know how you coach and I just want to be clear that I have a very different outlook on the role of a coach."

"Such as?"

"Well, it's not my goal to make everyone cry during practice. Also, don't expect me to promote skipping meals."

"That's all fine and dandy, just make sure they know what to expect when and if they make it to Varsity."

"Oh, I can guarantee that my girls will make varsity and not only that, but I'll show you that you don't have to be a tyrant to achieve victory."

"Fabray, I like your spunk, I always have but before you step into this position of power, I have one question for you: Is it better to be feared or to be loved?"

"I didn't know cheering was so Machiavellian," Quinn mused.

"It's not. Cheerleading is Sylvesterellian. That bastard stole it from me."

"But that's not poss-."

"Don't argue about it," Sue said. "I think we're done here."

"But we didn't talk much about tryouts. What routines will they be taught?"

"That's your job. Do you expect me to do everything for you?"

"Well…no, I just thought-."

"Look, Fabray, I'm not going to hold your hand the entire time. I'm way too busy with everything else so you get to choreograph and block out a routine, pick the music and all of that crap. Let's just pretend for the time being that I trust your judgment."

Quinn left Sue's office feeling a little more than disconcerted. She knew working with her old coach would be challenging but now she felt like Sue would be both overbearing and unhelpful all at the same time. She knew that if she asked Puck he would just tell her to brush it off and tell Sue to fuck off. While it would be tempting to do just that, Quinn needed to learn a more effective way of dealing with Sue. There was one person at McKinley who knew how to deal with Coach Sylvester better than anyone else: Mr. Schue. As she walked out of the school, Quinn made a mental note to stop by the choir room at some point before the start of the school year for some valuable words of wisdom.

XXXXX

As she drove to Puck's mom's house to pick up Beth, Quinn thought back to the first time her husband drove her there all those years ago after Sectionals when she had no place else to go. If it hadn't been for Ruth and her own mom's support over the years, Quinn knew that she and Puck never would have made it. Even now, they still relied on them for babysitting help. On days that Puck couldn't get her, Judy would pick Beth up from school and take her to her house until Quinn could pick her up after work.

Yes, Quinn knew that she and Puck were far luckier than most people had been in similar situations. Quinn was especially grateful that Sara was home for the afternoon and willing to look after her niece. Puck's sister was now just a few months shy of her eighteenth birthday and would be starting her senior year at McKinley. Influenced by Quinn and Puck she joined the glee club with one of Puck's old guitars on her shoulder and never looked back. She was street smart like Puck but also book smart like Quinn and the two were closer than Quinn was with her own sister in many ways.

Finding the front door unlocked, Quinn let herself in, announcing her arrival.

"Hello!"

"We're all in the kitchen," Ruth called out. "How was your meeting?"

"Oh, just a bucketful of fun," Quinn replied sarcastically as she kissed Beth on the top of her head.

"Does she even teach anything?" Sara asked.

"She is now a permanent sub, meaning that she's supposed to be called when another teacher is sick. The keywords are supposed to."

"Mommy, I'm helping with dinner!"

"I see that. What are you making with Nana and Aunt Sara?"

"Chicken!" Beth said, waving a celery stick in the air.

"You guys should stick around for dinner," Sara offered. "It's just Mom and me, but there's going to be plenty of food."

"I think we can do that," Quinn said. "I didn't have anything special planned. This will be nice since part of my kitchen is packed up anyway."

"I hear the house is coming along nicely," Ruth said as she placed a tray of rolls in the oven. "Noah said he and Finn were working on it this morning?"

"They painted the bedrooms," Quinn confirmed. "I think we're going to drive over tomorrow night to take a few boxes of things. If we do it little by little maybe it won't seem quite as overwhelming, but I think we've become experts at moving by now."

"Do you still need help next Thursday?" Sara asked.

"Yes, and we will be paying you in pizza and beer afterwards, but no beer for you. Only pizza and pop."

"Seventeen is pretty close to twenty-one."

"And still very far away," Ruth said sternly but with a smile. "Who wants to help set the table?"

XXXXX

"Are we gonna have a pool at our new house?" Beth asked Quinn as they walked into the apartment. "Daddy said we would get a pool like Nana has at her house."

"Eventually we will," Quinn assured the girl. "But maybe not right away. We will have a swing set for you."

"Awesome. Is it going to have monkey bars? I can almost do them by myself on the playground at school."

"I'm not sure. But you know what do know?"

"What?"

"It's bath time. Run over to the bathroom while I go put my things down and I'll be there in a minute."

"But Mommy…"

"I'm going to time you. Ready…Set…Go!"

Quinn chuckled as Beth scampered away quickly and went into the kitchen to drop her purse and bags over the back of a chair. Looking around she sighed heavily, knowing that she had a lot of work to do.

Isn't summer supposed to be relaxing? she wondered.

Once Beth was in bed, Quinn changed into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt before she began to work on the kitchen again. Her goal was to not only pack things, but organize and throw things away as she went so that it would make the unpacking process easier next week. She didn't really realize how long she had been working for when Puck came through the door a little after eleven.

"You're still working in here?" he asked, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm almost done, I promise."

"Nope, you are done. This can wait until tomorrow. If I can't pack up stuff, neither can you."

Puck led her over to the couch as unbuttoned the top few buttons on his uniform as he plopped them down onto the sofa. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear he kissed her, deeply breathing her in before he pulled away.

"Hi," he said simply.

"Hi back," she replied. "How was work?"

"Well, I'm here so it couldn't have been too bad."

"I hate when you say that."

"Why? I'm just joking."

"I know, I just…I don't know. Were you busy?"

"A little. Busted some kids for playing around with fireworks, pulled a few people over. You know, small stuff. How was your meeting with Sue?"

"Better and worse than I expected it to be," Quinn replied after a moment.

"That bad?" Puck asked.

"She just wants me to do all of these things but she wants to have her hand in the pot at the same time. I'm just worried that we're going to clash on a lot of things."

"Babe, if you didn't clash on a lot of things I might be worried about you."

"Good point."

"So, I'm assuming that you didn't tell her."

"No," Quinn sighed. "I decided to wait a little while. I just want to try and make the first few weeks go by as smoothly as possible."

"Good point," Puck agreed with her. "Besides, for one thing you're not even showing yet and what is she going to do when she find out? Kick you off the team?"

"Again," she added. "You're right. Why should I tell her? We haven't even told that many people about it outside of our close family and friends anyway."

"Exactly. Is it even going to affect your job?"

"No. It's not like I'm going to be the one stunting or flying or anything like that and the JV season ends before the Varsity season. We're done as soon as the conference competition is over in February."

"Which gives you a month to sit back and relax," Puck said tracing a line across Quinn's still flat stomach.

"Relax," she muttered. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It's that thing we're doing right now where we forget about work and the house for a minute and just spend time together."

"Oh right, I think I like that," Quinn said, leaving forward to kiss Puck. "Does that still count as relaxing?"

"Absolutely," he replied.

"Do you want to put in a movie?"

"Are you going to fall asleep on me before it's over?"

"Don't I always?"

Puck merely shook his head and stood up from the couch. Once they decided on a movie, Puck sank back into the couch, pulling Quinn over to him as she easily sank into his arms. Once he had grabbed the remote and hit the "play" button he set it back down again and threw a blanket over Quinn and himself, kissing her lightly on the forehead as she settled down further into his arms.

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