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[curve]

Alright, so apparently the fic isn't too large to be locked, but it is too large to be public, so I have to split into two posts.


The third time Rachel started an impromptu practice session wasn’t anything that could have been even remotely expected. In fact, it probably didn’t even count as a real practice session considering only three members of glee club were there. Rachel couldn't help but think about Shelby multiple times over the summer. She had an intense need to find out why Shelby rejected her the way she did. How could she not? They were so much alike, and although Rachel loved both of her fathers more than anything in the world, she needed a mother in her life as well; she needed someone who would make her a Gaga outfit, or talk with her about girl stuff, about sex, about Finn. It was relatively easy for Rachel to find Shelby's address with just a few quick clicks on the internet.

“I'll have to remember that,” Rachel told herself, “when I'm famous on Broadway so I can avoid any unwanted stalkers.”

She considered going to see her numerous times throughout the summer, but always came up with some excuse (I have to hang out with Finn, my dad’s are home and they might wonder where I’m going). It wasn’t until August, a few short weeks before school started, when Finn was busy with football and her dad’s were at work that she borrowed her Daddy’s car and drove to Shelby’s house. It took her five minutes (although it felt like twenty) to get up the courage to ring the doorbell. When she finally did though, she was met with someone completely unexpected.

“Noah?” she gasped. “What in the world are you doing here?”

Rachel’s mind immediately zeroed in on the fact that Noah had a thing for moms and she silently prayed that Shelby did not have a pool. There would not be enough therapy in the world if that turned out to be the case.

"Jesus, sorry Rachel,” he answered, running a hand through his mohawk. “We didn't want you to find out this way...”

“Find out about what, Noah?” Rachel demanded, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him.

Just then, Quinn appeared beside Puck in the doorway, her mouth dropping open at the sight of Rachel.

“What’s going on?” Rachel asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

“Rachel, we didn’t want to tell you,” Quinn began, “because… we didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I'm not a child, Quinn. Can you please just cut to the point and tell me the truth?”

“Quinn looked to Puck for some sort of help, but he just shrugged, entirely unprepared for this situation at hand. “After I gave birth, Shelby was at the hospital and is...”

“She adopted your daughter,” Rachel finished her sentence for her, putting together the pieces. She sighed, feeling completely abandoned and dejected. She couldn't make sense of it. When they had talked at Regionals, Shelby had made it seem like she wasn't ready to be a mom but now that the truth was out, it felt like she didn't want to be Rachel's mom.

“Rachel, I'm so sorry about this.” It wasn't like Quinn to be so apologetic, especially when it came to Rachel Berry, but she was there when Rachel realized Shelby was her mom and she understood that this was obviously very painful for the girl. “It just sort of…happened.” Quinn paused, drawing in a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“She can't have any more children and she really feels like she missed out on raising you. She knows firsthand how devestiating it is to give up a baby and she promised she'd do everything in her power to make sure Puck and I get to be a part of Beth's life.” Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but Quinn continued on, “we didn't do this to hurt you and neither did Shelby. Letting her take Beth just felt like it was best possible thing for everyone involved.”

Rachel shifted uncomfortably on her feet and looked up at the bright August sun as she tried desperately hard not to cry. Something about her looked so vulnerable that it tugged at Quinn’s heart and, without thinking, she stepped all the way onto the porch and wrapped her arms around the girl in a tight hug.

“She loves you,” Quinn whispered into her ear and she felt Rachel nod against her shoulder, a strangled cry escaping her lips, “so much.”

“It's true, Berry,” Puck said, reaching over and awkwardly patting her on the head, “talks about you all the freaking time.”

“She…does?” Rachel asked. A small smile spread to her lips as she lifted her head from Quinn’s shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Yeah,” Puck smirked because he knew no one liked to be talked about quite as much as Rachel Barbra Berry. “She's always saying how pretty you are and what a beautiful voice you have.”

“How proud of you she is,” Quinn added with a gentle smile knowing full well how important it was to feel like you'd made your parents proud.

“Really?” Rachel asked, looking at the blonde skeptically.

“Yes, really,” Quinn promised, meeting Rachel’s eyes so she’d know Quinn was telling the truth.

“Well, I suppose that if I’m going to have a pseudo little sister, it’s only fitting that she be at least somewhat musically inclined…”

Quinn fought back the urge to roll her eyes as Rachel continued, “You both have very good voices, although you admittedly lack my years of training. I'm sure that if vocal lessons are started early enough, little Beth will be almost as good as me.”

“I think Shelby's already started her lessons,” Puck told her, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Rachel exclaimed before studying his face more carefully. “Noah Puckerman,” she said, batting at his chest playfully, “vocal lessons are nothing to be joked about. The future singing career of your daughter depends on them.”

“You're absoutley right,” Quinn interjected in an attempt to placate Rachel, “but I think right now Shelby is just focused on things like Beth holding her head up by herself and getting her to sleep through the night.”

“That's true,” Rachel agreed, “vocal lessons are probably completely wasted on any infant under six months of age.”

Quinn nodded and they stood in awkward silence in the stifling August heat for a few minutes before any of them spoke again. “Do you um,” Quinn started, breaking the silence, “want to come in or something?”

“Okay,” Rachel agreed before following Puck and Quinn inside the cool, air conditioned house.

“Shelby’s not here right now,” Quinn explained before Rachel had a chance to ask, “but she should be home soon if you want to wait around for her.”

“What are you two doing here, anyway?” Rachel asked, glancing from Puck to Quinn as the very dramatic and irrational part of her brain began wondering if she had perhaps interrupted a kidnapping.

“Stealin' stuff,” Puck snarked, prompting Quinn to jab her bony elbow into his ribs. “Or, you know, babysitting the kid.”

“You’re babysitting?” Rachel asked as she looked at Puck in complete and utter amazement, making no attempt to stifle her giggles.

“Yeah,” Puck snarled at her, “kids love me.”

Rachel looked at Quinn, her eyebrow raised in curiosity and the blonde nodded, “it's true, he's actually really good with kids.”

“Well, I must apologize then, Noah,” Rachel said, placing her hand on his arm.

“Damn right you should apologize,” Puck scolded her, although his voice was light and teasing. “I’m like freakin’ Mary Poppins or something.”

Rachel glanced at Quinn, who was standing behind Puck shaking her head 'no' wildly and mouthing something about diaper changes. “Oh,” Rachel beamed mischievously, “so I take it that means that you are completely involved in every aspect of care when it comes to the baby, even changing her diaper willingly and without complaint?”

“Hell no,” Puck spat, curling his lip at the mere mention of the word diaper, “her diapers are disgusting and that much poop should never come out of a baby that small. Q here does all the diaper changing, but I heat up a pretty mean bottle.”

“Speaking of bottles,” Quinn started when she heard Beth beginning to stir on the baby monitor that was sitting on the counter, “sounds like someone is up from her nap and hungry. Why don't you head into the kitchen and get some formula heated up for her, Mary Poppins.”

“I thought I told you not to call me that,” Puck stated in an annoyed tone as he took of towards the kitchen.

“Maybe you should have though of that before giving yourself that little nickname,” Quinn called after him.

“Okay, we're coming,” Quinn said to the monitor as baby Beth's cries became more frantic. “Do you want to see her?” she asked, turning to Rachel.

“Yes,” Rachel stated immediately, even though part of her couldn’t help but feel like she was going to get a look at her understudy who had taken over the most important role of her life. “I’d love to.”

“Come on, then,” Quinn said, grabbing the shorter girl's hand and pulling her up the stairs towards the nursery. “She has a little bit of a temper, so you have to pick her up pretty quickly once she wakes up or she gets really mad.”

“Puck swears she got her temper from me,” Quinn continued on, causing Rachel to smile because she had been thinking exactly what Quinn was saying, “but I don’t have a temper so I do not have any idea what he is talking about.” She waited for a second to see if Rachel would agree with the fact that she did not have a temper before her face broke into a smile, “kidding, I know I have a temper.”

“Well,” Rachel hedged, “you were pregnant and dealing with an intense amount of hormones surging through your body.”

Quinn shrugged, “I had a temper way before that and you know it's true.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Quinn went on, turning the knob on the door of Beth’s nursery, “I’m not going to throw a slushie at you or anything like that.”

“It may actually feel good in this heat,“ Rachel said jokingly as she watched Quinn walk to Beth's crib.

“Hi, baby,” the blonde cooed, bending over and scooping the tiny bundle up into her arms.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Quinn asked as Beth instantly settled down, snuggling into her arms and resting her head on her shoulder. “You have a visitor,” she announced before bringing the baby over to Rachel.

“Oh, Quinn,” Rachel whispered, gingerly bringing her hand to cup the back of the baby's head, “she got way more than just her temper from you. She looks exactly like you!”

Quinn beamed proudly and shifted the baby down to be cradled in her arms so Rachel could get a better look at her. “Lucky for her, right?”

“Yes,” Rachel agreed with a laugh, “lucky for her.”

Beth lifted her heavy little eyelids at the sound of Rachel’s laugh and appeared to be searching for something familiar. “Hey,” Quinn smiled, “I think she remembers your voice.”

“That is impossible,” Rachel answered skeptically.

“Not really, she did essentially spend the first nine months of her life hanging out with the glee club.”

“Maybe,” Rachel said, shrugging as she watched Quinn lay Beth down on the changing table. “Do you remember my voice, little one?”

Rachel bent over the baby’s face so she was in her line of vision when she asked the question, prompting Beth to break into a beaming, drooly smile when the baby’s eyes finally locked on Rachel’s.

“Look,” Rachel squealed in excitement, “she does remember me!”

“Oh,” Quinn said, looking down to see Beth's smile, “I bet she's smiling at you like that because you look just like her mommy.”

“But I don't look...” Rachel started before realizing that Quinn meant she looked like Shelby.

“I'm really sorry, Quinn,” Rachel said, looking down sheepishly. “I know it must be really hard for you.”

“It’s alright, Rachel,” Quinn told her as she picked Beth up off of the changing table. “You do look like her, and Shelby is her mom.”

“I know, but I'm sure that fact does not make things any easier for you and Noah.” Rachel gave Quinn a sympathetic smile before refolding one of the blankets situated on the baby's dresser.

Quinn shrugged, bouncing Beth gently in her arms, saying, “we get to see her every couple of weeks and she'll never have to wonder why we did what we did. Besides, babysitting with Puck shows me just how much of the work I would have been doing had we kept her!”

“Here’s the bottle,” Puck announced, coming into the room and waving it proudly in the air, “heated to the perfect temperature, just like she likes it.” He told her before thrusting the bottle into Quinn’s waiting hand.

Quinn took the bottle from Puck, holding it in her hand just for a second before looking back towards Rachel. “Do you want to feed her?” she asked, holding the bottle out as a sort of truce between them: the chance that they could actually be real friends, not just teammates.

Rachel shook her head, smiling lightly. “She’s your daughter Quinn; you should feed her.”

Quinn was about to argue the point, really wanting to offer this sort of symbol of peace between them, but she realized that it would just completely defeat the point of what she wanted to do. Gently, she raised the bottle to Beth's lips, which the baby took greedily. All three of them could not help but to smile as they watched Beth gulp on the formula, drinking it down faster than they thought would be humanly possible for a newborn. It seemed like just a couple of seconds before the bottle had been completely emptied (although they knew it had to be much longer). Having finished, Beth released the grip her mouth had on the bottle, and Quinn pulled it away, putting it down on a nearby table. Just a second later, Beth let out a loud belch, giggling afterwards.

“Well,” Rachel began, seeing as the silence was already interrupted by Beth's burp, “she undoubtedly gets her appetite and manners from her father.” The quip earned a slight giggle from Quinn, who was rocking Beth back and forth in her arms.

“That's my girl!” Puck exclaimed, clearly proud that Beth had imitated him, all the while somehow managing to defend his eating habits.”Babe,”​ he continued, turning towards Quinn, “we should probably put her back in her crib.”

“All right,” Quinn answered. She walked over to the crib and put Beth down gently, using the blankets to sort of cradle her, making sure that she had the support she needed.

“Come over here Rachel,” she said, really wanting to make a point in all that she was doing. “Play with her.”

Rachel smiled, quietly saying, “okay,” as she moved over to the crib and looked in. “Hi Beth,” she cooed.

She reached to the table besides Beth's crib and picked up a soft toy: a tiny stuffed penguin that had a bell inside, so it would jingle whenever it was moved. She brought it over to Beth and started playing with her.

Beth, however, started to cry, opening her mouth and letting out a high-pitched wail. “Let me see,” Quinn said, reaching out to take the penguin toy from Rachel. Rachel handed it over, letting Quinn try to calm Beth down. It seemed, though, that no matter how tried Quinn to console her-taking her up into her arms and putting her back down after a failed attempt, or giving her a binky, which she rejected-Beth would keep crying.

“Maybe we should sing to her,” Rachel piped up, a grin on her face, seeing as she jumped at any opportunity to use her voice. “I know a song from the Broadway classic, Gypsy, that could prove to calm her.” Both Quinn and Puck looked at one another, a part within each of them wanting to argue against Rachel's suggestion, but neither of them could do so. They had tried all they could think of to get Beth to stop crying, and this seemed like it was the only option left.

“I think she needs to sleep,” Rachel continued, “and music is often a viable way to cajole children into falling asleep.” Quinn nodded in response, agreeing to give Rachel the chance.“Great!” Rachel exclaimed, practically jumping up and down. “We can sing Together, Wherever We Go.”

“Yeah, I don't know the words to that,” Puck said, shrugging slightly. “So I guess I'm out.”

“I don't know the words to that song either Rachel,” Quinn added. “Maybe we could sing something a little more well-known?”

“Gypsy is well known!” she practically shouted, defending her love for the musical. She absolutely could not believe that the two of them, despite their obvious lack of Broadway knowledge, did not at least know the song.

“Well,” she continued, determined on singing this song, “you two can join in after I sing the first verse. The song is fairly repetitive, so it should be easy for the two of you to catch on.”

Somewhere in there, Quinn thought there might be an insult, but she was willing to look past it, because that was merely part of Rachel's personality; she didn't actually mean it.“Fine,” she agreed, “but only because it might help Beth calm down.”

Rachel started singing, trading her normally load and boastful voice for a quieter tone, almost a whisper. “Wherever we go, whatever we do, we're gonna go through it together.”

After the first verse, both Puck and Quinn had manage to pick up on the lyrics, and joined in. However, their singing, although it stopped Beth from crying loudly, the song did not seem to make her any less fussy.

“This isn't working,” Puck said, interrupting the song. Rachel glared at him and huffed to herself; she was rather proud of her rendition of the song.

But there was no arguing that Beth was not completely calmed by their efforts, and so she did not argue the point any further. "I'm out of ideas,” she admitted; Gypsy had been the best thing she could come up with.

“I used to sing her this song before I gave birth,” Quinn admitted, earning a confused look from Puck. She had never really been able to freely admit her closeness to this child before she had been born.

But Puck didn't say anything, for once realizing that it was not his place to do so, and Quinn continued, “It's by The Supremes. My mother used to sing it to me when I was child and couldn't fall asleep at night.” Receiving no protest, Quinn leaned over the side of Beth's crib and started to sing to her. “Heaven in your arms, it's the sweetness of your charms.”

Recognizing the song-after all, it was fairly popular in its time-Rachel also joined in. “Makes me love you more each day, and in your arms I wanna stay.”

Puck watched the two of them sing together, unable to keep from smiling. He wasn’t a romantic or anything, but this was one of the most beautiful sights he has ever seen. By the end of the second chorus, Beth had completely quieted, prompting both Rachel and Quinn to stop singing. “She's so beautiful,” Rachel whispered as she looked down at the sleeping baby.

“Yeah,” Quinn said, looking down at her. “She really is.”

Finn was awoken by his phone buzzing on his nightstand at precisely six in the morning, “Rachel?” He answered the phone groggily without even bothering to look at the caller id.

“Yes,” Rachel chirped back cheerfully, “of course it's me, silly. I just wanted to make certain that you were awake for our very first day of junior year.”

"I will be,” Finn groaned, glancing at the bright red display lights on his alarm clock, “in an hour when my alarm goes off.”

Rachel gasped in horror, “an hour?”

“Yes,” Finn sighed, fighting to keep his eyelids open because it was far too early in the day to deal with his girlfriend, “as in seven o'clock.”

“But that only leaves you half an hour to exercise, shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, and come pick me up so that we can ride to school together as a couple.”

“I'll be there, I promise,” Finn said before making a kissing noise into the phone. “I love you, babe.”

“Finn Gregory Hudson, don’t you dare hang up on me!” Rachel scolded and he could practically hear her shaking her finger at him.

“I need my sleep, Rach, but I swear I'll be there on time.”

“Okay,” Rachel agreed reluctantly, “but if you make me late to my first day at school there will be consequences, epic consequences.”

“Can't wait,” Finn said, a huge, sleepy grin lighting up his face. “See you at seven-thirty.”

“Seven-twenty nine would be even better than seven-thirty.”

“Okay, seven-twenty nine it is,” he promised before hanging up the phone and drifting back to sleep.

Finn kept his promise and arrived at Rachel's house, much to her delight, at promptly seven-twenty five. He even skipped honking the horn and walked to her doorstep carrying a bouquet of flowers for her. “Thank you, Finn,” Rachel squealed in delight, standing on her tip-toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “You are without a doubt the best boyfriend ever!”

“You're welcome,” Finn said, picking Rachel's backpack up for her before ushering her out the door. “Thanks for not making me wear that sweater that was color coordinated with yours...”

“Not a problem,” Rachel smiled, “after careful consideration I decided that was perhaps not fair to you.” It wasn't careful consideration so much as Quinn telling her it would be cruel, but she figured it wasn't necessary for Finn to know that part of the story.

“I’m so excited; I absolutely cannot wait for Mr. Schuester to see all the work we have done this summer!” Rachel was practically buzzing with nervous, excited energy in her seat next to Finn.

“I'm sure he;ll be real happy, Rach!” Finn assured her, reaching over to take her hand and squeeze it. “Especially since you didn't even have to use brute force to get anyone to practice.”

“Except for maybe Santana….”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Finn told her, switching on his left turn blinker, “she loves glee club almost as much as she loves herself.”

The glee club met during second period, and by the time Mr. Schuester arrived in the room, it was abuzz with conversation. The kids were so busy chattering at one another that they hardly noticed their teacher enter the room. He stood in satisfied silence watching the kids, his kids, just being friends. It didn't matter so much that they had lost Regionals because they had become friends somewhere along the way and that seemed like the most important part to him.

“Mr. Schuester!” Rachel spotted him first, jumping from her chair and running to the front of the room to hug him.

“Hi, Rachel,” Mr. Schuester said, returning her hug. “Boy, are you guys a sight for sore eyes.”

“Did you miss seeing us every day?” Kurt asked teasingly.

“I actually really did,” Mr. Schuester admitted. “I have to tell you guys, I was sort of concerned we'd show up this morning and Principal Figgins would tell us that he'd changed his mind about saving the glee club.”

“He didn’t though, did he?” Tina asked nervously, gripping Artie’s hand for comfort.

“No, he didn't.” Mr. Schuester told them all with a smile.

“Well,” Rachel started, “I guess that means we should get to work. I’m sure Vocal Adrenaline has been hard at work all summer and we need to get to work right now if we intend on beating them.”

“Hold on, Rachel,” Mr. Schuester said, “we'll get to that soon enough. First I want to know what you all did over your summer vacation.”

“Uh, Mr. Schue,” Finn groaned, “you’re not going to make us write a report or something, are you?”

“Yeah,” Puck added, “because if you are I would rather just start practicing like Berry said.”

“No paper, guys,” he told them, sighing a bit at his less that overly enthusiastic students. “Just go around the room and tell me what you did this summer.”

“We went to cheer camp,” Brittany chimed in right away.

“Yeah, and Kurt told Britt that there was a sea monster in the lake so I spent the next two weeks trying to convince her there was no such thing as sea monsters,” Santana said, rolling her eyes.

“It was hilarious,” Kurt said with a laugh, not even attempting to defend himself.

“You weren't the one snorkeling out on the lake looking for the freaking Loch Ness monster every single day,” Santana spat sarcastically.

“Whipped,” Tina coughed under her breath, prompting everyone to laugh and Santana to growl.

“Alright guys,” Mr. Schuester said, redirecting the conversation, “what else did you do this summer besides monster hunting?”

“I went camping,” Kurt said, and eleven pairs of eyes turned to look at him.

“You went willingly?” Mercedes asked skeptically.

“Not at first,” Finn offered, “he went with me and my dad.”

“And I adjusted quite well to life without running water if I do say so myself.”

“He did,” Finn said, clapping him on the back, “but I've never seen anyone so happy to get back to a shower in all my life.”

“It was four long days, Finn!”

“As you all know,” Rachel interrupted, tired of hearing the tales of Finn and Kurt and camping yet again, “Finn and I entered into a relationship just after Regionals. We’ve continued to grow as a couple during the summer and are very excited to be leading you as co-captains this year for glee.”

“That's good, Rachel, we're all really happy for you two,” Mercedes told her before she had a chance to go into the more intimate details of her relationship with Finn.

“I went to dance camp,” Mike offered, “thanks to you guys and Mr. Schue for showing me that I could.”

“You're very welcome, Mike,” Mr. Schuester said, placing his hand over his heart and smiling. “We can't wait to see some of your new moves.”

“What did you do, Matt?” Quinn asked, turning to their most quiet teammate.

“Football camp,” he said with a soft smile, “we’re going to win some games this year!”

“About time,” Santana said, filing her nails, “because it sucks cheering for losers."

“Santana,” Mr. Schuester cleared his throat, “can we ban the word 'losers' from our room this year?”

“Alright, Mr. Schue,” she paused, looking at the football players, “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” Matt said, “we are losers!”

They all laughed because it was true, the football team sucked. “What else, guys?”

“We volunteered as counselors at the camp I used to go to for disabled kids,” Artie said with a smile. “Tee came with me; it was incredible.”

“The best summer ever,” Tina agreed with a nod before pressing a kiss to Artie’s cheek.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Rachel asked, frantically elbowing Finn in the side.

“It would look so good on our college applications,” she continued to ramble on.

“Next summer, Rach,” Finn promised her.

“Mercedes went to New York with her family,” Kurt announced proudly as Mercedes hushed him. The last thing she wanted was a jealous Rachel Berry to be unleashed on her.

“That's wonderful, Mercedes,” Rachel said, turning around and giving her a genuine smile. “You'll have to tell me what shows you went to see later!”

Rachel nodded happily, “I’d like that a lot.”

“So Mr. Schue,” Brittany said, looking at him, “what did you do over your summer vacation?”

“I went to the beach...”

“Lucky,” Santana interrupted, “especially if it was sea monster free.”

Mr. Schuester smiled before continuing, “got a little sun, bought a dog, and worked some on our routines for this coming school year.”

“Come up with anything good?” Rachel asked, her ears perking up at the mere mention of the word routines.

“I don’t know, why don’t you guys tell me? You ready to get warmed up?

“Yes,” Rachel answered for everyone, practically bouncing off her chair in excitement.

“Alright, I figured we could start with something familiar since you guys are sort of out of practice. How about 'Don't Stop Believin'?”

“Oh, we’re not out of practice Mr. Schue,” Rachel told him proudly. “We’re not out of practice at all.”

“You're not?” he asked, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

“No,” Santana said with a quick roll of her eyes, “Berry here made sure of that!”

“Oh, you had fun and you know it,” Rachel shot back and Santana didn't even bother to correct her because she knew it was true.
“We practiced at Santana's pool party,” Brittany told him.

“At the skating rink...” Mike continued.

“After my dates with her...” Finn went on.

“We practiced in front of our parents,” Tina said, “which was as embarrassing as it sounds, by the way.”

“We even sung to Beth,” Quinn informed Mr. Schuester.

“Yeah,” Puck spoke up, “kid is not a fan of Broadway.”

“She’ll grow to love it if I have anything to do with it,” Rachel said, slightly offended.

“I'm sure she will,” Mr. Schuester said with a smile. “It sounds like you guys did keep up the practice this summer, thanks to your fearless leader.”

Rachel beamed at the mention and stood up to curtsey in front of the club, “it was my pleasure. Now let's show Mr. Schuester what we have come up with!”

The kids all gathered in front of the piano as Rachel pushed some sheet music towards Brad the Piano man and they settled back into their comfortable routine.

“From the top, guys,” Mr. Schuester said with a contented smile.