A/N: This is based off of a line that Quinn says to Puck regarding her decision to raise her daughter alone. (Episode: Sectionals.) Please read & review!
"I know you don't understand it, but please respect it."
My words hung limply in the air as I ran away from Puck. Watching Finn and Puck brawl over me was terrifying, to say the least. I had both of them – until today.
The sad, honest truth is neither of them will be a part of my daughter's life. Puck – despite his touching devotion – isn't father material. Finn is too busy lusting after Rachel to give me a second glance anymore; now that he doesn't have the pressure of fatherhood, why would he pay my daughter any attention?
I will raise my daughter by myself. We will form our own family, our own close-knit unit. I will braid her hair and tell her bedtime stories. She will turn perfect cartwheels and sing for me. Together, we will share giggles under the cover of the night and promise each other that someday we will get out of this town. One day, years and years down the road, maybe I'll be ready to give my daughter a father. She will watch as I doll myself up for the night, and she will wait for me to return home to hear all about how silly and pretentious all my dates are. When the right man finally comes along – not Finn, not Puck, not anyone in this dead town – I will make sure that he loves her just as much as he loves me.
It would have been all too easy to get an abortion weeks ago. Nobody would have had to know about my pregnancy. This entire mess could have been erased with a single trip to the clinic. I wouldn't have hurt anyone – not Puck, not my parents, and certainly not Finn. Yet I pushed through; took the hard road. At first, I was the one to sustain my daughter when no one else wanted to. Now, my daughter will sustain me. Finn has failed me. Puck has failed me. I've failed my parents. With no one left to turn to, we will turn inwards, and support ourselves. Together, we will be strong. My daughter will sustain me.
