Hey, everyone! Well, this is it. My not-so-mini Mpreg MiniBang. The event was held over on gleempreg (on LiveJournal) for anyone that may want to look or read other bang submissions. Also, sunshine_flying made an amazing video to go along with this fic. The link to the video can be found both on the story post on the comm or on my LiveJournal (Ice_Whisper). Fun fact? This is my longest one-shot to date.
As always, reviews are love. Even if it's something short.
Warnings: Mpreg
Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.
The Thing You Least Expect
One-shot
He felt like crap.
Puck grimaced, one hand on his stomach as he stood in his place on stage. Hid the discomfort behind a grin and bowed with the rest of the club as the audience clapped.
Shit.
Pain shot through him as he bent and he stumbled for a second, bumping into Mike as he tried to steady himself. Mike frowned at him, looking worried for a second before Rachel started thanking the audience and they had to pull her off the stage. He lagged behind the others, tired and sweaty as they retreated back to their greenroom to wait while the other schools performed.
This was it. Nationals. Senior year. The last chance most of them had before they graduated in a couple of weeks. After that, it was the future. The real world. College for everyone but him. There was no point in wasting his money.
He watched from his spot against the wall, still holding his stomach with one hand as everyone else celebrated. The girls were laughing, spinning around in their purple dresses so much that he could catch glimpses of their underwear. Mercedes settled into the corner with Rory, Sugar ("Just dance and mouth the words, okay?"), and Kurt, chatting excitedly and practically bouncing with the leftover energy. He nodded at nothing, happy that Kurt was smiling again. He'd been pretty low for a while after Blaine broke up with him and transferred back to Hogwarts. Mike had Tina in his arms as he spun them around the room in a dance that made Puck a bit nauseous to watch. They barely avoided smashing into Artie.
He shook his head, thumb rubbing circles against his stomach as he looked over at the others. Mr. Schue and Ms. P pouring over wedding magazines as Rachel and Quinn debated if a chuppah would be appropriate if neither of them were Jewish. Finn was caught in the middle of his ex-girlfriends, looking like he was desperate for an escape.
Santana and Brittany were making out in the corner.
Much more entertaining.
Another burst of pain shot through him and he gasped, palm flat against his stomach as he pressed his eyes shut. He breathed slowly until the pain faded and he could sink into a chair without looking like he was dying.
"Puck? You okay?"
Apparently he was shit at acting.
He nodded at Mike and pushed off the hand Tina had laid on his arm. "Fine. Food poisoning," he said as he pushed himself back to his feet and retreated to the bathroom.
"But we ate the same food…?"
He shut the door and sank to the floor, arms around his stomach, and stayed there until Rachel knocked and told him that the results were out.
They placed fourth. They'd be competing tomorrow.
He smiled, laughing and cheering as the girls pulled everyone into a group hug. Someone elbowed him and he fell into Kurt as his vision went white.
"Puck?"
"Tripped," he lied even as Kurt looked unconvinced.
He plastered a grin on his face as they got led on stage to accept their Day One trophies and kept it plastered on for the rest of the night as they continued to celebrate.
"Food poisoning," he grunted again later that night after he threw up into the garbage can. Quinn tugged him into the guys' room and to the bed that was supposed to be Mike and Kurt's.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked as she rubbed circles on his stomach.
"Stomachache isn't gonna kill me, Q," he grumbled. He pulled her down to lie with him, letting her tuck herself under his arm and rest her head on his chest.
"Better not. That wouldn't be very badass."
He smiled softly, a real one this time as he poked her. She laughed softly as she looked up at him and he tightened his grip on her a bit.
They'd tried dating again a month after Shelby left. They had lasted two weeks before they'd to accept that whatever there had been between them was gone. They'd always love each other because of Beth and as the friends they'd become since, but the romance would never work and that was okay. He'd told Quinn that night in her room that she didn't need a guy to make her special and she didn't. She'd found her footing on her own and she was a better person for it.
He liked this Quinn a lot better than the crazy one that tried to have him get her pregnant again.
"Don't doubt the badassness. You've seen my guns."
She laughed and held his hand when the pain came back. Rubbed his back when he ended up puking again.
"Go," he told her when they heard the guys heading back a couple hours later. "I'm fine." Bit his lip as the pain washed over him again.
"Liar."
"Food poisoning. Little rest and fluids or whatever. I'll be fine in the morning. Go spaz with the girls about…something."
She rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand once more before she left and the guys shuffled in.
"You okay, dude?"
Puck nodded at Finn and turned to Mike and Kurt. "I'm not moving."
"Wasn't asking you to," Mike said.
"You look awful," Kurt said.
"One of you can take the bed with Artie," Finn said. "I'll sleep on the couch."
"You'll never fit on the couch, Frankenteen," Puck snorted.
"I'll sleep on the couch."
"You sure?" Finn asked Artie, looking grateful that he wouldn't need to give up his bed.
Kurt laid the garbage can by him before he slipped into bed beside Finn, looking only vaguely uncomfortable with his bed partner. Rory offered to switch places so Kurt could take his cot, but Kurt shook his head.
"Not how you planned to sleep with him back in sophomore year, huh, Hummel?"
"Go to sleep, Puckerman."
Shit.
He didn't whimper, okay? He didn't.
(Okay, maybe he kind of did, but it felt like there was a knife in his gut, so shut up.)
He waited for the pain to fade like it had been, but it didn't. It held on this time, stabbing at his insides. He was gonna be sick. He could feel it.
Only half of it made it into the garbage can.
Fell forward onto his stomach and screamed.
The lights were on in a second and he felt Mike's hands on him, urging him onto his back and away from the vomit that clung to the edge of the bed.
It felt like his heart was in his head, beating and throbbing in his skull as tears filled his eyes. He could barely hear the guys over the sound of it, but he thought someone might have said to get Schue. Though, he didn't think the guy could do too much. He felt like he was dying.
Someone gripped his hand and he felt someone else stroking his arm as he started sobbing against the pain. There were more voices before he realized it along with a panicky one that sounded like Rachel.
"It's okay. It's okay," someone whispered in his ear, but he didn't give it enough thought to consider who. "You're going to be okay."
Then, all he knew was pain.
He had to have blacked out at some point, because the next thing he was really aware of, there were doctors and it smelled like a hospital. Someone gave him a shot of something and the pain ebbed off enough that he could focus at least a little bit on the doctors.
"Noah? Are you with us?"
"Hurts…"
"You're going to be okay," the doctor said told him. She sounded like his mom used to, back in the days before his dad took off, when he was a kid and got the flu. All soft and… Aw, shit. The pain was still there. "We're going to take you into surgery."
Surger… What?
She must have seen his panic as they wheeled him down the hall. "You're in labor, Noah. We need to get the baby out."
"…the fuck…? M'a guy…"
Lights. Something went over his mouth that made his eyes heavy.
It went black.
He felt weird. Kind of like he was underwater. He could hear everyone talking, but it sounded garbled. He fought his way to the surface, pushing against the darkness that weighed him down.
Groaned when he opened his eyes and it was way too bright.
The darkness hurt less.
"Morning, Mommy," he heard Santana say which made no sense at all. He frowned as he opened his eyes again, squinting against the light until someone had the decency to hit the switch. He grunted a thanks and opened his eyes a bit more.
"Wh'appened?" he mumbled around a tongue that felt like it was made of cotton.
"You had a baby," Quinn whispered, sounding shaken.
"So did you," he mumbled. "Ol' news."
"She means another, Noah. Today."
"You're crazy, Berry. Ev'ryone's crazy." He smacked his lips, trying to get some moisture back and someone held a cup of water to his lips. "M'a guy. Lemme sleep."
He'd deal with the crazy later.
The next time he woke up, Quinn was the only one in the room. She walked back and forth in the room, singing to the baby in her arms.
"You stole a baby."
She cringed slightly at his wording. "I'm holding a baby. Your baby, Puck."
The baby was swaddled in pink like Beth had been when she was born, but he'd seen Beth and he knew that she wasn't that small anymore. Tried not to think about how he hadn't gotten so much as an email since Shelby got the hell out of dodge and left her apartment empty, only a month after she had even moved in. He and Quinn had both fucked up their chance to be in her life. It was both their faults.
"S'not Beth."
"No," she murmured as she sat in the chair beside his bed, baby still in her arms. "She's not. But she is yours."
"Fucking nuts," he grumbled. "I'm a guy, Q. You've seen me naked."
She shook her head, laying the baby back in its plastic crib as she grabbed a mirror, pulled down his blankets, and pulled up his hospital gown.
"If you wanted to get me naked-"
"Look, Puck."
She positioned the mirror above his stomach and he stared at the reflection, confused.
"See that bandage? They cut you open and pulled her out. You were pregnant, Puck. That's why you were in pain. You were in labor." She sighed, laying the mirror on his bedside table as she sat back down. "You didn't know?"
"How the hell would I have known?" he snapped, terrified eyes plastered on the baby that they were supposed to have cut out of him. This wasn't possible…
He must have said it out loud, because Quinn shrugged. "Human evolution," she said. "Some guys can... You were… You never told me you liked guys too."
"It's complicated."
"Whose is it?"
He froze for a second, eyebrows shooting up as his brain caught up with the Twilight Zone episode he was in. If he'd had a baby, the baby had…another father.
Fuck, he was kind of a mother now, wasn't he?
"No one."
"There has to be a father, Puck."
"Can I…"
Maybe he was stalling, whatever. But if this kid was his… He had to see her.
"She's small," he murmured when Quinn put her on his chest. He raised an arm that still felt like half of it was made out of lead and touched the baby's cheek. She made a little sound in her sleep that made his heart jump.
"She's healthy," Quinn said. "The doctors said she looks like she was about thirty-two weeks, so they're going to keep an eye on her breathing, but they think she's fine. They're going to keep an eye on her oxygen levels, but they said that everything else looks good." She shook her head. "Eight months… You didn't even look…"
"I know," he whispered.
None of this made sense. He didn't understand how he could have been… They didn't use a condom and, okay, he'd been more tired than usual, but it was senior year and he was actually doing work now. He'd expected to be tired. Things had been crazy.
He'd only gained a few pounds. Not nearly enough to think he could have been… He'd just been eating like shit. And he'd been craving a lot of crap, but…
Shit. He really had been pregnant, hadn't he?
He almost laughed at the absurdness of it all. He has sex with a guy once and he gets pregnant, something that shouldn't even be fucking possible. It had to be karma for Quinn sophomore year. It had to be.
"Puck?"
He shook his head, eyes still glued to this little child that had his skin tone and a little tuft of brown hair. Tiny little lips and puny little hands that peeked out from her blanket.
She was as perfect as her sister.
"You'll be a great dad," Quinn said as she kissed his cheek. She stared at the baby regretfully, eyes shining, and Puck knew where her mind was. Her head dropped and he heard her sniffle softly before she looked at him again with teary eyes and a sad smile. "I'll give you some time with her."
She touched the baby's head once before she slipped out of the room and left him alone with a child he hadn't known about an hour ago.
"I can't believe Puck was…"
"Do you think he really didn't know?"
"He didn't seem like he did."
"He didn't even look pregnant."
"I saw him when we were getting changed yesterday. He didn't look any different."
Finn sat in the corner of the conference room the nurses had shuffled them into when they refused to leave. Hunched over. Staring at his hands as he tried to wrap his head around the idea that his very male friend had had a baby growing inside of him.
"I called his mom. Left a voicemail."
"Did you tell her about the-"
"No. It didn't seem like the thing to tell over the phone."
God. Mrs. P was going to kill Puck. He'd grown up with Puck long enough to know his mom's attitude towards most issues. She'd never accept him or the baby. She'd never let him see Sarah again.
"Do you think he'll keep it?"
"No question. He won't give it up."
"What about the other father?"
"No idea."
"I didn't even know he liked guys."
His stomach churned at the thought. Puck's baby had a father. He had…
"Eight months pregnant."
"I can't believe it."
"Who could he have…"
"Eight months. That means he got pregnant in… What, October?"
"Yeah."
Finn froze, eyes widening as he stared at the floor. He didn't move. He didn't blink.
October.
"Have you ever…"
"No."
Oh, God.
This was what it felt like to have a heart attack, right?
He lurched from his chair, muttering something that he didn't think anyone caught or even made sense and jogged to Puck's hospital room before he stopped and just stood there, staring at the door.
It wasn't… He couldn't be…
It was only once.
Puck and Quinn only had sex once and that made Beth, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.
Oh, God.
His hands were sweating as he opened the door, entire body shaking when he saw Puck lying in the bed with the little baby sleeping on his chest.
"Rachel and I broke up."
"Again?"
"For good," he said. "After everything with Santana… You know, everyone knowing before she ever… It felt silly to stay together when we knew the relationship had an expiration date. We were just holding onto something that wasn't going to stay."
"Sucks, man."
"Yeah."
Oh, God.
"Dude, you suck," Puck laughed.
"You're not much better."
"Better than you." Finn glared at him and Puck smirked. "I could leave? Let you figure out the routine yourself."
"Show me that step again," Finn grumbled.
Puck shook his head, grinning as he pulled Finn's arms and pulled him a step closer. "You stand here. Pretend I'm a foot shorter and Rachel. Arms here and you spin her like this… No. Not like that unless you're trying to break her in half, Hudson. Try it again."
Finn bit his lip, trying to copy what Puck had shown him.
Failed.
Puck's knee slammed into his stomach when they hit the floor and Finn's breath shot from his lungs. He sagged on top of Puck, gasping as he struggled to get his breathing under control again.
"Dude, get off me."
"Gimme a minute…"
"Dude."
Puck wriggled underneath him and Finn grunted against the feeling, trying to ignore the way his body reacted. Puck tried to shove him off, pushing up against him, and he couldn't help the groan.
They both froze.
"Did you…"
"Sorry," Finn mumbled, face flushed red in humiliation as he scrambled off of his friend. Tried very hard to not think about what he'd felt brush against his leg as he did or about the hard-on in his pants.
Oh, God.
"What's Sarah gonna be for Halloween?"
"No idea. Still got two weeks to figure it out. Knowing her, she's going to want to be something Ma hates, they'll argue-"
"-and then you'll buy her the costume anyway?"
"Basically," Puck chuckled as he followed Finn into the auditorium and onto the stage. "What part is still screwing you up?"
"Um…none."
Puck frowned at him. "Then what do you need help with?"
"I…" Finn swallowed thickly, hands shoved deep in his pockets as one hand clutched the tube he'd put inside. "I want to try something," he said as he moved closer to Puck until their chests were touching.
"Dude, what…"
Just one kiss. One kiss and he could just walk away. The lube was a stupid idea. He didn't even know why he brought it. Just the idea of kissing Puck seemed insane. Forget about…
"I just want to…"
He swallowed and went for it. Kissed Puck right there, hands gripping his friend's hips. Puck froze for a second and Finn's stomach dropped.
Then, he kissed back. Pressed himself closer to Finn and pulled him down harder into the kiss.
It wasn't supposed to feel this good.
He was making out with Puck. The guy that had gotten his girlfriend pregnant. The guy that had made out with his other girlfriend.
The guy that was lying beneath him as they made out on the floor (when they actually got there, Finn didn't even know).
Puck bit his lip and Finn moaned into the kiss, breaking away only long enough to let Puck pull their shirts off. Then, they were making out without their shirts.
Without their pants.
Underwear.
Naked.
"Have you ever…"
"No."
He sucked a hickey onto Puck's hip as he stretched him, knowing in the back of his mind that although he'd brought the lube, he'd honestly never thought it would come to this. He hadn't been thinking when he put it in his pocket. He'd just…
"Finn…"
Puck hid his face in Finn's neck, moaning in his ear and legs wrapped up around his waist as his best friend moved inside him. Fell back against the floor and reached behind himself to grab at the leg of the piano as they moved together and Finn started jerking him off with each thrust.
"Oh, God…"
He gripped Puck's hips, moving harder, faster.
"Shit… I'm gonna…"
Puck's back arched as he came, clenching down around Finn and sending him over the edge.
"She's mine… Isn't she?"
He barely whispered it and he wasn't sure if it was because he was scared of waking the baby or if he was just hoping that Puck wouldn't hear him. He let out a shaky breath when Puck looked at him, looking like he was still in as much shock as Finn himself was.
"I…" Puck looked back down at the baby still sleeping on his chest and nodded.
Finn's knees buckled and he crashed to the floor.
And stared.
At Puck.
And at his daughter.
"Where have you been?"
Finn shook his head at Kurt's question as he pulled his stepbrother down the hall and away from their friends.
"It's mine."
Kurt's arm went slack in his grip as his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "I'm sorry. What?" he hissed.
"Puck's..." he swallowed the word 'baby', but Kurt understood it anyway if his sinking into a chair was any indication.
"You and… Oh, Gucci…"
Finn nodded, still in shock himself as he sat beside Kurt. He slumped in the chair, rubbing his hands over his face harshly, and let out a shaky breath.
God, he was screwed.
"Are you sure it's-"
"Yeah."
"You didn't ask if I slept with anyone else," Puck said, watching as Finn held the baby.
Finn shook his head. "You were just as freaked out as I was after we… I know you didn't."
"Since when do you…" Kurt shook his head, blushing some cross of confused and embarrassed. "It doesn't matter now, obviously, but I thought you were…"
"I don't know," Finn said honestly. "I never thought about it. Not for me, at least. We…we did it-"
"Charming, Finn."
"We didn't talk about it. It was good. Like…really-"
"I don't need the details."
Finn flushed. "Sorry. But dude…" Kurt glared at him. "Kurt, I don't know. Things just…happened."
"After you and Rachel or before?"
"After," Finn said. "We… Not that long after, but… After."
Kurt nodded and fell silent as they sat there. Finn appreciated it. He needed he silence. Just for a few minutes, he needed to think and try to wrap his head around everything.
He was a dad. He had a baby and this time, it was his. That little girl in Puck's hospital room was his flesh and blood. She had his nose.
She'd felt right in his arms, like she belonged there, snuggled up against his chest.
Finn shut his eyes as he crossed his arms, pretending for a minute that he could still feel her in them.
"She's so small."
"She's only a few hours old. She'll grow."
Finn nodded, still in shock as he stared down at the little baby in his arms. "She's beautiful."
"Must take after me."
"Bite me, Puckerman."
"Have you called Carole?"
And just like that, the silence was broken.
Finn groaned as he realized that being a dad meant telling his mom she was a grandmother. That there wasn't going to be a teary and hurting just kidding, return the things you bought.
"She's gonna kill me."
"I'll call my dad first and tell him to hide the shotgun?"
"Not helping."
Kurt shrugged, one hand resting gently on Finn's arm as he pulled his phone out and handed it over. "Call her."
Finn nodded, shaking as the phone started ringing. "Tell her for me?" Kurt shook his head just as his mom picked up. "Mom…"
"Finn?" Carole sounded confused. Probably because he was on Kurt's phone. "Is something wrong?"
"I…" He swallowed. "Puckhadababy."
"What? Finn, you were talking too fast. I didn't catch that."
"Puck," he grabbed Kurt's hand and squeezed. "He had a baby."
Carole gasped. "Is he okay? The baby? God… Finn, you never told me he was-"
"He didn't know."
"Oh, my…"
Finn nodded even though she couldn't see him, just thankful that his mother was a nurse and that she had to have heard of this stuff before. At least he wouldn't have to explain everything to her. Hell, he barely understood it himself.
"Tell her," Kurt whispered.
"I… Mom…"
"Finn?" She sounded scared, anxious. Like she knew what he was going to say.
"It's… It's my baby."
Before he realized it, he was crying, sobbing into the phone as Kurt rubbed his back and he rambled. Apologizing for the baby. For the shock. For being stupid enough to bring lube but no condom even though he hadn't even thought the lube would get used, because he'd been sure that Puck would punch him in the face.
His mom stayed calm, but he could hear the tones in her voice. Disappointment. Fear. Worry. She didn't yell at him as she calmed him down, telling him that it was okay, that they'd figure it out, and that Burt was already getting them tickets for the first flight to L.A..
"Has his mother called back yet?"
Kurt looked sad when Finn repeated his mom's question to him and nodded as he took the phone. "Carole? She called. She isn't coming."
Finn didn't even need to be on the phone to hear his mother call Mrs. P a bitch. "She'll throw him out," he said when Kurt held the phone between them. "She'll-"
"I know, sweetie," Carole sighed. "We'll figure it out."
The boys both gave small smiles, knowing Carole must have them on speaker phone when they heard Burt curse the woman and ask about his shotgun.
Finn sighed when they hung up, slumping further in his chair while Kurt stood and paced for a minute. "You're an uncle, dude."
"Don't call me dude."
Finn shrugged a shoulder. "Still. You're my brother. That makes you an uncle."
"Uncle Kurt," he mused, smiling softly and still a little bit dazed. "I like it."
"Puck might try to call you Auntie Kurt."
"I will stab him in the eye with my nail file."
Quinn stared at him, eyes wide and incredulous as her brain tried to process what he'd just told her.
"Finn?" she repeated.
"Uh-huh."
"Finn?"
"Say his name as many times as you want, Q, but the answer isn't going to change," Puck said with a roll of his eyes. "Finn is the father."
Quinn sank into the chair beside his bed, one finger held up to give her a moment. "Two of my ex-boyfriends just had a baby together, Puck. I need a second to get my head around it."
Puck nodded and lay back against the pillows. Looked around the room that had felt too empty since a nurse had come by to take the baby for a check-up.
"I thought you people said she was fine?"
"We just want to be sure. She was born early and there wasn't any prenatal care, so we just want to have all our bases covered so you two can go home soon."
Home.
Puck frowned as his eyes fell to his bandaged stomach. He was fucked. The second his mom found out about this…
He shook his head and told himself not to think about it. There was nothing he could do at this point. He would just have to figure it out, preferably after he got some real sleep and could get that fuck-I-just-had-a-baby look off his face.
"You okay?" Quinn asked and he nodded at her when he finally raised his head, just as a knock came at the door. Finn poked his head in a second later.
"Hey," he said. "Schue wanted me to get Quinn. We've been here all night and he wants us to get some sleep before we compete tomorrow."
Quinn looked as surprised as she did when they finally looked to the clock. It was nearly six in the morning.
"I completely forgot we were competing," she said. "This entire night has just been…"
"Insane?"
"To put it lightly," Puck snorted. "You guys are on at four, right?"
Finn nodded. "Results are announced at six. Mom and Burt are headed for the airport now. They wanted to get the first flight out. My mom said she's going to head straight here when they land."
"She doesn't need to."
"Dude, you know my mom."
"Point," Puck conceded. Carole always had been like an overprotective mother hen when it came to her 'sons'. Frowned and wondered briefly to himself if that meant he just had a baby with his brother, because… Ew…
Quinn shook her head and smiled as she stood. "You'll be okay on your own?"
"I'm not helpless, Q. Go sleep," he said. "You're getting bags."
"Hush," she laughed. "Get some sleep. They'll bring her back soon."
"Which means that I probably won't sleep."
"Welcome to parenthood, boys. Come on, Finn."
She took Finn's arm in her hand as she pulled him from the room and down the hall. Stopped half-way down and poked him hard in the chest.
"You got him pregnant."
Finn blinked, surprised. "Uh… Yeah."
"There's a baby, Finn. A little baby that's going to need you two to not be fumbling around and being awkward," she said. "I'm not saying you guys need to get together. God knows that this is a complicated situation and that you two have held off on talking about stuff for ages. But no matter what, Finn," she poked him hard enough in the chest that he could almost swear that her nail had pierced skin, "if you hurt him or this baby. If you even think about running away from this, I will end you. And I will make it look like whatever unfortunate accident you get into is just that. An accident."
Now he remembered part of why he broke up with her.
Chick could be crazy as fuck.
"I wasn't planning on it," he said slowly as he pushed her nail-sword away. "You know I'm not that kind of guy, Quinn."
"I know. I just…"
"Standard best friend hurt-him-and-die speech?"
"Basically."
"And if I ever did any of that, Quinn, I would help you kill me."
"Okay."
He was staring mindlessly at some soap opera about fuck-knows-what when Carole knocked on his door.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, even as she was already touching his forehead and staring at the monitor the doctors still had him connected to.
"I'd say fine, but you never believe me until you can check my vitals."
"Oh, hush." She checked his pulse (because apparently the beeping monitor wasn't good enough) and he swore that if she had a blood pressure cuff on her, she would have pulled it out.
Momma Bear.
…Grandmomma Bear?
"Where's the baby?" she asked after she was finally satisfied that he wasn't dying.
"Doc said her oxygen levels dropped a bit a couple hours ago. They wanted to hook her up and get it stable," he said. He knew he sounded nervous, but how the fuck else was he supposed to sound? He already felt guilty enough as it was that he'd been completely fucking oblivious to the fact that he had a damn baby growing inside of him for eight months. Seriously. What kind of moron was he that he didn't realize there was something in him?
How…
"Don't." Carole laid a hand on his cheek and turned his head towards her. "Don't agonize over this, Noah."
"I was pregnant."
"And you didn't know you could get pregnant. I never thought I would need to talk to you or Finn about this and maybe that was my fault for assuming-"
"It's not your fault."
"And it's not yours either." Puck shrugged a shoulder and she sighed, kissing the top of his head. "Noah… I… You and Finn…"
Oh, great. Here comes the fun part.
"It was just once," he said, sounding only slightly less uncomfortable than he actually felt. Seriously. This woman was like his mom. It was awkward. "We aren't together or anything like that."
"Okay."
Why the hell did she sound like she didn't believe him? One time. One time. That was it. It didn't matter how fucking cute the baby was or that she already seemed like she had Finn's smile (no, nurses, it wasn't gas, his kid was just badass enough that she was smiling at one day old). He and Finn were just a one-time thing. That was it.
"Noah, about your mother-"
"I'm fucked. I know."
Carole nodded. Judging from the look on her face, Puck was more than pretty sure that she wanted nothing more than to punch her in the face. Glanced down at her knuckles quickly just to check that she hadn't. He doubted Mr. H would be happy if Carole got arrested for assault because of him.
"We want you to move in with us."
…Say what now?
"Burt and I spoke about it the entire plane ride here and we called the boys before I headed over here. We want you to move in with us," she said. "We have a guest room. It's big enough for your things and a crib. We'll put one in Finn's room, too, so you can switch off nights."
He listened to her rattle off how they could make it work. Burt would take them on at the garage. The baby could stay at the hospital daycare while they were at school. It was like they'd covered every possible issue in the course of a few hours.
He'd thought maybe—maybe—he would be able to get Quinn's mom to let him move in for a bit. The woman still didn't like him for getting Quinn pregnant, but he figured his saving grace was that he helped get Quinn out of her crazy phase. Figured that if he worked it right that he could probably get her to let him crash in the guest house for a couple months until he could afford to get his own place.
He and Finn had still barely even talked about anything. They hadn't even touched on the stuff that made the baby and they hadn't talked about what they'd do once they were back in Lima. Mostly, they'd just stared at the kid and tried to figure out how the male pregnancy shit even worked.
Carole looked at him like she was expecting an answer, but he didn't know what to say. They were offering to take him and this baby in even though she and Mr. H were supposed to be done with the whole kid thing. Finn and Kurt were graduating. Kurt was heading to New York with Rachel in the fall and, yeah, Finn was commuting to and from Lima Community, but the guy was still going to have classes. How was he going to get his shit done if there was a baby screaming its head off every couple hours? How-
"Knock, knock," Nurse Helen said, sticking her little blonde head in. "Look who I've got." She rolled the baby in in its little crib-thing, smiling wider than Kurt probably did when he saw a sale. She looked at Carole and gave a little wave before looking back to Puck. "She's doing fine. Oxygen levels are back up. We'll keep an eye on them over the rest of the day, but if everything stays stable, you should both be able to get out of here tomorrow or the day after."
Carole blinked after Nurse Helen when the woman bounced (and no, he wasn't exaggerating, the woman fucking bounced) out of the room. "She's…peppy."
"Creepy."
"That too." She shook her head and picked the baby up out of her little bed. "Hello, there," she whispered in a little coo. "Noah, she's beautiful."
He smiled softly as he watched Carole start to rock her. "Yeah. She is."
They placed third. It wasn't the first place title they'd been hoping for all year, but it was pretty damn good considering that their soloist for the group number was in the hospital and that they were operating on barely five hours of sleep.
Rachel seemed a bit disappointed with the smaller trophy, but accepted the way things were. There was nothing that could be done and as far as any of them were concerned, they would rather have Puck and this baby healthy than have first place.
They'd been lucky. That they won third and that they'd actually been prepared this year. Most of them had spent a majority of the year working on original songs that would be good for competition, so when they got on stage to perform, they had been tired and their dance routines had been tweaked, but they'd been ready. They knew the songs inside and out and despite the fact that they'd had to shuffle Sugar and Rory around a bit, everything had gone fine.
Honestly, Finn was just anxious to get back to the hospital. Puck had texted him when the baby started having trouble with her oxygen and he'd texted again when they brought her back, but still. He wanted to be there. He needed to be there.
The idea that he was a dad… Really, he was still waiting to wake up and find out that it had all been some crazy dream. That Puck really had just had food poisoning and that there wasn't suddenly a baby for them to take care of. A baby that needed Puck and him to get their shit together.
They were going to need to talk about what happened. They'd had sex. They'd made a baby. If his mom convinced Puck to move in (and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't take no for an answer, so Puck was moving in), then he was going to be living with his daughter's other father.
They had to talk about it. If not for them, then for their kid, right? Figure out what happened and where they stood now. Talking about it, Finn knew, was probably going to be awkward as fuck. Puck would throw up every defense he had and Finn would probably stutter through some parts.
He didn't even know what he wanted. He loved Puck. The guy had been his bro since they were in kindergarten. Of course he loved him, but was he in love with him? Honestly, he didn't know. Puck meant a lot to him, but how was he supposed to know if that was him being in love with the guy or if it was just because Puck was his best friend?
Getting involved with your best friend sucks, Finn decided with a soft grumble. Too fucking confusing. Sure, maybe he'd thought about that day in the auditorium a few times, but he thought about a lot of stuff. Jerking off to someone a few times doesn't mean you're in love with them.
If it did, he was very in love with every model in the Playboy magazine he had stashed under his mattress at home.
He shook his head and sighed. He wasn't even gay. He'd loved Rachel, so he couldn't be gay if he'd been in love with a girl. And he wasn't into other guys. Yeah, there had been a momentary curiosity once when he and Mike got really drunk and he'd kind of wanted to kiss him, but that was just the alcohol… Right?
"Finn, we're here," Burt said, one hand on Finn's arm as he shook the new father out of his thoughts. The others had already piled out of the two taxis they'd taken to the hospital, still dressed in their competition outfits. Rachel was still hugging the trophy to her chest like it was a teddy bear.
Maybe he should go by the gift shop and get the baby a bear. Babies like stuffed animals, right? She was only a day old, though. Was that too young?
He still got Burt to go to the gift shop with him to find a bear anyway. Made sure that it didn't have anything hanging off of it that she could choke on and pulled off all the tags. He clutched the toy in his hands, rubbing the soft fur between his fingers and playing with the pink bow it had around its neck. Brown fur, a little black nose, and pretty hazel eyes that looked kind of like Puck's. Cost nearly forty bucks, but it was his daughter's first toy.
He let the bear enter the hospital room first, his own arm twisted so he could make it wave.
"Oh, my God. Can you be more of a dork, Hudson?"
Finn slid into the room and held the bear in front of the baby's face, paw touching her cheek. "Hi there. Beary wants to say hi."
"Beary?"
"Miss Hugs-A-Lot?"
"Beary works."
"Where's my mom?"
"Food," Puck replied. "The food here sucks. She said something about finding a McDonalds or something." Finn nodded and lifted the baby from Puck's arms. "Everyone else stopped by. Showed me the trophy. Not bad."
"Woulda done better if you'd been there with us. Pretty sure it was the song you wrote that got us that far," he said, watching as Puck's cheeks actually went pink. "Puck-"
"Not now."
"We need to talk about this."
"I know. Just… Not right now, okay?" Puck asked, looking just as nervous as Finn felt.
"Fine. When?"
"When we get back to Lima?"
"That could be days, dude."
"I'm getting out of here in two days at most. Docs already said that if I had to travel that they don't want me or the baby flying, so me and the kid will probably be pissing people off on a Greyhound."
"And me."
"You've got finals."
"Optional. You're not the only one that's been getting tutored all year. I did well enough on the tests that I don't have to take any unless I want to try and up my grades more," Finn said. "I'm taking the bus back with you."
Puck opened his mouth, probably to argue something, but the baby started crying before he could. Finn looked down at her, panicked.
"What did I do?"
"Nothing. She's probably hungry," Puck said as he pressed the call button for the nurse. "I'm not leaking milk, dude. Gotta get a bottle from the nurses. Just rock her until they get here."
He did, but it fucking hurt listening to her scream and watching as her face went red. It actually made his chest hurt. He could have kissed the nurse when she came back with the bottle and showed him how to feed the baby. She took to the bottle in a second, cries silencing as she drank the formula.
"She'll stop when she's not hungry anymore," the nurse told him. "Just leave the bottle on the table when she's done and we'll pick it up later."
Finn didn't even reply to her, too wrapped up in watching the baby in his arms. He was still staring at her when she finally dozed off. "She's…"
"Perfect?"
"Yeah," Finn breathed. "She's just…"
"Yeah," Puck murmured. He reached out to touch her cheek when Finn sat on the edge of the bed. "Kind of insane to think she came from us, huh?"
"Seriously." Finn handed her over, hands frozen over her body as she stirred for a second before she settled down again and turned her head into Puck's chest. "She needs a name."
Now, Puck looked nervous, eyes glued to the baby as his voice lowered to a mumble. "I kind of already thought of one."
"What?"
"Christina Lucy," Puck said. "Your dad's name was Christopher and Lucy's for Quinn." His face went pink and he shook his head. "It's sappy and stupid. Just forget I-"
"No," Finn cut in. "I like it. I really like it, Puck. Christina Lucy." He smiled, touching his daughter softly. "Hi, Christina."
"You know she's not going to answer you, right?"
"Shut up."
"There are people glaring at us again," Finn murmured into Puck's ear as the other teen tried to calm a crying Christina again. He yawned into Puck's shoulder, one hand stroking Christina's arm as Puck rocked her.
"It's past two in the morning. They want to sleep. We all want to sleep," Puck grumbled back, exhausted. Finn murmured an apology and Puck shook his head in response.
He was tired. He'd gotten out of the hospital, but Christina's oxygen levels dropped again when they thought she was okay to go. She ended up staying another two days to be safe. Two days of Puck sleeping like crap because he was either worried or because he was crammed into a crappy chair next to her incubator. Not that Finn had been sleeping any better, but it felt different for Puck and he knew it was probably because he was still carrying the guilt about not knowing she'd been inside him.
"Let me take her. Try and sleep."
Puck shook his head again. "Wouldn't make a difference," he yawned. "I wouldn't be able to sleep with her crying right here."
They both glanced at Carole, envious that she was able to sleep. But that was what they got for trying to be responsible and telling her that they could handle it. Go ahead and sleep, they'd said, we've got this.
What were they thinking?
Finn took Christina from Puck when she finally settled down and laid her back in the car seat they'd brought onto the bus. She was across the aisle, but he could still reach her in a second if he needed to.
"Sleep," he told Puck. "Put your iPod on and try and get some sleep. You look like you're about to drop. We can switch off later."
Puck was leaning against his shoulder, asleep, in no time at all.
Puck never thought he'd be so happy to see Lima, but as they passed the welcome sign, he could have kissed the fucking ground.
Christina started crying again a minute later and Burt chuckled from the driver's seat as both boys groaned and reached for the baby strapped in between them in the back seat. "How's parenthood treating you?"
"Are they supposed to cry this much?" Finn asked as he rocked her. "Come on, kiddo. We'll be home really soon and we can heat you up your bottle. Shhhh…"
"She doesn't even know what you're saying," Puck said as he searched for her pacifier.
Finn shrugged. "Is Kurt at home?"
"Yeah. He was putting the second crib together when I left to come get you," he said. "Oh, and your friends all dropped by with gifts and a lot of diapers. Finn, Quinn wanted me to remind you to remember what she told you."
Puck frowned. "What?"
"Don't ask."
"Hand her over," Puck said a minute later when Christina was still screaming and they were still five minutes from home (and wasn't that still weird to call the Hudmel house home). "Almost there, baby."
"I thought you said she doesn't know what we're saying?" Finn chuckled.
"Shut up."
Kurt was waiting with a warm bottle and a simple Carole texted me when they walked in the door. "Unpack," he said as he pulled Christina from her carrier and gave her the bottle she'd been crying for. "Sleep. I can watch her for a couple hours."
"You sure?" Finn asked. Puck would have made fun of him for looking like he was ready to kiss Kurt's feet, but he was pretty sure he had the same look on his face. The idea of uninterrupted sleep for a couple hours, in a real bed… He almost moaned at the idea.
Kurt nodded and pushed them upstairs. Finn grabbed both their bags while Puck trailed after him so Finn could show him the guest room.
"This is it," Finn said as he sat on Puck's bed with a yawn. "Crib's new, but pretty much everything is the way it was the last time you saw it."
Puck nodded and dropped onto the bed with barely enough energy to kick his shoes off. He curled on his side, face buried in a pillow. Fuck blankets. Blankets meant moving and he wasn't doing that.
"Go to bed," he mumbled to Finn as another yawn took hold.
"Mm-hm," Finn hummed as he lay down beside Puck. "Five minutes and I'll move."
When they woke up in the morning, Finn was still in the bed, pressed up against Puck's back and hand resting over the still-healing cut from the cesarean.
Puck sat in the passenger seat of the car, hands twisting as he stared at his house. He knew he still had half an hour before his mom got home from work, but… Jesus. Did he have to go in there? Going in there just made everything seem so much more real. Going in there meant packing up and moving his shit into Kurt's Nav because he'd never be coming back here.
He didn't even know what he'd say to his mom.
Hey, Ma. Surprise, you're a grandma again.
Guess what, Ma. I was pregnant the last few months.
You know why I was in the hospital? Well, the doctors cut a baby out of me.
He sighed and ran a hand over his hair. Was it even worth it to tell his mom about Christina? He knew it wouldn't change anything. Wondered if it was even worth it to tell her anything other than I'm moving out. At least if he did that, he might still be able to see Sarah.
Sighed and shook his head because she would find out anyway. In this town, there was no question that she'd find out about Christina. Kurt already told them that Jewfro had already managed to somehow get ahold of the story.
"You okay?" Finn asked from the driver's seat.
"Yeah. Just…" He swallowed and shook his head. Forced himself out of the car and into the house as Finn trailed after him. Bit back the gasp of pain as Sarah came barreling into him and hit his stomach way too hard to be comfortable.
"Noah! You're back! Hi, Finn! What are you doing here? You haven't come over in ages. Did Noah piss you off again? He-"
"Sarah. Stop."
Sarah cut off her motor mouth and stared up at him, worried as he led her over to the couch and sat her down. "What's going on?" she asked, nervous.
"I need to talk to you, kid."
"I'm not a kid," she protested softly.
"Yeah, I know. You're almost thirteen. Just…" He sighed and dropped a hand on top of her head. "I need to tell you something."
"Grown-up time?"
"Grown-up time."
Sarah bit her lip as she looked to Finn, eyes widening and growing sad when she saw the duffles and suitcases at his feet. "You're leaving."
"I'm only moving into Finn's."
"But why?" she asked and Puck could see the tears already shining in her eyes. "Did I do something?"
"No! I… I did. Finn and me… Jesus, this is hard. We… We kind of had a baby, Sar."
Sarah frowned. "Huh?"
"It's complicated. Some guys can have babies and I… I had a baby when I was in L.A.. Went into labor and a few hours later… Baby."
"But my health teacher said you need to have sex to make a baby," she said, still confused. "You and Finn had sex?"
"Yeah."
"You like boys?"
"Still working that part out, Sarah."
Sarah nodded and in that second, Puck didn't think he could have loved his kid sister any more than he already did. She accepted things as they were. Accepted him. Maybe because she was still young, but it didn't matter to her. Even with the bullshit from their mom…
"Where's the baby?"
"She's back at Finn's," Puck said. He looked to Finn. "Could you start packing my stuff for me? Take the clothes first. We'll use whatever room is left to take care of the other stuff."
Finn nodded and disappeared upstairs as Sarah hugged him. He could feel her tears against his neck and he'd punch anyone that judged him for the couple of tears that slipped down his own face.
"Mom won't be okay with that. That's why you're packing now," Sarah mumbled when she pulled away, rubbing at the wet spots on her face.
"Yeah. I just… You know she isn't going to want me around. She isn't going to want me around you."
"But I don't care! I want to see you and Finn and the baby. I don't care about any of that stuff!"
"I know you don't. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted you to know everything first-"
"But when am I going to get to see you?" she asked. He closed his eyes when he heard it break off into a sob because, God damn it, if he couldn't handle crying girls, watching Sarah cry was like the world ending. Especially when it was his fault.
"We'll figure it out," he promised. "We'll figure out how to get you over so you can see Christina-"
"That's her name?"
Puck nodded. "Christina Lucy Puckerman-Hudson."
"It's pretty. She's going to hate you when she needs to learn how to write it."
Puck laughed. "Probably. But, Sar, we will figure out how to get time. We'll get you over, take you for ice cream, whatever. Mom hasn't found the laptop I bought you, right?"
"No."
"IM. Email. Facebook—yes, I know you have a fucking Facebook, Sarah Abigail. We'll figure it out. You're still friends with Brittany's sister, right?"
"Jenna? Yeah." A slow grin formed on her face. "Tell mom thirty-two percent of the truth?"
Puck nodded. "Go there for a bit and then I can pick you up some days. Hang out and I can drop you back off in time for Ma to pick you up."
"You don't think her parents would tell Mom?"
"Her parents hate Ma, Sar. And Britt's parents are chill."
Sarah nodded and reached for him again. This hug felt tighter and she crawled into his lap like she used to when she was six. "I still don't want you to go."
"I know," he murmured into her hair.
"Mom's gonna be home soon. You need to be out of here before she does, huh?" She sighed when Puck nodded. "I won't tell her."
Puck gave her as much of a smile as he could muster as they headed upstairs. He knew she wouldn't. Sarah knew how to keep a secret. Their mom would still find out, though.
Finn had already packed most of his clothes when they got there. He looked up from the duffle he was loading and nodded towards the two full ones by the door. "They're crammed. I think I broke the zipper on the blue one."
"I got 'em," Sarah mumbled as she dragged them both out of the room.
"She okay?"
"She's a Puckerman," Puck said. "We're always okay eventually."
"So not right now?"
Puck shook his head and reached for his videogames.
His mom came home while they were loading the last bags into the Nav.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Moving out, Ma," Puck said as he kissed Sarah's head and gave her another hug.
"I'm not paying those damn medical bills. You can pay for whatever you did to yourself," she huffed as she waved a hand over her shoulder and disappeared into the house.
Finn growled behind him, but Puck waved him off. "Whatever, Ma," he said as he went to get into the car. Sarah didn't let go of him. "Sar…"
"One more."
He nodded and held her again. And, no, he wasn't fucking crying, okay? Just... Just shut up.
"You okay?" Finn asked when he sent Sarah inside and got into the car.
"Eventually."
And if he went home, held Christina, and told her about her awesome aunt that couldn't wait to meet her… Well, Christina could keep a secret.
By the time graduation rolled around almost a week later, everyone knew. He walked onto the football field, clad in his cap and gown, with Christina held against his chest while Finn carried the diaper bag. He held his head high against the stares and the whispers of people calling him a freak and a fag. Someone's grandmother told he and Finn that they'd burn in hell and that they'd damned Christina too.
Burt held Carole back.
Puck shook his head and held his daughter to his chest a little tighter. Clenched his fists when he saw the same set jaw on Finn and handed her over.
"I hate people," Finn muttered.
Puck nodded and put a hand on Finn's back.
His hands had finally loosened into loose fists by the time he filed onto the built-for-graduation stage with the rest of Glee. They lined up and he looked to Finn, smiling as they heard Carole cheer from the audience and saw Burt hold Christina up.
The music for Graduation (Friends Forever) started up and he felt Quinn take hold of his hand as she stood beside him.
As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever
It felt stupid to stand up there and sing to the students that hated most of them. Sing and pretend that there were good memories when the truth was that his good memories of high school were with the people on stage with him and only certain football games.
La, la, la, la
Yeah, yeah, yeah
La, la, la, la
We will still be friends forever
They broke from their lines as the song ended and the music for Breakaway started, gathering into smaller groups around the tiny stage. Quinn wrapped an arm around his waist as Finn threw an arm over his shoulders.
They all sang to each other. Every single member in the club looking at each other with a promise that no matter the distance between them, nothing would change. And if his eyes watered when he saw Sarah sitting with Brittany's family or when Quinn whispered into his ear that she loved him and that Beth would be proud, well, what-the-fuck-ever.
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
It sucked to think that in a couple months that some of his friends would be gone. Rachel and Kurt were headed for NYADA. Quinn was headed off to Yale. Mike was at OSU for his freshman year until Tina graduated, and after that, they had their sights set on Massachusetts. Rory was headed back to Ireland in a few more days. Most of the others that were graduating were going to be at OSU or other colleges around Ohio, but when he thought about it, he was pretty sure the only thing he would miss from high school was having everyone right there.
He saw the tears on Brittany's face as she moved between the groups, hugging everyone as if she wouldn't get another chance. She dragged Santana with her as she did it and he smiled as he caught the Latina's eyes, because they fucking did it.
I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway
Mr. Schue joined them on the stage when the song ended and they cheered as their separate groups rejoined into a mass pile of limbs, hugs, and I love you, guys.
They screamed for each other, whistling and clapping their hardest as each of their names were called for their diplomas. Of their group, Puck was the last one to be called, four people after Brittany, and as he shook Figgins' hand and took the diploma that, sometimes, he'd thought was nothing more than a dream, he searched the crowd for where Burt, Carole, and Christina were. Raised the hand holding his diploma high in the air and cheered with his friends and turned his gaze towards Sarah. She was standing in her chair. Mr. Pierce caught her when she nearly fell and cracked her head open.
"I can't believe this is actually it," Kurt said as they all gathered back with their families. Sarah attached herself to his side, poking at him until he sat her down and placed Christina in her arms.
"It's insane," Finn agreed as he hugged his mom. "Feels like yesterday that we were freshmen, right?"
"Yeah," Puck murmured even though it felt like anything but. High school had been long for him, especially from sophomore year and on. After Beth, it seemed like so much of it had been dragging. Like he couldn't get himself out of this hole, because suddenly, he was a father without his child and he had never been able to really shake that feeling. Even now, with Christina, he wasn't sure that he could ever let go of the regrets he had from back then. Things he could have done differently that he couldn't change now. Things that he could do now that he had this third chance, he'd do things right. He'd be a good father to Christina. He'd be there for every milestone like he didn't get to be with Beth.
He'd hold on to the hope that one day, his daughters would get to meet.
Finn pressed himself against Puck's back, arms wrapped around him in a hug. People stared at them and Puck wondered if Finn had considered how this looked, but Finn's grip around him was firm and he leaned back into it. Fuck everyone else.
Watched as Kurt excused himself and found Karofsky standing in the crowd. They hugged and Puck raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out where this friendship had come from.
Then, he noticed that the hand Karofsky had put on Kurt's back was drifting lower than Burt would approve of if he could see them and he understood.
Huh.
Well, that was new.
"Ready to go home?" Finn asked later when they decided Christina had had enough time in the sun and that they should probably get her down for a nap anyway.
"Yeah. Home sounds good."
Living at Finn's was a strangely easy adjustment. Things just flowed. They spent the summer working at the shop and Burt alternated their schedules so that someone could always be home with Christina. He and Finn switched off nights with whose room Christina slept in so they could get a slightly weird but workable sleep schedule. They saw their friends and threw going away parties before everyone left. Quinn slept over the night before she left for New Haven, curled up in his bed as they talked about anything and everything. He got her to play Mario for an hour before they realized she still sucked at it.
She almost put her controller through the TV.
As fall rolled around and Finn started his classes, Christina started her days with Carole dropping her off at the hospital daycare while Puck went to work. Christina started staying in his room a little more, mostly so Finn could focus on his homework and study for his exams. Puck was a little more tired because of it, but whatever. She'd start sleeping through the night eventually.
Christina got sick for the first time when she was almost five months old. Had Carole not been there, they would have taken her to the hospital, lost in the panic of ohgodwhatdowedo. There might have been tears that neither boy would confess to shedding, and even with Carole's help, neither of them slept a wink until Christina's fever went down and they were convinced that she'd be okay.
Slowly, though, and Puck wasn't even sure how it happened or when exactly, Finn and he started sharing beds. He was pretty sure it started with someone falling asleep in the wrong bed and the other not having the heart to move him. Then, consciously deciding to take a nap together when they had a couple free hours.
By the time Christina was seven months, they were lying down together, saying goodnight, and falling asleep wrapped in each other.
Burt started telling them to keep their door open.
"We love Christina, but we don't need any more infants around here."
They argued that they weren't together, because they weren't. Sleeping together (without sex, no less) didn't equal being in a relationship.
They just…slept better this way.
They realized they were dating a month after Christina's first birthday.
"Puck?"
Puck looked up from where he sat on the floor, watching Christina walk around the room, and frowned at the nervous look on Finn's face. "What's up? Something happen?"
"Kind of," Finn said, one hand rubbing over the back of his neck. "Can we talk? In my room?"
"Yeah," Puck said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he picked Christina up and put her in the playpen they'd set up in the corner a while back. "Be good, C," he told her before he followed Finn into the bedroom the guy hadn't actually slept in for months. "So?"
"I ran into this girl from school. She was in my history class fall semester. We bumped into each other while I was out and she asked me out for coffee."
Puck sat on the bed, ignoring the sudden pain in his chest. "Okay? What? Is she ugly or something?"
"No," Finn said with a half-laugh. "She's pretty hot, actually."
"I don't see the big deal then."
"I told her I was seeing someone." Finn sat down beside him, one leg folded up on the bed as he swallowed nervously. "I told her I had a boyfriend."
Puck's eyebrows shot up and, no, that pain didn't just get worse. "Didn't know you were seeing someone."
"I… I don't know if I am. Puck… Are we?"
Puck's eyes shot towards Finn, wider than he thought was possible. Forgot for a few seconds that oxygen wasn't optional because… What?
"You and me…?"
Finn nodded. "Yeah. I… Are we, Puck? Together, I mean? I know I haven't been out with anyone in…a long time. And you-"
"No," Puck murmured. "No, I haven't been with anyone."
"And even when we talked about the thing in the auditorium," Finn continued, "we never really talked, you know? I don't really know how you felt about any of it-"
"I didn't really know. It was…confusing."
"Yeah."
"Since then…" Puck swallowed, wondering when his throat got this dry and why his heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest.
"Since then?" Finn prompted in a whisper. His breath ghosted over Puck's face and he realized just how close they were.
Puck bit his lip as his gaze flickered from Finn's lips to his eyes, breath caught in his throat as he closed his eyes and went for it. Finn gasped into his mouth before he pressed back into the kiss, one hand rising up to grab at the bottom of Puck's Mohawk. Someone moaned into it and Puck felt himself get lowered onto the bed, Finn's body pressing down on top of his.
Finn was straddling him when they broke the kiss, eyes dark as he stared down at an equally breathless Puck. They stared at each other as Finn got off of Puck and lay beside him, bodies still pressed up against each other.
"So…"
"So…"
"That…"
"Yeah."
"Feelings…"
"Yeah."
"I'm not seeing anyone. And you're not seeing anyone," Finn said, forehead pressed against Puck's as their lips touched softly.
"Nope," Puck said, popping the 'P' softly as their lips brushed again.
"So we're seeing each other?"
"Think we have been for a while."
"'Kay. Just wanted to check."
"More kissing?"
Finn hummed in agreement as he kissed Puck again, harder this time as they rolled on the bed, hands grasping and pulling. Moaned into kisses that felt every bit as hot as they did that day in the auditorium. They gasped at the feel of bare chest against bare chest as their shirts fell away and Puck moaned low in his throat as Finn moved down to his neck, kissing and biting, as his hands worked at Puck's belt buckle.
One of them whispered something about the open door, but neither of them really cared as Finn let his hand slip down Puck's pants. Puck bucked up into his hand, groaning and searching for friction.
"Shit…"
"Want you."
Puck made a noise of agreement as he rolled his hips. Pulled Finn into another kiss and reached for the button of his jeans-
Christina started crying then, yelling loud for her daddies and obviously bored of being in her playpen.
The boys groaned, flopping back onto the bed as the mood effectively died. Finn pulled his hand free from Puck's jeans and they sat up, blushing red and wondering what to say until Puck gave him a quick kiss and stood.
"I'll get her. You go wash your hand." He paused in the doorway, still shirtless, and looked back. "And, Finn?"
Finn pulled his shirt over his head, still red. "Yeah?"
"It's probably about time Christina had her own room. This one has just been sitting here, useless, for a while."
Finn grinned at him. "You're right."
"We'll sleep in here tonight," Puck said, smirking as he looked Finn up and down. "You might want to hit the drugstore."
The End