Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: "Happy Valentine's..."
"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Rachel wailed as both Quinn and Santana tried to force her to have a good time. "I am so not ready for this, this...this cattle market," she said, indicating the swarming room with her wine glass, slopping some of the contents onto the carpet. Rachel glanced down at the floor . "Fuck it, this carpet is so freakin' busy no one would know if you puked on it except for the smell," she groused. Rachel really didn't like the decor at Lima Country Club she decided, it could all do with being revamped, maybe Burt should suggest Kurt, no because that would mean that Gavin would come too and really, he should have decided that he was gay long before he'd married her. Rachel broke down into sobbing tears. Again.
"Oh happy fucking soul," Santana cried sarcastically, throwing her hands up and letting them slap down at her sides. "If I knew you were going to be this much of a party pisser I wouldn't have insisted that you come," she growled. "So you're divorced, get over it, move on, find another guy to suck the fucking life out of," she advised.
"Screw you, Santana," Rachel bitched back. "Oh, that's right, everyone already did, slut," she cried, throwing the usual insults. Quinn sighed and left them to it, knowing that once they were locked into the 'we are going to fucking argue and I am going to win' mode, there was no reasoning with either of them, there never had been, not since they'd shared the loft in New York.
"Hey," a soft voice murmured behind Quinn, close to her ear.
"Hey yourself," Quinn replied without turning around. She couldn't stop the delicious shiver that ran down her back. "I didn't think you were going to make it," she said, still without turning around.
"I wouldn't miss this," he insisted. "No one knows I'm here, right?" he checked, suddenly nervous, glancing round the room. No one was interested in the couple in the corner, they were all too busy either making out or finding someone to make out with. Happy Valentine's Day.
"That's why I suggested they make it a masked ball," Quinn informed him with a soft smile, aimed slightly over her shoulder at him, "so that you could come and no one would recognise you. I still don't want to risk it," she murmured. "Feel like getting out of here already?" she asked.
"Your place?" he asked hopefully, leaning in closer for just a sniff of her perfume, he had to swallow as his mouth watered.
"Mmm," Quinn sighed, she leaned her head back against his warm chest. "I finally moved in," she said, proud of her home. He was glad about that, otherwise they'd have been heading to the crappy motel out by the freeway as usual.
"Let's get moving then, before either of those two decide they've had enough of arguing," he murmured with a nod towards Rachel and Santana who were still going at it over by the patio doors. "It's freakin' cold out here," he said as they made their way quickly through the parking lot. "You didn't get conned into driving again, did you?" he asked, glancing round for her car.
"No, Santana's brother drove us, I guess they'll have to make their own way home when they're ready," Quinn reassured him.
"Neither of them are staying with you, are they?" he asked suddenly, needing every base to be covered.
"No, Rachel is staying with her dads since the divorce and Santana is crashing at her brother's house, apparently he has cute room mates, cute female room mates," Quinn explained with a knowing nod, then she gulped. Crap, should she say something now?
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Nothing ever changes in this place, does it?" he asked, shaking his head. Quinn said nothing, the moment had passed.
The second they reached his truck Quinn spun to face him, landing in his arms, they tightened around her as if she'd tripped. "Well, flyboy," she murmured as her hands stroked up his chest and across his shoulders, "now that you've got me here, what are you going to do with me?" she asked coyly then moaned lightly as his head descended towards hers.
The world exploded with light and sound the instant their lips touched. "Fireworks," he breathed against her lips as he realised what was happening, heard the faint excited cries of 'ooh' and 'ahhh' with each new beautiful pyrotechnic display.
"Sweetie, we've always had fireworks," Quinn replied with a little roll of her eyes. "Take me home," she suggested suddenly, breathlessly. He didn't reply, he just unlocked his truck. "Should you be driving?" she asked worriedly, remembering that he'd had a glass of something in his hand when he'd found her.
"Yep, it was just coke tonight, no JD," he said with the hint of a grin. "I'm waiting for a call from my brother, the baby could come at any time and I don't want to be the rancid old uncle breathing alcohol fumes all over the new baby," he explained. "And I'm not a flyboy," he reminded her yet again.
"You're in the Airforce, you're a flyboy," Quinn countered with a shrug.
"I don't fly anything, I'm not a pilot," he pointed. "I'm a Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Engineer," he stated with a half smile.
"And what is your rank now?" Quinn asked, rubbing against his front, very lightly, but enough to set off the most exciting tremors in her own body.
"Staff Sergeant," he replied, exceedingly proud of his recent promotion.
"And how do your men address you?" Quinn asked breathlessly as his hands moulded the shape of her body, stroked up and down her back, her sides, almost but not quite coming in to contact with her tingling breasts.
"Sir, they call me sir," he mumbled against Quinn's throat, he felt her swallow hard. "But you can still call me Puck," he teased. They fell into the truck, Puck bundled Quinn along the bench seat and quickly started the engine. "So you finally moved into your own place? How long have you been there?" he asked to make conversation on the way to her house. "Glad to be living alone?"
"Actually," Quinn started to answer then chickened out as her throat closed up. "Yes, I like living there," she mumbled and looked out of the window at the houses they passed on the way.
Puck pulled up on the corner, directed to the correct address by Quinn. "This is your house?" he asked, looking up at the pleasant 1920's two storey house. "Nice," he nodded his approval. "Are we going in or are we just going to sit here and look at it?" he asked, feeling Quinn withdrawing further and further away from him.
"Come in, there's someone I want you to meet," Quinn sighed, knowing that it was now inevitable. "Hi, I'm home," she called softly as soon as the front door closed behind them.
"Hello, darling," Judy Fabray said as she came out of the living room, "did you have a good...Noah," she said, surprised, flustered, giving Quinn a nervous, worried look.
"Hello Ms Fabray," Puck said with a smile. "How are you? My mother mentions you when we speak," he thought to tell her, just to let her know that he knew about their weekly coffee mornings.
Judy Fabray and Monica Puckerman had become firm friends over the years, they both despaired that their children would ever settle down. "How-how is Monica? I haven't seen her for a couple of weeks," Judy managed to ask.
"She's fine, she's been visiting my sister for her birthday," Puck replied. "She'll be back tomorrow. I think," he added almost as an after thought, it could be the day after, he really wasn't sure, he tended to switch off when his mom was telling him stuff, he just mumbled responses now and again to make her think he was still listening. Except if Quinn's name came up, then he snapped to attention.
"Well, I'll get on home," Judy said after a few more uncomfortable minutes. "Bye honey, I'll see you tomorrow," she murmured to Quinn as she leaned to press her lips against her daughter's cheek. "Bye, Noah," she added with a backward glance.
Puck waved then turned to look at Quinn. "That was awkward," he tried to joke. Quinn shrugged even more uncomfortably. "So why was she here?" he asked as they walked into the kitchen. Puck took a seat at the counter. "I thought she might have been at the Valentine's Ball with you tonight, maybe trying to find you a suitable husband," he added with a sly grin.
"She was errm...she was, phew," Quinn stuttered, trying to find the words.
"Has Nana Judy gone?" a young voice asked from the doorway.
Puck spun round on his stool, almost giving himself whiplash. "Beth?" he breathed in disbelief.
"Surprise," Quinn cried, trying to turn it into a joke. "Yes sweetie, Nana Judy's gone home. You remember Noah, right?" she asked the young girl. "From Nana Monica's pictures?"
"Can I call him dad?" Beth asked, rubbing her tired eyes. "He is, after all," she reminded them. As if they needed her to remind them.
"I don't know, you'll have to ask Noah," Quinn replied, still without making any effort to look at Puck, she knew she would have to explain a lot and she wasn't quite prepared for it at this moment. Crap. Why had she thought this was anything like a good idea?
"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?" Puck demanded, his fingers itched to reach out and grab Beth to him, make sure she was real, not some weird figment of his imagination.
"Beth is staying here with me for a while," Quinn said in a small voice.
"How-how long?" Puck managed to ask, his voice husky, unsure and totally unlike his usual confident self.
"She's been here about a month. Shelby asked if she could stay for a while, I said yes and here we are," Quinn said brightly, grinning at the young blond who was still rubbing her eyes tiredly in the kitchen doorway.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Puck asked, still staring at the girl.
"That's why I was at the party tonight, to see you," Quinn admitted as she put the kettle on to boil.
Puck's phone chimed in his pocket. "Ah crap," he muttered as he saw it was his brother calling. "S'up?" he asked as he answered the call.
"Stand down," Jake sighed. "Might as well have yourself a real drink tonight. Marley's slight contractions have stopped, she's attached to a monitor, no sign of any movement, you might as well have a real good night, looks like I'm spending my wedding anniversary at the hospital," he grumbled.
"I take it she's asleep?" Puck asked, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.
"Yep, how did you guess?" Jake asked. Puck didn't answer, he just laughed and told his brother goodnight.
"That was Jake, no niece or nephew yet," Puck told Quinn and Beth.
"Jake's your brother, right?" Beth asked, Puck nodded. "So that makes him my uncle?"
"Yep, I suppose it does," Puck replied, wondering where Beth was going with this.
"So that makes his baby, my cousin, right?" Beth asked with a huge smile. "My family is just getting bigger and bigger all the time," she sighed happily.
"I'm still not sure what's going on," Puck said quietly to Quinn as she made tea in a pretty china teapot.
"We'll talk soon, when she's gone back to bed," Quinn murmured. "Ok Bethy, time for you to be back in bed, it's almost midnight," she said a little surprised herself at how late it was.
"Oh but," Beth started to argue, looking in distress at Puck.
"Noah will still be here in the morning, I'm sure, right?" Quinn asked Puck, nodding to him hoping he would copy.
"Sure, I'll still be here," Puck agreed, his heartbeat soared just a little. "See you in the morning," he said as Beth came to kiss his cheek. Puck's breath almost stalled in his lungs.
"Night, sweetie," Quinn murmured as Beth kissed her too before running back upstairs. Puck and Quinn heard her footsteps thumping on every tread, heard a door slam.
"Now do you want to tell me what's going on?" Puck asked, putting the delicate teacup down.
"Shelby called me," Quinn repeated what she'd said earlier. "She'd found a lump, had some tests done, it's aggressive, they'd given her weeks, that's all, not even months, she didn't have anyone else to turn to, she asked if Beth could come here, if I would be willing to take her, adopt her when the worst actually does happen, I agreed straight away," she explained. "Obviously both our moms know, Monica has been wonderful, really helpful especially with my work schedule," she added, grateful beyond measure. "My mom fills in where she can. Beth knows what's happening with Shelby, she's having some radical treatment right now, maybe this will work, who knows," she shrugged. "We all agreed that we would tell you as soon as you came home on leave," she said, reaching out to touch Puck's tense thigh.
"I would have tried to get leave sooner if I'd known," Puck pouted, feeling left out of the loop.
"But you're here now," Quinn reminded him, she wished she could just grab his face and plant a superhot kiss on him. Puck must have read her mind because he just couldn't help himself. "Ooof," Quinn sighed as the breath was knocked out of her. "Mmmm," she moaned as Puck's tongue invaded her mouth, tangled with her tongue, then she groaned, as her eyes drifted closed, her lids heavy as she very slowly laid back on the counter, Puck moved slowly with her, his warm, hard body a wanted, welcome weight against her. "Upstairs," she managed to murmur against his lips. "Top of the stairs, first door on the left," she instructed and pushed Puck in that direction while she made sure the doors were secure and the alarm set.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Puck asked the second Quinn closed her bedroom door and leaned against it. He was sat on the end of her bed, still fully clothed, facing the door. "We don't have to do this you know," he reminded her.
"We don't have to," Quinn agreed, "but it's so much fun when we do," she grinned and then with one touch she reminded him of all the times in the past when they had hooked up, before they graduated high school and since.
"We are good at this," Puck muttered against her throat as Quinn pressed him backwards to lay flat on her large, sumptuous bed. "You're sure no one's figured us out yet?" he asked, grinning up into her sexy green eyes.
"No," Quinn replied with a smirk, "they all just tell me how right we would be for each other," she giggled. "I don't tell them that we already know that but we like to keep things informal," she shrugged and dipped to kiss him again.
"But I still think you should have told me about Beth being here," Puck said with a frown. "We aren't done with that subject yet."
"And if you hadn't been out of touch for three months I would have told you sooner. That's the problem with you being in the airforce, sometimes you get sent to 'places of conflict'," Quinn grumbled using one hand to draw air quotes as she pushed up on the other hand. "I can't always get messages to you. I am sorry though," she said with a half smiling pout.
"I forgive you," Puck growled as their clothes began to disappear. "But next time, anything happens again, anything at all, you can always get hold of me, even if it's through the base. You have the numbers, you're listed as my person of importance, you're someone who needs to know, they'll tell you, they won't fob you off," he reminded her. "And they will get a message to me," he promised.
"I know, I just don't like to worry you when there's nothing you can do about it," Quinn said quietly then rocked against him, making them both suck in a breath.
"Is that why you sent the ticket and the tux?" Puck grinned. "So that we could meet up in secret?"
"Of course," Quinn replied against his chest. "It made it even better that they went with my suggestion of a masquerade ball," she giggled. "I like balls," she added with a suggestive wink.
"See if like these balls any better," Puck murmured and guided Quinn's hand to his groin, she caught on straight away...
"So Beth is with you till when?" Puck asked once they had their breath back and were snuggled up together.
"Shelby hasn't been able to answer those sorts of questions, she's too ill right now. Rachel doesn't know by the way, Shelby didn't want her informed," Quinn sighed. "I feel awful about that, she should know but I can't go against Shelby's wishes," she said, her heart and her mind troubled.
"No, but I can," Puck said and sat up to reach for his phone.
"Puck, wait," Quinn cried.
"Look, I know why you're following Shelby's wishes to the letter," Puck said as he laid back down beside her. "You're scared that she'll take Beth away again, right?" he asked, Quinn nodded. "If she's as ill as you say she is, she isn't going to do that and Rachel has a right to know that her birth mother is dying," he stated. "I was seriously pissed when Jake didn't tell me about my dad just because I was overseas," he reminded her. "You're the one who talked me into forgiving him, remember?"
"I know you're right," Quinn cried, feeling so guilty but relieved to have the decision taken out of her hands. "Are you going to call her?" she asked.
"Rachel?" Puck asked as he scrolled through his contacts for the right number. "No, you saw her at the party, she's too wasted tonight to understand anything, I'm calling her dads, they can talk to her tomorrow," he said as he pressed dial. "Hiram? Hi it's Noah..."
Puck came awake slowly, taking a moment to remember where he was. He started as the door opened very slowly. "Quinn," Beth called softly from the doorway, her head the only thing that was poking inside the room. "Are you awake?" she asked.
"We are now," Puck mumbled the reply as he turned over to make himself just a little more presentable, acceptable to mixed company. "Hi sweetie, how are you this morning?" he asked, smiling at the young girl who sat herself down on the end of the bed.
"I'm good," Beth replied and tucked her feet under the edge of the cosy quilt.
"Did you talk to your mom yet this morning?" Quinn asked as she did every morning.
"Not yet, she wasn't awake enough," Beth sighed, tears gathering in her eyes. "Can we go see her today?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course, Noah can come too if he wants," Quinn replied, looking over her shoulder at Puck who was snug up behind her, he nodded. Beth looked grateful.
"Who's going to make breakfast for me?" Puck asked of the two girls.
"Oh, hey, I'm the kid here," Beth scoffed, holding her hands up and shaking her head.
"Don't look at me, I can't cook anything except bacon," Quinn teased, giggling when Puck tickled her ribs.
"I guess that means it's going to be me then?" Puck sighed, leaning back, able to turn over now that his body was back under control. "Well, you need to disappear so I can get up," he told Beth.
Ten minutes later, after the quickest shower on record, dressed in the ratty sweatpants and t-shirt that Quinn had held onto for more years than he cared to think about, Puck made a start on breakfast. "We can at least be thankful for small mercies," he murmured to himself before going to the hall to shout up the stairs, the package of turkey bacon in his hand. "If you want breakfast sausage, you cook it yourself," he added.
"No thanks, turkey bacon and scrambled eggs is fine," Quinn called back.
"For me too," Beth added with a giggle. "With toast," she tacked on as an after thought. Quinn echoed that request.
"Good job I like that too, thanks for asking," Puck grumbled as he headed back to the kitchen. "Yo," he answered the call to his phone without checking the screen. "She did?" he cried at his brother's news. "So what did I get, a niece or a nephew?" he asked. "Cool. Congratulations man, I'm really happy for you, give Marley and Lola my love, I'll be in to see them in a little while," he said before ending the call. "Beth, you got a girl cousin, Lola, we can go see her later if you'd like," he called up the stairs.
"Excellent," Beth answered a few minutes later as she came to sit down at the kitchen table. "That's really cool, girls are way better than boys," she added with a smirk.
"Thanks," Puck replied sarcastically.
"Well, you're outnumbered anyway, there's way more girls in this family than there are boys. In fact," Beth said then stopped to think, "there's only really you," she said in surprise.
"And Jake," Puck reminded her, realising that actually, Beth was right. The only guys in the family were him and Jake. Definitely outnumbered. "I think maybe we need to work on that," he teased with a wink.
"Can we see her?" Quinn asked quietly.
"Yes, but try to disturb her as little as possible," the doctor said just as quietly. "She's very near the end," he added once Beth was far enough away not to hear.
"Hi mom," Beth whispered near to Shelby's ear as she leaned over and kissed her sunken cheek.
"Hey Shelby," Puck said quietly as he did the same, he was shocked at how ill, how small Shelby looked, how paper thin her skin seemed. He was scared for her, scared for Beth, he didn't think they would get to visit too many more times. "I have a confession to make, Shelby," he said, taking the woman's hand in his own, looking her in the eye. "I contacted Rachel through her dads, I think she has a right to know what's happening," he admitted. "I'm sorry if that upsets you, but it would be worse if we left it too late."
"You're right," Shelby managed to say, her voice a barely there whisper. "Beth?" she said, attempting to lift her hand to her daughter. Beth was there in an instant, her warm hands wrapped around her mom's cold hand. "I love you, Quinn and Noah love you too, they'll take care of you, be good for them," she said then sank back to sleep.
"Already?" Quinn asked as she finally came into the room after receiving an update from the nurses who were giving Shelby such dedicated care. "Did she say anything?"
"Just that I was right about Rachel and for us to look after Beth," Puck said quietly.
"I'm just going to sit with her for a while," Beth said, almost to herself. "Then maybe we can go visit the new baby?" she asked hopefully, Puck nodded and stood to leave.
"Rachel," Puck said as he left the room. "I didn't know if your dads would have talked to you this soon," he said, feeling flustered.
"I might have known you'd be here first, Noah," Rachel hissed. "She always did have a soft spot for you," she sniped, brushing angry tears away from her cheeks.
"Hey, I'm sorry Rachel, I only just found out last night myself," Puck defended himself, holding his hands up. "Shelby said that she didn't want you to know, she didn't want to get you upset," he explained. "She thinks you've gone through enough these last few years," he added, choosing Shelby's words for her.
"Just leave it," Rachel snapped. "Nothing you say can make this any better," she told him, her eyes flashing fire at Puck, she truly blamed him.
"Rachel," Beth sighed and rushed to hug her as she walked into Shelby's room. "She's really sick Rachel, I don't think she's..." she broke off with a sob, unable to say it, she didn't even want to think it.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rachel asked, her eyes locked on to her mother's shrunken frame. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Rachel? Is that you?" Shelby whispered. Rachel rushed to her side, she leaned over to look into Shelby's dull, tired eyes. "You're here, you're both here," she sighed, trying hard to smile at Rachel and Beth. "I love you both so much, you are the only people in the world that I have ever loved. Quinn, Noah, take care of them for me..." her voice faded away as the last breath left her body.
Puck called Jake and explained that a visit would be too much for Beth right now. He understood. "Let's go home," he murmured quietly as Beth sobbed against him, Quinn was quietly making as many arrangements as she could so as not to disturb either Rachel or Beth later.
Rachel and Beth both fell asleep on Beth's bed at Quinn's house. Puck contacted his rabbi to set things in motion. "Does she have any other family?" he asked Quinn.
"No," Quinn replied, checking through the legal paperwork that Shelby had entrusted her with when she'd first asked Quinn to take care of Beth. "Beth doesn't have anything to worry about, Shelby is well insured anyway, her funeral is already arranged, we need to contact...just a second let me find it again...here, we have to contact Engelstein and Cohen, her lawyers."
"I already talked to Rabbi Lerner, she's prepared to step in if we need her to," Puck explained, "I told her I didn't know if Shelby had already made arrangements with her own rabbi, she's cool with whatever."
"How does your mother feel about having a female rabbi?" Quinn asked out of interest, knowing that Monica Puckerman was far more of a traditionalist than either of her children.
"I don't know, I never asked," Puck shrugged then got up to answer the door. "Speak of the devil, hi Ma," he said as he opened the door to find his mother on the doorstep.
"Oh Noah, Judy called me, I was on the train on my way home, where's Beth, where is she, the poor baby?" Monica cried, tears falling already as she hugged her son.
"She's asleep, Rachel's with her right now, I called Rabbi Lerner but Quinn has a contact number for Shelby's lawyer so she's calling to make sure what her wishes were," Puck explained. Monica rushed past Puck and up the stairs. Puck hadn't quite closed the door when Judy pulled up at the kerb. "They're upstairs," he said quietly even though Judy never asked.
"Thank you, Noah," Judy said politely, nodding as she rushed past him too.
"You think I didn't recognise your clothes when I helped Quinn unpack here?" Monica asked as she, Judy, Quinn and Puck sat around the breakfast bar drinking coffee. "We know you've been together on and off for years, you didn't have to keep it a secret."
"You always disappeared on mysterious vacations that coincided with Noah's leave," Judy remarked to Quinn. "You never took any pictures, you never came back with a tan and you were always remarkably lacking in souvenirs too," she commented, not making any effort to hide her grin.
"But it was so much more fun if no one knew," Puck answered with a smile, reaching out to take Quinn's hand. "And neither of us was really ready to settle down, not properly anyway, well, maybe Quinn is now, buying a house and everything," he added with a gulp. "Must mean you're growing up Q," he whispered loudly.
"So don't you think it's time to make it official?" Monica asked, giving her son the tried and tested 'I am your mama' look, the one that he could never lie to and if he ever tried to, he actually blushed. "I mean, you're both twenty-nine years old, this has been going on for what? Ten, twelve years?" she asked.
"Why do we need to?" Puck asked, feeling pressured in a way he didn't like. "We're fine as we are," he added, avoiding Quinn's eyes, just in case she agreed with their mothers. Judy wasn't actually saying much but she was nodding and agreeing with Monica. Puck started to think and wonder as he sat there. Was he happy with how things were or was he just so used to saying it that he'd started to believe it? "And it's thirteen years, actually," he mumbled almost to himself.
Quinn gave a little shrug. "I am," she admitted quietly to Puck, her face not giving anything away. "I am ready to settle down, get married, have more kids," she added almost breathlessly. "The clock's ticking, you know?" she asked, blushing slightly at the reference to her biological clock.
Puck felt his whole body tingle then whoosh to life. "Really? You want to get married? Have kids? With me?" he asked, his disbelief evident in how high his voice got.
"Yeah," Quinn replied. "If you're not ready for that, I can wait, it doesn't have to be right now," she hurriedly said, hoping that he wasn't about to make a run for it.
"You know, I never really thought about it," Puck mused, "I never actually pictured where we'd be, what we'd be doing if I ever, when," he corrected himself, "when I proposed to you," he said with a smile. "I mean, I knew I would, someday, but I don't think, even in my worst nightmare, I don't think it would have occurred to me to imagine our mothers sat here listening in," he grinned. "But I have to say, if you're ready, I am too," Puck said quietly, very quietly, looking Quinn in the eye as he played with her fingers, stroking and teasing them.
"That's it?" Monica and Judy demanded in disgust. "I'm ready if you are?" Monica frowned. "What sort of proposal is that? I despair of you Noah, I really do."
"Is that because of me?" Beth's quivering, wavy voice came from the kitchen doorway. "My mom always told me that you both loved me so much that you'd do anything for me, even give me up when I was born because you knew she could give me a better life, but you don't have to do this for me, I know that I'll be ok," she said, her face and her voice full of maturity well beyond her years.
Puck turned on his stool and faced Beth. "Come here," he said softly, holding out his arms to her. Beth came closer and was engulfed. "I love you so much, we both do, we always have, but we love each other too. This is something that has been inevitable since we were fifteen years old, it was never, ever if, it has always been a question of when," he assured her. "Well?" he asked Quinn quietly, his cheek resting on Beth's head, both of them looking at Quinn for her answer.
"I don't suppose it would hurt," Quinn murmured with a nonchalant shrug.
"Quinn," Judy and Monica screeched in unison. "Oh my lord, you are as bad as each other," Judy cried crossly, folding her arms across her chest and pouting at her daughter.
"What?" Quinn demanded. "He asked, I answered, we're doing it. Finally," she cried with her hands raised to her shoulders. "If you hadn't been here I'm sure we would've done it differently," she added then blushed when she heard what Puck muttered.
"You didn't hear that," Puck instructed Beth with a wink.
"Yes I did, you said if they weren't here you'd have...mfffmm," Beth started to answer until Puck slapped his hand over her mouth to stop the flow of words.
"Lesson one," Puck muttered to Quinn, "watch what you say when young ears are about."
"Congratulations," Rachel said from the doorway, hugging her arms around herself, her head and shoulder leaning on the door frame.
"Thanks," Puck replied with a wink. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Rachel nodded. "So when's the big day?" she asked.
"I think that's something we need to talk about but it won't be yet," Quinn replied, standing up to get Rachel a cup and filling it with hot water, she added a slice of lemon. "There you go, do you want honey in that?"
"No, that's perfect, thank you," Rachel said with a sniff. "How are you, baby?" she asked Beth, taking her in her arms and kissing her head.
"I'm fine, I think," Beth answered, wiping her eyes again. "So will I stay here for forever?" she asked Quinn.
"Well, I don't know, I, err, I suppose it depends where Puck gets stationed in the future, I mean right now he's based at Wright-Patterson, but that might change," Quinn replied, a little unsure.
"I need to talk to you about that, actually," Puck said, sounding just a little unsure himself.
"What?" Quinn asked nervously. Maybe he was getting deployed again, the last time had been to some unpronounceable newly formed republic in the middle of Africa who were fighting themselves, their government and anyone who looked cross-eyed at their borders.
"I've been asked to take part in a teaching programme at OSU, the Rhodes State campus," Puck revealed.
"Starting when? And for how long?" Quinn demanded, hope soaring in her that she would have the continual support from Puck that she knew she would need in the coming days and weeks, once reality actually hit Beth. Quinn knew enough from her own work that once reality set in, Beth was going to morph from a compliant young pre-teen to an emotionally overloaded, lost little girl.
"From first of September and for at least two years," Puck replied. "Maybe we could have a quiet little ceremony in the summer, once school is out, maybe on a beach somewhere, like maybe Hawaii or something," he suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Beth sniffed, still wrapped up in Rachel's arms. "I've never been to Hawaii," she added then thought for a moment. "You wouldn't go without me, would you?" she asked worriedly.
"Absolutely not," Quinn answered and leaned over to kiss Beth's forehead. "You will be guest of honour," she said, cupping her chin, looking intently into the teary, bloodshot eyes.
"So that's settled?" Monica asked, more than a little put out that the asking and the answering had been so low key.
The phone rang, Quinn got up to answer it, it was Shelby's rabbi calling to make the arrangements. Quinn offered the phone to Puck, he was more versed in Judaism than she would ever be, he had an inherent understanding of the protocols and proceedings, she would just follow his lead.
"Shalom Aleichem," Puck said when Quinn handed him the phone.
"Aleichem shalom," the rabbi responded. The arrangements were made for the funeral to take place the next day.
"That's quick," Quinn muttered to Judy and Monica.
"That's Jewish," Monica replied. "Within twenty-four hours if it's possible, except for the Sabbath, then we have to wait," she explained.
"You ok with all that?" Puck asked Beth and Rachel once he finished the call.
"Yes, thank you, Noah," Rachel replied softly.
"Thank you," Beth added, quiet as a mouse.
"I am exhausted," Quinn sighed as they climbed into bed. "I didn't think Beth was going to settle at all tonight, I'm glad Rachel decided to stay with her," she added through a yawn.
"But not too exhausted," Puck suggested with a gleam in his eyes.
"No, not too exhausted," Quinn agreed...
"The weather is absolutely beautiful, I love this weather," Judy sighed as she and Monica lounged side by side on the glorious beach. "The view is fairly spectacular too," she murmured as they both watched the handsome, well muscled, beautifully tanned young men building the arched canopy that would be the site of the wedding at sundown.
"Mmm," Monica sighed in agreement and picked up her drink again. "Did you ever think we would actually get here?" she asked Judy.
"Years ago, even before they graduated high school, I would have put money on them eloping," Judy admitted. She picked up her fruit filled drink too and sipped through the straw. "All through the Yale years, all through the New York years, I fully expected to be told, every time she came home, I always thought this time is going to be it, she's going to tell me they got married or they're pregnant again," she told Monica, nodding and saw Monica nod too,
"Mmm, especially after Finn died, I really thought it would happen then," Monica agreed. "Every time he called and said Mom I have something to tell you, I was always surprised that it was either a promotion or a deployment, I always thought he was going to say they'd finally tied the knot," she said then waved to attract the attention of the waiter. "Another two of these wonderful cocktails, please," she requested with a smile. "I'm glad they're finally doing it though, I feel that Quinn has been my daughter-in-law since she was sixteen years old," she said to Judy. "I know that Noah wouldn't have been your first choice for her," she added quickly.
"Actually, I've never been able to think of anyone better for her," Judy revealed. "Not since the day that Beth was born and he was there for her every step of the way," she admitted. "Oh, there's Beth now," she said, noting the young girl skipping towards them. "Hi honey, how are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Beth answered. "I'm not so sure about dad and momma," she added. "Dad's freaking out like you wouldn't believe, I find it hard to believe he stays calm in a war situation," she mocked slightly. "Mr Schue's trying his best but Jake, Mike and Sam are telling him all sorts of horror stories and that's freaking him out even more, it's quite funny really. Then there's momma, she looks green like she's going to puke any second, Rachel and Santana are arguing as usual over who is going to help her get ready while Mercedes is just getting on with it," she grinned. "I came out here to check on you two, make sure you're not getting into any trouble, dad says you must be plotting something if you're together."
"We're not plotting anything sweetheart," Monica denied, taking another long drink from her delicious, fresh cocktail. "So your momma is looking rather ill, is she?" she fished, a suspicion forming in her mind.
"Yep, she says she feels a bit yacky too," Beth confirmed and pulled up a lounger to lay with both of her nanas in the shade of the huge umbrella. "She did yesterday too," she sighed. "She didn't want to come swimming with me and dad yesterday morning because she felt yacky then, too," she pouted. Beth fidgeted as she laid back, her feet wiggling about, not actually relaxing in the same way that her nanas were. "So what time do we have to get ready for the wedding?" she asked.
"I think another hour or so and we should make a move," Judy replied. "The hotel have provided a hairdresser for us, I want to shower before I go down to her," she told Monica and Beth.
"Me too," Monica agreed. They laid there for a while longer, about ten minutes or so. "I can't wait any more, I have to go ask," she muttered. "Are you coming too?" she asked Beth and Judy, they both nodded and jumped up from their loungers.
"Hi girls," Monica said as she poked her head round the door. "Would you mind if we had a few moments with Quinn?" she asked.
"Not at all," Rachel and Santana replied politely, the first time they'd agreed on anything all week. All month. In years, actually. Mercedes followed them both out of the bedroom.
"Hey guys," Quinn said nervously, looking at all three of them looking at her curiously. "Are you going to get ready?" she asked.
"Errm, we have a question for you," Judy began, hoping to phrase it delicately. She took a seat next to Quinn on the end of the huge bed. "Darling you can tell me to mind my own business but I have to ask, are you pregnant?" she asked her daughter.
Quinn looked at each face, noted that they were all looking at her with excitement and anticipation. "How did you figure it out?" she queried. "I thought I'd been so careful, kept it hidden," she said quietly with a frown, a pout. She wasn't totally prepared for the screams that followed her revelation. "Puck doesn't know yet, please," she hissed. Judy, Monica and Beth continued with their celebrations but kept it muted. None of them expected the next voice.
"And you didn't tell me?" Puck demanded from the doorway, he sounded a little bit shocked and a lot hurt.
"I wanted it to be a surprise for you, a wedding gift for you," Quinn replied, her voice almost a nervous whisper. "What are you doing in here, anyway" she asked. "I thought we weren't going to see each other today, not till the ceremony anyway," she added.
"I couldn't stay away," Puck admitted, coming further into the room, Quinn stood up to meet him halfway across the room. "I came to rescue you from the moms," he teased, looking over at both Monica and Judy. "Rach said they were in here and they looked like they meant business."
"I can handle the moms," Quinn claimed, smiling at Puck, at the love she could see in his eyes. "It was the look on Beth's face I couldn't handle," she admitted. "And you know we've not done anything to prevent it," she murmured with a shrug as they joined both hands. "We talked about it, we decided we wanted to do this as soon as we could," she reminded him, Puck nodded his head. "So, we are, we're going to be a family of four by the beginning of March," she admitted shyly.
Beth burst forwards and threw an arm around each of them, hugged them both. She couldn't help the happy sob that broke free nor the tears that dripped from her lashes. "I'm going to be a big sister," she sighed happily.
"Do we want to know?" Quinn asked, looking at both Puck and Beth.
"Nope," Beth answered quickly. "Let's get a surprise like Uncle Jake and Aunt Marley did," she suggested, "it makes it a bit more exciting."
"And it's something else she can fleece the nanas with," Puck added dryly. "I know about all the bets," he informed Beth who at least blushed a little.
"What have you all been betting on?" Quinn demanded, slightly outraged that both her mother and her mother-in-law would encourage her daughter to make bets with them.
"There was the 'will they, won't they' bet before we actually did get married," Puck revealed. "There was the 'how long' bet before you actually got pregnant. There's the 'boy, girl' bet that they have running right now along with the 'time, date' bet and the weight bet too," he added with a raised eyebrow, daring Beth to deny any of them.
"And there's the name bet too," Beth admitted with her face screwed up as she tried not to laugh at Quinn's growing outrage.
"And they encourage you?" Quinn demanded. "Both of them?"
"Well, it all goes toward my college fund," Beth excused, slightly desperately, Quinn thought.
"You don't need help with that," Quinn reminded her daughter. "Your mother left you very comfortably off in that area," she added crossly. "Now, if you don't mind, what dates have people picked?" she asked, revealing that she really didn't mind.
"February twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-fifth and twenty-ninth," Beth listed. "Uncle Jake keeps changing his mind, he hasn't put his money on anything yet," she added. "Dad picked twenty-eighth till I reminded him it's a leap year then he changed to twenty-ninth," she mocked.
"You're in on the bet too?" Quinn demanded, pouting at Puck. "Well, I'm going to go for..." she said then looked deep in thought for a few minutes, "I'm going for February fourteenth," she announced decisively.
"That sounded pretty definite," Puck murmured to Beth. "Maybe she has insider knowledge," he muttered.
"Too late, you picked yours already, one only, that's what we agreed," Beth reminded him as she sent a text to her nanas telling them of Quinn's prediction.
"What do I win?" Quinn asked, shifting again on the bed while they waited for the technician to return to continue the sonogram.
"So far, fifty dollars, it depends on how many people bet and by the way, you now owe me ten dollars," Beth replied, holding her hand out. "I'm holding the money till baby gets here," she announced with a grin.
Quinn grabbed her purse and found a ten dollar bill tucked inside. "Here," she said, thrusting the note at Beth. "And don't complain when I win and you have to hand it over."
"Ah, Quinn," Dr Wu said as she came into the room. "Jennifer has asked me to come and take a look at the ultrasound," she announced and sat down where the technician had been about ten minutes earlier.
"There's-there's nothing wrong is there?" Quinn asked, her heart was in her mouth, she was surprised that she could even form words.
"No, no, nothing's wrong," Dr Wu replied absently, she was completely distracted. "Hmm," she nodded, a little surprised. "Are you ready for this?" she asked, they all nodded. "And you're sure you don't want to know the gender?"
"No, no we don't," Puck confirmed. "Girl, boy, doesn't matter, as long as it's healthy," he assured the doctor while he rubbed Quinn's trembling hand.
"I think you mean as long as they are healthy," Dr Wu corrected. "Quinn, Noah, Beth, meet the twins," she announced.
"Crap," Puck whispered.
"I wish we'd bet on that," Beth murmured almost silently.
"Two babies?" Quinn demanded, her voice higher than Puck had ever heard it before. Dr Wu nodded. "Two?" she asked again, just to make sure. Dr Wu nodded again. Quinn gulped then looked at Puck and Beth with tear filled eyes. "Two," she said with a nervous giggle.
"I don't think we'll dare have any more after this," Puck said without taking his eyes off the screen.
"Why?" Beth asked, her eyes drinking in her tiny baby brother or sister or both.
"One," Puck counted, pointing at Beth, "two," he said, pointing at the screen. "If we tried this again I'd be scared of it being triplets," he joked. Except he wasn't really joking. He really was scared. More scared than when he went to a war zone. More scared than when he was hung out of the back of an Apache helicopter shooting at people who were shooting at him, on the extreme occasions that it had happened.
"I'm not even going to think about that," Quinn answered, "so what do we need to know?" she asked Dr Wu, getting down to business...
"Yes you can make a choice," the judge told Beth. "If you prefer to remain known as Beth Cororan you can, it's totally up to you, your parents will still be your adoptive parents," he explained.
Beth nodded thoughtfully for a second as she considered her options. "I think I'd like to be known as Beth Corcoran Puckerman," she said, looking at Quinn and Puck. "Is that ok?" she asked.
"That's perfect," Puck murmured as he leaned over from one side of her to kiss her head, Quinn did the same on the other side.
"Beautiful," Quinn whispered tearfully.
"Beth," Quinn wailed as she heard the door open. "Beth, is that you?" she pleaded pathetically.
"Yep, it's me, s'up?" Beth asked, poking her head into the lounge. "What did you do?" she asked, barely able to hold in the laughter.
"Yoga," Quinn pouted, almost in tears. "I was doing yoga and I got stuck," she sighed, resigned to being made a fool of. "Please don't do th...if that goes on facebook I am going to be so cross wi...Beth, please, just help me up," she demanded. Beth managed, just barely, to get herself together and to stop taking pictures of her poor stricken mother and helped haul her to her feet. "Thank you," Quinn muttered grudgingly as she adjusted her clothes. "Your dad will be home in an hour or so, I'm going to get dinner started," she announced then huffed and puffed her way to the kitchen.
"No one said two babies was going to be so much harder," Quinn wailed to Mercedes as she sniffled and wiped her tears away. "I can't believe how much heavier they are," she cried. "I don't think I even want to go to the end of February," she admitted. "I am so tired, everything just hurts and look, look at the size of this," she cried, turning to the side so that Mercedes could get the full benefit of the 'Puckerman Babies In Situ', as Jake called her belly, in full and glorious HD.
"Well, Quinn, honey," Mercedes soothed over the computer connection, "you knew that you were going to be bigger, I mean, there's two of them in there," she reminded her unnecessarily.
"I know there's two of them," Quinn shouted, totally taking her frustration out on Mercedes. "That's what twins freakin' means," she growled crossly. "Mercedes I am so sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you, I just feel so tired and I ache," she wailed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried, breaking down in tears, her head falling to her arms on the kitchen counter.
"Is she still crying?" Puck whispered as he came flying through the door, both Beth and Mercedes had sent him frantic text messages regarding Quinn's melt down.
"Yep, the kitchen is about flooded and dinner isn't ready yet, she says we have to call for take out," Beth replied. She'd braved the kitchen a couple of times only to be figuratively thrown out by her overly hormonal mother. "I ain't going in there again," she announced to her dad who was right now steeling himself to make an entrance into the kitchen.
"Wish me luck," Puck whispered to Beth with a wink before he pushed the door open. "Hey, babe," he murmured, his usual greeting flowing from his lips as it always had. "Want me to start dinner?" he offered.
"No I don't want you to fucking start dinner," Quinn screeched.
"Are you doing ok?" Puck asked, he noted the way that her hands were gripped to the edge of the counter, the stance, bent over with her arms out stretched. "You look lik...woah," he cried as he dodged a saucepan. "Hey, Q, what's with the, woah," he cried again as a plate she launched hit him on the head then smashed on the counter beside him.
"Leave me alone," Quinn growled, she sounded more like something from a horror movie than her usual self.
Puck beat a hasty retreat. "Call Dr Wu," he instructed Beth, tossing her his phone. "Describe everything, I'm going outside to maybe try to get in the back door," he explained, "maybe I can sneak up on your momma and get her calmed down, I think she might be in labour," he added over his shoulder.
"Crap," Beth pouted as she scrolled through for the number.
Puck stealthily made his way around to the back of the house and managed to get into the kitchen without alerting Quinn. "Hey, hey, hey," he soothed as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Did your water break already?" he asked with a nod at the huge puddle on the floor around her feet. "Beth is calling Dr Wu," he added softly, helping Quinn to stand upright and lean back against him.
"I'm sorry," Quinn whispered over and over again until another sharp pain struck her, then she cried out again.
"Dad?" Beth called through the closed door. "Is it safe to come in yet?" she asked.
"Yep, it's safe," Puck replied.
"Dr Wu needs to ask some quest...eew," Beth started to say, holding the phone out to Puck, a look of disgust on her face as she saw the puddle.
"Dr Wu," Puck said into the phone the second he had it in his hand. "Yes, her water already broke, I don't know when, she doesn't seem to be answering my questions, yes I know that she is experiencing contractions because I can feel them in her stomach," he explained, his hand was splayed on her huge tummy. "She seems to be in quite some distress," he added, understating things by a fair bit. "Alrighty, we'll do that," he said before he disconnected the call. "Beth, go bring the bag, we're on our way," he said with a freaked out, panic stricken grin.
"Ice chips," Beth offered.
Quinn moaned but took them gratefully. She'd apologised about a million times for the way she'd behaved. "I think I went into shock," she said again, repeating Dr Wu's explanation for the weird way she'd behaved when her contractions started. "Here comes another one," she muttered as she gathered herself to deal with it. "Ahhhh," she sighed when it was over. "Where's Puck?" she asked, looking round the room for him as though he had somewhere to hide. "I want Puck," she whined breathlessly.
"I'm here," Puck announced as he came through the door, butterfly stitches in place over the cut on his forehead where the missile launched by Quinn had hit him. "The moms are on their way," he told Quinn, taking her hand in his and lifting it to his lips. "How are you doing?" he asked, checking with the nurse as well as waiting for Quinn to reply.
"Fine, fine, I'm doing fine," Quinn sighed, drifting away again, the drugs were working so much better for her than they had when she'd been in labour with Beth...
"Push, just one more, give me one more," Dr Wu encouraged. "That's it, that's it, good girl, oh, here, here, aww, you have a little girl," she said, her voice full of wonder. Damn, this never got old, ever. "And again, Quinn, push," she instructed, thankful that she'd at least been able to cut the cord for baby number one before baby number two made its entrance. "Oh it's another girl, how wonderful," Dr Wu sighed, satisfied that her work was almost over, just the placenta to deliver and the usual checks and..."Quinn, oh my. Quinn, I need you to push again for me, feel that?" she asked, Quinn whimpered and nodded, crying not quite silently. "Push for me, push, push, push, push, push," she encouraged, peering between Quinn's thighs. "Here we are, another girl," she cried, her face beaming.
"Three?" Puck cried in shock, he'd thought that Dr Wu was trying to deliver the placenta when she was telling Quinn to push again. "Three babies?" he asked faintly. "Three?"
"Three babies," Dr Wu confirmed, smiling brightly, still on the stool between Quinn's thighs. "All girls," she reminded Puck, just in case he hadn't caught that part.
"And there's definitely no more coming out of there," Puck demanded, he really needed to hear that from someone. Two he'd been prepared for but three? Oh crap. "Four daughters," he suddenly realised, his knees wobbled a little. "I have four daughters," he whispered. "God really, really hates me," he added under his breath.
"Why?" Quinn asked as she watched the blood slowly drain from Puck's face.
"Because he knows I am never going to have another decent night's sleep till they're all grown and married," Puck replied then swallowed. "Now I know how your dad felt, how the dad of every girl I ever dated felt and Jeez I am so sorry," he gulped. "They're never dating, not any of them, they can all be nuns, that's it, they can be nuns. Judy's still catholic, she's got connections, they can all be nuns," he muttered.
"Momma?" Beth whispered to Quinn on the other side of her. Quinn turned and looked. "Can I slap him?" she asked. "I think he's in shock," she said, deciding that her dad must be in shock if he thought for one second that she was never going to date or go out with a boy just for the hell of it or any of the other things he was telling himself.
"Can we come in?" Judy and Monica cried happily from the doorway. "Oh, look, Judy, look at...three?" Monica squealed in shock. "I thought it was twins?" she demanded as though Dr Wu had conjured another one up from her sleeve or something.
"One of the babies must have been hiding behind the other two," Dr Wu explained. "It happens, even with today's modern technology," she excused. "And aren't they beautiful?" she added, making another visual check on all three dainty little girls.
"I'm totally outnumbered," Puck whispered to himself, he gulped again. "Are you sure there's three?" he asked, just checking in case he'd miss heard before.
"Dad," Beth murmured close to his side, "we have three babies, they're all girls and momma won," she sighed. "Now we just have to come up with names. Reuben isn't going to work," she grumbled, that was one of the names that she'd picked. "But Ruby will, can we go with Ruby for one of them? " she asked brightly.
"Ruby Puckerman," Puck whispered. "Sounds good Beth," he agreed, his arm rested around her shoulder and dropped a kiss on her head. "How about Lily?" he asked, checking with Quinn.
"Daisy," Quinn suggested. "Ruby, Lily and Daisy," she said with a nod. "Ruby, Lily and Daisy," she repeated. "What did I win?" she belatedly asked.
"It's Valentine's Day," Puck reminded Quinn. "Happy Valentine's," he murmured against her forehead as he kissed her. "It's going to be an incredibly expensive day from now on," he realised then his face broke into a huge beaming smile. "Who cares?" he asked, he for sure didn't, this had to be the best Valentine's Day. Ever.