Rachel hadn't meant to get pregnant at twenty four. She had her entire life plan, and this step wasn't supposed to come until she was thirty years old. At that point she would have been happily married for three years, have a Tony and a Drama Desk sitting on her bookshelf, and would relish in the opportunity to take a break from the stage so she could fully appreciate the joys of motherhood.

But then she broke up with Finn. And after a solid six months of moping, her best friend Santana convinced her that the acceptable mourning period was over for a three year relationship. Santana's solution to forcing Rachel out of her funk was a lot of tequila and repeatedly telling her that she hadn't lived until she had at least one one-night stand in her life.

After the third night in a week and a half where Santana told her this theory over margaritas and tequila shots, Rachel was starting to agree. She'd never been reckless and fun and carefree when it came to sex. Both of her partners had been serious boyfriends. Maybe being stupid and selfish just once would be the kick in the ass she would need to get over Finn and on with her life.

The guy was a great dancer but the sex was just so-so. He was too short and was awful with his hands. Rachel did not feel bad in the slightest kicking him out of her apartment no less than ten minutes after they had finished.

That was until two missed periods later when she was staring at the little stick she had peed on which definitively displayed the word PREGNANT across it, just as the three tests she had peed on before that. She could hardly remember this man's name was Jeff, much less what his last name or phone number was.

After many tears were shed on both Santana's and her fathers' shoulders, Rachel decided that she would, for the first time in her life, deviate from her plan and instead roll with the punches.

Rachel quit her role as a chorus girl in Legally Blonde and took a position working as an assistant to her manager. That job came with things like health insurance, something which was all too important she was quickly realizing.

Her boss also recommended an excellent OB-GYN that Rachel adored and respected more than anything. When her son Micah was born, she as her OB for a recommendation for a pediatrician. The kind woman immediately told her of a practice that was two floors below her own. It had three doctors in the practice and since Rachel would be a new patient, she would likely be put with the newest doctor, but she liked all of them and told Rachel that no matter who her son saw, he would be well cared for.

Rachel took Micah in for his first appointment when he was one month old. In her eyes he was perfect – small, olive skinned, dark blue eyes that were getting darker every day, and a thick tuft of brown hair on his head.

Rachel was scared to death that his doctor would tell her something different.

The nurse weighed and measured him ("Right on track! What a healthy boy!") before showing the pair into a happy room decorated with cartoon safari animals and childlike signs giving advice about covering one's mouth when they sneezed or always washing their hands.

Rachel had stripped her son down to his diaper and was rocking him gently back and forth while singing softly when the doctor walked in.

There was no way this man could be the doctor.

He was young.

He was hot.

He was really hot.

But he had on a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck and a little ID card that said Dr. Noah Puckerman, M.D. clipped on to the pocket of the coat.

Holy crap. Her son's doctor was a Jewish stud.

"Hi, Mrs. Berry –"

"It's Miss Berry," she corrected him quickly before she could even realize what she was doing.

He grinned, nodding slightly and scribbling a note down on his chart, "Got it. Well, MISS Berry, I'm Noah Puckerman. It's nice to meet you. And this must be Micah," he said, his tone softening as he reached a hand out to run his palm over the infant's soft hair. "Nice to meet you little dude. You can call me Dr. Puck when you get old enough to do that kind of stuff. All the kids do."

She was grinning like a fool at this man interacting with her son. And also suddenly wishing she had worn something other than her yoga pants and Northface to this appointment.

"If you can put him down on the table, we can go ahead and get started. His weight and length look right on track, but we need to check out a few more things today. Just stand right here and we'll keep him safe and sound between us."

He meant on the table. He meant between them on the table so that if Micah suddenly got a burst of strength and rolled one way or another he wouldn't roll off. But all Rachel could think of was this man in her bed on a lazy Sunday, the both of them staring down adoringly at her son laying on the bed between them.

When he cleared his throat, she snapped out of it, "Oh, sorry, of course." She could feel the heat in her face which meant she was blushing as she laid her son down on the table.

The doctor was grinning at her before he stepped across from her and reached out to inspect the child, "Let's see what's going on here Mr. Micah. Looks like your cord stump fell off. When did that happen?"

She thankfully realized he was speaking to her, "It fell off at fifteen days."

"Great. Looks like he's gonna be an innie." She couldn't help the adoring smile in his direction when the doctor gently tickled his fingertips over her son's belly before reaching down to undo Micah's diaper. "Jewish or just trying to save him years of locker room ridicule?" the young doctor asked as he checked out her son's circumcised penis to make sure everything was healed properly.

She didn't mean to laugh in such a flirtatious manner at that, running a hand through her hair as she answered, "Jewish. Though my fathers insisted he must be circumcised for the latter reason as well."

He winked at her before taking Micah's legs in his hands and lifting his rear end off the table slightly to check for signs of diaper rash, "Good men. Well everything looks good below the belt. Things are healing nicely and no signs of diaper rash. You haven't had any issues with that, have you?"

"No, I've been very lucky in that department."

"Bet you got squirted in the face more than a few times though, huh?"

She flushed and laughed at her misfortune, "Five times in the first week. Needless to say, I've stocked up on an extensive collection of pee pee teepees."

He laughed at that and all Rachel could think was how gorgeous this man's laugh was. Deep, rumbling and just damn sexy in a way she didn't ever realize a man's laugh could be. He moved to check Micah's eyes and ears, cooing at the baby who was starting to fuss over being poked and prodded at.

Rachel could see this and out of reflex started to sing softly again. The first song that came to mind was "Womanizer" by Britney Spears and when her son calmed back down, she noticed Noah staring at her with one eyebrow arched.

"I know. It's awful. My son has terrible taste in music. I've tried everything, but he only seems to respond to cheesy pop music. I blame my friends who kept plugging their iPods into my headphones when I was asleep and playing them for him when he was in utero."

He laughed again (still sexy) and shook his head, "No, I was just thinking you have an incredible voice."

"Oh. Well. Thank you."

"And it's a positive sign he responds to your voice like that. It means he is recognizing you as his parent and getting comfort from you."

"Even better."

His eyes flickered down to her chest, she was positive of it. She was even more positive of it after his next question, "Are you breast feeding?"

"Absolutely. I think it's an important way to develop a bond between mother and child as well as important for making sure he receives the added benefits of my organic diet."

"Couldn't agree more. I'm going to give you some Vitamin D drops though that I'd like for you to give him daily, though, because most breast feeding babies don't get enough Vitamin D. And I saw that we're not doing immunizations today because you've decided on a modified schedule and have opted out of the Hep B shot?"

"I just don't understand why he has to have so many shots when he's so tiny. We got seven shots when we were kids. Why does he need thirty six in his first year? It is excessive."

"You know that we don't just decide to pile your kids with drugs for shits and giggles. They've tested this and it's medically proven to be safe."

"You claim that, but they're not green drugs, they're full of mercury and why do I need to worry about my child getting Hep B when he's one month old. I doubt he's having sex or sharing dirty needles in an alley way quite yet."

Another laugh. Win. "You're his mother, you have the final say. But in the next couple of months there are a few shots I'm going to fight with you a lot harder to make sure you get for him."

"I look forward to it."

They discussed a few things such as tummy time and sleep hours before the all too short appointment was over. She would see him again in another month, but that was absolutely too far away for her personal liking.

Rachel wore a sundress to Micah's two month appointment.

When Noah asked about Micah's father, she simply shook her head and turned her attention to her hand on Micah's belly to avoid eye contact as she stated that he didn't have one. Plain and simple.

Therefore, she missed his split second grin in response.

Micah got his first shot at his four month appointment. The eye makeup Kurt had so carefully applied to Rachel's eyes that morning (she had made the mistake of telling her friends of Micah's cute doctor. After googling the poor man and finding his facebook page where he was shirtless in pictures, they demanded that they would help make sure she looked perfect when she saw Dr. Stud again) was all gone because Rachel cried as much as Micah did when he got stuck by that awful, terrible (absolutely tiny) needle.

Noah put his arm around Rachel's shoulders as she cradled her son to her chest, "It's okay. The crying is a natural response. It's a good response. It means his reflexes and nerves are on point. I promise you, he will survive this. You both will. He's going to be okay."

She used her acting skills to cry two minutes longer than she actually had been so that she could stay in his wonderfully strong arms that much longer.

The next time she saw Noah was not a scheduled check-up. There was no preapproved wardrobe, no perfectly coifed hair, no carefully applied eyeliner. It was three am, Rachel was in a pair of short cotton shorts, a t-shirt and hoodie. Her hair was in a bun on the top of her head and there was not a stich of make-up on her skin. And she was in the hospital, panicking over the fact her five month old son had a fever and she couldn't get him to stop crying.

She had called the afterhours line for her pediatrician's office and they told her to go ahead and bring in Micah to the ER. Dr. Puckerman was on call that night for the practice's patients and they would page him. If necessary he would meet them there but if not, the ER pediatrician was excellent and would check Micah out instead.

The pair had just been escorted from waiting to a bed when she saw him walk in. He was wearing scrub pants and a t-shirt that looked as though it had been washed a few too many times.

What really caught her attention was the fact that he looked just as panicked as she felt.

Not even bothering to stop at the nurses' station to show his badge, get Micah's chart, or well, anything, he spotted them and came right over. "Rachel, is everything okay? They paged and said it was Micah and he had a 101.5 fever and I just…" he shook his head, clearly trying to regain his professionalism. She was wondering if he was like this with all of his patients or if she was imagining that maybe there was something special here.

The nurse walked over, a slightly confused look on her face as to why this doctor just barged into the ER and ignored all protocol, "Is this your baby's father?"

They both said "No!" at the same time, shaking their heads no.

"I'm her pediatrician. I mean his pediatrician. Sorry, I just saw them and I just woke up and I know I fucked up protocol, shit its early, I'm sorry," he rambled as he pulled out his badge, showing it to the nurse who seemed satisfied with that answer.

Noah took the chart and briefly glanced at the numbers before he reached out and took Micah from Rachel's arms. That was the first time she had let go of him since they had gotten out of the cab an hour ago. She sure as hell wasn't going to let some ER nurse she didn't know take her son, especially not when he was sick. But she trusted Noah and didn't question it once.

After asking and answering a few questions, Noah looked in Micah's ears and gave a small grin, "Aha, I know who dun it. It wasn't Miss Scarlett in the conservatory though, looks like it's just your average run of the mill nasty ear infection."

"He was pulling on his ears earlier," Rachel said with a nod, reaching out to take Micah back when he started to fuss again.

"We'll get you some ear drops and he should be good as new in a few days."

He wrote the prescription which the nurse said they had on hand and she could fill for them on the spot. Rachel had to wait for them but she noticed Noah wasn't moving either. "Thank you for coming in so late. Or early. I'm not even sure anymore after so many months of this being a normal time of night. I'm sure your girlfriend wasn't too happy with you going out at this time."

Not her most subtle move but she figured if he could show up at this time of night for an ear infection, she could finally ask.

He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his scrubs pockets, "S'no big deal. I live real close, I mean, I live alone real close," he paused pointedly before continuing," and I knew since it was the first time Micah had been sick you were probably freaking out."

"I was. I really was. I just didn't know what to do and it's so scary because he can't tell me what's wrong and I just wanted to make him feel better," she could feel the tears from earlier in the evening welling up in her eyes once more.

"Hey, none of that. It's okay. Totally natural to have that feeling. I've seen plenty of parents react that way," he said in a soothing tone as he sat down next to Rachel on the bed. His hand reached out and started to rub gently up and down her spine and she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest and instantly calming down.

The nurse came back with the drops to find the trio huddled together on the bed. They sure as hell looked like a family but it wasn't her place to say anything. Well, at least not to them. She made sure to tell all the other girls working the overnight shift that the new young doctor they'd been talking about for the past year seemed to be off the market.

Noah looked as proud as Rachel felt when he saw that Micah was now sitting up on his own and had popped his first tooth through his lower gums at his six month appointment.

She couldn't believe that her son was six months old, that this beautiful doctor had been in her life for five months and that she was still only seeing him once a month. Rachel was convinced, especially after the ear infection that things would change. He had called once a few days after Micah had gotten sick to ask how he was doing but that was it. Nothing personal, nothing extra, no asking after her.

But now, here they were in his office and again he was grinning and teasing her and laughing at her jokes and she knew there could be more. And she knew he had checked out her chest in the tight red t-shirt she was wearing when she told him she was still breast feeding but wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to now that Micah had teeth and was biting.

He muttered something under his breath and she could have sworn he said he didn't blame the guy. But she didn't call him on it. She was hopeful that if enough little things built up over the appointment, she would walk out the door with a date or at least his phone number.

Instead she just got a Snoopy band aid to match Micah's and a sugar free lollypop. Great.

Micah's incoherent babble amused the both of them at his nine month check-up.

"He's gotten so big. Healthy, but big. Guess that's what happens when I don't see you guys for three months," Noah commented casually as he picked Micah up under his armpits to see if he could stand on the table with assistance.

"Yeah, I got so used to seeing you every month and then no check-ups and a healthy baby," she replied, trying her best to not sound disappointed that her son had been completely and one hundred percent healthy for the past four months of his life.

"So is he crawling?"

"Like a mad man. Two weeks ago he was scooting, the next day he figured it out and I can't stop him now. He's everywhere."

"Have you taken a look at your apartment from his point of view? Baby proofed everything?"

"I mean, I baby proofed when I found out I was pregnant. And then unbabyproofed the bathroom because do you know how much of a pain those toilet locks are when you have a little boy using your bladder as his punching bag?"

Noah laughed (still so sexy) as he let Micah sit back down. He was trying to listen to the boy's breathing but Micah had other ideas about stealing the end of his stethoscope and putting it in his mouth since that's where everything tended to go these days, "Yeah, we have those on the toilets here. Total pain in the ass but ya do what ya gotta do. I was just gonna say that if, ya know, you needed help baby proofing maybe I could help you out. If you want."

His attention was completely focused on her son, so he missed her eyes going wide as she took this in. He was inviting himself over to baby proof her apartment. Not the most romantic first date and she wasn't sure if that was exactly allowed in the doctor/patient or doctor/patient's parent relationship but she did not care. Sexy doctor man could do no wrong in her opinion.

And she would get a date with this guy even if it meant going around her place and pulling off every child proof lock, plug guard and edge guard she had meticulously installed months prior.

"Well, you know, there are a few things I could use some help with."

"How about I come over on Friday? I could bring some pizza or something," he finally turned his attention to her and she realized that they were both grinning like fools.

"Sounds perfect to me. It's a date."

"Yes, it is," he agreed.

"Let me give you our address and my cell phone number," she started, reaching for her purse so she could grab a pen and paper to write it on.

"No need, I mean, you know, I have it all on his chart and all."

That could have been a real awkward moment, but come Friday night when Micah was asleep and half of the pizza was gone along with a bottle of wine, she used it as ammo to tease him that he had her number all along and he could have called her long before.

By Micah's one year check-up, Noah and Rachel were officially dating. The appointment was the day before Micah's first birthday party and also Noah's last one as Micah's doctor.

The couple agreed that Micah should see another doctor in the practice because it made more sense for him to see someone who was more detached from situations and could read potential symptoms in the future better. Unfortunately, timing that day prevented them from going ahead and making the switch, so it was Noah for the last time.

"So, Dr. Puck," Rachel said in a teasing tone as she watched her boyfriend look over the boy she knew he was becoming attached to, "do you think he's healthy enough to dive face first into that chocolate cake we ordered for him?"

Noah made a silly noise to make Micah laugh before turning and looking over his shoulder at Rachel, "You know, I think he is. He's got exactly seven teeth, any one of which could be his sweet tooth, so I think he can handle it."

"I'm going to miss this."

"Miss what?"

"This. You and me and him here in the examination room, knowing that my son has the best care in the world, knowing that you'll make sure everything is perfect with him."

Noah kept his hands on Micah to keep him in place on the table, but turned to face Rachel better, "What are you talking about, crazy? I see you guys every day. Hell, I sleep over at your place at least four times a week."

"I know, it's silly, but it's just that this is where we met and now that little part will be gone," she ducked her head slightly, suddenly very fascinated by her shoes.

"Baby," he said with a sigh. Scooping the little boy into his arms, he walked over and grabbed Rachel's hand so that she would stand up, "Don't be silly. Just think, we can have a lot more fun playing doctor at home without this little dude around than we can have in this room with that awkward ass giraffe in the corner staring us down."

She rolled her eyes at his 'playing doctor' reference but did smile up at him, "I know. I just am really happy you've been looking out for us this year."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to stop any time soon."

Rachel and Noah moved in together three weeks after Micah's 18 month check-up.

Rachel and Noah got married a month before Micah's three year check-up.

Eleven months later, Rachel and Noah attended their daughter Zoe's one month check-up together.