Damn, life was good. Puck honestly didn't think life could get any better than it currently was. He was 28 years old, he's been married for 2 years to his partner Kurt - they'd gotten in plenty of discussions about what their last names would be and ultimately decided Hummel-Puckerman would be best, he had a good job as a manager of a football team, and he and Kurt had just decided to have a kid.
They'd spent months talking with expecting mothers who were thinking about letting another couple adopt their soon-to-be children. However, they just never found a woman who they felt they should adopt from. This is what gave Kurt another idea.
Picking up the coffee pot and pouring himself a mug-full, Kurt glanced over his shoulder at his husband, who was sitting at the table with his laptop open in front of him. He'd offer Noah a cup of coffee but he knew very well that he hated it, so he wasn't going to waste his breath. After he finished pouring, he took his mug and sat down next to the opposite man. "I cancelled our 'meeting' with the lady we were supposed to visit with today."
Puck brows furrowed as he continued to look at the screen, skimming through an article that was posted about his team. "Why'd you do that?" he asked, his eyes flickering over at the smaller man for just a moment before returning to the laptop. He was surprisingly excited to meet with these expecting moms; he was just ready for this search for a kid to be over with because it was exhausting welcoming these hormonal women into their home a few times a week. "We can't give up yet. We've gotta keep looking."
"No, no. I know," Kurt said quickly, shaking his head, one of his hands wrapped around his mug that was on the slightly warmer side of perfect. "What if," Puck was now watching Kurt curiously, brow raised, "we just go find a surrogate mother? Now I know we said that we don't want just one of us to be the biological father and since it's not possible that we both be the father, we could just give the doctor a sample from each of us and then he or she could mix them up and choose one of our sperms at random? We'll never know who the actual father is, so it won't matter."
It kind of made sense to Puck. Kind of. "But it'll obviously look like one of us more than the other and-"
"Stop." Kurt shook his head with a small grin. "It's better than easier than talking to all these ladies, don't you think? We'll just have to find one that doesn't have any hereditary diseases and is willing to carry our child."
By this time, Puck had reached over for Kurt's hand, a wider grin settled on his lips. "I wish I was as smart as you because that's an awesome idea."
Kurt gave his husband's hand a small squeeze before slightly at him. "I try."
It didn't take long for them to find a woman worthy enough of either of their semen. Within three weeks, they'd found her - Aubrey, gave the doctor a sample of each of their sperm, and then he implanted one of the samples into the Aubrey's uterus. Not long after that, they'd received a call from the doctor saying that it worked and that they had a child on the way. If you asked Puck, he'd say that day was the best day of his life - aside from his and Kurt's wedding day.
Aubrey was in the Hummel-Puckerman's lives throughout the entirety of her pregnancy, she and Kurt having developed a beautiful friendship that included them making weekly trips to Macy's to pick out maternity clothes for her while Puck stayed home and managing from his laptop, making sure to only work with the team when he had free time, which was perfect when Kurt and Aubrey spent a lot of time out of the house.
They would invite her over for dinner multiple nights a week, mainly so Kurt could make sure she would eat balanced meals for the sake of their unborn child; he had no idea what kinds of foods she ate outside of his and Puck's home, so he just wanted to take some precautions. Puck often told him he was obsessing over the baby that "wasn't even born yet, by the way," to which Kurt would just roll his eyes and explain that their child was going to be healthy and spoiled whether Puck liked it or not. In response to that, Puck would normally just chuckle and kiss his cheek before telling him he loved him. How could he not?
Months passed and the pregnancy was going smoothly until about the 18th week. In the morning while Kurt was taking a shower, the phone began ringing, so Puck answered it. "Hello?" he asked, holding the home phone to his ear.
"Mr. Hummel-Puckerman.." a male's voice said quickly, a series of small cries audible in the background. Each time Puck heard the cries of the woman on the line - obviously Aubrey, the man who called would mumble 'It's going to be okay' quietly before speaking into the phone again. "I'm so sorry about that," he said, his voice sounding distraught.
"It's Noah. What's wrong? Who is this?" He was beginning to panic and wondering why Kurt's shower was taking so damn long. "Is she okay?"
"This is Aubrey's husband, Eric and no. She just woke up with some pretty intense pain in her stomach and pelvis and so we're on our way to the hospital." His voice was shaking a little and as soon as he'd finish talking Puck could hear Aubrey tell him to drive faster; they were headed to the hospital, Puck assumed.
He immediately stood up from the chair and ran to the bathroom, pressing the phone to his chest so he could quickly yell at the door to tell Kurt to hurry up. "We need to go to the hospital! Something's wrong with Aubrey!" He brought the phone back up to his ear as he made his way to the front room, grabbing his keys. "We'll be there soon," he said, to which Eric just said 'Hurry' in response before hanging up.
Mumbling obscenities under his breath, Puck opened the door and went out to the car, Kurt following him. "What's wrong with her?" he asked as they both got into the car. Puck started the engine and pulled out of the driveway as fast as he could.
"I don't know. She's in a lot of pain, though," Puck said, paying no attention to the speed limit whatsoever. That was all that was said in the car the entire way to the hospital.
As soon as they got there, they met Eric at the ER waiting room, who looked just as worried as Puck and Kurt were. He led the two of them back to her room where they were quickly ushered out, being told that they couldn't go in. So they waited in the hall. Not a word was spoken while they waited, but Puck kept his arm wrapped tightly around his husbands smaller frame, comforting him in the best way he could while being shaken up. Eric stood on the other side of the hallway, his arms folded over his chest as he just watched the door, waiting with a clenched jaw. It had to be just as hard for him as it was for Puck and Kurt. Aubrey was four months along and, as far as Kurt knew, she was a very healthy woman, so whatever was wrong was a complete mystery to him.
After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened but instead of letting the three of them come into the room, the doctor stepped out. "Aubrey is fine," he said, nodding his head for a moment before he stopped, swallowing thickly before continuing. "However, I'm sorry to say that the baby didn't make it. I'm not sure exactly why, but she just didn't." Tears were now flowing down not only Kurt's cheeks, but Puck's as well and he quickly brought his hand up to wipe them away. "But, again, Aubrey is fine. We're going to finish up in here and then the three of you can come in." With a curt nod, the doctor walked back into the room, leaving the three, now-crying, men in the hallway to take in what just happened. Eric was supposedly just as excited for the baby as Puck and Kurt were, considering he was crying just as hard.
Puck turned to his husband and wrapped both of his arms around the slightly shorter man, Kurt doing the same as they held onto each other, their chins resting on each other's shoulders. "She.." Puck said as he pulled back, ferociously wiping at his eyes.
Kurt blinked away the tears and furrowed his brows, confused. "What?"
"He said 'she didn't make it.' It was a girl." Dragging the heel of his hand across his cheekbone, Puck let Kurt take his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "Maybe we're not meant to be dads," he said hopelessly, a little bit of anger coursing through him. Kurt shook his head in disagreement, his thumb grazing along the back of the man's strong hand.
"We'll just have to try again someday."