Title: Noah's Miracle

Author: PhirePhox666

Fandom: Glee

Pairing/Characters: Puck/Karofsky, Karofsky/Santana, Sam/Puck!Friendship

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: MPREG!, Slash, Het, mentions of sex, MPreg, angstyness, crying, happy endings.

Summary: "Hey, Noah. How're you and, you know," Here she made a half motion at his stomach, "doing?" He smiled a little at her awkwardness in mentioning it. He was still a little awkward about it and could appreciate that it was taking her a little to get used to the strangeness of this whole situation. Hell, he was pregnant, it wasn't something that happened everyday. MPREG.

Disclaimer: Yes, it is mine. I stole it when no one was looking. Suuuuure. Cuz, we all totally believe that. Not mine.

Word Count: 6,957

Dedication: None

Prompt: None

Excerpt:

A/N: I have no idea what this is. I don't hardly read male-preg, let alone write it. But, this idea like, attacked my brain and tried to eat it for lunch. I do believe it might have succeeded. So, yeah, this is MPreg. If that squicks you, do not read this. I have thus warned you a total of six times. I hope this is not horrible, and I'm sorry for the abruptness of the ending. In case you did not know Lucas means light. Reviews and Flames are Welcome. Hope you enjoy.

Noah's Miracle

Puck retched miserablely in to the toilet wishing he was anywhere but kneeling on the dirty floor of the school bathroom. Dizziness swept through him and pressed his forehead to the rim of the toilet ignoring the tears that leaked from the corners of his eyes. God, this sucked so bad. He wished, more than anything, that he could tell someone, have someone who would be there when he was empting his stomach in to the toilet, and, shit he was turning in to even more of a girl than he already felt like.

The nausea and dizziness finally passed, allowing Puck to stand up, albeit still a little unsteady, and flush the toilet. His bag was by the sinks where he'd dropped it rushing in to the bathroom and he quickly dug through it locating a water bottle and taking a deep drink and swishing it around to wash the taste of vomit out of his mouth. He sighed looking at his phone, ignoring the text from Santana offering a quickie in the janitor's closet, to check the time. Puck had started to attend all his classes, passing had become more important than ever now. He was late, his bout of nausea had lasted a good ten minutes.

Gathering his bag he made his way down the hall to the councilor's office. Ms. Pillsbury was one of the few people that new his "situation." One of a group that was made up of his mom, his sister, Mr. Figgins, Mr. Schue, Ms. P herself and Mr. Jordanson his math teacher. No one else knew and he meant to keep it that way, even if it meant suffering through bouts of nausea by himself. He slipped in to Ms. P's office quietly only pausing to make sure she didn't have anyone in there.

"Hey, Ms. P." He greeted quietly, offering a small smile. She looked up from whatever she was reading on the computer, probably some kids file, and smiled widely at him.

"Hey, Noah. How're you and, you know," Here she made a half motion at his stomach, "doing?" He smiled a little at her awkwardness in mentioning it. He was still a little awkward about it and could appreciate that it was taking her a little to get used to the strangeness of this whole situation. Hell, he was pregnant, it wasn't something that happened everyday.

"We're good. I'm a little nauseous lately, but good. I just came by for a pass, I just was a little sick in the bathroom and I'm late to my second period, Government. He's, you know, not really in the know." She nodded seriously, reaching for the little pad of late passes she kept in the second drawer down. Two weeks ago he would have made note of that and come back to steel a pad so he could sell them to freshmen in need. Now, well he had more important things to worry about.

She signed the thing with a little flourish and handed it to him. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you Noah." She told him with a spastic little motion of her hands. It was the same thing she told him whenever he came in to get a late pass, or even just to sit and do his homework or read something he'd done a few times when the trivialness of his friends' love problems got on his nerves. He just smiled at her like he'd done every other time and slipped out of her office as quietly as he slipped in.

Mr. Rouger wasn't one of the teachers who disliked him so he accepted the pass easily, just motioning Puck to go sit down in his seat. Puck had recently started sitting by Kurt in this class and even though they weren't necessarily friends Kurt had refrained from saying anything when Puck had started attending every class and taking notes. He still looked at Puck weird, but so far he hadn't said anything about it, at leas not to Puck himself.

Puck sat down and quickly grabbed his notebook flipping it open. An open notebook made it's appearance in front of him and Puck was pleased to find it was the notes he'd missed when he'd been tardy, in Kurt's tidy handwriting. It only took a moment to copy them down, then he looked up to the board where Mr. Rouger was talking about The Enlightenment. Taking notes and listening to the lecture kept him occupied until the end of the period. He didn't join in when Brian and Jonathon started a dirty joke telling contest in the next row over even though he knew enough to win against them. He just sat there and took his notes. He needed to pass this class to graduate, he needed to graduate to get out of this town so his baby girl or baby boy could grow up somewhere else. Anywhere else.

He had made an art form out of hanging out with his fellow Gleeks and still avoiding their curiosity at his sudden attention to his studies. Of course as much of a badass and as popular as he'd always been, he was only that way because he'd wanted to be. He could have just faded in to the background, he was skilled at just fading in to the background, and he used that skill judiciously now days.

It was made somewhat easier by the fact that his fellow gleeks were still focused on the love triangle that still was going on between Quinn, Finn, and Rachel. Personally he though that they really needed to get over themselves. The relationships probably wouldn't even last past high school and all this drama was just annoying.

Getting back to the point, he was good at avoiding the inevitable questions, and he was pretty sure that soon they'd just write it off as another "Puck Thing" and he'd be able to go on with his life until he had started showing badly enough that he couldn't hide it anymore. Luckily he was only a month along and it was three months in to the school year so he'd probably make all the way to March or April before it got too hard to hide. Maybe later than that if he was lucky. He could do this, he really could.

Another bout of nausea hit him in the middle of lunch and Puck found himself glad that he had learned not to eat before he got the vomiting out of the way. He left quickly, allowing his stomach to empty itself of the few things he'd eaten at break in the school toilet right outside of the cafeteria. This time it only lasted a couple minutes, little enough time that he could just claim he was taking a pee, and he soon was slipping right back in to his place in between Sam and Tina. He didn't know quite how it happened but all of the Gleeks had, over the last three months, slowly moved to the same table. He supposed it just went to show how close they had all gotten, they all felt most comfortable with the others.

No one questioned him, although Sam gave him a slightly worried look. Sam was the only one who'd really noticed how off Puck'd been acting because Sam was, surprisingly enough, the person that Puck had become closest to over the summer. They had hung out a lot since the drama that followed Finn had driven Puck from trying to reestablish their friendship anymore than he had and Mike had been visiting Matt all summer long. Puck had spent a most of his time with either Artie or Sam. A little bit with Kurt but that was hard because of his general propensity towards the more girly stuff and the fact the he lived with Finn.

He flashed a smile at the other boy, something that always surprised Sam since in their entire Junior year together Puck had never actually smiled. He'd smirked an awful lot and grinned occasionally, but he hardly ever just smiled at someone. Sam smiled tentatively back and then turned his attention to the conversation, read argument, that Rachel and Kurt had started on whether it took real talent for Weird Al to make his parodies of songs or whether he just ruined them. Surprisingly it was Kurt who was taking the former stance.

It was an argument that most of the glee kids could get in to and Puck found himself basking in the sound their words. Basking in the sound of their comfort with each other and basking in the comfort of being with friends. It was a type of warmth he reveled in, especially since he'd not had it before he'd gotten involved in glee, not like this at least. He's jolted out of his thoughts by the arrival of Santana and Karofsky, both wearing their barets like crowns.

They'd both kept the Bully Whips going through all of last year and in to this year and were even training the underclassmen to continue it when they graduated. They'd gathered a fair amount of kids who were practically fanatic about the cause. It was almost amusing to see, really. Puck usually leave before they get there, something that he's sure Sam has not failed to notice. Puck is getting up to leave when the casual use of his name stops him in his place.

"So Puckerman, I heard you quit football this season." Karofsky says, his tone slightly accusatory. Puck looks at him, refusing to meet his eyes.

"What's it to you?" He leaves out the aggression that would normally be in his tone.

"So it's true?" That's from Finn who sounds so very surprised at the very concept of it.

"Yeah, man. It's true." He gets up, leaving to avoid further questioning, and hides out in the auditorium for the rest of lunch.

The rest of the day passes quickly and without anymore bouts of nausea which pleases him. When Glee comes he's in a fairly good mood and he sits himself next to Sam using the other boy as a shield between him and the others. Mr. Schue is in a particularly pleased mood when he comes in. Beside Puck Sam makes a joke about his good mood being because off a between class tryst with Ms. P that makes Puck laugh a little.

"Okay, guys, I have an assignment for you. I'm going to pair everyone up with someone that you normally wouldn't work with. You are to perform a song together though both partners don't necessarily have to sing. Be creative, use both people's talents. Their will be a prize for the winner. Everyone got that? Alright, listen up for your partner. Santana you're with Kurt. Mercedes and Artie are together. Brittany you're partnered with Finn. Rachel, you and Mike are partners. Sam and Puck, you guys are together, and last but not least Tina and Quinn are partnered. Any objections?"

Several voices immediately spoke up.

"Mr. Schue, I really have to say that my vocal talents are better suited for someone who, well, can actually sing."

"You're putting me with him?"

"Mr. S. I don't think this is going to work out real well."

The objections were cut off with a stern look from Mr. Schue. "You're partners are non-negotionable. I don't care if you think this is a horrible assignment, this is what you get. Deal with it. We'll perform on Friday."

There was a lot of grumbling but everyone moved to sit with their partners to begin the assignment. Puck chuckled a bit turning to Sam. "So, any suggestions?"

"Well, someone once told me that you could play the piano?"

Puck blinked, a little surprised. "Well, yeah, I'm a little rusty but it'll only take a little practice to get back up to speed."

"Like riding a bicycle?" Sam asked with a grin. Puck returned it.

"Yeah, something like that. What song did you want that needs the piano?"

"Apologize by Timbaland. You'd just be back up and piano, and I understand if you'd rather do something where you got to sing with me, but I've been wanting to do it forever and I don't know it seemed like a good song-"

Puck laughed a little, "Breathe, Sam." Sam blushed a bit realizing he'd been babbling. "The song sounds like a good one. Do you have a copy that I could listen to?"

Sam looked both surprised and grateful at the easy win. He quickly took out his Ipod, flipping through the songs until he found the one he was looking for. Puck took the offered earbud and listened to the song that he'd agreed to perform. He could do the piano parts and he liked the song. They could work with this. He grinned at Sam when the song ended and Sam grinned back, pleased that Puck had liked the song.

"Do you want to stay after and practice on the piano? Then you could over for dinner." Sam offered.

They needed to practice and Sam's mom made the best food so Puck easily agreed. They waited until everyone had left before they commandeered the piano. It had only taken Puck a couple of times through to pick up the music, he mostly learns by ear anyway so it wasn't exactly difficult. Before they started Puck had to call his mother, she's become much more protective of him since she found out he was carrying a child and how great the risks were for both him and the child.

Since that particular discussion with his doctor she'd been on him like white on rice for three days before he'd finally told her to calm her shit down so he could get through a school day without having to answer a phone call or a text message from her. But now she's really protective and he has to let her know where he is, where he'll be and who he's with if it deviates at all from a normal day. It'd be annoying if he weren't glad that she cares so much about both him and his unborn child.

The call is quick, mostly because he makes it so. He tells her what he's doing, she stresses out about it. He reassures her, she warns him to be careful around Mrs. Evans' cooking because his stomach has been so sensitive lately. He thanks her, assures her he'll be careful and tells her he loves her, she says she loves him too. Puck hangs up.

They practice for an hour and a half then he drives Sam home because Sam doesn't have his own car yet and usually gets a ride from one of the other glee kids. Sam's house is nice and it smells good, like fresh baked bread. His little sister and brother run straight into him and then tackle/hug Puck. It's sort of wonderful.

He follows Sam in to the kitchen so the blonde can say to hi to his mom as he always does. Puck thinks the tradition is sweet, but doesn't say so. He's watching Sam kiss her on the cheek when he gets a whiff of the smell of grease. For a moment he thinks hell be fine, then his stomach rebels violently and he turns and flees from the warm kitchen. Flinging himself on to the bathroom floor he vomits his lunch in to the Evans' toilet. Nausea rolls his stomach making him feel as if he's standing on a boat and he vomits again feeling horrible.

The fourth time he vomits it's only bile and half-way through retching miserably, his stomach muscles contracting painfully he feels a hand on his back rubbing comforting circles in to his skin. When he finishes he lays his head against the rim of the toilet trying not to cry. Sam is singing a lullaby, rough and low, behind him, still rubbing circles in to his skin. Exactly what Puck wished for earlier that same day.

"I'm sorry." Puck whispers miserably, his throat feels raw. A glass of water appears next to his head and Puck lifts himself up so he can take a drink from it.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Sam tells him seriously. "It's not your fault you lost you lunch."

Puck's not really sure how to respond to that. Sam just hoists him up. "Come on. Let's get you laying down." A wave of exhaustion sweeps through him at Sam's words and he doesn't bother fighting when Sam guides him to his room and lays Puck down on his bed.

"Tell me what's wrong." Sam asks him as he helps Puck lose his shoes and pants. He's taking advantage of Puck because it's easiest to get answers out of him when he's sleepy but Sam's not above playing a little dirty. Puck just shivers a little and doesn't respond so Sam helps him under the covers then gets in with him. They'd done it a few times over the summer, it meant nothing beyond the offering and receiving of comfort. Puck snuggled in to him making Sam laugh. What would all those jocks say if they knew the great Noah Puckerman was a snuggler.

"Come on, Noah. You've been keeping secrets for weeks. Tell me what's going on." He wheedled carefully. The answer came a little muffled as Noah snuggled closer.

"I'm pregnant." Sam almost froze, it took a great effort not to, but he knew that Noah would take that as a rejection and it was likely that after that Sam would never see him in his house again. So he kept relaxed and just prompted Noah on.

"Tell me from the beginning, Noah." The dark haired man sighed and did so.

"Dave Karofsky is gay. Or bi. Or something. I dunno. But we met up at a club, out of town, the week before school started back up and we ended up dancing next to each other. Then with each other. He'd been really working out, and it was, well, pretty hot. We were both a little tipsy and I'd been staying at a hotel for the weekend. So we went back to my room and started fooling around and then we had sex. We met up a couple times a week after that, stress relief you know. The sex was good and Dave's not so bad when he's not trying to impress people. We'd talk sometimes, after, and I sorta just... fell in love with him. It sucked because I knew he definitely wasn't in love with me. If anything it's Kurt who he'd fall in love with. He broke it off a little under a month ago, he wanted to start it up with San again. I didn't know I was pregnant yet, and even if I had I don't think I would have told him. It hurt, but I'd been expecting it eventually.

"I didn't find out I was pregnant until I went for one of those standard check-ups. One of the doctors there is a specialist in male pregnancy, and he asked me if I was sexually active recently. Then whether it's been women or men. When I said men he made me take a pregnancy test and, well, it turned out I was about two weeks pregnant at that point. It was a big shock to everyone. Ma and Sarah didn't even know that I liked guys." His arms came around to cradle where he knew the baby sat. Sam pulled him closer wanting to comfort, but not really sure how to. "There are risks to carrying the kid. My body, advanced though it is, still isn't truly designed to hold a baby like a woman's body is. I gotta be careful. No football, not a lot of hard dancing or running or weight-lifting. It's hard and I'm scared I want my child, but I'm... I'm scared to do this alone and I don't know what I'm doing."

Sam wants, wants so badly to comfort his friend, but is unsure how to. He settles for resting his head on Noah's shoulder and just letting his mouth spill out words and hoping they get his point across without embarrassing himself to badly. "Noah, I'm gonna... I'm going to help you. I'm going to be here for you. I swear I will. I'm going to be there at doctor's appointments and when you need to break down and cry and when your baby is born. It's going to be alright. You're not alone."

Noah's trembling in Sam's arms and Sam can feel the hot tears soaking in to his shirt. Sam just wraps himself around his friend letting Noah bury his face in Sam's neck and grip desperately at his shirt and cry himself out. If Sam sheds a few tears along with Noah, no one could call him on it.

It's a while later, after Noah has cried himself out and they've stretched out on Sam's bed, that Sam's mom knocks on the door. Sam and Noah lay tangled together, Noah just laying there drowsily as Sam sings softly to him, lightly petting the short, dark hair. He answers the knock with a low "Come in." Mrs. Evans is a pretty woman who has laugh lines around her mouth and a kind smile. She smiles softly at her son and his friend.

"Should I bring the two of you dinner?" She asks him keeping her voice low, and he smiles back at her knowing she will not take this situation the wrong way.

"Yes, please," he confirms, "Nothing too greasy for Noah, please." She nods and smiles again, her eyes soft and pleased, before she leaves them. Sam goes back to his singing until she comes back with their tray of food. She leaves without saying a word. The blonde teen manages to manhandle Noah up in to a sitting position, although the darker boy stays leaning most of his weight on his friend even throughout the meal. Sam has a great deal of trouble coaxing Noah in to eating the meal and afterwards the other boy dozes on his shoulder while Sam eats his own food.

Sam calls Noah's mother and lets her know what happened, assuring her that her son is fine, the baby is fine, and yes he'd get Noah to school on time the next morning. Neither of them want to wake the sleeping boy up especially after Mrs. Puckerman ("Call me Ruth, dear.") tells him that Noah has been having trouble sleeping lately. Stress, she says with an element of worry in her tone. They end the phone call with a certain sense of camaraderie due to their shared worry about Noah.

Sam settles himself next to Noah, wrapping his arms around his friend once again although it is a long time before he actually falls asleep.

The next morning they are awakened fairly early by Sam's little sister who, rather enthusiastically, pounces on both of them. Luckily she lands mostly on Sam and Noah is only hit by the odd, flailing limb. Sam, unfortunately get's hit directly in the stomach and loses his ability to speak for a couple of minutes due to lack of breath. When he gets his breath back he curses rather colorfully causing Ellie to giggle and Noah to laugh a bit.

Sam shoos the small girl away so they can get dressed allowing a small, insignificant, but rather unfortunate, problem to come to light.

"I don't have any clothes with me," Noah tells him, plucking rather unhappily at the clothes he slept in the night before, "and no way am I going to school in these."

It's perplexing for all of five minutes before Sam decides that Noah might as well just go in Sam's clothes. Sam's clothes are a little ill-fitting since Noah is a tad more compact and Sam's a bit taller, but over-all it works out. Noah snickers a bit and when asked what's so funny replies, "Just think how Glee is gonna freak out about me wearing your clothes." Then he snickers again. Sam has to agree with him that it's going to be amusing.

They eat breakfast with Sam's family and Noah does his homework at the table, listening absently to the happy conversation and accepting seconds when they're offered to him. He doesn't say much, but it's clear that he enjoys being in their company. Sam's parents have, of course, met him over the summer and both like him very much. They are happy that he's happy and that their son has made such a good and loyal friend.

Noah drives Sam and his siblings to school, saving Sam's parents the drive. Even with the extra stops they get to the high school earlier than most of the other students. Of course there are not a lot of other students who really want to be there much earlier than they have to be. They go to the auditorium to practice their song for a little while and it's a little surprising how good they are together. Even if Noah's barely singing, mostly just playing the piano and he'd been right, as rusty as he was he easily picked it back up.

When it hits 7:45 they've have it pretty much down, even if they don't have to perform until the next day. They leave and make their way towards their first class, one they have together which is actually not strange since they actually have a majority of their classes together. Most of their classmates do not notice the damning fact that Noah is wearing Sam's clothes, most do not care enough to have noticed either what he was wearing or that it has been something Sam has previously worn.

It is, surprisingly enough, not until lunch that anyone actually notices. It is, less surprisingly, Quinn who notices. Puck thinks, privately, that it is perhaps inevitable since she had once lived with him and thus saw most of his wardrobe and dated Sam and therefore knew much of his as well. Sam just wants to bang his head against their lunch table, especially when the rest of New Directions stares at them, baffled and questioning.

"No, we are not dating." Noah stops Mercedes as she opens her mouth to ask. Sam might be imagining it, but he thinks that Dave, beside Santana, might relax a little at that statement. The thought gives birth to what is probably a very bad idea in the back of his brain. Mercedes looks a little put out at the shut-down. Neither of them actually end up telling any of their friends why Noah is wearing Sam's clothes, mostly through Noah's baffling displays of misdirection and freaky-weird logic, which near causes Finn's brain to explode.

They perform on Friday and they nail it. It's sort of funny how surprised the other kids in glee are that Noah can play the piano, and play it so well. They get a standing ovation when they finish it up and Sam can tell that Noah, although he downplays it, is both very embarrassed and very pleased.

Noah doesn't start showing until well in to the third month. The first time he notices the small bump he cries. It's a reminder of just how alone he is in this, even as it's proof that he has a life inside him. It hurts and scares him as much as he loves the confirmation. Sarah finds him sitting on the rim of the bathtub, shirt hanging loosely in his hands, sobbing quietly. She wraps her thin, bony arms around him and hums quietly, trying to mimic what he's done for her so many times before. She's not big enough to try rocking him but the other actions calm him considerably anyway.

Once he calms down he is faintly embarrassed. Sarah distracts him from that by noticing what had him in such a mood and squealing delightedly and prodding at the proof of the life within him. It is inevitably Sarah who tells their ma, and Ruth Puckerman lays her hand on his baby bump, tears trickling from her eyes as a wide smile graces her tired face.

"I'm so happy for you, Noah." She tells him, "And so very proud of you." He cries even more at that.

It is torture at school because every few moments his hand drifts down to his stomach, towards that physical proof that he's carrying life inside him. He does it often enough that even Finn, Finn, notices and asks him if he has a stomach ache.

Noah and Sam skip lunch with the rest of the group so Noah can drive them to his house. He does so without telling Sam why they're doing so and Sam is a little baffled by the actions. When they get to his room, Noah wordlessly stripping off his shirt, with no small measure of nervousness. Sam's cry of surprised delight eases that and makes him tear up again. God, he hasn't cried so much since he was a kid. The hormones are driving him crazy.

Sam cries too for some inexplicable reason and when they get back to school both of their eyes are a little red from crying, but their both smiling happily and neither of them quite know how to answer the more and more baffled looks they are getting from their friends.

Watching the bump grow is like watching a miracle; it's terrifying and wonderful and Noah's not sure that he should be there to see it. What has he done to deserve something as beautiful and wonderful and terrifying as giving birth to a child. He ends up talking to the bump, to his child when he's alone. Somehow, and he's not sure how, he's nicknamed the child his "little miracle" and that's how he addresses the bump when he's talking to it. Not that doesn't make him sound a little crazy.

He's hopelessly lonely still, even with Sam and his ma and his sister and Mr. Schue's support behind him. He's lonely and afraid and he really wishes that Dave was right there with him stressing over their child. But he's not, and Noah's dealing with it fine. Until life basically throws all Noah's plans in his face in the most spectacular manner possible.

He's only a couple of days in to his sixth month when he gets the sonogram. Noah's still in school, although he's gotten quite a bit bigger. Mostly he hides it under too big T-shirts and sweatshirts. He's not huge enough to raise questions and male pregnancy isn't a widely enough known phenomena They go after school, him and his ma, and Sarah. His doctor, Dr. Bennet, is nice, asks if he has any questions or concerns. Noah has a few, mostly simple things about how the next couple months are going to go. Dr. Bennet answers them and then they get on to the sonogram.

It's... beyond cool. He can see the head and the hands and there's the heartbeat and he cries a little, but it's okay because so does his ma. He's having a little boy, and how cool is that? He gets the picture of course and he makes sure to put it in his backpack because he can not wait to show Sam the next day at school.

Of course he doesn't get the chance until glee, and he probably just wait until after school where it's safe, but Noah's been bursting to tell Sam all day. So he's extra careful when he pulls Sam off to the side. He opens the folder he's stashed it in and he shows Sam who practically crows in delight and starts asking a million questions. Noah tells him that it's a boy and how his due date is July 13th. Neither of them notice Santana sneaking up on them until she snatches the folder out from Noah's hands teasing, "Now what's this you're gossiping about like girls?" because sometimes she's just a bitch like that.

Then she gets a good look at what it is and she pales a couple shades. Then she catches sight of the name at the bottom and she pales even more, and glances up at the stunned figure of Noah.

"Shit." She says, loud enough for everyone to hear. Because her father's a doctor and she's heard about shit like this. She's just staring at Noah when Brittany tugs the folder out of her hands and Rachel, Mercedes, Quinn, Kurt and Tina crowd around her to get a look. It's Rachel who speaks next.

"You got another girl pregnant, Noah?" Her voice is unbearably condescending and it attracts the attention of everyone in glee. Mr. Schue is looks like he's not sure whether to stop practice now or not. Noah just wraps a protective arm around his stomach and opens his mouth to respond, except Quinn beats him to it. She is staring at his arm around his middle, recognizes the motion as one she has done herself. Connecting all the dots that previously hadn't come together. She's heard of male pregnancy, in passing, never truly thought it was possible. Yet...

"I don't think that's it Rachel." She says quietly and everyone turns to her in surprise. She points to the name at the bottom of the page, the name that Santana had also caught. Rachel stares for a moment, they all do, and the rest of the team who's attention has been caught by the unfolding drama, but don't actually know what the hell is going on, just waits.

Sam wraps a protective arm around Noah, and the slightly younger boy sighs, closing his eyes for just a moment. When he opens them again everyone is staring at him, even Mr. Schue who looks unsure about what he's supposed to do in this situation. It's not how Noah wanted to tell them. Actually he was just going to quietly have his child in July and then move somewhere else and if he ever ran in to anyone he knew he'd just obviscate about it. That plan is blown to hell though. And oh, look, Dave decided to attend so he could hang around with Santana today. Joy. He takes a deep breath and steels himself for their reactions.

"As some of you may have figured out," he starts in as strong a voice as he can manage, "I'm pregnant." He pauses to wait for the almost inevitable outburst.

"WHA-?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Wait a minute..."

"Oh, my, Gaga!"

"Quiet!"

It's Sam who roars the last, and the rest of the room falls silent in the face of his apparent wrath. He glares at them for a moment before he settles back at Noah's side. Noah gives him a grateful smile before he continues.

"It's pretty rare, like one in two million, or something. I'm a little over six months and it's a boy. My due date is July 13th and yes, Kurt that means I had sex with a guy, and, yes, Rachel I'll still be able to dance in Nationals. Mr. Schue has been working out choreography that I could do without straining myself since he found out about this."

Both Kurt and Rachel close their mouths with an audible snap. Santana speaks next, uncharacteristically soft.

"He's not lying, it is possible for guys to get pregnant. My dad works with a guy who's a specialist in the field,"

Everyone just sort of stares at him for a little while before Kurt suddenly speaks, "Wait, Sam obviously isn't surprised by this and you said Mr. Schue knew, so who exactly have you told so far?"

"My ma and my sister were there when I found out. Mr. Schue of course, Mr. Figgins, Ms. Pillsbury, Mr. Jordanson, and Sam."

"Not the father?" Came Kurt's next query. Noah's answer was interrupted by Rachel's slightly bitchy,

"Isn't it obvious? Sam has to be the father. Why else would Noah have told him. Why else would they have gotten so close this year?"

For a moment the whole room seems to consider this, before Noah speaks. "Sam is not the father." He tells them calmly. "Sam is my friend, and he's helping me through a hard time in my life. He found out mostly by accident and circumstance. The father of my child is someone else entirely and no, I have not told him because we are not together and he is with someone else." Sam's the only one who notices that Noah deliberately does not look at where Dave is sitting looking shell-shocked.

"You are in love with him. The father of your child." Tina says dreamily and Noah, as well as half of the room, stares at her.

"What?" She asks, "It's obvious. He's upset that the guy is off with someone else instead of with him and the kid. He was probably in love with the guy and the guy didn't know it and broke it off or something to get with whoever he's with now."

Everyone looks at Noah, but the young man is too surprised to speak. Sam's the only one who sees the expression of surprise, realization and sorrow that has taken place on Dave's face. He's also the only one who sees the determination as the jock stands up.

Dave's not really sure what he's doing when he stands up. He just knows that Noah is carrying his (his) child and hadn't told him. Hadn't told him because Dave had been an asshole and broke off all ties with him just because it was easier to be dating Santana because she was safe than to be falling in love with Noah Puckerman. And fuck he probably screwed everything up, but he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Noah for the last five and a half months anyway and this was their baby and if Tina was right Noah still loved him anyway. God only knew why.

So Dave's not really sure what he's doing when he makes his way over to Noah, ignoring everyone else. Noah just looks away from him looking scared and a little awkward. Dave drops to his knees in front of the other boy and keeps his voice soft as speaks.

"Noah? Look at me, please." The other boy still keeps his head turned slightly to the side, but Dave can see he's biting his lip, a habit that displays that he's conflicted. Dave reaches up and gingerly takes Noah's hands. Pregnant he may be, but Noah will never be a weakling.

"Noe, let me apologize for being an asshole. Look at me, please, Noe." There's another moment where Noah hesitates before he looks at Dave. There's more than a little hurt in those eyes and Dave knows he'll be making it up to the other boy for a very long time. That's if he gets this right.

"Tell me why I should listen to you." Noah says and Dave winces. Neither of them are paying attention to the fact that once again everyone in the room is transfixed on them.

"Noe, I- I know I screwed up. I was afraid." Dave admits. Noah just raises an eyebrow at him. Dave forges on. "You were perfect and warm and you didn't care that I wasn't that good at the whole relationship thing, you just liked that I was who I was. You didn't even care that I wouldn't actually acknowledge that there was something between us in public. I was falling in love with you and that scared the hell out of me. So when Santana asked if I wanted to start going out again I took what I knew was safe and I hurt you in the process. I'm so sorry, Noe. I know I'm a coward and I'll spend forever making it up to you if you let me. Just... please, let me."

There's silence, a silence in which everyone in the room holds their breath and for a moment Dave thinks he's lost his chance, that he'll never get Noah back, and never get to see his child. Except Noah leans forward so their foreheads are touching and says softly. "Say you love me, David?"

Dave can't help it, he releases Noah's hands so he can sweep him into a kiss. When they finally break apart Dave pulls him close, relishing in the feel of the smaller boy's body against him before finally saying, "I love you, Noe. I'll always love you." Noah finally relaxes against him. The whole of glee club breaks in to applause and Noah hides his face in Dave's neck mumbling something that Dave can't really catch. Except for words that might be "hate," "disembowel," and "jerks." Dave just laughs. He couldn't care less, as long as Noah stays in his arms.

It's only a week later when Tina asks the question that's on everyone's minds. Dave and Noah are sitting together, Sam on Noah's other side. Noah, even after getting back together with Dave, has not forgot, and will not forget, how much Sam has helped him. They are best friends now and Dave has accepted it and is not jealous of their closeness. Tina smiles a little as she approaches them, stands for a moment before them before she asks her question.

"So, what's the kid's name?" Dave and Noah glance at each other and smile a little. It's Noah who tells them.

"His name is going to be Lucas Samuel Karofsky Puckerman."

The look on Sam's face is priceless.

Finis.