"Have a seat, Quinn." Principal Figgins said, indicating the chair in front of his desk.

"Okay," she looked at Mr. Schuester, "what's this all about?"

Will Schuester shrugged, "I'm wondering that myself to be honest."

"As you have probably heard, the Ohio School Board is coming here in two weeks to observe our school. They want to see our classes, clubs, and how our students learn."

Will nodded, he knew the school board was coming, but he was still unsure of what it had to do with him. "Do you want the Glee Club to put something together for them? That's the week before regionals, so I'm not sure how much time we'll have but I'll see what I can do."

"No, no." Figgins shook his head, "We don't need a repeat of your kids doing Push-It in front of the school board."

"They wouldn't do that again," Will sighed in frustration. "They learned their lesson."

"That's beside the point, Schue. Sue has agreed to choreography a new routine with the Cheerios, so we won't need your kids at all. Feel free to put all your focus on regionals. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

Will resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His kids were going to kill at regionals, he just knew it. "Okay, then what are we here for?"

Figgins sighed, "We want to make sure we put the very best foot forward while the school board is here. This visit could lead to a lot more funding for our school, and you know how badly we need funding."

"Of course…"

"And we don't want them to think that students at McKinley are badly behaved, wild children."

Will swallowed hard. He suddenly had a sinking suspicion of where this was going. "Why would they think that?"

Figgins glanced at Quinn who was lazily tracing circles on her belly with her fingers. "I'm concerned that having a student who is as heavily pregnant as Quinn walking around will make McKinley High look bad." Quinn looked up from her belly at the mention of her name. "I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you stayed home from school that week."

"WHAT?" Will was on his feet in a fit of rage. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard come out of anyone's mouth."

"Calm down, William."

"No, just…no." He ran his hands through his hair as he so often did when he was frustrated. "I'm not going to let you treat her like this."

"Maybe she'd like to stay home, William. Most students would jump at the chance." He turned his attention towards Quinn, waiting for her answer.

"No," she said, meeting his eyes with a steely gaze. "I'm not staying home. If I don't come to school then I won't be allowed to go to Glee rehearsals. My team needs me and I'm not letting them down. I've disappointed enough people already." She stood and rested her hands on her belly to make a point, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to second period."

Will's heart swelled with pride as he watched Quinn handle herself with grace and maturity. He couldn't prevent the smile that began to form on his lips, "I guess you have your answer then, Figgins."

Figgins sighed, "Quinn, I'm going to have to ask you to reconsider."

"She said no." Will replied, his tone harsh.

"I don't want to have to force you to stay home by suspending you."

"You can't suspend me!" All the calm that had been in Quinn's voice before was gone.

"I can," Figgins stated simply, "and I will if I have to."

"That's not fair," Quinn's voice wavered as she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"You're going to suspend her for what? Being pregnant?" Will gripped the edge of Figgin's desk so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Yes."

"Are you going to suspend Noah Puckerman for having a mohawk? Does that reflect badly on the school as well?"

Figgins shrugged, "I'd honestly considered it."

"You're crazy!" Will yelled, "This is Quinn's education we're talking about here. She can't just miss a week of school because you're afraid she'll make you look bad."

"I'm already taking a week off after the baby is born," Quinn offered quietly from beside Will. "I can't miss any more school."

"I'll make sure all of her teachers have all of her work ready for her so she can do it at home."

Will shook his head, "No, doing work at home is no substitute for classroom instruction and you know it."

"It's okay, Mr. Schue." Quinn said, resting her hand on his arm to stop the tirade she knew was building inside of him. "I'll just stay home. I'm sure Rachel and Mercedes would be willing to rehearse with me after school."

"No, Quinn," Will replied, "it's not okay. The adults in your life who are supposed to protect you and stand up for you have treated you horribly and let you down." He glared pointedly at Figgins. "I refuse to be one of those adults."

Fresh tears welled in her eyes and all she could manage to do was give Will a watery smile and nod.

"I appreciate your devotion to your students, William, but I just can't allow for the good name of our school to be sullied."

"Having a pregnant student at school is not going to sully the good name of our school. Quinn is on the honor roll and hasn't missed a day of school since she got pregnant. She's a devoted teammate and I've watched her stick it out through numerous Glee rehearsals when she obviously wasn't feeling well. What she has chosen to do isn't easy. She's very brave and we should applaud her for that."

"That's all fine and good, but it doesn't change the fact that our head cheerleader and president of the celibacy club got herself pregnant. We can't have the school board thinking that we condone or applaud students' slutty behavior."

"He's right," Quinn cried. "I'm a slut."

"Quinn, wait…" Will turned to catch her arm but she was already gone. Will counted back from ten to keep from punching his boss in the face. "You went too far this time, Figgins. If you so much as mention this to Quinn again, I'll be forced to get a lawyer involved because you can't deny a student her right to an education. And if it has to come to that, you better believe that I'll parade Quinn Fabray and her pregnant belly around right in front of the Ohio School Board every chance I get. Not only that, but I'll also make sure my kids brush up on their Push-It routine. Have I made myself clear?"

Figgins gulped and nodded, "Yes, William, you have."

Puck was just about to open the door to the nurse's office so he could get some treatment for his "headache" when Quinn almost slammed right his chest.

"Hey," he said, catching her upper arms in his hands. "Are you okay?"

Quinn nodded and wiggled a little to free herself from his grip, "I'm fine."

He studied her face, "You don't look fine."

"I am! Just leave me alone, okay?" She insisted before turning away from him and heading for the door that led into the school's courtyard.

"Hormones," Puck muttered to himself as he watched her walk away. He seriously considered doing what she asked and leaving her alone because he really wanted to take a nap and God, she was moody lately. But Noah Puckerman was not the type of guy who could just let a chick cry. Especially not a chick who also happened to be carrying his baby. So he did the only thing he could do, gave up on the idea of squeezing in a nap during second period and followed Quinn into the courtyard instead. When he found her, she was sitting on a bench with her head resting in her hands sobbing. He sat down beside her and began running his fingers up and down the length of her spine, stopping each time at the small of her back and rubbing it in a few small circles before allowing his fingers to drift up her spine again. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?" He asked once her sobbing had been reduced to sniffling.

"No," she whispered, "I don't." Puck sighed and ran his hand over his mohawk. "Please don't stop," she said when he removed his hand from her back.

He smirked because for once she actually liked something he was doing. "Okay," he replied, brushing her blonde hair off of her neck so that his fingers could travel all the way to the base of her skull.

"Ugh," Quinn moaned, "you have magic fingers, Noah Puckerman."

"Oh, I know that, baby." He replied with a sly grin. She didn't have to see his face to know it was there.

"Don't ruin it," she warned him sternly. "Just keep it up with the backrub."

"Fine," he dug his fingers a little deeper into the small of her back where he knew she hurt the most. "Are you ever going to tell me what led to this epic cry fest? Did they run out of fries in the cafeteria again?" He was only half joking because she had been sent into a meltdown the week before when Mike Chang took the last basket of fries.

Quinn sighed, "Figgins thinks I make the school look bad."

Puck raised his eyebrow, "he thinks you make the school look bad when there are guys like me walking around spraying people with the fire extinguisher?"

"I know! That's what Mr. Schuester said."

"Wait, Schue said I make the school look bad?"

"No, not exactly," she paused, "that's beside the point. Principal Figgins wants me to stay home the entire week that the Ohio School Board is here observing our school."

"So? That sounds awesome. A whole week off of school! Hell, if he wants me to, I'll stay home with you."

"It really hurt my feelings. He made me feel like I was doing something wrong by deciding to have this baby."

"He's wrong," Puck said, moving his hand from her back to her belly and stroking it lightly with his thumb, "there isn't anything wrong with you having our baby."

"Do you think I'm a slut?" Quinn asked, suddenly lifting her head from her hands and looking at him.

"Seriously, babe? You, Queen of the Chastity Ball?"

"Not anymore," she reminded him.

"True, but that doesn't make you a slut. Now Santana on the other hand…"

Quinn jabbed her elbow into his side, "Noah Puckerman, be nice!"

"Hey," he held up his hands defensively, "I didn't say there was anything wrong with being a slut. I'm sort of a manwhore myself."

Quinn smiled softly, "Yeah, I've noticed."

"You feeling better now?"

She nodded and her hair fell into her face, "yeah."

"Good," he smiled, reaching up to tuck her hair back behind her ears. "Can't get yourself too worked up or you might end up dropping that kid early," he brought his hand back to rest on her belly and immediately felt it spasm beneath his hand.

"Oh, my God," Quinn giggled, her eyes wide in wonder.

"What the hell is that?" Puck asked in a panic, her belly continuing to move against his palm. "Are you having a contraction or something? It feels like she's trying to get out."

Quinn placed her hand beside his on her stomach, "It's okay Puck, she's just hiccupping."

Puck furrowed his brow, "they do that?"

"Yes," she grinned as she watched his face soften and he started to laugh.

"It's so cool!" he tugged at the hem of her shirt, "I want to see what it looks like."

"Puck," she scolded, slapping his hand away. "I don't want anyone seeing my huge eight months pregnant belly.

"Please?" he begged. He sounded so desperate that Quinn looked around the empty courtyard and then nodded her permission. He pulled her shirt up just high enough so that her belly was sticking out and watched in wonder as Quinn's tight skin rose the sank in a rhythmic motion. "Dude, it looks like in that movie where the chick has the alien trying to get out of her stomach."

Quinn rolled her eyes and pulled her shirt back down, "Alright, enough of that."

"Okay," Puck replied, quickly moving his hand back to her belly so as to not miss a single hiccup. "Hey, she stopped."

"Sorry," she shrugged. "She can't hiccup forever."

"Make her do it again."

Quinn laughed, "She's a fetus, Puck. I can't make her do anything."

"Okay," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and started walking her towards the building, "but next time she does it you have to call me, no matter what time it is."

"It's a deal," Quinn said, "as long as you bring some fries when you come over."

A/N: Written for a prompt over at the Glee Fluff Meme! Authors love feedback, so please leave a comment and let me know what you think!