Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: So ok, it didn't all fall into place yesterday, maybe it will today...or tomorrow...or the next day...or the...
"Well, you remember last year?" she asked then rolled her eyes at herself. "Great start, Quinn," she whispered to herself. "Last year at Mr Schue's wedding?" she added, being more specific. "The Valentine's one?" she clarified even more. Puck nodded. Of course he remembered, it was the last time they'd slept together. "Well," she began again nervously then stopped and gulped. "You remember how we snuck into the bridal suite?" she asked, she was almost hyperventilating. Again Puck nodded, he was feeling nervous now too, his heart was beating like mad. "I erm, I, Puck I have something to tell you..."
"What is it?" Puck asked, Quinn didn't seem to be able to get her words out.
"Ah, I ah," Quinn panted, she was actually hyperventilating, she was scared that she was going to have a stroke or a heart attack. "Oh God, why can't I just say this?" she whispered to herself. "Puck, you're a father," she shouted then let her head drop to her lap and sobbed.
"Quinn, this isn't exactly news," Puck replied a little bit puzzled, he tentatively reached out to stroke her back, comfort her. "Beth is almost four years old, and we all know who the daddy is," he added in a loud, slightly joking whisper.
"No," Quinn cried. "Not Beth. Oscar. You have a s...we have a son, Oscar," she said, all the strength leaving her, even her voice, she just sounded so tired, so weary.
"Son," Puck stated flatly, his hand stilling as a shiver ran down his back. "I have a son? Yeah right, good one Q," he laughed, looking around for the others. "You can come out now guys, I'm not falling for that one," he called, laughing.
"Puck, I'm being serious," Quinn cried with her face still in her hands. "Last year, when we slept together in the bridal suite, I got pregnant. Again. Which actually, is totally your fault because you said you had condoms and I trusted you. Again. Why? Is it just me? Do you manage to keep every other girl safe? Is it just me?" she demanded, going off on a tangent, getting angry in the face of Puck's stunned silence. Quinn shivered.
"Seriously?" Puck whispered then gulped. "Fuck," he sighed. "And you never told me? Why? What the fuck is that all about? Why would you even keep that from me?" he shouted. "What the fuck, Quinn?"
"Don't shout at me," Quinn yelled. "I called you. I called and called and every time I called, a girl answered," she hissed.
"Why would a girl answer my phone?" Puck asked, confused, puzzled, looking around as if answers would fly out of the air. "Unless it was my old number, I gave my sister my old phone, she kept the number and I got a new one...a couple of weeks after Mr Schue's wedding," he said, his voice growing quieter as he realised what must have happened. Quinn sucked in a shocked breath, her hands flew to cover her mouth, her eyes were wide. His sister? Oh, fuck. "Whe-where is he?" Puck asked, he felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest, he felt dizzy and a little bit sick.
"At my mom's house," Quinn replied faintly. "Do you want to come with m.." she started to ask as she rose, Puck cut her off.
"No," Puck shouted. "No. I'll go see him, call your mom, tell her I'm on my way, I can't, I don't...I don't even want to look at you right now," he growled and stormed away, down the metal steps towards the football field.
Quinn sank back down to the seat and sobbed. Eventually, she got herself together enough to call Judy. "Mom, yeah," she sniffed. "Puck's on his way over," she managed to say before she broke down in tears again.
"He's already here," Judy whispered.
"How is he?" Quinn asked tearfully then bit her lip, her fingers nervously twiddling with the gold cross around her neck.
"Angry," Judy replied. "But what did you expect?" she asked. Judy closed her eyes and shook her head, she felt such pity for her daughter, for Puck too, though if she was honest, she would admit it was more so for Puck, he hadn't had a choice, not in any of this. She hoped that he would find it in his heart to forgive Quinn, she hoped that they would be able to forge some sort of relationship, for Oscar's sake if nothing else. Secretly, Judy hoped that the love she knew they both had for each other would win through. In fact, she was kind of praying that it would.
"How much did he weigh?" Puck asked quietly as he gazed at the cute little boy laid on his lap. His own eyes stared back at him. "What time was he born? Was he full term or did he come early like Beth? Was it as bad as when Beth was born? Did he cry straight away? Did he need oxygen like she did? Did he...I have a million questions, things I shouldn't have to ask, I should have been there and she stole that from me," he said without even looking up at Judy, he just felt her presence in the room, in his son's nursery. "I want my name on his birth certificate," he stated, his voice hadn't changed at all, not in anything he'd said, he sounded tired. "I don't even know his birthday," he realised sadly.
"I think you should talk to Quinn about this," Judy said softly.
"I can't, not yet," Puck replied and had to work hard to suck back the tears, keep it together. "I can't believe she kept this from me," he said again. "Does my mom know?" he asked, looking up at Judy as he picked Oscar up and put him to his shoulder. "Hey, little guy," he whispered. "Do you know who I am?" he asked as though there was a chance that Oscar could reply.
"He knows," Quinn interrupted quietly from the doorway. "He has a mobile over his crib at home, it's all pictures of you and I tell him every day, that's daddy, I talk about you all the ti..." she stopped abruptly as Puck cut in. Judy melted away, left them to fix things, if they could.
"Talk about me but not to me," he mocked. "Funny, that," he sneered. "You can tell him all about me but you can't tell me anything about him? Where do you get off making decisions like that?" he demanded. Puck was so angry, he didn't think he'd ever felt such intense anger towards one person before in his life.
"I told you, I called and a girl answered. More than once," Quinn explained again, though she knew it was no excuse.
"And I already told you that my sister has my old phone and number, check it with her," he advised. "Call her, call her now," he encouraged.
"I can't, I deleted your number," Quinn murmured, glancing away from him. It physically hurt her to look at Puck and Oscar together, they looked amazing. And so alike.
"Give it here," Puck ordered, holding out his hand for her phone. Reluctantly, Quinn handed it over. Puck pressed the first few numbers, a lot of number options popped up, he pressed another two numbers, only one option remained. Puck. "Deleted my number, huh?" he asked, holding up the phone for her to see the screen. "Well, that's my old number, that's my name, unless you know any other Pucks," he added sarcastically. "Let's see, dialling, on speaker," he murmured aloud as they heard the number ringing.
"You have reached the voicemail of Chelsea Puckerman, you know what to do, maybe I'll call you back, maybe I won't, ha ha ha..." Puck's sister's voice sang out.
Quinn could see that the number on her screen still read 'Puck'. "Hey Chelsea, it's Quinn," she said after the beep then ended the call. "Ok, so I didn't delete it, I just didn't bother trying again, not after the first six or seven tries and getting a girl answering me, you have to admit, you have a pretty crappy track record," she reminded him. "And you could have called me," she said suddenly, turning it back round on Puck.
"I didn't call because we said that was it, we decided that we weren't going to go down that road again, no, actually, you decided," Puck said quietly, ignoring the insult for the moment. He settled Oscar back on his knee and rocked slightly in the beautiful nursing chair. "I want to know everything," he added, looking at Quinn with hurt eyes. "Start from when you realised you were pregnant," he instructed.
"Well," Quinn sighed as she settled on the big, comfortable cushions on the floor, "about a month after the wedding I started throwing up. The first couple of days I put it down to something I'd eaten, then the next few I attributed to a test I was taking, you know? Nerves?" she said then waited for Puck to nod, he did. "I'd already sort of realised for myself when one of the girls on my floor stopped by my room with a pregnancy testing kit. She'd heard me throwing up day after day when she was in the bathroom throwing up too," she shrugged. "Obviously it was positive so I called you," she told Puck. "A gi...Chelsea answered but I didn't know it was her, she sounds so grown up," she sighed then got back to her story. "I tried I don't know, maybe a dozen times in all, and either it went unanswered or, as I thought, a random girl answered. But you were never there," she whispered.
"So why didn't you call my mom, ask her to get in touch with me?" Puck asked. "You could have done a thousand more things, Quinn, it didn't have to be this way," he sighed.
"Why would I call your mom?" Quinn demanded. "You were always off with other girls even when we tried to be together before Beth was born, why would I imagine that it would have changed?" she asked sternly, she so wanted to shout but Oscar was falling asleep. Suddenly Oscar snuffled and jumped and woke up, immediately, he started crying. "He's probably hungry," Quinn stated and held out her hands for Puck to pass the baby to her.
"I'll feed him," Puck said possessively, holding the baby a little tighter, reluctant to let him go.
"Not unless you're lactating," Quinn challenged with a half grin.
"He gets your boobs?" Puck asked almost wistfully. Quinn nodded and bit her lip. "Oh, not fair," she thought she heard him whisper.
"You can stay if you want to," Quinn offered breathlessly. She blushed as Puck's hand brushed across her tender breast when he passed Oscar into her arms. "Hey sweetie," she smiled into Oscar's pouting, grumbling face. "He looks even more like you when he cries, that pout is you all over," she said, lightening the mood a little.
Puck got down on the floor too, he wanted to be as close to Oscar as possible, as often as possible. "You're wrong, you know, thinking I was with other girls. I wasn't," Puck said quietly as he concentrated on the baby. "I was out trying to earn enough money to pay all the doctor bills, trying to prove to you that I wasn't a dead beat like my dad," he sighed. "In all the years we've been together on and off, whenever we did get together, I was always totally faithful to you," he informed her then looked away for a second. "You can't say the same, can you? You went off with Sam the second the cell door slammed behind me. I mean, as far as I knew, you were my girl, you were waiting for me but I had to hear from Finn that you'd moved on," he reminded her, slightly accusingly. "And believe me, he took a great deal of joy in telling me all about it. Don't forget what happened after we got back together at Rachel's party either," he said. "You kept up the pretence of nothing going on between us, but the whole time we were together you were figuring out how to get back with Finn just to win a crown. Even when we tried again in senior year, after you'd pulled all that crap with Shelby, even then you wouldn't ever tell anyone we were together," he reminded her. Quinn looked at Puck with sad, teary eyes, she didn't really want to remember all this stuff from high school, she didn't come out of it particularly well. Puck sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "How are we going to work this?" he asked as Quinn did what mothers have been doing since the dawn of time, she nourished her child . Puck watched in fascination, envious fascination. "Custody arrangements I mean," he added when Quinn looked puzzled.
"Woah," Quinn cried, her eyes wide. "There aren't going to be any custody arrangements," she insisted crossly as she comforted the startled baby. "I'm his mother, that's it, end of story," she all but growled.
"And I'm his father," Puck replied. "I have some calls to make, I'll be back later," he promised. Puck leaned over and kissed his son's soft, slightly mohawked hair. "The 'hawk looks cool on you, bud," he whispered with a smile then rose to his feet and left the nursery without a backward glance at Quinn.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Puck asked his mom the second he walked through the door. "I don't understand, why wouldn't you at least drop hints?"
"Noah, you've barely spoken to me since you found out about Jake and you knew that Tanisha and I had deliberately kept you apart," Monica Puckerman reminded her son. "You grew even more distant after Finn died and then you joined up. How could I tell you this?" she asked. "I know you feel that I let you down, that I didn't support you as well as I could have and you're right, I can only apologise for that Noah. I know I laid insult after insult on you but it wasn't you it was aimed at, it was your father, I'm not trying to excuse myself, I'm just trying to explain. I know I should have shown more interest in you, in your football, your basketball, especially so in glee club and again, I didn't, but that is my failing, Noah, not yours," she said in apology. "I wanted to say something so many times I just didn't know how, I didn't know how to even begin to talk to you, I have let you down so much, so many times and I'm sorry."
Puck felt slightly nervous, he wasn't used to so much information coming at him from his mom, certainly not an apology of that magnitude. "Forget it, it's in the past," Puck replied, forgiving his mom in an instant. Puck knew the sort of shit his dad had pulled on his mom, no wonder she had a real downer on anyone male. "But I really wish you had told me about this, it was a shock," he said with a slight huff of laughter as he slumped down on the couch. "Have you seen him?" he asked, pride filling him again just at the thought of his gorgeous little boy.
"Yes," Monica admitted, "yes, I've seen him, held him. He is truly beautiful Noah, he looks exactly like you did when you were a baby," she added with a smile as she reached out and patted Puck's knee. "I'm afraid I took Quinn's side maybe more than I should have, but when she said she'd tried calling you and it was always girls that answered, well, I just...Noah I just thought you were acting exactly like your father and I thought maybe you didn't deserve a chance with Oscar just so you could screw up his life, you know? I'm sorry for that, I took the choice away from you and I never should have done that. Can you forgive me?" she asked quietly.
"Mom, I have stuff to think about, I have to call the families officer at Hanscom, make arrangements for family housing if it's possible, find out how I get Oscar added as a dependent, there's a lot of stuff to arrange," Puck listed as he rubbed his hand over his face, it was only halfway through the day but Puck felt like he'd been awake for days. "I'll need furniture and I don't care what she says, I am going to fight for custody, I've already lost three months, I won't be shut out of his life anymore," he promised.
"I think you should at least consider it," Judy stated as she finished preparing the vegetables for dinner. Quinn sat at the counter facing her mom, she bit her lip to keep from yelling. "Seriously Quinn, I think you owe it to Noah and to Oscar for them to be able to have the sort of relationship that you've never had with your father, and it isn't going to happen if you and Oscar are in Connecticut and Noah's in Massachusetts, now is it?"
"So, what? I leave college? Abandon my education for a life in an apartment in Massachusetts waiting for Puck to have a moment free to come and visit?" Quinn demanded. "That is seriously not happening," she insisted.
"No, I meant that you should look at transferring from Yale, maybe to Harvard, I mean, I know it's possible," Judy explained. "I also know that they don't actually accept very many transfers but perhaps your circumstances will sway the powers that be," she speculated. "Maybe Noah could find somewhere for you all to live together," she suggested.
"You really think so?" Quinn asked, frowning. "What, so I just turn up on his doorstep? Say, hi honey, I'm home and move in with him?" she demanded. "You know he lives in barracks right now, right?" she said standing up to go answer the door. "Hi, I thought it might be you," she admitted grudgingly when she saw Puck on the doorstep. "We were just talking about you," she sighed, leading the way into the kitchen. "Hey baby," she smiled, leaning over the motorised swing that was currently entertaining Oscar. "Daddy's here to see you," she said before she stepped back to give Puck room to see the baby.
"Hey dude," Puck whispered as he crouched to give all his attention to the smiling baby. "I made some enquiries," he announced over his shoulder in Quinn's direction. "I'm not eligible for family housing until my name is on his birth certificate or until we marry, whichever comes sooner," he told her, he didn't miss her slight gasp. "So we need to make arrangements as soon as possible, I called Artie's dad already," he said then sighed as he shook his head. "There's a shitload of legal crap to wade through, but it's possible to get it sorted out quite quickly. Where was he born?" he asked randomly.
"Lima Memorial," Quinn managed to say. "I came home for the last month and I had him here," she said with a shrug. "Mom made a video if you want to see it," she offered.
"Yeah, that would be cool," Puck nodded. "Want me to get that?" he asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder towards the front door and the knocking sound.
"Yes please," Judy answered then continued with her meal preparations.
"Mom, I didn't expect to see you here," Puck said in surprise when he opened the door. "Come on in," he invited, opening the door wider for his mother and his sister to step through.
"Monica, Chelsea," Judy cried with delight when they walked into the kitchen in front of Puck. "I'm glad you could make it," she added. "Quinn, would you be a dear and set another two places?" she asked.
"Sure," Quinn replied slowly, her wary gaze connecting with Puck's equally wary eyes. She went to the dining room to set the extra places. "How come there's only five places?" she asked when she returned to the kitchen. "Where is James, anyway?"
"He's out with Kurt and that nice friend of his, the one with the shiny hair," Judy replied, plucking two wine glasses from the rack and handing one to Monica. "He won't be home till very late so we have plenty of time to talk and to try to sort things out with you two," she said with a smile.
Puck and Quinn glanced at each other again, despite his many misgivings, Puck felt himself melt a little towards Quinn, felt the anger dissipating just a touch. He knew now they would have to stick together to stop their moms from railroading them into whatever, they had to talk about it and make decisions for themselves. Like grown ups. "Cool," Puck muttered and pulled a face at Quinn, she had to turn away to hide the smile.
The second they sat down to dinner, Oscar, beside the table between Puck and Quinn, still in his swing, decided it was time to make sure no one forgot about him. "Hey little man," Puck said softly as he picked him up out of the swing. "You can sit here with me," he added and settled the baby on his lap.
Judy and Monica between them brought the food to the table and served up. Chelsea kept up an amusing monologue on her day at school and how her friends all thought she was the luckiest thing alive to have two such gorgeous looking brothers. "But they have no idea what it's like," she confided to Quinn. "First of all, if a boy even looks at me sideways at school, they have to deal with Jake, and he is one of the most well known seniors at McKinley High," she grumbled. "Plus, if Jake doesn't think they've taken him seriously enough they get the full uniform complete with gun pictures of Noah, it scares off any potential boyfriend, I can tell you that," she grumbled. "What about you? Are you dating yet?" she asked with interest.
"Better not be," Puck muttered just barely loud enough for Quinn to hear.
"No, Chelsea, I'm not dating anyone," Quinn replied with a narrow eyed stare at Puck. "Not that I couldn't," she added quickly to knock the smirk off Puck's lips.
"Hmm," Chelsea acknowledged with a nod and a glance at her scowling brother. "Interesting," she murmured as she picked up her fork.
"Well, I think we should concentrate on the important things," Judy announced breathlessly, she sounded very, very nervous. "Noah, I picked up the form this afternoon for the two of you to sign for you to acknowledge paternity, you just need to get it notarised when it's complete, also if you are going to change Oscar's name from Fabray to Puckerman, you can do that too," she informed the stunned pair. "What? You thought I just went to the market?" she asked Quinn before rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"We'll get right on that," Puck replied with a relieved smile, Artie's dad had advised him to pick one up ASAP, Judy had saved him the job.
"Also," Judy continued while she busied herself with serving more food to anyone who would eat it, "also, Quinn and I were discussing the possibility of her transferring from Yale to Harvard," she announced.
Quinn gulped and glanced at Puck, he looked surprised. "You'd do that?" Puck asked, the surprise as evident in his voice as on his face. Quinn shrugged a shoulder but didn't make any reply.
"I think it might be an idea if you stayed here for the next few days," Judy offered. "It'll give you a chance to really spend some time with Oscar."
"I-I'd like that, thank you," Puck managed to reply, he felt a little choked actually, he never expected Judy Fabray would be the one who was going all out to work things out for him. But Puck had to admit, he kind of liked it.
"Can I give him his bath tonight?" Puck asked from the nursery doorway, he was lounged against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. He'd been home after dinner to collect some clothes and things.
Quinn looked up and nodded, not surprised that he was back so soon. "Sure," she said quietly as she gathered all of Oscar's stuff together. Quinn led the way through her bedroom to her bathroom. On her bed she spotted an overnight bag that she could only assume belonged to Puck. "So you think you're sleeping with me?" she thought to herself.
"Your mom said to put it in here," Puck answered Quinn's unspoken question. "I think she's trying to get us together again," he said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "You don't have to worry, I'll sleep on the floor in Oscar's room, it's him I'm here for," he added a touch cruelly.
"You've always been welcome in my bed, you know that," Quinn lied, because there were many times that she would have kicked him out if he'd even attempted to climb in. "And just so you know, when I told you that you were my first, I should also have said 'and only'," she finally admitted. "There still hasn't ever been anyone but you."
Puck felt a glimmer of something inside him, he couldn't put a name to it, hope, maybe? He tried to dismiss the warm glow but it wasn't easy to put aside, especially not with the wiggling bundle of joy in his arms making his presence known. "Ready for your bath, little man?" Puck asked lifting the baby upright so they were face to face. Oscar grinned and pulled faces, he kicked and cycled his little legs. Quinn ran the water in the tub. "So are you going to show me how to do this?" he asked, he was trembling a little, it was quite nerve-wracking, he didn't want to get it wrong.
"First of all, you have to check if he's wet or if he's dirty," Quinn advised, sitting on the closed toilet. Puck knelt on the floor and gently laid Oscar on his mat. Now that she could see how nervous Puck was, Quinn was really starting to look forward to this little exercise. Oh, how she hoped that the diaper was a really messy one. Puck carefully, apprehensively, stripped off all of Oscar's clothes.
"Jeez, how can something so small make so much mess?" Puck asked, gagging as he opened the diaper. "And smell so bad," he added as the full force of Master Oscar Noah Fabray's bowel movement hit him square on in the face.
"Want me to do it?" Quinn offered, starting to rise.
"No, no, I can manage," Puck said determinedly. He sucked in a breath and held it, wincing and gagging as he steeled himself to clean up the crappy little butt. "It's on his fu-ah...it's on his feet," he exclaimed, catching himself before he swore. "How the hell can he get shit on his feet?" he demanded.
"Because you let him kick his legs once you'd opened the diaper," Quinn replied, getting down on the floor beside Puck. "Hold his feet up, no, together in one hand, no, like this, that's it, right, ok, wipes, give it a tug, they pop out one at a time. You're doing fine," she praised. "Careful, he's going to...nice one, right in daddy's eye," she leaned over to kiss the squealing, gurgling baby. "I'm so glad it's not just me you pee on," she said with a grin. "Get used to it, he does it all the time," she advised over her shoulder to the shocked and slightly soggy, pouting daddy.
"Takes after me in a few areas I'd say," Puck muttered with barely restrained pride, "not just my eyes, huh?" he said with a wink at Quinn. "Oh yeah, the ladies are going to love you when you're older," he crowed, Quinn rolled her eyes but declined to answer. "Ok, let's get you in that water," Puck said, lifting the baby from the mat on the floor. "How? Do I just float him in it?" he asked. Puck had a vague memory of watching his mom bathe his sister when she was a baby, he thought she sort of supported her shoulders, kept her head out of the water but that was about it, the sum total of his knowledge.
Quinn watched as Puck swished Oscar in the water for a few minutes, he seemed to be handling the bathing rather well. "Here, shampoo," she said, holding the bottle out.
"I've got my hands full," Puck all but cried. "How can I wash his hair and hold him at the same time?" he demanded.
"How do you think I've done it every night?" Quinn asked a little crossly.
"That is not my fault," Puck hissed. "If I'd known I would have been there from day one, so don't throw that one at me," he said, his tone a little nasty. Quinn had been expecting that, she knew it would get said at some point, she just didn't think it would be this soon. She chose to ignore it and move on.
Carefully, Quinn talked Puck through how to wash their baby, then how to wrap him up in his warm, snuggly towel once he was finished in the bath. Oscar started to cry the instant he was out of the water. "He likes that, doesn't he?" Puck murmured, he wanted to keep the peace too, the mood was still a little tense at the moment, but he hoped they would both soon relax.
"Yep," Quinn said with a smile, recognising Puck's distraction technique for what it was. "Oscar loves his bath." All three of them adjourned to the nursery, Puck stood at the changing table, he noted the items that Quinn had already placed ready, the diaper, the onesie, the sleep suit and some sort of cream.
"Where does that go?" Puck asked, picking up the tube of cream to read the label. "On his ass?" he asked. "Jeez, you poor kid, you've either got cream or crap on your butt. Let me tell you, it gets easier when you leave the diapers behind, dude," he advised the still sniffling little boy.
Quinn watched in amusement as Puck made a fairly decent job. "Just fasten that a bit tighter otherwise through the night I'll have to change the whole crib," she advised. Puck refastened the diaper. "Better. Good job, daddy," she teased. Puck wasn't sure if that stung or not. "Supper time, right?" Quinn said when the onsie and sleepsuit were on. She picked Oscar up and carried him to the chair. Once she was settled and comfortable, Quinn sat back with her eyes closed, she rocked and hummed quietly as Oscar suckled. Quinn was totally aware of Puck, knew that he'd made himself comfortable on the floor, knew he was watching. Quinn squirmed just a little.
"Really, I don't mind, you can stay in here with me," Quinn said for the third time. "I have the monitor there, if he makes a sound you can hear it straight away, and you can be there in a couple of seconds. He doesn't usually wake through the night anymore, he's usually good till about six," she told Puck.
"See, that's the sort of thing I'd know, I should know," Puck sighed as he sat down heavily on the end of Quinn's bed. "I can't believe I've only known about him for like, ten hours, it already feels like a life time," he said. "I'm trying really hard not to be mad at you but I just don't get why you didn't want me to know that you were pregnant, didn't I always show you that I wanted the best for you?" he asked.
"You did," Quinn agreed. She didn't really have a clear answer as to why she didn't try everything possible to let Puck know about Oscar as soon as she knew. Quinn knew she'd been selfish, incredibly selfish, and she really didn't know why. "Do you want to see the video?" she asked. Puck nodded. Quinn popped the disc drive open on her laptop and inserted the burned copy. Puck waited with anticipation, barely breathing, until the screen displayed the scene. Just about the same as he remembered, Quinn laid on a bed with her knees up, a sheet draped over her protecting her modesty from all and sundry who seemed to be making regular excursions into her room.
"Who's that guy?" Puck asked, pointing to a man on the screen. The guy was dressed in scrubs, had very neat designer stubble, looked incredibly buff even under the shapeless, nondescript clothing. Puck was feeling a tad uncomfortable each and every time the guy whipped the sheet back and thrust his gloved hand far too close to the bits of Quinn that only he knew. Actually, uncomfortable wasn't quite true. Jealous was more like it. "What's he doing? Copping a feelski?" he demanded.
"That's Neil, the midwife," Quinn answered with a giggle. "He delivered Oscar," she informed the more than slightly shocked Puck.
"What?" Puck screeched. "That guy had his hands up..." he demanded, scandalised, pointing towards Quinn's nether regions.
"He examined me a few times, if that's what you're asking," Quinn replied, shifting away from Puck a little, sensing his anger. "He's a professional," she added, crossing her arms after she'd paused the footage.
"I don't care," Puck shouted getting up off the bed and turning to face Quinn. "You had a guy shoving his hands into places they had no right to be," he growled. "And your mother fucking filmed it," he added, absolutely incensed.
"Who did your medical when you joined the Air Force?" Quinn asked, making herself a little more comfortable against the pillows. Quinn wondered if Puck was going to be honest here because she'd already heard the story from Santana about the female doctor who had performed it. If indeed that story was true.
"A doctor," Puck replied, looking and sounding rather like his five year old self.
"A male doctor?" Quinn asked, with a sort of knowing lilt to her voice.
"No," Puck mumbled and turned away.
"And did she have to examine you...intimately?" Quinn asked, an 'I know I am superior' note came into her voice.
"Yes," Puck managed to say through gritted teeth.
"So she had her hands on your pe..." she asked and gave Puck 'the look' even as he cut her off.
"Yes, alright, she had her hands on my balls and my dick, so what?" Puck shouted. "It's not the same," he insisted.
"This guy helped our son come into the world," Quinn cried, pointing at the paused video. "It would have been the same if Dr Wu or Dr Chin delivered him," she insisted. "They don't do the job because they're perverts," she told him, "at least I hope they don't," she added, more to herself than to Puck, "they do it because it's their job and hopefully, they love their job," she sighed.
Puck scowled but climbed back onto the bed and settled with Quinn again against the pillows. "Look, watch this part," Quinn whispered as the camera was carried to a better position.
"Oh my God, it's winking at me," Puck teased, giving Quinn a nudge when the shot that Judy had gone for turned extremely graphic. "Crap, that's the bit I remember from when Beth was born, that crowning, oh jeez, fuck that is fucking scary, you are so lucky you don't have to see that part," he told Quinn as he winced and watched the video with one eye closed.
"Oh, right, 'cos that's the hard part, watching, right, I forgot that," Quinn scoffed. "Try being on the business end of things, you'd soon change your mind," she told Puck crossly. They watched the rest of the birth almost in silence, just the odd gasp or breath sucked between teeth. Quinn melted for the millionth time when Neil placed Oscar on her chest and almost immediately he rooted for her nipple. The first time he actually fed, he was barely thirty minutes old.
"Dude knows what to do with that, right?" Puck commented with glowing pride. "Oh yeah, you totally take after your daddy," he whispered to the screen. "I love your mom's boobs too," he added as his finger stroked the tiny cheek on the screen. He gave Quinn a glance and a half snigger. "Sorry about that, I think I'm tired," Puck said quietly, the embarrassed grin still in place.
Quinn closed the laptop and set it aside. Carefully she climbed off the bed and swiftly threw off her clothes, leaving herself in just the most scandalous pair of panties that Puck had ever seen her in. He gulped. He was almost disappointed when she reached under her pillow and brought out a yellow nightie. He straightened up visibly when she dropped it to the floor. "I don't think I'll need this tonight, if you're here with me," she said as the garment pooled on the floor beside her feet.
"I sort of thought we had an understanding," Puck muttered nervously. "No funny business?" he said, wondering if she remembered.
Quinn giggled, watched Puck try to swallow with a dry mouth as her boobs jiggled. "That lasted all of twenty minutes even the night you said it," she reminded him. "Even after you slept with Shelby, I still wanted you. I do now, I think I'll always want you if you're around and if I'm going to move from New Haven to Lincoln and share a house with you, we might as well just get on with it because you know it's going to happen," she said, with more than a touch of pragmatism.
"I didn't bring any condoms," Puck revealed, his eyes on her as she walked slowly round to his side of the bed.
"Don't need 'em," Quinn whispered as her hands took charge of pulling his shirt up and off. "Implant," she informed him with a nod towards her left arm.
"You're sure about this?" Puck whispered, his body trembling in anticipation, his head lowering to touch his lips to hers.
"Trust me," Quinn sighed into his mouth just before their lips sealed together. It was one of the best nights of Quinn's life...
"We have to be at school for eleven today," Puck reminded Quinn as they made their way to the kitchen. "That gives us enough time to call in at the bank to get this from notarised, then we can get it filed and just sit back and wait for his new birth certificate," he said with a satisfied sigh.
"And I'm still going to insist that his first two names remain the same," Quinn replied as she settled Oscar into his swing. "I like Oscar Noah, admittedly it sounds better when it's followed by Puckerman rather than Fabray," she said, smiling prettily, "but that's ok, he's only Fabray for a few more weeks," she shrugged.
"I'm cool with the Oscar and the Puckerman but do we have to stick the little guy with Noah, too?" Puck asked as he sat at the breakfast bar.
"Yes we do," Quinn insisted and wrapped her arms around Puck's neck, she touched her lips to his, she loved that his tongue automatically poked out to slide between her lips and his hands, almost of their own accord, fell to her hips to keep her there, where she stood, between Puck's thighs.
"Breakfast, anyone?" Judy asked as she breezed into the kitchen. She didn't even try to hide the happy, satisfied grin.
"What?" Quinn asked, still in position with Puck except she'd turned her head when her mom spoke.
"Nothing," Judy replied, still grinning widely. "Looks like Grandma and Nana were right, doesn't it, Oscar?" she said, smiling at the baby. Oscar squealed, kicked and blew raspberries, his swing moving with the constant motion of his arms and legs.
"Right about what?" Puck asked suspiciously.
"That all you two would need was a push in the right direction," Judy admitted. "You know as well as the rest of us, you two are meant to be together," she informed them. "Nothing will ever convince me any different."
"So now that we've sort of worked through some of our problems," Quinn asked curiously, "you'll be happy for me to move to Massachusetts? Even if I don't get the transfer to Harvard?" she asked.
"I'll be honest, I'd prefer it if the transfer could happen but actually, I think for right now, your family is a bit more important than your education. Education is something that you can go back to at any time, Oscar will only be a baby for right now," she said, surprising the hell out of Quinn.
"I called my advisor," Quinn admitted. "She is confident that I meet the criteria to transfer," she told her ecstatic mom.
"That is good news, I found you a house by the way," Judy said excitedly, "just in case," she added with wide eyes. "You don't have to take this, but it's in Lincoln, right near Hanscom, it's about a half hour drive to Harvard, it's a perfect family home for you, three bedrooms so you could have grandmas and nanas come to visit," she said with more than a hint of a grin.
"We'll look at it later, we have to get going, we have an appointment at the bank to see the notary then we have to get to McKinley. We're taking Oscar with us today," Puck told Judy as they finished eating breakfast.
"That's it? We're all done?" Puck asked as he paid the fee to the woman who had witnessed their signatures on the form to acknowledge him as Oscar's father.
"As soon as this is filed with the relevant agency, yes," the woman said with a smile. "You'll get a letter when the new birth certificate is ready for collection," she advised them, it was one of the forms that she regularly notarised for people.
"Thank you," Quinn said with a smile as Puck lifted Oscar's car seat and carried him in it towards his truck.
"I'm sure. You go do the talk in the locker room like Coach Beiste asked you to do," Quinn urged.
"What are you guys going to do?" Puck asked, reluctant to leave.
"You'll find out later, just go," Quinn said, pretending to lose patience with him.
"Fine, I'm gone. I'll take Oscar if you want," Puck offered, hoping that Quinn would say yes.
Quinn bit her lip nervously and thought hard. "Yes, fine, take him, Coach said she wants you to force the safe sex issue into their brains," she said in a rush. "Go, quickly," she instructed after smacking lots of kisses on Oscar's face. "Bye," she sighed as Puck leaned in for a brief, urgent kiss.
"What was that I saw?" Rachel asked teasingly, she'd stayed out of sight until Puck had gone.
"Nothing," Quinn replied with a bashful smile.
"Didn't look like nothing," Rachel corrected. "That looked like Puck and Oscar with a great big helping of Quick on the lips," she teased.
"There may be some truth to that," Quinn laughingly answered. "But don't rush us, it's very early days," she reminded the pint-sized brunette. Rachel said nothing, she just held onto Quinn's hand and tried to restrain a squeal.
"So Coach asked me to come in here and talk to all you guys," Puck announced, grabbing the thirty or so guys' attention. "But I'm sure you're all too safety aware to need to listen to me, right?" he asked as the mumblings and grumblings among the teenagers reached his ears. "What does he know? That's what you're thinking, right?" he asked. "Well, I know a lot, actually," Puck answered his own question. "What Coach wants me to tell you guys is to use condoms, stay safe, don't do what I did, alright?" he said, looking at them for at least a nod of acknowledgement.
"What did you do?" one of the younger kids asked.
"Who're you?" Puck asked, pointing the boy out.
"Josh," the kid replied.
"Josh," Puck nodded. "Well, you probably know my brother," he said, pointing at Jake, "maybe my sister too, Chelsea Puckerman," he added and saw the boy's eyes widen a touch, in fear, he thought. "Well, I'm their big brother who screwed up big time in my sophomore year," he told the group. "I got my best friend's girlfriend pregnant," he announced, "by being stupid, by thinking I knew it all," he said. "It wasn't just my life that was affected, it was Quinn's, it was her family's, it was my family's, it was our friends', it was our child's," he listed. "It was like tossing a stone in a pond and watching the ripples. The ripples went out a long, long way and lasted a really long time," he said, feeling quite lyrical, poetic. "And they're still going," he added, lifting Oscar out of his car seat. "This is the latest ripple effect," he introduced. "This is Oscar, he is the result of an ineffective use of condoms while under the influence of alcohol and being in close proximity to a certain lady, one Miss Quinn Fabray," he told them, while smiling proudly at Oscar. "So Coach wants you all to make sure, if you are going to be sexually active, to make sure you keep it under wraps, use a condom, ok?" he said, looking up and down the rows of blushing boys. "Except you," he pointed at Josh. "Stay away from my sister, I have a gun and I know how to use it," he informed the gulping boy.
Puck and Oscar made their way back to the choir room. "I can't believe she asked me to do that," he whispered in embarrassment to Quinn. "I had no idea what to say, I just talked garbage for ten minutes then picked him up and told them even using condoms isn't safe if you don't put it on right," he muttered, pulling a face and rolling his eyes.
"That's probably the most graphic bit," Quinn grinned. "Go sit," she encouraged then turned as more people came into the choir room. As soon as the whole class was settled, Quinn, Rachel and Marley took the floor in front of the piano. "So yesterday you all heard a song from Jake," Quinn began with a smile and indicated him in the front row. "A beautiful song by the way," she added then was interrupted.
"How do you know?" Ryder asked, a bit distrustfully, he didn't like that Marley had visibly melted when Jake had sung that song, his eyes locked on to her the entire time he was singing. "You weren't even in here yesterday, and you missed the careers thing with Mr Schue," he accused.
"I know because I've heard Puck sing the song before," Quinn replied, defending herself. "Anyway, Rachel, Marley and I, we have something to sing and I hope you enjoy it," she finished with a shy smile at Puck. Puck sat back with Oscar in his arms, mesmerised by Quinn and her confidence. She looked amazing, she smelt even better.
All three girls settled themselves on the tall stools placed in readiness in front of the piano. As soon as Brad started playing, Puck remembered when the girls had sung the song before, Quinn hadn't sung it that time, he wondered how long Rachel would manage before she burst into tears. Rachel took the first verse.
"The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless skies, my love
To the dark and the endless skies," she sang, the tears ran freely down her cheeks, Puck knew that she was thinking of Finn. He glanced over to Mr Schue and saw him wipe away a guilty tear too. Marley took the next verse, her eyes were locked onto Jake.
"And the first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hand
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command, my love
That was there at my command, my love," she blushed and looked down at her hands resting in her lap when she was finished. Puck looked towards Quinn, he knew the next part was for him and he really couldn't wait. Quinn's voice filled the choir room, Puck sighed with pleasure and hugged Oscar a fraction tighter.
"And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time, my love
And it would last till the end of time, my love," she sang, Quinn swallowed visibly as she came to the end of her verse, a single tear rolled down her face. All three girls sang the next part.
"The first time ever I saw your face
Your face
Your face
Your face"
Silence reigned for a few moments until Oscar squawked and threw himself about to get noticed by his mommy. Puck stood up and carried the baby over to Quinn, she stood to greet them both. "You really feel like that?" Puck asked very, very quietly.
"Yes," Quinn whispered back. "I know you're still mad at me," she added, too quiet for anyone else to hear, "but I hope that one day you can forgive me and until then, you're stuck with us, we aren't going anywhere," she informed Puck with a hint of a teary grin.
Puck nodded thoughtfully, he considered all of the times in the past that Quinn had forgiven him for doing something really stupid or utterly selfish. She'd even forgiven him for sleeping with Shelby and completely ruining their chances of some sort of relationship with Beth. He took a deep breath then leaned just a little closer. "I forgive you," he whispered. "Can you forgive me too?" he asked.
Quinn bit her lip and bit back a tear. "Broken Arrows?" she asked with a sniff and a hopeful gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, we're both shooting with Broken Arrows," Puck agreed and bent to kiss her to the cheers of New Directions and their friends...