Chapter 3 – December – Sophomore Year – Age 16

Finn had finished all of his work by Tuesday, and all of his teachers seemed quite impressed. He started his internship with Burt and things were going well. He was learning how to give the car its overall check: fluid levels, filters, tire pressure, tire rotation, and oil changes. He trained for two weeks before Burt let him tackle things with his supervision. This would only last a month or so, but Finn was being paid a full salary, the base that he offered. If things went well over the course of that month Finn started to show promise and picked up the skills easily enough, then Burt was going to let him work on his own. Kurt was even becoming his best friend. They would hang out at the garage after school. Kurt mostly worked on paperwork, but he also knew enough to put on his coveralls on and get a little greasy.

So far, Kurt was the only person his age who knew Quinn was pregnant. This fact was eating at Finn. He wanted to tell his friends, the ones he still had anyway. Most of the guys on the football team had stopped talking to him when he started to buckle down for school. The only one who was left – who wasn't in glee – was Dave Karovsky. He was kind of a bully but he was also wicked smart. Mrs. Black was the one to recommend him for math tutoring when he was going to go out on homebound instruction.

"Hey, Karovsky, how's it going?" Finn asked. They were the last ones in the locker room.

"Not too bad," Dave replied. "This English project is killing me though."

"Which one?"

"Interpreting the scenes from Julius Caesar," he said, packing up his gym clothes.

"I found a great website for it, I'll face book it to you if you want," Finn offered.

"Dude, that'd be awesome," Dave replied. He looked at Finn, and something was off with the taller guy. "You feeling okay man?"

"Not really, no," Finn said nervously. "I've got a secret and its killing me. I really just want to tell someone."

"Oh, no man, you're not gonna tell me you're homo or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Finn said quickly, holding his hands up in front of him.

"Good. Don't go all girly on me, spit it out," Dave said.

"Quinn's pregnant," Finn blurted out.

"What?"

"Yeah, she's pregnant. She doesn't want for anyone to know, but it's going to be getting pretty obvious – sooner rather than later."

"You knocked up the head cheerleader?" Dave asked incredulously. "It's called use a condom bro."

"I did. I'm not that dumb. She said she took care of things on her end too, but I used one just in case."

"That sucks man," Dave sympathized. "So what are you going to do? Cause you know she's straight up crazy now."

"I know," Finn said. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Better than you can think," Dave muttered, thinking of the one big secret he was still harboring.

"I want to keep the baby."

"And…?" Dave questioned, sensing that there was more to the story.

"She already said we are giving the baby up for adoption" Finn said dejectedly. "But I already met with Ohio Child and Family Services and they are helping me."

"You're serious?"

"I work at Hummel's Tire and Lube. Kurt helped me get a job."

"That's cool." Dave was quite impressed. Finn had never been ambitious. He was lazy and unfocused. This was a whole new Finn Hudson. "If you need help with maths, just let me know."

"I really appreciate how cool you're being about this," Finn said. "I might need your help for maths."

"Any time bro."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Why can't we just tell people? You are starting to show," Finn pointed out. They were arguing over their secret and it was pissing Finn off. The argument was taking place outside the Glee classroom before class began.

"I don't want people to know, it's embarrassing!" Quinn screeched.

"You're gonna look pretty pregnant when we come back from Christmas break!" As his angry voice got the better of him, Kurt and Mercedes walked up to the room for Glee. Quinn looked pissed. She took off down the hallway, simply to get away from everyone.

"Quinn's pregnant?" Mercedes asked quietly. Finn nodded. "Wow, I figured she was just stress eating or something."

"No, she's due in March."

"She's still against telling people I see?" Kurt asked. Finn nodded again.

"You knew about this?" Mercedes questioned Kurt.

"Yes, but I was sworn to secrecy," he supplied, giving her a hard look.

"I just wanna tell people and get it over with," Finn said, frustration obvious in his voice. "It's only going to be worse after winter break. She's actually due a week after regionals."

"And what are you two going to do about the baby?"

"Quinn wants to give the baby up for adoption," Finn said resignedly.

"So, what do you want to do about the baby?" Mercedes asked wisely.

Finn turned to Kurt, silently asking if she could be brought in on the plan. Kurt nodded. "Okay, let's go in and I'll tell you, but it's totally top secret." The three of them walked into the choir room and over to the furthest seats from the door. "I am planning on keeping the baby. Quinn just doesn't know it. She's crazy and I think she might just try to kill me if she finds out. I've got a job at Burt's garage and I'm getting my grades up. The Children's services place told me that I needed to start looking into child care and my case will be pretty strong."

"Do you go to church?" Mercedes asked, breaking her stunned silence. The boys looked at her in confusion.

"No, why?"

"My church runs a day care and they really try to help out single parents. I'm sure that if you come and get to know the people they would be more than willing to help you out." Finn got up from his seat and had the biggest smile on his face. Mercedes looked slightly confused, as did Kurt, but it was all made clear. Finn hugged the diva for all he was worth. Mr. Shue walked in on this touching scene and cleared his throat to let them know that they were no longer alone.

"Sorry Mr. Shue. Mercedes just offered to help me find a day care for the baby," Finn explained.

"I'm glad your friends are willing to help," Mr. Shue said. "Are you two telling people now? Where's Quinn?"

"She still doesn't want to tell people, but I kinds blurted it out when these two walked up," Finn explained. "Quinn ran off, pissed. I explained it to Mercedes, but Kurt already knew."

"Well, I'm glad you're telling people. The rest of your teachers and I were getting worried about you."

"I'm going to just tell everyone today in glee," Finn shrugged. "I mean, when we come back from Christmas break she is going to be really showing. Better prepare our friends so we can be as supportive as possible."

"Smart idea," Mr. Shue agreed. By this time, more of the glee kids were showing up and grabbing their usual seats and chatting amongst themselves. The trio remained relatively quiet, greeting others when they were greeted first. Once all of the students were accounted for, with the exception of Quinn, class got started. "Before we get down to this weeks' assignment, I think Finn has something to say."

Finn got up from his seat and walked to the stool that was typically set up in the center of the classroom 'stage'. "Thanks Mr. Shue. Guys, there's something I need to tell you, and it's kind of a secret. Quinn and I are going to have a baby." Everyone erupted into chatter when he dropped this bomb on them. "Yea, it's a bit of a shock. She didn't want to tell anyone, so I didn't mention anything. But she is pissed at me for just telling Kurt and Mercedes. So if I were you, I wouldn't mention it to her unless she says something first; because she is bat shit crazy."

"I know that's right," Santana commented. "Queen Que has been über bitch lately."

"Santana," Mr. Shue warned cautiously.

"Sorry Mr. Shue," she said, semi-contritely. She happened to roll her eyes at the teacher as she apologized as well. Finn finally felt like some of the weight on his shoulders was starting to ease up on him.

"But you guys are like my only friends, real ones anyway," Finn said, scuffing his feet on the floor. "I needed to tell someone, and I hope that you guys will stay my friends."

"Of course we will," a quiet voice piped up from the back row. Tina Cohen-Chang stood up and walked down to Finn. "I'll still be your friend." Next, Tina did something that no one expected. She hugged Finn. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug gratefully.

"You have no idea how much this means," he murmured to Tina. He didn't really think that Tina liked him all that much, but that made this all the better. He knew it would be risky, but he divulged the next part of the story. "So guys, there's something else."

"What?" Puck asked. He had been friends with Finn for the longest time, and he was starting to worry about the taller football player.

"I am trying to keep the baby," Finn said rushed. He held his breath but got it knocked out of him when Tina dove back in for another fierce hug. Artie rolled over to Finn and grabbed one hand and squeezed in reassurance. Finn was going to start crying soon. Brittany skipped over to the slowly growing group and hugged Finn on the other side from Tina. Tina backed up a bit and Puck walked up. They did the hand shake/hug thing and Finn lost it. Tears were streaming down his face. Kurt and Mercedes were up next. They both hugged Finn with equal fervor.

"I'm assuming that Quinn doesn't know this little tid bit?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, um," Finn began, roughly brushing the tears off his face. "She would kill me if she found out, so I would really appreciate it if no one told her."

"No problem," Mike and Matt said together.

Mr. Shue looked around at his kids and noticed quite a change in them. They were sophomores, and freshmen, but they were rapidly maturing. The guys weren't giving Finn a hard time, which was a god send, because they would be the ones to bully first. The girls, he was glad to note, were being sympathetic. He noticed a look that had him a bit worried on Rachel's face, but an equally intriguing look on Santana's face. This group would be something to watch over the next few months.