Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: I can manage on my own, really I can...can't I?
"Hey," Puck said quietly when he found Quinn crouched by the side of the toilet, she looked terrible. "Sick again?" he asked and pulled her into his arms once he'd lowered himself to the floor too. "This is awful, were you this sick with Beth?"
"No," Quinn wailed, she wanted to cry every second of the day, her boobs felt like they were trying to escape from every bra that she put on and every single time she smelt her favourite perfume, blah, she puked and puked and puked. Any sensible person might have stopped wearing the perfume but Quinn refused to be beaten like that. "I hate this, we are not getting pregnant ever again," she vowed.
"Oh, baby," Puck crooned and pulled her even tighter into his arms. "Can I get you anything?" he asked, he really wanted to know how to make her feel better.
"No," Quinn sniffed and then started crying again. "Even my students are beginning to ask what's wrong with me," she sobbed, "and they've only known me for a week."
Puck had no idea what to say to Quinn, so he just kept shushing her, comforting her and he hoped to God that Frannie had answered his email because he was getting quite desperate. "I don't know if this is the right time to tell you," Puck sighed and then winced, he just knew he was going to be in for another slew of tears, "but I have to go away for a couple of weeks," he said then looked at Quinn, she seemed to have stopped crying for a second. "I've been temporarily seconded to different training squadron," he announced and really, he was quite thrilled, it was quite an honour to be chosen like that.
"So, who will be here with me?" Quinn asked, she sounded like a five year old.
"Baby, I'll only be a couple of hours away," Puck said, "but I will have to stay there, your mom and my mom are only an hour and a half away," he reminded her. "Maybe your mom can come and stay while I'm gone," he suggested. Quinn burst into tears again, even louder and more dramatic than before. "It is only for a couple of weeks," he repeated, he hoped that would soothe her. It didn't.
"Seriously, either the house is going to sink or the floors are going to rot," Puck muttered to Frannie. "I mean, I know Joshua is only four weeks old, I know that you can't come, but could you talk to her? Please? Just talk to her, or me, tell me what I can do to help her," he begged.
"I'll see what I can do, but Puck, hormones are not to be trifled with," Frannie advised. "And if she is feeling emotional then it's better out than in," she sighed and had to sniff back a tear herself. "Maybe you could see if Shelby and Beth can visit for the weekend or something, you know, to make the time that you're away seem shorter, maybe, I don't know, I've got baby-brain, I'm not even sure what colour the sky is or if I've sent my kids to sports club in clothes or pyjamas," she mocked herself. "Listen, Puck, that's the baby crying, I've got to go, I'll talk to mom, see if we can do something together, but talk to Shelby, maybe seeing Beth will be good for her."
"Thanks Frannie," Puck replied then hung up. "Fine, I'll call Shelby," he muttered to himself as he looked up the number in his contacts. "Shelby, hi, it's Puck," he said when his call was answered. "Listen, I have a favour to ask you," he said quietly and then walked into the kitchen. Quinn, listening covertly on the stairs, felt slighted that he was now out of earshot. "Cool, thanks, that's great," he said as he came back out of the kitchen with an open bottle of beer in his hand. "Bye," he said and then ended the call.
"Who was that?" Quinn asked quietly as she made her way down the stairs.
"No one," Puck replied and waited for her at the bottom. "How do you feel now?" he asked, he studied her face, she still looked crappy, pale and crappy.
"Better," Quinn said with determination. "Don't forget it's our first OB appointment later this afternoon," she reminded him with a glance at the beer.
"Alcohol-free," Puck pointed out and showed Quinn the label.
"It still smells the same," Quinn pouted and gulped back another wave of nausea. Puck gave Quinn a little nod and then went back to the kitchen to dispose of his beer.
"Mr and Mrs Puckerman," the receptionist said with a smile as they approached her desk. "If you could fill out these forms please, and take them with you when the nurse calls you through, I do need to see your medical insurance first, though," she explained and passed Quinn a clipboard that had both a pen and the various paperwork attached. "Thank you," she said once she had Puck's insurance information in her hand. "Please take a seat, you'll be called through shortly," she advised and then turned back to her computer screen.
"Thank you," Quinn mumbled, she felt quite self-conscious that all of the ladies who were sitting in the waiting room seemed to be at the latter end of their pregnancies while she was only in her first trimester. "Did I ever get that big?" she whispered to Puck as they saw a poor woman lumber to her feet when her name was called.
"Nope," Puck whispered back, "your ass has never been that big," he complimented Quinn and leaned towards her to check out the questions that needed answering. "Age," he said and pointed to the question, redirecting Quinn's attention. "Previous obstetric history?" he asked. "What does that mean?"
"It means they want to know if I've been pregnant before," Quinn hissed her answer to him and filled in the pertinent details.
"Oh," Puck replied and then looked around the waiting room. He felt a little out of place, there was only one other guy in the room besides him, they nodded awkwardly at each other, brothers in their discomfort.
"Mrs Puckerman?" a nurse called gently, she noted Quinn's head as it shot up and focused on her. "Would you like to follow me?" she asked. "No, no, not for this part," she said as Puck made to stand too.
Slowly, all of the women were called through the magical doors, leaving Puck and the other guy alone in the waiting room. "How many?" the guy asked Puck.
"Sorry?" Puck replied, he wasn't sure what the guy was asking at all.
"Kids, how many kids?" the guy clarified.
"Oh, right, this is erm, actually, this is our second," Puck replied honestly.
"Girl or boy?" he asked Puck.
"Girl, we had a daughter six years ago," Puck explained.
"Oh," the guy murmured, his interest was obviously waning.
"You?" Puck asked, to break the silence.
"Number five for us," the guy answered proudly, "all boys, hoping this one is going to be a little girl and then we'll be done," he sighed.
"Oh," Puck murmured. They both lapsed into silence while they waited for their wives to return. "Hey," Puck smiled when Quinn came back to the waiting room. "So?" he asked, he had no idea what went on behind those hallowed doors, he hadn't taken much notice before.
"Well, so far I've lost seven pounds," Quinn sighed and sat down rather heavily in the seat beside Puck.
"So now we wait for what?" Puck asked when Quinn made no move to gather her belongings.
"Now we wait to see the OB," Quinn replied with a tired smile.
"Ok, is that when they do the ultrasound thingy?" Puck whispered the question, he was very conscious that the professional dad in the corner would know exactly what happened in the consulting rooms, Puck felt like an amateur in comparison.
"No, we don't get that done till the next visit," Quinn answered and handed over the schedule of appointments. "This is a sort of timeline for appointments, at least, it is if everything runs smoothly and is trouble free," she muttered. "So, where are you going, on this training thing?" she asked out of the blue.
"Oh, Atlanta," Puck replied, he wasn't expecting a question about that.
Quinn was silent for a moment. "That's more than a couple of hours away," she retorted.
"Not by plane," Puck responded. "Baby, I'm a pilot, I fly airplanes, it's actually less than a two hour flight," he explained. "I'm going on a training course, did you think I'd drive there?" he asked.
"I didn't think about it," Quinn mumbled her reply. They both stood when Quinn's name was called again. "You get to come in for this part," she said and held Puck's hand tightly.
"Mr and Mrs Puckerman," the doctor said jovially as Puck and Quinn took the seats in front of his desk. "I'm Dr Reid," he introduced himself. "Now, let's just review," he said and looked down at the paperwork on his desk. "So this is your second pregnancy," he said and watched them nod, "your last pregnancy, although you were very young, was trouble free," he commented, "you are in your tenth week right now, blood pressure, urine sample, everything normal, your weight is a little bit of a concern, you are on the very edge of healthy there, Mrs Puckerman," he said and looked quite sternly at Quinn. "How is the morning sickness?" he asked.
"Terrible," Puck answered for Quinn, she looked like she was going to cry again and in truth, Quinn felt as if she'd just been told off by the doctor. "Anything sets her off, any time of the day, it's bad, much worse than it was the last time," he said and picked up Quinn's hand to rest it on his thigh.
Dr Reid looked more closely at Quinn. "Hmm, I can give you something to try and combat the sickness, I don't think it's as severe as hyperemesis," he said, almost to himself.
"Thank you," Quinn mumbled, even knowing that she could take something to help combat the debilitating sickness that hit her throughout the day made her want to cry even more.
"And don't worry, the crying jags are completely normal," the doctor added with a smile.
Puck collected the medication from the pharmacy while Quinn sat outside in the fresh air. "Do you think we'll ever get away on honeymoon?" she asked when Puck sat down beside her.
"It might be a while," Puck answered with a grin. "Hey, I have to take vacation time when the powers that be tell me I can," he reminded her. "But I thought that if maybe I save up as much vacation time as I can, I can take more time to be home with you when the baby comes," he offered and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Puck turned his head slightly and rested his lips on Quinn's hair. "What do you feel like doing for dinner tonight?" he asked into her hair.
"Do you think your mom would make her special dumpling soup if we call her right now?" Quinn sighed, her mouth was almost watering at the thought of it, the taste she remembered from many meals around the Puckermans' table.
"I'll call and ask," Puck replied, happy that at least something was nudging Quinn's appetite. "Hey, mom, are you home from work yet?" he asked when she answered his call. "Wonderful, wonderful, because your pregnant, hormonal, daughter-in-law is craving your special dumpling soup," he said quite loudly with a wink at Quinn. "Great, we'll start out right now, and we'll see you in a couple of hours, ok, see you soon, thanks mom," he said before he ended the call. "She's thrilled by the way," he told Quinn, and he was telling the truth, Lydia was ecstatic that Quinn wanted her to make something.
"Hi, Mrs Puckerman," a youthful voice said, from quite close by.
"Julia, hi," Quinn replied and sat up straighter, pulling away from Puck slightly. "What are you doing here?" she asked, nervous for the girl, if she was the one with the appointment at the medical center, all of the appointments were for the OB.
"I'm here with my sister, I'm watching her kids while she goes in to see how baby number three is doing," Julia answered with a grin. "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid to get knocked up at sixteen," she grinned and then turned and waltzed into the center without a backward glance.
"Well that felt like a slap," Puck commented and hugged Quinn close again. "Ready to head off to Lima?" he asked, hoping to deflect some of the emotion that he was sure Quinn was struggling with right about now. Quinn sniffed and nodded, yes, she was more than ready.
"Oh, Lydia, I feel so sick all of the time," Quinn moaned, "I mean, I know I threw up when I was expecting Beth, but not this much."
"Isn't it a good sign?" Lydia asked. "Doesn't it mean that the pregnancy is well established or something?"
"I think so, but damn, I wish it would just be over," Quinn wailed. "And Puck is leaving me. For two whole weeks," she cried, because that was how it felt, like he was leaving her, not that he was going away with his job, no, it felt like he was abandoning her.
Puck grinned when he heard Quinn's way of saying it. "I'm going to Atlanta on a training course for a couple of weeks," he explained to his mom. "And it's not like I get a choice about it," he added. "Plus, it will be really good for my record," he said and hoped his mom would understand, at least, he hoped she would understand better than Quinn did right now.
"Well, I have some vacation time due," Lydia said and looked at her son then Quinn, "how about if I come to visit for a while when Noah is away?" she offered.
"But what about Jenna?" Quinn sniffed.
"Jenna can stay here with my mom," Lydia said and hugged Quinn close. "Even if I only stay a couple of nights, if it gives you some peace of mind, it's worth it, right?" she soothed as she rubbed Quinn's shoulders in a maternal fashion.
"And Shelby and Beth are coming to see you the first weekend I'm away," Puck announced, he had hoped to keep it a secret for a while longer, but he knew that Quinn needed the confirmation that she wasn't being abandoned by the entire world.
"They are?" Quinn asked and then burst into tears at Puck's nod.
"That was your sister's idea by the way," Puck admitted when he finally managed to understand Quinn's words through her crying jag. She was thanking him for his thoughtfulness and really, he couldn't take the credit, the old Puck would have, but the new Puck had to give credit where it was due.
"So, by the time you've been to work, had a visit from Beth and Shelby, had a visit from my mom and probably your mom too, I'll be home and you won't even know you've missed me," Puck said with a big, over-the-top smile on his face.
"I'll know," Quinn murmured into Puck's chest. "But thanks, for everything," she whispered.
"Quinn, Noah," Jenna cried. "Can I feel the baby yet?" she demanded and thrust her hand between them to feel at Quinn's stomach.
"Not yet, too tiny," Puck answered and shoved Jenna's hand out of the way. "Great, I'm starved," he said in response to his mom's cry that dinner was ready.
They all sat at the table eating, laughing, talking and having a thoroughly good time when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Puck announced and stood up to answer the door. "Jake," he cried when he saw his brother. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I saw your truck when I was on my way to Ryder's house so I thought I'd call in, see how you are," Jake replied and returned Puck's hug. "How's Quinn?" he asked.
"Ask her yourself," Puck grinned. "It's Jake," he announced when they both walked into the kitchen.
"Jake, are you hungry?" Lydia asked and stood to get him a dish and some soup.
"I wasn't, but that smells delicious," Jake replied and sat down next to Jenna. "Hey, Squirt," he said and plonked a kiss on her head. "Thank you," he said to Lydia as she set the bowl down in front of him. "Mmmm," he sighed when he sniffed appreciatively. "So, how are you?" he asked Quinn.
"Fine," Quinn replied, a little embarrassed, she wasn't sure that a just-out-of-his-teens young man would particularly want to know the truth about his sister-in-law's pregnancy. Jake glanced at Puck and then back at Quinn with one eyebrow raised up. Quinn pouted and looked at Puck too. Obviously Puck had been talking with his brother, confiding in him. "Ok, so I'm sick most of the time, I cry at the most ridiculous stuff and I feel like my boobs are going to explode," she answered more honestly. "But we can deal with that, it's just temporary," she said with determination.
"It better be," Puck muttered behind his spoon. "Not the boobs, they can stay," he added and then tried to dodge the punch that came his way from Quinn.
After a pleasant evening, they climbed back into the truck and headed for home. "I feel mean that we didn't go see my mom," Quinn sighed. "I mean, we should have, I know it was late, but we could have taken ten minutes just to call in and see her," she pouted, she felt quite mean that they hadn't done so.
"Call her, tell her that we'll come over on Sunday for lunch with her if you want," Puck offered, he thought that Judy might quite like that anyway, he knew he would, Judy's Sunday roasts were legendary.
"Thank you," Quinn said quietly.
"What for?" Puck asked, confused by the emotional sound in Quinn's voice when she said that.
"For everything, for being you, for being my husband, just for everything," Quinn sniffed. Puck smiled and winked at her, he held out one hand for her to hold, even as he drove them home. This was one of the days that just being together made him feel like the richest person on the planet. Puck loved those days.
"Was that your husband, Mrs Puckerman?" Julia asked on Monday morning, about ten minutes into the class.
"Sorry?" Quinn replied, brought out of her own little world by the sound of voices. She really had to concentrate. "My husband?" she asked.
"Yes, the guy you were with at the medical center on Saturday," Julia clarified.
"Oh, yes, that was my husband," Quinn nodded, she was finally up to speed on her student's question. "Yes, my husband who is now in Atlanta, who is now millions of miles away from me, who won't be able to make me strawberry tea in the morning, who won't be able to shower with me tonight," she thought and then gave herself a mental shake. "Although that isn't really relevant to how Hamlet spoke about suicide, now is it?" she asked and directed the study back to the subject in hand.
"Are you sure that's what this is about?" one of the guys, who reminded Quinn of Puck when he was a teenager, asked from the back. "I mean, maybe Shakespeare is talking about jacking off when he wrote O that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!"
"Connor, I really don't think that is appropriate, do you?" Quinn stated, she didn't get flustered or embarrassed, she was far too wily for that, she knew that if she showed any of these kids even a hint of weakness, she'd be lost, they'd pounce and tear her apart, her career as a teacher would be over. "If you'd like to read out the full passage, I'm sure we'd all be happy to listen to you, go ahead," she instructed and stared at the boy until he squirmed slightly in his seat and then read out the full passage.
Later in the day, once she was in the teachers lounge, Quinn told a few of the others about her morning class. "Oh, that boy, he reminds me of someone I used to teach back in Lima," a vaguely familiar voice stated from behind Quinn. "A guy with a mohawk and a penchant for trouble," she added with a smile in her voice.
"Holly Holiday?" Quinn cried and leaped up to hug the older blonde woman. "How are you?" she demanded, thrilled to see her again. "I thought you'd given up substituting?" she asked.
"Mm, I did,for a while," Holly admitted, "but I missed it, so I started doing it again, I still like being able to flit around, I'd hate to be stuck in one place all the time, but if it works for you, fabulous. So? How is Puck?" she asked with a grin.
"He's great, he had to go to Georgia this morning, he's on a training course," Quinn replied with a self-pitying sigh. "Say, you don't feel like grabbing dinner later, do you?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," Holly cried happily, "that would be great." So they made plans for after school and Quinn felt so much better.
"Hey, baby," Puck murmured into his phone when Quinn answered.
"Hi," Quinn replied, almost shyly, she suddenly felt, snuggled up in bed as she was, she felt like she was a teenager again, she felt like they were back in the days before Beth, back when they were still fairly innocent, back when they were still kids.
"So how was your day?" Puck asked, he turned over on his bed, he just wanted to listen to her voice, it didn't matter what she said, he just wanted to hear her.
"Great, it was great," Quinn replied with a smile, she told him all about her day at work. "And guess what," she said.
"What?" Puck asked, smiling at her enthusiasm.
"I had dinner with Holly Holiday," Quinn replied with a grin. "She asked how you are by the way and she says to tell you congratulations on finally making an honest woman of me, and she says that you should take the pain this time," she added paraphrasing the pertinent points of her conversation with the other woman.
"Cool, I'll try my best," Puck said with a slightly confused look on his face. Every night they talked to each other, had whispered conversations, just like they'd done when they were teenagers and still hiding their relationship, back when no one knew there was a Quick. "So where are you right now?" he asked late on Friday night.
"In bed," Quinn replied, "I'm all snuggled up with a book, I'm going to relax and fall asleep whenever I want to, wake up when I want to and just chill, I'm glad it's Saturday tomorrow," she told Puck with a contented smile on her face. "What about you?" she turned the question round on him.
"I'm in my room, I have to study, I'd kind of hoped they were going to give us some free time on the weekend, maybe enough to fly home to see you, but it looks like we're just powering through," Puck explained with a sigh as he glanced at the reams and reams of printed information that he had to read and process. "I kind of feel like it's a bit of a role reversal situation," he added with a snort of laughter. "I mean, how many times, when you were in college, did you spend the weekend studying for some test or other, huh?" he asked.
"Hundreds," Quinn replied and smiled as she snuggled down even more. "You could read the stuff out to me, I know you take it in better when you read it out rather than if you read it to yourself, maybe read it out to me and I'll help you study?" she offered.
Puck grinned as he shuffled a little lower in his bed, he picked up the thick document. "This is so not the same as phone sex," he grumbled, but he couldn't help laughing too. "Thanks," he whispered, he was grateful, he knew he'd felt slightly daunted at the sheer volume of information, and Quinn was right, he did take it in better if he read it out loud. "Ok, here we go," he sighed and then started reading the first page. Two hours later Puck ended the call and sent a text message to Quinn, who had fallen asleep during the call. *Thanks for being my study buddy, love you xxx*
Quinn grinned at the text message on her phone when she woke up with it still in her hand. *Any time fly boy, love you too xxx* she replied. She stretched and contemplated the weekend ahead, all the free time to just wallow in the misery of missing Puck. Quinn had grown quite used to Puck being around all of the time, ever since she had graduated from college, since she had returned to Ohio and they'd bought the house together, she hadn't been without him. All the years of being separated by college, by deployment, by distance, they'd all disappeared and now suddenly, Puck was in a completely different state and she missed him, missed him like she'd never thought possible. "Hormones," she grumbled to herself and turned over to hug Puck's pillow. "Wow," she said as she realised something. "I don't feel sick," she said and then cautiously sat up in bed. "Really, I don't feel sick at all," she marvelled. "Oh, how cool," she sighed happily. "Thank you, baby," she murmured towards her tummy, she ran her hand over the tiny little curve. "Hey, look at you," she murmured and rushed to the mirror. Quinn stood sideways on and looked at her profile. "Oh," she whispered at the definite, pronounced bump. "There you are," she murmured and stroked her hand over the area as her eyes filled with tears. Quinn ran back to the bed to pick up her phone. "Selfie time," she sang out loud and got herself in position to take a picture to send to Puck. *Hey Big Daddy, look at this xxx* she added to the picture that she sent to Puck's phone. "You know what, baby?" she asked her stomach. "I think we might take a picture like that every Saturday until you're here, map your progress, right?" Quinn grinned at herself in the mirror. "Like anyone is going to answer me," she mocked and then blew herself a kiss.
"I am so happy to see you," Quinn cried when she opened the door to Shelby and Beth on Saturday afternoon. "Come in, come in," she urged and stepped out of the way. "It has been a long, long week," she exclaimed dramatically to Shelby. "Puck has called every day, twice a day, actually, but it hasn't made the time pass any quicker," she pouted. "But I am so glad to see you both," she cried again and hugged Beth close.
"My momma said we can stay overnight if you want," Beth announced and gave Quinn such a fabulous grin.
Quinn almost burst into tears she was so happy. "I didn't actually say that," Shelby assured Quinn, she didn't want to put her on the spot like that. "What I said was that we could find a motel or something and stay over in Fairborn," she explained.
"No, please, stay here, with me, you're more than welcome," Quinn almost begged. "We have the guest room set up with twin beds," she explained and headed in that direction. "Please, I would love it if you would consider staying here with me," she said so very quietly, sincerely.
"Alright," Shelby answered with a tight smile. She didn't show it, but Shelby was a little wary.
All through the afternoon, Beth humoured Quinn, allowed her to play, get to know her, and in truth, she loved the attention. Throughout the play, the two chatted and chatted, but Shelby knew that Beth was building up to the biggie, the question that she had been bugging her with since Puck and Quinn's wedding. "Quinn?" Beth asked, seemingly quite nonchalantly.
"Yes?" Quinn responded when nothing more seemed forthcoming.
"When your baby comes, can I come and see it?" Beth asked in a rush, her eyes were excited, shining balls of green.
"Of course," Quinn replied wholeheartedly and looked at Shelby for her approval. "You know that, even though your mom adopted you, this baby will still be your brother or sister, right?" she asked Beth.
"Does that mean me and momma get to take it home with us?" Beth asked, her excitement was growing at the thought.
"No, this baby will live here, with me and Puck, but you will still be it's big sister," Quinn explained.
Beth's excitement dimmed a little and she was thoughtful for a while. "Does that mean that you love this new baby more than you loved me?" she asked with a frown and a tell-tale quiver in her voice.
"Oh, sweetie, no, of course not," Quinn replied immediately and surged forward to hug Beth close. "No, absolutely not, I don't think it's possible to love anyone more than I love you," she sniffed as the tears appeared once again. "We'll love this new baby as much as we love you, but it could never be more than we love you," she insisted. Shelby was satisfied, that was the thing that she knew was troubling Beth the most and Quinn had answered it just right. The rest of the day passed in a blur for Quinn.
"Hey, baby," Puck murmured into his phone when Quinn answered his call.
"Hey," Quinn responded shyly, she was ultra-aware of Shelby across the room and Beth on the floor playing with some of the toys that she'd brought with her.
"How have you been today?" Puck asked.
"Good, I wasn't sick today," Quinn replied, but there was no way that she was going to tell him that she had finally heeded his advice and forgone spraying her perfume all over herself this morning. "Did you get the pictures I sent?" she asked.
"I did, they're great, thanks," Puck answered. "Is Beth still there?" he asked.
"Yes, do you want to talk to her?" Quinn asked and walked over to Beth with the phone held out. "It's Puck, he wants to say hello," she explained. Beth took the phone at once.
"Hi," Beth said with a grin into the phone. "I'm sleeping here at your house," she told Puck before he could utter a word. "And when my new baby brother comes I'm coming to stay and see it too," she added excitedly.
"That's cool," Puck responded, he felt a surge of happiness encompass his entire body, he didn't think he could even imagine the joy of seeing Beth and the new baby together, it was just too much, so much more than he'd ever dreamed was possible. "Are you having fun?" he asked.
"Yes, I bringed some toys with me but momma Quinn taked me to the toy store and we bought some to leave here," Beth informed Puck and then hunkered down to rearrange a few of the cars in the multistory parking garage that she'd chosen from Toys R Us. "Yep and my momma says I can come and stay here with you once a...was it once a month?" she added and asked the question of Shelby, Beth had forgotten the details that Quinn and her momma had been discussing when they stopped for milk shakes.
"The last weekend of every month," Shelby clarified, loud enough for Puck to hear.
"The last weekend of every month," Beth repeated with a firm nod. "I'm coming to stay here, without my momma, just with you and momma Quinn, can I call you daddy?" she asked.
"Sure," Puck agreed, his voice was a little trembly, he felt excited, he felt emotional, he wondered how Quinn was dealing with all of this.
"Cool," Beth sighed and then passed the phone back, engrossed once again with the toy trucks that she could slide into an elevator and then move to different levels.
"Hey," Quinn murmured and then whispered to Shelby that she was taking the call in the kitchen. "How cool is that?" she asked Puck quietly, excitedly.
"Very cool," Puck replied, he couldn't stop smiling. This was going to be so much better than anything he had imagined, he'd sort of hoped that they could come to an arrangement and maybe spend time together a couple of times a year, get together for the holidays or something, birthdays, but this, every month, this was like a dream come true. "How are you holding up?" he asked, concerned about Quinn's welfare as always.
"I'm more than fine," Quinn sighed. "We've worked out the details of how we'll do the visits, Shelby will bring Beth on the last Friday of the month and collect her on the Sunday evening, she's happy to do all the travelling because she says that once this baby gets here it'll be harder for me, especially if you have to be away on deployment or training or something," she explained. "It's everything I could ever wish for," she added, just before her voice broke.
The whole weekend was everything that Quinn could have hoped for. Puck connected to them on Skype and chatted face to face, he laughed at Beth's performance, she was such a little diva, she was hilarious and she knew it. He talked privately with Quinn in their bedroom and they fell into the remote sex play that they'd indulged in when he was deployed overseas, when there was no hope of actually touching each other for months and they both loved it, Puck couldn't wait to be home. "I'll see you next Saturday," he whispered and trailed his finger down her face on his screen.
"I'll be waiting for you," Quinn promised. "Right here, on this bed," she added, her voice sexy, full of love, of lust. "I'll be waiting here, wearing something special, come and find me," she whispered, then ended the call abruptly. Puck groaned at the images that flooded his mind, he could picture her in some of the raunchiest, sexiest underwear that Victoria's Secret had ever created. Puck's imagination was incredibly fertile.
"Daddy's coming home today," Quinn murmured to her tummy before she got out of bed on the following Saturday morning. "But first, mommy has to go and get totally beautified," she added then jumped out of bed and headed for the shower. Quinn danced as she scrubbed her body, sang as she washed her hair, she was just so restless, desperate to see Puck, actually see him, touch him. "I'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?" she sang, her eyes were closed so that she didn't get shampoo in them.
"I didn't think I was that bad," Puck answered, Quinn opened her eyes, shocked at the sound of his voice, she squealed and launched herself at him, completely disregarding the fact that he was dressed in his uniform and she was naked, soaking wet and naked. "Hey," he murmured into her neck. "Oh, God," he sighed just before their lips connected. Even while kissing they both fought to free him of his clothes, they dropped each discarded item on the bathroom floor with complete abandon. "I have missed you," he sighed as he stepped into the shower with Quinn. "Oh, baby, I missed you so much," he groaned.
"I missed you too," Quinn groaned between kisses, "ohhhh," she sighed as he thrust inside her, exactly where they both needed him to be, exactly how they both needed this. There were no words, for a long time, there were no words, there were sighs, there were moans, groans, but there were no words, they didn't need them.
"Do we really have to get out of bed?" Quinn pouted as Puck stood up beside the bed.
"We really do, I'm starved," Puck grumbled. "I didn't even get breakfast this morning, I took off before the kitchen was even open," he said. Truth was, he'd been so desperate to see Quinn that the instant the COs had released the group from their training session, Puck had submitted his flight plans, gone through all of the relevant checks and waited to be given his take off slot. He'd waited over four hours for his revised take off slot because of an incoming dignitary, they had priority but there had been delays, which Puck was used to, being a pilot and all, so he waited patiently, and the second the control tower said he could go, he was in the air and heading for Wright-Patterson.
"How was the training?" Quinn asked as she stretched, luxuriating in the sheer sensations that trembled across her skin.
"It was pretty cool," Puck replied as he snagged a pair of sweats from his drawer and pulled them on. "We were supposed to be in the classroom this morning for a final debrief, but they held it last night instead and then told us we were free to go, so I submitted my plans, and just waited at the airfield till they told me I could take off and here I am," he grinned and sat back down on the bed.
"I'm glad you're home," Quinn sighed, she felt so contented, so happy. It took a while longer until they actually made it downstairs and into the kitchen. "What would you like to eat?" she asked and busied herself at the fridge, checking out what was in there. "Besides fresh air and cottage cheese?" she muttered and slammed the door closed. "We have to go grocery shopping," she admitted.
"Well, let's go out for brunch, we'll do the grocery shopping and then head over to Lima to see everyone and then come home for a relaxing evening doing absolutely nothing, how does that sound?" Puck suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Quinn agreed happily. "It also means that either my mom or yours will make dinner for us," she added, even though she was sure that Puck had kind of banked on that. "So you still hate my cooking?" she asked with her eyebrow raised a little.
Puck slipped his arms around her and drew her close to his body. "It's not that I hate your cooking," he denied skillfully, "I just think we should keep our kitchen looking this good and take advantage of the fact that both of our mothers love cooking," he added with a shrug and a barely held in smile.
"Mhm?" Quinn murmured, her eyebrow rose a touch higher.
"Truth?" Puck dared to ask, Quinn nodded. "Truth is, I love you, you're beautiful, you're amazing, you make my world spin, but your culinary skills are the pits," he sighed and waited for some sort of backlash.
"I know," Quinn sighed with a pout. "Maybe I ought to enroll in a class or something, I need to do something otherwise this poor child will think that everyone eats out all the time, it'll think that the kitchen is just a place to keep milk and coffee," she grumbled. There was no way she could get mad at Puck, she knew she couldn't cook worth a damn, she remembered back to the time she'd tried to bake cupcakes for glee club. Even then Puck's skills had been far better than hers. "You could always take care of the cooking you know?" she suggested.
"I could," Puck agreed, "but do we really want to eat pasta every day?" he asked, he knew his repertoire was limited. "Maybe we should both enroll in a class, learn together," he suggested.
"That sounds good, I'll look into it," Quinn agreed with a much brighter smile. "So, let's go out, we'll head to Lima first, see everyone, do the grocery shopping on the way back and if neither your mom nor mine have taken pity on us and they haven't sent us home with a week's worth of dinners to put in the freezer, we'll stop off for dinner before we do the shopping, how does that sound?"
"Like a plan," Puck answered. They headed upstairs to get dressed properly and then headed for home. "Hey mom," Puck called as he walked into the house just ahead of Quinn.
"Noah, Quinn," Lydia cried happily as she came through from the kitchen. "I didn't expect to see you today," she added as she hugged Quinn and then checked out the slight expansion of her tummy. "That looks so cute," she cried and stroked her hand across the bump.
"I know, I didn't expect it to be this soon," Quinn agreed and looked down at the little mound.
"It usually is a little sooner with the second," Lydia announced and then turned and hurried back to the kitchen. "I'm making a beef stew," she said over her shoulder. "Do you want to stay for dinner?" she asked.
"We could be persuaded," Puck answered and grinned at Quinn. "Actually, we're both looking at enrolling in a class or something, neither of us is very good in the kitchen, I mean, I'm ok with a basic spaghetti, but we don't want the poor kid to think that's the only thing that people cook, you know?" he said and sat down at the table.
"How about I come over on Saturdays for a while and give you some instruction?" Lydia offered. "I'm sure that Judy would do the same," she said, looking at Quinn.
"She probably would," Quin agreed. "I think that's a good idea," she said when she thought about it, she wouldn't feel quite so inadequate if it was their moms teaching them.
"All right, maybe we'll split the Saturdays between us," Lydia murmured thoughtfully as she continued with her task. Quin watched, took note, learned nothing, but enjoyed the meal anyway.
"Hi," Puck cried as he opened the door on Friday afternoon. "Are you ready to shoot off with us?" he asked, checking with Shelby. "You're invited too if you want to come along, we're going to see the baby doctor, we get to see a picture of your brother or sister today," he told Beth and again included Shelby.
"Actually, do you mind if I just drop Beth with you?" Shelby asked, she glanced at Quinn for the understanding, she really didn't want to intrude.
"That's fine, is there anything we need to know?" Quinn responded. "What time is bed time?" she asked Shelby though she looked at Beth. Beth pulled a face when Shelby told them that Beth had to be in bed by nine otherwise she would be a cranky little miss on Saturday.
"Can't I stay up a little longer?" Beth pleaded with her mom and hugged her arms tight around Puck's neck. "This will be the first time I've ever, ever slept here with my daddy and my momma Quinn together," she pouted, giving Shelby her tried and tested puppy dog eyes. Beth fluttered her lashes at her mom. "Please?" she begged.
"Nine thirty, tops," Shelby relented, she struggled to resist those beautiful green eyes and Beth knew it. "She really will be hateful on Saturday if she doesn't have enough sleep," she assured Quinn quietly. "So is everything ok? You're all set for the weekend? You're sure you want to do this?" she asked, she was trying desperately to find a way to change her mind, but she knew she couldn't deny Beth the chance to establish a relationship with her birth parents before the birth of her sibling so that she wouldn't feel quite so edged out.
"We're more than sure," Quinn replied and smiled gratefully. "But I understand if this is too hard for you, you're welcome to stay too," she offered.
"No, I'm going to be strong, I'm flying off to New York, I'm going to spend the weekend with Rachel," Shelby explained, she was determined to spend more time with her other daughter than she had previously. "We're going to take in a show, we're going to have dinner at Masa, I have no idea who Rachel had to bribe to get a reservation there," she exclaimed, "I'm not really sure I want to know, but apparently it is the Japanese experience to have. I'm really looking forward to it," she said and looked quite surprised herself when she realised that it was true. "Ok, so, I'm going," she announced as she checked her watch. "I'll see you on Sunday, ok? Bye, sweetie, be good for Puck and Quinn, alright? Take care," she called as she side stepped out of the house and hurried down the path to her car. "Bye," she called again before she drove away. Quinn was quite sure that Shelby would have to stop around the corner so that she could give way to all that nervous emotion that she had struggled to contain. She was bang on right.
"Quinn Puckerman," the receptionist called. "Please go through," she requested and nodded when Puck asked if he and Beth could go too. "The technician will be with you in a moment, please just take a seat," she advised.
"Thanks," Quinn said huskily and smiled nervously at the woman. Here they were, about to see the baby for the first time. At least the nurse had given an approving nod when she had noted Quinn's blood pressure and slight weight gain. "What do you think the baby will be doing?" she asked Beth, trying to keep her involved. "I remember seeing you sucking your thumb when we came to the doctor one time," she told the little girl who giggled.
"I think we have a picture of that," Puck added, he was sure he still had a copy of that ultrasound picture somewhere in a shoe box of memories in the bedroom closet at his mom's house.
"What else did I do?" Beth asked curiously, this was probably the sort of stuff that all of her friends just knew, she was the only adopted person in her class, probably in her school, she was the only one that she knew.
"Well, when you were getting really big you used to get the hiccups and when Quinn laid down on her back, her whole body used to shake because of you with the hiccups, it was really funny," Puck remembered with a grin. "And when she was in the bath tub, you used to jiggle around, you must have liked the warm water or something," he added and then thought for a moment. "Do you remember the night that she just flip-flopped around in your stomach all night and kept us both awake?" he asked Quinn.
"Yeah," Quinn grinned, "I remember," she nodded and then took Beth's hand. "I remember every single second, from the very first moment I knew about you, right up until the second that you were born, every single moment is stored away in my brain, I remember everything and I won't ever forget," she told her earnestly. "And I don't ever want to forget," she promised. Beth smiled happily, she sort of understood, without being told, that she wasn't being replaced, this new baby wasn't a substitute, it was an addition.
"Hi there," a bright voice came from the doorway. "Mr and Mrs Puckerman?" she asked.
"That's us," Puck replied and stood to shake the woman's hand.
"My name is Mona and I'm the technician on duty today," the woman introduced herself. "So, we're all ready to see Baby Puckerman?" Mona quizzed as she got her equipment ready to scan Quinn's tummy. "Alrighty then, if you could hop up here, just pull your shirt up, can I push your skirt down a touch? Thank you," she said as Quinn nodded. "Alrighty, here we are," she tucked some paper towels under the edge of the skirt. "This is going to be a little chilly," she reminded Quinn. Quinn sucked in a breath as the cold, blue gel landed with a splat on her stomach. "I'll just take a few measurements first," the woman murmured as she got to work. "Looking good," she said and winked at Beth. "Do you think you want a baby brother or a baby sister?" she asked Beth.
"A brother," Beth replied quite seriously. "No, a sister," she said hurriedly when she changed her mind. "Can we have both?" she asked Puck and Quinn, she really couldn't decide if a girl or a boy would be better. "Can we have a dog too?" she cried with excitement.
"Maybe, but not just yet," Puck laughed. "Let's just take this one step at a time, right?" he suggested and lifted Beth so that she was sat on his knee. "Can you tell what it is yet?" he asked Mona.
"It is possible, from certain angles, to see if it's a boy or a girl," Mona confirmed and glanced back at the screen. "It's not always possible to say with a hundred percent certainty, sometimes things might be obscured," she added mysteriously. "But in this case, yes we can see," she added with a bright smile. "Would you like to know?" she asked.
Quinn glanced at Puck and Beth, she bit her lip nervously. "Do we?" she asked breathlessly.
"Yes," Beth cried, she could barely wait.
"Yes," Puck replied, just as excited.
"Yes," Quinn confirmed with Mona, "yes, we want to know," she sighed and then gulped.
"Please say welcome to your new baby..." Mona said, drawing out the tension as she turned the screen around to face them, "...girl," she announced.
"Wow," Puck sighed, he didn't think he could even blink, he didn't want to miss a second of her on screen.
"Cool," Beth breathed as she watched her tiny sister change position.
Quinn couldn't say a word, she sucked back a sob, wiped a tear from her eye and just stared, she was overwhelmed with emotion. "Beautiful," she whispered when she was a little more under control. "And everything is ok?" she suddenly begged Mona.
"Everything looks exactly right in there," Mona assured her. "Dr Reid will be with you in a moment," she said and got up to leave the family in the room. "I'll be back in a moment with your DVD and pictures," she told them.
Dr Reid joined them a few moments later. He checked over the results of the scan. "Perfect, everything is exactly right for dates, baby is doing fine," he said with a smile. "And how is mommy doing?" he asked. "Still troubled with the morning sickness or has that eased?"
"That seems to have disappeared over the last few weeks," Quinn replied. "I wanted to ask something," she said nervously. "When I was pregnant with Beth, I didn't seem to develop a noticeable bump until at least the sixteenth or seventeenth week."
"Second time moms usually see a difference sooner," Dr Reid answered with a grin, it was a common question, he heard it all the time. "And you'll probably feel the baby move sooner than you did before, too."
"The baby is definitely a girl?" Puck asked. "I mean, the sonographer said she was, but to be honest, I'm just looking at a grey splodge," he muttered a little embarrassed.
"This is definitely another little girl," Dr Reid confirmed. "See here?" he asked. Puck nodded. "I don't see any external bits, do you?" Dr Reid asked. Puck shook his head and then rolled his eyes, he got it. Dr Reid grinned. The rest of the appointment went very well, Dr Reid was pleased with Quinn's progress. "So I will see you again in four weeks," he said before they left the office. "Bye, Beth," he added and waved at the little girl, Beth waved back.
"I bet my momma won't even ask if I went to bed on time," Beth sighed as she swirled around in the tub, the bubbles grew and grew.
"I bet your momma will ask," Quinn replied with a giggle. "And once you're finished in the bath, we're going to get our pjs on, we're going to snuggle down on the couch and watch some great movies," she reminded the little girl. "Which is your favourite?" she asked. "I love Frozen, I love Tangled and I love Brave, and The Croods, that one always makes me laugh, which ones are your favourites?"
"Frozen is my favourite too," Beth cried. "Me and my momma sing the songs from that, my momma sings Let It Go just like it sounds in the movie. I love Annie, too, I love to watch Annie," she sighed. "I'm wrinkled, I'm done," she announced and held up her hands for Quinn to see her fingertips.
Puck waited downstairs, he'd already changed into sweats and a t-shirt, he'd made popcorn and had a handful of DVDs at the ready. "Hey, baby, are you ready for movie night?" he asked as Beth bounded down the last few stairs, her damp hair flying behind her. "Cute jammies," he grinned at the copy of the cheerios uniform, very similar to the one that Kurt had worn during his brief career as a cheer leader.
"Yeah, Rachel gived them to me," Beth said as she looked down at the red and white pjs. "She said that momma Quinn was a cheerio, that's why she bought them for me," she added and then looked up into Puck's smiling face.
"She was, here, come and see this picture," Puck said, he decided that movies could wait, an evening looking through old photo albums could be a lot more fun.
Quinn found Puck and Beth sat together, his feet on the cushioned foot-stool, Beth's dangling off the edge of the sofa, both of them looking through photo albums and old year books. "Oh my God," Quinn cried when she saw the picture that Beth was studying.
"Who's that?" Beth asked, pointing at Finn who was stood beside Quinn in the 2009 Glee Club picture. "You look funny with your hair like that, daddy," she giggled when she realised that Puck was at the other side of the group. "You don't have your cheerios uniform on," she pointed out to Quinn.
"No, but see here, in this older one," Quinn agreed and showed Beth the year book from 2008. "See? That's me, in my uniform. And look at daddy, he was on the football team too, doesn't he look handsome?" she asked.
"He looks funny with his hair like a stripe," Beth announced and gave Puck a look of disdain.
"Yeah, well," Puck sighed as he remembered his nana Beth's comment the first time she saw him with his mohawk, "it seemed like a good idea at the time and momma Quinn like it," he added with a wink at Quinn. Quinn couldn't deny it, she did, she loved the 'hawk. "No matter, what are we watching?" he asked.
"FROZEN," Beth shouted. "I like to sing along to it," she informed Puck.
"That was the best day, ever," Puck sighed as he snuggled up behind Quinn once they got to bed.
"Tomorrow could be even better," Quinn murmured tiredly. "We're driving to Lima tomorrow don't forget, your mom and my mom can't wait to see Beth and Shelby approves too," she said through her yawn. "I'm really tired."
"It's cool," Puck murmured and wrapped his arms even tighter around Quinn. "I love to fall asleep with my hand here," he whispered, even though he knew that Quinn was almost asleep. His hand covered the tiny bump of her tummy, cradled where the baby lay inside her. "I always loved it when it was Beth here inside you, I love it now, too," he murmured and then kissed the hair above her ear, Quinn was already asleep.
"Momma Quinn, daddy, are you awake?" Beth hissed loudly. Puck started and turned over, blinking tiredly as he tried to open his eyes. "Is it time to get up yet?" she asked and lifted Puck's eyelid to make sure he was awake.
"S'up?" Puck asked, he glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Puck yawned and stretched, he needed to focus his mind, properly waken up and find out why the hell Beth had woken him at four in the morning.
"I'm not sleepy any more," Beth announced brightly, and sure enough, she looked incredibly wide awake.
"It's too early to get up yet though," Puck replied.
"Momma lets me climb in with her if I wake up too soon," Beth informed Puck, and waited for him to take the hint.
"Climb in," Puck sighed, he was too tired to care if he'd just been played or not. Beth grinned and climbed over Puck to get into the middle. It was decision that Puck regretted a couple of hours later when Beth's feet were in the middle of his back and he was gripped onto the edge of the mattress to stop himself from falling out of bed. Quinn slept on, apparently untroubled by the restless little girl who took up more room than Puck and Quinn did together.
"Nana Lydia," Beth yelled as soon as Puck opened the door. Beth ran in ahead of him and found Lydia in the lounge. "Hi," she cried and dove in for a hug. Beth had loved getting to know her relatives, her nana and her grandma especially, they behaved exactly like the grandmas in her story books behaved, they spoiled her rotten.
"Hello, sweetie," Lydia replied and laid her book down on the side table. "Jenna," she called. "Look who's here."
"Hi, Beth," Jenna said when she came into the room. "Hello," she added to Quinn when Quinn hugged her. "Did you bring the pictures?" she asked excitedly.
"We did, and a DVD too," Quinn answered with a grin. "Here you go," she said and handed the disc to Jenna. "I'm just going to call my mom, she wanted to come over and see the DVD too, is that ok?" she asked Lydia.
"Of course," Lydia replied then hurried to the kitchen to start making snacks and stuff.
"Oh, she is so gorgeous," Lydia and Judy sighed together. Beth sat on the sofa between her two grandmas. "Just like you, sweetie," Judy added and kissed the top of Beth's head.
"Hey, look what I found," Puck announced when he returned to the lounge from a quick trip upstairs. "Let's watch these DVDs too," he said with a wink at Quinn.
"Ohh," Beth sighed as the picture on screen displayed another grey, grainy image, one of a baby sucking it's thumb. "Hey, that's me, right?" she suddenly cried.
"Yep, it's you," Puck confirmed. "See that?" he asked, his finger tracing a line around Beth's tiny head on the TV.
"No, what?" Beth demanded and surged forwards to kneel on the floor beside Puck.
"That, there, see it?" Puck repeated. "When you were born you had your own little mohawk going on," he teased.
"Did I?" Beth asked Quinn, she was totally awestruck.
"A little bit," Quinn agreed with a grin, she remembered the day that Puck had joked about the baby coming out with a mohawk, not that they'd ever thought it - she - would, but it had tickled them both that she had. "A little blonde stripe of hair down your head, it was so sweet," she added. "Where are the pictures?" she asked Puck.
"Right here," Puck answered and picked up the shoe box. "Come here," he said to Beth, "come and see these." Beth ran back to Puck and crashed down beside him to look at the pictures of herself. "See here?" he asked, and pointed to the cute little tuft of hair that was sticking up on the baby's head.
"That's not me," Beth exclaimed excitedly.
"Sure it is," Puck claimed and called to Quinn for her to confirm it.
"No, that's not Beth," Lydia cried when the picture landed in her hands, "that's Jenna, no wait, that's you, Noah, that's you when you were born, look, in the corner, there's grandpa Ira," she pointed out. That made it pretty much conclusive, Puck's grandpa Ira had died before Jenna was born so the only baby it could be was Puck.
Quinn loved every second of the whole family feeling she got during the visit. The fabulous meal didn't hurt either, but the best part was the totally natural way that Beth interacted with everyone, she just fit right in, like she'd been there her whole life. And Quinn so wished that she had been.
"Hi," Shelby cried happily when Puck and Beth opened the door to her on Sunday evening. Immediately Beth launched into a full blown run down of the weekend, she barely drew breath. "Slow down, slow down," Shelby urged with a laugh as she crouched to put herself just below eye level with Beth. "So you had a good time?" she concluded, Beth nodded enthusiastically. "Well that's great, and you'll be coming back in a month, right?" she said and glanced to Quinn to see her nod.
"We've had a wonderful time," Quinn said quietly. "Yesterday we visited Lima and had dinner with the grandmas," she explained, "we found pictures of Puck when he was just a few days old, complete with blond mohawk, no less," she giggled, Beth joined in.
"And Jenna showed me pictures of his Bar Mitz...mitz...what is it called again?" Beth asked, looking at Puck.
"Bar Mitzvah," Puck supplied, and hoped to God that neither Beth nor Quinn had confiscated any of the horrific pictures from that event. "Oh, crap," he sighed when Beth pulled one out of her overnight bag.
"Nana Lydia gived me this to keep," Beth announced with pride. "And grandma Judy is going to find one of momma Quinn at her confir...confirmistation," she said, struggling with yet another unfamiliar word.
"Confirmation," Quinn supplied, giggling even more at the cute way Beth mixed up the word.
"Well, we better get going," Shelby announced as she stood and picked up Beth's bag. "Thanks again and we'll see you in a month," she added.
"Here, let me take that," Puck said and lifted the bag from Shelby's hand. Puck and Quinn walked to Shelby's car with them, saw Beth fastened safely into the seat that matched the one that Puck had installed in his truck. "Drive safely," he called as they waved to the retreating car. "It's been a really good weekend, right?" he whispered as his arm drew Quinn closer, they both still watched the car as it got smaller and smaller in the distance.
"The best," Quinn sighed happily. They went to bed exhausted.
"Ms Puckerman?" Connor called from near the back of the class.
"Yes, Connor?" Quinn replied and made a conscious effort to gather her thoughts, to concentrate on whatever the boy was about to say.
"Ms Puckerman, we were talking," Connor began and indicated himself and a few of his friends, "and we have a kind of a bet going," he paused for a moment.
"What about?" Quinn asked, although she wasn't sure that she really wanted to know, in fact, she thought it might be better if she didn't know.
"Well, see, I kind of think that you're pregnant and Rob here kind of thinks you're just getting fat," Connor stated rather cheekily, impudently, and then stared at Quinn to see if she blushed.
Quinn returned the stare without any outward sign of her internal discomfort. "Actually," she began and then spotted someone at the door.
"Actually, it's Mrs Puckerman, not Ms and yes, she is pregnant," Puck announced as he walked into the classroom. "Do you have a problem with that?" he asked Connor. "And your name is?" he demanded.
"Connor Windle, sir," Connor replied, immediately respectful of the man in uniform.
"Staff Sargeant Brian Windle's boy?" Puck queried, Connor nodded. Puck didn't need to say anything else, he knew that Quinn wouldn't have any trouble from this guy at all. "Can I see you for a moment?" he whispered and motioned to the hallway.
"Class, I am trusting you all to study quietly," Quinn announced, and then followed Puck. "What's up?" she asked.
"I'm heading to Germany this afternoon," Puck sighed as he stroked her shoulders. "I have to take some equipment over, pick up some stuff to bring back, you know, it's just a shift around of resources," he explained. Quinn knew that it was part of Puck's job to do that, but usually it was redistributing stuff among the various bases across the country, it wasn't usually a trip to Europe. "So, I'll see you in a couple of days, alright?" he murmured and then drew her close, he glanced around to check that the coast was clear and then kissed her soundly before leaving.
"That your husband, Mrs Puckerman?" Connor asked as soon as Quinn returned to her class.
"Yes," Quinn managed to answer in a steady voice, though she had no idea how. Connor sat thoughtfully for a second or two. Mrs P was ok, she wouldn't have to worry about any of her students messing her about, Connor would see to that, he'd give them all the heads up, anyone who was married into the airforce was alright in his book.