Disclaimer: No ownership claimed or implied.
A/N: The end of sophomore year and the end of New Directions?
Quinn had decided, with permission from Principal Figgins, that Beth would remain with her for the hour or so that she was going to be in school for Glee Club's tribute to Mr Schue. Rachel had emailed the song lyrics to her and she'd practiced at home. She'd also, as everyone else had, decided what she was going to say as her personal tribute. On Wednesday, Quinn started getting ready to go to school a couple of hours before Ruth was due to drop her off. Something that Quinn had realised in the last couple of days was, what once took her ten minutes to do, now took her two hours. Her life and her world revolved around the smallest person in the house. And Quinn wouldn't change that for anything.
Puck met Quinn at his mom's car. He picked up the car seat and carried Beth in it, Quinn hung the changing bag over her shoulder. At the school doors she paused and took a deep, quivering breath. Puck took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and then he smiled at her. "You can do this," he encouraged quietly. "You're Quinn Freakin' Fabray, right?" he reminded her. Puck dropped a light kiss on her lips then pushed the door open with his elbow. As they entered, all of the students that were walking to their classes stopped and stared. Puck and Quinn stopped too. No one spoke. There wasn't a sound, not a single one, until Beth let out a squawk that quickly became a wail. Puck and Quinn walked to the choir room, once there Puck closed the door. "Is she hungry?" he asked.
"Probably. It took longer to get ready and come here than I thought," Quinn admitted.
"Well, we should be ok in here," Puck said, glancing round the empty room. "I mean, I know there's windows in the doors, but if we angle the chair like this no one will see anything. And if they do I'll beat the crap out of them for looking," he finished with a smile.
Quinn sat with her back to the doors and unfastened her shirt. "Woah. Where did they come from?" Puck cried, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. Quinn's boobs looked enormous.
"Well, my milk came in," Quinn replied without looking up. "And let me tell you, that nurse was right. Come anywhere near these puppies and I will make damn sure that Beth is your only child," she promised. As Beth latched on, Quinn sucked in a breath, everything was so much more tender today than it had been. She hoped it would settle down soon as the nurse had said it would. Ruth and Sarah had told Quinn all sorts of old wives tales, remedies ranging from the bizarre to the ridiculous. Quinn was desperate enough to try some of them too and was planning on cabbage leaf dressings in her bra later.
"If I promise not to touch can I at least look?" Puck asked, grinning at her. No way was he missing out on these babies.
"You can look," Quinn agreed, hiding a smile, "but absolutely no touching." She laughed at his face, his eyes hadn't gone above her throat since she'd opened her blouse. "You are such a guy," she whispered with a self conscious snort of laughter.
"I can't help it if I'm a boob man," Puck retorted with no intention of defending himself, a half smirk on his face. "And those are some awesome boobs Fabray," he added to himself. Someone knocked at the door, Puck managed to drag his eyes away to look up and saw Rachel and Mercedes there. "Are they ok to come in?" he asked Quinn.
Quinn took a deep breath then nodded. "Yes," she said quietly. "I'll have to get used to it sometime," she added with a shy smile. Puck went to open the door for them. When Mercedes and Rachel realised that Quinn was actually feeding Beth, they both apologised and said they'd come back later. Quinn half turned and invited them in. "It's ok, you can come in," she told her friends, feeling a little more confident.
Once Beth had finished eating, Puck took over from Quinn so that she could straighten her clothes. He sat on the floor and laid the cushioned flap of the bag out in readiness. Puck got all of the things he needed out of the bag one handed while he held Beth against his shoulder. Puck was rubbing her back, engrossed in what he was doing, murmuring to Beth so quietly that the girls couldn't hear what he was saying. He looked up at the girls watching him. "What?" he asked suspiciously, although their expressions told him that they thought it was cute. Beth let out a burp that most sailors would have been proud of. Puck lifted her from his shoulder and smiled at her. "That was a good one, huh?" he asked her, before laying her gently on the mat to change her diaper. Just as Puck was finishing up, someone else knocked at the door. He turned to see Finn, Mike, Matt and Kurt waiting outside. He motioned with his head for them to come in. "You can leave the door open now. We're done, aren't we baby girl? All fed and changed," Puck said, the smile on his face purely for his daughter. Puck folded the mat in half and laid it on his lap. He laid Beth on it, so that her feet were towards him, her head towards his feet. He lifted her hands, one of his fingers in each, Beth gripped on tightly, her eyes trying to focus on her daddy.
"She looks like you Quinn," Finn told her. "It's lucky really, cos she'd be screwed if she looked like Puck," he said with a barely hidden snigger. Finn grinned at Puck, it was the closest thing to friendly they'd been since Finn found out that he wasn't Beth's daddy.
"What's he saying about your daddy, huh baby girl?" Puck asked his daughter. "You look like me when your hair's wet and you get your mohawk going on, don't you?" he whispered as he bent over and kissed Beth's tiny hands that were still gripped to his fingers. Puck loved being with Beth and he didn't care who knew it.
A short while later New Directions went to the auditorium to sing to Mr Schuester. Puck held Beth cradled gently in one arm. She slept through the whole song. Quinn only managed to say half of what she had planned to say. She'd meant to say "I was captain of the Cheerios, now I'm a mommy," but her voice broke after 'Cheerios' and she couldn't say another word. The song they sang, To Sir, With Love, was heartfelt and full of emotion. Every last one of them would miss the Glee Club, for whatever reason, whether they would miss the singing, miss the friendships they'd made or miss being part of a team. They would all miss something. They all missed Sue Sylvester standing at the doors, listening.
The next day at school, Mr Schuester managed to speak to Puck for a few moments. He asked Puck if he would work on something with him and also if Quinn would come in to school again on Friday, just for a short time. Puck agreed but said he would have to clear it with Quinn and Principal Figgins. Principal Figgins gave permission again. When Puck got home he went straight to see Quinn to ask her to come. He told her that he was doing something with Mr Schue, but wouldn't say what. He told her that she and Beth both had permission to come in for it. Quinn agreed.
On Friday, the very last day of school, Ruth dropped Quinn and Beth off again, Puck met them at the car. They didn't get the stunned silence this time when they walked through the doors hand in hand and Beth didn't need feeding, which was lucky as the choir room was already full of their friends. Even though Quinn was ok with the girls being there while she fed Beth, some of them at least, Puck was totally not ok with any of the guys seeing Quinn's boobs. Quinn and Puck sat on the front row. Puck had Beth in his arms, he'd missed her while he was at school this week.
"We have another year," Mr Schue announced, his face breaking into a huge smile. Amid the cheers and shouts of "What?" Beth didn't even stir. Mr Schuester explained the wonderful bombshell, that Glee Club had been granted another year. They had another chance. "You all sang for me the other day," he acknowledged. "Today I'm going to sing for you. Puck, if you're ready," he said, picking up his ukulele. Puck passed Beth to Quinn then picked up his guitar and sat at the front with Mr Schue. The version of Over The Rainbow that they sang was beautiful. Mr Schue singing and Puck joining in with the harmonies. Puck's gaze never strayed from Quinn and Beth the whole time, he smiled at them both, feeling so very happy with his world.
The bell rang at the end of the day. For now it was the end of school. For Quinn and Puck it was the end of sophomore year, and what a year it had been.