Over the next month, it becomes a common sight to see Rachel and Puck together in the halls at school. Even the sight of his arm slung around her shoulders or her arm looped through his and the constant casual kissing becomes such a regular thing that people just stopped questioning it and assumed that the two were once again back together. Rachel is just excited that her pregnancy is still relatively unknown to the student population thanks to the clothing that she borrowed from Quinn. But of course, like always, all good things must come to an end at some point in time and that day was today.
The weatherman on channel 13 had said that while it was going to be chilly outside that it was still expected to be a gloriously sunny day. So she dresses appropriately for the day with a nice warm sweater and heads to school. But when she runs back inside the school that afternoon drenched from head to toe due to the sudden surprise downpour, she curses the man silently in her head. Rachel makes it all the way to her locker before she notices the loud whispers.
"Oh my God."
"Is Berry pregnant?"
"What a slut."
"I wonder who the father is because who would want to sleep with her."
Glancing around she sees that people are pointing and staring at her. Well not at her per say but at her stomach and dread fills her body as she looks down at herself to realize that her quick run in the rain (to get a book she left in Noah's truck) has exposed her pregnant belly for the entire student population. She feels tears prick at the corner of her eyes when she hears that last one and she wishes that a hole would just open up in the ground and swallow her so that she can be spared the shame and humiliation of her situation.
Just when she begins to feel a panic attack form, Puck quickly shows up and drops his letterman jacket around her shoulders in an attempt to cover her up and gives a short kiss to the top of her head. "Hey Babe. You ok?"
The pregnant teen places her face on his broad chest and breathes deeply as she tries to calm herself down and she finds that breathing in Noah's clean soapy scent is very soothing to her nerves. She wraps her arms tightly around his waist and presses her body against his and is only dimly aware of the fact that she might be getting him wet from where the jacket is open but she thinks he doesn't care when she feels his strong arms settle against her back.
Taking a final deep breath, Rachel pulls away from him and swipes at her cheeks to remove any trace of her tears. She's just about to thank him for his jacket when Karofsky saunters up to them.
"God you just can't keep it in your pants can you, Puckerman. I mean I can understand the appeal of knocking up Fabray since she was head cheerleader and president of the celibacy club but the queen of the gleeks? Did you decide to go slumming again?" he says with a sneer.
Puck grabs the front of David's shirt and slams him into the row of lockers and glowers at him. "What I do with my dick and who I do it with is none of your concern. And being with Rachel is never slumming it. Now get the fuck out of here before I have to make your face an even bigger mess." He jerks the boy against the lockers once more just for good measure before letting him go and turning back to a wide eyed Rachel.
She stares at him silently while waiting for the other jock to wander off before speaking. "You didn't have to do that, Noah."
He shrugs and tells her, "He deserved it. Dude was being a douche."
"While I agree that Karofsky was indeed submitting to his neanderthalish tendencies, that's not what I was referring to. You didn't have to add fuel to the gossip fire of who this baby's father is by essentially agreeing with his accusation that it was you."
"So what, I'm good enough to give you orgasms but not be your pretend baby daddy?" he asks with an arched eyebrow.
"Noah," she admonishes.
He just keeps staring her down as he says, "Besides you told me about that weird dream you had a few weeks back that made you wake up all horny and just remembering brown hair and then about all the other ones after that. About how you now remember that at least that night was consensual but that it was too dark to actually see much of anything. And that apparently you were kissing the whole time since no words were exchanged. Which I gotta tell you, Babe, that's gotta suck. Words are part of what makes sex so good and I'm kinda jealous."
"Why in the world are you kind of jealous, Noah?"
"Because kissing you has always been awesome," he has a smirk on his face when he says this but then his eyes take on a more serious and caring quality as he continues, "So I know it's a long shot about me being the one, but it's possible."
Rachel sighs before trying a different tactic. "Think about what it would do to your reputation; to have knocked up two girls before graduating high school. That's not exactly a gleaming accolade that one would put on their college applications."
"Rachel," he speaks softly as he brushes a lock of hair behind her ear, "my reputation has been shot to hell and back again ever since I got Quinn pregnant in sophomore year and to be honest I just don't give a fuck anymore. These people can kiss my ass. It's your rep that I'm worried about because I know it can't handle you being a knocked up teenager who also happens to not know the name of the father. So just like, let me do this for you or whatever."
She gazes at him in stunned silence before launching herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Once she's settled back on her feet she places a brief kiss at the corner of his mouth and whispers, "Thank you, Noah."
"Anytime, Babe, but just to make this look more legit, I think you should be my girl again," he tells her with a smirk.
The petite brunette takes a moment to consider it before nodding her head in agreement. "Yes I do believe that it would make this situation more believable. So I'd be honored to have you on my arm again here at school."
"Oh I'm not just talking about here at school, Rach. You're my girl now, so this is all or nothing. It'll be just like last time but with a plus one," he teases playfully as he rubs his hand over her pregnant stomach.
Rachel beams at him before kissing him sweetly. "Of course, Noah."
Glee club practice that afternoon is full of questions for Rachel and Noah. "Are you and Puck together again? Is he your baby daddy? How long have y'all been back together? When do you find out what you're having? Did you ever really even break up or did you just have an open relationship or something?"
"Geez guys, cool it with the questions," Quinn tells them surprising some of the Glee kids that weren't aware that she and Rachel had formed a tentative new friendship. "She'll tell you what she wants you to know when she's ready."
Puck just smirks as he slings his arm over Rachel's shoulders as he decides to let her answer whatever questions she wants since she's in charge of this production. "Thank you, Quinn but it's really ok, they're just curious. Yes Noah and I are back together as of just recently. We did actually break up and what kind of future Broadway star do you think I am that I would consent to being in an open relationship with any guy who wishes to be the leading man in my life? And we learn the gender of the baby at my next doctor appointment."
He looks over at her and winks because he notices how she threw in that rant there at the end to disguise the fact that she didn't answer the question about him being the father of the baby.
"You excited baby?" Puck asks as he grips her small hand in his while looking down at her lying on the table in the ultrasound room where they were waiting on the technician. She smiles at him and nods her head. "What are you hoping for?"
Rachel is silent for a moment before saying, "I'm not really particular, I just want a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes."
He smirks at her response because leave it to Rachel Berry to attempt to be all proper with her response. "Well I happen to think a little you running around would be kinda awesome, even if she did inherit all your crazy. I've become rather good at handling it," he tells her with a wink. "She'd have your gorgeous hair and big expressive eyes."
"Hopefully not my nose," she says quietly while covering it slightly with her free hand.
The teenage boy uncovers her nose and holds that hand as well. "Hey now, none of that. I like your nose." She scoffs and gives him a pointed look. "What? It's a good nose. It's a proud nose," he murmurs as he runs a finger down the nose in question before nudging it with his own and giving her a quick kiss.
"Thank you, Noah," she whispers and smiles prettily. He just smirks and kisses her once more before the door opens and the ultrasound technician walks in apologizing for being a little late.
"Alright Mom and Dad, are you two ready to see your baby?" the redheaded woman asks.
Rachel can't contain the giggle that slips out of her mouth at Noah's response to being called a dad. His entire body relaxes and tenses at the same time as a soft smile graces his face in anticipation of seeing the baby on the ultrasound monitor. She can't help but find herself wishing yet again that she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was in fact the father of the baby growing inside her belly. But she finds herself quickly falling for him all over again seeing how sweet he's being and how much he wants to be there for her and this baby, even if it winds up not being his. Rachel always knew there was more to Noah Puckerman than people gave him credit for and she can't believe that Quinn would have ever thought of trying to deny these moments to him.
The older woman quickly gets to work as she squirts the gel on Rachel's belly and then runs the transducer over the baby bump as the couple watches the images appear on the screen. Rachel notices that every few minutes the technician will keep the transducer stationary as she makes notations and so being the naturally curious person that she is she asks why.
"I'm just taking measurements of the baby's various body parts for the doctor so that she can keep track of the baby's growth progress. I'm also making a note of your amniotic fluid level to make sure that you have enough to continue safely carrying the baby until term. Now, did you two want to know the gender of your baby?" she asks as she keeps the image on the screen steady on the baby's profile.
Rachel looks at Puck and he just squeezes her hand and tells her, "I'm all for it but it's totally up to you, Babe."
She beams a bright smile at him before turning back to the technician and saying, "Yes, we'd like to know," and then turns to look at the screen where she can now see her baby's tiny fingers up by its head.
The redheaded woman nods her head as she once again moves the wand around to try and find the baby's genitalia and once she has a good clear image up on the screen she glances over at the two teenagers and says, "Congratulations, it's a boy."
A/N: So there ya go. They're now officially back together and the baby is a boy. And wow, over 50 reviews already. Y'all are amazing. Speaking of the word "y'all" I found myself having to go back and edit that out since I'm fairly certain it's not a common word used up in Ohio like it is in my home state. Anyway, I hope y'all liked the latest update.
