Hi! Happy New Year, everyone! Hope 2014 is less painful than 2013 was. I know this chapter isn't my best, but I'll admit I did have trouble with it. I'm sorry for the lack of Rachel, but she's going to have a big part in the next chapter. Plus I got to write Quick, which was fun! Hope you guys like this one and review if I should keep going!
Chapter 8: Labor
"I can't believe you actually kissed her," Quinn shouted.
It was the next morning. Quinn had gone straight to Santana's last night and hadn't spoken to Finn since they got home from Regionals. He wanted to talk to Rachel, but he was afraid to. He'd been texting a lot with the other glee guys and playing video games a lot tonight. This morning, Quinn showed up on his front porch and was banging on the door.
"I'm sorry," Finn mumbled. What was the point though? He'd already apologized.
"Yesterday, your solo was for Rachel, and ONLY Rachel," Quinn snapped. "I saw the way you were looking at her when you were singing. Do I mean nothing to you? Does OUR BABY mean nothing to you?"
"Well, you made it clear to me from the beginning that our baby means nothing to you!" Finn said. "And I tried not to get attached because I know that she's only mine biologically. She's not ours in any other way."
"You know Finn, you're one of the major reasons I thought giving her away was a good option," Quinn said.
Now she was blaming him? "What did I do?" Finn asked.
"I loved you, Finn, I really loved you," Quinn said. "I don't think you loved me though. We'd been together for a few months and it felt like things weren't working between us. There was someone else."
Finn was sure Quinn was referring to Rachel, but he knew that there was something going on between Quinn and Puck. "And who is this someone else you're referring to? Puck?"
"Don't play dumb!" Quinn shouted. "You kissed that thing at the dance last month! I know you're more into her than you are to me."
"Well, I'm sorry," Finn said. Even though he was into Rachel, he did feel bad. What he was doing to Quinn wasn't right.
"You should be," Quinn said. "Finn, go get me some painkillers. The baby's been moving around a lot today."
Finn sighed. However, he owed Quinn this much. "Sure." He went to the kitchen and got some painkillers and gave them to Quinn. "There you go."
Finn and Quinn sat quietly in the living room for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. Finn was honestly having too many emotions - anger, hurt, sadness - to say anything. Quinn's due date was coming up and the pregnancy hormones were out of control. Just about anything he said to her would probably make her angry.
Finally, Quinn spoke. "Rachel even apologized for what happened at the dance."
Finn was surprised, but at the same time, he wasn't. Rachel was a genuinely good person. He wished more than anything that she would come back, but now that she was at a school with nice facilities, a strong academic program, zero tolerance for bullying and most importantly, five close friends, he knew there was no way she would come back.
"She did?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, and she told me she wouldn't make any more moves on you," Quinn said. "Apparently there's lots of hot guys at her school's brother school."
So that was why Rachel hadn't contacted him. He held in his disappointment. Was she really backing off? Would she really prefer one of the Dalton boys over him? "Rachel apologized, and I apologized," Finn said. "What more do you want?"
"Tell you what, I'll make you a deal," Quinn said. "After the baby's born, I'll let you have sex with me. But you can't talk to her again. Ever."
Before Finn met Rachel he would have jumped at this deal. But the thought of sex with Quinn just didn't appeal to him. Look what had happened when they didn't even have sex. He didn't want to got through this again. "I can talk to whomever I want," Finn snapped. He was getting fed up. "And no, I'm not ready for sex yet."
Quinn looked like she wanted to say something, but then she grabbed her stomach and screamed.
"What's wrong?" Finn asked.
Quinn looked more scared than angry now. "Finn, my water broke."
Finn's mind began racing. His mom had gone to a conference for work two hours away and taken the car. How was he supposed to get Quinn to the hospital? "Oh, crap."
"Yeah, Santana dropped me off here before they went to the cheerleading tournament," Quinn whimpered. "It hurts, Finn."
"I'm sure it does," Finn said. Their argument was forgotten. Even if he wasn't in love with Quinn, he cared about her and he wanted her to be okay. "I'm going to call around and see if I can find someone to take us."
"Thanks," Quinn said. Finn got out his phone and called the first person he could think of, Puck. Puck had just finished cleaning a pool and was at Finn's house within ten minutes. When he arrived, Quinn finally looked a little happier. "Thank you!"
"Yeah, thanks man," Finn said.
"Anything for you two and your baby," Puck said. "Come on, we have to get to the hospital, as soon as we can. Quinn, we do need to call your parents. Finn, we should call your mom, too. And call the adoptive mother."
Finn was surprised by how Puck was taking charge, but he wasn't going to complain. "Could you just drive us to the hospital now, Puck?"
"Yeah," Puck said. "If you want, I'll make those calls."
"Thanks, Puck," Quinn said. "You're the best." Then she turned to Finn. "I hate these contractions."
"I know you do," Finn said.
"No, you don't know," Quinn said. "This is your fault!"
"I'm sorry!" Finn said. "We were both wearing bathing suits!"
"I'm not letting you in a hot tub with me again," Quinn said.
"That's fine," Finn said. He got out his phone and sent a text to his mom. "Puck, I texted my mom, could you call Quinn's parents and Shelby?"
"Yeah, of course," Puck said. A few minutes later, Finn, Quinn and Puck arrived at the hospital, where Puck went to the reception desk and grabbed a wheelchair. "Hi. I'm Noah Puckerman, this is Quinn Fabray and her boyfriend Finn Hudson. Quinn's having a baby."
"You all look like you're under eighteen," the receptionist said.
"She needs to get seen by a doctor, regardless of how old she is," Puck said. "Can't you see how much pain she's in? I called both their parents..."
"We'll get you guys to a room," the receptionist said.
Finn felt so lucky Puck was here because he didn't know what to do, but Puck did. He was glad Puck was clearly putting aside his own feelings for Quinn to help them through this.
"You're going to be okay," Finn said to Quinn. He just didn't want to be completely helpless.
Quinn looked at Puck. "I want you there, too."
Now Finn was feeling a little more uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if he wanted another boy there when his girlfriend gave birth. "Man, I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Finn, I want him there," Quinn said. "He's been there a lot for me during these past few months."
Finn would have understood if Quinn wanted Santana or Brittany with her, but Puck? This just didn't seem like a good idea.
"We need to get her back there," the doctor said.
"Fine, Puck can come too," Finn said. He wasn't interested in more arguing. That felt like it was all he and Quinn did anymore. He wheeled Quinn's chair into the delivery room and put on his gown as the nurses got Quinn ready.
"She's two centimeters dilated," the nurse said. "It's going to be another few hours at least."
"Another few hours?" Quinn snapped. "I want this child out of me already. It hurts so much!"
Finn took Quinn's hand. "It'll go away."
Quinn slapped Finn across the face. "I hate you! This is all your fault!"
"You already told me it was my fault!" Finn said. It was the other thing she said that hurt more. I hate you. He knew Rachel would never say that to him.
"Don't be so hard on Finn," Puck said, looking guilty. "Need me to get you anything, Quinn?"
"I want some ice chips," Quinn said.
"I'll go get them," Puck said. "Finn, want anything?"
"Can I have some fries?" Finn asked.
"Sure, I'll be right back," Puck said.
Now Finn was feeling a little better about having Puck there. Maybe Puck was what he and Quinn needed. Something came to his mind as he turned to the nurse. "Can you get her an epidural?"
"I can check," the nurse said.
"Give me the epidural!" Quinn said.
"The nurse said she'll check," Finn said, trying to calm down his girlfriend. She could have at least thanked him for asking for the epidural.
"You're another centimeter," the nurse said to Quinn.
"See, that's progress," Finn said, trying to be reassuring.
Puck came back in. "Special delivery!"
Quinn perked up at the sight of Puck. "Thank you so much!"
"Is it okay if I step outside for a little?" Finn asked. He needed a break.
"Yeah, go ahead," Quinn said. Finn was sure Puck would take care of Quinn while he was gone, and Quinn was a lot less angry at Puck than she was at Finn. Then again, maybe that was because Puck wasn't the one who'd gotten Quinn pregnant... or kissed another girl at a school dance.
He was thinking about Rachel again. What was wrong with him? The girl he'd been with for almost a year was in a hospital bed in agonizing pain and he couldn't get another girl out of his head. Walking through the hospital halls, Finn heard a call. "Finn!"
He turned and saw his mother in the waiting room, talking with the woman who would be raising his biological daughter.
"How's she doing?" Shelby asked.
"She's about halfway there," Finn said.
"Are you okay, honey?" Carole asked.
"She's been yelling at me a lot," Finn said. "She slapped me and told me she hated me."
"I'm sure she didn't mean that," Shelby said.
"Labor is tough, Finn," Carole said. "It's the worst pain I was ever in. I said some things to your dad that I didn't mean when I was in labor with you, but when you came out, it was the best feeling ever."
Finn knew he'd probably feel worse after. It would likely be the last time he saw the first child he ever helped make.
"Maybe I should get back to Quinn," Finn said.
"Okay, keep us updated," Carole said.
Finn nodded as he walked down the hall. He knew who he needed to talk to. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Rachel's number, hoping desperately that she'd pick up. The phone rang twice before she answered. "Hi."
"Hi," Finn said.
"I miss talking to you," Rachel said.
"How are you?" Finn asked, hoping Rachel could distract him.
"I'm fine, I'm going to a movie with some of my friends tonight," Rachel said. "How are you?"
"Rachel, Quinn's in labor," Finn blurted out. "I don't know what to do."
"She's in labor?" Rachel sounded concerned. "Finn, you can talk to me any time. You should be with Quinn while she's in labor."
"Rachel, she's yelling at me and insulting me and I feel so worthless," Finn said.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said softly. "But Finn, she's in agonizing pain. She needs you. Everybody says and does things they regret. You can call me later. You know I always love talking with you."
"Maybe we could hang out sometime soon?" Finn asked.
"I'd love that," Rachel said. "Just be there for Quinn right now. Let me know how everything goes."
"Okay," Finn said. He felt sad as they hung up. Rachel sounded almost as if she was being supportive of Finn being with Quinn. Finn went back to the room, where Puck was holding a cloth to Quinn's back.
"Where were you?" Quinn asked.
"I just needed some air," Finn said.
"Okay," Quinn said.
"Thanks for being here," Finn said to Puck.
The next few hours crawled by. Quinn continued to wail about the pain she was in, and it continued to seem like Puck, not Finn, was the one who could make her feel better. Finally, the doctor told Quinn that she was ten centimeters dilated and she could push. Finn and Puck both held on to her as she screamed as she let out a few pushes. After a few pushes, another cry filled the room, and this one wasn't Quinn's.
"She's here," Finn thought out loud. This was his child. Well, biologically anyway.
"Where is she?" Quinn said quietly.
"They're just getting her ready," Puck said. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah," Quinn said.
The nurse came over with a small bundle. "Here she is."
Finn, Quinn and Puck looked on as the nurse placed the baby in Quinn's arms. Finn couldn't help but notice how beautiful the baby was - but that she looked nothing like him.
"We shouldn't get too attached," Quinn said to Finn. "She isn't ours."
Finn sighed. This baby was so beautiful, but Quinn was right - she wasn't theirs. She was going to be Shelby's daughter. From the beginning, Quinn hadn't let him have a say in what happened.
"How long do you want with her?" the nurse asked.
"We need some time," Puck said, suddenly getting defensive.
This was crossing the line. Finn turned to Puck. "And if I don't have a say, what makes you think you do?"
"This isn't your child!" Puck shouted. "You aren't the father! It wasn't your sperm! It was mine!"
Finn didn't know what to say or think right now. He looked at both Quinn and Puck, not believing what he'd just heard.
Chapter 9 preview: Continues where this left off as the true paternity is revealed. What does this mean for Finn, Quinn, Puck - and Rachel?
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