Disclaimer: AU. Some recognisable Glee inclusion, some alterations, no ownership claimed or implied. No claim is made to the partial song at the end either, that is owned by other people too.

A/N: Sectionals….

"What did you have for dinner?" Quinn asked, genuinely interested. She was laid on her stomach on her bed, her feet waving in the air, her head resting on her crossed arms. She watched Puck toe off his boots.

"The usual," Puck replied, "same sort of thing as we always have on Fridays, same as when you lived at my house."

"Oooh, I miss Friday nights at your mom's house," Quinn groaned, remembering some of the typical, traditional Sabbath meals that Naomi and Connie would make between them. "Your Nana's barbecue glazed chicken and roasted asparagus. Mmmm," she moaned, her face showing her pleasure, then groaned when Puck nodded. "What did you have for dessert?" she asked, pouting.

"Plum torte," Puck told her with a smile, knowing that would make her groan even more. Quinn had loved his mom's homemade plum torte. "I brought you some," he added, his smile growing even wider.

Quinn pushed up quickly onto her knees, her eyes wide with pleasure. "You did?" she asked, surprised, thrilled. "Thank you."

Puck slowly stripped off his clothes. "I'm sure bringing you food, your favourite food," he added, "qualifies for a much better 'thank you' than that," he said, stalking naked towards the bed.

"I'm sure that I can do something to show my appreciation," Quinn replied, her voice a little husky, getting into the spirit of things. She leaned forwards towards Puck, her lips and tongue connecting with his sculpted stomach then brushing lower. Puck sucked in a breath and held it, his head going back, his hips pushing forwards as he gave in to the pleasure of Quinn's mouth on him.

They both jumped a little when they heard the knock at the door. Quinn's head shot up abruptly, her hand stayed clasped around the hard hot length of him. "Quinn?" Orla called through the door. "Are you awake?" she asked.

Puck groaned and looked down at Quinn, his eyes crossed. "Fuck my life," he whispered, pouted and almost sobbed. Quinn swirled her tongue across the tip, looking up into his eyes. "Just a second," he called over his shoulder then bent to give Quinn a lingering kiss. He pulled away and bent to pick up his clothes, heading to the bathroom. "This is just an intermission," he whispered over his shoulder to Quinn. "We are definitely continuing this later," he insisted.

"Damn straight," Quinn replied with a smile. "Come in, Orla," she called to the door.

Orla opened the door and poked her head through the gap. "I didn't disturb you did I? Were you sleeping?" she asked.

"No, I wasn't asleep," Quinn replied, running a finger across her bottom lip, to make sure there wasn't anything to give away what she had just been doing. "Come on in," she invited.

"I just spoke to Zara," Orla informed her sister. "She'd love to meet with you both, here's her number," she said, handing Quinn a piece of paper.

"Thank you," Quinn replied, smiling at Orla but wishing she would go. "Was that all?" she asked. Orla sat on the bed beside her sister. Quinn wished she hadn't asked.

"Zara can take care of you from start to finish," Orla advised. "She a CNM, a Certified Nurse Midwife, she is qualified to oversee all of your prenatal care, your labour, delivery and your postnatal care. It's a full service," she explained.

"I'd like to meet with her," Quinn agreed. "And if she can be involved in every aspect of the pregnancy that would be so nice. I like that. Thank you, Orla," she said, reaching to kiss her sister's cheek.

Puck came out of the bathroom, he'd showered and pulled his jeans back on. "Ready for your dessert now?" he asked Quinn, the slightest touch of a smile on his lips. At Quinn's nod, he went down to the kitchen. "Hey," Puck said to Dale when he entered.

Dale was sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen scrolling through things on his ipad, sipping from a bottle of beer. "Hi," he replied, his eyes still on his ipad.

Puck opened the fridge to find the box he'd put in there when he'd come home. He didn't see it straight away. Puck shifted a few things about. He still didn't see it. "Crap," Puck muttered to himself. "I'm sure I put it in there," he said aloud. "You haven't seen a box with a piece of plum cake in it, have you?" he asked Dale. "I brought it from my mom's for Quinn, she loves that stuff," Puck told him.

"Oh," Dale muttered quietly. "That was for Quinn?" he said with a wince. "I'm sorry. It was lovely, by the way," he added with a smile.

"Aww crap," Puck moaned, closing the fridge. "You ate Quinn's dessert. She's going to kill you. And I'm not going to lift a finger to stop her," he said. Puck ran upstairs to the bedroom. "Bad news, babe," he sighed as he walked through the door. "Dale ate your cake," he announced. He almost tripped up when he looked up to meet Quinn's eyes. "I hope that's not dependent on you getting your dessert," he said with a smile, nodding at her at how she had posed, displayed herself on the bed for him, for his pleasure.

"No," Quinn said, trying to pretend disinterest. She squealed with laughter a few seconds later when Puck launched himself at her, rolling her over on the bed till she ended up on top of him. Laughter soon became other sounds, sighs, moans that lasted far into the night.

The beep of Puck's alarm clock on Saturday morning made them both groan. Quinn reached for the crackers and slowly nibbled two. Puck got up and showered ready to go clean some pools.

"How are you this morning?" he asked, coming to sit beside her on the bed, to pull his boots on.

"Queasy," Quinn answered, swallowing hard.

Puck bent to kiss her head. "I have to go. I'll be back round lunch time," he said. "I'll call in at my mom's when I'm done, see if I can liberate another piece of cake for you," he told Quinn, grinning at her. "See you later," he said, standing up.

Judy had made scrambled eggs for Puck. He ate hurriedly, thanking her before he left the house. After he'd finished the two pools on his list for today and called at the Cromer's to do some yard work, Puck pulled up at his mom's house.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked when he walked in the door. "You've only been gone a week, I don't miss you. I miss your Xbox, but I don't miss you," she said. "And you were here yesterday," she muttered under her breath.

"Thanks Sarah," Puck replied, "such a nice thing for a sister to say to her big brother," he said with a sarcastic smile, on his way past the lounge to the kitchen. Sarah shrugged and turned back to her magazine. "Hey Nana," Puck greeted Connie, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Is there any dessert left from last night?" he asked. "Quinn's brother-in-law ate the piece I took for her," he explained.

"Of course," Connie replied with a smile, "there's always plenty left over, you know that. It tastes better the next day too," she added. Connie got up and cut a piece for Puck to take with him. "Are you staying for lunch?" she asked.

"No, Quinn called me earlier," he answered. "Zara, the midwife she wants to meet is coming by this afternoon for an initial visit," he said. "Maybe it's the way to go, she didn't like Dr Chin when she met him before, and Dr Harmon is absolutely out of the question. She needs someone she can feel comfortable with," he said with a shrug. "Hopefully this Zara is it."

"Absolutely you do," agreed Connie. "If you've got to have someone poking about down there, you have to feel comfortable with them," she stated.

"Nana," Puck cried, embarrassed. "You can't say stuff like that," he insisted.

"She must feel comfortable with you," Connie added, trying not to laugh at her grandson's face. "Don't tell me you don't poke about down there," she added, taking great delight in seeing the heat invade his cheeks. "Get out of here," she laughed. "Go home to your girlfriend, meet the midwife, and be supportive. I'll see you tonight at your competition," she called as Puck went to the door. "Don't forget Quinn's cake," she shouted.

Puck trudged back to the kitchen and picked up the box. "Thanks Nana," he said, kissing her cheek again. "See you later. Bye, Monster," he called to Sarah as he passed the lounge. Sarah pulled a face at him.

"Cake," Puck announced, dropping a kiss on Quinn's upturned lips. She was sat in the kitchen at the island with her mom and sister. They were chatting about all things female. Dale didn't seem to be anywhere about. "Where's Dale?" he asked, his hand still on the box. "Don't let this out of your sight," he warned Quinn. "You don't know what I had to listen to, to get this for you. I deserve a medal," he told her solemnly.

"Aww, thank you," Quinn said with a smile. "And you'll get your reward in heaven," she finished with a nod.

"I hope it lasts longer than seven minutes," he grinned. Quinn nudged his arm, rolling her eyes at that comment.

Dale walked back into the kitchen. "Is it safe in here now?" he asked. "You've stopped all the 'lady bits' talk?" he said, pulling a face. "Is that for me?" he grinned, spying the box under Puck's hand. "Cool, whoever made it, wow, amazing," he said, his voice and expression dramatic, over acted.

"I'll tell my mom you said so and no, this piece belongs to Quinn," Puck replied with a laugh. "Quick, take it, take it," he urged Quinn as Dale pretended to scrabble for it.

"Boys, boys," Judy sighed with mock exasperation. "You girls were always so much better behaved," she told her daughters, smiling at them. "You never fought over dessert," she told them proudly.

"Hey, I've seen her at three in the morning, sat in front of the fridge with it open, scarfing down anything she can get her hands on," Puck nodded, pointing at Quinn, reminding her of her craving binges when she was pregnant before. "A word of advice Judy," he added. "Get a lock put on it," he pointed at the fridge, "'cos once she starts, phew," he blew out a breath, shaking his head.

"I wasn't that bad," Quinn pouted.

"Oh really?" Puck asked, his eyebrows hiked right up, his face showing his surprise. "You bit my hand when I tried to get milk for my cereal," he teased. Quinn crossed her eyes and pulled a face at Puck, her family all laughing, whether at Quinn or at their conversation, it didn't matter. They were all happy.

"Are you going to shower and change?" Quinn asked, changing the subject. "Zara will be here soon," she reminded him.

"Yep," Puck replied, "I'm going now." He jogged upstairs and was soon back down and in the kitchen chatting with them all.

Zara arrived on time. She spent the first hour finding out, from Quinn mainly, what their hopes and expectations were for the pregnancy and for the birth. The only thing that Quinn could say with any certainty was that she did not want it to be the same sort of experience that she'd had before. She did not want Puck to stand back as he had when Beth was being born, she wanted him to be more involved.

"I can do that," Puck agreed. "I just felt helpless before, everybody knew what they were doing and I was just stuck there and told to keep out of the way. So I did," he explained.

"And what would you hope the experience will be, Noah?" Zara asked.

"Well, I hope I don't get told I suck about a million times," Puck answered with a half grin at Quinn. "It's true, the only time you even acknowledged I was in the delivery room with you was to tell me I sucked. I felt bad enough, I didn't need you reminding me of it," he pouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Quinn replied, brightly, not even trying to hide her sarcasm. "You stood there, like a statue, not even giving me your hand to hold while I pushed a baby out of my body. But we digress," she announced, shifting in her seat a little. "This isn't about last time, this is about now, what we want from Zara, what we want for the whole of the pregnancy, the labour and the delivery," she turned back to Zara. "I know I want it to be different, totally different. It was so clinical, no love, it was just…..production line stuff, like, wham, bam, you're done, next," she explained.

"I agree with that," Puck nodded. "Can we visit the birthing centre, see where the baby will be born?" he asked. He'd had a look online when he was at his mom's house after Temple. He didn't want to be caught out again, he wanted Quinn to know he was stepping up totally, that he was her support, that she could trust him, rely on him.

"Of course," Zara said with a smile. "We also offer home births too, if that's what you want and if there aren't any contraindications," she added.

Quinn looked at Puck, he saw the interest in her eyes. "That's something we'll talk about," he told Zara.

Once the initial interview with Zara was out of the way, she went with Quinn to their bedroom to conduct a few tests and an examination. "You are absolutely certain about your dates?" she asked Quinn with a smile.

"Mmm," Quinn nodded. "Do you need Puck in here for anything?" she asked.

"Yes, just a couple of things," she answered picking up her paperwork again, making a few notes.

Quinn went to the door and called to Puck. She didn't realise he was waiting just along the hall. "Oh, there you are," she smiled in surprise. "Can you come in a minute? Zara just has a few other things for us," she told him, kissing his cheek.

"Your due date is the fifth of July, give or take," Zara informed them with a smile. "You are very healthy, your diet is good, your weight is excellent and you already do yoga. Carry on with that, we do hold a prenatal yoga class at the birthing centre, it's very good for helping you to control your breathing. I would recommend you both attend the prenatal classes. We'll do your initial ultrasound when you come to the birthing centre for your next appointment. We'll schedule appointments for every four weeks till your twenty-eighth week, then it'll be every two weeks till you're thirty-six weeks and then your appointments will be weekly until delivery. Here is a set of guidelines we have to follow if you do choose a home birth, they're strict but necessary and I look forward to seeing you both in four weeks," she finished, smiling brightly as she handed Quinn a brochure containing all the information she would need to make an informed choice.

"Cool," Puck muttered, not knowing what else to say. He did like this woman, she seemed bright and breezy, full of life and joy, total opposite of the dark and depressing doctor they had met yesterday. And if he were totally honest, he'd prefer their baby to be born into a relaxed, happy atmosphere than into the clinical, sterile atmosphere that Beth had been born into. Plus he'd always felt like an ass for not giving Quinn the support she'd so badly needed while labouring to bring Beth into the world, but he just hadn't known how to do it, how to be a part of it. He really would go with her to all the prenatal classes this time, he'd watch the videos, meet the moms. He'd do anything, everything he could to support Quinn and their baby. Even if it made him a wuss.

For only the second time in thirty years, William McKinley High School had been selected to host the Western Ohio Sectional of the National Show Choir competition. New Directions felt this was the best omen that they could possibly hope for. They all felt comfortable, at home on that particular stage and surely, it had to give them a huge advantage.

"Ok guys," Mr Schue called to his team as they finished their warm up in the choir room. "Are we ready?" he asked, looking round at them all. "Let's do this," he shouted, to the cheers of New Directions.

In position on stage Quinn could see beyond the footlights, see some of the people in the audience. Her breath caught in her throat, she glanced to her left. Yes, Puck had seen them too. They couldn't afford for this to throw them off their game.

Tina sang ABC like she'd been born to it. The dance routine, made to look like an old Motown routine was fab-u-lous. Brittany and Mike had worked extra hard on it. On all the routines actually. That was the thing that New Directions had over the other teams. They weren't just a group of kids singing together, they were all friends too, they knew everything about each other, their strengths and their weaknesses and tailor made their performances to fit them all.

Quinn started the second number with a speaking part. She wandered in and out of her silent, unmoving teammates as she played her part. The second Quinn stopped, Puck stepped up to his mark and on cue sang the song. In waves, the group began the dance sequence. They looked stunning. The black and white costumes flattering every one of them.

The lights went out before the start of their third number. Finn's clear voice began the song in the darkness. As he reached his mark and stopped in his spotlight, Puck began his part and joined him in the next spotlight, Artie came next, then Blaine then Sam. The five of them sang the first run of the chorus. Puck caught sight Quinn out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but smirk just the tiniest bit. He knew she would know that he meant it. He really was starting with the man in the mirror and he was changing everything about that man. All the bad things, the not so good stuff anyway.

At the end of their performance, New Directions lined up along the front of the stage. They took their bow and accepted their applause. Quinn, after receiving a hug from Finn, pushed past and walked to Puck who was stood at the very end of the row. She smiled up at him for a split second before putting her arms round him and hugging herself in to his chest. Puck smiled and hugged her back.

"Did you see who's out there?" Puck managed to whisper to Quinn. He felt her nod. They'd both seen Shelby and Beth in the audience.

New Directions left the stage to tumultuous applause. In the choir room, they were ecstatic, fizzing, excited. All of them, they knew it, it had been an amazing performance. The judges had to have seen that. The other teams surely had. One of the teams had already congratulated New Directions on their win. And the results hadn't even been announced yet.

"You were amazing out there," Shelby's quiet voice surprised Quinn. She spun round to look at Ms Corcoran.

"Thank you," Quinn replied, breathlessly. Her eyes weren't on Shelby but on the child in Shelby's arms.

"Can I have a word with you? Both of you?" Shelby asked, her glance seeking out Mr Schue with just the hint of a blush and a smile.

Puck and Quinn followed Shelby and Beth to Mr Schue's office. Puck closed the door behind them, shutting out some of the noise from the choir room. He winked at Quinn, reminding her of Monday lunchtime and the feelings she'd had in this office then.

"I won't beat about the bush with this," Shelby began, cuddling Beth close to her. "I have thought long and hard over this and I have decided that you're right. On Monday, what you said to Mr Sharp was right," she said with a sad smile at Quinn. "Beth deserves to know you both, know who you are, before it's too late. I lost that chance with Rachel and I can never get it back, I'm not going to do that to you. So," Shelby drew in a breath then blew it out, she was obviously very nervous and emotional. "I have come up with a visitation plan. Like I said in the letter though, I'm not comfortable about it being unsupervised. I know you're pregnant now Quinn, so maybe things have changed for you, but they haven't for me," she explained hurriedly.

"No, sure, I understand," Quinn stuttered, her eyes filled with tears, Puck's arm around her back kept her from trembling too hard.

"You ok?" Puck whispered, looking down at Quinn, smiling. Quinn nodded.

"So, what I've worked out is this," Shelby said, gaining their full attention again. "The second Sunday of every month, initially in my apartment with Will there to supervise, I won't be around," she explained. "I think it'd be too hard to watch her with you," she said to Quinn, finally allowing the tears to fall, the sob to break free. "That's something I have to work on, I want us all to be comfortable with each other, natural with each other. I think that's what would be the best situation for Beth. I'm sure she would pick up on any tension or discomfort between us and I really don't want that," she finished, a little stronger. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked Quinn, a tight smile on her face.

Quinn couldn't speak, she nodded, but she couldn't talk. She took Beth into her arms and hugged her.

Puck hugged both of them, his cheek resting on Quinn's head. "Thank you," he said almost silently to Shelby. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"So, tomorrow is the second Sunday of November," Shelby reminded them. "What time would you like to come over?" she asked, trying desperately to stem the tears. Shelby felt a lot of relief now that she'd shared this with Puck and Quinn. She felt that she was doing the right thing. And maybe it wouldn't be too long till she felt confident enough to include their families. But baby steps first.

"One?" Puck asked, looking to Quinn for her answer. Quinn nodded, sniffing Beth's head. She laughed, a strange sound through so many tears, but a good sound.

"Ok," Shelby nodded. She held her arms out to take her baby back. "We'll say three hours to begin with and we'll play it by ear. Ok?" she asked, both Puck and Quinn nodded. "Right," Shelby let out a shaky breath, "we'll see you at one tomorrow, won't we angel? And I think Will is looking for you," she said, nodding towards the choir room and their curious classmates.

On stage, New Directions waited along with the other two teams in the Sectional, for the results to be announced. They weren't kept waiting long. New Directions were named the winners. Next stop, Regionals.

The team and all of their families celebrated at Breadstix. The laughter and joy reverberated around the restaurant, other patrons couldn't help but be entertained by the impromptu show that New Directions put on, each of them throwing song choices and suggestions out there. When some of the parents joined in to sing with their kids, some of them believing they rivaled Tom Jones, they knew it was time to go home. But they'd all had a really, really good time. Except for one person. He'd seemed even more subdued than he had throughout the last week. Something that didn't go unnoticed by at least one person.

Quinn trembled as she knocked on Shelby's apartment door. Puck stood slightly behind her, his breath wasn't as even as he was trying to pretend.

Mr Schue opened the door and smiled at the young couple. "Welcome," he said, "come on in, we're playing with play-doh," he informed them.

Quinn knelt on the floor beside Beth. Beth stood at the low table in front of the couch, pressing pieces of coloured doh into plastic shapes. She smiled and chatted nonsense to Puck, wrinkling up her nose and grinning at him. Quinn was barely breathing at her daughter's side, trying to get up the nerve to interact with her. Yesterday she'd held her and when she'd gone to bed last night Quinn could swear she could still feel Beth in her arms, could still smell her sweetness.

It took about an hour for Beth to include Quinn in her chattering. Quinn didn't try overmuch, she didn't want to overwhelm Beth. She just knelt quietly at Beth's side, playing with the play-doh, making shapes and things for Beth to play with. Beth just naturally turned to her side, including Quinn, taking things from Quinn.

Will left them for a few minutes, to bring juice for Beth, milk for Quinn and coffee for Puck.

"Hey," Puck said softly, nodding to Quinn. "Having a good time?" he asked, smiling and turning his attention back to Beth. "Here, look at this," he showed Beth a giraffe he'd modeled for her. "Like that?" he asked her. Beth grinned up at Puck, mumbling nonsense at him.

"How are we doing in here?" Mr Schue asked, bringing the drinks through from the kitchen. "Here you go," he smiled at Beth, handing her a sippy cup. Beth said a word, it sounded a little like she'd said 'cuckoo'. "That's her version of thank you," Mr Schue grinned. "I kinda like it," he shrugged.

The afternoon passed by in a blur. At three, when Beth got sleepy, Quinn decided that it was time for them to go. "I know we've only stayed for two hours," she said to Mr Schue, "but I don't want to disturb Beth's routine. Better we leave early than disrupt her life too much," she said, swallowing hard. Puck, as much as he wanted to stay longer with Beth, agreed. Better to show Shelby and Mr Schue that they were being responsible, mature and understanding.

"How did it go?" Judy asked, desperate to hear about the baby girl she hadn't seen since she was two days old.

"Great," Quinn nodded with a smile, "it was great, we played with play-doh all afternoon, making models with Beth. We left early because she got sleepy. Maybe next time we should have a morning visit, sort of bridge lunch?" she said, looking at Puck. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Puck agreed. He liked that idea, they'd be able to spend the full three hours with her that way and she'd still be able to have her nap without her routine getting messed up.

On Monday at school, Puck and Quinn called for a secret meeting of the Glee club. The only person they didn't invite was Finn. Quinn approached Mr Schue with their idea. He totally approved their song choice.

"We are a family, aren't we?" Mr Schue smiled at Quinn. "We take care of our own," he nodded. "Choir room or auditorium?" he asked.

"Auditorium I think," Quinn replied after a few minutes consideration. "Could you get Finn there for us?" she asked.

"I'm sure I can think of something," Mr Schue assured Quinn.

"What are we doing here?" Finn asked Mr Schue a little nervously, looking round at the darkened auditorium. "Where is everyone? Isn't class about to start? Is this some sort of intervention, Mr Shue?" he asked. "Because, really, I'm ok," Finn tried to assure his teacher.

"Your friends have something they'd like to say to you," Mr Schue said with a smile. As the lights came on, the band began to play and New Directions began to sing, Puck taking the lead, the rest of the group bringing in the harmonies:

"The road is long,
With many a winding turn,
That leads us to who knows where,
Who knows where,
But I'm strong,
Strong enough to carry him,
He ain't heavy,
He's my brother…"

At the end of the song, Finn hauled himself up onto the stage and found himself in the middle of a hugging, laughing, crying group of the very best friends in the whole world. He knew that he was accepted for who he was, not rejected for what he was. He felt at peace, he felt loved, and after both Quinn and Puck hugged him, Finn felt forgiven.