I can't seem to stop writing. Try as I may to sleep after a crazy night shift I just need to get the ideas down. Once again thank you to everyone who took the time to review. Sorry for any mistakes I try to correct them but even after reading each part through about ten times some slip through the net.

12.

Holding his head in his hands Puck tried to ignore the quiet chatter of everyone around him, his mind focused solely on praying for the health and happiness of his family. While trying not to think about how everything had gone so wrong in such a small space of time.

"Puck?" Santana whispered, sitting down next to him.

"Not now," Puck sighed as he took in the sympathetic look on her face.

Santana understood why he wanted to be alone but she also knew he would want to hear what she had to say. "I just spoke to Finn-"

"Eden?" Puck questioned, desperate for some good news.

"She's fine," Santana smiled, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's with Finn and Kurt, they're on the way here as we speak."

Puck let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. "Thank God. "And Qu … Qu … what about her?"

"They didn't say," Santana shrugged.

Watching as Puck stood up and made his way over to where Rachel's fathers stood comforting each other Santana smiled softly to herself. It was hard to believe that the devoted husband and father was the same person that she had spent hours sexting, and shared many a late-night booty call with during High School.

Becoming a father had changed him, at the time Santana had been disappointed to lose her partner in crime, but now she knew that it was for the best. The whole Glee club had watched him grow from a boy to a man, as he become everything that Eden needed. And then they had watched as he had fallen in love with Rachel Berry. Although completely different personalities the two had seemed to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.

At first Santana had been her usual jealous, prickly self, but when that didn't get her anywhere she realised that she had never really loved Puck, he was just convenient. And it was only when she opened her eyes to that did she realise what had been in front of her all the time; that she was in love with Finn, the one guy that had always been off limits due to his relationship with Quinn.

But with Quinn out of the picture they started spending time together, even singing a duet together at graduation and then finally six months ago they moved in together, then exactly one month later Finn got down on one knee and proposed. The wedding was all booked for the week before Christmas. Santana had always dreamed of being a winter bride, even in High School. Although if you'd told her back then that Rachel Berry would be her Matron of Honour and Eden her bridesmaid she would have laughed at you. Now it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

A gentle silence settled over the group once again, as Santana leaned her head on Brittany's shoulder, sitting opposite her Mercedes was quietly in conversation with Tina, Artie and Mike while Matt had gone too find the hospital chapel.

Time seemed to move at a backwards pace until the silence was shattered by the arrival of Finn and Kurt.

"Thank-you, I don't know what else to say but thank-you," Puck cried as he carefully took his sleeping daughter from Finn.

Finn shook his head. "It's the least I could do."

Holding his daughter close Puck sat down on one of the chairs, he wanted nothing more than to wake her up, look into her beautiful hazel eyes and tell her how much he loved her and that he was never going to let her go again. But the father in him knew that it was best to let her sleep, especially when he knew one of the first questions out of her mouth would be about Rachel, and he didn't want to have to face that, not when he didn't know how to answer it.

"Daddy loves you so much Baby-Girl," Puck whispered into her ear, as even in her sleep she snuggled closer into him, as if she knew he needed her close.

"Any more news?" Finn asked as he sat down next to his fiancé and wrapped his arm around her.

Santana shook her head before leaning it on his chest. "Not since I last spoke to you."

"How is Puck holding up?" Finn questioned as he watched his friend.

"He's trying to hold it together for his family's sake but he's a mess, if anything happens to Rachel or that baby then-"

"Nothing is going to happen to them," Finn tried to reassure her.

Santana wiped at her eyes. "You don't know that."

"No I don't, but this is Rachel Berry we're talking about, since when has she ever let anything beat her?" Finn asked with a smile.

Closing her eyes Santana needed to just feel close to him right now. "They've been through so much though, it's not fair."

Sitting down in a corner of his own Kurt watched as his friends all came together, even in High School, before they all really began to appreciate each other the group would always come together in a crisis. As he sat watching them all struggle he couldn't help but smile as he thought of what Rachel would do.

"She'd sing a song," he laughed to himself.

"Are you alright?" Mercedes asked, as she walked over to him.

Kurt nodded. "I was just thinking that if Rachel was here she'd probably have us all singing to keep-"

"Our spirits up," Mercedes finished for him.

Through tear filled eyes Kurt smiled. "I need her to be alright. In High School I used to want nothing more than for her to just shut up for a few seconds, but now I just want to hear her voice, I want to find a voicemail from her telling me about some new song that I have to listen to or … I just …"

Unable to continue anymore Kurt just shook his head and took Mercedes hand in his, as they both sat waiting for news on their friend and her unborn child.

It was like a Mexican wave of whispers seemed to filter through the waiting area as a small, female doctor approached the waiting room where, Puck, Richard and Eli sat.

Standing up Puck held Eden close to him. "How are they?"

Dr. Taylor motioned for Puck to sit back down as she pulled a chair across and sat opposite him. "Rachel is in recovery now-"

"But she's going to be alright?" Puck demanded to know.

"Yes," Dr. Taylor reassured him as she found herself surrounded by a real-life Benetton ad as the whole of the Glee family appeared behind her. "Maybe we should discuss this privately?"

Puck shook his head. "They're family, anything you have to say you can say in front of them."

"Ok. As I briefly explained earlier Rachel suffered a seizure due to something called eclampsia, now we were able to stabilise her and deliver the baby, it took a long time for us to get her blood pressure under control, but everything is slowly normalising," Dr. Taylor explained.

"When can I see her?" Puck asked.

Dr. Taylor waited a few seconds before replying. "We should be moving her to intensive care shortly-"

"Intensive care? But I though you said she was alright?" Puck asked, cutting the doctor off.

"It's just as a precaution, we will need to closely monitor her for at least the next few days, it was a difficult delivery and there were a few complications during surgery with your wife's blood pressure being so high and then we had a hard time getting her blood to clot. Now I know it's all very scary right now but the important thing to know is that she's going to be alright," Dr, Taylor explained.

Puck nodded. "And what about the baby? You haven't said anything about my baby does that mean? Is it ..?"

"You have a son," Dr. Taylor smiled. "As you know twenty three weeks is very premature, when he was delivered he wasn't making any effort to breath on his own. But we have one of the best neonatal teams in the country here and they were able to quickly intubate him and move him to their NICU; neonatal intensive care. I don't know any more than that at present, but the doctor in charge of your sons case will be to see you as soon as they have something definite to tell you."

"But he's alive?" Puck questioned, needing to hear it again.

Dr, Taylor nodded. "Yes."

"I have a son," Puck whispered as he turned towards his father-in-law.

A chorus of congratulations greeted him as nobody really knew what to say or do, the birth of a child should be a joyous occasion with cigars, balloons and cards. It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be filled with uncertainty and grief.

Holding his daughter closer to him Puck leaned down and whispered in her ear. "You hear that Diva? You have a baby brother, a tiny little baby brother."

"Daddy?" Eden yawned, her eyes fluttering open.

"Yeah Baby-Girl, Daddy is here," Puck smiled as he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

Sitting up Eden smiled as she looked around her and then back to her father. "You're here. You're really here?"

"I'm really here, and I'm not going anywhere," Puck promised.

Biting her bottom lip Eden tried to stop herself from crying. "I was really scared that I would never see you again. That you and Mommy didn't want me anymore … I … You can take the shoes back. I don't need them. And I'll be good … I …"

"Sh," Puck sung into her ear. "Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything in the world, we would never, ever dream of letting you go. You are the most important thing in the world to us, always."

"Always?" Eden questioned.

Puck nodded, wiping at the single tear the was falling down her cheek. "Always."

"Mommy?" Eden called out, looking around the crowd in search of her mother, her face dropping when she couldn't spot her.

"Mommy is in with the doctor at the moment," Puck told her, not wanting her to get more upset than she already was.

Eden nodded before resting her head on her father's chest. "Can I see her real soon?"

"We need to let the doctor finish," Puck told his daughter.

"Ok," Eden agreed. "It's just I've missed her and I need to tell her lots of things and to give her lots of cuddles."

"Mommy will love that. Why don't you have a cuddle with your Granddad while I go and ask the doctor if we can go and see Mommy?" Puck suggested as he reluctantly handed Eden to Richard.

Walking over to where Dr. Taylor stood Puck cautiously approached her. "We've moved her into a room in intensive care now, would you like me to show you?"

"Yes," Puck nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Once they were up onto the right floor Puck paused outside of the side room, he was separated from Rachel by a door and large glass window. Taking a deep breath he made his way inside, a nurse sat at the edge of the bed writing notes. Rachel was asleep on the bed, an oxygen mask over her face, various wires sneaking in and out of her body as IV lines delivered medicine.

Sitting down at the edge of the bed he felt a horrible sense of deja-vu as he picked up her hand being extra careful not to disturb anything.

"You did it Rach," he whispered. "We have a son, a beautiful little boy."

When Rachel didn't say anything Puck turned his attention towards the nurse. "Has she woken up at all yet?"

"She was awake for a few minutes in recovery, but she's still sleeping off the sedation and then the strong pain relief they have her on can make her quite sleepy too," the nurse explained.

Turning his attention back to his wife Puck kissed her hand. "Eden is here, Kurt and Finn picked her up a little while ago. She's so desperate to see you Rach, so hurry up and get better so that we can be a family. You, me, Eden and SpongeBob."

"Mr. Puckerman?" a tall, black, doctor called as he entered the room.

Puck stood up and faced the new doctor. "Yes."

"I'm Dr. Prince, I'm the neonatal doctor in charge of your son's care, I just came to bring you an update," the doctor explained.

"This is my wife; Rachel, she's still really out of it at the moment but if you tell me and then I'll tell her," Puck stammered, a mixture of hope and fear churning inside him.

Dr. Prince nodded as he pulled a chair across and waiting for Puck to sit back down. "After the delivery your son wasn't breathing on his own. We managed to ventilate him relatively easily and we've given him surfactant which in baby's born this early their lungs are missing. He is very small only one pound and six ounces but so far things are looking as well as can be expected. If he survives the next few weeks it will be a long road ahead."

"We can we see him?" Puck asked.

Reaching into his jacket pocket the doctor pulled out a small Polaroid and handed it to him. "I thought you might like this. Have the nurse ring us when you're ready to come down."

"Thank-you," Puck whispered as he took the picture from the doctor.

Puck wasn't ready to look at the picture yet, so instead he turned his attention back to Rachel, watching as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Hey," he smiled, picking her hand up again.

"Eden?" Rachel asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper, under the oxygen mask.

Puck smiled as he gently pushed her hair back out of her face. "She's here, she's just outside with your dad."

Rachel felt herself relax for a few seconds until she suddenly remembered where she was, reaching out she rested her hand on her stomach, her panic increasing as she felt the emptiness of it. "SpongeBob? Is he …?"

"He's alive," Puck reassured her as he moved closer. "He's really tiny and he needs a lot of help breathing at the moment but he's a tough, he's a little fighter."

Gripping her hand in his Rachel nodded, tears falling freely down her face as she Rachel up with her other hand and pulled the oxygen mask off. "A boy. I knew it was a boy. I want to see him."

"Here," Puck offered as he handed her the small Polaroid.

Silently Rachel and Puck took in the image of their son for the very first time, his tiny body was surrounded by wires, a small tube snaked out of his mouth breathing for him. His skin was so thin he was practically transparent and a fine layer of dark hair covered his body. His eyes were shut and his tiny fists balled together in determination. But beneath it all he was beautiful, his miniature features a perfect mix of his parents.

Wiping at her eyes Rachel took in the thick line of hair across his head. "It looks like he has a mini Mohawk."

"Just like Diva when she was born," Puck laughed through his tears.

"He's perfect," Rachel breathed.

"Just like his mother," Puck agreed.

Reaching out with a shaky hand Rachel ran her fingers across the image of her son, perfectly captured within the tiny picture. "Hello SpongeBob, I'm your Mommy and I love you so much. And this is your Daddy. And you have the best big sister in the world, she's been so exited to meet you."

"Rach? I think we need to find a new name for him, we can't keep calling him SpongeBob now that he's actually here," Puck whispered into her ear, as he allowed himself a few minutes to be grateful for what he had instead of fearing the hard road that lay ahead for all of them as they came to terms with the last twenty-four hours.