Disclaimer: AU version of junior year. No claim to ownership of Glee or the known characters, no gain made with this work of fiction.
A/N: Are things going smoothly? Let's throw a spanner in the works and see what happens...*see note at end of chapter.
"No, I just don't think we should go ahead with it," Quinn insisted, feeling the frustration of not being listened to rising in her.
Puck sighed. Same argument, different day. "Not this again. Of course we should," he said sighing again. "How can you even think that she would be better off without it?" he asked, his voice getting just a little louder, the anger at Quinn's stubbornness growing yet again.
Miriam, just passing the living room, caught his eye, Puck shook his head. No, there was nothing his mom could do right now, Quinn just had to get this stupid idea out of her system then they could start the family counselling. If, at the end of all that, after the appointments, the tests and the counselling, Quinn still didn't feel that cochlear implant was right for Beth, then they'd have to…well, they'd have to think of something.
"So she's still dead set against it?" Ethan asked quietly as Miriam walked back into the kitchen.
"Yes," Miriam replied, sitting back down at the kitchen table with a frown on her face. "If only we knew why she's suddenly so against it," she sighed. "When Beth was first diagnosed she was all for it. What's changed?" Miriam asked, the question more to herself than to Ethan. "There's got to be a reason," she added, looking for an answer from him that time. Ethan shrugged, as mystified as everyone else. "Still, regardless, we have to support them both, even though I don't particularly agree with Quinn's choices right now," Miriam continued quietly. "When do they get old enough to not need us anymore?" she asked, her head falling to her arms on the table, feeling tired. "I feel old. Do you feel old? You should, you're older than me," she pouted.
"Thank you," Ethan smiled, just a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "I'll ask my mom to let you know when me and Freda stop needing her," he teased, his smile getting a bit bigger at the face that Miriam pulled. "And might I remind you that you're only seven months younger than me?" he asked with a huge fake smile. "The big four oh is coming up pretty fast," he added, knowing that Miriam was dreading turning forty with something approaching obsession.
"You'll be forty before I will, old man," Miriam scoffed, trying to hide the sharp intake of breath that always happened when she thought about that figure. God she was dreading it, a reminder that in some cultures she would be considered middle aged. "Aarrggghh," she screamed silently. "Where has my youth, my life gone. I sit here, a mother, a grandmother, and life is passing me by. I don't want to die alone," she thought, looking at Ethan, watching him playing at the table with Leah, drawing for her, drawing her.
"You ok?" Ethan asked, catching Miriam looking at him weirdly.
"Yes, erm, Leah honey, could you give your father and I a minute, please?" Miriam asked, blushing a little.
Leah got up from the table without a grumble and skipped off to her room.
"Can I ask you something?" Miriam said, almost shyly.
"Of course," Ethan replied, putting the tops on all the pens he'd been using with Leah.
"What are we doing?" she asked. "I mean, you and me, what are we doing?" she repeated.
Ethan sat back, he'd been waiting for this. He hoped it was going to go the way he wanted. "Well," he started. "I don't know about you, but I feel as though I'm courting you all over again," he admitted, shyly. "Trying to win your heart," he added, sliding his hand up Miriam's arm, leaning close to her. "Am I succeeding?" he whispered just before his lips found hers.
"Mom," Puck said as he burst into the kitchen, seeing his parents break apart. "Sorry," he said, turning away then he turned back. "No. I am sorry, but this is really important," he added.
"What's wrong Noah?" Ethan asked, his arm still resting along Miriam's shoulders.
"Quinn's still refusing to go for the counselling, she says that she won't give her agreement even for the tests and stuff," Puck told his parents as he paced up and down beside the kitchen table. "It has to be both of us giving our consent, and she won't," he was almost bouncing, energy fizzing off him like sparks of electricity. He was furious. "How dare she do this?" Puck thought to himself. Since Beth had first been diagnosed they had been heading towards this point and now that they'd reached it, Quinn had done a complete U turn and refused to even consider it. What the hell? Were they both parents or was Quinn the only one with any say in their daughter's future?
"I think you should take a step back, take a breath then once she's put Beth down for her nap, go in there and ask again why she doesn't want to go ahead with the surgery," Miriam advised gently. "There has to be a reason, surely," she said.
Puck took a deep breath, standing still with his eyes closed. He breathed deeply for a few moments and felt himself calming. "Thanks mom," Puck said quietly. He didn't want this to become another huge issue, it had to be something they could work through, as a family, as parents, as a couple, they had to work through it.
Miriam and Ethan watched their son leave the kitchen. "Think they'll be able to talk without it becoming a screaming match?" Ethan asked, just a hint of a smile in his voice.
"No," Miriam answered, turning to look at Ethan, a little smile on her face too. "He's too much like you to accept that anyone else has an opinion," Miriam reminded him. "You always think you're right too," she added.
"I don't," Ethan denied. "Much," he qualified it, he knew that Miriam was right, so did she, the raised eyebrow in his direction told him that. "Alright, so I have issues with admitting that I'm not right," Ethan said with a smile.
"And you still have to say it in a way that doesn't sound like you're wrong," Miriam laughed, pushing Ethan's shoulder a touch. Ethan laughed quietly along with her. And then they heard it. The mumble of voices that rose and rose and became the screaming match that they'd feared would happen. "At least Beth isn't using her hearing aids today so she won't hear them arguing," Miriam commented sadly, her chin in her hand, elbow on the table, Beth had a slight infection in both ears so she was having a few days without wearing her hearing aids.
"Quinn, that's just ridiculous," Puck shouted. "You're being an idiot," he added, then growled.
"Don't call me an idiot," Quinn screamed back. "You're not her mother, you didn't carry her inside you for nine months, you don't know," she yelled.
"No," Puck yelled back, "I'm just her father and I'm not supposed to have an opinion? Have a say in her future? Where do you get off making all the decisions for her?" he demanded.
"Because I'm her mother," Quinn screeched then slammed out of the house, taking off down the street, crying as she went.
"Let her go," Ethan advised quietly as Puck went to open the door and go after her. "Just let her go, let her calm down. You need to calm down too and then later, when she comes back, we'll talk it all out. By the way, me and your mother are Switzerland," he added with a little huff of a laugh. "Welcome to the world of parenthood," Ethan told his son, patting him on the shoulder, "and of being in an adult relationship," he added. "And let me tell you, as the guy in the relationship, you will always be wrong, even when you're right you'll be wrong, it's some sort of hormone thing that only women have that alters the perspective, moves the bar, makes them always right, even though we never, ever admit it," he confided quietly, seeing the hint of a smile forming on his son's face.
"Thanks dad," Puck sighed, his hand falling away from the door handle. "Think she'll come back soon?" he asked, already getting worried about Quinn and the state she'd left the house in. Both Puck and Ethan turned to look upstairs as Beth cried, obviously wakened from her nap. "I mean, how can she walk out on her daughter?" he asked, getting annoyed all over again. "She knew Beth would be waking up soon and she still left. Is that the act of a caring mother?" he demanded with a scowl, walking away before his dad could answer, going to see to his daughter's needs.
"He just won't listen, Mercedes," Quinn cried onto her friend's shoulder. "He doesn't care about my feelings, he only thinks about himself, what he wants, what he wants for Beth, he doesn't get that I'm just so scared," she added, breaking down in huge gulping sobs.
"Does he know where you are?" Mercedes asked gently, comforting Quinn, patting and rubbing her back, letting her cry it out.
"No, I just left," Quinn admitted. "And Beth will be awake by now," she sobbed even harder, feeling so, so guilty for leaving her daughter. "She'll be wondering where her mommy is," she wailed.
"So what do you want to do?" Mercedes asked. "Do you want me to drive you home?" she queried.
"Would you?" Quinn mumbled onto Mercedes' shoulder, shuddering and sniffing.
"Sure," she answered with a smile. "Come on, let's go," Mercedes said, giving Quinn a little squeeze. "And I think you should try talking to Puck. Tell him why you're so scared, he'll get it," she assured Quinn, seeing her look of disbelief. "He will, he'll understand."
"You really think so?" Quinn asked. "Or are you only saying that to make me feel better?" she said sadly.
"No, I really think he'll get it," Mercedes replied with a firm nod.
Quinn heaved a big sigh as Mercedes pulled up outside the house. She squinted up at it, at Beth's bedroom window and the two windows next to it, the bedroom she shared with Puck. Quinn sighed again.
"You know," Quinn began, still looking up at the house. "We never have any privacy, not anymore," she sighed. "Not since Puck's Grandpa died. His mom never stays at his Nana's anymore, Ethan stays here more often than he stays at his own place. Leah's been to stay at Connie's a few times, but that's it. There's always someone around, it's like we never have any time on our own, even to have an argument," she said with another big sigh. "And that makes me sound like such an ungrateful bitch," she added with an even bigger sigh, feeling more than a little ashamed of herself.
Mercedes rubbed Quinn's shoulder, comforting her. "Do you want me to come in with you?" she asked quietly. Quinn turned a little to look at her friend with watery eyes and a trembling chin. All she could do was nod. "Come on then," Mercedes said softly, getting out of her side.
Quinn got out of the car slowly. "Mercedes?" she whispered. Mercedes turned to look at Quinn. "Thank you," she said, just as quietly. Mercedes nodded, her lips in a tight smile, feeling very sorry for her friend.
The front door opened. Puck stood in the doorway and watched Quinn come closer. "Hey," he said softly. "You ok now?" he asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.
"Yeah," Quinn replied, very quietly. "We need to talk," she added.
"Yep we do," Puck thought to himself, he refrained from stating the obvious and just nodded, his lips tight together. "Are you coming in, Mercedes?" he asked, stepping back.
"Just for a while," Mercedes answered, seeing a flash of understanding in Puck's eyes. He got it. Quinn was feeling just a touch isolated. He on the other hand, was in his childhood home, his mom, his dad and his sister were here. Quinn probably felt like she had no one. It wasn't true, but that's probably what she felt. Puck got it.
Mercedes went into the kitchen with Miriam and Ethan. Leah and Beth were with them. Puck and Quinn went into the living room.
"I'm sorry," Quinn began quietly as soon as Puck shut the door. "For running out," she added, needing him to understand that that's what she was sorry for. "But I still can't give my consent for Beth to have the tests or the surgery," she told him.
"But why?" Puck asked. "Can't you just tell me why? Explain it to me?" he really needed to know.
"Because from everything I've learned, all the research I've done," Quinn replied, "I just feel that Beth won't find her place in either world, in the Deaf world or the hearing world," she explained. "There are some people who believe that by us making the decision for her, it's tantamount to abuse. Deafness isn't life threatening, it's not like she needs heart surgery. Cochlear implant is a choice," she said, still not daring to make eye contact with Puck. "We should wait till Beth is older and can make the decision herself, if she wants the implant or not," she finished then sat down, her arms crossed defensively over her chest, looking away from Puck.
"So you don't want her to grow up with the benefit of at least some sort of hearing," Puck stated, "is that it?" he asked. "Why?" he demanded, his arms open wide, trying to gain understanding from somewhere. "There has to be something else," he insisted. "What other people think has never bothered you before," he reminded Quinn.
"Because I can't bear the thought of her being in pain," Quinn shouted as she jumped up, crying. "Alright? I don't want her to be hurt," she finished a little quieter, then sank back onto the sofa, sobbing. "I don't want, can't allow, anyone to hurt my baby," she cried through her tears.
Puck dropped instantly to Quinn's side pulling her into his arms. "Shhh," he comforted against her head. "It's ok," he murmured, stroking her back. "I get it, I do. I don't want her to be hurt or in pain either," he said with a sigh. "But I don't think we should condemn our daughter to a life of silence just because we were too afraid to take a chance for her," he said, his voice intense. He took both of Quinn's hands in his. "Hey," he whispered, making her look into his eyes. "Going for the counselling will give us the answers. If after that we don't feel it's right for her," he shrugged, "then we don't go ahead. Simple. But we have to agree, we have to do the best for our baby. We just have to," he said quietly, hugging her close.
Quinn broke down in tears, crying against Puck's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "so sorry. I'm sorry I ran out," she cried.
"It's ok," Puck said quietly, kissing her head. "But don't do it again," he added with a hint of a laugh. "I can take most things," he said, lifting her chin to look into her eyes again, "but I can't take you leaving me. Don't do it again. Please?" he asked. Quinn hugged Puck back.
"Is it safe to come in yet?" Ethan asked from the doorway.
Puck looked at his dad over his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah, it's safe," he said. "I think we're agreed that we're going to have the tests and the counselling," he told his dad, looking down into Quinn's damp eyes. "We'll make a decision about the surgery once we have all the information," he said with the hint of a smile, "joint decision," he added, his smile getting a little bigger when Quinn nodded at his words.
"I'm going to go," Mercedes said with a smile. "You're alright now?" she asked, looking between both Puck and Quinn. They both nodded back.
"Thank you Mercedes," Quinn said quietly. "Thank you for listening to me, for letting me cry all over you," she said with a little snort of laughter, walking over to hug her friend before she left. "Bye," Quinn called as Mercedes got into her car and drove away.
Puck was in the living room with Beth in his arms, Ethan had just handed her over to him, when Quinn walked back in. "Erm, I just wanted to tell you that Leah's going to a sleep over at your Nana's and I'm taking your mom out to dinner," Ethan said with a hint of a smile. "We may not be back tonight," he whispered loudly as Miriam came up behind him.
Miriam walked past Ethan into the living room, rolling her eyes at him. "There's no may about it," she insisted. "Quinn, honey, Mercedes told us," she said softly. "Now don't go getting upset, she wasn't betraying a confidence she was trying to help, and you're right," she added. "You two don't ever get any privacy, we'll have to see what we can do about that," Miriam said, hugging Quinn tightly.
"Now I feel like I'm chasing you out of your own home," Quinn cried, feeling like the worst ungrateful bitch ever created.
"Well, you're not," Ethan replied. "I get to take the woman I love out to dinner then have her to myself all night without fear of being overheard," he added with a laugh at Miriam's scandalised face.
Puck blushed and shook his head. "Dad, that was just a little more information than I was prepared for," he said with a grimace. Miriam blushed too. After tonight Miriam thought that there might possibly be some news to tell the family, they'd have to work on that, but all the signs were good.
Ethan drove Leah to Nana Connie's and came back for Miriam. Quinn had helped Miriam with her hair and had helped her to chose an outfit for her night out. "Something that says 'this is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. Again'" Miriam explained to Quinn while flicking through her wardrobe.
"How about this?" Quinn asked, pulling out a dress and coordinating jacket.
"Yep, that's it," Miriam agreed, hanging them up on the door. "Are you feeling a bit better now?" she asked Quinn over her shoulder as she held the skirt of the dress out a touch, wondering which shoes to wear with it.
"Mmm," Quinn answered. "I am. I feel a bit more in control," she sighed. "I mean, I know that even after the counselling it'll still be a few months before anything happens, if we decide to go ahead with the cochlear," she added, frowning a little. "And I suppose Puck's right, how can I condemn Beth to a life of silence just through my own fears," she admitted.
Miriam hid a smile. Noah would be thrilled to know that Quinn thought he was right about something. Not that she was likely to tell him, not after the tricks he'd pulled lately, even though he didn't know that she knew about them.
Puck answered Finn's call as Quinn gave Beth her bath. "No, we've got the house to ourselves for the first time in like, forever. We're just going to relax, get Beth to bed and have the night to ourselves, maybe watch a movie or something" he explained as he refused Finn's invitation. "Plus we don't have a baby sitter. But thanks for the invite buddy," he added with a grin. "Maybe next time, ok?" he said, he'd hate to be left out of the loop in the future just because they didn't want to party tonight.
"Whatever, see you at school next week," Finn replied with a sigh. Parties were much more fun when Puck showed up, he always managed to come up with something to do that was fun, exciting and possibly borderline legal.
"Who was that?" Quinn asked, carrying Beth downstairs in her pyjamas.
"Finn, inviting us to a party," Puck replied through a yawn as he stretched. "I refused for both of us," he told Quinn then he stepped towards her and kissed Beth's head. "Daddy has your supper ready," he told the little girl, signing to her as well as speaking. Beth readily identified the sign for milk and bounced in Quinn's arms. "I think it's cool that she recognises some of the stuff we say to her, I'm glad we do the sign classes," he told Quinn.
"Me too," Quinn added, still feeling just a touch awkward, uncomfortable after her behaviour earlier.
Beth drifted off to sleep after her antibiotic and her bottle. Puck carried her up to bed. When he came downstairs he brought a sketch pad and pencils with him. He wanted to draw Quinn. He'd thought about how he could have her pose for him. Despite the evening being fairly cool, the heating in the house made it unnecessary to have the fire lit. Puck lit it anyway, placed a few scatter cushions in front of it and turned the lights down low.
"Would you lie here for me?" Puck asked softly, "just here," he indicated the place. "I want to draw you. All of you," he added, in case she thought he just wanted to draw parts of her again. Good parts. Exciting parts. His favourite parts. The parts that made him groan. The parts that made him grow - at least in one place anyway.
"How do you want me?" Quinn asked, recognising the distraction for what it was, a way for them to be together without descending back into the argument.
"Naked," Puck grinned, thinking it was worth a try. "Always naked," he said with an even bigger smile as Quinn slowly began to remove her clothes. Puck's warm hands moved and posed Quinn so that she lay exactly as he wanted her to. Then he forgot all about his sketch pad. Puck removed his clothes too.
For a long time they touched, kissed and stroked each other. "We probably should go upstairs," Puck whispered against Quinn's throat. "If we want to take this a bit further, we really, really need to go upstairs," he groaned with a little laugh.
Quinn allowed Puck to pull her up to her feet, she pressed her body close to his as they kissed again and again. Puck flicked the switch on the fire and the flames disappeared. He stepped backwards, Quinn still in his arms, their lips glued together. The whole way up the stairs they stuck close together, not as much as a slip of paper could get between them.
Puck lay Quinn across their bed. Without losing contact with her, Puck blindly reached for his drawer, his hand searching for a condom. He didn't want to break the kiss, he didn't want to turn away from Quinn. His fingers came up empty. He pulled away from her to look in his drawer. "Ah crap," he groaned. "My dad must have been helping himself again," he told Quinn with a frown. "Hold that thought," he said, dragging on sweatpants, t-shirt and sneakers. "I'll be twenty minutes, tops," he told her, dropping a kiss on her lips then leaning back for another longer, hotter kiss. "Oh God," he groaned, "he has a lot to answer for," he sighed, pulling away and picking up his phone and some money. "Twenty minutes," he promised, then jogged down the stairs and out of the front door.
An hour later, Quinn had lost patience, lost the mood and was planning revenge on Puck for leaving her hanging. She answered the phone when it rang. "He's been what?" Quinn demanded, sure she hadn't heard Ethan properly.
"Arrested," Ethan repeated. "Apparently he fit the description of a guy who robbed the drug store a couple of months ago. The same clerk was on duty tonight and when Noah walked in, he activated the silent alarm," he explained. "I'm at the police station with him right now," he assured Quinn. "It's totally bogus, we both know that, but he's been detained to take part in a line up," Ethan sighed. "Like he's not going to get picked out if he's the only one in it with a mohawk," he muttered more to himself than to Quinn. "He's already told me it's my fault he even had to go out tonight. I'm sorry," he added.
"Well, thanks for letting me know," Quinn said to Ethan in a stilted voice. "I was getting a little worried," she added, pure understatement, she thought to herself. Quinn hadn't been getting worried, she'd been getting mad. Furious. At least now she knew he hadn't just taken off as payback for her walking out during their argument. Still, it was a pretty shitty situation.
Miriam walked into the house just after Ethan had hung up. "Hi," she muttered to Quinn, sounding as pissed off as Quinn felt.
"Hey," Quinn replied with a sigh. "So, what do you make of all this?" she asked, flicking the switch on the coffee pot. "Do you think it'll get sorted out tonight?" she said with a frown.
"I hope so," Miriam replied. "You know, I've been thinking about it and I don't think Noah even had his mohawk when the robbery took place. Can you remember when he shaved his hair into that again?" she asked Quinn, really concentrating.
"It was about two or three weeks before school started," Quinn reminded Miriam. "Remember? He got the tattoo of Beth on his arm and had his hair shaved to try and distract you," she added with a snort of laughter and a roll of her eyes. She knew that Miriam didn't know yet that Puck had got another tattoo, this one in memory of his grandpa. Ethan and Puck had gone together and both of them had something done in memory of him. At least it was hidden under his shirt. Well, so far it was hidden. She wondered if even his dad knew about the third one.
"That's right," Miriam nodded, leaning forward in her seat. "That means it's mistaken identity for sure because the robbery took place at the end of July. Noah was still shaving his whole head in July," she finished, smiling triumphantly.
Quinn and Miriam were still sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee two hours later when Puck and his dad came through the door. Miriam dived out of her seat. "What happened? What did they say? What's going to happen now?" she demanded, not giving either of them a chance to respond.
"I'm going to go shower," Puck sighed. "That place was filthy," he shuddered. "Dad can tell you everything," he told his mom as he walked to the stairs. He turned round and walked back to the kitchen as his mom sat back down. "You know? Even though I've done nothing wrong, I feel like a criminal. They took my fingerprints, my DNA, my picture. They even took pictures of my tattoos, said they're identifying markers. How ridiculous is that?" he demanded crossly then walked back to the stairs, dragging his shirt off as he went.
Quinn glanced at Miriam's face. She seemed surprisingly calm to say she'd just had an eyeful of amazing artwork thrust upon her. Miriam turned to look at Quinn with her eyebrow raised in question.
"What?" Miriam demanded. "You don't for one second think I didn't know about that, did you?" she asked with a smirk.
Quinn looked at Miriam with narrowed eyes, her lips twisted just a touch. "Well, I know I didn't tell you about it," she said slowly. "Who told you?" she asked. Miriam glanced at Ethan. Quinn turned to look at Puck's dad, saw the embarrassed, slightly shamefaced look. "You told on him?" she cried.
"I got threatened," Ethan replied, sounding like a kid who'd just been caught doing something naughty. "You don't know what she threatened to cut off," he added in a much quieter voice.
"I can guess," Puck answered, walking back into the kitchen, still just in his sweatpants, his shirt draped over his shoulder. "I get threatened with the same thing all the time," he said, mock glaring at Quinn. "And for that dad, for ratting me out to mom, you owe me so much more than a box of condoms," he grinned. Puck turned his back on his mom, letting her get a better look at one of his newest pieces of work. "I know you think I'll regret it later in life," he acknowledged Miriam's worries, turning back around. "But I won't," he promised. "How could I ever regret my daughter," he passed his hand over his upper arm, "my grandpa," he nodded with a flick of his head over his shoulder, "or Quinn?" he added, dropping his shirt to reveal the tattoo that even Ethan didn't know about, 'Forever Quick' tattooed on the left side of his chest in beautiful italic script. "And I can't promise that there won't be more. I know you don't like them mom, but I do. It's my body," he shrugged, "me that has to live with them," he added, waiting for his mom to blow her top.
Surprisingly Miriam stayed quiet. She nodded a little as if trying to make her mind up, sort out her thoughts, find the words she wanted to say. "Well," she began, looking up at her son. "If I'm prepared to accept that my husband is covered in tattoos then I have to accept that my son will probably follow in his father's footsteps," she finished with a smile as her words sunk into Puck's brain.
"Your husband?" Puck asked, a beaming smile growing on his face. "Not your ex husband?" he added, looking between his mom and dad. "You're getting married again?" he demanded, grinning at their shy smiles. "Cool," he breathed. "I get to be best man, right?" he demanded of Ethan.
Ethan shrugged. "I thought maybe your Nana and Aunt Freda could walk with me, you and Leah can walk with your mom," he said quietly, lifting Miriam's hand to his lips. "And yes, it'll be at Temple," he added, seeing Puck roll his eyes. "You won't get struck by lightening or come down with a plague just for stepping inside the synagogue, you know," he mocked.
Quinn looked surprised, her eyebrows almost in her hairline. "I wouldn't bet on that," she threw in quickly, leaning away from Puck as he went to grab her close. "Go shower," she ordered. "I'll be right behind you," she added as she stood up to follow him.
"Don't forget this," Ethan called softly, throwing a box to Quinn. "I felt bad about what happened, we stopped off at the petrol station on our way home, that's the biggest box they had," he said with a grin at her blushing face. As Quinn reached the bottom of the stairs she heard Ethan say something else. "I didn't bother for us," he told Miriam. "I thought maybe we could practice without them, see what happens," he added.
Miriam looked lovingly into his eyes, leaning forwards for their lips to meet. "I can live with that," she whispered. "I always wanted three kids," she reminded Ethan. "We already made two fantastic kids, maybe we'll get lucky again," she added against his lips.
Very quietly Quinn walked up the stairs, a huge grin on her face. She wouldn't tell Puck what his mom and dad were planning, she'd leave that up to them, if there was anything to tell in the near future. "Hey, that would be so cool, Beth getting a little aunt or uncle as a playmate. Weird but cool. Oh God. Could the world handle another Puck?" she thought to herself, just barely holding in the groan. "Probably not," she answered herself with a little giggle. Still, as long as the next baby in the family was Puck's sibling not his offspring, then Quinn could totally handle that. Would Puck be able to handle it? Maybe, maybe not. Time would tell.
*Based on the personal experience of one of my Deaf colleagues and her husband, also Deaf. They have a daughter (hearing) and a son (Deaf). Helen wanted it to happen, Jonathon thought it was abusing their son's rights as a Deaf person and taking away part of his identity. They had a lot of issues to work through before they agreed for him to have cochlear implants. I'm glad to say that they did work it out.