Disclaimer: No claim to ownership at all.
A/N: Sometimes some people get to know a little more than they should. And sometimes that person is your mother and that can lead to a whole heap of trouble...*
"Mr Schue?" Finn called nervously, his hand raised just above his shoulder, looking hesitant.
"Yes Finn?" Mr Schue replied, turning away from the whiteboard.
"What about Single Ladies for the final number?" Finn asked. "You know, like if the girls sing it and the guys dance it or something, maybe?" he trailed off, feeling a little embarrassed, realising his idea was a bit odd.
"I was thinking Forget You," Tina said, even less confidently.
"I was thinking maybe Hips Don't Lie," Santana added, wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut.
"Oh, hey," Mr Schue nodded, starting to grin just a little. "That's it, that's the one. Good going Santana," he nodded even more, his expression approving. He wrote it on the board. "Alright. Here's our three numbers," he turned back and looked at the group. "When Doves Cry, Puck. Lady Marmalade, Santana, Mercedes, Tina, Brittany and Quinn. Hips Don't Lie. I want try outs for this one," he called, beaming now at his students. "Go away, practice then come back tomorrow and wow me," he said as the bell went.
Mercedes caught up with Quinn at the door. "Are you going to give it a go?" she asked Quinn.
"No," Quinn shook her head, her high pony swishing round her head. "We have to see Dr Parkinson this afternoon," she confided to Mercedes, the niggle of fear making her voice wobble just a touch.
"Who's Dr Parkinson?" Mercedes asked quietly. She thought she might have heard Quinn mention the name before, but she wasn't sure.
"She's the endocrinologist," Quinn replied.
"And she looks after your endos?" Mercedes asked, not knowing what an endocrinologist actually specialised in.
"Genetics," Quinn answered, smiling. "We've had tests done on both of us and on Beth to find out if her hearing loss is something that may be likely in any other children we have," she explained. "Not that we're even considering any future children," she hurriedly added, waving her hands back and forth across herself. "Not for like twenty years or something," she laughed, with a mocking roll of her eyes.
"Speak for yourself," Puck said, unashamedly interrupting Quinn and Mercedes' conversation by sneaking up behind Quinn and hugging her into his chest, walking with her tight up in front of him. "I plan on getting you pregnant again way sooner than that," he murmured into her ear, his hands resting on her stomach, still holding her close. "Or at least practicing a whole hell of a lot," he added with a grin.
Quinn's hands went backwards, catching Puck's butt, her head back on his shoulder. "If I'm not touching thirty next time, Puckerman," she told him with a matching grin on her face, "your mom is going to kill you," she reminded him. "She keeps telling you that," she added, shifting to see his face out of the corner of her eye.
"I can handle my mom," Puck lied, a big smile on his face.
"Yeah, sure you can," Quinn laughed, turning in his arms and walking backwards. "When you finally figure out how to do that, send me an invite, I love fire works," she sniggered, pressing a kiss to his jaw before waltzing out of his arms and heading for her next class.
"Don't forget we have that appointment after school," Puck called after her, waving a hand at her just before she turned the corner. Quinn waved back, acknowledging she'd heard him.
"The test results are conclusive," Dr Parkinson told Puck and Quinn as they sat in front of her desk hand in hand, both slightly nervous. "You both carry a mutated gene," she said, reading from the pages on her desk. "If you were to inherit the gene from just one parent, you're unlikely to have any form of deafness. If you were to inherit the gene from both parents, you are very unlikely to have any hearing," she finished, watching the young couple in front of her.
"So does that mean if we have anymore kids they'll probably be deaf too?" Quinn asked, her voice a quivering whisper.
"It is highly likely that any future children you have together would be affected by the same condition as Beth, yes," Dr Parkinson nodded, her hands folded on her desk. "Is there anyone you'd like to speak to? One of our counselors maybe?" she asked, aware that many people, when faced with the knowledge that it wasn't 'just one of those things' that caused a problem for their child, blamed themselves and each other.
"How do we both have the same gene and yet not be affected?" Puck asked, fairly sure he didn't understand a word of what had just been said.
"You're both carriers of the mutated gene," Dr Parkinson explained. "That means, in simple terms, that you both inherited the mutated gene from one of your parents. Beth has inherited the gene from both of you which is why her inner ear didn't develop properly during the pregnancy. The only way Beth will ever have any type of hearing is by using hearing aids or by cochlear implant. I'm sorry I can't give you better news," she added a touch sadly.
"Thank you, Dr Parkinson, you've been," Quinn said, her voice sounding strange to her own ears, "very helpful. Thank you," she finished, after she'd managed to swallow the tears that had tried to choke her. Quinn stood and held out a hand to shake Dr Parkinson's, years of Fabray politeness training taking over instinctively. Puck did the same, following Quinn's lead.
In the parking lot they sat in the car without speaking, for endless silent moments. "She has to have the surgery," Quinn finally whispered. "I can't believe I was being so stupid about it," she said, laughing at herself, not a pleasant laugh. "I think, in the back of my mind, I thought they were going to tell us something different, that it could be fixed with an injection and she'd be ok, I don't know what I thought," she admitted, her head falling to her hands. "Oh God, what an idiot," she breathed sitting back up. "It's all our fault," she suddenly realised. "It is, it's our fault, both of us, we're mutants, that's why Beth is deaf, we should never have any more kids. Ever," she added, turning to look out of the passenger window.
"That's not what Dr Parkinson said," Puck replied quietly, going over the consultation in his mind in minute detail. "She said we both carry a mutated gene, it happens," he shrugged, "millions of people have mutated genes, what do you think causes red hair?" he asked, only semi joking. "She told us about CVS testing," he reminded Quinn. "She said we'd be offered CVS in any future pregnancy as a matter of routine because of the gene."
"Do you know what they do, how they actually do a CVS test?" Quinn turned slowly in her seat to ask. "They'd stick a needle through my stomach to take a sample from the placenta," she explained, nodding as Puck winced. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she told him. "Plus, what would we do with the information anyway?" she demanded.
"Yeah," Puck sighed, pulling her towards him, hugging her head under his chin. "It's not like we'd ever change things, is it?" he replied, staring narrowly towards a group of skateboarding youths who were hanging round the lot, causing a nuisance. "Come on, let's go home," he said, kissing the top of Quinn's head then straightening up in his seat.
Puck slumped in front of the TV. He'd read and read and read through the information that Dr Parkinson had sent them away with. He'd only briefly heard about his great aunt who was born deaf. If his great grandparents had the same mutated genes, how had they given birth to two hearing children and only one deaf child? The gene had obviously been passed through the generations, but the only one to have been affected by the gene in three generations was Beth.
"My head's spinning," Puck sighed to Quinn. "Is there anyone in your family at all that you know of?" he asked.
"No one I can think of. My dad couldn't think of anyone in his family either. He doesn't want to ask my mom in case she asks why he wants to know," Quinn replied, leafing through the pages of the report.
"Dad," Puck called, standing up. "Was there just the three of them? Grandpa, Aunt Eva and their sister, Riva?" he asked as Ethan came into the living room carrying Beth.
"I think so, I never heard about any other brothers or sisters," Ethan replied, pulling faces at Beth to make her chuckle. "Call Aunt Eva, she'll know for sure," he advised.
"Do you think we should worry?" Ethan asked Miriam quietly when he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later. Miriam looked at him, just a little bit puzzled. "Those two, doing all this family research," he explained. "They're not trying to tell us something, are they?" he added, looking even more worried.
"No," Miriam answered with a smile. "Quinn said when they came home that Dr Parkinson told them if they ever do have any more children, they'd probably be affected by the same condition as Beth, I think Noah's trying to work out if Beth has the same condition as Riva had, I think they just both feel responsible, like they caused this, rather than it being something out of the blue," she said, wondering now if she'd picked it up right.
"So long as we don't get told in the next couple of weeks that we're going to be grandparents again," Ethan muttered, bending to kiss Miriam behind her ear. "Do we tell them tonight?" he asked quietly.
Miriam turned slowly away from the stove, nodding. "I think we probably should," she smiled, her lip between her teeth. "I'm not sure we can keep it a secret much longer anyway," she admitted, stretching up to meet Ethan's lips.
"Aunt Eva says there was just the three of them," Puck announced, looking down at the buttons on the phone as he walked into the kitchen. He looked up to find his mom and dad springing apart looking very, very guilty. "What are you teaching my daughter in here?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, keeping the smile hidden.
"Nothing," Ethan denied quickly. "We were just watching Nana cooking, weren't we, sweetie?" he asked Beth.
"That didn't look like cooking to me," Puck replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked, almost frowning at his parents, making them feel like they were the children.
"Not right at this moment," Ethan answered, a huge smile breaking out on his face. "Is there anything you'd like to tell your mother?" he countered, his eyes flicking to Puck's chest.
Puck narrowed his gaze at his dad, his mouth set. "Touché dad," he thought to himself. "Nothing at all," he replied, turning to leave the kitchen.
"I already know," Miriam called over her shoulder.
"Already know what?" Puck asked with a gulp, stopping in his tracks turning back to face his mom very, very slowly.
Miriam turned fully, one hand on her hip, one hand on the counter beside the stove. She gave Puck her patented 'moms know absolutely everything' look. "Noah Elijah Puckerman. The day you can get one over on me is the day the world stops turning," Miriam announced. "And seriously? Piercings? Don't come crying to me if they get infected," she told him, turning back to the stove.
Puck looked in amazement at his dad, he held his hands out, shook his head, his mouth opened and closed several times before he could speak. "How does she do that?" Puck asked his dad. "What? Do you come into our room at night and check me over for any changes?" he demanded. "Who told you?" he asked, still looking surprised.
"That will have been me," Quinn owned up, behind Puck in the doorway. "I couldn't believe you'd do something so stupid, they're worse than a tattoo, so yeah, it was me, I told on you," she told him, sounding crosser and crosser. "Deal with it," she added.
"It's a motherhood conspiracy," Puck whispered, looking up at the ceiling. "Seriously, they all stick together," he informed Ethan. "No matter what it is, they all stick together," he said, more to himself than to anyone in the room. "So suddenly you tell my mother everything?" he demanded of Quinn. "Did you tell her that we stopped using condoms too?" he asked, knowing that Miriam would take a different view on that.
"You stopped what?" Ethan shouted, almost dropping Beth. "What did I tell you? What did I just say?" he demanded, glaring at Miriam.
"Don't panic," Miriam smiled. "And yes, Quinn told me about that too," she nodded. "They're using something else now, they're safe," she informed Ethan. "Breathe, deep breath. Breathe," she encouraged when it looked like Ethan was about to pass out in shock.
"You really tell her everything?" Puck asked Quinn.
"Of course," Quinn shrugged, "who else am I going to talk to about stuff? None of the kids at school can help, I can't talk to my own mother. I like talking to your mom," she admitted.
"Like what sort of things have you been telling her?" Puck asked, getting a little more nervous.
"I know where you keep your stash of designs," Miriam said, using her fingers to start a list. "I know that you drew a design on Quinn in marker pens and it took days to wash off, I know…." she drew it out, thinking of some of the other stuff that Quinn had confided in her, wondering how in depth she should go.
Quinn whispered something in Puck's ear. His chin hit his chest and his eyes popped out on stalks, his eyebrows touching his mohawk. "You told her that?" he cried. "Jeez, why not just invite everyone in to freakin' watch," he shouted. "Who needs a private life when you can tell my mother everything," he snarled, rushing past Quinn to run upstairs.
"I think he's a bit upset," Ethan commented, stating the obvious. "Should I go talk to him, do you think?" he asked.
"No," Quinn replied. "I think I should. And apologise," she added, her nose wrinkled up, a frown on her face. She felt guilty, really, really guilty. And rightly so. She perhaps shouldn't have told Miriam as much as she had.
Quinn knocked quietly on the bedroom door. She opened it to find Puck laying on their bed on his back, his arms crossed under his head. "Can I come in?" she asked softly, already stepping through the door and closing it behind her.
"What? You're on your own?" Puck asked sarcastically. "Gonna take notes? Make a report to share with my mother later?" he asked snidely.
"I'm sorry," Quinn said very, very quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed near his hip, facing him. "I shouldn't have told your mom that stuff, I shouldn't have confided in her," she admitted, feeling even more ashamed of herself when Puck replied.
"You think?" he demanded, his head rising up just a touch.
"Look, I don't know what's normal and what isn't," Quinn tried to explain. "I can't ask most of the girls at school, they probably wouldn't know either. I'm not asking Santana," she added with vehemence. No way would she ask Santana. "I didn't know that every guy likes to measure his….his…well, you know," she stalled, nodding towards the body part she meant. "At least, not that often," she muttered under her breath. "And the shaving thing," she added, sounding a little more upset. "I mean, I like to be neat but the patterns that you do are well, I didn't know if that was normal," she cried. "Look, I'm really, really sorry, ok?" she sobbed, falling onto his chest in tears.
Puck winced as Quinn's head crashed into one of his new piercings. Automatically his arms went round her, holding her close, his lips in her hair. "Shhhh," he comforted, resigned to the fact that his mom and now probably his dad had a full and intimate knowledge of what went on in his bedroom between him and Quinn. And yes, he was absolutely totally embarrassed. Mortified beyond belief. "Just please, don't do it again," he pleaded. "If you want to ask something, can you check it out with me first? See if it's ok to ask my mom? I'd rather she didn't know everything that goes on in here," he said, glancing round the room. "You didn't tell her about…" Puck whispered things into Quinn's ear.
"No, I didn't tell her that," Quinn replied with a little laugh. "Or that. No, that's still a secret too. Nope, no. No, no, none of that, I didn't tell her any of that," she answered, for all the things he whispered. Quinn's head lifted a little. "I really am sorry," she whispered, leaning forwards a little to lock her lips with his. Puck demonstrated exactly why she shouldn't tell his mom everything.
"Dinner," Ethan called up the stairs.
"We should get dressed," Puck told Quinn, his hand still busy, stroking her keeping her body trembling.
"One more minute," Quinn whispered, turning slightly and rejoining their lips.
"Didn't you hear me shouting?" Ethan asked when he knocked on their door ten minutes later.
"Did you lock the door?" Puck whispered, looking down into Quinn's eyes. Slowly she shook her head, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. They both looked towards the door as the handle slowly twisted downwards. "Dad, wait, we heard you, we'll be there in a minute," Puck shouted back, his voice urgent, full of panic. He really, really didn't want his dad to walk in right now. "Dad," Puck all but screamed as the door edged open.
The urgency must have registered with Ethan because instead of opening further, the door suddenly slammed shut. "Sorry," Ethan's hesitant apology came through the wood. "God, I'm so sorry. Dinner's ready and….well, dinner's ready," he finished, blowing out a huge breath. "Should I tell your mom you'll be down in a minute or do you need longer?" he asked.
Puck glanced down, he shook his head very slightly, pushing up and off of Quinn. "We'll be right there," he answered his dad, sounding totally fed up.
Very quickly they both got dressed and went down to the kitchen. Beth was in her highchair, sat between Leah and an empty chair. Puck took the one to the side of Beth, Quinn sat at his other side. "Hi baby," Puck signed. "Ready for dinner?" he asked her silently. Beth patted her hands on the tray in front of her highchair.
Quinn watched the looks that were passing between Ethan and Miriam from her place sat opposite them. Puck was feeding Beth, Leah was in la la land as usual. Quinn could feel that something was in the air, she nudged Puck under the table.
"What?" he signed when he saw the surreptitious flick of her eyes towards his parents and her lips making a silent 'shh'.
"Something's happening," Quinn signed back. They both glanced over at his parents. They were oblivious to the conversation between Quinn and Puck, they hadn't learned enough sign yet to keep up with them. "I think they're going to tell us something," she signed. "I think I know what it is," she added with a further glance at Miriam.
"Tell me," Puck signed, rolling his eyes. He had to turn back to Beth to spoon more of her dinner into her waiting mouth.
"I think your mom is," Quinn signed then stopped as Ethan cleared his throat.
"Errm, we have something to tell you," Ethan said, looking a touch embarrassed.
"What's that?" Puck grumbled half-heartedly. "You going to share with mom that you nearly walked in on us?" he added under his breath.
"We have some news for you," Ethan began again. "I hope, we hope, you'll be happy about it," he added nervously.
Puck stopped what he was doing, the spoon half way to Beth's mouth. "Oh my God," he breathed then glanced at Quinn. At the same time they both signed the same word. "Can it please be a brother, I already have a little sister," Puck asked, grinning at his dad's shocked expression.
Leah's head shot up, staring at her parents. "You're going to have a new baby?" she demanded, her eyes open wide. "I won't be the littlest anymore?" she asked, a huge grin forming on her face. "Yes," she hissed, doing a fist pump in the air. "Oh yeah, Big Sister Leah, Big Sister Leah," she sang.
"And you're all ok about this?" Miriam asked, slightly unnerved by the total acceptance from both of her children. She wasn't sure how they were going to react when they found out that actually, that wasn't what they were going to tell them.
"It's cool," Puck nodded, smiling. "Where will it sleep?" he asked suddenly. The house was currently full, even the little study room had been converted into a nursery for Beth, it wasn't big enough to hold two babies.
"Well, we've been looking at a new house, six bedrooms all with their own bathrooms, music room, movie room, three living rooms, huge kitchen, it's enormous," Miriam enthused, hoping that Ethan would just go along with her on this, hoping that he wouldn't jump in and tell them that this was the news they'd been about to tell them. "We put in an offer," she admitted.
"Where is it?" Quinn asked, hardly able to swallow past the block in her throat.
"Dudley Road," Ethan replied, smiling happily. "It has a fabulous pool and there's even an…."
"An apartment over the garage," Quinn finished, swallowing hard, her eyes closed. "Mrs Schaeffer's house," she whispered, swallowing again. "Right across the street from my parents," she finished, turning to look sadly at Puck.
"Crap," Puck whispered back.
"Would it be that bad?" Miriam asked, reaching across the table to Quinn. "To live across the street from them?" she almost pleaded.
"I don't think I could," Quinn whispered, not able to find her voice. "I'm really happy for you, please, excuse me," she said with a sob as she stood and ran out of the kitchen.
The Puckermans all sat and looked at each other uncomfortably. A hundred different options flitted through Puck's brain, he dismissed every one of them as ridiculous. No, he and Quinn had to stay together, they couldn't live in separate houses, they couldn't lose what they had with each other, with Beth.
"Dad, could you feed Beth for me please?" Puck asked, standing to follow Quinn. Ethan nodded and moved round the table to help his granddaughter eat her dinner.
"I can't go there," Quinn cried into her pillow as Puck sat down beside her on the bed. "I'll have to, have to, I don't know, but I can't live across from her and neither can Beth," she said, she knew what she was talking about.
"I know it's what my dad's wanted for years, to move there," Puck replied, his hand stroking up and down Quinn's back. "But I get it, I don't particularly want to live across from her either. Maybe we can come up with something," he shrugged. Maybe they could rent an apartment somewhere, maybe near school or something.
Miriam was worrying in the kitchen. She'd thought that house would be the perfect choice. Noah, Quinn and Beth could have the two bed apartment over the garage, Leah could have her pick from the other bedrooms, Connie could make her choice too and they'd still have guest rooms. It could be perfect. But she didn't want to live across the street from Judy Fabray either. Crap.
"How about we withdraw the offer and keep looking?" Ethan offered. He didn't want the whole family to be upset or ripped apart, he wanted them all to be together, it had taken a long time for it all to be back to how it should have always been, he didn't want to lose it again.
"We still never actually told them," Miriam suddenly remembered. "They think I'm pregnant," she laughed.
"Well, we do keep trying," Ethan shrugged. "It might happen. I hope they won't be disappointed that it's just my mother moving in with us," he said with a smile. Connie had been really struggling since the death of her husband, she was fading away before their very eyes. It was time to do something about it, time to bring her back into the land of the living, and if that meant a bigger house then that's what they'd get. Just not across the street from Judy Fabray. "Here you go sweetie," Ethan murmured to Beth, giving her the last spoonful. "Was that good?" he asked with a huge grin, Beth grinned back, showing off her two teeth. "It was, wasn't it? That was good."
*I have taken liberties with the information about genetics, but seriously, it is far too involved to put into a few words in a fluff fiction such as this. I hope you can forgive me.