A/N: Out of respect I felt I needed to write this author's note. When I first planned and wrote this chapter it was well before Cory's death and when I planned the baby's birthday I did it in honor of my girlfriend's grandson whose birthday is July 12th and since I literally counted back forty weeks for when Quinn got pregnant it was too late to change it. I meant no harm as like I said before this was written months and months before it happened.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, anything mentioned, any songs, quotes, or books used.

Chapter 21: You're My Angel

"It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight."

-Vladimir Nobokov; Lolita

/

Rachel had decided to make Quinn breakfast knowing that her wife could go into labor any second. She was due the next day and she was bitchy, tired, whiny… and bitchy.

And Rachel wanted to do something nice for her.

She remembered back to when Quinn was pregnant with Beth and aside from the occasional grumpy morning Quinn was actually very pleasant for her entire pregnancy. But unlike last time… this time Quinn was a bitch… not the whole time, but definitely recently. Especially the last few days; so Rachel knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was going to happen soon.

She also remembered that last time during Quinn's occasional bouts of bitchiness the one thing that worked was bacon; so that is why she got up very early and decided to make her girl breakfast in bed.

Quinn was slowly waking from her sleep when Rachel came into the bedroom carrying a tray with eggs, French toast and bacon… along with juice and decaffeinated coffee. She laughed internally as Quinn started sniffing; while still half asleep and once she caught a whiff of the bacon her eyes popped open and she looked over at her wife.

Quinn was roused from her sleep with one of her favorite smells and as her eyes popped open she was greeted with one of her favorite sights… Rachel.

And Rachel with bacon was even better.

"Hey," Quinn said sleepily as she tried to adjust and move into a sitting position. After several attempts and a few cuss words Quinn was finally sitting upright and Rachel was able to put the tray down in front of her. "Baby… what's this for?"

"Just for you being you," Rachel said sweetly and Quinn swooned.

Yup, she still swooned; even all these years later.

"And I know you've been stressed out with the… with the…" she trailed off because she didn't want to wake the sleeping giant- so to speak- but it was too late.

"With the being too fat to move," Quinn finished for her and Rachel cursed herself for her stupid stammering.

"No baby, you're not fat," Rachel took a seat beside her on the bed and saw that Quinn was rolling her eyes. "You're pregnant… it's normal."

"I don't think it's normal to be this fat," she said before tearing into a piece of bacon and Rachel had enough tact and of course brains in her head to not make a comment about how she was eating. She just kept her mouth shut and let Quinn talk. "I mean," she continued muffled as she talked with her mouth full. "I wasn't this fat for Beth… or this hungry."

"Well you were a teenager when you had Beth," Rachel said and instantly wished she could take the words back. They were still hanging in the air- if it were a cartoon she could pull them out of the air and stuff them back into her mouth… but this wasn't a cartoon.

This was real life.

And this was Quinn she had just said those words to.

And as she looked at her wife who had hurt and anger in her eyes, she thought- One of these days I'll learn.

"Oh so now I'm old too," Quinn said the words Rachel knew she was going to hear. "I'm old and fat."

"No of course not baby," Rachel tried but Quinn was giving her a dirty look. "Quinn please don't be mad at me I-" she stopped talking when Quinn put her hand on her stomach. "What… What is it?"

"My water just broke," she said. Rachel's mouth dropped open and she hopped up off the bed like it was on fire. She looked down at the clearly defined wetness on the bed and it took her body a few minutes to catch up with her brain.

Which was going a mile a minute.

And then she caught up and she headed for the door.

"We need to call 911… or boil water or," and with that she was gone.

"Or call my doctor," Quinn said as she continued to eat her bacon.

"Right call the doctor," Rachel said from the other room.

"Tell him that my water broke and we're on the way to the hospital," Quinn shouted across the apartment; and again went back to her bacon.

"Right okay," Rachel said walking back into the room carrying the phone. "What are you doing?" She said when she saw the sight before her; Quinn looked up to see her shocked expression.

"Eating?" Quinn said it as a question because wasn't it obvious what she was doing?

"Quinn you need to get up, and get dressed."

"I know… but I also need to eat this bacon," she stuffed another piece into her mouth.

"Quinn!" Rachel shouted and rolled her eyes but at the same time the call connected. "Yes um… D-Dr. Williams please," she said into the phone and walked back out of the room. If Quinn wasn't going to panic neither was she.

That attitude lasted all of twenty seconds.

Twenty seconds later; Quinn was just finishing up her last piece of bacon when Rachel came storming back into the room.

"Okay enough of this Quinn… we need to go, you need to get dressed, and we need to get a taxi before I have a goddamn nervous breakdown," she was at her wits end.

And Quinn just giggled.

"Calm down Rachel," Quinn told her as she struggled to get out of the bed. Rachel was there in an instant to help her and Quinn's heart swelled at the action.

"I wish I could," Rachel told her as she got Quinn to her feet and helped her get dressed. "I don't understand why you aren't freaking out."

"I'm sure I will be," Quinn promised. "Just please don't break up with me if I get mean in there," she asked and this time Rachel swooned.

"Baby," Rachel cooed. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay."

"And also, I've seen you get mean… it's not that scary," and that earned her a glare from Quinn HBIC style; but Rachel certainly wasn't scared.

A little turned on.

But definitely not scared.

"You don't scare me Quinn… you never have," she said. "Now let's go," she grabbed the back pack that had clothes for Quinn and the baby in it and she nearly shoved Quinn out the door.

"How is she doing?" Santana asked as she finally arrived into the waiting room where Brittany, Puck, Kurt, Blaine, Mike, Tina, Rachel's dads, and Quinn's mom and Richard waited.

"She's doing okay," Brittany said and heard a few grumbles behind her. "I mean health wise she's fine… but she is very, very, um…"

"Bitchy," Kurt finished for her and Brittany nodded.

"Yeah that."

"Yeah well maybe all she needs is her bff," Santana said and walked toward the room that Brittany had pointed to. When she opened the door she saw Quinn sitting up on the bed and Rachel was beside her.

Rachel was holding a wet cloth to Quinn's head and trying to feed her ice chips.

"I don't fucking want ice chips… I want a fucking hamburger!" She shouted and Rachel curled her lip in disgust.

"Well you can't have one right now," Rachel told her and Santana heard Quinn growl.

"Hey bitches," she said as she walked into the room and that was when she saw Quinn's fierce glare land on her.

"Well look who finally showed up."

"I'm here ain't I?" Santana said with a bite to her tone and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Santana… my water broke yesterday… I have been in this hospital for eighteen fucking hours… and you finally showed up," Santana could tell she was upset and she said the only things she could think of.

"Yeah but you still haven't shit out the kid yet, right? So I didn't miss anything," she was trying to make light of it but that only pissed Quinn off even more.

"That's not the fucking point!" She screamed and tried to get up but Rachel held her down.

"Baby," Rachel said sweetly but Quinn ignored her and continued her rant.

"If this kid wasn't the biggest fucking pain in my ass… and I mean that quite literally… he would have already been born and my so-called best friend would have missed it," and Quinn knew she had crossed a line when she saw the hurt in Santana's eyes. She tried to take it back but it was too late.

"Oh I'm sorry if the world doesn't stop for you Q… I'm sorry that my tour with Pink… with fucking PINK isn't as important to you as it is to me, and I'm sorry that I didn't know ahead of fucking time that you were going to go into labor early when I happened to be all the way across the fucking country in the middle of a fucking concert."

"San," Rachel tried but stopped when Santana held her hand up.

"No Rachel, you don't have to tell me to behave for Quinn's sake, or on Quinn's fucking behalf, because I'm gone," and with that Santana left the room in tears. If she had looked back she would've seen that Quinn was in tears too.

"Do you want me to," Rachel was going to ask if Quinn wanted her to go after Santana but Quinn was shaking her head no; so she left it at that. Quinn and Santana would work it out eventually. She was just sad that they were fighting on the day that Quinn and Rachel's son was going to be born.

/

Santana stormed out of the delivery room and into the waiting room; she walked right by all of Quinn's family and friends and out of the building. Brittany looked around at all the confused faces and she followed her wife.

She caught up to her near the front door.

"What happened?" She called and Santana turned around.

"Nothing happened… I left my tour behind to come here and get yelled at by my best friend for not being here sooner… fuck her."

"San-"

"No Brittany no… I swear to god if you take her side right now," Santana was angry and upset. That much was obvious but Brittany knew exactly why Quinn was so upset and she needed for Santana to know as well.

"This isn't about sides San," she said softly and could see that her wife was calming down. "I know that Quinn hurt you in there, that much is obvious… but baby she is really stressed out right now and she's worried," Santana's eyebrows lifted at those words.

"Worried? Why worried?" Brittany could hear the panic in her tone and she needed to set her straight.

"Nothing bad has happened," Brittany told her and she released a heavy sigh and then calmed herself down enough to listen to what her wife was saying. "Quinn is just… well she's Quinn; you know if things don't go the way she expects or wants them to go then she starts to worry and get stressed out. And the doctor's told her that she needs to stop stressing out because that isn't good for the baby."

"Okay," Santana said and she could feel the anger leaving her. "But I mean you said everything is okay," Brittany nodded. "So then what is the deal with the kid?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "He's just taking his time. "I mean it's nice and warm inside there… why would he want to leave?" Santana shuddered at the imagery.

"Gross Britt… never say anything like that ever again," Brittany giggled. "But Quinn said something about eighteen hours," Brittany nodded. "Why is it taking so long?"

"I don't know… I just know that her water broke but she didn't go into labor for real until like six hours ago and it's not even the tough labor yet. Quinn is just worried and stressing herself out… and being mean. She wasn't just mean to you Santana… she's been really mean to Rachel and the nurses… she even threw a bedpan at an orderly." At that Santana giggled.

"She just needs to calm down before things do start going wrong."

"And I didn't help," Santana rested her hands on her hips now feeling really guilty about her fight with her best friend.

"No… but you didn't know any of this either."

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"I'm going back in there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea San," she could tell that Brittany was worried too. "I mean more stress could mean really bad things and-"

"I promise I won't stress her out," she winked and Brittany knew she wouldn't.

When Santana again walked into Quinn's room she was greeted by a similar sight. Rachel was still patting he head with the cloth but this time Quinn wasn't grumbling and she was taking Rachel's offer of ice chips.

"Hey," Santana said softly and both girls looked over at her. Quinn's eyes locked on her own and they both knew it was okay.

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. And just like that everything was fine.

Until Quinn's fingers nearly ripped at the bed sheet below her as she clenched her fist into them.

"Fucking Christ," she said through her teeth.

"What?" Rachel asked with worry in her tone and Santana rushed to her side.

"G-G-Get a nurse… some-something is happening," and with that Santana was out of the room and Rachel was staring at her amazing wife.

Fear and love crossing her face at the same time.

"W-What is it?"

"I don't know baby," Quinn grunted and fisted the sheet again. "OW fucking Ow!" She shouted and that was when the nurse entered followed closely by Santana.

"What's wrong?" The nurse asked Quinn as she pulled the sheet up to see what was happening.

"I-I-I don't know but it's not good right? Something is wrong isn't it?" Quinn was scared and her trembling voice alone had both Rachel and Santana worried. Luckily those worries were short-lived because when the nurse spoke again both Quinn and Rachel smiled.

"Nothing is wrong sweetie," the nurse told her. "You're just crowning."

"What the fuck is that?" Santana asked from behind them and they all laughed. "What?"

"It means the baby is about to be born."

"Like right now? Ugh… gross," Santana jumped as far away as fast as she could and again the nurse laughed.

"Not right this second," the nurse assured Santana. "Let me page the doctor," she walked over to the phone and paged Quinn's doctor.

"But why does it… fucking hell," Quinn winced in pain again. "Why does it feel different than last time?"

"Every baby is different sweetie… he might be positioned a little differently," she said moving between Quinn's legs again to check on her again. "Or maybe he's kicking… it could be anything."

"Ooh a little soccer player," Rachel said with a grin.

"Not now Rach," Quinn grumbled and Rachel shrugged. The nurse looked over at Santana and gave her a saddened smile.

"I'm sorry dear but you're going to have to leave."

"Gladly," Santana said holding her hands in the air and moving away from the bed as fast as she could. At the door she looked back at Quinn and smiled. "Break a leg dude," and with that she was gone and the nurse was laughing. A moment later the doctor came in.

"So are we ready to have this little guy," he said in a cheery voice and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"I was ready eighteen hours ago," she dead panned and the doctor smirked taking the position the nurse had just been in.

"Ha! Too bad he wasn't," the doctor joked but it fell on deaf ears.

No one was amused.

He just laughed to himself.

"Tough room."

"AHHHHHH! Fucking FUCK! Seriously Rachel… why did I let you do this to me?" Quinn screamed in between pushes.

"I didn't do it I-"

"I mean why did I let you talk me into this?"

"It was your idea," Rachel said and then she was met with Quinn's fierce glare and she thought about maybe just letting Quinn blame her for this but then Quinn spoke and Rachel could only laugh.

"Then why the fuck didn't you talk me out of it!" She shouted and Rachel put the cool cloth back to Quinn's head.

"Because you want this," Quinn glared again. "You want to be mommies with me and you want to watch our little baby boy grow," Quinn's glare turned into a grin and then another contraction hit her.

"Oh god fuck!" She yelled.

"I see the head," the doctor exclaimed and Rachel look over at him and then back at Quinn.

"Okay baby… you're almost there," Rachel wiped her forehead again.

"I don't want to do it anymore," Quinn whined.

"I know you don't but it's just a little longer… you're doing so well."

"I love you," Quinn whined and a smile spread across Rachel's face.

"I love you too angel," Rachel replied.

"One more big push Quinn," the doctor told her and Quinn looked at Rachel with pleading eyes.

"One more baby… you can do this," Quinn nodded as sweat poured down her face, she squeezed Rachel's hand tight; and then she pushed. And when she couldn't push any more she heard more than felt that the baby was out.

Because what she heard was the sweet sound of her baby crying.

And his lungs sounded good.

She let her head flop back against the bed and she let her eyes flutter closed.

"You did it baby, you were great," she head Rachel and then she felt her lips press against her temple.

"He sounds good," Quinn said softly.

"Yeah he does."

"He sounds like Rachel Berry's son," Quinn said with a tired giggle.

"Because he is," Rachel said with a wink.

"Here is your little boy," the nurse said and then she was handing a little bundle of blue blanket to Quinn… and Rachel beamed with pride as she watched Quinn take the baby and stare down at him.

"He's beautiful," Quinn said taking her eyes off of her little angel and looking over at her goddess of a wife.

"Of course Quinn… he looks like you," Rachel said.

"But he has your eyes," Quinn told her. "At least so far," it was then that Rachel finally took notice of her baby boy with light blonde hair and dark chocolate eyes.

"Oh wow!" Rachel exclaimed. They knew there was a possibility that the baby could have brown eyes as the donor had a history of brown eyes in his family but she didn't get her hopes up.

But now it didn't matter.

Her baby boy had her eyes and she hoped with all her heart that they wouldn't change.

"So does little Mr. Berry-Fabray have a name?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah," Quinn said with a yawn and then she looked back at her baby. "Noah," she said to him more than to the nurse.

"It's beautiful," the woman said and Quinn only nodded; still not removing her eyes from the miracle in her arms.

And Rachel was right there with her.

/

As soon as they took the baby away to run all the tests and get him cleaned up Quinn passed out… like literally passed out and that was when Rachel ducked out of the room to share the news with their friends and family.

As soon as she was out of the room Santana was there.

"Is… Is she- is he-"

"They're both okay, and they're both beautiful," she answered and there was a collective sigh heard around the waiting room.

"Can we see them?"

"Not yet," Rachel told her. "Quinn is sleeping and the baby is with the nurses getting checked out… but soon," she told them. The crowd of their friends dispersed as some went to get food, others coffee; and the rest just relaxed back in the waiting room.

Santana however, just stared at Rachel.

"You did good shrimp," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… you kept that crazy bitch sane enough to get through this," Rachel giggled at that.

"And you… are you and Quinn-"

"We're good," Rachel challenged that with a knowing look. "We are… we'll talk and it'll all be good, I promise."

"Okay," Rachel said letting out a heavy sigh and finally letting the events of the day wash over her. Santana could tell.

"Congratulations Rachel," she said softly and Rachel smiled at her friend. "You're going to be an amazing mom."

"Thank you," Rachel said with a tired smile and that was when Santana pulled her into a hug; and Rachel gladly collapsed into her embrace.

Several hours later… Quinn was awake, Noah was in her arms, and she was in a private room. Rachel poked her head inside.

"Are you two up for some visitors?" She asked and Quinn nodded with a smile on her face. She knew their friends and family had been there earlier and then went home while she rested. She knew that they were anxious to see her, meet the new addition to the family, and she couldn't wait for them to meet him as well.

"Hey," Quinn greeted them all as her mom, Richard, Hiram, Leroy, Mike, Tina, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany, Puck, and Rachel all piled into the room. Sawyer was still on tour.

And it was a good thing she had a private room.

"Hey little guy," Judy said as she hovered over Quinn's arm to get a closer look at the boy.

"Do you want to hold him mom?" Judy nodded furiously and Quinn handed the baby over to her.

"Oh, he's just the cutest little things ever," she squealed and looked down at her grandson.

"What's his name Q?" Santana asked realizing that no one knew yet what the kid's name was. Quinn's eyes landed on Rachel who nodded.

"Well, we wanted to name him something that meant something special to us both," she said and then everyone in the room looked over at them. "And we agreed that since I was having him Rachel would pick the first name, and I would pick the middle name." They could see that everyone was waiting for the announcement and Rachel couldn't wait any longer.

"So we decided on …Noah," Rachel blurted out and saw Puck's eyes open wide as he looked back and forth between the two girls.

"And his middle name is Michael," Quinn continued and they watched as Mike's eyes popped the same way Puck's had.

"Really?" Puck asked and Rachel nodded.

"Quinn," Mike said and he was clearly touched.

"Look guys," Rachel said looking between to two still very stunned men. "We wanted him to have a name that was special. And Quinn and I have a lot of special men in our lives but the two of you are our best friends," she finished and then gasped when Puck's body collided with her own in a tight hug; she could feel that he was crying as he hugged her.

By now the baby had been passed around to all the grandparents and was being handed to Mike; who was still staring in shock at Quinn. When he felt Tina tapping his shoulder he looked over and saw the little boy.

"Here Mike," she said. "Hold him… he's gorgeous." Mike smiled and took the baby.

"Hello there Noah Michael Berry-Fabray," He grinned at him. "It's very nice to meet you mister," and then the baby smiled- or it looked like he smiled- and Mike melted. And in that moment Mike decided he definitely wanted one of these… maybe more.

"Tina can we have one?" He asked looking over at her and saw that she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Someday Mike… someday."

"Good," he said with a huge grin; and then he passed the baby to Kurt who squealed at the sight of him. Mike turned his attention back to Quinn and he smiled.

"Thank you Quinn, it's an honor."

"You're welcome Mike," she said with a wink. Once Kurt and Blaine were done squealing over him; Puck was next in line and as he took the baby into his arms he burst into tears.

Rachel and Quinn laughed.

And so did Santana.

"Shut it!" He shouted and then he looked down at the boy in his arms. "Look kid, your moms thought enough of me that they gave you my name; and I'm not sure if I deserve that but I'll take it… and I promise that I'll do my best to be the kind of man deserving of this honor…and the kind of uncle that you could maybe one day want to be like. In any case; it does me proud to share my name with you little dude… and I know you'll make me proud because you are being raised by two of the strongest, most beautiful, most amazing women I know," he leaned over and kissed the little boy on the head before he handed him off to Brittany who had been clapping wildly.

When she took the baby she melted at the sight of him and looked over at Santana.

"Can we have one?"

"Um…" Santana trailed off and there was a bit of fear and panic in her tone. "I-I don't think we're ready for that Britt."

"Not yet… but we will be," Brittany said confidently and Santana suddenly felt fear spread throughout her entire body. "Here take him and you'll be wrapped around his finger too."

She handed the baby to her very apprehensive wife.

But Santana did take him and she did melt.

Dammit- she thought- Brittany was right.

She was already wrapped around this little shit's tiny little fingers.

Then she looked up at the source of this little bundle of trouble and she could do nothing but smile at the sight of her friends. Rachel was cuddled up next to Quinn and as usual they were lost in each other's eyes.

Santana looked from them and back to the baby that they had just brought into the world and she shook her head. It had been a long and crazy road and through it all it had been Rachel and Quinn.

It had always been Rachel and Quinn.

She couldn't even remember a time when they weren't together, and in love… and slowly but surely getting it right.

She looked down into the brown eyes of Noah Michael Berry-Fabray and she couldn't fight the smile.

"You are one lucky little dude," she whispered so that only he could hear; well she knew Brittany could hear too but she didn't care. "Do you know why?" She looked briefly back at Quinn and Rachel and their stupid loving gaze. "Because your mommies love each other like no other… they always have, they're stupid about each other and you are going to be so loved, and so spoiled, and probably highly annoying but it'll be cool because you'll have Auntie Tana to help balance that out with a little Lima Heights training," she winked at him and saw him smile.

Or maybe it was just gas.

Because babies that young don't really smile.

And why the fuck did she know that?

Okay enough of this.

She took a few steps over to the bed and handed the baby to Rachel; effectively breaking the two women out of their bliss.

For a different kind of bliss altogether.

"He's incredible Q," she said to Quinn and then she patted Rachel's shoulder.

"You done good Berry."

"But I didn't-"

"Shh, just go with it," Santana winked at her and then took her spot back where she had been standing.

"So Rachel," Leroy's voice sounded into the quiet room and Rachel looked up at her daddy. "When is it going to be your turn?"

"Bite your tongue daddy," she scolded and he merely giggled. "Give us a little time to enjoy this one before you want another okay?"

"Okay," he agreed. "I kind of like this one anyway."

"Oh good," Hiram dead panned as he glared at his inappropriate husband; Leroy just laughed harder.

A while after everyone had gone home Rachel was changing Noah's diaper in the little portable bed and Quinn watched from her bed; with a stupid smitten grin across her mouth.

"You're good at that," Quinn said and Rachel looked over at her with a smile across her lips.

"Yeah well I have to be as this is going to be my job for quite some time," she winked and finished putting the diaper; then she wrapped him back up. She brought him over to Quinn and placed him in her arms.

She cuddled next to them and pulled out the birth certificate.

"So he wanted to come a little early," Rachel said with a giggle.

"Yeah if you count eighteen fu-" she stopped herself from cursing and looked down at the baby. "Eighteen hours of labor early," Quinn said sarcastically and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I meant earlier than his due date," Rachel said and Quinn nodded.

Noah Michael Berry-Fabray

July 12, 2020

6 lbs. 11 oz. 19 inches

She smiled and ran her fingers over the name and statistics and then she looked at Rachel.

"We just need to sign it," she said and Rachel pulled out a pen. "You go first," Quinn told her and Rachel swooned and then she signed her name to the form. When she was done she took Noah out of Quinn's arms and watched as she signed it.

Once it was done Quinn tucked it away with the other paperwork and then cuddled close to her girl and her baby boy.

"You're my little angel," Quinn said pressing a sweet kiss to her baby boy's head. "And you're my angel too," she winked at Rachel.

"You're the angel babe," Rachel told her and then Quinn kissed her.

"I love you Rachel Berry-Fabray."

"I love you Quinn Berry-Fabray," Rachel told her and then looked down at the baby in her arms. They had done well.

Well Quinn had done well.

And next it would be her turn.

But not yet… even though she suddenly felt like being pregnant is exactly what she wanted, but she knew now was definitely not the time and she shook the thoughts out of her head.

She was going to wait until Noah was at least one before she let herself get excited by that idea.

Well before she let herself get too excited by it.

"What are you thinking?" Quinn asked and Rachel smiled.

"Just about the fact that we are a family," Quinn's smile widened. "I mean we were Rachel and Quinn before but now we're the Berry-Fabray family… and I like the sound of that."

"I like the sound of that too."

A/N 2: The title of the chapter comes from the song Angel by Aerosmith.

Up next Rachel and Quinn adjust to life as parents; stay tuned…