A/N: ohhh, you guys weren't happy with me at the end of last chapter. but hey, drama IS my middle name, ;) . what kind of story would it be without drama guys, come on? so this has some cute points, some dramatic points, and frame points for further chapters. i'm revising the next chapter but i'm super busy so i don't think i'll have it up tomorrow, most definitely on saturday though!

i think i'm going to end this story at 30 chapters + an epilogue because I know you guys like those. ;) (seeing as how i'm putting your hearts' through tons, i'll spare some time and write up an epic, drama, love infested epilogue).

ALSO! while i'm away, i'm planning on writing my new story so i'll have it all finished and i'll be putting it up on a weekly basis (that won't be until december though) while maybe working on another one.

forgive me for last chapter? this chapter? and next chapter? (after that one, wooo bring on the fluff!)
love you all very much for making this story what it is. 3

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rachel shook her head angrily. She felt the hot tears running down her face as Mason kicked a steady stream against her ribcage; sometimes soft ones and sometimes hard ones- likely punishing her for stressing out. It had been two hours and she was still as angry as ever as she wondered where Puck had gone. She sent him a text, which was unanswered, and she called him- which also went unanswered.

She sighed heavily and flopped down on the couch, petting Dexter's head as the dog whined next to her. She tried to let out a calming breath, but it came out in little puffs and hiccups.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, she sighed and picked up the phone. She hated fighting with Puck- and over something so stupid, none the less. Her decision wasn't meant to hurt his feelings, it was a personal decision to protect him. And it might not even come true! Breaking into show business was a hard and tedious thing to do, she wasn't going to hold her breath while auditioning and she wasn't going to waste their money on a manager when she might not even get work.

She wanted to start small and work her way up. Sure, she'll go by Rachel Puckerman now- seeing as how it's all small theatres and small production companies, but she had always- always- be Rachel Berry when it came to Broadway. Sure, when she was little, she used to imagine what her name would sound like if she married Finn- or if she took her Daddy's true last name- or even if she married that little Ryan down the street, but none of it sounded as perfect as Rachel Berry did. So she promised herself that, if she were to ever be on Broadway- she would be known as Rachel Berry.

And then she was married to Puck, and Rachel Puckerman sounded amazing and like the last name was made for her, but just because she was married didn't mean she had to give up her dreams, right? And just because she was becoming a mother, she could still be a little bit selfish, right?

It was stupid and a petty thing to fight over; it was a name! Puck was blowing everything out of proportion.

"What, Berry?"

She didn't lose the harsh tone in his voice when he used her maiden name.

"Where are you?" Rachel sighed into the phone, trying to control her breathing so he didn't know she was crying.

"At Ma's," Puck grumbled into the phone, "What do you want?"

"Come home, baby."

It was silent for a moment until she heard rustling in the background, "Fine."

...

They didn't talk about it when he got home. Instead he grabbed her and kissed her hard, pushing her back into their bedroom and not letting her get a word in unless it was moaned out.

But it had been three days, and they just continued to bicker. Over the littlest things and Rachel was exhausted; she didn't want to fight but Puck was just too easy to fight with. He constantly gave her something to fight over and she was tired and lazy and cranky and it was Puck's fault that she was like that. (She would also like to note that the due date was three weeks away, so fighting caused her to ignore that little tid-bit).

She knew Puck must've been tired as well though because when he got home from work, he went into the shower and crawled onto the couch to watch whatever she was watching with her, not even mocking or teasing her about the movies she watched, or her stupid talk shows she had become addicted to since she got out of school.

There was one, 'The Mom Show' which actually was quite informative that came on at 10AM. She loved it, and they had an entire segment one day about fighting while being pregnant and how the woman takes it too personally (she wasn't about to admit that she was offended by that remark). Laurie said that her and her husband fought like cats and dogs during her last trimester but they talked it out and they grew stronger from it. Rachel felt a little better, knowing that it wasn't just her marriage (although, in reality she knew that any regular couple fought) but felt bad for not talking it out with her husband.

Puck had made an appointment at the local tattoo parlor, which Blaine suggested and gave good reviews (he had his entire arm covered in tattoos). So when the time came, Puck and Rachel left their apartment and headed to 'Ink Inc.'. It was a nice shop, the receptionist was lovely and despite her barbwire rose on her chest, she was homely. There was pictures of her, one of the tattooist, and a bunch of kids around them, scattered on her desk.

While Puck was getting his stencil put on, Rachel was talking to Lena (the receptionist).

"So when are you due?" Lena smiles, looking down at Rachel's big belly.

"Three weeks," Rachel smiled with a hand on her belly, "June 18th was the final date that my doctor said."

"First baby?"

"Yeah," Rachel nodded and followed her to the room where Puck was, "We're excited for her to be here."

"Oh, a girl!" Lena gasped happily, "We've tried four times for a girl, and we ended up with all boys!"

Gerry, the artist doing Puck's tattoo and Lena's husband laughed, "At least I don't have to worry about boys with the little girl."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Puck mumbled as he held his arm up, as Gerry carefully put the stencil on his side, "She's going to be locked in her room until she's forty."

"We wanted a boy," Rachel explained with a grin on her face, "But a little girl is amazing too."

"Alright," Gerry stated, peeling the paper off Puck's side and looking to Rachel and then Puck, "Good?"

Rachel inspected it with a small smile, getting close to her husband as he looked in the mirror. It went from his hip to the top of his rib cage and would leave no skin between there clear. The letters were an old-fashioned loopy font and there was two angel's wings coming from the 'M' on either side; Puck grinned.

"Look's good, baby," Rachel nodded, smoothing a hand over his stomach soothingly while turning to look at Gerry, "How long is it going to take?"

"My guess is around three hours," He nodded as he continued getting things ready, "We can take a break between, seeing as it's your first tattoo."

Puck nodded and followed instructions when Gerry told him to lay down on his side with his arm up. Lena rolled a chair for Rachel over near Puck's head and the brunette smiled gratefully before sitting down. Puck smiled to her, his eyes showing a little bit of nervousness but Rachel just smiled warmly to him, running her hand slowly down his bicep, over his forearm and linking their fingers together.

Gerry started and Puck bit his lip silently. Rachel squeezed his fingers while watching the needle pierce through his tanned skin and trace the 'M', "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," Puck nodded, licking his lips.

Rachel smiled at his fake assurance. Until she met Puck (who had always wanted a tattoo but could never find a good enough reason to get one), she thought the idea of a tattoo was stupid and ridiculous. Why would someone want to ruin their body with a permanent ink that someone may come to regret? But this, right here? Having something so permanent on his skin than the own life growing inside of her was incredibly amazing. She loved that he would do this for not only himself, but for her and their baby.

"I love you," Rachel stated simply, a small smile on her face.

Puck smirked and looked at her, "Sexy, huh?"

"Very," Rachel laughed. Gerry laughed as well, hearing their conversation as he continued tracing the 'M'.

...

"Does it hurt?" Rachel asked again.

"I'm fine, baby," Puck grumbled, exasperately. She was literally asking the same thing over and over again, and when he finally blocked out the noise of the needle to think about something else, she brought it all into reality again.

His side was basically numb, but Gerry was just doing the 'S' and it was between his rib cage and where his muscles meet and it was fucking killing him. The top half was done and an hour and a half into the appointment, Puck was ready to just say 'fuck it'- but he was no pansy and if Finn stupid face Hudson could sit in the chair and get his pansy tattoo, so could he (although, his tattoo was anything but pansy- it was for his amazing little daughter that would be here soon).

"It looks like it hurts," Rachel suggested, looking as Gerry traced a long strip on the 'S' without stopping. She was fascinated by this; how the needle went into the skin and left a permanent line in it's quake just like that.

"He's doing pretty well," Gerry praised, "First tattoo and he hasn't complained about pain or the length at all."

Puck smirked at Rachel with his eyes closed and she just looked at him, "Are you sure you're not in any pain?"

"I'm fine, Rach," Puck nodded, finally looking at her, "Now stop. Are you hungry?" Rachel blushed and looked down, obviously telling Puck she was, "I'll be fine. Go to the store next door and get something to eat."

"I don't want to leave you," Rachel shook her head, her eyes looking over the tattoo again.

"I'll be fine."

"How about we take a break?" Gerry offered understandingly, "Five minutes and we'll get right back into it?"

"Baby?" Puck asked lazily.

"Do you want anything?"

"He shouldn't eat," Lena replied, coming back to relay a message to Gerry, "He might get sick."

"Oh," Rachel nodded.

"You can get me a gatorade though," Puck smiled, squeezing her hand, "I'd kill for the blue kind."

"Alright," Rachel smiled, standing up and fixing her dress. Puck was at the perfect height so he leaned over, kissing Rachel's belly. She placed a hand on the back of his head and smoothed it to his cheek, "Although you should have water, gatorade is ideal for when you're active."

"Whatever," Puck shrugged, rolling his eyes inwardly, "Get me some gatorade, woman."

Rachel huffed slightly and leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek, making sure not to kiss his lips. Puck once again rolled his eyes, pursing his lips in a sneer as she walked away. Gerry laughed as they heard the door open and close.

"Oh, I do not miss those days," The artist laughed.

"She's fucking crazy on a good day, almost intolerable now that she's pregnant," Puck grumbled.

Yeah, he was still pissed off at her for the whole 'show name' bullshit. But he was glad he got to share this with her.

"We just had our forth son about five months ago," He explained, "Lena was crazy. When's she due?"

"June 18th," Puck smiled, "But last time it was June 20th, and the time before that it was June 14th; so it's around then."

"Since I'm a father of four and I know these things," Gerry smirked, "I'm going to say June 16th; but that's when she's going into labour. If I'm wrong, you come in here and I'll give you a free tattoo."

"Deal," Puck shook the artists hand as Rachel came back into the room.

...

"That feels good, baby," Puck groaned.

Rachel smiled and shrugged, "You know I'm good with my hands."

"You're good with everything," Puck moaned.

Rachel smirked and continued rubbing the tattoo goo onto Puck's new tattoo. It made her hands sticky and she was pretty sure it wasn't the best for her skin but Puck couldn't rub the goo on himself so she offered to do it. She knew when she put it on, it made the raw skin feel better.

She smoothed the goo onto the next letter, rubbing carefully over the red skin. Puck had only gotten the tattoo yesterday, so it was still sensitive and she really didn't want to cause him any pain. She knew he had a horrible nights sleep last night, since he usually slept on his side but had to sleep on his back; he was restless all night, which made Rachel restless as well. But he only complained if he moved a certain way and the swollen skin stretched.

She worked her way up and over the wings, making sure the goo was even everywhere before kissing his bicep and turning towards the sink to wash her hands. Puck pulled his black shirt back over his head and carefully slid it over the gooey area. Puck kissed the back of her head, thanking her quietly and leaving the bathroom to sit on the couch.

She came back out, yawning tiredly and sitting on Puck's good side, leaning against him and pressing play on the DVD remote. They were relaxing and having a quiet few hours until things started to get bad. He didn't know exactly what he triggered for Rachel to start flipping out but it only made him angry that she was.

So sure, maybe he said that she was a shit friend to Finn as they fought, and she called him a heartless asshole and she was praying that their unborn baby would be nothing like him. So obviously, he told her that he already knew that and he wasn't stupid because that was basically the reason why she didn't want to share his name up in the Broadway Marquees. She called him an idiot and told him that he was wrong, so he called her a liar and said that he wished Mason will be nothing like her.

This whole fight, started because of one little comment and now she was pushing him towards the door of their apartment.