Brittany's sister ran into the room and squealed. "Oh my God, she's so cute!" She grabbed Sam's arm and said, "Can Auntie Ashley hold her for a second?"

"Sorry, no. Daddy Sam is holding her."

"Come on, Sam! My dad said we can only stay for a few minutes."

"Your sister does not need to be mobbed right now," said her dad, who had followed her into the room a moment after her entrance. "She needs to rest."

"I think he's afraid I'll get too attached to her," Ashley whispered to Sam.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Okay, just for a second." He made her sit down, and he showed her how to hold her arms. Then he made everyone else back the hell up before he handed her the baby. He stood right in front of the chair and watched carefully to make sure everything was okay.

"Look at her tiny little nose! And her tiny little lips, oh my God!" Ashley touched the baby's chin and told the baby, "I hope when I get a real niece she's as cute as you."

"Give her back," Sam said.

"What?" Ashley looked up at him, shocked. "Sam, I barely even got to—"

"I'm not joking around." He took the baby out of Ashley's arms and said, "She is real."

Ashley laughed nervously and said, "No, I know she's real—"

"She's real. I don't know how the fuck you can even say that she's not."

"Hey!" Mr. Pierce stood behind Ashley and put his hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to talk to my daughter like that."

"Did you hear what she said about my daughter?"

Mr. Pierce looked at Sam balefully. Sam didn't look at him at all, he looked down at the baby in his arms. Blaine touched his back—lightly. He was so tense, he didn't want to startle him any more. "You okay, Sammy?" he asked softly. "She didn't mean—"

"I know what she meant," Sam said.

Brittany sat up a little straighter in her bed and said, "Sam, let Ashley hold her a little longer. She's not gonna get the chance—"

"Ashley can visit her at my place any time she wants."

Blaine exchanged a look with Carole; Mr. and Mrs. Pierce with each other. Brittany whispered something to Santana, and when Santana whispered something back she shook her head and slumped against her. Quinn walked slowly toward Sam. "I know how it feels to look at your baby for the first time," she said patiently. "And to hold her and think you want to hold her forever. But you also have to think about what's best for her in the long term. And what's best for you in the long term."

"Uh-huh. Thanks, Quinn. You can go now if you want."

Quinn did go, but not before hugging Brittany and whispering something to her and hugging Blaine and whispering to him, "You have to talk him out of this."

"I don't think he's really serious," Blaine whispered back to her, but this was a lie. He was pretty sure that Sam was completely serious and that no one was going to talk him out of it.

"I should go too," Tina told Blaine. "Do you wanna call me when you need a ride, or...or I could just leave my keys with you if I can catch Quinn in time to get a ride with her."

"I can give you a lift," Carole said. "Sam, honey, what time is your mom getting here?"

Sam looked at her like he was surprised to hear his name, like he hadn't been listening to what anyone was saying. Which was actually the case. Carole had to repeat the question, and Sam said he didn't know. He had sort of forgotten she was on her way, and it was a huge relief to be reminded that she was. She was the one person who he knew would understand and be on his side. Blaine would be on his side, but he wouldn't understand. And besides, he would only be on his side because he loved him, not because he thought he was right.

"Well, tell her I'll leave the door open,. so she can come over any time. And call me if you need anything, either of you."

"Thanks, Carole. You're the best."

Carole and Tina hugged and congratulated Brittany before they left. Soon after that Brittany started dozing, and her dad announced he was taking Ashley home too. Sam reluctantly let them each hold the baby for a minute before they left.

Blaine didn't want to wake Brittany up, but he really wanted to talk to Sam. He was about to ask him to walk out in the hall with him when the baby started to cry. Brittany sat up with a jolt, and Santana said, "Oh shit!"

"She's probably just hungry," Brittany's mom said, and she pressed the button for a nurse.

"Brittany? Do you wanna...?" Sam asked, holding the baby out to her. Brittany shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest protectively.

A nurse came in, and she, too, asked if Brittany wanted to try breastfeeding. "The baby's going to be brought up by two gay dads," Santana snapped. "So everybody needs to just stop acting like formula is going to kill her."

"Of course no one's saying that," the nurse said. "But breast is best, and if you give her some now, while you can, it's better than none ever."

Brittany kept shaking her head, and Mrs. Pierce said, "Just bring us a bottle, please."

While the nurse was getting the bottle, Mrs. Pierce stood in front of Sam and held her arms out. "May I? I'd like to feed her." Sam hesitated, and she added, "I'm not going to abscond with your baby, Sam." And it was probably the acknowledgment that the baby was his that made him relent and hand her over.

He stepped toward the door—not necessarily thinking he'd be in the best position to stop anyone who tried to make a run for it with the baby, but not necessarily not thinking that either—and Blaine joined him and massaged his shoulders. "You're serious about keeping her, aren't you?" Blaine said.

Sam nodded. "I have to. I thought I could give her up, but now that I've seen her..."

Blaine nodded too. He didn't have the heart to ask what this meant for the two of them. He didn't want to find out that Sam hadn't really considered that. Instead he asked, "What do you need me to do? Do you want me to call Carrie, or—"

"Yeah! Maybe she can still stop Tom and Tommy from flying out here."

Blaine stepped out into the hall, but not too far. He could still see Sam, and he was pretty sure Sam could still hear him. He called the cell phone number Carrie had given him before she went home to make dinner for her family. "Carrie? Hi, it's Blaine. Uh, Sam Evans's boyfriend?"

"Yes, I wasn't expecting too many Blaines to call me tonight," she said. "Has Brittany delivered?"

"She did, yeah. I'm sorry, were we supposed to call you right away?"

"No, it's fine. How is she? How's the baby?"

"Um, Brittany's good. The baby's good. The nurses wanted Brittany to breastfeed, but—"

"Was it that nurse Debi? She's given my birth moms a hard time before, and I've talked to her about it—"

"It's fine," Blaine said, having no idea if the nurse's name was Debi or not. "That's not actually the problem..."

"There's a problem?" Carrie asked. "What is it?"

"Not a problem, exactly," Blaine clarified, "it's just that, uh...Sam doesn't want to go through with the adoption. He wants to keep her."

"Oh, shit! It's usually the birth mother."

"Well..."

"Oh my God!" Carrie said. "I'm so sorry! That was totally unprofessional. Please don't tell anyone I said that."

"No, I won't."

"My job is to help the birth parents do what's best for them, what they want. It's not my job to push people into adoptions they're not comfortable with."

"Oh, good."

"And of course sometimes the birth moms...birth parents have second thoughts about the adoption right after the birth but then still decide in the end that it's for the best."

"Well, maybe..." Blaine said. He didn't think Sam was going to change his mind, but then, Carrie had dealt with this situation way more often than he had. "But Sam did ask me to ask you to call the adoptive dads and tell them not to come."

"What time is...oh, their plane has already taken off. Is Sam still at the hospital? I think I'd better head over there and talk to him and Brittany."

"Yeah, that sounds good. We'll be here." Or Sam would, anyway. Blaine didn't know at what point the nurses would throw him out.

Brittany's mom was finishing up feeding the baby when he went back in the room. "Come here, Sam," she said, "I'll show you a trick for burping a baby." Sam stood next to her chair and watched her lay the baby flat on her back, then lift her quickly to an upright position against her shoulder. A loud burp came out like magic.

"That's awesome," Sam said.

"Mrs. P., you're not really encouraging his crazy plan, are you?" Santana asked.

"Sam?"

"Mom!" Sam ran to where his mother was standing in the doorway and hugged her hard enough to almost knock her over. "Mom, I'm so glad you're here!" He started crying into her shoulder. "I can't do it, mom, I can't do it!"

"Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh." Mary Evans held the back of his head and rubbed his back until he calmed down a little. She maneuvered them out into the hallway to have a little bit of privacy before she asked, "You can't do what, honey?"

"Give her up. I can't give her up."

"Sam..."

"No, and I know you agree with me." He sniffled and wiped his tears off with his t-shirt. "Because you know how when I was mad I said you wished you'd given me up or had an abortion?"

"Yes, of course I remember you saying that to me."

"But you don't. I know you don't. No matter what you've been saying about how hard it is to raise a baby, and how you've been going along with the whole giving-her-up-for-adoption-is-for-the-best stuff? I know that you're glad you kept me, and I know you'd do it again if you had to make the decision all over."

"Well, of course I am. And of course I would."

"So?"

"So...Sam, are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You're on my side, right, mom?"

"Of course I'm on your side, sweetheart. You're my kid."

"But more than that, right? You agree with me?"

"I...Sam, I'm not going to answer that. Because if you change your mind I'm still going to be on your side."

"Fine," Sam said. "But when it's all over and you see I haven't changed my mind, then you'll admit you agree with me. Right?"

His mom tousled his hair and said, "You're a nut." But Sam he knew she only said that because she didn't want to admit he was right but couldn't lie and say he was wrong.

They went into the room with their arms around each others' shoulders. Brittany's mom stood up and showed the baby to Mrs. Evans. "Here she is. Our granddaughter."

Sam's mom gasped and held a hand over her mouth. Tears ran down her eyes when she took the baby in her arms.

"Of course we're both way too young to be grandmothers," Brittany's mother said.

"I'm not," Mary said. "I'm the perfect age." She rocked the baby in her arms and started singing to her: "My life flows on in endless song above earth's lamentation. I hear the real though far-off hymn that hails a new creation." It wasn't a song Blaine knew, but Sam did, and he joined in: "Through all the tumult and the strife I hear that music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?"

They went through a few more verses together. Carrie showed up, but she hovered by the doorway until they were finished and the baby was asleep.

"Did you call them and tell them not to come?" Sam asked as soon as he spotted her.

"You need to stop this little fantasy of you and Britt raising this baby together," Santana said. She got up off the bed but left her hand on Brittany's shoulder. "My girl here has her whole future in front of her, and she's not being tied down by you."

"Who said anything about Brittany being tied down?" Sam said. He had no idea Santana even thought that was what he meant. God, he hoped that wasn't what Brittany thought too. "Britt, I was talking about me keeping her, not us. I mean, unless you want to keep her too..."

"I can't, Sam! We've been through this and we've decided, and I don't know why you want to go through it all over again!"

"Because you decided, Britt, and that's fine. I accept your decision for yourself. I thought I could go along with it for me too, but now I know I can't."

One of the nurses came in. "It's time for this little lady to get a bath and an exam!" she announced.

"She just fell asleep," Sam said.

"Oh, that's okay. They sleep all the time."

"Well..." Sam looked around. He knew Britt's bathroom had a shower, not a tub, and the sink was too small for even a newborn. "Where's the tiny bathtub?"

"Oh, I'm gonna take her down to the nursery."

"No! I mean..." Sam didn't know why he was so terrified to let her leave the room. He knew they'd bring her back, they wouldn't just secretly slip her to the wannabe dads as soon as she was out of his sight. They wannabe dads were maybe not even coming. (Damn it! Carrie never answered his question about that.) But even though they would bring her back to this room, they'd probably give her to Brittany, and then what if Brittany didn't want to let him have her again? But Brittany wouldn't do that. Santana might, but she wasn't in charge. "How long will she be gone?"

"About half an hour."

"Sam, let them take her. I really want to take a nap."

"Why don't the rest of us go get some coffee?" Carrie suggested.

Santana stayed with Brittany, but everyone else went to the lounge where the New Directions had all gathered earlier. Carrie poured coffee into styrofoam cups and passed them out. Sam took one, even though he kind of hated coffee, and Blaine took one too and held Sam's free hand in his.

"Did you tell them not to come?" Sam asked again.

"No, their plane left before I spoke to Blaine. I did leave messages on each of their voice mails asking them to call me as soon as they land, but that won't be for another couple hours." Carrie took a sip of her coffee and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. She turned to Sam. "I can't tell you what to do, and I wouldn't want to if I could, but I do need to ask...Have you really thought this through? Seeing your baby for the first time is a hugely emotional experience, and you don't want to make an impulsive decision based on—"

"I'm sure," Sam said. "Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm sure?"

Blaine just squeezed his hand while the three women exchanged glances with each other. Finally it was his mother who said, "Everyone's asking because it's a huge decision, and a huge change from what your plan was just a few hours ago."

"It wasn't really my plan, though. It was Brittany's. I was just going along with it."

"Okay. Well, to the rest of us it seems like a very sudden change of mind," his mother said. "And...if you really want to do this you need to be sure."

"That's what I keep telling you, though. I'm sure!"

"I believe you, honey. But you can't blame us for asking."

"Well it doesn't seem so much like asking. It seems like trying to talk me out of it."

Blaine wouldn't really blame anyone for doing that either, even if they were. But he kept that opinion to himself.

"So what do we need to do?" Sam's mother asked Carrie. "Will Sam need a lawyer, or..."

"It shouldn't come to that," Carrie said. "Brittany hasn't ever disputed Sam's claim to paternity, has she?"

"No," Brittany's mother said. "She's never even suggested it could be anyone else."

"Well, the father's wish for custody would take precedence over the prospective adoptive parents', so as long as Sam doesn't have to prove he's the father it should be a simple matter. Legally, I mean. Obviously the adoptive fathers—the intended adoptive fathers—will be disappointed, but..."

Blaine's heart broke for those guys, for Tom and Tommy. They were on a plane right now, they thought they were about to see their little baby daughter. They probably had little baby clothes packed for her, they probably were making plans about what they'd do when they brought her home. Maybe even plans about the future, about her first words, her first day of school...But then he realized that Sam was doing all that too, except for having the baby clothes packed. And Tom and Tommy were nice enough guys, but he'd rather see them heartbroken than Sam. So he put those guys out of his mind and kissed the back of Sam's hand and said, "You're gonna be such an awesome dad."