A/N: Alright readers! First off, you guys win. A tip of the hat to you all! Your ideas and comments got the writing wheels greased again... And made me remember some things I wanted to do but completely forgot! You guys are awesome. As a reward, here's another chapter, and I promise to have another up by Sunday. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Contrary to what Santana thought would be happening, it wasn't that long before Karlie attended another Glee session: two months later and at the worst possible time. Everyone was rushing to put together the school musical, the choir room a buzz with nervous energy as everyone was busy at once. They were scattered around the room, some practiced dances, some painting scenery, and some doing last minute alterations on wardrobe. They had a dress rehearsal that evening, and opening night was two days away.

Because Santana missed most days to rehearse, she was given only a small part, but still she relished her few lines and her big part of the one song that was thrown her way. She was off in the corner with Brittany, the blonde's eyes closed as she listened to Santana sing, attempting to drown out the many distractions around her. They were interuppted by Finn, who looked slightly panicked.

"Mom can't watch Karlie after five, she and Burt have dinner plans in Akron, and you know how they are with that Friday night dinner stuff," he said hurriedly, his face pinched. Santana frowned, quickly going over her mental list. Her parents were both working, her dad off in Texas. Her brothers would both be working, too. All of their friends were here.

"Well crap!" Santana exclaimed, biting her lip. She couldn't afford to miss this dress rehearsal, and she knew she'd be letting everyone down if she skipped out.

"We're going to have to have her here with us," Finn said, though he hated to say it as much as Santana hated to hear it.

"We don't really have a choice," she agreed, though it was the last thing she wanted to do. She knew first hand how hard it was to get things done with a baby around, but she really didn't have any other choice.

It wasn't long before Carole showed up with Karlie, and she held onto the infant's car seat tightly even as Finn went to take it from her. She looked around the room at all of the commotion and shook her head.

"You know what, we can skip our dinner, this doesn't look like the best time..."

"No, Mom, that's not fair. You and Burt go have your night out. We'll deal with this," Finn told her firmly, not wanting to have to have his mother rescue him from something they really should have forseen coming. Santana felt the same way, taking the carrier from Carole and slipping the diaper bag off of her arm.

"We've got it, Mrs. Hummel," she assured.

"If you're sure..." Carole seemed reluctant, but Finn and Santana urged her off.

As soon as she was gone, Finn sighed heavily.

"I've got to practice these moves," Finn said to Santana, glancing back over to where Mike and Tina were rehearsing. It didn't matter how long they'd been in Glee Club, Finn always seemed to need a lot of extra help when it came to choreography.

"You do that, I can watch her and sing at the same time."

Santana lugged the car seat over to her and Brittany's little corner, but Brittany automatically lost interest in practicing. Instead she stooped down to the floor and unbuckled Karlie, taking the infant out of her car seat.

"Hi baby! Did you come here to see Aunt Britt Britt?" she cooed, standing with ease and resting the baby in the crook of her arm. After a few minutes Santana got impatient, though she admitted she would rather be oogling over her daughter than doing this right now.

"Come on, Britt, I need to get this one note down, or else I'm going to eff it up tonight at the dress rehearsal."

Brittany sighed reluctantly, placing a gentle kiss on Karlie's forehead before adjusting herself, facing Santana, her expression set and eyes closed once again.

"Hurry because I want to play with the baby."

Santana started in on her song yet again, but she kept getting distracted as she watched her daughter in Brittany's arms, the little baby's eyes open wide and focused on her mother. While Karlie was awake more during the day now, it wasn't in long bursts and they had to take their chances to bond when they could. Right now Santana was dying to hold her baby and smile and giggle at her, eliciting the same response which had become like an instant endorphin boost to her. After a few more moments she couldn't take it anymore, groaning and almost stomping one of her feet out of frustration.

"Let me see her real quick," Santana said, and Brittany opened her eyes and passed the baby off, frowning.

"I wanted to play with her."

"Here, sit down with me."

The pair sat on a couple of chairs and Santana handed Karlie to Brittany to sit in her lap while Santana sat facing them, and they began to start a silly game that always made Karlie giggle her weird baby almost-but-not-quite baby giggle that was rather addicting.

"Hi Karlie Boo! Say ah ha ha ha ha!" Santana chirped, her ha ha's very high but a pleasant tone. The baby rewarded her with a grin, tossing her head back and forth in a wiggly effort to better control her neck muscles. She was holding her head pretty well, but she still flopped around a lot if she got too excited, making for a wobbly baby.

"Is that funny? Is that funny to you?" Santana crooned happily, the baby wiggling even more and opening her mouth, a short bark escaping her lips. Brittany was laughing, keeping the baby upright against her front, just holding onto her torso as Santana continued to make "Ha ha ha"s and speak in a voice that was so very odd to hear coming from Santana.

She carried on for a while, and eventually got what she was looking for... A giant giggle. The sound was unrefined and choppy, but Santana knew exactly what it was, and she herself laughed from delight as Brittany did the same.

"I love that!" Brittany said excitedly, kissing the top of Karlie's head and giggling herself.

"I do, too, it's so sweet!"

"Ladies..."

Santana turned her attention away from her daughter to find Mr. Schue looking at them, an eyebrow raised.

"Santana, I know you're a mom now, and you have responsibilities, but you also have a responsibility to this club. You're not focusing at all. Opening night is this Saturday, and we need to make sure we're all ready." Their teacher looked at both girls, a slightly admonishing frown on his face. "All of us."

"Sorry, Mr. Schue... I just..." Santana really didn't know how to explain herself, because he was right. She couldn't afford this distraction, but what was she supposed to do when the distraction was her daughter?

"It's alright," Mr. Schue said, his face softening. "But let's get back on task."

Puck walked over to the small group in the corner, having heard and watched Mr. Schue get onto the two girls from afar.

"Hey, San, I need a break anyway; let me watch her while you and Brittany practice," he offered, holding his arms out for the baby.

Santana's eyes widened slightly but she regained her composure quickly. Since when did Puck even like babies let alone want to hold them? In Karlie's three months of life he'd seen her rarely, though she had to admit he was always watching Santana and Finn with her from the corner of his eyes. He seemed sincere, so she nodded.

"Okay. Can you handle her though? She's not a cheerleader or a floozy tramp; she's a baby," Santana warned, and Brittany was looking at Puck unsure.

"Shut it and hand over the kid, Baby Mama. The Puckasaurus can handle women of all ages," Puck replied, his hands opening and closing in a gesture for Brittany to hand Karlie over. Brittany did, and Puck settled Karlie against his shoulder and wandered over to where Quinn and Mercedes were sewing buttons onto shirts.

Karlie seemingly in at least halfway capable hands, Santana and Brittany resumed their task. While she sang, she watched Puck across the room. Mercedes had wandered off, and Puck had Karlie sitting up on his knees. The shirt Quinn was fixing lay forgotten beside her, and she was huddled close to Puck, smiling at the baby and him in turn. The two were entranced by the infant, Karlie smiling for them both as they talked to her animatedly.

Santana noticed Puck's face darken as Quinn spoke softly to him, leaning a little closer to whisper in his ear. He frowned slightly, his mouth drawn tight before he said something back. Quinn smiled sadly, and she rested a hand on Puck's back, rubbing in a small circle.

It was then that Brittany groaned loudly, her eyes opening and her shoulders sagging as if listening to Santana sing was the hardest thing she'd done all day.

"Can we dance now? You know all the words and you sound amazing. I just want to dance."

So with that Santana was torn from her observing, and the pair ambled over to Mike, Tina, and Kurt to start dancing. This was the easy part, because she could do these moves in her sleep after going through them once. She might not be as fluid as Brittany but she was a damn good dancer. She was helping Kurt when she heard Karlie start to cry, and she sighed. It was about time for her to eat.

Apologizing to Kurt, Santana made her way over to her daughter. Puck and Quinn were staring at her confused as Quinn bounced her, unable to put a damper on her tears. Everyone was staring, and Santana could tell Mr. Schue was getting irritated. Taking the baby from Quinn, Santana shh'd her and shrugged her shoulders.

"She's hungry is all... I'm going to go feed her. Can I use your office, Mr. Schue?"

"Sure, Santana," Mr. Schuester said with a little sigh. "Everyone, let's get to work. Dress rehearsal in an hour!"

She made her way into the adjacent office after grabbing a blanket from Karlie's diaper bag. She had just settled herself into a chair and gotten Karlie latched when there was a knock at the door.

"Got a boob out, what do you need?"

She knew it was one of the Glee kids or Mr. Schue, since no one else would be at this school on a Friday night unless they had to. The door opened and she quickly covered her exposed skin and Karlie's head up with the light blanket.

"I wasn't kidding about the boob thing..."

"Nah you're fine," Puck said as he sidled in, sitting beside her.

"Oh gross," Santana said with a roll of her eyes. She could tell he wasn't trying to be pervy, just from the way he was staring at her with those sad eyes. She wasn't expecting to see him here, and definitely not with that look on his face. "You okay, Puckerman?"

"Can I be honest?"

Santana nodded, adjusting her arms to hold the baby in a more comfortable position.

"Not really. It kills me seeing you with that baby." Puck's eyes were downcast, staring at his hands in his lap.

"This isn't really a good place to be then, considering," Santana half-snarked. He didn't laugh, or even smile a little. He must actually be down... She tilted her head, trying to get a better view of his face. "Beth?"

"Beth," Puck agreed with a slight nod of his head. "And the fact that I'm still getting over my feelings for you."

"Puck, come on. You know as well as I do there were hardly ever any feelings between us," Santana said softly; though she knew she spoke the truth, she didn't want to seem harsh. "This is about Beth and what Quinn decided for you. And it's okay to be upset about it, but don't let it ruin your life, okay?"

"That's really easy for you to say, since you have your baby," Puck retorted. Santana knew she'd struck a nerve so she stayed silent. "I miss her. Can you miss someone you didn't even really get to know?"

"I don't know..."

"I mean I just named her and got to hold her... She's barely my daughter."

"Hey, stop," Santana said quickly, a hand reaching to rest on his shoulder comfortingly. "Beth is as much your daughter as Karly is mine. I'm sorry we can't be parents in the same way though."

"How was I a parent?" Puck asked, finally meeting Santana's gaze.

"Are you kidding?" Santana asked lightly, her eyes searching Puck's face. "You made the first important choice regarding her... You decided to give her to a family that could provide for her. That's being a parent, making the right choices for your kid. You and Quinn did that."

"We made the right choice, I know that... It just hurts. I don't think I'll ever get over it completely."

"I'm not sure you're supposed to," Santana admitted. "You don't really get over something like that. But I think in time, it will get easier. I think having Karlie here is a reminder, and I'm sorry about that, but at the same time, you have to realize I can't do anything about it."

"I know. I'm not mad or anything, and I don't mean to be mopey at you. I just can't talk to Quinn about this. Everytime I do, she gets really defensive or she cries."

"It's hard on her, too," Santana said. It made her heart ache to hear Puck say that... Quinn seemed perfectly fine around Karlie now, even earlier when she watched her speak to Puck, she seemed fine. She was unhappy to find out this wasn't true after all.

"I know. Like you said, time. I guess."

Karlie had finally had her fill and was squirming, unused to her face being covered up. Santana got herself back in order before taking the blanket off, lifting Karlie up over her shoulder to burp her. She noticed how Puck's eyes got that wistful look in them again.

"You know any time you need a baby fix, you're welcome to borrow this one," Santana said with a sigh as Karlie promptly spit up a little bit. It wasn't enough to get her dirty, but it was dribbling down Karlie's chin. Puck laughed as she wiped it away with a corner of the blanket, shaking his head.

"I'll keep that in mind."

The two rejoined the rest of the gang in the choir room, just in time to be shoved into their costumes and get their hair and what makeup they needed applied. Mr. Schue was rushing them, and Santana passed the baby to Finn, who within five seconds got Karlie to sleep. He carried the sleeping infant to the auditorium with Santana at his side, both of them confident she would sleep through most anything, since it was nearing eight and Karlie was normally down for the night by now.

The problem came to what to do with her while they were all busy doing the dress rehearsal... Luckly Mr. Schue had invited Emma to watch the dress rehearsal with him, and the doe eyed ginger practically jumped at the chance to hold Karlie, clapping her hands and squealing a little at the sight of the baby in Finn's arms. Since babies were nothing but a giant mess, this surprised everyone. But Emma acted as if this was as natural as putting on hand sanitizer. At least she wouldn't have to worry about Ms. Pillsbury getting her daughter germy, Santana thought with a laugh. Finn passed her off, and they were all able to get on with the rest of their evening without a hitch, the baby sleeping through the loud music nestled against Ms. Pillsbury's chest in the third row.

"I bet we'll have less of a problem getting Mr. Schue to let Karlie hang around since now he knows Ms. Pillsbury apparently loves babies," Finn whispered to Santana between their scenes, watching Mercedes and Kurt sing from the side of the stage. Santana chuckled, laying a lingering kiss on Finn's lips before pulling away.

"I wouldn't have thought it," Santana said, turning back to face the stage.

"I guess people do some pretty surprising things when it comes to babies."

"Yeah," Santana agreed. She sidled up to him, nuzzling close into his side as he draped an arm around her shoulder. Looking up at him, she sighed before speaking again. "Like Mike. Or Kurt." She paused, a slow smile spreading over her face. "Or you. I'd never thought you'd be a good dad, not before all of this."

"That's okay," Finn said with a laugh. "I had never pictured you as the mothering type. I kind of likened you to a hamster; more apt to eat her young."

"Aren't we glad I didn't eat our baby?" Santana asked teasingly, pointing out to the rows of seating at Karlie, still and quiet in their guidance counselor's arms. She didn't have to be up close to appreciate the sweet and serene demeanor of her sleeping child, having been privy to it for months now. She smiled happily, and she knew Finn was doing the same.

"Almost all of the time."