Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah though.

Read on, oh faithful ones...

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Chapter Twenty Six

...

Mouse watched as Puck introduced himself to Shelby and his daughter. From the moment the older woman had walked out, the baby in her arms, Puck hadn't stopped staring. She'd told him to go over and introduce himself, and he'd only hesitated for a moment before taking her up on her suggestion, and headed over to the nurse's station.

Suddenly, Puck looked over his shoulder to her and smiled, turning back to Shelby with a nod. They both walked over, and Mouse squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. She had no idea what to say to the woman who was adopting her boyfriend's baby.

"Shelby, this is Jane. Jane, this is Shelby. And this gorgeous girl here, is Beth," Puck introduced, taking hold of Beth's hand gently.

"Hello, Jane. It's nice to meet you," Shelby said with a bright smile, but didn't offer her hand to shake while she was holding her daughter.

"It's nice to meet you too, Shelby," Mouse replied quickly. "You must be very happy to have your daughter finally with you."

"Oh, I am. I can't wait to take her home and spoil her rotten," Shelby said, laughing softly as she rocked the child in her arms.

"Oh, that reminds me," Puck murmured, gently taking his hand back from Beth and hurrying over to his seat.

Mouse smiled uncertainly at Shelby, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry; this must be awfully uncomfortable for you," Shelby said quietly.

"It's all right; I was the one who sent him over to introduce himself to you and ... Beth," she replied, taking a moment to actually say the baby's name.

Mouse might have been okay with Puck introducing himself to Shelby and seeing his daughter - she would never want him to not see Beth because of her own selfish reasons - but she was finding it vastly different when she was brought into it too.

"Would you like to hold her, Jane?"

Mouse was surprised at Shelby's offer, as it seemed as though the woman didn't want to let go of her daughter for the world. She hesitated, wondering exactly how she'd feel while holding Puck's daughter, but eventually managed a nod. Shelby smiled and carefully handed Beth to her. Mouse held Beth, supporting her head as she rocked her softly. Beth yawned, and Mouse grinned at the sight. She was so tiny, her hands were so small, and she was so warm in her arms. It was unbelievable to think that she'd ever been this small before.

Puck had finally managed to get the bag that Candy had accidentally fallen asleep on, and turned to see Mouse with Beth in her arms, smiling at the baby. He stopped to stare, wondering at the sudden feeling to have Mouse standing there with another baby in her arms, one that had been made from both of them; their own baby together. A baby girl that would grow up to be just as strong and gorgeous as her mother, and Puck would have to beat the boys away to keep her safe, even if his daughter hated him for it. Or a boy that would have his mother's wit and his father's killer body, but Puck would teach him to respect women more than he had before Mouse. He wouldn't let his boy turn out like him if he could help it...

"You okay, Puck?" Terrence asked with a frown, seeing him just standing there staring at Mouse.

"Yeah, fine," he muttered in reply, heading back to the two women and his daughter. "I got this earlier. I thought Beth might like it," Puck said, offering the bag to Shelby with a quick and hesitant smile.

He'd never bought anything for a baby before, never thought he'd have to buy something like this, but on seeing the small clothing, Puck hadn't been able to resist.

Shelby looked genuinely surprised at the gift and opened the bag, pulling out a small onesie. It was a light yellow colour and had a black guitar on the front, musical notes flowing around the material in a dark swirl.

"It's wonderful. Thank you, Puck," Shelby said, smiling at him brightly.

Embarrassed, Puck nodded. "Do you mind if I hold her?" he asked hesitantly.

Mouse looked to Shelby, who nodded before carefully placing the onesie back in the bag.

"You have to support her head, okay?" Mouse murmured, instructing him quietly as she passed Beth to him.

Puck's arms trembled slightly, and he knew he was staring again. Beth was so small and tiny. She was so light and looked unbelievably fragile. He tried to repress his trembling arms so he wouldn't drop her. Oh, god. What if he did drop her? She wouldn't bounce off the ground like a football! Puck made himself hold on a little bit tighter, terrified that Beth would manage to throw herself out of his arms if he didn't.

"She's so pretty and tiny," a voice whispered in awe.

Puck grinned at Candy, who looked as though he'd been roused from a year-long sleep rather than the few hours that had passed.

"Candy, this is Beth. Beth, this is Candy," he introduced them quietly.

"Hello Bethy," Candy said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "I talked to you while you were in Quinnie's tummy, Bethy."

Mouse noticed that Shelby was slightly on edge, as if she was going into withdrawal from having Beth in her arms.

"Hey, Puck, give Beth back to her mum now," she said with a grin.

"Oh, sure. You probably want to get home already," Puck said quickly, realising that Shelby had actually been on her way out of the hospital when he'd gone to introduce himself.

Shelby nodded briefly. "I'd like to settle Beth in sooner rather than later."

Careful not to drop Beth, Puck handed her to Shelby, giving mother and daughter a quick smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll take good care of her, Shelby," Puck said, nodding confidently. "Just ... if she grows up and you need someone to beat all the boys away, give me a call, okay?"

Shelby nodded, trying not to smile when she saw just how serious he was. "I will, Puck. Thank you."

Mouse's hand slipped into Puck's and they watched as Shelby left the hospital with Beth.

"Are you okay, pretty lady?" Candy asked softly, looking to the blonde woman who was crying. She looked like Quinn, and had been in her room earlier, but he still stayed a safe distance away from the stranger.

Mouse turned to see Judy Fabray sitting in the corner of the waiting room. She was still crying, and it was obvious that she'd seen Shelby leaving with her granddaughter.

Judy seemed surprised at Candy's question, and managed a brief nod, using a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Fabray?" Josh asked, coming up beside her as he entered the waiting room. "Quinn would like to see you."

Judy hurried to leave, and as she did, Mr. Schuester returned, his face still bright from their win at Regionals. Figgins had agreed to let the Glee club continue next year, with Sue actually advocating them.

"Most of your parents are here now to pick you up. Does anyone need a lift?" Will asked as they all sat up, peering out of the hospital window to see whose parents were in the parking lot.

"I'm okay, thanks," Tina said.

"Burt's here for me and Kurt, so we'll be fine. Oh, hey, Blaine's with him," Finn said grinning as he nudged Kurt.

"Oh god. Mercedes, how's my hair?" Kurt asked quickly, trying to straighten his shirt from where it had crumpled from sitting down for so long.

Mercedes simply winced in response, and they hurried to the women's bathroom, Tina following quickly.

Candy tugged on Mouse's sleeve. "Can sweet say bye to Quinnie?"

"Quinn's in there with her mum, sweetie. She might not want to see anyone at the moment."

Candy's eyes widened and his lip trembled. Mouse sighed, and nodded.

"Okay, we'll see. But knock first, and wait until Quinn tells you to go inside, okay?" Mouse said.

Candy nodded, taking her hand and going to the room with Puck following. Knocking on the door, Candy stepped back and waited impatiently, bouncing on his feet.

"Come in," Quinn called after a moment.

Grinning brightly, Candy opened the door and walked in to the room. He hurried to Quinn's side, hugging her tightly.

"Love you, Quinnie."

Surprised at his sudden action and admission, Quinn burst into tears. Judy faltered for a moment, and then moved to her daughter's side, stroking her hair as she sobbed into her shoulder and good silk shirt.

Mouse held Puck's hand, not liking to see Quinn crying, her grip tightening in his when Candy, who was exhausted and emotional after Regionals, started crying too.

"Okay, time to go home, sweetie," Mouse murmured when Quinn stopped crying and Candy's tears gave way to small hiccuping sobs.

Candy nodded briefly, his eyes red. He kissed Quinn's cheek gently and let Mouse and Puck lead him back out to the waiting room. Mercedes, Terrence, and Will were all that remained, everyone else having left already.

"Is everything okay?" Will asked, frowning when he saw the tears on Candy's face.

"He's just tired, it's okay. Come on, sweetie. We'll get you home, have a nice warm bath, and I'll put Toy Story on for you, okay?" Mouse offered, stroking his hair gently.

Candy nodded, wiping his tears on his sleeve and hugging himself to Mouse's body firmly.

"I'll drive you home," Puck said, kissing Mouse quickly and leaving to get his car.

"You hear that, Candy? Puck's going to drive us home. You want me to sit with you?" she asked, still stroking his hair.

He nodded in response, his eyes closing as he hugged his sister a bit tighter.

"We'll see you at school on Monday. Have a good weekend," Mouse said as she guided Candy out to the parking lot when she saw Puck pull up to the waiting zone for them.

Will said goodbye to Mercedes and Terrence, and went to say goodbye to Quinn and Josh in the hospital room.

"Would you like to continue that conversation now, Terrence?" Mercedes asked, referring to their arranged date.

He seemed surprised at her question, but nodded. "You really want to go out with me now, straight after Regionals, and Quinn giving birth?"

"Yes, I'd love to," Mercedes said with a bright smile.

Terrence grinned in return, and offered his arm for her to take. Looping her arm through his, Mercedes walked out with him by her side to go on their date.

In her bed, Quinn was exhausted, her hair was a mess, her face was wet from crying, and she wanted to do nothing more than curl up and sleep for a good week.

"Mum? Take me home?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Judy nodded, gathering her daughter into a hug. "Of course, baby girl. I'm so proud of you," she added softly, kissing the top of Quinn's head gently.

Quinn didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a mix of the two, and clung to her mother a bit tighter. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

...

Shelby settled Beth down in her cot gently, tucking her blanket around her carefully. She'd dressed Beth in the gift from Puck, smiling as she hummed the music notes to her daughter. Rocking the cot softly to help Beth sleep, Shelby began to sing a lullaby, one she'd sung to her birth daughter before she had given her up for adoption.

"Baby mine, don't you cry,
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine.

"Little one, when you play,
Don't you mind what they say.
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear, baby of mine.

"From your head down to your toes,
You're so sweet, goodness knows.
You're so precious to me,
Cute as can be, baby of mine."

...

Puck loaded up the last of his pool cleaning equipment in his car, wiping his sweaty forehead on the back of his sleeve. His wallet felt heavy in his pocket, and he grinned a little at the feeling. He was thankful that his clientele hadn't lessened when he stopped sleeping with the cougars. Puck found that if he sang and still cleaned without a shirt on, they'd often tip him a few extra dollars without the sex anyway. He was getting so much business that he was already pre-booked for the rest of the week now that Glee practice was over.

His phone rang before he could get in the car, and he frowned on hearing the generic ringtone. Puck leaned back against the hood of his car and answered the phone.

"Puckerman's Pool Service."

"Hello. This is Noah Puckerman, correct?"

"Yeah, speaking," he answered.

"Excellent. My name is Phil, and I own Lima Liquid Labourers," Phil said, pausing for a moment.

Puck winced slightly. Before his little pool cleaning service, the Lima Liquid Labourers had been the main pool cleaners in Lima. Honestly, he'd expected a call much sooner than this, but had figured that his service hadn't been considered as a threat to the larger business.

"From your silence, I'll assume that you've heard of my business... I've heard that you're making quite a name for yourself, Noah. How would you like to come to my office to discuss this little business of yours?" Phil asked.

"Okay. I've got a few hours free next weekend," Puck said.

Phil seemed surprised that he wasn't rushing to meet him straight away. "Fine. What time would suit you then?"

"About four-thirty on Saturday."

"Very well. I'll see you then, Noah."

Puck hung up, wondering if this was a good or bad thing. He sighed and got in his car, heading home.

...

"It could be bad, Noah. I'd be careful if I were you," his mother pointed out later that night after wrangling the information from her sombre son.

"Yeah, I will be. It's not like he's going to get some thugs to beat me up for stealing his clients," Puck said. "Well, if he was going to do that, I doubt he'd call me to arrange the meeting for it."

"Maybe he wants you to think that! And when you go inside to meet with him, he's going to get some punks to total your car and steal all of your pool cleaning stuff!" Katie said, her eyes wide.

"Don't say that, Katie, you're going to freak Mum out," Puck muttered, shaking his head.

"But it could be true! What if he's a mafia boss?" Katie asked, trying not to giggle.

"We live in Lima, Katie. There's no such thing as mafia here," he said.

"He could have hundreds of thugs working for him!" she said, as if she hadn't heard him, giggling hysterically now. "And they all watch everyone in town to make sure they don't speak against their boss, or they'd beat them up!"

Puck shook his head again, standing quickly and grabbing his sister around the waist, picking her up as she continued to laugh, rambling about the mafia and attempting a bad Godfather-like accent.

The phone rang loudly and their mother answered the call, trying not to laugh at her children's antics.

"Oh, hello Jane. How are you?"

Puck dropped Katie on the lounge, leaving her still laughing wildly, and hurried to take the phone from his mother. She grinned and turned away from his impatient look, still talking with Mouse pleasantly.

"Oh, yes, he is here. In fact, he's bouncing about like a little boy at Christmas. When you come over next, I'll torture him by showing his baby photos to you, wouldn't you like that?"

Puck groaned and snatched the phone away from his mother before she could embarrass him further. Mouse was laughing on the other end of the phone, and he glowered as if she could see his expression.

"If you're done laughing now?" he muttered.

"Not yet. I'm just imagining baby you, mohawk and all!"

"Hey, I was the best-looking baby on the block," Puck defended his younger self, which only set Mouse's laughter off again.

He couldn't help but grin, and quickly headed upstairs before his mother and sister could listen to anymore of their conversation.

"Why didn't you ring my phone?" Puck asked when she'd settled down enough to hear him.

"I tried, but you didn't answer," Mouse replied.

Frowning, Puck hunted over his desk to find his mobile phone, and discovered it had gone flat. Sighing, he held the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could charge his mobile again. He plugged it into the socket, switching the power on, and then sat on his desk chair to continue talking with Mouse.

"I know you're busy with pool cleaning this week, but I wanted to know if you had time for a date next weekend? I was thinking I could kick your ass at bowling," Mouse said with a laugh.

"You wish, Franklin," Puck said, grinning. "I'm busy all day Saturday, but I'm free that night."

"You're not going to be too tired to bowl after cleaning pools all day?"

"Well, I've got an appointment with Phil from Lima Liquid Labourers that afternoon, so I won't be cleaning all day. Should be fine."

"Phillip Mores, the owner of Lima Liquid Labourers?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's his name. He only said Phil on the phone," Puck said, shrugging.

"Wow. That's big... Did he say what he wanted to talk to you about?"

Puck ran his hand over his head, sighing. "He said he wanted to talk about my business. I really don't know if it's a good or bad thing," he admitted.

"Hmm, it could be either... I hope it's good though," Mouse said, trying to sound optimistic. "You'll tell me about it afterwards, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course."

In the background, he could hear Candy calling for Mouse, and a loud twang of guitar strings.

"Oh, I'd better go. I think Candy's trying to imitate Stitch on the ukelele," she said with a wince.

"If you show up to school in a grass skirt tomorrow, I know who to blame," Puck said with a laugh.

"Huh, that's not a bad idea. I think we've got some rubbish bags that could be cut up and keep Candy occupied for a while. Have a good night, Noah, see you tomorrow," Mouse said.

"You too. Night," he replied, hanging up from the call seconds after she did.

He grinned at the phone slightly, glad he didn't have to go through that sappy crap of telling each other to hang up. The very idea of it grated against his nerves.

"Noah and Jane, sitting in the tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Katie sang, popping her head into his room and grinning.

"Don't sing that too loud, Katie, or Mum'll give you details of her kissing people."

"Ewww," she said, the song forgotten at the thought. "I'm bored... Want to play a board game with me?" Katie asked, pleading and begging for her brother's attention for a night.

"Nah... I've got a better idea," Puck added when her face fell.

"Oh, what?" she asked eagerly.

"Tell mum to get some green plastic bags out of the kitchen, and I'll show you," he said, shooing her out of his room.

Curious and not willing to refuse the surprise, Katie ran downstairs, calling for their mother loudly.

Grabbing a pair of scissors from his desk, Puck went downstairs. He contemplated making his mother and sister swear on their lives not to tell anyone what they were about to do, but then decided that no one would believe Noah Puckerman would make a hula skirt. Either way, he was hiding the camera's batteries so his mother couldn't blackmail him with photographic evidence at a later date.

...

Candy and Mouse came to school each wearing a lei, Candy smiling so brightly that no one dared to say a thing to tease him about it. Mrs. Komp congratulated Candy on his artistic ability to alternate the different coloured paper flowers, stating that the whole class would make some that day.

At lunch, it became obvious that she hadn't been lying, as Candy arrived at the bleachers armed with enough lei for each of them to wear. Terrence grinned when Candy stepped up a few seats so he could put the flower necklace over his head himself.

"These are our team colours, aren't they, Candy?" Lee asked, grinning.

Candy nodded solemnly. "You can wear them next week!"

A slight murmur went through the footballers, not entirely happy at the prospect of wearing flowers to play football. Besides, next week's team weren't known for their mercy. In fact, the Horrible Highland Hornets were known for their brutality on the field. Showing up wearing lei necklaces would get their asses handed to them off the field as well as on it.

"We couldn't do that, Candy. They'd get ruined, or the other team might break them," Terrence said, the others hurrying to agree. "We can keep them in the locker room though," he added when Candy looked ready to cry.

"Okay then," Candy said, smiling a bit at Terrence's suggestion. "Can sweet come to see them?"

"Sure thing, Candy-kid," Puck said with a grin.

Candy made a noise of happiness, hugging and thanking each of them.

"Come on, sweetie. Food time now," Mouse said, holding his lunchbox out to him.

With a nod, Candy took his lunchbox and sat down to eat, swinging his legs.

...

Seeing a grandmotherly looking woman leaving Principal Figgins' office, Will nodded his head to the lady and then popped his head into the office, wondering who she was. She certainly wasn't the parent or guardian of any students, he was sure of it.

"She's the new nurse, Schuester. You have no idea how hard it was to find someone willing to work at this wage," Figgins muttered, but he smiled at the thought of the cheap labour.

"Right. I suppose her wage is coming out of Glee's budget?" Will asked, already trying to think of ways to come up with money.

"Not at all. Second place at Regionals means that next year you will be first, and then everyone will want to attend William McKinley High School. Attendances have already increased for next year. I've had to put people on a waiting list, Will. A waiting list," Figgins said excitedly.

Will nodded absent-mindedly, a slight frown forming. "If you didn't take it from Glee, then who..." he trailed off, looking at Figgins in horror. "Oh, God. Please tell me you didn't..."

...

Sue Sylvester glowered at everyone as she strode down the hall, not even sparing her cheerleaders. Becky was a few paces behind her, glaring at everyone as well.

"Ms. Sylvester, reports have come in that your laundry budget has been drastically reduced to allow for a new staff member. Care to comment?" Jacob Ben Israel asked, holding his portable recorder up to her.

Glaring at him angrily, Sue snatched the small device, opened the nearest door and threw it as far and hard as she could.

Jacob made a strangled sound of distress and ran out of the door to find his precious recorder.

Sue let out a deep breath of satisfaction, feeling slightly better. But it still wasn't enough to erase all of her anger and annoyance. Her eye twitched slightly.

"FIGGINS!"

In his office, Figgins' eyes widened slightly. Will was fairly sure he was swearing under his breath, but the principal's next actions stunned him too much to dwell on a few curse words. Figgins hurried around Will, locked his office door, and then hurried to his window, opening it wide.

"What are you doing?" Will asked, seeing the man stick his leg out of the window, and yet still not comprehending what he was about to do.

"I'm not staying in here, and if you want to live, you won't stay either," Figgins said over his shoulder, dropping into the garden and running across the grounds.

Hearing Sue yell again, Will decided that Figgins' idea wasn't bad at all, and left through the window, closing the glass pane behind him carefully. Keeping low, Will made his way across the school, trying to ignore the confused and bemused stares the students were giving him.

Knocking on Emma's window, he heard her startled gasp, and looked in the window. Realising that he must look like a stalker, or some sort of maniac, Will gave a quick apologetic smile.

Emma opened her window carefully, frowning at him. "You do realise that you're standing in the garden, Will?"

"Yes, I know. Let me in?" he pleaded.

Nodding briefly, she stepped back. Emma's eyes widened when she saw his dirt covered shoe.

"Oh, my... I'll get something for you to stand on," she said, hurrying to get a large rubbish bag from her desk drawer.

Seeing that Emma looked close to hyperventilating, Will thanked her quietly and stepped on the bag, wincing at the smudge he'd left on the floor behind him. Emma started to clean it straight away, and Will shuffled across the room on his bag so he could sit down and not spread the mess further.

"I heard Sue yelling, I presume that's the reason you're skulking about in the garden?" Emma asked, scrubbing the last speck of dirt away and putting the gloves and dirty wipes in the bin.

"Figgins took away some of her budget to pay for a school nurse. Sue will find some way to blame it on me, I'm sure of it," Will said, shaking his head. "Uh, what are you doing?" he asked, frowning down at her as she pulled on another pair of gloves and began to undo his shoelaces.

She swallowed forcibly, staring at his shoes as if they were a giant three-headed monster. "Those... They cannot be in here. Not like that. I have to clean them."

"Don't worry, I can wash them off outside," Will said, attempting to smile.

"Take them off. Now."

Will grinned then, pulling Emma up to him carefully and kissing her heatedly.

"You're irresistible when you're authoritative and demanding, have I told you that?"

Emma blinked, wondering what the sound Will was emitting meant. Then she realised that he was speaking, and as she finally registered his words Emma blushed brightly.

"Now, let's see if I can clean these, and you can tell me what I've missed," Will murmured, sitting down and taking his shoes off, careful to keep them on the bag.

Emma itched to take the awful, smelly, dirty shoes up and just throw them out the window, but she restrained herself. In a matter of minutes, she was telling him the best way to get dirt out of the small crevices in sneakers, keeping a careful eye on his cleaning to make sure he wouldn't dirty the carpet.

...

End of the twenty-sixth chapter

Hope you liked it!