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I have no real idea what the process of adopting a child is like, though I imagine it would be long and possible arduous, so please forgive any and all mistakes in that regard, for they are all mine.
I have created a poll, but apparently it's not working... however I would still like to know which song fic you would like to see lengthened... so leave it in a review or a PM. Thanks!
Seven
Puck waited till everyone was gone, before he moved to talk to Schuester.
The older man was rifling through a stack of papers, and Puck had no idea if they were music sheets or tests.
'Um, Mr. Schue?' he called, causing the other man to drop his papers in surprise.
'Oh, Puck, I thought you'd all left for the day,' Schue offered as he crouched to pick up his papers.
'Sorry,' Puck offered slightly awkwardly as he helped Schuester collect his papers. He glanced at the top one in his pile and his eyes widened in surprise. They weren't tests or sheet music. The top one said something about foster parent application.
'What are these?' he asked, he couldn't help his curiosity. Maybe Finn had been right when he'd said that Mr. Schue wanted to have a kid.
'Oh,' Schue blushed as he accepted the papers back from Puck. 'I'm applying to become a foster parent, or possible adopt. But the process could take months. Unless someone asks for me personally, and I don't really know any pregnant woman who want to give up their children anytime soon, so…' he trailed off, mildly embarrassed as he shoved the papers back into his bag.
Puck stared at him incredulously, 'What about Quinn's?' he asked. He couldn't quite call it his baby yet.
'What about it? It's not like she's going to give it up.' There was an almost bitter tone to his voice.
'It's not up to Quinn. I talked to Judy, and Quinn's signed away any rights she may have had for this baby. She's just an incubator. Judy's letting me decide what to do.'
Schuester stared at Puck, not comprehending what was going on.
'Finn said that you wanted a kid, but he's been known to exaggerate. I don't know if I could ever look at her. It's a "her", did you know? I would've named her Beth,' Puck was now staring past Schue. 'She's going to be absolutely beautiful, I can tell. And such a badass,' he trailed off with a sad laugh.
'Puck?' Schuester was a little befuddled; he had no idea what Puck was getting at.
'You would be a great father, I mean you're really good with Finn. Not so much with the rest of us, but every parent has a favourite,' Schuester immediately felt bad. He only favoured Finn so much because he was afraid that if he didn't then Finn would quit and they needed all the bodies they could get.
'Would you adopt Beth?' Puck blurted.
Schuester froze and stared at Puck. There were tears glimmering in Puck's eyes, despite the hurried bluntness of the question, he could tell it had been the hardest question the teen in front of him had ever had to ask.
'No,' he replied, and Puck looked heartbroken before he turned and tried to flee from the suddenly suffocating room, but Kurt was standing in the door way.
'Please?' he didn't know who he was pleading with but he had to get out, get away.
'I won't adopt her, but I will become her guardian until you can take care of her yourself. I know that while the way she was conceived was less than favourable, I know that once you see her, hold her, you won't ever want to let her go,' Schuester replied, giving Puck's shoulder a gentle squeeze.
Puck nodded and Kurt moved out of his way.
'He has no idea what he wants to do. He's mums been on his case about knocking up a girl, and his grades and how he'll end up just like his dead beat father and she won't even listen to him. His only support is his Nana, but she can't take care of herself, Puck, Sarah and Beth,' Kurt offered.
Before Schuester could reply, there was shouting in the hall.
They both rushed to investigate when they heard Puck.
He was holding his face in shock as he stared at the petit woman who was yelling obscenities at him.
'Ma…' he whispered.
'I want you out of my house!' she suddenly yelled. 'You aren't worth the trouble you cause, you have until tonight to get whatever shit you want, but then it goes in the garbage.'
Without letting her son explain anything, she stormed from the school. Thankfully there weren't many students around, and the ones that were quickly scattered when Kurt glared at them.
'Noah?' Schuester said softly, putting a hand on Puck's arm. Suddenly he had an armful of tearful Puck.
Kurt managed to pull Puck away from a surprised Schuester, and began to sooth him, whispering softly to him.
Schuester was surprised with how well Kurt handled Puck, and he moved them back into the choir room.
After a few moments, Puck pulled away from Kurt, angry and embarrassed.
'I knew it was coming, I just…'
'Hey, it's okay.' Kurt immediately soothed, holding both of Puck's hands; his thumbs, rubbing small circles on the back of his hand.
'You can stay with me,' Schuester offered. 'I have more than enough room in my apartment for both you and Beth; and this way, you can still be with her.'
Puck swiped at his eyes, before looking to Kurt. They had a silent conversation.
'You'll have to okay it with social services, and the school board, I think,' Kurt offered. 'Besides I don't think my dad would like to appreciate the guy I've been crushing on living in the same house.'
'You've been crushing on me?' Puck blurted.
Kurt gave him a small smile and nodded.
'But what about Finn?'
Kurt gave a soft laugh, 'Finn is like an adorable puppy who pees on everything. Cute but impractical.'
Puck gave a soft laugh, 'I'll be a teenage father.'
'Then it's a good thing I have a soft spot for guys with kids.'
Kurt gave him an affectionate kiss, 'we can take this as slowly as we need too, and no matter what happens, I'll be right here.'
'Schue?' he asked looking up at their choir teacher.
Schue gave a small smile as he pulled a small notebook from his bag and he scribbled something down.
'Here's my address. Why don't you and Kurt go get your stuff, while I'll go home and clean up? We can order pizza or something. In the morning we can see what has to be done so I can be your guardian.'
'Thank you, Sir.' Puck offered sincerely.
Schue cupped Puck's face. 'I know I haven't been the best when it comes to realizing that something is wrong, but I'd like to try to make it up to you, to both of you.' He glanced up at Kurt, who didn't say anything, but nodded.