Disclaimer: As always I don't own glee or anything else.

AN: Chapter's been a long time coming I know, hope it was worth the wait! This is a pretty long chapter so make sure you got your tea and cookies handy.

Make Me Forget

Chapter 24 – Rachel's Guide to Giving Birth to Levi Puckerman

The Sunday morning after Prom Rachel answered the insistent knocking on the front door to find Quinn standing there looking apprehensive and troubled. Rachel's motherly instincts, that she didn't even know she had, went into overdrive.

"Rachel, I need your help with something," Quinn blurted out before Rachel even had a chance speak and Rachel answered without hesitation.

"Anything."

Quinn gave a thankful smile and Rachel took her by the hand and led her in the Berry living room. Puck was lounging on the couch playing Xbox but when he saw the look on Quinn's face he pressed pause and drifted off to the kitchen to give them some privacy and to make a sandwich. He was now very practiced at learning when there was a serious girl to girl talk about to start. Quinn sat down on the couch and Rachel eased herself down next to her.

"I'm going to go visit my parents," Quinn said softly and Rachel placed a hand on Quinn's back. Quinn and her parents hadn't spoken since they kicked her out after they learned about Sarah. Quinn had written them letters a couple of times without reply but she had never actually gone back to her house and confronted them. The last time she was home Miss Pillsbury had been with her and her parents hadn't been there, refusing to even be in the same house as Quinn.

"What do you need me to do?" Rachel asked with determination ready to do battle for whatever Quinn needed to do. Rachel mentally started rehearsing speeches that told the Fabray's that they were awful people and that Quinn was a good person.

"Just be there with me, for support," Quinn explained and Rachel was a little surprised but nodded. She would be there for whatever Quinn needed her to do.

"Okay," Rachel paused considered how strange it was that Quinn was asking her instead of Finn. She and Quinn were good friends of course but Finn was her boyfriend and the person Quinn depended on most. Rachel hesitantly voiced her question trying not to sound rude, "Why don't you want to take Finn?"

"Finn doesn't think I should keep trying to make amends with them but I have to try," Quinn admitted bowing her head. She and Finn had already had quite a few fights regarding Quinn's parents. Finn wanted her to forget them since he hated seeing Quinn sad because of her parents but Quinn was of firm belief that whatever happened they would always be her parents and she would always love them. Rachel gave her a comforting pat on the back.

"OK, well we can go now if you want," Rachel told her and Quinn have a firm nod and getting to her feet. Her face was determined, she was going to go to her parent's house and tell them everything she wanted that she never had the chance to say.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Noah we are going out," Rachel called out as Quinn helped her stand up and Puck came running out of the kitchen looking worried. Rachel knew he hated letting her out of her sight, especially with her due date looming so closely.

"I'll come," he said quickly and Rachel shook her head. Rachel hardly thought bringing Noah, the boy who had knocked up their daughter, to the Fabray's was appropriate while Quinn was trying to reconcile with them especially considering Rachel was going to be there and was pregnant with Noah's child.

"No, you won't."

There were times when Puck hated having a stubborn pregnant girlfriend. This was one of those times.

"Rachel you are about to pop, I'm not letting you go anywhere without me," Puck tried to pull rank but he was met with a stubborn glare.

"Noah," Rachel said through her teeth warningly and Puck sighed giving up. He'd lose even if he put up a fight.

"Call me if you need anything," he told her handing her his phone before giving her a kiss on the lips and dropping a kiss on Quinn's cheek. He watched the two girls pull out of the driveway and ran a hand down his Mohawk. Now he would be on edge until he had Rachel home with him.
Darn women and their vagina club loyalty.

"I don't know if I can do this," Quinn said slowly as she sat in her car and stared up at the Fabray house from afar. That front door used to be so welcoming and now it just looked like a stranger's front door; a stranger's home. Rachel reached out a hand and took Quinn's giving it a squeeze.

"I know you can."

Quinn gave her a weak smile before exiting the car and walking up the short garden path to the front door of what used to be her home while Rachel watched on anxiously from Quinn's car. Quinn rapped her knuckles three times on the door and waited. The door opened to reveal Quinn's mother and Mrs Fabray dropped her eyes to the ground as though even looking at Quinn was forbidden.

"You shouldn't be here," Mrs Fabray muttered at her daughter half closing the front door. Quinn felt the tears pricking at her eyelids from the dismissal. She could hear heavy footsteps approaching the front door and braced herself for what would come next.

"Who is it?" her father's voice boomed and then the door swung all the way open to reveal Quinn's father. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of her, "Quinn."

"Daddy," Quinn choked out. All she wanted was to hold onto him and have him tell her everything was okay but he just folded his arms across his chest. Quinn couldn't understand how he could look at her like that, like he didn't know her or love her.

"What are you doing here?" Mr Fabray asked her coldly and Quinn looked down at the book she held in her hands before she pushed the book towards her father.

"This is for you, for both of you," Quinn told them as her father hesitantly took the book.

"What is it?" Mr Fabray asked and Quinn just looked at the book, meaning for him to open it.

Mr Fabray opened up the book that Quinn had given him to reveal a photo album filled with photos. Photos of Quinn when she was still pregnant, and then ones from after the birth of Sarah, there were photos of all the Glee Club at Regional's and some of them goofing around at sleepovers, there were photos of Prom. Photos of the life Quinn was living that her parents knew nothing about because they had chosen to withdraw from her life and pretend that she didn't exist.

"I'm sorry I hurt you and disappointed you but like it or not I am your daughter, so I am going to keep sending you these photos of every important moment in my life that you are missing out on experiencing with me. I want you to remember you have a daughter who still loves you in spite of the awful way you treated her, in spite of the way you turned your back on her when she needed you the most. I am your daughter. You can't just forget about me, I won't let you," Quinn promised them letting the tears fall unashamedly down her face. Her mother and father were speechless, just staring at the young woman before them who spoke proudly and calmly. The woman who used to be their little girl. Quinn took their prolonged silence as her dismissal and turned and walked back to the car driving off without another word.

Quinn had taken the first step, now it was up to her parents.

Quinn dropped Rachel home in silence and Rachel walked into the house to be met by Noah who bundled her into his arms when he saw that she was crying silent tears.

"They just stared at her like they didn't even recognize her," Rachel sniffed before the tears started flowing freely. Noah held onto her tenderly as Rachel cried for her friend. It took her quite a long time to settle down and in the end she was nestled into Noah's side as they cuddled on the couch. Rachel rested her head on his chest and drew circles with her fingers on the back of his hand.

"Promise me whatever happens we will never treat our child like that," Rachel whispered softly and Noah felt his heard break at the sadness in her voice.

"I promise Rach, I will love our child no matter what," Noah promised her and Rachel smiled against his chest, feeling his heart beat and knowing he meant every word.

Rachel walked into the last Glee rehearsal of the year and started handing out folders. Kurt took his and flicked open the first page before dropping it to the ground with a horrified gasp.

"I don't know how you haven't picked up on this Hun, but I don't do girl porn," Kurt informed her haughtily, averting his eyes from the offending diagram of a woman's vagina.

Rachel ignored him and continued handing out the folders that were neatly arranged with each member's name on the front. She even had one for Will and Emma, and of course Adam and Lucy. Puck just sat at the back of the room with his arms folded across his chest. His girlfriend was all kinds of crazy but she was pregnant so Puck decided it was best to just let her go; if she had a crazy scheme she wanted to try so be it. Last night when he tried to talk her out of this she had burst into tears and accused him of not caring about their baby; he quickly learned to shut his mouth. Rachel called their attention by clapping her hands.

"I have arranged for all of you to have a copy of my birthing plan," Rachel began explaining as they all opened up their folders and read 'Rachel's Guide to Giving Birth to Levi Puckerman'. Tina pulled out the CD that was in the first plastic sleeve and frowned as she read the title.

"Sounds of the rain forest?"

Tina looked at Artie who shrugged.

"I want my son to be born into a peaceful environment," Rachel told her then looked around the rest of the group, "Does anyone have any other questions?"

The rest of Glee decided to humor her and they all started reading her thirty page birthing plan. They were silent for a couple of moments as they scanned the information.

"No drugs? Are you insane?" Santana screeched looking up at Rachel incredulously and Rachel frowned at her.

"I want everything to be as natural as possible," Rachel replied calmly and Santana shook her head.

"Screw that, when I have to pop out a kid I'm getting a C-Section," Santana announced grinning happily and Rachel stared down at her with disapproval.

"Santana giving birth is a natural process that women have been..." Rachel struck the pose she did when she was about to start a huge lecture and Santana felt like kicking herself for disagreeing with Rachel. Santana should have known by now that Rachel had a compelling argument for every disagreement. She looked over at Quinn for help.

"Rachel we get it, natural in, unnatural out," Quinn cut Rachel's speech off in the way only Quinn could do and Santana gave her a thankful smile. Rachel huffed a little but ceased speaking.

Quinn gave her a fond smile. They hadn't mentioned the visit to the Fabray's and while Quinn had been a little more subdued this week, she did feel less burdened now that she had been able to say her piece to her parents.

Finn raised his hand hesitantly as he frowned at a step by step diagram he discovered towards the end of the book. The diagram looked pretty scary, not to mention disgusting. Like and alien bursting forth from a space pod or something.

"Yes Finn, although you didn't have to raise your hand to ask a question as I am not a teacher," Rachel addressed him smiling pleasantly and Finn held up his book to show her a page complete with diagrams. Mr Shue was frowning at the same diagram but unlike Finn understood what it was and paled considerably.

"What is this?" Finn asked curiously, frowning at the diagram.

"A step by step guide on how to deliver the baby in the unfortunate circumstance that I am unable to make it to the hospital," Rachel replied easily and everyone froze staring at her like she had lost her mind. Rachel laughed lightly and hurried to alleviate their fears, "Don't worry, you would only have to do that in the event we are trapped somewhere without access to a medical facility and the chances of that happening are highly unlikely."

Everyone exchanged nervous glances and mentally told each other that under no circumstances was Rachel to be taken anywhere she could get trapped. Rachel tapped Kurt on the shoulder.

"So is the gossip tree at the ready?" Rachel asked him and Kurt stood up and brushed his hair to one side importantly. He had been honored Rachel asked him to be the head of the tree.

"Check, Puck will text me and Quinn who will then text Mercedes, Tina, Mr Shue and Santana, and they will text Artie, Finn, Matt, Mike, Miss P...I mean Mrs Shue, Brittany, Adam and Lucy," Kurt listed off the process referring to his clipboard and Mike made a face and folded his arms across his chest.

"Why does Kurt get told everything first?" Mike grouched a little offended that he was the third tier. Mike felt for sure he was at least worthy of being second tier. Kurt gave him a patronizing grin.

"Because I am a better gossip than Gossip Girl," Kurt informed him like it was common knowledge and Mike muttered something unintelligible under his breath while Artie raised his hand. Rachel rolled her eyes but gestured for him to continue.

"Can I be higher up the tree?" Artie asked innocently and Rachel shook her head.

"There will be no changes to the Gossip Tree," she snapped, her eyes flashing furiously first at Artie and then to the other members who were third tier and Tina widened her eyes at Artie and shook her head trying to remind him not to anger the short, hormonal pregnant girl. Artie held up his hands in surrender.

"On second thought, I am totally happy being third tier, completely happy, right guys?" Artie looked over at his fellow third tier members and Matt, Mike and Adam were all nodding quickly not wanting to bring down the wrath of Rachel Berry on their heads. Brittany just smiled, having no idea what they were talking about and Lucy was trying to hide behind Santana. Lucy had heard from Santana that if you didn't look Rachel in the eye she didn't focus on you.

"I love third tier," Finn blurted out, feeling the need to say something to fill in the awkward silence of Rachel's glare and Rachel's face melted into an approving smile.

"Good," she emphasized the word with a nod then placed a gently hand on the swell of her stomach, "I am ready to have this baby and he is due tomorrow and I need all of you ready, now if you look at the back of your folders I have your schedule for tonight, you will all have dinner and then into bed at ten thirty as I need all of you bright and alert in case I do go into labour..."

Puck zoned her out and closed his eyes. He knew Rachel would take care of his schedule for tonight so he didn't need to pay attention. Or he thought he didn't until Rachel gave an indignant screech.

"Noah Puckerman, so help me you better not be sleeping!"

Rachel was sure that she was ready to have the baby. She and Noah had gone to all the required classes, studied all the suggested books and Rachel had made sure that every member of the Glee Club had a copy of her birthing plan in case anything unforeseen happened when she went into the labor and Noah couldn't be there. The thing was, Levi wasn't ready to come out yet; he was five days overdue and graduation was less than a week away. Rachel really wanted to have Levi by graduation because she wanted to sit in the crowd with him to watch as his father received his High School Diploma. This was going to be a big moment for Noah and Rachel wanted to be there, preferably with Levi in her arms and not in her belly. Noah hated leaving her side. He was there when she woke up, then he drove her to school at a very slow speed, then he walked her to every class, sat with her at lunch, drove her home and then just sat around watching her, waiting for a sign that his son was on his way.

Rachel was reading 'The Fallen' by Lauren Kate which was quickly becoming her favorite book when she felt someone watching her and lifted her head to see Noah staring at her intently. Well to be precise he was staring at her stomach.

"Noah stop looking at me," Rachel snapped at him. She was already on edge waiting to go into labor and she didn't need Noah looking at her stomach all the time making her more nervous. Noah averted his eyes and Rachel returned to her book.

Screw vampires, Rachel decided as she continued reading getting into the story of Luce and her angel boyfriend Daniel, fallen angels were the hottest mystical beings.

Not two seconds later she got that feeling she was being stared at again and looked up to find Noah looking at her stomach again.

"Noah quit it," Rachel groaned with annoyance and Noah gave her what he thought was an innocent smile but on him it looked mischievous and somewhat sexy.

"Sorry babe, I'm just excited," Noah apologized lumbering over to kiss her on the forehead before he ambled to the bathroom.

Rachel grabbed her glass of water and brought it to her mouth but because she was annoyed she fumbled the cup and it spilt onto her lap. Rachel raised her eyes to the ceiling. Could this day get any worse? Noah walked back into the living room and stared at her.

"Holy fuck the baby is coming," Noah cursed loudly completely freaking out at the sight of the wet spot on Rachel's lap mistakenly thinking that Rachel's water had broken. Rachel rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to explain but Noah's statement brought both her father's running out of their room.

"I'll start the car," Richard said hurriedly not bothering to wipe the shaving cream from his half shaved face and Alan was running back up the stairs at lightning speed.

"I'll get her overnight bag," he called over his shoulder and Richard crouched in front of his daughter, fatherly concern written all over his face. It took all of Rachel's self control not to laugh.

"Can you walk pumpkin?" Richard asked her worriedly wondering why she hadn't gotten up yet. Noah immediately thought something was wrong.

"Are you in pain?" Noah sank down to his haunches in front of her and offered her his hand gallantly, "Here take my hand and squeeze when it hurts."

Rachel shook her head and let out a laugh. At least she knew she would be in good hands when she did actually got into labor.

"False alarm, I spilt water," Rachel told them holding up her empty cup of water and both men visibly relaxed, their tense shoulders sinking. Richard shook his head smiling a little and then hurried up the stairs to tell Alan it was a false alarm.

"Oh," Noah breathed collapsing onto the couch besides her feeling a little stupid and a little disappointed as well. He was ready to meet his son. Rachel saw the look on his face and reached out a hand to squeeze his.

"He'll come when's he's ready Noah," Rachel assured him, then she pinched his arm and gave him a glare, "And stop swearing in front of the baby."

Everyone thought that when Rachel Berry went into labor it would be dramatic and memorable because a child belonging to Rachel Berry 'future star' wouldn't come into the world any other way. Santana had a bet going that all the Glee kids had taken part in. Some placed bets that Rachel would go into labor during the senior Graduation, some bet the morning of graduation, some the morning before graduation, and some bet at the graduation party. They were all wrong though.

Graduation was on Friday and on Tuesday morning Rachel rolled out of bed with difficulty leaving Noah sleeping peacefully and padded downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of water. As she was standing there she felt wetness on her feet and glanced down to see the puddle of water. Calm as can be Rachel finished her water and placed her glass in the sink before strolling back upstairs to stand on Noah's side of the bed.

"Noah," she whispered poking him and Noah grunted in his sleep, "Noah my water broke."

"That's nice Rach," Noah mumbled in his sleep and Rachel waited a moment for it to sink in. Noah wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed early in the morning. Noah sat up in the bed his eyes wide and yelled, "Your water broke?"

When Rachel nodded Noah jumped out of bed and pulled on the closest clothes he could find before rummaging around the room in a panic for the hospital bag she had packed previously. Rachel's door swung wide open and Alan stood there eyes wide.

"Is it time?" he asked frantically and Noah nodded. Alan darted back out of the room yelling for Richard to get out of bed because their baby was becoming a mommy.

Noah was sure he had everything and finally looked over at Rachel who had changed out of her soaked underwear and nightdress into a maxi dress. She seemed very calm for someone who was about to give birth and Noah was kind of waiting for her to lose it.

"Just let me do my hair, I can't go into hospital without brushing my hair and my teeth," Rachel told him hurrying to the bathroom and Noah's mouth dropped open in shock.

Richard burst into the room.

"Where is she? Are you ready to go? What's taking so long?" Richard fired the questions at him quickly looking around for Rachel.

"She's doing her hair," Noah told him in shock and Richard couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, give me the bag, we will meet you in the car,"

Not ten minutes later Noah helped Rachel down the stairs and into the waiting car. While they were on their way to the hospital Noah took out his phone and texted the top tier of the gossip tree as per the plan.

Puckleberry is on his way

The sounds of the rain forest filled the hospital room. Noah watched as Rachel's face contorted into one of pain as she closed her eyes and tried breathing calmly. He wished that he could do something to help her but unfortunately this was her moment.

"You okay babe?" he asked her when the wave of pain passed and Rachel opened her doe brown eyes and glared at him. Noah gave a weak smile, "Right, stupid question."

A nurse strolled calmly into the room and Noah wanted to shake her and demand to know when they were going to take out his baby. The nurse was fairly young, maybe in her mid-twenties and had introduced herself previously as Nurse Jackie. Rachel, while in a moment of relief, had laughed when she introduced herself.

"Like the TV show?" Rachel had queried and Nurse Jackie had rolled her eyes. Apparently she got that comment all the time.

Nurse Jackie checked Rachel's chart then turned to Noah as she sat between Rachel's legs and started fiddling around.

"How far apart are the contractions?" she asked him and Noah glanced down at the clipboard he was holding that Rachel had provided in her birthing plan complete with a table to record her contractions. He had been diligently filling it in and was quite proud really.

"Four minutes."

"That's still plenty of time, you aren't fully dilated, you are only at 3cm," Nurse Jackie told her and Rachel groaned.

"How much longer?" Rachel demanded screwing up her face as another contraction came and Puck reached over and held her hand waiting until the pain subsided while using his free hand to mark the time in the table. Nurse Jackie waited until the contraction was over before she answered Rachel's question.

"Hard to say," Nurse Jackie shrugged then she patted Rachel on her knee in what Nurse Jackie thought was a comforting gesture but Noah just knew that Rachel found it patronizing judging by the sour look on his girlfriend's face as Nurse Jackie told her, "You are doing great sweetie."

Nurse Jackie floated out of the room and Rachel continued to give her back the stink eye then she turned her fiery gaze onto Noah.

"I hate you," Rachel hissed furiously and Noah smiled charmingly.

"You love me," he countered bending his body to drop a kiss onto her slightly sweaty forehead. He turned to wipe his mouth discreetly before coming to sit beside her bed.

"Tell me when it's coming," Rachel gasped and Noah checked his watch and they waited in silence.

"Three, two, one," Noah counted down and Rachel's tiny hand latched tightly onto his forearm with a vice-like grip and Noah winced, "Shit Rachel have you been working out?"

It took Rachel a little while to recover from that contraction but when she did she was still furious about his profanity.

"Noah Puckerman, what did I tell you about swearing?" Rachel roared furiously and Noah bowed his head and muttered a sincere apology not wanting to upset her further. Rachel accepted his apology after a few moments then she released his arm and grabbed his pen wielding it threateningly, "And turn off those ridiculous bird noises before I stab you with your pen."

"Yes ma'am," Puck gave her a mock salute and Rachel glowered at him and threw the pen at his head. He managed to duck, plus her aim was off due to another contraction taking over. Rachel cursed him loudly this time and Puck knew there was more to come if talking to his mother had taught him anything.

It was going to be a long day.

Rachel was in labor for the better part of the day and night, and early Wednesday morning Levi Puckerman came into the world screaming his tiny lungs out, fists waving furiously in the air. Noah was in the birthing suite with Rachel, his hand held tightly in hers and when he heard his son cry, Noah felt the tears pricking at his eyes. Rachel was covered in sweat and exhausted from all the pushing but she propped herself up onto her elbows brushing away the hair stuck to her forehead, her eyes searching for her son.

"Congratulations, it's a boy," the doctor told them what they already knew wrapping their son into some warm blankets and then he came over and placed their son into Rachel's waiting arms.

Rachel stared down at the tiny pink face of her son in wonder reaching out and stroking a finger down his red cheek. Levi had ceased crying now that he was warm and snuggled into his mother's breast. He was perfect, ten fingers and ten toes, healthy lungs and the cutest face. Rachel could see he had Noah's nose and she was sure Levi would have his father's smile; she was hoping he had her eyes. Rachel looked up at Noah and he was gazing down at his son in awe, pride evident on his face. He hesitantly cupped Levi's tiny head with his hand, running his fingers through the tuft of black hair.

"Rach, he's amazing," Noah breathed then he leaned down and kissed Rachel, "I love you."

"I love you too," Rachel whispered, "You want to hold him?"

Noah hesitantly took his son into his arms holding him the way he had been taught at the pre-natal classes. Levi complained loudly at the loss of warmth from his mother and Noah tried to soothe him, cuddling him in the crook of his arm. Levi quietened down again and the doctor came around to them.

"We will get your girlfriend all cleaned up, I'm sure your families are waiting to hear the good news, I'll call you when she is ready for visitors," the doctor told Noah and when Rachel gave him a nod that it was ok, Noah carefully walked to the waiting room with his son in his arms.

Everyone stood up as he entered, apart from Artie who sat up straighter in his chair. Alan, Richard, his mother, and sister, Mr and Mrs Shue, Finn, Quinn, Santana, Mike, Brittany, Matt, Mercedes, Kurt, Adam, Artie, Tina and even Lucy. Levi was going to have a quite a family full of aunts and uncles.

"Everyone, meet Levi Puckerman," Noah said, his voice choked with pride.

Some time later they were all crowded into Rachel's room. Rachel was lying on the bed looking a little pale and exhausted but happy to see them all. Matt and Mike were hunched over Levi who was sleeping in his cot whispering to each other. They had taken turns holding and fussing over the baby, complimenting his good looks which caused Noah to smirk proudly and declare,

"Rach and I are a couple of hot Jews what did you expect?"

They had all bought flowers for Rachel and toys for Levi. They all knew Levi was going to be incredibly spoiled.

"Check this out!" Matt snickered moving out of the way so that everyone could look down at Levi. Matt and Mike had brushed what little hair he had into a tuft in the middle of his head.

"Matt did you just give my son a Mohawk?" Rachel demanded trying to sound angry but failing miserably as a smile lit up her face and Noah grinned looking down at his son.

"Awesome," Noah cheered giving them a high five and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Hey you guys owe me money," Mr Shue announced grinning and Noah gave a smirk. He knew about the bet the entire Glee Club had going about when Levi was going to arrive but Noah was surprised to discover that Mr Shue had even joined in. The other Gleeks all moaned but handed over their twenty bucks.

"Mr Shue, you joined the bet?" Noah asked him incredulously and Mr Shue blushed a little, his cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"Not me, I'm your teacher," Mr Shue denied quickly then he looked at his wife whose face was redder than his as he handed her the cash, "Emma won the bet."

Rachel was tired but she loved having all her friends around her. Her gaze fell on Finn and Quinn who were standing by the window, Quinn cocooned in Finn's arms. Finn and Quinn had both been quite subdued compared to the others and Noah and Rachel just knew they were thinking of Sarah. When the others decided to head home to give the new family time to themselves Rachel and Noah asked Finn and Quinn to stay behind.

"Did you need something?" Quinn asked Rachel worriedly ready to get her whatever she needed and Rachel shook her head. Rachel looked over at Noah who nodded his head.

"Noah and I were wondering," Rachel began and then Noah interrupted nervously,

"And it's completely cool if you don't want to."

"But we would really like you both to be Levi's godparents," Rachel finished for them and then she and Noah watched Quinn and Finn's faces to see their reactions. Quinn sat down heavily on the chair beside Rachel's bed completely shocked while a huge grin grew across Finn's face.

"Wow dude, I'm honored," Finn said to Noah who came to stand beside him awkwardly. Noah figured if there was any time to have a cliché girly-man moment, right now was it.

"You're the closest thing I have to a brother and you're my best friend; there is no one else I would trust with my son," Noah spoke from his heart and there was a tear running unashamedly down Finn's face matching the one of Noah's cheek. He and Finn did the man hug thing and started patting each other on the back.

"Boys," Quinn joked rolling her eyes at the hugging pair though she was sniffling back her tears until she couldn't hold them anymore and she leaned forward and hugged Rachel gently around the waist, "Thank you."

"Like Noah said Quinn, there is no one else we would trust with our son the way we would you and Finn," Rachel assured her and Quinn smile up at her having nothing else to say.

The four friends looked over at the tiny figure that would now play a prominent figure in their lives.

When Noah graduated Rachel was in the crowd with his son nestled in her arms. He proudly accepted his high school diploma and tossed his hat into the air with the others when they were told that high school was over for them. It had been quite a year. Noah made his way off the stage and straight to Rachel kissing her then his son before he was engulfed in hugs by his mother and sister and Rachel's dads. Noah and Rachel looked on as their friends congratulated each other.

Kurt and Adam were celebrating the fact that Adam was going to hang around Lima until Kurt finished high school. Adam was going to Northwestern, studying to be a lawyer. Once Kurt finished high school their plan was to head to New York as Kurt wanted to get into fashion design and he was hoping to go to college there. While both boys knew meeting the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with in high school was slightly on the clichéd side, they were sure of how they felt for each other and they were both committed to their relationship. Why go for less than perfection?

Even though they had only been dating for a short time Matt decided that he was invested in his relationship with Mercedes enough to want to stick as close to Lima as possible, much to her delight and relief. Matt decided to go to Ohio State to stay close to Mercedes; surprisingly he got pretty good grades for someone who was sort of Finn-like. After talking with Mercedes' dad about his job Matt decided to study dentistry so Mercedes's dad had taken him under his wing. Mercedes still had two more years left of school along with Kurt, Rachel, Artie and Tina and she was happy her man was staying in Lima.

Brittany had a cheerleading scholarship to Ohio State and Mike was going to study to be a veterinarian at Ohio State as well, so they along with Matt would be sticking together for the next couple of years in college and staying close to Lima. They promised to visit often and they were going to see a fair bit of Brittany around. Brittany was going to work with Sue part-time to assist with coaching the Cheerio's since Sue was pregnant. It had been quite the scandal when Sue announced her pregnancy at assembly Thursday morning declaring that 'if the kid came out of her looking like her walrus boyfriend she was going to shove it back up there and demand something more threatening'. Quite a few kids had gone home sick that day.

Santana was moving to Los Angeles. She had dreams of being an actress or at least 'get a rich sugar daddy or mommy' so she was following her dreams to LA. She and Lucy, while they enjoyed dating each other decided it would be best to split but they promised to keep in touch. Lucy had a track scholarship to Northwestern so she couldn't follow Santana to LA but both girls knew they'd meet again somewhere and even if they didn't, they would never forget each other. They parted best friends.

Finn managed to score a singing scholarship to Miami University and Quinn had applied for an academic scholarship to the same university. As she was on the honor roll in high school with high grades she was given an academic scholarship to Miami University as well. The two had decided to stay on campus in the dorms and were driving down that weekend with Mrs Hudson. They had both gotten part-time jobs at a cafe near campus and were looking forward to their new life together.
Finn and Quinn posed for photos for Mrs Hudson as they laughed and tickled each other when Quinn heard something completely unexpected.

"Quinny?"

Quinn turned slowly to find her mom and dad standing behind her with a camera in her dad's hand. Quinn felt Finn's arms tighten around her waist protectively like he was unsure what to expect. Quinn was unsure what to expect as well but she was hopeful.

"Mom, daddy," Quinn greeted them both and Mr and Mrs Fabray took a couple of steps towards her and then her daddy held out his arms to her hesitantly, like he wasn't sure that Quinn would accept the hug he was offering. Quinn didn't hesitate; she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Congratulations baby girl," her daddy whispered to her pulling back to kiss her on the cheek as her mother wrapped her arms around the both of them, "We're so proud."

"You came," Quinn whispered sniffing back her tears and her daddy nodded his head, taking in the face of his youngest daughter.

"We decided that we would rather be here taking photos instead of you sending them to us showing us what we were missing out on because of our narrow-mindedness," her daddy replied softly and then he gave a small smile asking unsuredly, "Can we talk?"

"I'd like that," Quinn assured them smiling.

"Quinn group photo!" Santana yelled from across the grass and Quinn looked back at her parents hesitantly.

"Go, we'll be waiting right here," her dad assured her and Quinn grabbed Finn's hands as they ran to join the other Gleeks in a circle. Santana and Brittany were cooing at Levi who was watching them curiously while being held by his mother.

"I can't believe you are all moving away, it just seems so surreal," Rachel pouted as she looked up at the faces of people she had come to see had her best friends. They all felt the same way. Today was a happy day but also sad because they would be splitting up for good. This was the end of the original comeback Glee Club.

"Cheer up, you will have a whole new Glee Club to rule next year," Santana joked brushing the tears from the corner of her eyes determined not to cry and ruin her makeup.

"Excuse me? I believe I am Prom Queen, if anyone is ruling anything, it's me," Kurt protested, though his sniffling made the comment sound less bitchy than he wanted.

"I'm going to miss all of you," Tina spoke up what they were all feeling and Mike slapped a hand down on Tina's back.

"We need to stop talking like it's the end, we will all come back to visit right?" Mike looked around at his fellow seniors and they were all nodding and voicing their agreements.

"So this isn't the end," Finn assured them all giving that goofy smile they all knew so well.

Rachel, Tina, Artie, Mercedes and Kurt started humming a tune and the seniors all grinned knowing the song they were singing as they had been playfully singing it at the last Glee rehearsal. The younger members of Glee stepped back to let the seniors sing their hearts out for the last time as part of the McKinley High Glee Club, right there on the grass at the end of graduation. Quinn poked Brittany to sing first.

"And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives, where we're gonna be when we turn 25, I keep thinking times will never change, keep on thinking things will always be the same," Brittany sang out proudly as the three girls stood in a triangle looking at each other. They were best friends, they had been best friends for a long time and they knew their friendship would remain throughout the years.

"But when we leave this year we won't be coming back, no more hanging out cause we're on a different track, and if you got something that you need to say, you better say it right now cause you don't have another day," Santana sang next, her voice choked with emotion and Lucy moved in to join the triangle as the four girls held hands. As Quinn started to sing Brittany flung one arm around Quinn's shoulders and the other around Santana's and Lucy joined onto the end.

"Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down, these memories are playing like a film without sound, and I keep thinking of that night in June, I didn't know much of love but it came too soon, and there was me and you, and then we got real blue, stay at home talking on the telephone."

"We'd get so excited, we'd get so scared, laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair," Santana finished off the verse then they all turned to Brittany.

"And this is how it feels," Brittany sang out jumping on the spot and the younger Gleeks joined in with all the seniors for the chorus, along with Emma and Will who both had tears in their eyes. Their parents watched on in silence as their kids said their goodbyes, admiring the people their children had become.

"As we go on, we remember, all the times we, had together, and as our lives change, come whatever, we will still be; Friends Forever."

Mike moved to the centre of the group with Matt in tow while Finn and Noah dragged Adam in from the sidelines and pulled him into their guy huddle.

"So if we get the big jobs, and we make the big money, when we look back now, will our jokes still be funny?" Mike started off the next verse singing his questions at Matt who sang his right back at him, the two boys grinning goofily at each other the whole time.

"Will we still remember everything we learned in school? Still be trying to break every single rule?"

Noah jumped between them and had an arm around Mike's shoulders proudly pointing at him then Santana.

"Will little brainy Mikey be the stockbroker man? Will Santana find a job that won't interfere with her tan?" Noah changed the words for his lines in what he thought was a funny gesture and Mike elbowed him in the gut while Santana rolled her eyes unable to keep the smirk from her face.

"I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye, keep on thinking it's a time to fly," Finn sang his part clearly as he tugged Quinn to him and snuggled her into his arms.

"And this is how it feels," Matt cried out as the chorus began again and the group moved into a circle. Noah had his arms around Rachel and Levi, with Finn and Quinn beside him, then Mercedes and Matt, Kurt and Adam, Will and Emma, Tina and Artie, Mike and Brittany and Santana and Lucy to complete the circle.

"As we go on, we remember, all the times we, had together, and as our lives change, come whatever, we will still be; Friends Forever."

The song finished and Noah looked around the circle.

"We are so freaking lame," Noah laughed and Quinn elbowed him in the gut while the others laughed.

Rachel watched with a heavy heart as the Gleeks split up and went to their separate cars. Levi seemed to sense his mother's saddened mood as he started to whimper and wriggle in her arms. Noah came over placed a hand on the bundle that held his son and placed another hand on Rachel's cheek calming them both.

"Stop looking like the world is ending, we still have the goodbye party tonight at Finn's house," Noah reminded her tempted to laugh at her dramatics but he knew she wouldn't appreciate that.

"I know," Rachel sighed then she looked over at him, "I'm just glad you're going to be here with me."

"Babe where else would I want to be except here with you?" Noah asked her, taking in how beautiful she looked with their son in her arms. Noah was so incredibly thankful, for everything that had happened this year.

Noah had gotten an apartment close to the school and although they were hesitant at first Alan and Richard had allowed Rachel to move in with him seeing as Noah was now eighteen and they were a family with Levi. Alan and Richard made it very clear they would come by often as did Dianna. Coach Tanaka had agreed to take Noah on as assistant coach for the football team, and Puck had been permitted to have Levi with him while at school which meant Rachel could see them both during school hours as well. They had a feeling Mr Shue had something to do with Noah getting offered the job and they were eternally grateful. As per his agreement with Rachel's dad Noah was signed up to take night classes at community college studying to be a mechanic. He figured that when Rachel was ready to move to New York he could get a job at a garage somewhere. Noah pulled Rachel to him gently ever mindful of their tiny son that she cuddled to her chest and he wrapped his arms around her with Levi between them. Rachel sighed and buried her head in his chest.

"I love you," Puck told her softly and Rachel gave a smile.

"I love you too," Rachel whispered meaning every word, "It's funny I came to you to make me forget but now all I want to do is remember everything because everything that happened led me to you."

Puck just gave her a fond smile and dipped his head to give her a kiss.

Content to be nestled between his mother and father, Levi Puckerman yawned widely and fell asleep.

AN: Only one more chapter to go, well its the epilogue and its not very long at all so I'll hopefully post it soon. This chapter was quite fluffy I know but its coming to the end and I just love cheese :) I'm a happy ending kind of gal LOL

Come on guys REVIEW the shit out of this because its the 2nd last chapter!

Also if anyone is looking for a book to read I reccommend 'The Fallen' by Lauren Kate, I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel in September 2010. It's like my new Twilight :)