Part 4

Puck awoke slowly to a noise he couldn't quite place. As his sleep induced fog cleared, however, his brain began to process the sound of cooing and more importantly, the sound of his daughter cooing. He also became aware of Rachel curled up against him with her head on his shoulder. Now Puck had a problem. Beth was awake, though not fussing, but he could to holding her. But on the other hand, Rachel was in his arms. After another minute or two, he carefully disentangled himself from Rachel and moved to the crib, smiling down at his daughter. He scooped her up into his arms and began talking quietly to her.

"Hey Sweetheart," he murmured, "Did you sleep well? I am so glad to have you back. I have missed you so much. I am never going to let anyone take you from me again. Rachel and I are going to make sure you have a wonderful life."

"As sweet as that is," Rachel's tired voice interrupted from the bed, "if you constantly pick her up she'll never be able to self-soothe."

"What the hell is self-soothe?" Puck questioned.

"Language, Noah!" Rachel quickly admonished, rolling out of bed. "And to answer your question, self-soothing is working with an infant so that they can calm themselves down when they become upset. According to many leading child psychologists it is very important for the proper emotional development of a child."

"Thanks Dr. Freud," Puck rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Beth. "Isn't Rachel funny Sweetie? You are going to learn so much from her and then I am going to let you know what to ignore."

"Noah!" huffed Rachel, "That isn't a nice thing to say! Her mind is very impressionable right now. We don't know what she is capable of retaining. Even a small little statement such as you said could lodge in her brain and set up her not liking me!"

"Calm down, Rach," Puck chuckled as he moved closer. "It was a joke. Beth is going to love you! I mean, what's not to love, right? You're smart and driven and your voice is amazing. You're caring and always put others first. Plus, you're smokin' hot!"

"Most of that was very flattering, Noah," Rachel blushed. "Though, I don't think hotness has much effect on a small child. I am going to get dressed and change Beth then we should head downstairs. I am sure my parents are waiting and I bet Beth would like some breakfast."

"Right," Puck agreed, though he was starting to feel a bit nervous about seeing her dads. While he knew they liked him, this was a pretty fucked up situation. How did they really feel about their daughter having custody of his daughter? This will definitely change Rachel's plans for the future. Would they be mad? Would they regret agreeing to let this happen once the heat of the moment had passed?

"It will all work out," Rachel soothed, seeing some panic and nerves enter his eyes. "Why don't you call your mom too? That way we can get it all out at once. To take an idea from former First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, it is going to take a village to raise this little girl. We'll have to work out school and work schedules. Maybe look into daycare."

"I'll call," Puck nodded, though feeling very wary about telling his mom what was going on. He had no doubt she will be thrilled to meet her granddaughter. Puck had never heard his mother use as colorful language as she did when she heard what Quinn had done. "You go get ready. I'll get dressed and call my mom. I don't think she works until tonight."

TBC