Part 6
Puck and Rachel fell into a pleasant routine as the days passed. Puck had moved into the guest room next to Rachel's. The day after the 'big meeting' Puck's mother brought Hannah over to meet her niece. The young girl was so excited to have a 'real life baby doll' to play with! Puck, Rachel and Beth spent their time between her house and his when Hannah needed to be watched. Mrs. Puckerman had bought a crib, high chair and exersaucer for her house for when Beth was there. They had also taken Beth to the doctor to make sure everything was okay. Neither wanted to think Shelby would have neglected her, but with the state she had been in they wanted to make sure. The doctor had reviewed all Beth's records and assured them she was up to date on all her shots, she was in the 70th percentile for infant height and the 50th for infant weight. She also seemed to be right on track as far as her development went.
Puck's phone beeped as he was feeding Beth her lunch on New Years Eve. He ignored it and kept feeding his daughter.
"Shouldn't you check that?" Rachel asked.
"It's just Santana, again," Noah sighed, "bugging me about her party tonight."
They hadn't told any of their friends about Beth yet. Both knowing how some people would react and not wanting to add anymore drama. They both knew, however, that with school starting back in 2 days they would have to deal with that soon.
"You should, um, go," Rachel offered. "Beth and I will be fine here." She tried to infuse her voice with cheerfulness, though she really didn't want him to go.
"Look Berry," Puck replied, "If I want to go I would. However, I have two very good reasons why I don't. First, I'm not going to a party where you weren't invited. Second, I would much rather be here with my two girls then at a party with a bunch of drunken assholes."
"Language!" Rachel quickly admonished before she continued. "If you are going to stop going to parties because I am not invited, then you won't be attending any for the rest of your high school career. It is sweet, though, that you would rather spend time with Beth then be in the company of inebriated Neanderthals and slutty cheerleaders."
"I said you and Beth," Puck pointed out then smirked as a light blush crossed Rachel's cheeks. He took Beth's empty bowl to the sink then moved back over to the high chair to clean her up. "As far as not going to any parties, I think my priorities are a bit different then they used to be. Hell, they've been different since I first found out Quinn was pregnant. Plus, I can't abandon my baby mama like that! Wouldn't be right!"
"I'm not your baby mama," Rachel giggled as she brushed past him to lift Beth up.
"Sure you are," Puck argued as a smile broke out on his face at the sight of Rachel holding Beth. "Beth is my daughter. You are Beth's mother. Add those two things together and you are my baby mama."
"I'm not Beth's mother," Rachel continued to argue. "I am her guardian."
"When she begins to talk and she calls you mommy, are you going to correct her?" Puck asked. "Going to say, sorry kid, I'm just your guardian?"
"I hadn't thought…" Rachel began. "I mean, would she? What do we tell her about Shelby? What do we tell her about Quinn?"
"Now you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, Berry," Puck chuckled. "When the time comes, I guess, we can tell her that Quinn was an incubator and that Shelby was, um, maybe we could just not mention Shelby? I don't want my daughter thinking she that something was wrong with her or some shi…I mean stuff because Shelby bailed. I want her to know she has two people in her life who love her unconditionally. That's you and me, her mom and dad."
TBC….