Author's Note:

I appreciate that some people might think this story is starting to move quite quickly where the Quill love and love story progression is concerned but I hope I've given the impression that there is so much past and hidden feeling behind their relationship that it's plausible. I just sincerely hope that this doesn't make you loathe the story…regardless, please do review it after you've read it as it is the only criticism available to fanfiction writers like myself!

DaenerysTargary3n

Regionals Day…

Darling daughter of Babylon —
Rose by the black Euphrates flood —
Again your beauty grew more dear
Than my slave's bread, than my heart's blood.

~ Darling Daughter of Babylon (V. Lindsay)

"This is a disaster, Mr. Schue!" Rachel Berry shrieked about ninety decibels above everyone else's hearing range.

"I know!" The stressed glee club coach bellowed back at her.

It was a disaster for New Directions. It was a disaster for Will Schuester. Their entire repertoire was shot because four of the guys had caught some stomach bug and were laid up at home vomiting their guts out (and God knows what else!). They had to do three numbers instead of the planned Journey medley but with Finn, Puck, Brittany and Santana (there was a sports barbecue that apparently had some bad meat) out for the count, there was no chance of doing their ambitious routine. Will could have strangled Sue Sylvester in that moment for insisting that the Cheerios and the footballers they cheered. There was no doubt in Will's head that his rival had either got some divine clout that had interfered with his plans or that she herself had just gone that extra mile in ruining his life.

"Wait, I have an idea!" He exclaimed, praying to all deities, higher powers everywhere that his week-old girlfriend would agree and be okay to give him a helping hand despite being overdue. He knew it was cruel of him to even consider hauling Quinn from their house to help New Directions so selfishly but he had no other cards to play.

Will speedily despatched Mike to find Emma in the auditorium so that she could go and get Quinn while he telephoned home and begged her to save his metaphorical life.

"Hi, Quinn," he said once she picked up, being careful not to use any endearments that would betray the true nature of their relationship, "listen, Santana, Brittany, Finn and Puck have all come down with a stomach bug and I need you to come here and sing the solo item. Gravity would do. You've been learning it for weeks and it's perfect. No, I'm not expecting you to get here by yourself when you're over nine months pregnant. Emma is on her way to get you, okay?"

"Fine, Will," Quinn replied, unable to believe she was about to perform on a stage in front of hundreds of people while her cumbersome belly was literally making sitting difficult, "but you owe me like three pints of rocky road ice cream."

"Agreed."

Foolishly, Will thought he had just fixed his colossal problem because if Quinn performed the Sara Bareilles ballad taking the place of Finn's solo, Rachel and Artie could do the duet number and they would all get by in the group number. Don't Stop Believing was their go-to piece and Rachel could sing her part and Kurt could assume Finn's. He cursed the gods above that the rules of the competition stated this year that the soloist couldn't be one of the soloists in the duet item, but as always, New Directions would overcome whatever obstacles Regionals and Sue chucked in front of them. What Will did not anticipate was Rachel Berry's abhorrence of his fix-it.

"Mr. Schue," Rachel complained, "I am sorry, but I really think we should all have a part in the decision to let Quinn do the solo number…especially in her condition. What happened to 'Quinn's too fragile to perform at Regionals'? Suddenly that's all gone and she's the ideal candidate for the solo?!"

"Yes actually, Rachel, I do. I was wrong before…about so many things. She is ready and this is her moment – not yours. Your moment was at Sectionals and you were truly sublime but I need you – New Directions needs you – to get over yourself and put the group first."

"That's true, Rachel," Mercedes concurred, "Mr. Schue's right. I say if Quinn can do this – and I believe Mr. Schue when he says she's ready – we should all support her and give her a chance. You aren't New Directions, Rachel, we all are."

Within seconds of Mercedes nailed her colours to his mast, the other healthy group members were all declaring their 'allegiance' to Quinn and her solo. Therefore, Rachel had no option but to back down and relinquish her title of Prima Donna and settle for an excellent duet with Artie.

"Fine, but if we don't place, don't blame it on me." Rachel whined.

Kurt piped up then, "Rachel, no one is going to blame you – or frankly, thank you – for anything. How many times have you actually spoken to Quinn or gone to see her since we had the party? You haven't seen how much stronger she's become over the past couple of weeks or how well she sings and plays. She needs something like this and we need her to help us place, not the other way round!"

At his student's words, Will couldn't help but smile. It also brought a radiance to his eyes thinking about what Quinn would say when he narrated the tale of how everyone had gone against the indomitable Rachel Berry and praised her with such vim and vigour. She would never believe it, but he had to tell her what was true.

"Right, now that's settled. Rachel and Artie can go out back and practice your choreography and I'll go out to the parking lot to wait for Miss Pillsbury and Quinn."

That was four hours ago. Will had pushed Quinn quickly through the corridors of the theatre after kissing Emma on the cheek in thanks. She wheeled herself onto the stage up to the piano and from the instant her dainty fingers pressed the keys down, the audience was enraptured with her. No one was more entrammeled by this heavenly chanteuse than her boyfriend, whose eyes grew wet as he tried to remember every note and every single lilt of her voice as she performed. He was supposed to remain in his seat for the entire McKinley set, but he couldn't be away from Quinn after such a performance.

As Rachel and Artie's performance elapsed within earshot, he came upon a much more disturbing and depressing scene.

"No, get away from me!" Quinn screeched.

"Quinnie, I just want to be here for you. I'm so sorry I wasn't before. I've left your father and we can be a family again, just you and me, baby."

Will understood what he was overhearing and when he heard his girlfriend instruct her mother once more to 'back the fuck off' followed by a pained grunt, he rounded the corner.

"Quinn, you were marvellous," he began in an attempt to distract her from the tense situation the universe had placed her in, "what-"

"Will…" Quinn moaned, as she swivelled her chair away from her mother and towards her knight in shining armour.

It was then that he noticed that her pants were damp and her face was stricken and panicked. Her waters had broken. Their day had just got infinitely more complicated, not eased by the unexpected and untimely re-emergence of Mrs Fabray.

He approached her and held onto her hands, "It's going to be okay, Quinn. Do you hear me? I'm going to get you to the hospital and it'll be a piece of cake. You just see."

Although he tried to instil some sense of confidence and hope in his partner, Will felt decidedly powerless and out of his depth. It was all he could do when Quinn's mom moved to take the helm of her daughter's wheelchair not to completely tear her down and bellow at her for hours but that wouldn't have helped Quinn or the baby within her trying to make it out into the world.

"Please, Mrs Fabray," Will spoke in the most fake polite tone he could muster, "Quinn does not want you here and I really think it would be best if you just went. Your presence here is not helping and I need to get Quinn to the hospital. Oh, I'm Will Schuester, by the way, your daughter's glee club coach and who she's been living with since you and your husband kicked her out. Not pleased to meet you, goodbye."

During his rant, he vaguely noticed Quinn's hand pull his into an iron grip both to weather the pain of the contractions and to show her support for him in his brief skirmish with her mother.

Luckily, they passed Mercedes and Mike backstage in their hurry to reach Will's car so word would spread around the group that Quinn had gone into labour and Mr. Schue was leaving with her. He made it as clear as he could under the circumstances that someone was to SMS him with the judges' decisions when they were announced.

Once the couple were loaded into Will's small car, he sped away but said, "You truly were stunning up there, sweetheart. No one could have thought that you were only minutes away from going into labour."

She let out a light and breathy laugh, aware that pithy humour was how her man coped with strenuous situations, "Thanks, it felt great doing it for you and for the group…until my mom ruined it."

"Don't worry about that. You don't have to see her if you don't want to. All you have to think about for a while is giving birth to your daughter, okay?"

"Sure," she groaned as she clutched at her stomach as another wave of contractions bore down on her, "but I don't think it's going to be a piece of cake, love."

His eyes pricked as the new endearment fell from her lips and he found that he relished the sensation.

"Well, whatever happens, I'll be with you the whole time and we'll get through it together."

She smiled but it quickly turned into a wince, "About that…I have something to tell you that you may or may not approve of. I was going to tell you once you got home after Regionals but that ship has sailed. I'm not going to give her up. I don't think I'm meant to, you know? I think she's our daughter."

"Well, we'll deal with that later," he suggested timidly, "deal? Let's just get her here first of all."

"Fine."

That was the last word he heard from her as she gave up trying to hold in her wails as the contractions wracked her body. She thought she'd be ripped in two from the pain and she was only about an hour into labour. Once the car came to a halt she was vaguely aware of Will pulling her out of the car seat into his arms to carry her into the building.

"Holy Christ!" Will exclaimed in abject horror as he saw Quinn's seat when he lifted her.

The worn fabric of the seat was dark with blood and so much of it too. Will had tried to learn as much as he could so he would be of use to his girlfriend when her time came but nowhere did it say that such violent and profuse bleeding was a good or normal sign of childbirth. It made the poor man rush all the faster bearing his precious load into the ER where she was quickly extracted from his grip by several nurses and a youthful doctor.

"She's a week overdue. I don't know how long she's been bleeding. I got her into the car as quickly as I could. Please, tell me she's going to be okay?"

The doctor could see the pangs of fear this man had for the girl that had just been admitted with what looked like placental abruption. In such a young person the condition was unusual so it seemed like he could reassure the man almost weeping before him.

"You are, sir?"

Will pulled himself together, "I'm her guardian. She's got a tricky background. She was raped a couple of months ago and has been living with me ever since…I'm her high school teacher."

"Right, well then, I'll tell you what's going on with Miss Fabray since it's looking to be a long day and night for the both of you."

"And the baby?" Will interjected, feeling a pang of fear for his as of yet unborn child.

"There is every likelihood that the child will survive delivery and be healthy but Miss Fabray has experienced a placental abruption that caused the severe blood loss. It is when the placenta tears away from the uterine wall causing the mother to haemorrhage and the baby to become distressed. The abruption occurred only minutes ago, however, so we have time to operate and there is a very good chance that we can deliver the baby and save Miss Fabray. All in all, sir, it's not too bad. Now, before I go and get scrubbed I feel I should ask: do you want to be in the delivery room? It'll probably be a while before Miss Fabray regains consciousness after the procedure so the baby might like a little company."

"Oh! I mean, yes, of course I want to be with Quinn." Will stammered.

Standing beside the sedated form of whom he had realised was the love of his life while she fought for the survival of her child and herself was the scariest situation Will Schuester had ever been placed in. He also knew that there was nowhere else he would rather be than at Quinn's side making sure that his relatively newfound family was safe.

It was only when the rousing sound of a newborn's first wail pierced the air that Will found himself diverted from the blonde on the operating table.

"The baby's fine. Real solid pair of lungs she's got."

Will felt his eyes tear up and he whispered to the doctor holding one of his girls, "Her mom's a fantastic singer…of course she does."

The doctor nodded, "Well, we'll just get her cleaned up a bit and just checked out for safety's sake and taken up to the recovery room. Miss Fabray is stable so she'll be up with the both of you in about an hour once she's all stitched up."

Will turned to every face he could see in the OR and thanked them for helping Quinn and her baby before following the nurse carrying his daughter in a blanket out of the sterile room up to a more comforting and gleeful environment. It was only as he was watching his daughter squirm about in her crib that he even remembered that somewhere else Regionals were happening and New Directions' future was being decided. He saw upon checking his cell that he had three new messages: one from Kurt, one from Emma and one from…Sue Sylvester?

Kurt: OMG Mr Schue we came 3rd! ND is screwed but none of us want it to end so we're all going to see Coach Sylvester and ask her to change her mind and speak to PF. Fingers xed. Btw how's Quinn and the baby doing? Boy or girl? What's its name?

The glee club coach side of Will Schuester felt insane grief upon reading Kurt's text. He couldn't believe they hadn't even been runners up with Quinn's performance – he was sure that would have clinched it for them. He had very little faith that his kids' pleads to the cheerleading coach and judge would bear fruit; her text was probably a snide taunt about the end of his glee club dreams. He had no stomach for Sue Sylvester's sarcasm or sadism so he just deleted the SMS unread and moved on to his best friend's message.

Emma: Heard Quinn went into labour. Went to get Puck. At hospital now. What room are you in? Sorry about 3rd place. Ex

He cursed quietly at his friend's perspective on matters but knew that Puck had the right to see his biological child and be informed that Will was going to formally adopt her as his own. He quickly keyed in the room number and turned his attention back to the infant in the crib.

She was stunning with her brown eyes and wispy hazelnut brown hair. He knew that her locks would darken with time and he suspected (and hoped) that she'd come to have a similar colour of hair as him when she grew into it. That was how he spent the next few minutes until a knock at the door awoke him from his contemplation on his baby's pure and unadulterated beauty.

"Come in."

Puck entered looking extremely wan and ill, "Hey, Mr. Schue. Can I just see her? I think if I held her I'd probably drop her…then, Miss Pillsbury, please can you drive me home?"

"Yes, Noah, but you need to see your daughter and Quinn."

He surveyed the room and stated the obvious, "She's not here. Where is Quinn?"

"There were a few complications but she's fine. She's still getting stitched up but she should be brought up here any minute now, so you might be able to see her while she's still sleeping. How are you feeling, Puck? You look…dreadful."

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," he replied faintly, "Miss Pillsbury said Quinn had gone into labour and gave me a load of pills so I could make it out of the house to see my kid. I'm still not feeling too hot though."

"Well, here she is."

While Noah was cooing over his daughter in her cradle, a host of porters arrived pushing a bed with Quinn lying serenely atop it. She looked so peaceful and calm to Will, like she was having the most pleasant of dreams and like all her troubles were over now that she had given birth. She was gorgeous.

Now that she was at least in the room, if not conscious, Will felt the time had come for him to apprise Puck (and Emma) of the plans for the infant girl with them.

"I have to tell you both something important and I want you to keep an open mind when I do. Just know that Quinn made this decision herself without me even mentioning it or pressuring her or influencing her in anyway. Quinn does not want to send the baby away to be adopted, Puck," Will announced, looking directly and with more bravery than he felt into the younger man's eyes, "she wants to be around her daughter and see her grow up. So, she wants me to adopt her and bring her up as my daughter as she and Terri planned before…"

"Before?" Puck asked.

Will hadn't been aware that Puck had no part in Quinn and Terri's absurd plan so he explained what had occurred between his ex-wife and Quinn as concisely as he could. He tried not to apportion blame to the real expectant mother at all but it was clear from Puck and Emma's changing expression that they held Quinn accountable for causing him part of the grief he had experienced upon discovering Terri's plot.

"So, you're adopting my daughter?" Puck clarified.

"Yes, Noah. She's going to be my daughter. Are you okay with that?" He asked nervously.

"Sure," he agreed, "I think you'd be a great dad to her, Mr. Schue. Are you going to tell her she's adopted and who her biological parents are?"

"When she's older and she'll still know Quinn is her mother, Puck. Quinn doesn't want to be out of her daughter's life. I will just be able to provide her with a loving and stable environment to raise her in."

Emma piped up, "Well, congratulations then, dad. Wow! Two bits of good news at once…you must be overjoyed."

"Two?"

She frowned, "You got Sue's message, didn't you? Well, after the club went to talk to her and told her that Quinn had gone into labour right after her performance and that taking the glee club away from her would be the worst new mother present ever, Sue went to Figgins and somehow got him to allot you some funding for next year."

Will shuddered, "Really? So New Directions is still up and running?"

"Uh huh."

It really was the best day ever for the new father. His treasured glee club didn't have to be disbanded and Quinn was recuperating nicely and his daughter was the most beautiful cherub in all the tiers of angels. Everything was coming up Schuester for once.

A quiet – almost inaudible – noise came from the bed and Will rose from his daughter's side to see if her mother was coming to. It took her a few minutes to orientate herself and recall the events of the past few hours, but once the realisation hit her eyes, she graced her boyfriend with her glowing smile and searched for her daughter.

"Puck? Miss Pillsbury? What are you doing here?" She asked.

The father of her child twisted round and grinned at seeing her awake, "Quinn, she's here. Our daughter is here. Miss Pillsbury came and brought me here so I could see the both of you…before she's adopted."

Quinn's eyes darted to Will's, shooting him a questioning glance that was answered with a curt nod. She was glad he had explained what was going to happen to the little baby girl whom she was dying to hold before she regained consciousness. She didn't know how she would have found the words herself.

"I'm glad, Puck," Quinn mumbled as Will helped her sit up, "you should be here. Pick her up and hold your daughter for a while before we sign the papers. You do understand why this is the best thing for her, don't you? She needs a stable family and you need to live your own life and not have to think about raising a child while you're too young to provide her with what she needs. You can still see her, Puck, but you can't be her family."

Noah nodded and he had always known from the moment he found out that Quinn was carrying his child that he would never get to be a parent to his daughter. He had made his peace with that and it was a significant comfort that he knew who was going to raise his daughter and he respected and thought the world of Mr. Schuester. Especially considering the man had more or less expected to be a father to this baby anyway, it was the best arrangement for everyone involved.

"What are you going to call her, Quinn? I would just like to be here when she's named…" Puck enquired, cradling the tiny human in his large arms.

"Mr. Schue is going to name her."

Will sat bolt upright and gazed at her curiously, "Am I? Are you sure?"

She nodded.

He got up from her bedside and went to stand next to Puck but made no move to extract his daughter from the other man's arms. As he surveyed her new and perfect face, the best and most perfect name occurred to him.

"Alrighty then," he began hesitantly, "her name is Kayleigh Quinn Fabray."

"No," Quinn interjected, "Kayleigh Quinn Schuester."

"That's a great name." Puck concurred.

Emma agreed, "She'll be a superstar with that name."

Puck gazed down at the newly named baby and whispered against her brow, "Well then, Kayleigh Quinn Schuester, I'll be seeing you around. You'll be happy with Mr. Schue; he's the best. He'll teach you all sorts of cool stuff and how to be a good person. He'll also adore you with all his heart because he knows that if he doesn't I'm going to sling him in the dumpster, whether he's a teacher or not."

"Noted, Puck." Will said as he was handed the child symbolically and literally.

Once Noah and Emma had left, Will took Kayleigh over to her mother who still had not cuddled her baby and quickly planted her into Quinn's waiting, empty arms. Then, he kissed her sweetly on her lips and stroked her hair.

"I'm so glad you're better, sweetheart, 'cos you really did scare me half to death. If anything had happened to you – to either of you – I'd have completely lost it, you know so you'd better stay healthy for the rest of time. One question, though, why don't you want Kayleigh to have your name."

Quinn shrugged, "Well, no one with the last name Fabray has ever been there for me or for Kayleigh so I'm not going to give her a meaningless name. Besides, if we get married someday, I'll take your name anyway so your daughter might as well take her father's name right away."