Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: And so life goes on…
"Oh, my God," Quinn sighed as she began to emerge from her deep sleep. "That was like the weirdest dream ever," she muttered to herself and stretched, yawned, and scratched her head.
"What was?" Puck asked quietly. He was rather shocked when Quinn opened her eyes and screamed. "What?" he demanded, instantly on his feet, his heart beating like crazy, ready for battle.
"Argh," Quinn screamed when she saw the man in front of her. "Mom, dad," she yelled and scrambled up the bed to get away from the weird Puck-ish guy leaning over her bed. "Mo-o-o-o-om." A rush of medical staff forced Puck out of the room once again.
"What's happening?" Judy demanded breathlessly as she too rushed towards Quinn's room, closely followed by Russell.
"I don't know," Puck replied shortly. "She woke up, said she'd had a weird dream, looked at me and started yelling, she was shouting for the both of you," he added a little crossly and scowled at Judy and Russell.
"Dad?" Caleb interrupted – he'd followed his grandparents to his mom's room too. "When can we go in and see mom again?" he asked.
"Soon," Puck answered and ruffled his hand over the boy's dark hair. Puck hoped that very soon he would be able to take his wife home and leave all of this strangeness behind them. He looked over as the doctor left Quinn's room and walked towards them. "Doc, what's going on?" he asked.
"Well, it seems as though Quinn has no knowledge of the past twelve to fourteen years," Dr Carter replied, "again," he added when he saw confusion cloud the faces of his patient's family. "It's like going to sleep has reset the previous issue," he tried to explain.
"So, she doesn't remember Beth, Caleb or Ash?" Puck asked and rubbed his hand down his face. "And she won't remember that we're married or that she's pregnant," he sighed tiredly.
"No, she knows she's pregnant," Dr Carter contradicted, "but she thinks its Beth," he explained. "And she's asking to see Finn," he added in a kind of questioning tone.
"Ah, crap," Puck sighed. "How do I explain to her that he died?" he asked the doctor. Puck was tired, exhausted, and he didn't know how he was going to be able to keep doing this.
"Same as before, let her piece things together on her own, don't rush her," Dr Carter advised. He'd seen cases like this before but they had usually been caused by severe head trauma. There hadn't been any head trauma in this case. Dr Carter was puzzled at how those symptoms could be manifesting themselves without the catastrophic injuries sustained by other patients in similar conditions.
"You're not my parents," Quinn screamed angrily at the couple beside her bed. Quinn was scared, she was confused, she had a headache, she was pregnant, and her life was falling apart – didn't anyone realize that?
"Sweetheart," Russell cajoled, "we are your parents," he insisted, "we just aren't exactly how you remember us," he added.
"Go away," Quinn yelled, she was bunched up in her bed, as far away from those weird almost look-a-likes as possible. If she wanted to know what her parents would look like in ten or fifteen years, these idiots were bang on, but she wanted her real parents and she wanted Finn, and she wanted them now!
"Quinn?" Puck murmured from the doorway. "Can I come in?" he asked as Judy and Russell brushed past him. Judy was crying once again, this was so upsetting for her.
"Are you Puck's dad?" Quinn asked nervously. Quinn had no idea why he would have been here, had something happened to Puck too? "Is he alright, is he hurt?" she demanded breathlessly. "I have to tell Finn, I have to tell him, I have to make it right," she muttered, she could barely breathe with nerves. "I think Santana knows, I'm sure Rachel knows, but I have to tell Finn, we have to tell Finn," she mumbled. "Where's Puck?" she asked again.
Puck looked down at Quinn's face, her enormous eyes were full of tears that were just seconds away from spilling down her cheeks. He sighed as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "Quinn, I want you to listen carefully," he said softly and took Quinn's hand. "Close your eyes," he suggested, "and listen to my voice," he added. Puck watched as Quinn did as he bid. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.
"Baby sitting," Quinn replied and had to work hard to hide the grin as she remembered the whole of that night – especially after they'd left in Puck's truck when the parents of those monstrous children had returned home.
Puck nodded and smiled, he remembered that night too – and what had happened in the back of his truck. "Papa don't preach," he murmured with a smile and lifted Quinn's hand to his lips.
Quinn gasped and pulled her hand away as she opened her eyes and looked in shock at Puck. "You aren't your dad," she accused Puck in a voice that was a mere whisper.
"No," Puck answered, he had no idea what else to say.
"Finn's dead, isn't he?" Quinn asked, she was shifting uncomfortably in her bed again. "And you joined the air force," she added – again she sounded like she was accusing Puck of something diabolical. "And my mom and dad got divorced, we got married, and we have kids," she cried, her voice was getting faster and faster as the rush of memories smacked her in the brain. "Puck, what's happening to me?" she whimpered and threw herself into her husband's arms.
"I don't know," Puck admitted and hugged Quinn tight – he was so grateful that it hadn't taken long for her to remember things. "I don't know," he repeated as Quinn began to calm down, his warmth and love comforted her.
"It's like, every time she falls asleep, her mind resets back to high school," Puck said, he was frustrated and aggravated and he wanted to get his wife home to familiar surroundings in the hope that this wouldn't keep happening, that they could just get on with their lives.
"I know," Dr Carter agreed. "I genuinely have no idea why this is happening," he stated and looked at the tablet in his hand. "All of her scans are clear, all of her tests are spot on, there is no medical reason why this keeps happening," he assured the worried family around the conference table.
"Do you think there might have been some kind of psychological trauma?" Ruth Puckerman asked, she was worried for her daughter-in-law, but also for her son and her grandchildren.
"That seems to be the only logical explanation," Dr Carter answered with a shrug. Denver Harmon Carter was at a loss, a complete loss…and he hated that feeling. "I am going to suggest that Quinn stays in the hospital for the moment," he told Puck. "And that is purely because she is so close to delivery that she might bring on her own labor if this condition continues."
"You don't think she'd be better off at home?" Puck demanded. "I would have thought that with all of her own belongings around her it would prompt memories to surface," he added with a frown and the beginnings of a pout.
"Do you live in Quinn's childhood home?" Dr Carter asked.
"No," Puck scoffed – as if a mere airman serving his country and a high school teacher on maternity leave could possibly afford the huge mansion-style home that Quinn had grown up in!
"Then, no, I don't think she would be better off at home," Dr Carter answered Puck's question. "I think we should give her a couple of days, a week, maybe, see how she copes, see how quickly her memories surface every time she wakes up," he explained and then stood, the meeting was clearly over.
Puck crossed his arms and lounged back in his chair – he looked exactly like his full-of-attitude teenaged self. Ruth rolled her eyes and shook her head at her son's pout, she could see exactly where her grandsons got it from…and that made Ruth giggle silently
Quinn opened her eyes and looked carefully around the hospital room. She had no idea why she was here, she couldn't even remember being brought in. "Well, baby," she murmured to her huge stomach, "I wonder where your daddy is?" she asked as the child inside her wiggled around. "You know, if you do that when we're on stage, I might not be able to sing properly," she whispered with an indulgent smile. "I wish we could keep you, I wish we could be a family," she said as she stroked the hard bump. "I agree with your daddy, Beth is a beautiful name, I hope we can tell your new family that we'd like you to be called that, I hope we get the chance to meet your new mommy and daddy, I wish it could be us, but I know it can't. I wish I could tell you everything about us, I mean, I know that people think you've ruined my life but you haven't, you've shown me how strong I can be, how independent I can be, I mean, I know I need Puck for stuff and without him you wouldn't even be here, but I'm glad you are, I'm glad that I have you for now, I just wish I could have you for always."
"Mommy," Ash whispered as he tapped Quinn's hand. "Wake up, mommy," he repeated quietly. "I need to pee and I don't know where daddy or the bathroom is," he explained rather desperately.
Quinn felt herself jerk awake but she kept her eyes closed. She could hear a little boy whispering and feel him tapping her hand and playing with her fingers but she had no clue why he would even be in her room, maybe he had her mixed up with someone else – but it was seriously freaking her out that he kept calling her mommy. Maybe the little boy had recognition issues, maybe that's why he was in the hospital and maybe that's why he couldn't find the bathroom, or his daddy.
"Mommy," Ash whispered a little louder.
"Ashton, sweetie," Ruth called from the doorway, "leave mommy alone, I'll take you to the bathroom.
Quinn held her breath as the little boy ran away from her bedside, she'd heard his shoes squeak on the floor with every step. Puck's mom, that was Puck's mom at the door, she'd bet her life on it. What did it mean? Quinn couldn't figure it out and she was too scared to try, she wasn't totally sure, but she thought that maybe the stabbing, ripping pain in her stomach and back meant that Beth was about to be born…
"Mrs Puckerman?" the midwife said quietly and then waited for her new patient to wake from her drowsy state. "I know you've done this a few times before, I have too, so don't worry, I'm here for anything that you need," she assured Quinn.
Quinn wanted to correct the woman but wondered if Puck had filled in the paperwork wrong like he did the first time he'd taken her for a doctor visit. When the receptionist had called for Quinn Puckerman, Quinn had experienced a moment of warmth and pride, she thought it might be a hint from Puck that he wanted to marry her, till he'd said something in language that was too foul for her ever to repeat and squashed that idea. "Please call me Quinn and I haven't ever done this before," she corrected the woman tearfully. "And the way that this hurts, I'll never do it again," she wailed as a contraction tore through her. "Where's Puck, I hate him," she yelled angrily. "I need him here so that I can yell at him and hurt him as bad as this hurts me," she growled.
"He's on his way," the midwife assured Quinn. "I'm Beckie," she added, "and I know this isn't the hospital that you were planning to deliver in," she added as she read through Quinn's notes, "but I'm here for you," she said again.
Quinn wondered if the woman was safe to be delivering her baby – she surely had been sucking on the Entonox or playing fast and loose with the drug cart if she was getting all of Quinn's information wrong. "This is Lima Memorial, right?" Quinn demanded as the contraction subsided.
"Yes," Beckie agreed with a smile.
"Then I'm in the right place," Quinn sighed. Quinn wished everyone would make sense, she had a feeling that something was a little off-kilter with the world and she couldn't quite figure it out.
"Hey," Puck said quietly as he breezed through the door into the delivery room. He noted that Quinn didn't bat an eye, he wondered if it was because he had a blue paper cap on his head and she couldn't see his hair or if she'd remembered everything already. "How are you doing?" he asked her and rubbed the foot that was poking out from the bed covers.
"That is the stupidest question I have ever heard," Quinn growled, her voice trailed off into a hiss as another contraction grabbed at all of her senses. "Men should never be allowed into the delivery room unless they're getting a vasectomy at the same time," she exclaimed – the pain in her voice matched the pain displayed on her face. "Without anesthetic," she cried and then sucked hard on the gas tube.
"Cool," Puck muttered quietly to himself, "it's blame the guy again," he added softly, almost under his breath. "Come on, baby, you know you can do this," he encouraged a little louder. "Everyone is in the waiting room, they want to be close so they can see the baby straight away," he thought to mention.
"Is my mom here?" Quinn asked in a tearful, quivering voice.
"Of course, she is," Puck replied with a nod.
"I want my mom," Quinn wailed and half twisted in the narrow bed.
"I'll go," Puck muttered to the midwife and hurried out of the room. "Judy, she's asking for you," he announced as soon as he reached the waiting room. "I can't tell if she's her or if she's the old Quinn," he told his mother-in-law as they walked together to the delivery room. "Better put one of these on, just in case," he advised and passed Judy one of the disposable blue caps.
"Good thinking," Judy murmured as Puck opened the door for her. "Sweetie, how are you?" she asked her distraught daughter.
"Mom, I hate this, I'm so sorry I ever had sex," Quinn wailed, "and you're right, this isn't something for kids, it should be saved for marriage," she added and sniffed pathetically.
"Shh," Puck warned the midwife who looked very puzzled and looked like she was just about to correct her patient. "Things will begin to slip into place very soon," he murmured. "How are you doing?" he asked Quinn brightly though he wasn't shocked by the baleful glare from his angry wife.
"You," Quinn growled and then paused, she couldn't think of anything bad enough to call him, at least not with her mom in the room. Quinn knew that Judy would wash her mouth out with soap and water if Quinn was to call Puck what she really wanted to!
Beckie took a moment to examine Quinn – far more personally than Quinn was prepared for, to be honest – and made a dramatic announcement. "She's crowning," Beckie announced with a beaming grin, this was the part of her job that she loved.
Quinn was sruck by an overwhelming sense of deja vu, but she couldn't put it into words, she didn't have the capacity to voice her fears over the need to allow her body to expel this tiny human. "Come on, baby," Puck encouraged, "you can do this," he assured Quinn and took her hand in his. Puck slipped one arm under Quinn's shoulder to give her something solid to push against – she'd sworn by this assistance when Caleb was struggling to free himself from her womb.
"There you go, there you go," Beckie crooned, "we have a face, a beautiful face," she added and looked up the bed at Quinn.
"See," Puck cried excitedly, "I knew you could do it," he praised – he couldn't wait to see the baby, even though they knew they were having another girl, he was still excited.
"Shut, up," Quinn hissed and looked at Puck with tearful accusing eyes. "You don't know," she exclaimed – like how would a man ever, ever know? Quinn felt her whole body get ready for another mammoth contraction.
"Quinn, you're doing really well," Beckie assured Quinn calmly, "but I need you to stop pushing for a second."
Puck looked at Beckie, he'd detected something in her tone of voice, something that made him nervous. "What?" he asked when Beckie stayed silent for a moment.
"Quinn," Beckie began – her face had a serious look on it, "the cord is wrapped around the baby's neck, I'm going to have to call for assistance," she announced and then made a move to leave the end of the bed.
"Wait," Judy cried, "stay there, I'll go get someone," she said as she sped off out of the room towards the nurses' station. "Please, they need some help in there," she shouted just before she reached the hive of activity in the center of the birthing ward.
Judy bit back a sob as three nurses ran in the direction of her daughter's room. "Oh, baby," she murmured, "please be alright," she prayed and then took a moment to compose herself. Judy felt that going to the waiting room to pass on the news would cause too much worry for everyone, better to wait until she knew exactly what was going on.
"Ok, ok, ok, ok," Connie – the most senior of the on-duty midwives, – murmured as she worked to ease the cord from around the delicate neck of Baby Puckerman.
"Is everything alright?" Puck whispered, he hardly dared to ask, the medics still looked very worried!
"One second," Beckie replied distractedly, her eyes were on her more experienced colleague and the tiny movements she was making to ensure a safe delivery.
"Oh, God," Quinn cried, "tell me what's happening," she begged.
"There we go," Connie sighed and grinned up at the desperate parents. "All fixed, Baby Puckerman is on her way," she announced and caught the child as she slipped into her waiting hands. "Here you are, mommy," she said to Quinn and deposited the squalling baby on Quinn's bare stomach, "a beautiful baby girl."
"Beth," Quinn sighed as she reached to draw the baby further up her body. "Beth, just like you wanted," she told Puck and then hugged the baby close. "I hope they let you keep that name," she murmured. Quinn shut out the world as she focused her entire being on the tiny little body in her arms, she knew she would only have this short time with her baby, she knew that Puck would too but it could never be the same for him, it could never be as intense for him – though she knew they would both miss her equally, just like they had when Beth had been born and had been given up for ado…
Quinn gulped and looked up at Puck with new eyes. "This isn't Beth, is it?" she asked tremulously.
"Nope," Puck answered and bent to kiss Quinn's furrowed brow. "This is Beth's baby sister," he reminded Quinn.
"And we promised Beth, Caleb, and Ashton that they could choose the name," Quinn added – there was a note of wonder in her voice and also fear. "Why do I keep forgetting everything?" she asked.
"I don't know," Puck replied – and he didn't, he genuinely didn't know – but he was pleased that she wasn't freaking out too much.
"Hi," Quinn said shyly as her three children came into the room to see their new sister.
Beth studied her mother's face before she felt a rush of relief flood through her whole body. "Hi," she replied and then looked at the tiny blonde headed baby in her mother's arms. "Who does she look like?" she asked with interest.
"You," Puck replied from his position perched on Quinn's bed, and then hauled Ashton onto his lap so that he could see the baby. Caleb stepped up close to the bed, in between Beth's side and his dad's knee. "Actually, I think she looks like all three of you," he added.
"But more like Beth because she's a girl," Caleb put in, he didn't want to think he'd ever looked anything like a girl. The mere thought made him frown.
"Did you decide on a name yet?" Puck asked them.
"I was thinking maybe Darcy would be nice," Beth suggested. "I mean, I know we don't run exactly in order, but we'd still cover A, B, C and D."
"We aren't going for the rest of the alphabet, though," Quinn put in quickly, she wanted Puck to know for sure that her baby making days were done. "If you want any more babies in this family you better find a way of carrying them yourself," she muttered and looked pointedly at her husband.
"I think four is more than enough," Puck agreed happily.
"Can we come in?" Ruth begged after a quick knock on the door. Ruth and Judy hurried to meet their newest granddaughter after Quinn had smilingly invited them in. "Oh, sweetie," Ruth sighed, "you are so beautiful, just like your brothers and your sister," she added and smiled at her three older grandchildren.
"Oh, she looks exactly like Beth," Judy murmured and then sighed as the baby was put into her arms. "You're so beautiful," she crooned, "and so loved," she added. "And how are you?" she asked her daughter.
"I'm good," Quinn replied with a tired smile. She looked up into Puck's eyes. "I'm ready to go home as soon as they'll release me," she added with more than a touch of hope and pleading in her voice.
"Are you sure?" Puck asked, he was more than ready to bring Quinn home too.
"Maybe you could have a few days with me before you head on home?" Judy suggested – for sure there was enough room in the huge Dudley Road house and the crib that had been stored in the attic since Ashton had outgrown it wouldn't take a great deal of work to get ready.
"Well, the kids are still out of school for the summer," Puck replied, his tone suggested he was seriously considering the proposal, "and I've called my CO to arrange my paternity leave," he added and looked intently at each of his kids. "How do you feel about a few days at grandma's house?" he asked them with a grin. Puck knew that all three kids would readily agree – Judy was a complete pushover when it came to requests from her grandchildren.
"Yay," Caleb and Ashton yelled together.
"Shh," Ruth and Judy shushed together – the baby had nearly jumped out of Ruth's arms at the loud noise.
"She better get used to yelling like that," Beth muttered – her arms ached to hold her baby sister. "Can I hold her?" she asked quietly and approached her grandmothers with her arms held out.
"Sure, sweetie," Ruth readily agreed and placed her youngest granddaughter in the arms of her oldest granddaughter. "Wow, it's like looking at Quinn holding you all those years ago," she sighed and once again, Ruth wished she had been more open and welcoming to the young girl that her son had lost his heart to, then maybe the six years from Beth's birth until she was restored to them might never have happened – and the tragedy that had touched her life would never have even entered her world.
Quinn stared out of the window, her mind was not on the task at hand, in fact, she couldn't really remember why she was standing in the kitchen, her hands in soapy water, and staring out at the swimming pool – apart from to wonder why Puck's dad would be at her house with three kids, and it was fairly obvious to anyone with eyes that the two boys were his sons. Quinn wondered if Puck and Hattie knew they had more siblings.
Quinn felt a tug in her boobs as the baby cried nearby – she hadn't planned on this part when Puck had said "trust me" all those months ago. "Did we call her Beth?" she asked herself silently. "And when did we change our minds about keeping her?" she muttered. Quinn's eyes landed on the swimsuit-clad young girl as she spun to face the kitchen window and wave towards Quinn, a beautiful smile on her very pretty face. "Oh, Beth," Quinn sighed, "you amaze me every da…"
Quinn gulped as she heard the baby cry harder. "Oh, Darcy, sweetie," she wailed and ran away from the sink, her hands dripping suds everywhere. "Oh, baby," Quinn sighed as she picked up the newborn. "Mommy's sorry," she murmured against the slightly damp brow of her youngest daughter. "Mommy forgot everything again, but I remember now," she whispered as she adjusted her clothes to feed her child. "There, there," she soothed as she made herself comfortable. Quinn closed her eyes to relax as nature took its course.
"Hey," Puck whispered as he came towards Quinn and Darcy. He wasn't sure if disturbing them would result in Quinn screaming out or if she would smile, the fact that she was feeding the baby was a good sign though, so Puck was hopeful.
"Hey," Quinn replied with a slight smile lifting one side of her mouth. "It's safe, you're my husband, this is Darcy, and Beth and the boys are out by the pool with our moms and your sister," she listed.
"Cool," Puck murmured and sat down beside Quinn to watch the baby take her fill. "I'm just mesmerized," he said without a hint of shame, "I'm not perving on your boobs," he denied with a grin and a wink.
"You so are," Quinn accused but there was no anger in her words or her voice, just light-hearted teasing.
"Yeah," Puck agreed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Puck buried his lips in Quinn's hair. "How long did it take this time?" he asked, he was sure she would have woken up with the same recurring problem.
"Funny thing is, I'd already remembered this morning," Quinn explained with a frown on her face, "but I was washing up those few dishes instead of putting them in the dishwasher, I was watching you guys all having fun, I think I drifted off for a few seconds and bam, there I was, right back in high school," she grumbled.
"Can you remember anything about the accident?" Puck asked – he was slightly exasperated at the situation, not at Quinn.
"I think so," Quinn answered although she sounded very surprised and slightly unsure. "I remember being at the mall, picking up a couple of things for Darcy at the WMHS outlet," she said and then paused as if getting her jumbled thoughts in order. "I'd started the car then picked up my phone to either call or text someone," she said as she went through the order of events as she remembered them, "I was about to drive out of the space…no, I'd already started driving out of the space when a kid in a crappy old truck like the one you used to drive around in, drove into it and hit me head on," she explained.
"But neither of you must have been going very fast," Puck pointed out.
"True," Quinn agreed – she knew she'd barely had her foot on the accelerator but the young guy had been speeding, she knew that for sure! To be fair, the guy hadn't been speeding that much, but he had been going over the recommended speed limit for the parking lot.
"Did you bang your head or something?" Puck asked, he wanted to understand, he wanted to know that this state of affairs would improve, that soon Quinn would be able to go to sleep and wake up in the present and not the past.
"Maybe, I can't be sure," Quinn sighed and gave the baby a little jiggle to wake her.
"Who were you texting?" Puck asked, Quinn's phone had, unfortunately, been left in the car when she'd been taken to the hospital and had since been stolen.
"I can't remember," Quinn answered. "I don't know why I even took my phone out of my purse, I never have when I'm driving since that time in high school when I crashed before Finn and Rachel's wedding," she reminded him – though she used a one-handed air quote for the word 'wedding'.
Puck frowned and sighed heavily, he rested his cheek on the top of Quinn's head. Quinn gave the baby another little jiggle and then moved to cover herself when Darcy stayed asleep. "Want me to go change her?" Puck asked, his voice was muffled through Quinn's hair.
"Nah," Quinn replied with a grin, "I like her as she is," she added and then giggled. "That joke never gets old," she snickered.
"You've been saying that since Caleb was a baby," Puck grumbled good naturedly and then sighed contentedly as he and Quinn just relaxed and let time tick by.
"No, no, no," Quinn hissed and fidgeted a little like she was uncomfortable or something. Whatever it was, she was definitely unsettled and probably dreaming. Puck tried to wake her.
"Hey, hey," Puck whispered and stroked his hand down Quinn's arm, she was still fidgeting, tossing and turning in her sleep.
"Argh," Quinn squealed. "Puck? What are you doing here?" she hissed. "My mom will kill me if she finds you here, my dad will kill you," she threatened.
"It's ok," Puck soothed, "they know I'm here," he explained – he was glad she hadn't turned the light on, she was clearly aware that her nocturnal visitor was Puck, he was gratified that she was concerned about him too.
"What?" Quinn squealed. "Oh, God, I'm dead, seriously, I'm dead, I might as well just bury myself right this minute or maybe join a convent, I bet my dad is looking for the right convent to send me to, I wonder if they still call girls like me fallen women," she chuntered to herself.
"Girls like you, how?" Puck asked.
"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Quinn growled angrily. "Shit, it was bad enough saying it to Finn," she muttered.
"But Finn was the wrong person, wasn't he?" Puck reminded Quinn – he wanted her to say it, say it aloud.
"Yes, I should have told you first," Quinn wailed, albeit quietly.
"I'm here for you," Puck whispered and leaned it to kiss Quinn just at the edge of her mouth – he was glad that his eyes had adjusted to the dark. "I'll always be here for you."
"But how did you get in here?" Quinn demanded, she turned to face the dark shape she knew to be Puck – her guilty secret. Quinn breathed in deeply, his unique scent filled her lungs, it made her whole body tingle, made her imagine a thousand nights of sharing a bed with Puck, made her imagine a million moments of intimacy with him, made her imagine the babies she'd make with him...that she'd made with him! "Oh, God, you're my husband, aren't you?" she asked.
"Mhm," Puck acknowledged, at least it had only taken moments for her to remember this time.
"And the baby is there beside the bed," Quinn murmured.
"Yep," Puck agreed, "and she'll be awake any time," he added as the baby stirred a little.
"Probably," Quinn murmured, "my boobs are killing me so I hope she will be."
"Glad you remembered that part in time," Puck snickered, "yesterday she was crying, your boobs were leaking, and you were screaming at me for being in your room," he reminded her.
"When is this going to end?" Quinn asked and then turned to switch the light on beside the bed. "Oh, God, you're old," she said quietly as Puck came into view.
"Hey, you're three months older than me," Puck reminded his wife. "But that's ok, you know I've always had a thing for cougars."
"…anywhere I would have followed you…"
Quinn hummed along with the tune on the radio. "Geez, I haven't heard this song for years," she muttered as she folded the tiny baby clothes she'd taken out of the dryer. She paused for a second, deep in thought. "So why does it feel so fresh in my mind?" she asked herself silently. Quinn shook her head, sighed, and continued folding her newest daughter's clothes.
"Hey," Puck said quietly from the doorway. Quinn looked over and smiled, he always looked so manly when he carried one of their babies in his arms.
"Hey," Quinn replied and breathed in deeply, she was so satisfied with life, with her life. "Did she wake up?" she asked.
"Yep, but she wasn't crying," Puck responded quickly, "I just thought she might want to take a look around the house," he added and raised Darcy slightly to press a soft kiss to her thickening hair. "How do you feel now we're back in our own house?" he asked Quinn.
"I don't know," Quinn answered in a slightly surprised tone. "I mean, I know I'd started waking up at my mom's and knew everything, I sort of stopped slipping back into high school Quinn," she reminded Puck, "and it hasn't happened at all since we came home," she admitted, "but I still kind of think there must have been a reason for it, it's not like I'd really hit my head hard or anything," she grumbled with a slight pout. It still pissed Quinn off that she couldn't quite remember that day of the accident, there were little bits and pieces, little flashes, but the full picture just wouldn't present itself!
"Mo-om," Beth called loudly.
"In here, honey," Quinn answered in the direction of the kitchen. "Did you have a good day?" she asked when Beth appeared beside Puck.
"Yep," Beth replied with a satisfied nod. "Melissa's mom invited us all to go camping with them this weekend," she announced, "can I go?" she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.
"All of who?" Puck asked and rocked Darcy as she squirmed towards her sister's voice.
"All of the glee girls," Beth replied and rolled her eyes. Sometimes her dad asked stupid questions – everything she ever did was with the glee girls!
"We'll see," Quinn answered. Quinn knew that Beth knew she wasn't going anywhere until she'd called Melissa's mom and gathered the full info for herself.
Beth launched herself at her mom and hugged her. "Thanks, mom," she mumbled happily.
"I didn't say yes yet," Quinn reminded her daughter.
"But you will once you talk to Melissa's mom," Beth said, positive that her mom would agree. She paused to kiss Darcy's head as she skipped past to rush to her room to pack for the weekend.
"How come she never asks me if she can go anywhere?" Puck grumbled.
"Because you're very often not here," Quinn reminded her pouting husband. "And I'm not complaining, it's just your job that takes you away from us sometimes," she assured him. She too kissed Darcy's head as she passed, but then she stretched and pressed a kiss to Puck's lips too. "But we'll discuss it once I talk to Melissa's mom."
Puck mooched around the yard and pondered the request that Quinn had made months before and then apparently forgotten about. He didn't really want to leave the air force, he loved his job, he loved the variety, he loved everything he did in his job – even when it kept him away from his family! "Do I really want to work for a commercial airline?" he muttered as he raked miniscule grass cuttings from an already neat and tidy lawn. "God, no, of course I don't," he answered aloud and then paused and looked towards the house and the family he knew were inside. "But I'm missing out on so much," he reminded himself. "I don't know what the fuck to do," he admitted almost silently. Puck thought back to the promise he'd made when Quinn was ill, "Please, Quinn, just open your eyes, do something, show them you're still here, show them you still love me. I promise, if you still want me to, I'll do you what you asked." Puck knew he was disrespecting his wife so much by not acknowledging that promise, by not telling her of the bargain he'd made with God. "Fuck it."
Quinn barely dared to move, she could hear breathing behind her, she could feel the heat of someone behind her, she had no idea who the hell would be in her bed. Inch by inch, Quinn edged out from under the comforter, she had to escape, she had to get out, she had to…
"Hey, are you ok?" Puck's gravelly voice startled Quinn beyond all comprehension.
"Puck?" Quinn whispered. "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, she was scandalised and she knew for a fact that her parents would kill her if they found him here.
"Take a second," Puck advised, well used by now to the speed that Quinn's memories would crash back into her brain.
"Oh, crap, it happened again, didn't it?" Quinn asked as she climbed back into bed. "Damnit," she growled, "I've been ok for weeks, I haven't had an episode for weeks and now we're back to that again," she grumbled and snuggled up to Puck.
"It's one time," Puck murmured with reassurance and hugged Quinn close. "Let's just focus on that, it's a one-off, not a return to the problems we had through the summer."
"Ok," Quinn agreed. She felt so close to him, to her husband, to her love…she wanted to be even closer. Quinn made a move to climb over Puck, to press herself into him.
"Baby, we can't," Puck groaned as his body reacted to the feel of his wife's spectacular body against his own. "I haven't had a clear sample yet and we don't have any condoms," he reminded her unhappily, oh, how he wished it was different, but that's how things stood at the moment. Quinn had been the one who had insisted on Puck getting the vasectomy, he'd have been happy to have used other methods of birth control, and until Puck consistently produced sperm-free samples, they still had to rely on those other methods and if they didn't, the doctor couldn't guarantee that Quinn would not become pregnant again!
"We can fool around," Quinn moaned and brushed her sensitive parts against his hard ones – although she was getting perilously close to the point of taking any risk at all to have her husband. Quinn knew that Puck would not need a written invitation.
Puck did not need any further encouragement, within a heartbeat, Quinn was flat on her back and Puck was over her, his lips honed-in on her supersensitive nipples. "Mmm, baby," he groaned…
"Teeth," Quinn muttered and drew in a sharp breath. "Time for this little girl to take a bottle," she added with a loving smile at her baby. Quinn's mind wandered as she relaxed into the comfortable, normal, everyday job of feeding her child. "Christina hour," she murmured approvingly as she flicked the TV over to a music station. "Your daddy and I used to get really naughty, and maybe a little bit dirty," she snickered and grinned at Darcy, "but not so much now we're older," she sighed. Quinn glanced over at the TV as the song changed. "I keep hearing this one," she told the baby in her arms. "Ever since the accident, I keep on hearing it, it's a little bit weird," she muttered and then allowed the heart-breaking words to wash over her, this song had always touched her. Out of nowhere, a memory struck Quinn.
"Say something, I'm giving up on you…"
It wasn't the TV that she heard, it was Puck's voice, it was Puck and he was telling her that he was giving up on her!
"I promise, if you still want me to, I'll do you what you asked…"
Again, Puck's voice was there in her head, as clear as day, as clear as if he was in the room with her, actually saying those words right now! Another memory smacked Quinn between the eyes, she froze. "Howard," she hissed. "Oh, my dear God, Howard!"
Quinn didn't have the patience to wait for Darcy to finish eating, she had to know right now. Quickly, she grabbed her phone from the arm of the sofa and dialled Puck – she hoped he would be able to take her call.
"Hey," Puck drawled when he answered – he was cut off before he could add anything else.
"Howard," Quinn cried. "Howard was in the parking lot with a woman and a little girl," she told Puck frantically. Darcy must have picked up on her mommy's distress because she started crying – even with Quinn's nipple still in her mouth. "Shh," Quinn comforted, "that's why I was going to text you, or call you, I can't remember, but I remember seeing him and knowing I needed to let someone know and then bam, a kid in a truck hit me because he wasn't watching and he was going too fast!"
"Slow down," Puck instructed. "Did you see him close up?" he asked. "Did he see you?" he added with a touch of worry in his voice. It worried the hell out of Puck because Beth had always been an exact double of Quinn, it wasn't just a mere likeness, it was like looking at the same person and if Howard had seen Quinn, he would know that Beth was somewhere close by.
"I don't think he saw me," Quinn replied, but she wasn't sure, she wasn't sure at all.
"I'm going to get in touch with the officer who dealt with the case at the time," Puck announced. It seemed like a reasonable suggestion, the guy had kept in touch since the trial and let Puck know whenever Howard applied for parole or to get his sentence reassessed – and did everything he could to block such action.
"Good," Quinn said with relief, "that's a good idea," she muttered. "We'll see you tomorrow," she added and then remembered to let Puck know she'd remembered something rather significant. "And we can start checking out jobs at commercial airlines," she announced.
Puck pulled a face. "Ah, crap," he thought. "We'll talk about that once this Howard thing is out of the way," he replied and then ended the call.
"Won't that be nice, Darcy?" Quinn asked as she patted the baby's back. "To have daddy home almost every night," she added just as Darcy burped loudly. "I like it when Daddy's home," she muttered and then stood up, "because he takes care of all the diapers and now that you're eating real people food too, they really stink!" she added and kissed Darcy's cheek as they climbed the stairs to the nursery…