One year later…
"And don't worry about Artie out there, he's like a human cannon ball," said Finn. "Anyone I haven't covered?"
"Karofsky," said Sam.
"Oh yeah," said Finn. "He's the biggest idiot out there. If you need someone to distract the players or block something, use him."
"Got it," said Sam. "Thanks."
"What's going on?" asked Santana, coming up to the two football players standing out in the hallway. "Where's Quinn?"
"In the girl's bathroom feeding Lily," said Finn. "She might be a few minutes late to geometry."
"You guys brought your baby to school?" said Sam. "Is that even legal?"
"Shh! What Figgins doesn't know won't hurt him," said Finn. "We both have tests today and neither one of our moms could watch her."
"Guess what?" said Sam to Santana. "I'm about to be taking over as quarterback."
"Really?" said Santana. "That's amazing!" She gave her boyfriend a giant kiss on the lips. "I thought you were trying out for quarterback, Finn."
"I had to quit the team altogether," said Finn. "Taking care of half the midnight feedings now that Quinn is back in school keeps me exhausted enough."
"Hey guys, we have Glee practice today, right?" said Puck, making his way over with their newest member Lauren.
"Yeah," said Sam. "I heard Mr. Shu say that he wants to do something different for sectionals this year."
"Really?" said Santana. "Like what?"
"Not sure," said Sam.
"I wonder who's going to open it?" said Puck.
"Probably me and Sunshine," said Finn.
"Weird as it is seeing you guys sing together," said Puck. "She's the only good high voice we've got with Kurt and Rachel both gone."
"Who?" said Sam.
"Oh, Rachel was before your time," said Finn quickly. "So…um…sectionals…"
"What did happen to Kurt and Rachel?" said Lauren. She looked at Santana. "Did you eat them?"
"No," said Santana. "Kurt left because Karofsky kept threatening him and we couldn't get him to stop, and Rachel left because she's a pathetic whore. There are times when I wanted to eat her, though."
"No she's not," said Finn quickly. "She's very wholesome actually. Kurt's on the Dalton Academy Warblers now, we'll be going up against them in sectionals."
"Yeah, I've heard that they're really good," said Sam in an attempt to help Finn change the subject.
"Really, Finn?" said Santana. "Was she really that "wholesome" when she was romancing the competition behind our backs throughout half of last year?"
"Literally sleeping with the enemy, as you may recall," said Puck.
Of course Finn remembered the conversation they'd had that day, just a few months after he and Quinn had decided to keep their baby. He and Rachel had still been beginning to adjust to their inevitable permanent status as "just friends" and duet partners. He had let it slip out that he and Quinn had never actually had sex in order to get pregnant, and she had confessed to him that she had a big date with Jesse St. James.
"It went…it went wonderfully," said Rachel awkwardly. "Honestly it wasn't that big of a deal. I…I mean you know, it was great…but…when it was over I just…um…I didn't know why I was so nervous in the first place."
Finn nodded just as awkwardly. "I'm happy for you."
Rachel looked down and began shuffling the sheet music she was holding. "What about you? I heard about your big date with Quinn on Friday night when your mom was out of town."
"Nothing happened," said Finn quickly. "We couldn't go through with it."
Rachel looked up, surprised. "Why not? She's already pregnant."
Finn shrugged. "I guess I'm just waiting for the right…" Rachel starred at him. "Time."
He wasn't sure why he'd said that, really. It wasn't as if he regretted what he and Quinn had finally done that night. He just hadn't wanted Rachel to have that mental image. Even though it was more than clear that she had moved on.
"Exactly!" said Santana. "She had to go ahead and become a traitor the minute she got over her pathetic schoolgirl crush on Finn, dated Jesse St. James from Vocal Adrenaline the entire rest of the year, even after he went back to his own school, and don't even get me started on what she did literally ten minutes after we lost to them at Regionals.
"What was that?" asked Finn.
"Well," said Santana. "She went to go congratulate Ms. Corcoran and…"
"It took meeting you to realize all this stuff that I missed out on," Shelby confessed. "I need some balance, I need a house and a garden and a dog…and a family."
Rachel gulped. "I've decided that I want to move in with you."
Shelby blinked. "Excuse me?"
"My dads are a little disappointed," said Rachel. "But they understand my need to get to know you after all these years."
"Are you sure about this, Rachel?" Shelby whispered hopefully. "You'd be living in a new school district, you know."
"That's part of the reason I want to do this, actually," said Rachel. "All my teammates at New Directions put up with me because I'm the only real talent they have, but ever since they found out that I'm with Jesse they've hated me. I want to transfer high schools and join Vocal Adrenaline." She paused a moment and smiled when Shelby's face lit up. "There's so much that…you can teach me. So much only you can teach me."
Tearfully, Shelby wordlessly stood up and gave her daughter a hug. And it was all settled.
"Seriously?" said Finn. "I always assumed that Shelby was the one who approached Rachel or she left to be with Jesse or…something."
"How did you not know?" asked Sam.
"He was at the hospital with Quinn and Lily that whole time," said Santana. "Speaking of which…"
"Aww, hi there!" said Sam as Quinn approached holding the baby in her carrier.
"I have a test first period," she said. Finn wordlessly took the handle of the carrier and let Quinn put the diaper bag over his shoulder like a purse. Then Quinn gave him a quick kiss before heading off to class.
"Who's that?" asked Brittany as she walked over to them alongside Artie.
Santana gave her a weird look. "It's Lily."
"Really?" said Brittany. "She looked different last time I saw her."
"That's because she was three months younger," said Quinn.
"Oh," said Brittany.
"What's her full name by the way?" asked Sam.
"Lillian Carole Fabray-Hudson," said Finn proudly.
"Tell me," said Artie. "Was it creepy watching her be born?"
"A little," said Finn. Everyone looked to him. "The hardest part was Quinn squeezing my hand so hard it felt like it was about to snap in two. And then when Lily came out she was all covered in all kinds of slime and, yeah, kind of gross. But then the nurses took her and cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket and they handed her to me and…" Finn nodded. "It was amazing." He looked down. "Hard to believe how big she's gotten."
Sam glanced at the sleeping infant and smiled almost sympathetically. "Must be hard."
"It is," said Finn. "Believe me. But it's worth it."
"Is it absolutely terrifying knowing that you're partly responsible for her life now?" said Santana.
"Wow, way to be sensitive," mumbled Artie.
"It's more about the pressure than anything," Finn admitted. "It was only really scary at the beginning. I actually started trembling when I wrote her name down on the birth certificate. Afterwards I just took a deep breath and I heard my mom say, "Finn?" and I looked up expecting her to say something to make me feel better, and she just put her hand on my shoulder and smiled and said, "Your name has two N's"."
Everyone started laughing. "Wow," said Sam. "Fail!"
Lauren rolled her eyes and was about to make some crack about how Lily had better have gotten Quinn's spelling skills when she noticed that Puck was wandering off. She wondered why and got up to follow him. Whatever he was doing had to be more interesting than grinning and making pathetic noises at the baby like everyone else was. "You don't like babies either, huh Puckerman?" said Lauren once they were out of earshot of everyone else. "I personally think they're revolting."
"That baby isn't revolting, it's Finn and Quinn who are revolting," snapped Puck.
"I totally agree," said Lauren. "For being dumb enough to get knocked up in the first place. Haven't they ever heard of the pill?"
Puck sighed. "You want to know a secret?"
"Not it's boring," said Lauren. "If it isn't, hell yeah."
Puck lowered his voice. "I'm the one who got Quinn pregnant. That baby is mine."
Lauren blinked and then nodded. "Damn. No one could tell, she looks nothing like you. Thank god."
"But everyone knows," said Puck. "All those people out there rallying around him telling him what a beautiful baby's got know that that kid is mine. Except maybe Sam, if Santana or someone hasn't told him already. Even Finn's stepbrother, Kurt, who lives with them, knows."
"Are you sure?" said Lauren. "Did she get a DNA test?"
"She doesn't need one," said Puck. "Trust me. She was the president of the celibacy club when she got pregnant. She convinced Finn that it happened when they were in a hot tub together with clothes on because that's as far as she was willing to go."
"Really?" said Lauren. "Then how the hell did you manage to get it on with her?"
"We were drunk," Puck admitted. "Well…she was drunk. I may have had a couple."
Lauren nodded to herself. "Hmm…nice…so you get to deflower the chastity queen and at the other end your best friend deals with the consequences? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me."
Suddenly, Puck forgot his irritation at the way his friends were behaving and seized what he saw as an opportunity to look cool in front of the girl who had kind of turned him down the other night. He smiled arrogantly and said, "Well, yeah. Yeah it is."
Lauren smiled. "You're an ass." Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Puck dumbfounded.
Mr. Schuster walked into the choir room later that day to find Mike, Sam, and Artie going over some football strategies, Lauren and Puck sitting pointedly as far as they could from each other, and Brittany, Santana, Tina, Mercedes, and Sunshine all sitting in a cluster around Finn and Quinn. "Wow," he said. "Glad to see that all…" that's when he noticed what Quinn had in her lap. "Thirteen of you are here today, because I have a lot we need to go over for sectionals."
"What song are Finn and I going to sing?" asked Sunshine.
"I actually thought we'd try something a little different," said Mr. Schu. "Tina, I want you and Artie to open up the show."
"What?" said Tina and Mike in unison.
"Seriously?" said Brittany.
"This isn't about who's dating who," said Mr. Schu. "They well together vocally, therefore, it makes sense to have them sing together. I also want to showcase the dancing skills of Brittany and Mike Chang during the second number."
"Wow, that is different," remarked Finn.
"I'm game," said Santana.
Mr. Schuster pointed at her. "Good, because you'll be the lead vocal during the second number."
Then out of the blue, Lily let out a squeal. "No, not you," said Mr. Shuster jokingly. Her parents and a few of the people around them laughed.
"Maybe in a few years," said Quinn, stroking Lily's fuzzy black hair thoughtfully. Maybe it would be fun to teach her how to sing one day, especially if she turned out to be as vocally talented as her father, she could be a lead singer too.
Then Quinn startlingly remembered that Lily wasn't biologically Finn's daughter. How was it that she of all people had forgotten that, even for a second? She smiled a little. It was just as well. If she was forgetting, chances are that everyone else who knew was forgetting, too. She glanced over at Puck, who was sitting sulkily two rows behind her, and it suddenly occurred to her to be thankful that he and Finn had the same hair color.
Later that night, Quinn laid Lily down in her crib and stepped out into the dark hallway of the huge two-story house that Burt and Carole had bought when they got married. The house had two master bedrooms, one for Burt and Carole and one for Finn and Quinn. Kurt had insisted that he was happy living in the basement. There was a small room that Carole had told Quinn could be used as Lily's bedroom when she was older, but for now she and Finn were happy with the crib and all Lily's things being right there in their bedroom.
Quinn jumped slightly when the door that led to the stairs going down to the basement opened. "Kurt, you scared me!" she whispered.
"Sorry," he whispered. "I just came up to get a drink."
"I'm looking for Finn," said Quinn.
"He's upstairs watching the game with Dad," said Kurt.
"If you see him, will you tell him I'm in the shower?" said Quinn.
"Sure," said Kurt. "Do you need someone to watch Lily?"
"She's asleep," said Quinn. "But thanks. So, what's the Warblers' game plan for sectionals?"
Kurt smiled. "Nice try." He walked off in the direction of the kitchen while Quinn went to go get in the shower.
Twenty minutes later, Quinn stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the towel. She froze when she heard the low sound of Finn's voice and a cry from Lily. She must have woken up after Quinn left. Quinn began walking slowly in the direction of their bedroom and stopped in the doorway to stare at them when she got close. There was Finn, cradling Lily in his arms with her head close to his and quietly singing.
"And when
When the night falls on you baby
You're feeling all alone
You won't be on your own
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you"
Quinn felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she thought to herself that there was no question that she had made the right decision to tell Finn that he was Lily's father. There was no chance Puck would ever do this.
"I can't ever let him find out," she thought. "For her sake."