Hello everyone! Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Over the next few months, Rachel focused on figuring out the kind of life she wanted to give to her baby. She knew it would be difficult to make decisions with Puck because they were so different but they had to figure out how to agree on some things if they were going to raise this child together. So far, they couldn't agree on whether or not they should know the baby's gender before birth or after. Rachel wanted it to be a surprise but Puck thought it was stupid to stay in the dark about it if they had to buy clothes and set up a nursery. By this argument alone, she knew it was going to be a long six months.
As Rachel walked out of her bedroom after getting dressed, Santana laughed at her discomfort. "Clothes started fitting you weird?"
"Yes and it's uncomfortable. I've always been small, now I feel like I'm starting to explode."
"Well the bright side, your boobs are starting to look great," she smirked. "Is Puck going to your doctor appointment?"
"He said he'll be there as long as he can get off early enough for it. Is it bad that I'm hoping he doesn't show up?"
"Why would you want that?"
"Well knowing him, he'll try to ask the doctor if he can tell us the gender and I've already said I don't want to know. It's like he doesn't listen to a single thing I say."
Santana shook her head. "Wow. The kid isn't even here yet and you two are already going at it. You sure you can do this whole co-parenting thing?"
"I really don't know," the brunette sighed before grabbing her bag and leaving the apartment.
When she got to the doctor's office, Rachel sat and watched the other couples talk excitedly about their unborn child. She wished she could feel the same excitement but at the moment all she felt was anxious. Could she be as great a mother as the other women in the office who seemed prepared for their baby?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she was called back into the room. After a nurse came in and handled all of the measurements of her weight, blood pressure and temperature, her doctor came in and smiled at her.
"Hi Rachel, how are you doing?"
"I'm okay. My clothes are starting to feel tight though."
Dr. Ashcroft sat down next to her. "Well your body is starting to make room for baby so that'll happen. Is the father going to be joining us today?"
Before Rachel could respond, the door opened and Puck walked in. "Hey sorry I'm late. Still not used to this whole New York traffic thing. I didn't miss anything, did I?"
"Not yet, we're just getting started," Rachel told him.
Dr. Ashcroft looked at her. "Okay Rachel, your tests from last time all came out well so there are no concerns in that area. Today we're going to take a listen to the baby's heartbeat and maybe get a good look at it. Ready?"
She smiled and nodded, eager to hear her child's heartbeat. Dr. Ashcroft hooked up the machine and when the device was placed over Rachel's abdomen, they heard a steady beat.
"Wow," Rachel smiled.
After checking the heartbeat, the doctor conducted an ultrasound and pulled up an image of the baby. When Rachel saw her child, she felt tears in her eyes.
"That's my baby," she said.
Dr. Ashcroft smiled. "It is. Looks like your baby is about six centimeters long and weighs twenty-one grams which is a healthy size for this stage."
"Can you tell the gender?" Puck asked.
Rachel tried to hide her annoyance as Dr. Ashcroft answered. "Well the genitals have developed but it is too early to tell in the ultrasound what the gender is. But at twelve weeks about all of the baby's organs and muscles have developed and are starting to function so if anything, you have a healthy baby coming."
After she finished the ultrasound, she walked out of the room to get the photos as Puck sat with Rachel, who he could tell was unhappy.
"How could you possibly be in a bad mood after seeing our kid?" he asked.
"What part of 'I don't want to know the gender of our baby' hasn't been made clear to you?"
"Look I know you don't want to know but I do. I don't see what the problem is in asking."
"The problem is you're already not respecting my wishes. What happens when our child grows up and wants something that I say they can't have? Are you going to just ignore me and do whatever the hell you want?"
Seeing that she was getting really upset, Puck backed down. "Fine you're right. If you really don't want to know the gender, we'll keep it a surprise and just stick to neutral colors for everything."
Rachel nodded, satisfied with his answer as Dr. Ashcroft walked back in with pictures for them. After scheduling her next appointment, the two of them left the office together and went to get to get lunch.
As they ate, Rachel looked at him. "So all this arguing about knowing the baby's gender and you never told me what you want the baby to be in the first place."
He thought about it and shrugged. "I never really thought about it. But if I had a preference I would have to say a boy. That way, I don't have to worry about doing that girly shit or get stuck looking at pink everything for the first five years of her life."
"Funny because I want a girl," she giggled. "I don't feel like I would understand a boy like I could understand a girl. Plus if it was a girl I would be able to put her in ballet classes and do everything my dads did with me."
"Yeah but if it was a boy, he'll be awesome in sports just like me. Hell, he'll probably be a mini me."
"That's what I'm afraid of," she replied. When Puck stared at her, she sighed. "Come on Noah, you weren't exactly the best guy in high school. I don't want our son to be anything like that."
"It's not like I didn't clean up my act," he said defensively.
"Yeah now you did. Would've been nice for it to have happened in high school."
An awkward silence followed. Puck knew he wasn't the greatest person in high school and he didn't treat Rachel the way he should've. But there was nothing he could do about it now besides be here and help her take care of the child he helped create. Maybe once she saw him step up, she could forget about what happened in high school once and for all.
"Well I do know one thing," he said. She looked at him. "Boy or girl, the kid will be pretty athletic with the two of us being the parents."
Rachel smiled and nodded as they continued with lunch. After they left, Puck's phone rang. When he looked at who was calling, he groaned.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"My mother." He put the phone to his ear. "Hey Mom. Yeah everything is going okay. I'm getting better adjusted. What? You want to come for a visit? Uh, I don't know."
"You still haven't told her?" Rachel gaped at him.
He shook his head before going back to the conversation. "Yeah next week sounds great. Can't wait to see you too." When he hung up, he looked at Rachel. "You realize she's going to freak out when she finds out right?"
"I can't believe you still haven't told her. We can't keep something like this a secret, especially since I'm starting to show."
"Yeah I know. I was just hoping to buy myself more time while I figure out how to explain to her the situation we're in."
"How bad can it be?"
He shook his head. "You have no idea what we're getting ourselves into."
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When Maria Puckerman arrived a week later, Puck felt the nerves start to kick in. He had no idea how his mother was going to react to him becoming a father and something told him it wasn't going to end well.
When he saw her coming out of the terminal, he smiled and hugged her. "Hey Mom."
"My Noah. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you." She looked at him. "Are you eating? You look smaller."
"I've been eating just fine. Let's get out of here." As they left and rode in a taxi back to his apartment, Puck tried to make small talk to calm his nerves. "Where's Sara? I thought she'd be coming with you?"
"She has a project in school that she had to stay home for so she's staying at a friend's house. But she told me to tell you she misses you and she's expecting you to fly her out as soon as possible."
He laughed and tried to get his mind straight so he could form real sentences once they get to his apartment. Once they got there, Puck took a deep breath before taking Maria inside and up to his apartment. When they walked in, Rachel stood up from where she was sitting.
"Hello Mrs. Puckerman," she greeted.
Maria smiled. "Rachel Berry? How are you doing sweetheart? I had a feeling you two would meet up when Noah moved here."
"Yeah who would've thought?" she smiled weakly.
"But what are you doing here?" She paused before looking between her and Puck. "Are you two dating?"
Puck shook his head. "Not exactly. You're, uh, going to be a grandmother."
Maria froze. "What?"
"I'm pregnant," Rachel told her.
The older woman gaped at them, unsure of what to say. "I don't understand. Noah you just moved here, how could this happen?"
"We met up one night when I first got here, had too much to drink and I think you know how it goes after that," Puck explained.
"And you didn't have the sense to use protection?"
"We were drunk, we just didn't think about it."
"How far along are you?" she asked Rachel.
"Just hit thirteen weeks."
"And you two plan on keeping this child and raising it?"
"Yes," Puck nodded.
She paused. "So when is the wedding?"
Puck and Rachel froze at the mention of marriage. Seeing that Puck was too shocked to speak, Rachel spoke up. "I'm sorry?"
"You two can't expect to raise a baby together if you two aren't together do you? I mean what would your fathers say?"
"They've actually said that they support us and expect us to figure things out ourselves. Noah and I are just getting reacquainted, we can't get married."
"But you two were acquainted enough to have sex weren't you?"
Hearing enough, Puck stepped in. "Mom this isn't the fifties. We don't need to get married just because Rachel's pregnant. We're going to co-parent like every other person does in this situation and we're going to give our baby great parents. We don't need to be together to do it and you of all people should know that."
Maria sighed. "Noah do you really think this is what I want for you? When I imagined you starting your family, I imagined you being married and stable enough to do it. Yes I know that I did fine without your father being there but do you think that's how I want your child to be raised? Being married may not be needed but it most certainly helps. Now are you two prepared to do something like this?"
"We're still getting used to the idea but we can do it." He looked at Rachel. "Right?"
"Right," she smiled. "We're just going to use this time to get to know each other again and prepare for the baby."
Seeing their determination, Maria finally nodded. "Okay. In that case, I want to see sonogram pictures and Rachel we have to go shopping. Thirteen weeks means it's only a matter of time before you start to get even bigger so it would be a good idea to get you some maternity clothes. Can't get too far wearing oversized hoodies."
Rachel laughed as Maria pointed to what she was wearing. "It's the only thing I have that made me feel remotely comfortable so I would love to go shopping."
They sat down as Puck went and brought out the sonogram pictures. Happy to have gotten that part over with, he knew it would only get harder from here. He and Rachel had two different opinions of what to do during this pregnancy and he could only imagine the disagreements they'll have once the child is actually born. Despite that, he couldn't ignore the content feeling he got when he saw Rachel smiling and being excited for the baby they created.
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