Hello everyone! Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"Okay stop for a minute," Santana said as they sat in the living room while Puck was at work a few days later. "So not only are you and Puck together but you're also trying to find his dad? I love you but have you gone crazy?"

"Hey you were the one who was saying that if I was going to have these feelings it may as well be for the father of my child."

"I know I said that but are you sure your feelings are valid? You're not just having these feelings because he's the father?"

Rachel sighed. "Honestly it feels like a little bit of both. There was still an attraction there even after I got pregnant and the fact that this is his baby is what's helping to push me to try this out but I'm doing this for the right reasons I know it."

"And you think finding his dad is something you should be doing? Hasn't Puck hated him since forever?"

"He's still his father. I'm sure he'd want to know his son is having his first child and besides I think I found him."

Santana's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah I did some digging and found a phone number."

"You already called it, didn't you?" When Rachel nodded, she groaned. "You realize that this is likely to blow up in your face, right? Puck isn't going to be happy you're snooping around trying to find his dad after he asked you not to."

"But if things go great he'll be thanking me. I'm sure of it," she smiled.

When Puck got home later that day, he smiled when he saw Rachel asleep on the couch. He didn't realize he'd enjoy coming home to her and looked forward to when there would be a baby to come home to as well.

Getting an idea, he carefully sat down next to her and leaned his head near her belly. "Hey little guy. Guess you wore your mom out today. You know, we're really excited to meet you. I'm going to teach you to play sports and pick up girls just like me."

"I guess I'll have a lot on my hands," Rachel said sleepily before opening her eyes and looking at him. "What are you doing?"

"Talking to the baby. I read that it's good to get him familiar with our voices so he'll recognize it when he's born."

"You've been reading parenting books?" she asked, surprised.

He laughed. "Yeah I saw that you already started reading some and I didn't want to look like an idiot when he comes so I figured I should prepare myself."

She smiled at this. Puck was really trying and there was something endearing about it. "That's really sweet. You know, we still have to come up with a name for him. What about Noah Jr.?"

"Absolutely not," he shook his head. "I want my kid to have his own name. His own identity."

"Fair enough," she nodded. "Looks like we should get a book of baby names so we can make up our minds."

"Guess so. How was your day with Santana?"

"Pretty good, we just caught up on what's been happening."

"By that I assume you mean us," he smirked.

Rachel smiled. "Yes I do. How was work? Has it been getting any easier?"

"I wouldn't say easier but I'm getting used to it. Let's just say that my night out with everyone really helped my reputation."

"Don't remind me. Just as long as they know nights like that won't be happening again anytime soon."

"Not unless you're right there with me," he smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. "Why are you out here on the couch anyway? You should be in bed if you're tired."

"I was just reading and fell asleep. Being pregnant takes up a lot of my energy."

"Well come on, let's get you up and in a hot bath. Then if your energy comes back I can have a little welcome home," he grinned as he helped her up.

Rachel laughed. "We'll see about that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few weeks later, Rachel was preparing the apartment for their guest. Now that she was approaching her six-month mark, she needed to get their families together so that everyone was on a good note for when the baby came. First step was getting Puck and his father to bury the hatchet.

Puck walked into the living room and looked at her. "What's with all the cleaning and cooking? Is my mother coming to visit?"

"Not quite."

Before he could respond, the buzzer went off. After Rachel allowed for him to come up, there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, Puck frowned and stepped back.

"Hey Puck," his father, James, smiled.

"Rachel what the hell is this?" Puck asked, clearly not happy.

"I told your dad about the baby and how I wanted to formally meet him so I invited him for dinner."

"Can I talk to you in private?" She nodded as they went into their bedroom. "As I recall, I told you my dad was dead to me. Why would you invite him here?"

"I told you that I wanted our baby to have as many people in his life as possible. Your dad seemed excited when I told him about the baby like he wanted to be part of his life and ours."

"I don't want him in our son's life or my life don't you get that? I want him out."

"Can you please just give him a chance? Let's just have dinner and catch up. You never know, he might've changed."

"People don't change that much," he mumbled as they went back to sit at the table to eat.

"So you two are having a boy," James mentioned, trying to ease the tension in the room. "Have you decided on a name?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not yet, we're still working on that part. Noah's been giving some extreme suggestions."

"Not surprised, I did the same thing when his mom was pregnant with him," he chuckled.

Puck glared at him. "Yeah good thing Mom ended up being the one to name me."

"Noah," Rachel frowned.

"Come on Puck, don't be like that," James told him. "I'm just here to reconnect and see if I can help with anything for the baby."

Puck shook his head. "I don't want your help, I don't even want you here when the baby comes. My son isn't going to know about what a deadbeat his grandfather is."

"I understand you're still upset about me not being around but when the baby comes you'll understand how I was feeling."

"Maybe I will but I will never abandon my kid. When he needs me, I'm going to be there for him and Rachel because that's what a man does."

"It's easy to say now but just wait until he gets here. It'll be overwhelming and you'll be stressed trying to provide and-"

"Are you seriously sitting here trying to justify leaving us? There is no excuse to leave your wife with two kids, I don't give a shit how stressed you were."

Seeing how upset he was getting Rachel tried to step in. "Noah maybe we should-"

"No this was a stupid idea," he said, getting up. "You're never going to be allowed around my kid and that's final. Now I'd appreciate it if you got the hell out of my apartment."

Not knowing what else to say, James got up and walked towards the door but turned around. "I hope one day you'll change your mind."

As he left, Puck slammed the door behind him before looking at Rachel. She sighed. "Noah I-"

"You went behind my back and found my dad after I asked you not to," he glared at her. "Boundaries mean nothing to you, do they?"

"I just thought that-"

"What? He'd walk in and I'd magically forget about the fact that the man deserted me? Do you know how much my mom struggled and how I barely saw her for six months after he left because she was working so much to keep a roof over our heads? That can't be fixed with him showing up to dinner and the fact that you would ignore my wishes and invited him anyway makes this even worse."

Rachel frowned and looked down. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to upset you. I just thought that it was best for our baby to know his grandfather."

"Oh yeah? How about we call up your birth mom and tell her about the baby? Oh that's right, she adopted a little girl to replace you."

She looked at him and felt tears develop in her eyes. "Now I remember why I wanted nothing to do with you after high school. Classic Puck, saying whatever you want not caring about how hurtful it is."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh grow up Rachel. Stop playing the victim all the time when you caused this."

"I knew this was a mistake," she shook her head before grabbing her purse and walking out of the apartment. She tried calling Santana but when she didn't answer, Rachel just left a message. "Santana I'm coming back to stay with you. Puck and I just got into this huge argument and I don't want to stay with him anymore. Please call me back."

As she walked and tried to wipe her tears, Rachel didn't notice a guy on a skateboard coming toward her, knocking her down to the pavement. Immediately she felt pain in her ankle but she wasn't concerned with that. As she wrapped her arm around her belly, Puck rushed outside and picked her up in his arms.

"Rachel are you okay?" he asked. "Talk to me, where does it hurt?"

"Just get me to the hospital," she let out, still in pain. "The baby…"

She trailed off, in pain. Puck rushed and got her in a taxi so they could get to the hospital, their fight seeming like a distant thought. All they could think about was if their baby was going to be okay.

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