Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: And it's almost time for Finn...
"Breathe," Puck coached, he pulled faces at Quinn the second their Lamaze coach had her eye on someone else in the group. Quinn slapped at Puck's arm to warn him to take this seriously, he was being just as stupid as he had been when they'd done this before as teenagers. "I'm sorry," he muttered into Quinn's ear, he was supporting her as she lounged against him, she was practicing her breathing techniques and he was supposed to be helping her. Quinn glanced over her shoulder and instantly forgave him. For a few seconds anyway, and then Puck opened his mouth again. "Still feeling horny?" he asked her hopefully. Quinn growled. "Guess not," he answered his own question with a pout. That was his plans for the night blown right out of the water.
"Ms Puckerman?" Robyn said quietly from the doorway. "Ms Puckerman, my mom asked me to ask you if you could do something for her," she said when Quinn motioned for her to come into her class.
"What's that, Robyn?" Quinn asked, rather surprised that Sue would ask her to do anything.
"She wants to meet with my grandma," Robyn announced, she was quite thrilled at being able to use the word 'grandma' in relation to herself. "She wondered if you would help to set it up?" she queried.
"Of course," Quinn replied, she had no problem in doing this for Sue.
"She also wondered if you would be there too," Robyn added, "she said that Saturday at Breadstix would be fine," she told Quinn then bit her lip. "You will come, won't you, Ms Puckerman?" she asked nervously.
"Yes, I'll come," Quinn answered softly.
"So, baby is gaining weight nicely," Dr Wen announced as he spun the monitor around for Puck and Quinn to see their son. "I have a little concern," he said quietly, Puck and Quinn both looked at him with slightly fearful eyes. "You can see the umbilical cord there?" he pointed at the screen. "I am worried that it might tangle around baby's ankle, it looks like it could," he said with a slight frown. "I would like to schedule weekly ultrasound scans, I want to keep a check on that, ok?"
"Fine, that's fine," Puck replied, his eyes were still locked on his son, his hands were gripped with both of Quinn's. "Is there any danger?" he asked the question they both needed the answer to.
"At the moment? No," Dr Wen informed them. "It's possible that if the cord does wrap around a limb, it can cut off the blood supply to the limb, it can tangle so tightly that it cuts off the oxygen supply from the placenta, yes, it could be dangerous. But then again, it could just be an annoyance rather than a danger, one can never tell, but I want to keep checking on it, ok?"
"Thank you, Dr Wen," Puck murmured, he knew that, as much as the guy could be annoying, he would do all he could for them, he wanted Finn to be born healthy as much as they did.
"Thank you, doctor," Quinn said quietly as Puck helped her to sit up. "So, next Friday?" she asked as she discreetly wiped away a tear.
"Yes please, next Friday," Dr Wen confirmed.
"Hi, Carole," Quinn sighed as she took a seat next to the woman who was waiting at the table. "Glad you could make it," she said and then struggled to unfasten her coat. "I think I should have done this before I sat down," she muttered and pulled a face at herself. Quinn stood again to take off her coat.
"Oh my," Carole Hummel grinned. "Where did that come from?" she asked with a nod at Quinn's large, protruding stomach. "Did Santa bring that for you?" she teased.
"I know, it's like he's all of a sudden saying I'm here," Quinn agreed, giving it some jazz hands, she felt ever so slightly embarrassed. "You should have heard the kids when we started back at school last week, some of them only just realised I'm pregnant," she scoffed and shook her head. Some of her students literally lived in cloud cuckoo land.
"Remember when you lived at our house? When you were expecting Beth?" Carole asked, she thought back to those days with a little fondness, a little regret. "I was so hurt when the baby turned out to be Puck's and not Finn's," she said quietly, she didn't want to hurt Quinn's feelings, "and I never quite understood how Finn could have possibly thought he was the father," she added, puzzled, she thought her son had had a better working knowledge of the human body. "Oh, here's Robyn," she said suddenly when movement caught her eye. "Hi, honey," Carole cried and stood to hug her granddaughter. "Sue, hello," she said with a little bit more reserve.
"Hello," Sue managed to say, although she was incredibly reserved too. Quinn couldn't reconcile the almost silent woman beside her with the acerbic coach she had known when she was a teenager. "Q," Sue added, still very unlike her old self, she seemed almost...nervous.
"Robyn, sweetie, would you mind giving your mom and me a minute?" Carole asked. "Quinn, could you just...thank you," she murmured as Quinn and Robyn left the table to allow the two women to talk. Carole watched them walk away. "So, what did you have on him?" she asked Sue. "How did you convince him to do something so vile with you," she demanded. "I found it, the letter, you know, it was hidden, but I found it," she said and watched the blood drain from Sue Sylvester's face, watched her swallow hard, watched her glance around for either Quinn or Robyn to save her. "And he was still a student at the time, you were a faculty member, do you know how much trouble you could have been in?" she asked. Sue gulped and nodded. "So how did you do it?" Carole asked. "You must have bribed him in some way, he was so in love with Rachel, I don't know how you got him to betray her like that," she said with more thana touch of disgust.
"I...err...I, wow, I, err, I just asked," Sue eventually managed to say.
"No, you didn't," Carole insisted. "And don't give me the sperm donor crap," she hissed, "because I know that isn't true," she insisted. "So tell me, how did you manage to get my son to sleep with you?" she asked then sat back and waited.
Sue gulped and thought about her answer. "I knew about his habit," Sue said, she decided to tell the truth. "I told him that I would out him, get him kicked off the football team, out of New Directions, out of school," she said then looked Carole in the eye. "I had already introduced him to the father that you had denied him all those years, and he was desperate for that, he took to his father's lifestyle like a duck to water and then I used the information to get what I wanted. Honestly, he wasn't my first choice, I would have preferred the other one, he'd already proven he could do it, I was working blind with Finn, I was just hoping he had the goods," she said, and once she'd started talking, Sue found that the words just flowed. "Puckerman turned me down, even doing it the clinical way, Finn was the next port of call, Rachel still wasn't giving it to him at that time and basically he was a pressure cooker waiting to blow, sure he would have preferred it to be with a younger woman," she agreed, as though Carole had asked, "but he got well paid for what he did," she insisted.
"Puck told me that he, that Finn, was talking in his sleep shortly before the end," Carole said in a harder voice, she couldn't believe that she had protected her son all those years and then this woman, at the drop of a hat, for her own nefarious purposes, undid all that by introducing Finn to Christopher. How could she? Why would she? "He talked about you, about Robyn, Puck assumed it was by donation, was that what you asked him to do?" she asked, Sue nodded. Yes, she had asked Puck if he would make a donation, he had laughed at her and turned her down, even after she'd threatened to out him and Quinn, tell everyone that they'd been together for years, Puck had told her to go ahead. Sue hadn't, of course, she'd turned to the next person she had dirt on, she had been quite prepared to ask the next and the next and the next. Sue had dirt on a lot of people. "Do you have any idea, how I feel?" Carole asked. "In one heartbeat I am thrilled that Finn left a legacy of himself, left a part of himself and in the next I am so disgusted with him, but more so with you, and I don't know if I can get over that," she admitted, Carole was surprised at how well she had controlled the urge to punch, slap and hit Sue Sylvester, at how well she had controlled the urge to scream, to cry. But at the back of her mind, the thing that was ever present, was the knowledge that the little girl over there, that innocent child, she was the most important person, in the whole world as far as Carole was concerned. "I want visitation, access, whatever, I want time with my granddaughter, I want to make up for lost time and can I just say, it must be incredibly weird for her, to have a mother older than her grandmother, it's just wrong in every way," she hissed just before Quinn and Robyn rejoined them. "I think weekends, to start with," she said with a smile, as though they had been discussing visitation.
"You really want to spend time with me?" Robyn asked, thrilled that she was going to get to know the woman in front of her. Carole nodded a little tearfully. "And you're ok with that?" she asked her mom, Sue nodded too. "Cool," she sighed. "That's like Beth sleeping over at your house, isn't it?" she demanded happily, Quinn nodded and smiled tightly.
"Exactly, sweetie," Quinn murmured as soon as she knew she was able to. She could see the tension between Sue and Carole, she realised that whatever issues were between them, they hadn't been resolved, they might never be resolved.
"Oh Ruth, how could he go with that woman?" Carole wailed, she sat at the kitchen table, Ruth poured them both another large glass of wine.
"You're asking me?" Ruth asked with a laugh. "Did you see some of the hags that Noah used to...used to...well, he obviously didn't check out the mantelshelf while he was poking the fire, shall we say?" Ruth muttered.
"Bumping some real uglies," Carole spluttered, Ruth laughed along with her, the conversation descended from there, both ladies getting cruder and cruder the more wine they drank. "Oh God," Carole cried a long while later. "Why?" she asked, her mascara was spread down her cheeks. "Why would he even do that? I mean, was it just to get his...oh, God," she sighed. "I mean, I know that Rachel wouldn't, they didn't until about a month before they were going to get married and even then, oh, I think it wasn't a good experience for either of them, certainly not for Rachel anyway, I found her crying in the bathroom," she said then wished she hadn't because it made Finn sound like an insensitive oaf and he had been anything but that. No, he hadn't been insensitive, he had just been inexperienced. And if his only prior experience had been with Sue Sylvester...poor boy.
"Hey," Puck murmured against Quinn's shoulder when he finally slid into bed, he had been at a presentation at a school just outside of Marion, about an hour or so away. "How was it?" he asked and pressed even more kisses to her shoulder. He inhaled the scent of her, absorbed the feel of her, of her skin.
"Awkward," Quinn mumbled. She turned over and sighed. "It was awkward, I could hear some of it, did you know that they did it the old fashioned way?" she asked Puck, she still couldn't believe what she'd heard. "It wasn't insemination, they just did it, deliberately for Sue to get pregnant, did you know?" she demanded.
"No," Puck hissed. And he truly had no idea, he hadn't had a clue. He pulled a face as he thought about it. "I mean, I know I used to do older women but eww, gross," he said with a wince. "No, I wouldn't have done her, ever," he declared with a shudder. "And thanks, that thought has turned me right off," he grumbled, "your loss, babe, I was so ready to fulfill your every sexual desire," he told Quinn.
"Sure you were, stud," Quinn mocked. "Go to sleep, I'm tired," she said over her shoulder with a grin. "Finnian has been dancing on my bladder all day," she grumbled, "he's been waiting for his daddy to come and stroke him to sleep," she suggested. Puck cottoned on straight away, Quinn just wanted his hand on her stomach, wanted him to soothe away her fears over what might be happening inside her. "Don't forget we have the appointment with Dr Wen tomorrow," she reminded Puck.
"I know," Puck sighed. "It makes me nervous to think that he's opening the office on a Sunday to check you out," he added.
"Well, he wasn't too happy with the view he had on Friday so," Quinn explained and shrugged, she tried to be nonchalant but it didn't come off, she was worried and it was obvious that she was. Puck was worried too.
"Hi, Quinn, come through," Dr Wen said quietly and led the way. "How have you been the last couple of days?" he asked. "Still marking down up to ten movements an hour?" he asked, Quinn nodded. "Good, good. Ok, let me see," he murmured to himself. "Well, on Friday, that loop of umbilicus was actually around the left foot," he said and pointed to the screen. "It looks like it's moved again, for now at least," he said with a lot of relief in his voice.
"We've checked it out online and we know that this can be fatal for the baby," Puck said, they'd put it off as long as they could but now it was getting even more serious. "Is it better for him to be delivered early?" he asked.
"It's something I have considered," Dr Wen replied, "but for the time being, I would like him to stay where he is, where nature intended him to be, but I will still keep checking every couple of days, now that he's kicking stronger and there's less room for him and the cord, I really would like to see you every other day, if we can arrange it," he said, making a decision. "And yes, it might possibly be overkill, we can argue about that later, after he's born and healthy."
"I'm not going to argue about it," Puck promised. "And overkill is better than the alternative," he assured the doctor.
"Good, so I'll see you on Tuesday," Dr Wen said with a smile as Quinn sat up and wiped the gel from her large belly. "I know, room temperature," he muttered and saw the grin on Quinn's face. "You're the only person I warm the gel up for, you know," he told her quite honestly. "I didn't even warm it up for my wife," he said, almost proudly.
"Dude, you're a braver man than me," Puck laughed and helped Quinn down from the couch. "See you Tuesday," he repeated the doctor's words as they left the office.
"Do you think they might make you have Finn early?" Beth asked, she was concerned, she'd checked on line for information about the problems that the baby seemed to be having and although she hadn't actually said anything, she knew that if the cord did tighten around the baby's feet, it could kill him. Beth was really rather worried.
"It's a possibility," Puck sighed and squirted cream on top of Beth's hot chocolate. "And chocolate sprinkles?" he asked, just to make sure. He had never quite understood this need for chocolate overload.
"Puck, there are just some times in a girl's life, when even a truck full is not enough chocolate," Beth sighed and pouted. She knew that Quinn knew, but she didn't particularly want to tell her father that she had begun a new stage in her life, she was no longer a little girl, she was a young woman. Blah, so far - and it had only been a couple of days - but so far Beth was not impressed, and if this was what happened every time you got your period, Mother Nature could keep it.
"You ok, baby?" Quinn asked as she waddled into the kitchen. "Wow, Finn," she cried as the baby somersaulted inside her, it was such a violent movement that it made her rock on her feet, almost toppled her over.
"Are you alright?" Puck demanded, he was at her side in an instant.
"Yes, I'm fine," Quinn laughed, half-laughed. She was sure that she was ok, she was. "I'm fine," she insisted when Puck gave her that look. "Really," she added and rolled her eyes. "How's Robyn," she asked to deflect Puck's attention.
"Fine, she sent me a text to say she's fine," Beth replied, but she was still a little worried about her friend, she'd had a lot to deal with the last few weeks.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Puck asked the second he closed the bedroom door, he didn't want to wake Beth up.
"I'm positive," Quinn said and rolled her eyes. She planted a hand in the centre of his chest. "But now you mention it, there is something that might make me feel a little..." she paused because she didn't want to say 'better'.
"Does it involve the removal of a lot of clothes?" Puck asked hopefully.
"It might do," Quinn grinned and pressed a kiss to Puck's chest. Quinn hid a grin from her husband, she had missed being this close to him lately.
"Cool," Puck groaned and wrapped his arms around Quinn's shoulders. The instant his lips touched hers, Puck's body went into meltdown. He didn't hear anything, he couldn't see anything, he just felt absolutely everything.
"Puck, stop. Stop, stop, stop," Quinn hissed again and again, "I thought I heard Beth," she said and listened hard.
"You did," Puck cried as he too heard Beth outside their room.
"Hey," Beth said, she was so embarrassed, she knew exactly what Puck and Quinn had been doing. "Erm, Robyn's outside, she had an argument with her mom, can she come in?" she asked in a rush.
Quinn sighed and glanced at Puck, a look of apology in her eyes. "Of course," she agreed. "I'll call Sue," reminded herself. "Go let her in," she urged Puck.
"What? Like this?" Puck demanded and indicated his current physical predicament.
"Fine, I'll go, just...just...think pure thoughts," Quinn sighed and pulled her robe on.
Every lumbering step down the stairs was an effort. Quinn reached the front door and opened it to the weeping girl. When Robyn Sylvester looked up at Quinn, her pitiful little face just melted Quinn's heart in an instant. "Oh, sweetie," Quinn sighed as Robyn stepped into the house and into Quinn's arms. "Shhh," she soothed, automatically trying to comfort the crying child. "Tell me what's wrong," she encouraged, "tell me all about it."
Robyn allowed Quinn to guide her into the lounge and sit on the sofa, she sat beside Quinn and continued to cry. Puck came to the doorway. "Can I get you anything?" he asked, he'd managed to get himself under control and was now dressed in a pair of sweats. Minimal clothing, for sure, but at least he had something on. "Beth wants to come down too, I asked her to wait just now, until we know what we're dealing with," he murmured for Quinn's benefit.
Quinn nodded and continued to soothe Robyn. "Can you talk to me about it?" she asked Robyn quietly. Robyn sniffed and nodded, her head rubbed against Quinn's chest.
"I found some information online, about artificial insemination," Robyn replied, sniffing her way through her words. "I asked my mom if that was what happened, how she and my dad did it, how they made me a-a-a-a-a-and she said no," she wailed as she started to cry all over again. Quinn soothed as best she could but she couldn't figure out why this would have caused so much upset. When Robyn could speak again, she supplied the answer. "My mom told me that she paid him to sleep with her, she paid him because he needed money for drugs and that was how she did it, that was how she got me and it's just ho-ho-horrible," she wailed.
"Oh, you poor baby," Quinn crooned and pulled Robyn even tighter to her, hugged her even closer. "But just remember, however you came about, your mother wanted you so much, she even resorted to desperate measures to get you," she reminded the young girl. "And however Finn contributed, whatever way that was done, he would have been so proud of you, he would have loved you so much, and you have family that love you, you have Carole, you have Burt, and Kurt, Blaine and Rachel too. Rachel will always love you because you're part of Finn, and you have us, we know lots about Finn, Puck was Finn's best friend, we can tell you loads about him," she rambled on, just giving words, words that would hopefully soothe and comfort the girl.
"I called Sue," Puck said quietly from the doorway. He'd actually called Carole first to get the number to call Sue. "She knows that Robyn is here and that she's safe," he told them both with a glance at Robyn.
"Thanks," Quinn murmured and continued to soothe. Minutes later there was a knock at the door. "Can you get that?" she asked, Puck turned to answer it.
"Carole, hi," Puck said as he opened the door to the distraught woman. "She's with Quinn."
"Thank you," Carole sighed as she passed him and followed the direction that he'd pointed.
"Hi," Quinn said without standing up. She continued to comfort and soothe Robyn, who was by now, sobbing occasionally, sniffing a lot and just generally miserable.
"Oh, baby, come to your grandma," Carole urged and held her arms out. Robyn, without a word, in one fluid motion, turned, stood and launched herself into Carole's waiting arms, her tears returned full force. "There, there," Carole murmured as she hugged her granddaughter close, she felt a closeness, felt a bond develop, she felt, for the first time since Finn died, that she had a purpose. Carole knew that her purpose in life was to make this child's life better, enhance it, nurture it, nurture her. And she couldn't wait to get started. "I called your mom and you're coming home with me for a few days," Carole whispered to Robyn. She had worded that quite carefully, at no time did she say that Sue Sylvester was happy about it because in fact, the woman was furious but Carole didn't give a damn. That woman had denied her nine years of having a grandchild, ten if you thought about the time that she'd been pregnant but still, Carole could forgive that - just about - if it meant that she could be in Robyn's life from now on. Sue had yet to make a clear decision on that. It seemed that the initial desire to contact Carole had waned in the face of Carole's animosity towards Sue. Sue hadn't really expected that, she'd thought that Carole and her family would just welcome Robyn with open arms and forgive and forget everything else. She thought that she'd probably underestimated Carole Hummel just a tad.
Quinn, Puck and Beth watched as Carole assisted Robyn out to her car, bundled her in and waved before driving away. "Bed?" Puck sighed as he closed and locked the door, both Beth and Quinn nodded tiredly. "Cool," he muttered, almost sarcastically, as he made sure everything was locked up and secure, that lights were off, everything was ready for them to go to bed. "Hello, mama," he murmured rather cheesily when he finally entered the bedroom and found Quinn waiting for him, naked, artistically draped across the bed. "Not too tired then?" he asked, just to make sure, even as he crawled over her. "Mmmm, baby," he sighed as he sank into her, there were no more intelligible words, just moans, murmurs, groans. There were sighs and kisses, lots of kisses and a lot of love. Puck couldn't remember the last time that Quinn had been so energetic, had so much energy. God it was awesome.
"Ok, so we're now at thirty five weeks and six days," Dr Wen murmured, almost to himself. "This tangling is becoming worse, now I know that it will mean that the baby might be a little small, but he is viable, he has a strong heart, all of his vitals are good, but I think it's time, I know that yesterday the loop was around his foot, but look at this, today it's wrapped around his leg, twice, I just don't feel comfortable at sending you away when I know that this is getting to worst case scenario," he explained and then looked at Puck and Quinn's shocked faces.
"We knew it could come to this," Puck managed to say after he'd gulped back the rush of bile to his throat. "Ho-how will...will you do the c-section?" he asked, his hand was gripped tight to Quinn's, he was so glad that Beth hadn't come to this appointment with them, glad that she'd chosen to spend the afternoon with Robyn and Carole, helping them to begin to act normally around each other.
"I want to schedule the c-section for tomorrow morning, but I want you in the hospital tonight, ready to go, I want you hooked up to a real time imager until the actual delivery," Dr Wen said firmly, his entire tone, his manner, everything, had suddenly become self-assured, purposeful.
"Fine, fine," Quinn managed to say, but even to her own ears, the words sounded like they were coming from a distance. "I better call Principal Carson," she said, as she suddenly realised that she would not be able to teach her class for the next while. "Can you call your mom, my mom, erm, I don't, erm, can you?" she asked Puck, she was possibly going into shock, she couldn't string three coherent words together, not even in her head.
"I'll take care of it," Puck assured her as he bent to kiss her forehead. "Should I just go pick up her stuff and bring it in?" he asked the doctor. Puck wondered how the transfer would be made, the doctor's office was right next door to Lima Memorial, so it didn't make much sense to him to take Quinn home and then bring her back.
"I tell you what we'll do," Dr Wen announced. "I'll get Quinn set up in a room across the way, you come back with her birth bag, alright?" he suggested, Dr Wen could see the beginnings of a total freak out, from either one of them, maybe both of them and they had been so calm and accepting up until this point. Still, he was sure that they would come through, and the baby would only be four weeks early, that was nothing, he'd delivered babies that were much less mature, much smaller and they had survived.
"Yeah, so, I don't know what room she's in till I get back there, but they're doing the c-section tomorrow, no, I don't have the time yet, I'll call you when I have more information, ok? Thanks mom, I love you too, bye," Puck said as he ended the call. He sighed and scrolled down the numbers in his contacts. "Judy, hi, it's Noah," he said as his call was answered. Puck busied himself with ensuring that everything on Quinn's list was actually in the bag before he zipped it up. "Yes, I'm on my way back to her now, I'm sure she'll be allowed visitors, yes, I'll tell her, yes, maybe she'll call you. Judy, I have to go, I want to get back to Quinn, alright, bye, yes, I'll tell her, bye."
Puck's next call was a little harder. "Beth, honey, now listen carefully, now, I don't want you to worry, but Dr Wen has decided that Finn has to come out now, ok?" he said, checking that she was following the conversation.
"Is Quinn alright?" Beth asked tremulously. Puck could hear the nerves and emotion in her voice.
"Quinn is fine, Dr Wen has her in the hospital, she's got a monitor attached so we can see Finn constantly, but the umbilical cord is looped around his leg twice and Dr Wen thinks it will just probably tighten rather than him being able to pull loose from it like he has before, alright?" he said checking again that she was ok. "I'm going to ask your mom to see if she will bring you by for a visit, but I'm going to stay with Quinn tonight and till she comes home," he said and then realised he would have to speak to Captain Bridges to organise the start of his paternity leave. "Beth, I got to go, I have to call my CO, get the paperwork started for my leave otherwise, when I don't show up tomorrow I'll be classed as AWOL and that won't be good," he sighed. God he hadn't realised there would be so much to do. When Beth was born, they'd been driven to the hospital, he had pushed Quinn in a wheelchair while she had shouted and complained that it hurt so much - not so much that she wasn't willing to do it all again, unlike his thoughts on a kick in the nuts, he wasn't willing to do that again, so a woman's argument about childbirth being more painful pretty much disintegrated in Puck's mind - but that was it, everything had happened around them, to them, they hadn't had to do anything. This time it was much more real. And terrifying. Crap. Puck made the call and then hurried back to Quinn's bedside. "Hey," he said as he interrupted Quinn's monologue with the baby on the monitor. "He can't answer you," he teased, Quinn blushed.
"I know, but I was just telling him how lucky he is to have a daddy like you, one who will love him, no matter what, one who will never let him feel like he's inadequate, like he's let you down, no matter if he's good at sports or not," Quinn said through her tears. She sniffed and tried to get herself back under control. What she was really worrying about and afraid to put into words was, she was scared that the issues with the cord and the leg had already created problems, problems that they wouldn't be able to see until he started crawling and walking.
"I love him already because he's our son," Puck assured Quinn, he felt that it was her that needed the reassurance more than the child still within her womb. "Beth would like to...oh, here she is," he said, just as the door opened and Beth's head appeared in the gap.
"Hi, sorry I didn't call, but I just needed to see that you're both ok," Beth said from the doorway.
"Come on in," Quinn invited and pushed herself to sit up in the bed, she had been laid on her side, just staring at the monitor, watching her son in his last few hours inside her. "Shelby, hi," she added as the older woman came in too. "You're both very welcome," she assured them.
"It is tangled, isn't it?" Beth murmured as she stared intently at the monitor, looked at the loops around her brother's skinny little leg. "Will it come off?" she asked.
"We don't know, but that is why Dr Wen wants Finn to be born tomorrow," Puck replied, he knew that Quinn was struggling to keep the emotions in check.
"Look at that face," Shelby breathed as she leaned closer to the monitor. "Oh. My. God. Noah Puckerman the second," she said and turned to glance at Puck over her shoulder. "He looks more like you now," she told Puck. "Don't you think so?" she asked Quinn and took her hand very gently. Quinn nodded and tried to laugh a little, grateful for Shelby and the distractions that she was using to dispel the tension and the worry that was in the room.
"Hi," Ruth called from the doorway. "Room for two more?" she asked as she and Judy came in together. "We met in the elevator," she explained as Judy bent to kiss Quinn's cheek. "I wish we were still allowed to bring flowers into hospitals," Ruth grumbled. "All these rooms look so stark, a few bunches of flowers would make all the difference."
"Well, nana, you know that flowers are banned in all hospitals all over the country because so many people have allergies," Beth explained.
"I know, sweetie," Ruth sighed and hugged Beth. "But they did always make the place look nicer," she repeated. Quinn was so glad of the conversation and the distraction, she was feeling far more at ease than she had when she had been in the room alone, waiting for Puck to come. "Are you staying over with Quinn?" Ruth asked and glanced at her son.
"Yep, already arranged. Paternity leave arranged, although it doesn't officially begin until tomorrow," he explained and counted on his fingers. "Ok, so moms informed, I assume that you two have contacted Becks and Frannie, right?" he asked and looked at both Ruth and Judy, they both nodded. "Dads, well, we'll tell them after the event, they won't want to be here and to be honest, I don't want them here," he muttered.
"You just want to be the only guy," Beth interrupted.
"Damn straight," Puck shot back the reply with a grin and then continued on his mental checklist. "Rachel and Mercedes, done, they'll tell everyone else. Santana, managed to catch her before she went on stage, erm, Sam, I saw him just as I got here, he was bringing a suspect in for treatment before he locks him up and I think that's everyone, did I miss anyone?" he asked.
"I don't think so," Quinn replied and snuggled in to Puck as he settled back against her pillows with his arm around her shoulder.
"Cool, so, what time are you all getting out of here?" Puck asked a little rudely although he was teasing. "We have to get some sleep tonight, otherwise that's it, that's us, no more sleeping till he leaves home to go to college," he joked.
"You got that right," Shelby snorted with laughter and a glance at her daughter.
"Hey," Beth cried in mock outrage, "I resent that, I don't give you any sleepless nights at all," she said piously. "But I'm sure I can start once I go to college," she grinned evilly. Puck, Quinn and Shelby all looked at each other in horror and gulped. Beth smirked and wink at Ruth and Judy.
"Is this the point where we mention something about payback?" Judy asked Ruth.
"I believe it probably is," Ruth replied in the most self-satisfied way.
Later, once everyone had left and Puck and Quinn were on their own, they managed to soothe each other's fears and even managed to sleep.
"I'm glad we went to see Quinn tonight," Beth sighed as Shelby brought her a cup of hot chocolate.
"Me too, sweetie," Shelby replied as she sat on the couch with Beth and lifted her feet up into her lap.
"You know that I really love you, don't you, mom?" Beth said, a touch worried that her mother would think that she didn't. "I mean, I know I haven't said it for a while and I know I haven't been totally nice for a while but I think I'm over that, maybe it was just all hormones, you know?" she said, trying hard to find an excuse for herself, even though, deep down, she knew she didn't have one.
"Beth, my darling," Shelby said as she turned to look at her daughter, "I know that you love me, and I know that I love you more than anything else in the world, and I am just as sure that you love Quinn and Puck, too and honestly sweetie, I'm ok with that, I admit, I wasn't, but now I am, alright?" she said and tucked Beth's hair behind her ear.
"I'm glad," Beth sighed and gave her mom a beautiful smile, "I'm glad because I want to carry on spending time with them, I want them to always be in my life, they are important to me, same as Finn is going to be," she said and then sniffed, "but they won't ever be more important than you," she assured Shelby. "Same importance, but not more," she clarified.
Shelby laughed and leaned over to hug Beth. "That's alright, baby girl," she murmured into Beth's hair. "I think that's how it should be," she decided.