~ Mid-February~

"Ugh," Quinn groaned as she peeled back the covers on her bed and prepared to climb in. "Bed, finally." She'd had a long day at school and an even longer evening at glee practice and was silently begging the baby to let her get at least three hours of sleep before starting in with her nightly kicking. She was so desperate for some sleep she would have offered her unborn daughter a pony if she thought it would keep her still. Quinn had just slipped her legs underneath the blankets when she heard a noise outside her window that startled her enough to cause her to get up and investigate. As she crept towards the window it started to slide up and she backed herself up to the wall, slowly making her way towards the bathroom door, planning her escape into Rachel's room.

"I'm pregnant," she said, "you can have whatever you want, just please don't hurt me."

"What in the hell are you talking about, Quinn?" Puck's mohawk appeared in the window, followed shortly by the rest of him. "It's just me."

"Jesus, Noah Puckerman, you scared me half to death." He knew he was in trouble when she cursed and called him by his full name, so he braced for impact. She left her position against the wall and was charging at him full speed. Once she reached him she smacked his arm, hard. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

He held up his hands in defense, "Hey, hey, I come in peace." He took a paper bag out of his backpack and offered it to her, "I brought ice cream."

She grabbed the bag from him, "Couldn't you just use the front door like a normal person?"

He shrugged, "I didn't know if Berry's dads wanted me in your room. Besides, I feel more bad-ass climbing through your window like that."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "One, Rachel's dads don't care if you come visit. Two, I'm pretty sure they'd prefer you use the door instead of scaling the side of their house like some criminal. And three, I don't think you'll feel very bad-ass when you fall off the side of the house and break your arm."

"Aww," he wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her to him gently, kissing the top of her head. "You're worried about my safety. That's sweet."

She groaned and pushed him away, "I'm not worried about your safety I'm worried about the Berry's siding. And your ability to properly perform the lifts we're doing in glee."

"Ouch," Puck said, clutching his chest and pretending to be wounded. "You're crabby tonight."

She sighed heavily, "I know, I'm just really, really tired. Your kid kicks all the time."

He raised his eyebrow, "Suddenly she's my kid?"

"When she's acting up, yeah, she's your kid."

"If you're so tired, why don't you just go to bed?" Girls honestly made no sense to him most of the time.

"I was until you decided to add breaking and entering to your long list of illegal activities."

Puck ignored her, "Well, I'm done 'breaking and entering', so you can go to bed now."

"I can't. You're still here. Besides, I can't let perfectly good ice cream melt, can I?" Her steely expression softened and she smiled at him.

"There are two spoons in there," he said as she opened the bag, "so don't go calling Berry." He'd learned his lesson the last time after he'd spent a two hours sandwiched between the girls on the bed, listening to Rachel babble on incessantly over just about any topic she could think of.

"Okay," Quinn said, sitting on the bed and handing him a spoon, "you can stay. But only for the ice cream." She'd learned she needed boundaries when it came to Puck or she could quickly get herself in over her head.

"Fine," he said, kicking off his shoes and flopping down on the bed beside her.

"What are you doing out so late anyway?" she asked, spooning some of the cold chocolate ice cream into her mouth.

"Buying dip," he replied.

Quinn wrinkled her nose in disgust, "You're going to have to stop that once she gets here, you know."

"Okay," Puck said simply.

She furrowed her brow, "Just like that? Okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll give it up now if you want."

"Seriously?"

"Sure," he said, getting up and throwing the can of dip out of her open window.

She smiled, "Thank you. But you know you're going to have to pick that up off the lawn before you leave, right?"

"I know," he said, joining her back in bed. He stuck his spoon into the carton and picked up one of the sonogram pictures lying on Quinn's nightstand. "Are you ever going to let me come to one of these things?"

"What things?" she asked, glancing at him.

"Your doctor's appointment so I can see our kid."

Quinn shrugged and pointed to the sonogram picture, "She's right there."

"Gee, thanks for pointing that out," he replied sarcastically. "I want to actually see her. Hear her heartbeat and stuff."

"Don't you think it would be kind of awkward?" Quinn looked uncomfortable at the mere thought of the idea.

"Why?" he asked with a sly grin.

She sighed, he knew exactly why. "God, you're going to make me say it, aren't you? They don't just check the baby….they check other stuff too."

Puck shrugged, "So? It's not like I haven't seen it all before. I did put that baby inside you."

"Puck," she squealed louder than she had intended, "you are a disgusting pig."

He smirked, pleased with her reaction. It was the dance they did. They both knew the steps perfectly and executed them like trained professionals. He'd say something offensive and pigheaded, she'd get upset, and then he'd turn around and do something so completely romantic and charming that she'd forget why she was ever mad at him in the first place. It was their dance, a dance so uniquely Puck and Quinn that it worked for them, even though it shouldn't have. "You let Rachel go with you."

"Rachel comes because she's my friend. She doesn't have an ulterior motive like you. Besides, she sits by my head."

"I'll sit by your head," he offered quickly. "Scouts honor."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "You were never a boy scout, Puck."

"You're right, the uniforms were too dorky. But I do promise I'll sit by your head. I really just want to see our kid. Please?"

She looked into his eyes and knew instantly that he meant what he was saying, "Maybe. We'll see."

"You're so damn stubborn, Fabray," he teased, playfully pushing her arm.

She laughed, "You're pretty stubborn yourself, Puckerman."

"Can't argue with you there," he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Our kid is screwed."

"If being stubborn is hereditary then we're the ones who are going to be in trouble."

"They don't start out stubborn though, right? At least we'll have some time to figure it out."

Quinn nodded, smiling contently at his use of the word 'we'. "Yeah, I guess we will," she said, fighting desperately to stifle a yawn.

He studied her face and noticed the dark circles under her eyes, "You really are tired, aren't you?"

"I really am. I just want to sleep but she kicks all night long," she placed her hand on her stomach.

"Come here," he said, wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her so close to his side that her belly was pressing into him.

Somehow they had gone from sitting on her bed eating ice cream to lying in her bed snuggled up together under the covers within a matter of seconds. Quinn's brain knew it was a bad idea, but her body and heart were not listening. There go those boundaries, she thought to herself. Right out the window along with Puck's chewing tobacco. She rested her head on his shoulder, "I could fall asleep just like this."

He kissed the top of her head, pausing for a moment to breathe in the scent of her hair. It smelled like strawberries and was completely intoxicating to him. "Go ahead."

"I can't. What about Rachel's dads?"

"They make a habit of coming into your room in the middle of the night?"

"Of course not," she replied, somewhat defensively.

"I'll be gone before anyone sees me," he promised as his hand found its way to her belly underneath the covers and tugged gently at the hem of her shirt.

"Puck….." she warned.

"Relax," he whispered, his warm hand resting on her skin, on their baby. "Just close your eyes and get some sleep. I'll try and keep the kid calm. It'll be good practice." He rubbed soft circles on the swell of her abdomen with his thumb.

Puck felt Quinn's body relax in his arms and he knew he had her. "You're not nearly as bad as you like people to think you are, Noah Puckerman."

"Neither are you," he replied. "Does that mean I can stay?"

She didn't say yes, but she didn't kick him out of her bed either. Instead, she rested her hand on his chest and snuggled in closer to his body. He was going to take that as a yes.

Quinn rolled out of bed after hitting the snooze button for the second time. Puck was nowhere to be seen, the indentation he left in her bed the only evidence he'd been there the night before. She walked over to the window and peered out just to make certain that he wasn't lying in the Berry's backyard in a heap of broken bones. He wasn't, so she padded quietly over to the full length mirror in the corner of her room, lifting her shirt and examining her belly closely. She sighed in relief, no stretch marks….yet. "Don't grow too fast, okay?" She whispered, running her hands over her stomach. "I'd still like to be able to wear a bikini after you're born." Satisfied enough with the state of her skin, she pulled her shirt back down and set out to find something to wear. She stood staring into her closet for a good ten minutes before deciding on a pair of jeans and a sweater. Getting dressed for school had been so much easier when she'd been a Cheerio. It had also been easier when she wasn't the size of a house.

"Good morning, Quinn!" Rachel chirped cheerfully when Quinn walked into the kitchen after she'd finished getting ready.

"Morning, Rach," she replied, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and fixing herself a bowl of cereal.

"Guess what today is," Rachel asked excitedly. She always had so much energy in the morning that sometimes Quinn wondered if she'd actually given up Terri's special 'Vitamin D' pills.

Quinn poured herself a glass of orange juice and then topped off Rachel's glass before returning the bottle to the fridge, "Umm, Wednesday?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed, "Well, yes, but it's also the 17th. That means it's only two more months until your due date."

"God," Quinn said, carefully climbing onto the barstool next to Rachel's, "that sounds so soon."

Rachel nodded in agreement, "That also means it's less than two months until regionals!" She shook her finger playfully at Quinn's belly, "which means you, young lady, cannot come early." The competition for regionals fell on April 10th, a mere week before Quinn's due date, and Rachel had taken to reminding the baby almost daily when she was not to be born. She turned her attention back to Quinn, "are you excited?'

"About regionals?" she asked once she was finished chewing her cereal.

She shook her head, "No, about the baby."

Quinn shrugged, "More terrified than excited. Being pregnant sucks, but it's really the easy part. She's so easy to take care of right now. I kind of wish she could just stay with me like this forever."

Rachel nodded understandingly, "I know, but it'll be okay. You'll have lots of help."

Quinn smiled sincerely, "I know."

"Noah seems like he's trying."

She nodded cautiously, "He is."

"He came by last night, huh?" she busied herself with rearranging the bowl of fruit sitting on the kitchen counter.

Quinn's cheeks flushed pink and she nodded, "We didn't do anything though."

Rachel shrugged, looking indifferent, "It's not really my business, but I know you didn't. The walls are pretty thin."

"He didn't even try anything."

Rachel looked surprised, "He didn't? That's…unusual for him."

"I know. He told me he'd give up dip too. He was actually really sweet." Quinn smiled wistfully. Rachel knew that look; it was the same one she got when she thought about Finn.

"That's really good, Quinn. Just be careful, okay? This is Noah we're talking about. I just don't want you to get hurt."

The wistful smiled faded from Quinn's lips and she nodded, "I know, I can't deal with a relationship with him right now. I just want him to be a good dad."

"Sometimes people can really surprise you," Rachel looked at her and smiled and Quinn felt like Rachel was talking less about Puck and more about Quinn.

"That's for sure," she said, returning Rachel's smile.

Rachel glanced at the clock, "We better leave for school or we'll be late. Are you ready?"

"Give me a sec," Quinn said before pouring the rest of her orange juice into her mouth. "Okay, let's go," she turned to Rachel, but she was already in the living room.

"Hey, can you grab the twenty dollar bill of the counter? Dad left it for us since we have to go to your first birthing class tonight and we won't be home for dinner."

"Ugh," Quinn groaned, grabbing the money off the counter, "is that tonight?"

"Yes, it's tonight. You know, Quinn, you should really invest in a good daily planner. If you had one, you wouldn't forget things like your birthing classes or your due date."

Quinn caught up to Rachel in the living room, "Why would I need one of those when I have you to remind me?" She asked, throwing her arm around her friend's shoulder.

Rachel giggled, "Good point."

"Do we really have to go tonight?" Quinn whined.

"Of course we have to go. It's an important class, Quinn."

"Can't I just figure things out once I go into labor?"

Rachel looked at her indignantly, "I don't think relaxation and breathing techniques are something you want to just 'figure out' once you're in labor."

Quinn sighed, "I guess you have a point."

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Rachel offered, sliding into the passenger seat of Quinn's car.

"Maybe," Quinn said with a shrug.

As soon and she and Rachel walked into the classroom at the hospital, Quinn decided that going to a childbirth class when you were sixteen and pregnant was just about the most awkward thing in the world. She and Rachel were surrounded by married couples and she felt (and probably looked) very much like a child playing make-believe compared to them.

"Here," Rachel said, directing her to the table, "we need nametags." She printed her name neatly on the sticker and then reached into her bag and placed a gold star sticker after her name.

Quinn grinned. Rachel Berry was a lot more fun to be around if you could find her many quirks entertaining instead of irritating. "You always do that, huh?"

Rachel nodded, "It makes a statement. Do you want one as well?" She offered Quinn her pointer finger, which had a gold star stuck to the end of it.

"Sure," Quinn said, taking the sticker from her and pressing it to her nametag.

"Come on," Rachel said, grabbing Quinn's hand and dragging her to the front of the room, "let's get a good seat."

Quinn tossed the pillows and blanket she was carrying onto the floor and slowly lowered herself down "Making pregnant women sit on the floor is cruel and unusual punishment," she muttered to Rachel.

Before Quinn could stop her, Rachel was waving enthusiastically at the couple seated beside them. "Hi," she said, "I'm Rachel and this is my friend Quinn."

"Hello," the woman smiled sweetly, "I'm Sarah and this is my husband, John. Is this your first?"

Rachel nodded, "Well, her first," she pointed to Quinn. "I'm just here for moral support."

Sarah smiled and looked at Quinn, "Your first? How exciting! This is our sixth."

"Wow," Quinn replied. She didn't want to be rude, but also didn't want to engage the woman further with anything other than one word answers.

John glanced at Quinn's McKinley High bag. "Do you teach at McKinley? We have a daughter in ninth grade there. It's an excellent school."

For a minute, Quinn considered lying to avoid the extreme awkwardness of what was to follow. "No, I go there," she replied simply. She'd been judged harshly enough by her own parents, what were two more sets of judgmental eyes?

Sarah was taken aback, "Oh, well, best of luck to you, honey." Her face was sweet but her tone was condescending and she quickly turned her attention away from the girls and back to her husband.

Rachel whispered into Quinn's ear, "It's their sixth and they're still taking this class? You'd think they would have gotten the hang of it by now." Her tone was light, but she must have realized Quinn was hurting because she took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Quinn smiled and silently thanked God for Rachel. "I know," she whispered back. "Besides, six kids is a lot. You'd think they would have figured out what caused pregnancy by now."

"Alright," the nurse standing at the front of the room announced, "let's get started. My name is Gayle and I'll obviously be teaching this class. Who here is becoming a first time parent?" Quinn raised her hand and glanced around the room. There was a smattering of first timers around her. "Good, welcome to the class. We're going to have a lot of fun but we're also going to learn a lot. I always like to start out the first class with a little trivia, so here's a question for you. How far apart do contractions need to be before you really head to the hospital?"

Rachel's hand shot up and the woman pointed to her. "Five to six minutes," she answered confidently.

"Very good, that's exactly right." Gayle proceeded to ask more questions, and each time Rachel shot her hand in the air excitedly. "Anyone else besides Rachel?" she finally asked. A dad in the back row raised his hand and Gayle sighed in relief.

Quinn smirked at Gayle's obvious annoyance with Rachel's enthusiasm. She was grumpy and uncomfortable from having to sit on the floor and had already decided that she didn't like the class and by default she didn't like Gayle.

"I know most classes like this usually start out the first day with breathing and relaxation techniques, but I do things a little differently." Gayle continued on once she was done with her trivia questions. "So tonight, we're going to jump right into things and watch a video of a birth."

"Ugh," Quinn groaned quietly. She hated blood and she certainly didn't want to be stuck with a mental picture of what was going to be happening to her for the next two months. Gayle turned the lights down and Quinn rested her head on Rachel's shoulder for support. "I really don't want to see this," she whispered quietly, "can we please leave now?"

"I know you don't," Rachel rubbed Quinn's back comfortingly, "but we have to stay because this is something you're going to have to deal with eventually."

Quinn sighed, "Don't remind me."

"Well, that was….." Rachel said as she walked with Quinn to the car after their class.

"Awful? Horrible? Disgusting? Traumatizing? Scary?" Quinn rattled off every negative adjective she could think of.

"It was…" Rachel struggled, rarely at a loss for words.

"Just say it. It was horrible."

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "it was horrible."

"Here," Quinn tossed her the keys, "would you mind driving? I'm feeling kind of light headed."

Rachel took the keys and climbed into the driver's side of the car, "You okay?"

Quinn nodded, "I'm fine, that was just brutal. Did you see the size of that kid's head?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I did." Rachel grimaced at the thought.

"And what they did to that poor woman, what was it called? And epis…" Quinn paused, searching for the correct terminology.

"Episiotomy?" Rachel offered.

"Yeah, that! I don't want one of those," her lip quivered and her panic turned into tears. "I'm really scared, Rachel."

"I know it's scary," she said, taking both of Quinn's hands in her own, "but you're not going to have to do it alone. I promise I'll be with you the entire time."

"You will? Even after seeing all that?" She asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Of course I will, Quinn. You're my friend and I made a promise to you. A little blood isn't going to scare me away. Okay?"

Quinn nodded and sniffed, "I want an epidural before I go into labor."

Rachel laughed, "I don't think they do that."

"Well they should!"

Rachel figured Quinn had calmed down enough, so she let go of her hands and started the car, "I agree!" She glanced over at Quinn, who was typing furiously away at her phone. "Who are you texting?"

"Puck," Quinn replied. "I asked him if he had a big head when he was born." More accurately, she'd said 'Do you have any idea how horrible giving birth is? I'm going to kill you next time I see you. P.S. did you have a big head when you were a baby?-Q'

"What did he say?" Rachel asked, just as Quinn's phone buzzed in her hand.

Quinn read off Puck's text, "Yeah, I guess." He'd apparently chosen to completely ignore her threats of murder.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "He's a man of very few words."

"Do you think that since Puck had a big head that our baby will have a big head too?"

"Honestly," Rachel said, "all babies kind of have big heads."

Quinn sighed, "That's true." She paused for a beat, "Do you think they'll let me schedule a C-Section?"

"Quinn…" Rachel said as gently as possible, "I'm not sure that's the less painful alterative. It's major surgery."

Quinn nodded, "I know. It just all feels so overwhelming right now. Men should have to go through pregnancy and labor too. It's not fair."

"I'm pretty sure if that were the case, the population would just die out," Rachel said with a giggle.

Rachel had barely turned off the car after pulling into the driveway when Quinn hopped out. "Sorry, I have to pee," she explained, rushing to the front door.

"Hey," she called into the house once she'd gathered all their stuff from the car, "We're home."

"We're in the kitchen, baby. We're just frosting some cupcakes if you and Quinn want to help," Adam called.

"How was your night?" Matthew asked when Rachel came into the kitchen.

"Can't talk now," she replied, grabbing her dad's address book and the computer and setting to work. "I'm busy."

Adam looked at Matthew and shook his head, "Everything okay, sweetheart?"

"Busy!" She reminded him.

"Hi," Quinn said with a wave as she walked into the kitchen.

"Quinn," Matthew took her hand, "you look exhausted, honey. Take a seat." He led her to the barstool and helped her sit.

Adam placed a freshly frosted cupcake in front of Quinn, "Perhaps you could enlighten us as to why Rachel is frantically searching the internet."

"I'm looking for a place to order flowers on-line, dad." Rachel explained.

"Who do you want to send flowers to?"

"Eliza," Rachel answered, using the actual name of her surrogate.

Matthew furrowed his brow in confusion, "Rach, you know we send her flowers every year on your birthday, but that's not until the end of July."

"We had to watch a video of a birth at that class we went to tonight," Quinn stated simply.

"Oh," Matthew said, understanding dawning on his face. "And you just want to send her an extra little thank you?"

Rachel nodded, "What she did wasn't easy at all, daddy."

"You're right," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I think it's sweet that you're thinking of her and want to show her how much you appreciate what she did."

Adam glanced at Quinn who was staring dejectedly at her half eaten cupcake, "You okay, sunshine?" He pushed another cupcake towards her, "I'm guessing after the evening you've had that you could probably use another one of these."

She smiled softly and nodded, "Thank you."

Rachel hopped onto the barstool next to her and grabbed a cupcake, "Quinn's just kind of freaked out now."

Matthew wrapped his strong arms around Quinn in a comforting hug, "Oh sweetie, I know it's probably terrifying for you."

Adam took a picture frame off the countertop and placed it in front of Quinn, "I think this might help even more than that extra cupcake."

Quinn looked at the picture and saw two much younger versions of Adam and Matthew standing next to the hospital bed of a woman who looked very much like Rachel. She held a tiny pink bundle in her arms. "Is that Rachel?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes," Matthew beamed, "wasn't she beautiful?"

Rachel blushed, "Daddy….." She whined in annoyance.

"Yes, our baby was gorgeous," Adam said, looking at Matthew, "but that's not really the point. This picture was taken maybe 15 minutes after Rachel was born."

Quinn studied the picture closely, Eliza was positively glowing. "She looks pretty happy considering she just had a baby."

"That's exactly my point! No one is going to lie and tell you that labor is going to be easy, Quinn. But the good news is it doesn't last forever and once it's over, you'll have a beautiful baby to hold and nothing else in the world will matter." Adams eyes got misty just remembering the birth of Rachel and it made Quinn's eyes water as well.

"Does that help a little?" Matthew asked, tucking a stray strand of Quinn's blonde hair behind her ear.

"It helps a lot," she said, standing to hug both Matthew and Adam. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, sweetheart. It's really our pleasure," Adam replied with a smile.

"Why don't you girls go watch a movie or something, Rach. It'll help take Quinn's mind off things. We'll make you some popcorn."

Rachel looked at Quinn, "You want to?"

She nodded eagerly, "Sure! That sounds like fun."

"I'll even let you pick," Rachel said as she slid off her barstool and offered Quinn her hand so she could get down as well.

"Okay," Quinn thought for a moment, "how about West Side Story?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow, "We don't have to watch a musical if you don't want to."

"I know that, but I want to."

Rachel clapped her hands excitedly, "I'll go put it in the DVD player."

Quinn smiled broadly as she watched Rachel bound happily into the living room. Watching a movie she knew Rachel loved may have been a small gesture, but it sure felt good to be able to do something nice for her friend.

A/N: Once again, sorry this took so long. I hope you all enjoyed! I want to see if you guys can make it to 50 reviews (I know you can, because you're awesome). Bonus points if we can make it to more than 50 reviews.