A/N: I'm back…I know this took a long, LONG time to get posted, but I need to finish this story and I will. There are just a few more chapters to complete and I think I can do it. Hopefully this will be worth the wait. Thanks to everyone who is still interested in reading and "Welcome!" to anyone who is just discovering this story for the first time. xo –Katie

"What do you think?" Rachel asked, turning around and spreading her arms open as she spun around.

"I think it looks great," Quinn nodded.

"Finn's done such and amazing job. It's even better than I dreamed it could be and you know how high my design standards were."

"Oh, I remember. How many times did you change the paint colors on him?"

"Only six," Rachel remembered, looking away. "For this room anyway… but let's not dwell on that."

Quinn merely chuckled under her breath, rolled her eyes and followed Rachel into the next area of the studio. She really couldn't believe that it had all come together so quickly. Finn had started work on it in the fall and now, in mid-February, it was poised for completion by the end of the month. She remembered when she and Puck had first come to look at the space with Rachel and Finn. Even though the spot was a bit run down, Finn deemed that it had good bones, a solid foundation and it wouldn't take much to get it to where it needed to be.

"Remember that one time you didn't want me to ask Finn to help you build a studio?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rachel replied, feigning ignorance.

"You didn't even want to be in my house at the same time as him!"

"Fine. Go ahead and say I told you so if it makes you feel better."

"How about instead of saying I told you so I just say that I'm happy for you guys, because I am. You two are meant to be, it just took a little while. You had to grow up apart before you could come back together."

"When we broke up I think Finn felt like he was holding me back, you know? But it was the exact opposite. Without him in my life I felt like I didn't have a direction to go in. He kept me grounded, he supported me and when he wasn't around I felt lost. I grew up always wanting to be a star, but he was the first person who actually made me feel like one. What's the point of being a star if I don't have anyone to share it with?"

Quinn sniffled and wiped at a stray tear as it slid down her cheek. "Stupid hormones," she mumbled.

"Sorry," Rachel smiled, standing next to her and looking around again. "So what are the guys up to?"

"Puck didn't say, but if I had to wager a guess I'd say it probably involves wings, beer, and sports of some kind."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So what exactly are you looking to get Quinn for Valentine's Day?" Finn asked as the duo strolled into the vintage jewelry store at the mall.

"No clue, but I've got to find two things. One for Valentine's Day and one for her push gift."

"Her push what?"

"Push gift," Puck repeated. "You know, you're supposed to buy the mother of your child a present for popping your kid out."

"I've never heard of that before."

"Then I guess I just saved Future Finn from nights of sleeping on the couch."

Puck smirked and slapped Finn on the back. Truth be told, back before Beth was born he had been clueless about most of that sort of thing. If it wasn't for one of the baby books he read he would have been in the doghouse, too. Not that either of them were really conscious of much of what went on the summer after Beth was born. Since most of his money back then went towards diapers and anything else Beth needed his push gift had been kinda cheap and just a little lame. He took Quinn out for the night to Breadstix and surprised her with a gift certificate to get her nails done, something she hadn't gotten the chance to do since their daughter was born. This time was different. This time they were both older, wiser, and Puck was much more gainfully employed so he knew whatever he decided to get Quinn, it had to be good.

"Are you looking for a ring?" Finn asked.

"Probably not. Maybe a bracelet or earrings."

"All of this stuff is, like, old?"

"No man, it's vintage."

"What's the difference?"

"Old stuff is cheap and vintage stuff is usually expensive as hell, but Quinn loves it. She likes the style."

Finn nodded and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his winter vest as he looked around the small store. Puck was busy looking at a mother of pearl and silver bracelet along with some sapphire earrings. He had a strong feeling that the baby would be a boy and so blue earrings would be appropriate. Even if the baby wasn't a boy he figured she would still like them. His suspicion stemmed from the fact that Quinn just looked a little different. She looked a little bigger this time, not that he would ever tell her that, and he was pretty sure that was a sign that she was carrying a big, strong, Puckerman boy. After he purchased his presents and made a significant dent in his bank account he walked over towards Finn.

"You ready to go, bro?" Puck asked.

"What do you think about these?" Finn replied, motioning towards the rings in the case.

"I think those look like engagement rings."

"Yeah," the former quarterback nodded before looking at his friend. "I mean, what do you think about me getting Rachel one...like proposing to her?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, why? You don't think it's a good idea?"

"No. It sounds like a good one as long as you're sure about it."

"I think I am. I mean, I know that I wanna spend the rest of my life with her. I figure, why wait? I think we've wasted enough time and, like I said before, Quinn's accident made me really realize that life can change in the blink of an eye. I want Rachel to know that we're forever. I want a family with her and a house and a dog or a cat, maybe both. Do I sound crazy?"

"Yeah," Puck nodded. "But it's a good kind of crazy. It's a kind of crazy I'm all too familiar with, man."

"So I should do it? It's not too sappy to do it on Valentine's Day?"

"Nah, Rachel will love that. You know she will."

XXXXXXX

Puck was feeling pretty pleased with himself as he hung up the phone and slid it back into his back pocket. In the past, he was more of a last minute kind of guy when it came to Valentine's Day, not that the quality of his gifts ever suffered, but this year he was already on top of things. Not only had he picked out the perfect bracelet for Quinn, but he'd just snagged a reservation to one of her favorite restaurants. Dates at Breadstix and whatever campus restaurant they could get in at while Quinn was in college were a thing of the past. This was their first Valentine's Day as a married couple and he wanted to make it a good one, no matter how long they'd been together for. He couldn't wait to go upstairs and tell her the good news.

"So I don't want to ruin all of the surprise, but I just made us dinner reservations for Valentine's Day," Puck said as he waltzed into the family room.

"You can cancel them," Quinn replied, not even looking up from her book.

"What?"

"Cancel them."

"Uhhhh...why?"

"Because I'm not going out to a nice restaurant looking like this," she said, gesturing to her baby bump.

"Like what? You look beautiful."

"Fat, huge, and ugly. I can barely walk down the hallway at school without getting winded."

"We'd be sitting down to eat, I promise."

"I don't want to go out. Almost nothing fits me anymore or I look disgusting in them."

Puck sighed and knelt down next to her. "What can I do to change your mind?"

"You can't. Stop trying to change my mind and be glad you don't have to spend the money that night."

"I want to do something special."

"And I want to stay home. I'm the one who's pregnant. I'm the one carrying your child and I'm the one who's going to have to push it out of my vagina so if I don't want to go out, we're not going out."

"Alright," Puck replied, standing up and holding his hands up in defense. "We're not going out. I'll call and cancel. I was just trying to do something nice."

Quinn sighed and closed her book. "I appreciate it, I just wish you would've asked me first because now I feel like such a bitch."

"You're not a bitch. I get it. You're pregnant, and you're tired and you're right. I should've asked you. We'll stay home and order in whatever you want, okay?"

Quinn nodded and reached for Puck's hand, tugging him down to her so she could kiss him. "Thank you," she said as she pulled away.

"I'm gonna go cancel those reservations. I'll be back."

Quinn sank back down into the couch and sighed. She really didn't mean to make such a huge deal out of it but she just wasn't in the mood to get dressed up and eat at a fine restaurant. Most days she wanted to put on a pair of yoga pants and crawl into bed and stay there until the baby was born. She didn't know how she did it the first time around while being in Glee club at the same time. Quinn did know one thing, though. She needed to find a way to make this up to Puck.

XXXXXX

"Are you excited to spend Valentine's Day with Nana Ruth, Bubbe, and Aunt Sara?" Quinn asked, glancing at Beth in her rearview mirror.

"Yup, we're gonna have more fun than you and daddy," the little girl quipped.

"Oh I believe it. Daddy and I are just going to stay at home and watch TV."

"Aunt Sara and I are gonna do fun stuff and stay up late!"

"Not too late, B-Bug. I don't want you to be a crabby pants tomorrow."

Even though she and Puck didn't have anything planned for the evening, Quinn was happy to let Beth spend the night with her aunt who had "declared war" on Valentine's Day since Shane dumped her the previous month. She hoped that spending the evening with Beth would take her mind off of things and make her feel a little bit better.

She and Beth had been running a few errands that afternoon and Puck hadn't been home from work when they left. Quinn smiled when she saw his truck in the garage as she pulled in and slowly climbed out of her car. With just one month left to go until the baby arrived, Quinn felt like she had to do everything at a slower pace nowadays. It was a big change for someone as busy as she was but she knew if she didn't take it easy she'd be even more exhausted than she already was at the end of the day.

"Puck, I'm home," she called, closing the door and hanging her coat on the hook. She kicked off her shoes and smoothed her t-shirt over her belly.

"In the kitchen," Puck replied.

Quinn followed her nose up to the kitchen and smiled when Puck turned around with an apron over his black t-shirt.

"What's all this?" she asked, trying not to let the mess get to her.

"It's your Valentine's Day present."

"I thought the roses and the chocolate covered bacon you left me this morning were my presents."

"That was only part of it, babe. I know you said you didn't want to go out to eat for Valentine's Day so welcome to Chateau Puckerman. I'm Chef Puck and I'll be making your dinner. It's almost ready so if you'll please wait in the dining room."

"But I'm in yoga pants and a red maternity t-shirt. I'm not dressed for dinner," Quinn pouted.

"At Chateau Puckerman there is no dress code."

"You're too much."

"Just go sit, babe. It'll be ready soon."

Quinn kissed Puck's cheek before walking into the dining room. He had covered the table with a red table cloth and lit a few of her candles. She was so surprised by everything that she had to fight a few tears from falling down her cheek. A few moments later Puck emerged with two plates of food in his hand and placed one in front of her.

"For dinner tonight we have chicken alfredo served with a bacon-wrapped breadstick. Well, yours has bacon around it. Mine's just a breadstick."

Puck disappeared for a moment and re-emerged with champagne flutes. "Don't worry, it's just sparkling white grape juice."

"Puck I don't even know what to say."

"Well, I know you said that you didn't want to go out to eat today but I still wanted us to have a nice dinner."

"Thank you," Quinn said, reaching over to cover his hand with her own.

"You're welcome. Now eat up before the food gets cold."

Quinn enjoyed the dinner Puck had prepared for them, especially the bacon wrapped breadstick. She finished every last bite of food before leaning back and folding her hands over her stomach. Puck had gone back for seconds and while he finished up she was mulling over the possible ways she could thank him and show him how much she appreciated what he had done for her. As he reached for her plate and silverware she stopped him.

"Put the dishes down," Quinn said, pushing herself away from the table and standing up.

"What?" Puck asked, looking confused.

"I said put the dishes down. I want to thank you properly for my presents."

"But you gave me a present, too, baby."

"I know but you did all of this," Quinn said, gesturing with her hands. "And I'm going to thank you."

"And what does this thank you entail?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out. How about you go down to the mancave and wait for me?"

"The mancave?"

Quinn nodded and walked around the table to kiss him. "Now go," she said and waited until she heard the door to the basement close before making her way to their bedroom. Normally, Quinn would have changed into one of her matching sets of lacey lingerie but none of them fit her at the moment, at least not to where she felt comfortable in them. Instead, she had something else in mind that she knew Puck would enjoy. She slipped into a pair of black boy-short panties and went into the closet, rummaging through Puck's side until she found what she was looking for all the way in the back.

At least it's red, she thought as she slipped the old high school jersey over her head and pulled it down over her belly, sighing in relief that it actually fit. After re-applying her light pink tinted lip gloss- the kind that tasted like strawberries- she grabbed a beer from the kitchen and continued on to the basement.

"I was beginning to think you left me down here all alone to-" Puck started to say but stopped mid-sentence when he saw his wife standing in front of him. "Holy fuck."

"Is that a good holy fuck or a bad holy fuck?" she asked, biting her lip.

"It's a great holy fuck."

Puck started to get up from the couch, but Quinn placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back ever so slightly. She placed the bottle of beer onto the end table and carefully straddled Puck's lap, holding onto his shoulders for support.

"Hi," she said quietly, letting her hands drift up to the back of his neck.

"Hey baby," Puck smirked, resting his hands on her hips. "Is this part of my thank you?"

Quinn nodded, leaned in as far as she could and kissed him deeply. "Thank you for an incredible Valentine's Day," she murmured against his lips. "Thank you for making me feel special, and beautiful, and loved."

"I just felt bad that you didn't wanna go out but I wanted to celebrate it still just the two of us."

"And now we have the whole rest of the night to ourselves. I wonder what we should do."

"I mean...I can think of one or two things but I don't know if you're feeling up to that…"

"Would I have come down here in just your football jersey and panties if I wasn't?"

"I don't know, you said the other night that you weren't feeling up to it."

"That was the other day," Quinn whispered into Puck's ear, "Tonight, I'm feeling very up for it and I think you are, too."

She smirked as she ground down into his hips and felt him getting hard already. It was true that she really hadn't felt like doing much the past few days, or weeks for that matter, but her moods changed faster than she could blink sometimes and right that second Quinn wanted nothing more than to be with her husband.

"Fuck, Quinn," Puck swore under his breath and traced small patterns up and down her sides.

"Oh I plan on it, tonight is all about us. We have to enjoy it while it lasts right?"

Puck nodded and wrapped his arms around Quinn's back, drawing her as close to him as she could get. She rested her arms on his shoulders and smiled as she trailed a line of kisses from his lightly-stubbled jaw down his neck. Reluctantly, she pulled away from him just enough so that she could work on pulling up his black t-shirt. Once she pulled it over his head she let her hands roam freely up and down his toned chest and abs until she reached the waistband of his jeans. Quinn glanced up and him and smirked before biting her lip and setting her fingers to work unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants. She dipped her hand lower and grasped Puck's growing erection and stroked it slowly, gliding her thumb over the tip.

"You're already hard," she whispered into his ear, causing him to inhale sharply.

"You came downstairs in that," he replied, motioning towards her outfit. "I was hard before you even climbed onto my lap."

"And what should we do about that?"

"Hmmm I have a few ideas…"

"Care to fill me in on what those ideas are?"

"Yup." Puck let his hands slide over Quinn's ass before slipping them under the black fabric and maneuvering them off of her.

"Oh," Quinn said, gripping his shoulders. "That was fast."

"I'm talented like that, what can I say?"

Quinn chuckled and captured his lips again as she raised herself up and slowly lowered her core down onto his cock, moaning lightly into his mouth. Breaking their kiss she laced their fingers together behind his neck, resting her forearms on his shoulders as she started to move against him. Puck's hands instinctively went to her hips, kneading them as he began to meet her movements. As Quinn's head rolled back he leaned forward to kiss the exposed flesh, eliciting a breathy sigh from his wife's lips.

"You good, baby?" Puck asked.

Quinn nodded wordlessly and caught her breath. "So good. So close already."

"Me too. You got me all hot and bothered earlier."

Puck dropped his hand between their bodies and lightly brushed his fingers over her bundle of nerves a few times, knowing it would be just what she needed to take her over the edge. Quinn moaned his name loudly and crashed their lips together as her release shook through her body and coaxed Puck's to come along with her. Dipping her head to his shoulder she tried to catch her breath as he smoothed his hands up and down her back again.

"Fuck," she rasped.

"Is that a good fuck or a bad fuck?" Puck chuckled.

"It's a my whole body feels like a big pool of Jell-O right now fuck."

"Oh so it's a very good fuck."

"Mmmhmm," Quinn smiles and lifted her head to kiss him lightly. "So thank you for my present."

"With a thank you like that, you're very welcome."

"Next time I say no to sex in the next couple of weeks remind me how I feel right now."

"And it'll change your mind?"

"Probably not, but it'll be worth a shot."

"Damn," Puck cursed. "Look at you. You can barely keep your eyes open right now."

"You wore me out!"

"I think I need to get you to bed."

Quinn frowned as Puck shifted them so that she was sitting on the couch and he could stand up and dress himself again. Without saying a word he scooped her up and made his way to the stairs.

"Show off," Quinn mumbled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I just figured this would be the fastest, most effective way to get you to the bedroom," he replied, setting her down on the bed.

"Thank you, but I need to put something else on. I'm not sleeping in your jersey."

Quinn lazily pulled herself off the bed and changed into a pair of Puck's old gym shorts and one of his t-shirts that she usually wore to bed before climbing back under the covers and snuggling down next to her husband.

"Are we going to bed? It's only, like, eight o'clock," Puck observed.

"I'm sleepy. I might nap for twenty minutes or I might be out for the night. You can turn on the TV and watch sports or anything you want. Consider it the last part of my present to you."

"Thanks babe."

Puck grabbed the remote from his nightstand and flipped to a station with a basketball game on, turning the volume low before scooting down and settling next to Quinn.

"You asleep yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," she replied groggily.

"Good. I love you."

"Love you, too Noah."

XXXXX