Prompt: Photo prompt of a baby with an engagement ring hanging off her cute little foot.


Puck takes Rachel home to Lima for a visit when she's in her eighth week of pregnancy. Her fathers are ecstatic that they're about to be grandfathers and his mother, of course, is so fucking excited that she acts like their little Jewish baby might end up being the long-awaited Messiah. She flits around the house talking about nurseries (despite the fact that they live in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment and there's no room for anything larger than a bassinette and a changing table) and maternity clothing until Rachel genuinely falls asleep at the table.

Once Puck carries her upstairs and tucks her into his bed, he meets his mom in the kitchen. Maggie Puckerman is pacing and worrying her lower lip when he walks in.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Puck asks.

Maggie jumps, unaware that he has returned to the room, and grabs a ring box off the counter. Pressing it into his hand, she says, "It was Nana Connie's. And nothing would make her happier, and me, too, than knowing that Rachel had that ring now. Mom adored Rachel and let's face it, she's the best thing that ever happened to your sorry ass. And so is that baby!"

Puck nods because his mom is right on all counts and especially about Nana Connie, who, right up until she died the year before, practically worshipped Rachel. Puck opens the ring box and there's the old ring. Stones set in the band and topped with a diamond, it's classic and beautiful, just like Rachel.

After Puck snaps the box closed and shoves it in his pocket, he starts trying to figure out when the best time to ask her will be.

He drags his feet, of course, but finally decides one day when Rachel's in her 17th week of pregnancy that he's going to ask her. He ends up being antsy all damn day at work because he just wants to get home and make it happen.

When he finally pushes open the door to their apartment, though, his plans are thwarted. Rachel's curled into a ball on the couch, used tissues scattered around her, and there are tears streaming down her face. She's watching The Sound of Music again.

Puck kicks off his shoes and sits down on the couch, kissing her on the temple as he throws his arm around her. "S'wrong, babe?"

Rachel sniffles loudly and pauses the TV. "Maria," she wails. "She loves Georg but she's not even going to try to fight for him. She's just going to run back to the abbey and pretend that she was happy with her life before. She clearly wasn't thriving as a nun and didn't really figure out who she was until she met the Von Trapp family. It's not right, Noah! She should go after him since she loves him!"

Puck has to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "Baby, you've seen this movie, like, 50 thousand fucking times. You know how it ends. The shit turns out fine. They climb some dumb mountain after they sing that stupid song about a weed and give the Nazis a big 'fuck you' to boot. Why ya care about a movie about a buncha singing Catholics, anyway?"

The shitty glare he gets in response tells him that today is not the day to ask Rachel anything besides what she wants for dinner.

He tries again when she's at 22 weeks. He takes her out to dinner, the ring burning a hole in the pocket of his suit jacket, and tries to act casual all the way to the restaurant. When they get to the exclusive French place that Rachel's been babbling on and on about wanting to try out, they're told there was a mistake with their reservation and that they're going to have to wait.

So they wait. For two hours. By the time they're seated, Rachel is snapping at the waitress and threatening to behead the next person that looks at her wrong.

When they get home, Puck slips the ring box back into his closet. He'll ask another day.

When she's 29 week pregnant, Puck realizes that he needs to get this whole "engaged" thing taken care of. After he makes her eyes roll back into her head, he slides up her body and kisses her lips, groaning at how hotly she kisses him back so that she can savor the taste of herself on his lips. When she curls into his side (the best she can now that she has quite the baby bump), he decides that he's going to propose to her in the morning before he has to go to work and she has to be at the theater.

There's a power failure over night and his alarm doesn't go off, making them both late. He has to scrap the proposal idea.

The next few weeks are full of drama as they pack and move into a two bedroom apartment just two floors below where they currently live. Mike and Tina, who just live a few blocks away, come over to help them pack and move. Puck can't figure out how they've accumulated so much shit in their tiny apartment and when he asks Rachel if he can throw away a heavy box of old papers that he's holding, she bursts into tears and accuses him of not caring about her interests. As it turns out, it's the box that holds her Playbill collection. Mike gives him a sympathetic look as Rachel seethes under her breath at his lack of concern.

Briefly, Puck's relieved that he hasn't yet proposed. She's really scary sometimes.

When she's at 34 weeks, they're settling into their apartment. Because they've decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby, the nursery is painted a pastel green and decorated with little duckies. Rachel makes a comment that Aunt Brittany would love the room and then cries for 20 minutes because she hasn't seen many of their friends from Lima in a really long time. Puck holds her against him, kisses that spot on her neck that makes her shiver, and promises that he'll call Finn and invite him and Britt out for a visit soon. It seems to make Rachel happy and she relaxes against him.

They stand in the nursery quietly and Puck feels like it's the right time to finally ask her. The time they have as just Puck and Rachel are winding down quickly and he really wants to make an honest woman of her before the baby is born. He's about to make a total asshat of himself and drop down on one knee when Rachel jumps suddenly, announces that if she doesn't get some spicy Thai food right this instant she might die from hunger, and then disappears through the nursery door to put on her shoes.

Puck wonders if he's just not supposed to marry his baby mama after all.

The baby comes early, of course. Puck's in the middle of working with a client when the call comes through. He has to quickly call over one of the other personal trainers and get the hell out of there. He nearly pisses himself with worry on the way to to the hospital.

When he finally gets there (goddamn motherfucking Manhattan traffic), Rachel's already in a room and has three nurses buzzing around her. Her face lights up when she sees him and he kisses her just as another contraction starts. When it's over, he finds himself a little shocked because he's never heard Rachel utter so many swear words at one time in her life. When she starts demanding anesthesia, Puck reminds her that she wanted to have a natural birth.

"Well, obviously I was a fucking lunatic when I said that," she snaps.

Puck nods and eyes the nurse. Anesthesia might be a good idea.

They have the most perfect baby he's ever seen. She's all pink and a little bit skinny (he's relieved that she didn't come out fat and squashed like Sam and Quinn's kid did) but she has big eyes and a head full of brown hair. She looks just like him, he thinks, but he sees a bit of Rachel in her, too. And when he gets to hold her and she opens her eyes and looks up at him, Puck's so relieved and happy that she's there and she's theirs to keep that he nearly cries. Nearly.

The fight to pick a baby name starts right after she's born, though. They'd tossed a few names around but hadn't settled on anything since they weren't sure if they were having a boy or a girl. But they come to a decision pretty fast and the next day, they take Isabella Margaret (his mother is going to shit) Puckerman home with them.

After Isabella comes home, there's no time to propose. She's a pooping machine and when she's not doing that, she's latched onto Rachel's breasts. Puck finds himself jealous because he hasn't gotten to latch on to those babies in weeks and he misses them (especially now because they are so big.) And when Isabella sleeps, Rachel sleeps so everyone's sleep schedule is all fucked up. He still has to go to work every day and deal with sweaty fat dudes who only pretend to want to get in shape. But now he's doing it with a lot less sleep since Isabella apparently hates quiet and darkness and refuses to sleep at night. It's okay, though, because he can't remember when he's been so happy.

When Isabella is six weeks old, he finally gets his chance. His last client of the day can't make it because he had a heart attack (big surprise, Puck thinks, considering the dude always had pizza breath when he came for his workout) so Puck comes home early.

The apartment is quiet when he lets himself inside. Rachel is curled up on the couch, the baby monitor clutched tightly in her hands, and she's fast asleep. Puck peeks his head into the nursery and sees that Isabella is starting to stir. He's getting ready to go pick her up when he gets an idea. He practically tiptoes to the bedroom and digs the ring box out of its hiding spot inside an old jumbo box of condoms (haven't needed those for a while obviously) and removes the ring. When he slips back into the nursery, Isabella's eyes are open and she grins at him.

He stares down at his daughter and lets himself marvel at how she's half him and half Rachel. She looks like the perfect blend of both of them and he knows that, by the time she's 18 months old, she's going to be breaking hearts. He also knows that in the future, he's going to be chasing horny boys with stupid haircuts off with baseball bats and it's going to stress him the fuck out. But right now, she's tiny and toothless and grinning at him and he's pretty sure life is perfect. Well…almost.

He slides the ring onto Isabella's big toe, which is actually a tiny toe, and it hangs off. The ring dwarfs her little foot but it looks so awesome that he pulls out his phone and snaps a picture. Just as he's slipping the phone back into his pocket, he hears the floors creak and knows that Rachel's walking in behind him.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asks in a sleepy voice.

Puck shrugs. "You need your rest." He stays facing Isabella, his hand running over her little bare belly, just waiting for Rachel to notice the antique piece of jewelry that their daughter is presently modeling.

"I'm fine, Noah," Rachel says as she slides up next to Puck at the crib. She looks down at Isabella, her smile huge, and her eyes settle on the ring dangling from her daughter's foot. She seems to freeze and Puck's breath catches as he waits to see what she's going to do. She turns toward him, her eyes huge and watery.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asks.

"Yup," Puck says, his voice shaky. "It was Nana Connie's."

Rachel reaches her finger out and runs it along the band. Slowly, she slips it off of Isabella's toe and stares at it for a moment before lifting her eyes toward Puck.

He slips his hands into his pockets. "So…will you?"

Rachel practically shoves the ring down onto her ring finger and then throws her arms around his neck. "I will!" she shrieks into his ear. Puck laughs and wraps his arms around her, relieved that it's finally done. But they only have a moment to themselves because then a putrid smell hits them and they realize that Isabella is back to her old tricks again.

Puck snags the baby from the crib and says, "I'll change her. Go call our parents."

The ceremony is tiny. Puck always imagined weddings to take a long time but it only feels like five minutes before he and Rachel go from "living in sin" to "married couple." Rachel cries buckets, though, and even though Puck's afraid she's upset, she assures him that she's just really happy. Sam and Quinn and their fat baby (Jake) are there, as are Santana, Artie, Mike, Tina, Brittany, and Finn. Kurt and Blaine sent their well wishes from Paris and Mercedes promised she'd visit as soon as she was done with her tour. And other than their parents and a few of their New York friends, that's it for wedding guests. It couldn't be more fucking perfect, as far as Puck is concerned. He's so relieved that Rachel didn't turn out to be a bridezilla.

After they all go out for a huge dinner where there is lots of laughing and stories and a few more tears, Puck takes his girls back home to their apartment. There will be no honeymoon and they're both okay with that fact. Isabella requires every spare dime they have and that's exactly the way they want it. She's 15 weeks old and she's the most important thing in the entire world. Rachel's okay with being a close second because she feels the same way. The three of them, Puck thinks, make up a pretty kickass family.