"Do you wanna cut the cord, Dad?"
"Y-Yeah." Puck stuttered nervously, realizing he was dad.
With the nurse's guidance, Puck shakily cut the umbilical cord. He followed the nurses as they took the baby to clean her off, not letting her out of his sight for even a second.
"Is she okay?" Quinn called weakly.
"She's great!" The nurses promised.
"Is she okay?" Puck asked, referring to Quinn.
"She's a trooper." The doctor noted with a smile as the nurse put the baby in Quinn's arms as Puck returned to her side. "Congratulations."
"Thank you." Quinn smiled, looking down at the baby.
"Congratulations, you guys." Mercedes smiled. "I'm gonna go tell everyone Baby Fabray is here while they take you to recovery."
"Baby Puckerman." Quinn corrected Mercedes with a small smile as she looked at Puck.
-
"Quinn, she's gorgeous." Puck noted, breaking the silence when they were alone in recovery. "She looks just like you."
"Yeah." Quinn nodded. "She has your pout though."
Puck pursed his lips and then smiled.
"Exactly." Quinn said.
"You were incredible in there today." Puck told Quinn.
"Sorry." Quinn apologized. "Do you wanna hold her?"
"When you're ready to hand her off." Puck nodded.
"Can you take her?" Quinn requested.
Puck carefully scooped up the baby, cradling her in his arms.
"You're a natural, Noah." Quinn noted.
"Yeah, my sister prepared me for this." Puck responded as he gently shook the baby's hand with his finger. "Hi, Beth."
Quinn smiled slightly. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Did you love me?"
"Yes." Puck answered. "Especially now."
Quinn looked at Puck, surprised at how quickly he had answered her and how honest he was.
"You were incredible." Puck told Quinn. "Not just today, but... I've been falling for you since before all of this. And I know you said you didn't wanna keep her before, but now that she's here..."
"You wanna keep her?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah." Puck nodded. "Yeah, I think we can actually do this. And I want us to."
Quinn bit her lip.
"I know you're exhausted and hormonal and I'm sure everyone wants to come see you, so we can talk about this later, but I thought you should hear that first." Puck added.
"Can I have her?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah, of course." Puck said, gently putting Beth back into Quinn's arms. He helped show Quinn how to hold her properly and supportively. "See? You got her."
Quinn smiled as she looked at Puck.
Puck looked at her.
Quinn removed her right hand from under the baby and cupped Puck's cheek, gently kissing him.
"Quinn, the nurse said... I'll come back." Mercedes decided when she saw the pair.
"No, it's okay." Quinn said when she and Puck parted and she went back to holding Beth properly again. "What is it?"
"The nurses wanna take Beth to the nursery so you can get some rest." Mercedes said. "And you have a ton of visitors."
Quinn looked at Puck.
"Whatever you're up for." Puck told Quinn.
"Can you ask the nurse to check back in in, like, thirty minutes? And start sending people in."
-
"Come in." Puck said softly, his eyes on Beth, who was asleep in Quinn's arms with her tiny hand wrapped around his finger.
"Hi, guys." Sarah grinned as she and Ruth entered the room.
"Congratulations." Ruth added with a smile. "You must be exhausted."
"I could use a nap, but..." Puck trailed off as he met his mother's eye. "Oh, you meant Quinn."
"Of course I meant Quinn." Ruth responded, shaking her head. "She's beautiful."
"Yeah." Sarah agreed. "We just met your parents, Quinn."
"My parents are here?" Quinn wondered, looking at Puck.
"I've been with you the whole time." Puck reminded Quinn.
"Can you send them in?" Quinn asked.
"I'll get them for you." Puck offered.
Quinn shook her head. "I want you to stay."
"Okay." Puck said, ushering his mom and sister out. "Thanks for coming. Let her get through all her visitors so she can finally rest."
"Yeah."
When Ruth and Sarah left, Puck returned to Quinn's side and looked at her.
"I can't believe they came." Quinn stated softly.
"Yeah." Puck nodded as the door opened.
"Quinny?"
"Mom." Quinn smiled.
Quinn's mom hurried through the room, racing to congratulate Quinn and give her a hug.
"Russell, come see our granddaughter." Judy commanded. "She's perfect. She looks just like Quinny."
Quinn's father stood in front of Puck, blocking him from his own family and his own moments with Quinn and Beth.
"Quinny, your father and I have been talking about things the past few months." Judy began. "And we want you to come home. We've been doing some construction on the house, so we can build a nursery. We don't want our grandchild going into the system. We wanna help raise her."
Puck cleared his throat, and Russell turned to look at him.
"Mom, Dad, this is Noah." Quinn said. "Noah is Beth's father, and he's been really, really good to me the past few months."
Quinn's parents briefly said hi to Puck before focusing on Quinn and Beth again.
"Sweetheart, think about it." Judy broke the silence. "If you let us help you with her, you can get back to the Cheerios and even go to college still."
"Quinn's exhausted." Puck reminded the Fabrays. "She needs to rest, not make life-changing decisions. Especially ones about our daughter."
"You and Quinny aren't married." Russell noted. "Which means she's not obligated to list you on the birth certificate at all. So if I were you, I'd watch the attitude."
Puck furrowed his eyebrow.
"Noah's right. I really am exhausted." Quinn told her parents. "Do you mind?"
"Sure, honey. We can talk whenever you're ready." Judy nodded. "Come on, Russell."
-
"Noah, I know you and I have to talk, too, especially after my parents' visit, and we will, but after the day we've had, I really need to sleep." Quinn told Puck after all of their friends had visited.
"No, I get it." Puck promised. "It's okay. I think I'm gonna lie down myself or maybe grab something from the cafeteria, if you're hungry."
"I'm too tired for food." Quinn replied.
"Alright, get some sleep." Puck nodded. "Wake me up if you need anything."
"Do you think Beth's okay in the nursery?" Quinn wondered. "The nurse said most babies sleep there so we can get some rest here before we're on our own with her at home, but..."
"I'm sure she's fine." Puck promised. "But I'll text Finn to go check on her."
"Thanks." Quinn said.
"Get some sleep now?" Puck requested.
"You, too."
-
"Noah."
"Yeah?" Puck asked.
"Can you take me to see her?" Quinn wondered.
"Right now?" Puck questioned Quinn.
"Yeah." Quinn said.
"Sure, let me get you a wheelchair." Puck decided as he got up. He went into the hall and took the first wheelchair he could find, bringing it to Quinn.
Carefully, Puck helped Quinn into the chair before he started pushing her to the nursery.
When they got there, Puck helped Quinn up, gently supporting her while they looked at Beth through the windows.
"I wanna keep her." Quinn decided. "And I want you on the birth certificate and I want you to be a part of her life."
"But you wanna do it with your parents." Puck guessed.
"No." Quinn said, looking at Puck. "No, I don't care about them. I just want you and her."
"Really?" Puck asked.
Quinn nodded. "You meant it when you told me you love me, right?"
"Of course I meant it." Puck nodded back. "And I meant it when I told you we can do this parenting thing."
"Let's do it."