Glee - Father of Seven - 4/?
Puck was staring at his homework, none of the words sinking in through the thoughts of babies and money and maybes and what ifs, when his phone rang. Grateful for the distraction, he scooped it up, answering with an almost chipper, “Hello.”
“Noah?” It was Kurt and he sounded pretty upset.
“What’s wrong?”
“I-” Kurt sniffled and tried again. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Puck asked quietly.
“I told my dad. I… I didn’t know what else to do. I mean, he was going to know eventually.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just… There was a lot of yelling for a while. Finn heard it all, but I never mentioned the girls. That’s for them to tell.”
“Okay. Man, calm down, all right? They were going to find out. You didn’t get thrown out or anything did you?”
“No. Just lectured at a deafening volume.” It sounded like Kurt wasn’t on the edge of tears anymore.
“Why did you tell so soon?”
“I was trying to get him to let me transfer back. So I could be at McKinley and here to help. I meant it; we’re in this together.”
“So what are you apologizing for?”
“Glee Club will probably know before morning if Finn tells Rachel.”
“Have you called Quinn? If they’re dating, he might call her, and she might think he knows.”
“Oh god! I hadn’t even-I’ve got to call her. Are you okay tonight?”
“I’m fine. Can’t seem to concentrate on anything, but I’m not in any danger.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later, I’ve gotta let Quinn know.”
“Sure.”
They hung up and Puck turned back to his homework. After another five minutes, he gave up and turned on the TV and stared at that mindlessly.
~
Kurt was biting at his nails, something he’d never done before, as he waited for Quinn to answer her phone. Finally, she picked up, and he immediately blurted out, “I’m sorry!”
“For… what?”
“I…” Kurt took a deep breath. “I told my dad about me and Puck, but I didn’t tell him anything else, but he started yelling, so Finn knows, so if he calls, he doesn’t know about anything but Puck.”
“All right… And that needed an apology?”
“It was just… a precaution. In case he’d already called and you let it slip because you thought he knew, or in case he hears me through the walls of this house.”
“Okay.” Kurt sighed in relief. “So how bad did it go?”
“Huh?”
“You said he started yelling.”
“Oh. Well, I just blurted it out, and he was surprised and panicked because suddenly he’s a grandfather-to-be.” Kurt paused, as it suddenly sank in that he was a father-to-be.
“Kurt?”
“Sorry. It just got more real, you know?”
“I know.” Her voice was soft.
“He’s pretty upset, but I’m not out of the house or anything. I’m not sure what Puck’s chances are, though.”
“Yeah. Santana doesn’t feel too good about her own, and mine is seriously a coin toss at this point.”
“Okay. Has Santana gone home yet?”
“No. She’s staying over here right now. She’ll go home tomorrow, though.”
“Tell her I say hi?”
“Sure,” Quinn said with a quiet huff of laughter. “Are you going to tell your boyfriend?”
Kurt sighed. “Yes. But I’m putting it off until Monday. It’s something that should be done in person.”
“True.” Kurt heard a sound in the background, and then Quinn was shouting away from the phone, “Just a minute!” She said to Kurt then, “I’ve got to go to dinner. I’ll talk to you later, Kurt.”
“Take care.”
~
Puck was shocked out of a child-filled stupor for the second time that night when Finn’s ring tone filled the room. He swallowed before answering casually.
“Hello?”
“Dude, is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“You’re… pregnant?” Fuck. Finn sounded uncomfortable. He might start backing off before he even knew about Quinn.
“Yeah, it is. Hummel’s got himself some monster-sperm.”
“I… I mean, I know it happens, but…”
“But nothing, Hudson. It happens, it happened. You realize this is your niece or nephew?” Finn was quiet for a long moment. “Finn?”
“Really?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, not only are you Kurt’s step-brother-”
“I didn’t think that was close enough for the title ‘uncle’.”
Puck glared at his phone and cleared his throat. “Not only are you Kurt’s brother, you and I are bro’s. Any kid I have is gonna call you Uncle Finn, dude.”
Finn was quiet for a long moment, but finally he murmured, “Wow.”
“Yeah. So… This isn’t gonna totally weird you out?”
“No. I mean, it’s weird, definitely, but I can handle it.”
“Cool. Wanna get online and play Black Ops?”
“You’re on!” Puck hung up and set up the system, turning on the headpiece so he could trash talk his best friend for the next few hours.
~
Carole watched as Burt paced the kitchen floor, twisting his hat between his hands. He had been pacing for the better part of an hour, half of it spent shouting at Kurt and the other half muttering under his breath.
“Burt, honey, sit down, please.”
“Carole, that boy-I love Kurt, you know I do, but this… How do I deal with this? I didn’t think I would have this problem! This… male-pregnancy thing has only become seriously heard of in the last forty years, and half the time it seems to take work.”
“And the other half of the time it’s a complete accident, Burt. These things happen, but what Kurt needs right now is understanding and love.”
“I just-I’m not ready for this, Carole! From what he said, just after it happened I as barely ready to sit down to have The Talk with him. How can I be ready to talk about grandkids?”
“Burt,” she implored, taking his hands and leading him to a chair. “Honey, last year Quinn Fabray got pregnant. Remember?”
“Yeah.”
“And we thought it was Finn’s. Burt, I’ve been where you are right now. I’ve seen Finn go through what Kurt is. And he’ll need you. Do you think he’s any more prepared for this than you?”
Burt shook his head slowly. “Damn it. Sometimes I just wish his mother was around.”
“I know.” Carole patted Burt’s hands. “It’ll be okay. Kurt is strong, and Noah is a good kid, deep down. Besides, it’ll be nice having a kid around that we can spoil to no end and not have to worry about it.”
Burt chuckled softly. “I suppose you have a point.”
“It’ll be alright. These boys will surprise you, I’m sure.”
~!~
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