Glee - Father of Seven - 6/?
On Thursday, Puck had a doctor’s appointment. That morning he sent Kurt a text, asking if he wanted to go along. It took over an hour to get a reply, but Puck knew the commute was an hour and a half and Kurt wouldn’t text while driving.
When is it?
Glad to see Kurt was at least a little interested, he typed an answer while Schue went on about conjunctions. Puck didn’t understand them in English, how would he get it in Spanish?
@5 after glee
Ten minutes later, Kurt replied. Puck grinned, reading it. Kurt was going to skip Gargler practice to get back to Lima by four-thirty.
I can be there. I’ll follow you from WMHS?
Puck happily tapped up a simple message.
sure
A few minutes later, he sent another text, feeling a little awkward, but really relieved that Kurt was going to go.
thnx
Walking out of Spanish, Finn raised an eyebrow at him. His giant best friend had been tailing him for days, and it turned out Kurt ordered him to keep Puck and the baby safe until the feisty baby-daddy could be there to do it himself.
“Who were you texting?” Finn asked when Puck didn’t offer up the information.
“Kurt. Why? Is it hazardous to my health to text now?”
“No, I was just curious.”
Puck rolled his eyes. Lowering his voice, Puck explained. “I have an appointment today and I was asking if he wanted to go. He said he’d be here after Glee and follow me over.”
“Oh. Okay. Want me to go?”
“Finn,” Puck sighed. “Dude, you’re my bro, but I can take care of myself and Kurt will be there. Spend some time with your girlfriend or something, okay?”
“Yeah, all right. Have you talked to Lauren about this yet?”
“No,” Puck said, rolling his eyes as he pulled open his locker. “I mean, how do you just tell a girl something like this?”
“You could just break up.”
“We’re hardly dating! But I know she’s going to want to pound me to death over this anyway.”
“Well… I’ve got no advice. Kurt told me to dump Quinn.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Something about taking time for myself? That Quinn and Rachel are using me for their images? I don’t get it.” Puck slammed his locker and followed Finn to his.
“Dude, Quinn is using you to be popular and Berry is using you as the perfect, most picturesque lead opposite her.”
“Picturesque?”
“It means… oh, never mind. Look, Kurt’s got a point about the girls. You need a chance to find yourself on your own. But I can’t tell you what to do or who to date.”
“Right…” They didn’t say anything else, just walked together to Puck’s English class before Finn took off for math. “See you later.”
Puck lifted a hand in a sort-of wave before going to sit. He sent a text to Quinn, then.
youv gotta tell him
She didn’t reply for half an hour.
I know.
Puck left it at that, not wanting to hash out something they both already knew.
~
When Glee ended that afternoon, Rachel noticed how Puck seemed to make a beeline for the door, apparently anxious to get out of school. As she gathered her things, she heard Quinn ask Finn to wait so they could talk.
Rachel may have slowed down her steps and taken her time at her locker, but if she was listening in, it was for the good of the club. The dynamics couldn’t afford to be ruined now, with Nationals less than eight weeks away.
She could hear their voices from her place in the hallway, but couldn’t make out the words, until the shouting started. She nearly dropped her books when Finn yelled, “I can’t believe you would do this to me again!”
“I’m sorry,” Quinn sobbed, and Rachel thought she truly sounded remorseful for whatever it was she had done.
“Sorry isn’t enough this time! I…” His voice lowered and Rachel wasn’t sure what he said then, following the loud crash of something being kicked over, but when he stormed out of the choir room, he didn’t even acknowledge that he saw her. Rachel didn’t think he actually had. She watched him stalk down the hall and then finished at her locker.
She heard Quinn crying loudly and paused, glancing between the direction Finn had gone in and where Quinn was. With a resolved look, Rachel made her way to the choir room.
Looking in, she wasn’t surprised to see Quinn’s face buried in her hands. The blonde was on the floor beside the piano, the bench knocked over, explaining the crash she’d heard, nearly keening in emotional turmoil.
She stepped into the room, approaching her silently. “Quinn…?” Rachel ventured softly.
“Go away,” she moaned. Rachel glanced back at the door, considering going. Sometimes being alone was what was best. But Quinn seemed so upset…
Rachel smoothed her skirt and knelt down beside her, putting one arm around Quinn’s shoulders. “It’s okay. Couples fight. You’ll get through this.” She didn’t really want Finn to forgive Quinn whatever wrong she had done, if only so he would go back to her, but she ached seeing a teammate, an almost-friend, hurting so much.
“No,” Quinn croaked. “He’s never going to forgive me, and I don’t blame him at all. I knew this was coming. I knew it.”
“Shh…” Rachel pulled her closer, resting Quinn’s head on her shoulder. “What happened?”
“Why do you care?” she snapped, trying to pull away.
“I just do, Quinn. I really do think we could be friends if we ever stopped fighting like a pair of third graders. I don’t want to see you so crushed.”
Rachel never thought she would see the day that Quinn Fabray would throw her arms around her and sob into her shoulder. Rachel patted her back and murmured comfortingly to her, trying to reassure her and promising that, no matter what was going on, she would help if she could.
Quinn didn’t tell her what had happened, and Rachel didn’t push. This wasn’t the time for that. Right then, Quinn just needed someone to hold her and, strangely enough, Rachel felt perfectly comfortable doing just that.
~
Kurt had managed to calm down by the time he pulled into the William McKinley High School parking lot, but just barely. Every time he seemed to relax, he would start thinking about it and get angry again.
He knew that Wes and David expected attendance and participation from all of their members, so of course they were pissed that he was missing practice. But he was leaving by the end of the next week! He had told them that, and they still bitched at him.
Worse, though, was that Blaine didn’t stick up for him. Just gave him those damn puppy-dog eyes that made him want to crumble every time. Kurt just wasn’t sure if it was because Blaine wanted forgiveness for not speaking up or wanted Kurt to stay for practice.
Either way, Kurt mentally shoved it all away when he saw Puck wave from his truck before climbing in. Kurt followed in the Navigator to the clinic that Puck’s doctor worked in. He didn’t want to think or worry about school or Blaine or the Warblers at this appointment. He wanted to worry about his baby and Puck.
His family.
While they waited for Puck’s name to be called, Kurt looked around the room, his eyes falling on a stand of pamphlets similar to those in Ms. Pillsbury-Howell’s office. Skimming them, he found one about their situation. He smiled slightly as he pulled one out, wondering if the guidance counselor might have some of these same ones, or perhaps one with a more hilarious title, since this was a pretty simple “Mpreg and You”.
Sitting back down, he started reading it. Kurt really didn’t know much about male-pregnancies. It wasn’t something he’d looked into before, and he was so busy with school work and negotiations and trying to transfer that he just hadn’t had time to do any research. One of the bolded points caught his eyes, and he looked directly to it.
*Chances of a successful male-pregnancy are only 30%*
He felt his heart in his throat. He hurriedly read what was under the bullet.
90% of successful male-pregnancies are cut short by emergency C-sections, resulting in the infant being born premature and going through a sometimes lengthy stay in the NICU. 70% of male-pregnancies end in the death of either father or child.
Kurt thought he might throw up. Did Puck know this? This was… dangerous. Kurt had known, of course, that it wasn’t safe. The male body just hadn’t evolved enough yet for this to be easy like it was for women. But… seventy percent? He’d had no idea.
He jumped when Puck touched his arm and looked up with wide eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah.” Kurt swallowed down his worries and tried to smile. Puck frowned and glanced at the pamphlet.
“You sure? That seems to have gotten you all jumpy, Princess.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted, ignoring the nickname. “I just… Have you done any research?”
Puck nodded. “Tons. It’s kind of all I’ve done the last couple days.”
“So you know the odds of…?”
“Yeah. That scare you?”
“A little,” Kurt admitted with a shrug.
“Well don’t worry about it. I’m a badass. Statistics have nothing on me.”
“If you say so,” Kurt murmured, smiling. As Puck took the pamphlet from him, a nurse called them back.
~
Puck’s weight and height were taken before they were led back to an exam room. There, the nurse took his blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. Then she walked out, promising the doctor would be in shortly.
Puck lay down on the bed, eyes closed, trying to look like he wasn’t nervous. Kurt sat in the chair at the end of the bed and Puck could hear the nylon squeak as he shifted, looking at all the posters in the room.
He had been doing research. Next to no pregnancies went to term. Most pregnancies resulted in the death of parent or child. A lot resulted in the death of both. Multiples always made it harder, and he could only lie there, praying that there was only one bun in his oven, so to speak.
C-sections were the only way to deliver. He was going to end up with a scar across his belly. Maybe in the future he could pass it off as some sort of battle scar. Hell, maybe it would be a battle scar. This was dangerous shit he was involved in.
He heard Kurt mutter “Ew,” as he looked at the pictures on the walls and chuckled.
“Can’t be as bad as the stuff I found online,” he said, arms folded under his head, acting nonchalant.
“Really? This is comparing birth options. That is definitely a vagina stretched six inches wide around a head.”
“Seen it in person, remember?” Kurt didn’t answer but went on looking. “That’s what I thought.”
“What all did you find in your research?” Kurt asked.
“Uh…” Puck searched his mind for a moment, wanting to inform Kurt but not freak him out. “The baby will probably be premie and small. Not as much room to grow in there. I’m going to have to take all sorts of pills.”
“Like what?”
“Iron supplements and hormones and stuff.”
“Oh.”
“Sex drive will go crazy.”
“Crazy?”
“Yeah. Either I’ll want it all the time or not at all.”
Kurt let out an indelicate snort. “You already want it all the time.”
“No, like, perma-hard. All the time. Or else nothing will get it up for anything.” Puck’s eyes were still closed, but he could imagine the wrinkled nose and squinted eyes on Kurt’s face.
After a few more minutes of silence, the door opened, and Puck opened his eyes to see a smiling woman enter.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. I’m Dr. Evans. So, Noah, I hear you’re in need of my special skills.”
“Uh, yeah,” Puck said, moving to sit up.
“You can stay laying down. We’ll be doing an ultrasound so I can check on the baby.”
“Okay,” he replied, relaxing back down.
The doctor smiled at him and Kurt, who introduced himself.
“Are you Noah’s boyfriend?”
“Oh, uh, no,” Kurt said, and Puck smirked at the way his face lit up red. “We just, uh…”
“Got into this predicament together?” she ventured. Kurt nodded. “Well, that’s all right. These things happen. It’s just good that you’re willing to be here with him. These things are difficult, and he’ll need all the support he can get. Noah, let’s get that shirt off and shimmy your pants down a few inches for me.”
Puck did as she asked, and flinched when she applied the gel to his stomach. “It’s a little cold, sorry.” As she got the machine going and spread the gel, she asked about Puck’s sex life and when they had estimated the date of conception. Puck explained it all, craning his neck to see the screen, even though he knew there would be nothing decipherable on it.
As he was telling her about the close call the week before, a rhythmic sound filled the room.
“Well hello, baby,” Dr. Evans said.
“That’s…” Kurt sounded shell-shocked. Puck had almost forgotten he was there.
“That’s a heartbeat.” She stared at the screen, moving the magic stick-thing around Puck’s belly. The beating disappeared for a moment, and then came back. She moved it again, and it happened again. She seemed to nod to herself and moved it around some more. Puck’s own heart jumped and his stomach dropped as the new sound surrounded them. Dual heartbeats. “Twins,” she said.
“Is… I really don’t know anything about… Is that going to make it harder?” Kurt asked.
Dr. Evans turned the screen so they could more easily see it. “It makes it more risky. The chances of a success goes down from thirty percent to fifteen, and even further with more, but as long as we’re careful and follow all the precautions we can, they’ll be fine.”
Puck heard Kurt swallow as she pointed out the little blobs that were their babies. Puck was surprised when he found Kurt’s hand clutched tightly in his own. They looked at each other, both a little teary-eyed, and Kurt gave his hand a squeeze before Puck pulled it away and turning back to the doctor to listen to all her instructions.
~!~