After Deployment

69

Everything happened so fast. It didn't feel like it when it was happening, but suddenly, Quinn was in recovery with her baby boy on her chest and her husband at her side.

"You did it, babe." Puck grinned as he kissed Quinn's cheek.

"We did it." Quinn smiled as she looked at her son.

Puck reached for the baby's hand, and the baby wrapped his hand around Puck's finger.

"Look." Puck grinned.

Quinn looked at the grin on Puck's face. His grin made all of the pain and the stress they faced worth it.

"He still needs a name." Puck noted.

"I can't even think right now." Quinn said, keeping her eyes on the baby. She paused for a moment. "He looks like you."

"I know it's not possible, and I might actually be crazy, but he looks like Finn." Puck noted, looking at the baby's tiny dimple.

Quinn nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"I think we should name him Hudson." Puck blurted.

Quinn's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Puck.

"Or we can name him something else." Puck quickly added, after seeing Quinn's tears.

Quinn shook her head. "Hudson is perfect. He feels like a Hudson."

Puck smiled. "Yeah, he does."

"Hudson Puckerman." Quinn said softly as she looked at the baby.

"Maybe we should call Finn's mom and tell her." Puck added. "And just make sure it's okay with her."

Quinn nodded in agreement. "We'll call her and then we can call our moms and your siblings to tell them he's here."

"Okay." Puck said as he pulled out his phone. He dialed Carole's phone number and put the phone on speaker while it rang.

"Hello?" Carole answered the phone.

"Hi, Mrs. H. It's Noah and Quinn." Puck said.

"Carole." Carole corrected Puck. "Hi, guys. How are you?"

"We're good." Puck replied, smiling at Quinn as he put his hand over hers. "We have a new baby boy."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations!" Carole exclaimed. "What's his name?"

"That's actually why we're calling." Puck said. "We wanted your permission to name the baby Hudson."

Carole didn't say anything.

"If that's not okay, we can come up with-"

"No, it's okay." Carole said, her voice breaking. "But only if you like the name. Don't do it for Finn."

"We like the name." Quinn promised. "We couldn't agree on a name until now, but he feels like a Hudson."

"Well, Finn would love that." Carole told Quinn and Puck, muttering something with the phone away from her ear. "Sorry, Kurt just walked in with Rachel and Blaine."

"Actually, could we talk to Rachel and Kurt?" Quinn requested.

"Of course. I'm really glad you called." Carole told Quinn and Puck. "And congratulations again."

"Thank you, Carole." Quinn said happily as the phone shuffled.

"Hello?" Rachel said.

"Hi, guys." Quinn replied.

"Hi." Kurt repeated.

"Did Carole tell you why we're calling?" Quinn wondered.

"Carole said take the phone, it's Quinn and Noah." Kurt responded.

"Well, Quinn and Noah have a son." Puck informed Rachel and Kurt. "And we called Carole to ask her permission to name the baby Hudson."

"I love that." Rachel said softly.

"Me, too." Kurt agreed. "Finn would love to have someone named after him. He'd brag about it all the time."

"Yeah, he would." Puck smiled as he looked at Quinn.

"Noah and I wanted to ask you two to be the baby's godparents." Quinn added.

"A-Are you serious?" Rachel stuttered.

"Godparents are supposed to help their godchild through life, and who's better to keep the memory of his namesake alive for him than you two?" Quinn asked.

"I would be honored." Rachel said.

"Me, too." Kurt replied. "But are you sure? What about Jake and Santana?"

"Santana is waiting for us to have a girl, and Jake is fine with whatever." Puck promised.

"We'll do it." Rachel repeated. "Thank you, guys. And congratulations."