Be Fierce, B. Pierce

He leaned in to kiss her softly (morning breath be damned) before he shifted them around on the bed, carefully though, pulling her into his lap, “I’m happy you liked it,” he said softly, kissing her a little more soundly this time, relishing in the way her flesh moved against his and as he broke apart, he dipped his head and nuzzled into her hair – having to briefly remind himself that, oh right, there was breakfast and it was probably time to eat and not to start up their usual way of waking up in the morning when it was just the two of them with nothing else to do. He felt the tips of his ears burn slightly at her admission and he shook his head briefly, “No… You’ve given me everything. I’m just trying to give a little back on your special day.”

They dug into the breakfast together and really – the first three times Puck dropped a grape into Brittany’s lap wasn’t on purpose, although the next four times might have been, just to have an excuse to search her thoroughly. He didn’t mean to get distracted by talking to their baby about how beautiful and amazing the future mother was either, but that stuff just sort of happened – especially on a day like today where it felt like nothing could bring down the happiness in the home of the two.

Puck placed one last kiss on her tummy before getting out of bed, dragging Brittany along with him, holding her close all the while they attempted to get dressed – which was always kind of difficult when there were suddenly eight limbs instead of four, but it didn’t matter because he loved her, he loved the games they played, the way she looked (and he made very sure to tell her this every day, just because he really didn’t want her to think that he thought of her as unattractive as she got bigger and bigger – when in reality she was just getting hotter because her ass had definitely had a slight growth spurt) – everything that she was, he treasured.

When they finally finished, he grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers as always and flashed her that special smile that would always be hers and hers alone, beckoning her upstairs, “Next present is in the garden.” He smiled brightly – a little proud of the idea that he had gotten and as they reached the garden, he stepped behind her, putting his hands over her eyes, slowly leading her forward. This part had been really tricky, because for the last two days, he’d been working on this, having done most of the work himself when she’d been at work and he hadn’t been. Keeping it away from her, however, had been neigh impossible – because it was a little visible from their living room – but she hadn’t mentioned it to him, which he took as a good sign.

“It was the day when we were at that big duck pond in New York that I… like, understood. How special you were. And like… ducks are kinda our thing now… So…” He removed his hands from her eyes and let her see the finished duck pond in their garden – it wasn’t big and the grass hadn’t settled around it all that well yet, but it would, soon enough. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, “but a duck pond isn’t really one without a duck…”

And a house with.

And a baby with.

Gosh, he was so perfect and cute and their baby was gonna be so loved and attractive and spoiled and-- oof!

Just when she'd gotten used to the flow of the moment (and the fact that Pucky was NOT allowed to eat in bed anymore... well, unless it was /her/...) he was pulling her off the bed and towards the closet. When they had become the couple who put ON more clothes instead of taking them off, she had no idea, but he was clearly still excited about something. As far as she knew, there was only a party later tonight with her friends. But for now, she thought it would be nakey times with her man. Apparently he had different ideas.

For a second, she thought maybe she was getting there when their usual routine for trying to get dressed together lead to even more grindy hips and mini-make-out sessions. But when pants were actually put on, and she was officially wearing one of her new stretchy dresses, she knew the jig was up. And sure enough, he was dragging her up the stairs and out of the house.

The pouty-complainy Britt was gonna come out real soon if she didn't get her sexy times soon. Wasn't there a song about this?! Birthday sex! This was important! Of all people, she thought Pucky would agree! What on Earth could be more important than--

"OHMYGOSHNOYOUDIDN'TPUCKYDON'TEVENSAYIT!" she squealed, immediately dropping to her knee's in front of the little pond, and making little clicky noises as her fingers searched the grass. She'd been waiting for little aminals to start wobbling towards her, but when there were none, she'd looked up with a pout forming YET AGAIN. This had to be a record for the number of pouts a guy could make a girl wear on her birthday.

Waiting was almost unbearable. She was fidgeting on her knee's, swishing her dress against the grass and wiggling her toes in the newly plotted soil around the little rock paths. It was about 50 long sighs of sadness and anticipation in when her boyfriend finally reappeared. Her head snapped up, and her eyes had gone so wide with glee that they'd nearly popped out of her head. Regardless of how fidgety and excited she CLEARLY was, the way her little hands cradled the little bird in between them had such gentleness that even a surgeon couldn't mimic.

Okay maybe I called his name, like, once…

BABY WE NEED TO GET A LITTLE POND IN THE HOUSE TOOOOO. :3

Or I'ma just use the sink. :3

BABY DUCKY IS SWEEPY :3333333333333333

So. Puck had it all planned out. Brittany had been at work yesterday and since both yesterday and today had been his days off of work, he had been napping appropriately throughout the day to try and make sure that he would wake up first. It proved to be immensely difficult when he had his gorgeous girl wrapped tightly in his arms and on any other day, they could’ve just stayed like that and it would have been perfect to him. But not today – today was Brittany’s birthday. Her first birthday with him, actually, and he wanted to make sure that she would remember it years down the line.

Thus, he tried his very best to slip quietly out of bed (which was just so very difficult) although he managed in the end, after a somewhat furious struggle with the covers. He crept quietly out of the door and upstairs to the kitchen. First off, he would make her breakfast in bed because he could cook a little; breakfast was something that he could at the very least handle. He made sure to not be as noisy as he usually would and load a ton of grapes onto the tray as well – since she had grown so incredibly fond of those, during her pregnancy.

Briefly, he wondered if she would get any more weird food cravings and since it was Brittany, he figured she probably would. He made a mental note to get more familiar with the shops in the area, before trudging up to the top floor – meeting Tubbs there and peering at him curiously, “I thought we had a deal, man. You didn’t touch him, right?” Tubbs merely looked at Puck lazily, as if he felt offended that Puck would dare to suggest he had broken their deal.

He snuck into the small cupboard and fed the little one, apologizing for the darkness and making promises that he would be out, soon. Then he grabbed the thing he had borrowed from Rachel and Blaine back in New York and slung it over his shoulder, closing the door to the cupboard again. He made his way downstairs again, very, very carefully, balancing the tray in his hands while making sure the guitar didn’t scrape against the floor and woke her up.

Before they had moved out to Michigan, Puck had been planning the first part of her birthday and he’d been training with both Rachel and Blaine quite a bit, to make sure he kind of had it down. He hadn’t had a guitar to practice with until he had been back in New York though, but he felt confident enough that he wouldn’t screw it up entirely. He snuck into the bedroom, setting down the tray carefully and putting away the guitar for the time being as he crawled back into bed, crawling underneath the covers.

Making his way underneath the covers to her stomach, he pressed his lips against the small bump that would one day be their baby, mumbling softly, “Morning baby,” before he started to place small kisses on her stomach, letting his mouth lead the way upwards, chest, collarbone, neck, chin, jaw, before finally placing a soft kiss on her lips, “Happy birthday, baby.”

He lay with her for a bit, cuddling her awake – which didn’t take too long as she seemed to realize it was her birthday – and he grinned, kissing her again before he scrambled out of bed, “I got you breakfast and a kind of gift,” he admitted as he walked over, retrieving the tray before setting it on the bed, “The real gifts come later,” he assured her, walking back to the guitar and picking it up.

“I heard this song on the radio a couple of months ago and I was just like… You know how I sometimes find it hard to say things?” he halfway asked, halfway stated, “This is like… Uh… Yeah, you’ll hear.” Puck swallowed a lump, feeling his ears burn rather hotly with what he was about to do, then cleared his throat as he started to play the first few chords of the song – Foreigner’s ‘I’ve been waiting for a girl like you’ had struck a chord with Puck as soon as he had heard it.

The past few days at work left Brittany more pouty than anything. Of course, her bosses tried to explain to her that she was to be TEACHING and INSTRUCTING the others on how the technique worked, not actually dancing herself... but that was how Brittany taught best! By playing show and tell! And then touching everyone's booty's and showing them how far to spread their legs. DUH!

It was impossible to be pouty, today, though. She'd been hopping around her house (And her parents house) all week, singing about how there was a very special day coming up. So as she drove home from work today, there was a huge and cheesy smile on her face. Because she just KNEW that there would be something super awesome waiting for her. Even if her birthday wasn't technically until tomorrow...

Much like she'd expected, her phone and her timeline blew up at midnight with millions of birthday wishes. Both from people she knew well, and people she only heard from once a year; when facebook reminded them it was her birthday. Plus, Mommy and Daddy had a cake ready for her, and had walked over with it, singing with candles the moment her and Pucky opened the door to their midnight visitors.

Of course, something had happened to Brittany that had never happened before... she didn't want the cake.

But, we're not going to talk about that. She dare not speak of it. Baby just wasn't being nice to her last night.

Now, though; it was morning.

Her dreams had been filled with balloons and puppies. Why puppies? She had no idea. But they were fluffy, and cute, and THEY were eating the cake. So she was sure she was smiling in her sleep. Curled up in the strong arms of her boyfriend, the plump and furry body of her cat nuzzled in her arms, and the strong heartbeat within her stomach guiding her heart on it's mission to make these dreams as filled with love and excitement as any she'd ever had.

It wasn't until she was woken up that her happiness had really begun. Normally, being stirred for anything other than sweaty cuddles, or Rugrats, would leave her a bit grumpy. But on a day like today, and for a reason like this, it was difficult not to let her smile break her face. Even from behind the smushed blushy cheeks (pillow parks still in tact) her face was radiant as she looked over her boyfriend's surprise. Or more, heard it.

The tousles of her hair had been untamed, sticking up in random places and framing perfectly around her innocence ridden eyes. The bright blues still so filled with dreams that they would glow while they watched him, strumming his guitar and filling her half-sleepy head with melodies she'd only ever dreamed about. It wasn't anything Brittany could really explain; how much she adored when Pucky would sing for her. Something about a guy with musical talent, and the way his voice would husk. The thin lines of his eyes when he'd squint, and the hard curve of his jaw when it clenched because his face would always show every emotion he felt as every lyric left his lips. If it weren't for the fact that she knew she had morning breath, and that there was french toast to be eaten, she might even be a little more than kinda turned on.

He thought over her words a couple of times – four months. Which meant that the moment of magic had happened before he had to disappear and then it had just been… growing, in there, the entire time he had been gone. He felt bad immediately, his brow furrowing slightly – this wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to happen nor was it how he had imagined it to happen, but… No matter the circumstances – this was going to happen now. He winced when she shouted though – but suddenly it made sense, to him. The weird habit of dipping her bread into the milk and eating so many grapes. And she hadn’t known, so of course she had acted the way she always did… But not anymore, she was going to eat properly to make sure their baby would grow the way it was supposed to be, his heart tingling inside of his chest, almost giddy at the thought of their baby.

Puck couldn’t hide the wicked grin on his face as she showed him her stomach – now that he knew what was going on, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed. He traced his fingertips across the small stretch marks, grinning a little, “They look like battle-scars,” he said with a soft chuckle. He pulled her close and kissed her cheek, “did the doctor say, like… anything about whether it’s going to be a little dude or chick?”

Puck would have no idea what to do with a little girl, but on the other hand, no idea what to do with a little boy, either. It wasn’t like he had any role models… or, well, he had Joey. Swallowing a lump, he would definitely have to talk to him – because… Puck wanted this, he wanted a family more than anything, but did he know anything about being a daddy? Aside from Brittany’s small pointers? He placed a hand underneath her chin, pulling her close for a kiss again – a slow, tentative and slightly scared kiss. He had no doubts that Brittany would be amazing, but—He mentally cursed himself, there was still quite a ways to go and she would undoubtedly teach him to do things like, change diapers and they would go to those breathing classes together and—

His next question made her giggle at first. She'd started to say that WELL DUH ISOKAY! But then she stopped and thought about it. Really, she had no idea if it was or not. What if you poked them in the head? Or what if... what if they could hear you?! Slowly, her eyes went wide, then her brow furrowed and there was legitimate horror in her eyes as she whispered at him. "I... dunno..." Oh no! Welp, NO MORE sweaty cuddles until they knew for sure. "I'll make sure to ask the doctor next time we see him. Or I can ask mommy and daddy." she nodded, proud of her conclusion. See?! She was already being a better mommy! If she could really stay away from the gorgeous piece of sexy that was her boyfriend, for the sake of her baby, then no one could say she didn't make sacrifices. "I'll go see 'em in the mornin'." she smiled.

Swallowing a lump he removed his eyes from hers, to look at her stomach again – a kind of awestruck feeling hitting him again because in there was… not just a baby, but their baby, their child. Something that had a little bit of both of them and would one day be walking and talking and he would be a dad and… He swallowed a lump and, still holding her hand, reached up to wipe a stray tear away, “I just… We made… a baby? Like… a little you and a little me?” He asked, even if he knew the answer – it was painted all around them.

Puck shut his eyes tightly and leaned down to kiss her tummy – completely in awe of all of this. Because Brittany was sitting here and telling him that she was pregnant, that the two of them would have a baby, would have a family of their own and their children would be raised by loving parents and they would live here and not be shifted around like something that wasn’t wanted.

Because, even if Puck hadn’t seen this coming (and he should probably have, but none of that mattered now) there was no doubt that their little one would be both wanted and loved and Brittany trusted him to take care of not only her, but of their family, now. It meant more than he could ever say, that even after everything, she wanted this as much as him.

After about the third time he'd squeezed her hands, practically using them as his own, she pulled them away from him, but only to touch his face. Cradling each side of it and running her thumbs over the stubble forming on his jaw. All of this had kept her from just... being with him. Setting all of this up and waiting for him to reach her made his homecoming, and their reunion, unbearably cold. Now that it was all out of the way, it was her turn to get what she needed out of this.

Slipping from the chair in the same moment that she pulled him up with her, she moved him so that his back was facing the chair. Something that had come over her made her care very little for instructions or warning. Not that she was very good at that, anyway. But instead of allowing him the chance to sit, she just pushed him back until he'd fallen into the seat, were she automatically crawled right into his lap and curled into a ball. And for a moment, she had to laugh. After all, it almost looked like he was the daddy, sitting in the rocker, holding his baby. And in a way... he was. Both of them.

"Yeah. When I went last week, he said four months. Which is like, a super duper long time." And which meant that she was pregnant when he left... and that she was pregnant, carrying his child while he was gone... But she couldn't think about that again. Not now. It always hurt her head a little. No matter how great of a miracle it was that she was able to keep a piece of him when he left. "And he said that I have to stop dancing so much, and start eating more, because my diet and ex..ser..size... yeah, ex er size.. well, it was keeping the baby from growing as fast." That part made her sad. Because SHE was being a bad mommy. She wasn't just hurting herself... but she was hurting her baby. Their baby. "BUT I'VE BEEN EATING A LOT AND I HAVEN'T REALLY DANCED SINCE I FOUND OUT!" she almost shouted, turning to him as if to excuse herself. And that, was why she was getting so big so fast now.

And then he turned his head and his heart literally stopped in his chest – because there on the wall was something he had only ever seen in movies and something he hadn’t actually expected seeing right now – but maybe he should have. He walked over towards the sonogram as if in a daze, various words and situations flashing through his mind – the entire discussion about what kind of food to eat, was she getting fat, her mother being particularly on his case about wanting to marry her…

Tilting his head to the side slightly he reached the picture and reached out a hand, touching the flat surface with an awed expression on his face. He swallowed a lump as he could make out a little hand, the tips of his fingers tracing across it and he could have sworn it felt just like it did whenever he touched Brittany – which was a little ridiculous, since it was just a picture, but still.

Puck turned around to face her again and – of course. How on earth had he been so clueless? She was holding her stomach in that unmistakable way, even if there was hardly anything to hold – in there, was their baby. Their baby. Theirs. The game made sense now, what with all the mentions of what being a daddy meant.

He crossed the room quickly and fell to his knees before her, placing his hands on her stomach along with hers and that electricity that was ever present was magnified tenfold – the small hairs on his arms and on the back of his neck stood up as he got it. Brittany was pregnant. With a baby. Their baby. He was going to be a dad, she would be a mom and they would have a baby of their own. Within its cage, his heart accomplished several acrobatic jumps and seemed to be all over the place.

The way he looked at the picture reminded her so much of how she, too, had done it. The sense of awe and amazement. The need to touch it. Feel it, somehow, even if it could only offer you the cool touch of paper. And still, how he seemed to feel the same thing she felt. That odd warm and tingling sensation, which she knew he was experiencing, because his heartbeat picked up in sync with hers.

It didn't take him long to realize that he could have the real thing, though. Just as soon as she normally remembered that what was up there, was also in her stomach, he'd turned on her and fell right at her feet. Her smile was broken by a small sob and a giggle, when she realized there were tears running down her cheeks. He was happy. She knew he was. She could see it and sense it as if it were her own emotions. And it was all out in the open now. No hiding or wondering or--

He turned his head to the towel, walking over to it and reading the message – for a moment a little distracted by the various prints and he couldn’t help the way his heart started racing a little inside of his chest, even more so than usual – practically swelling with affection for his girl, even if he knew that was kind of impossible and a total chick thing to do, it still felt like that.

Reading the message, however, made him frown. The mentions of playtime between mommy and daddy made his ears burn violently again, a little pleased smile crossing his features, but… Okay, so, twice now there had been mentions of what being a daddy meant. Puck ran his fingers across the towel a couple of times, brow furrowed in thought.

But no. He was still here. She heard his footsteps and could feel the pace of her heart picking up speed withe very centimeter he drew closer. And other than some of his confusion on top of the everyday confusion she always felt, he didn't seem upset or mad...

Would he cry?

Would he be angry, like she still somewhat feared?

Or, hopefully, would he just squeeze her until he realized that he couldn’t keep doing that, if he didn’t want their baby to pop out right there on the floor in between them?

Ewwww, grossssss.

…Were they really ready for this?

~~~

But then he stepped through the door and it took all she had not to throw herself at him. Instead, she stayed put; rocking back and forth in the large chair her daddy had purchased for the nursery and feeling the heat of that ‘pregnant glow’ on her cheeks the most. 

Brittany was surrounded by bright, but soft colors. Every hue of ‘baby’ that the department store had to offer. From light greens and purples, to the usual pinks and blues, all spotted with the gentle browns and grays of the elephants and monkeys they’d pasted on. And on one wall, just over where she’d assume the crib would go, there was a blown-up image of the sonogram from her last doctors appointment. She still could just barely see the shape of a little baby in there, even if it was just gray swirls amidst the black background. But you could definitely make out a little hand, with all five fingers. A sight, which, still made her tear up at the thought of one day holding that hand.

He was a little sad to leave New York behind – it was one of the only places he had actually considered home, where he had really gotten to be himself and not the troubled kid with no place that everyone had wanted him to be. New York had been good to him and not only that; he’d met the girl of his dreams, there. Walking downstairs to the entrance of their building, his fingers automatically reached out to touch the duckies that he had drawn on the wall – a lifetime ago. Life without her was a life where he had just sort of, floated around – but she anchored him, told him it was safe – she was safe and good and… Puck smiled as he reached the last duck, at the entrance itself. Pulling out his phone, he snapped a picture and sent it to Brittany, along with a text saying that he would start his journey, now.

~

Okay, so what he had been expecting as he stepped inside and what he actually saw not matching up – and he blinked in a rather confused manner, at first. He had been expecting to see Brittany – and maybe hoping a little that she would either be very naked or wearing one of her costumes – his ears still burned a little as he thought of their conversation that turned into something quite wanky over Skype instead. So as he turned his head to look at the archway leading into the kitchen – the mental images in his head clashed quite violently with the actual reality.

It was like… beads. With pacifiers. Which… what? Puck blinked in confusion, leaning down to let out Tubbs so that he could explore the house and maybe he could find Brittany. The fact that she wasn’t around was quite unnerving, but his heart was beating in the special rhythm that meant she was near and he didn’t feel any unease or discomfort… Maybe she was just playing hide and seek or something? Puck stepped over to inspect the weird beads, unable to help the slight frown that appeared on his face – like, he wasn’t an expert on whatever was fashionable or anything like that, but… Pacifiers were a thing? Seriously?  

That was when his attention was caught by… something on the counter top and he walked over, still feeling a little confused, although as he grabbed the note and read it – he felt a little more at ease, a smile creeping onto his face. So this was definitely some kind of game, even if the message was incredibly cryptic.

~~~

In the bathroom, a bath had been drawn; bubbles almost overflowing from the edges of the porcelain tub. Which was, admittedly, also due to the fact that Brittany hadn't accounted for the room all the little rubber duckies would take up. There were 35 of them, all different colors and wearing different little outfits, floating gingerly across the surface, creating dips in the massive cloud of dense white air pockets.

On the towel draped over the rack on the back of the wall, there was a message painted in what looked like finger and hand prints (Courtesy of Brittany, once again, getting distracted by coloring);‘Being a daddy means being the boss. So it's bath time before bedtime for baby, and bedtime before playtime for Daddy. ...And mommy. ;)’ Just underneath the message was an arrow, pointing toward the opposite door that lead into the joining room.