Lights out

It didn't take long before the girls started to get jealous and wanted to play too, claiming that they'd do better than the guys. For a moment, it looked like it was going to get ugly, but surprisingly it was Trent and Mike to the rescue. They asked who wanted to play, and the end result was Rachel, Mercedes, Quinn and Santana becoming Team Diva.

Tina and Brittany were content to sit back and watch the show with Kurt and Jeff from the couch. Not only were they all comfortable, it gave all of them nice views of their significant others, as they rocked out, completely oblivious to their staring. The girls were up again when Puck came over to drag Kurt away.

"Hey Princess guess what time it is?"

"No."

"Oh don't be like that. I just need to borrow you for ten minutes."

"No, I'm not moving...too comfortable."

"Yes, you are. Sorry, but this is sorta non-negotiable."

"Should've said something earlier, then."

"Hummel, get your ass off that couch."

"Nope."

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"...."

"Alright then." Puck looked toward Jeff and shot him a look. Jeff put on the most pathetic face he could, complete with tears in his eyes.

"Please Mama - don't you wanna see how close you are to having the baby?"

Kurt couldn't believe this. Everyone knew that pouty Jeff was a weakness of Kurt's. He was expecting Puck to get Finn and drag him upstairs for a quick check. The way he looked at it, it would take longer for him to get up the stairs, then for Puck to see how much closer he was to having the baby.

Kurt knew that it was necessary, but he just didn't want to move. Considering the alternative was to just let Puck check him on the couch in front of everyone...that made him at least sit up and sigh.

Kurt looked at Tina and Brittany for backup and at their failing attempts to conceal their laughter, admitted defeat.

"Well when you put it that way...a little help? And you can stop pouting Jeffrey, I'm moving." Jeff brightened up considerably, and gladly got off the floor to help Kurt off the couch.

Jeff chuckled as he helped him up and towards the stairs, "Sorry Kurt, but you know it's for your own good. We're only doing this because we love you."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Oh please, you just wanna help Puck poke me and see the baby. Take this as a learning experience...you know, for whenever you and Nick decide to have one, which better not be for a few years. Otherwise you'll have to answer to me."

"No worries. I like Nick having his parts, and if I got pregnant, you'd be the first one to kick his ass."

"Damn straight."

While Puck and Jeff took Kurt upstairs, everyone else was trying to pick another song to battle with on the game. Blaine looked distracted and wasn't paying attention to what was going on, at least until Finn bumped his shoulder and got his attention. He'd noticed Blaine watching the boys leave the room.

"Dude, what's up?"

"I'm worried about Kurt. Have you looked outside lately?"

"Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to not notice. The rain is coming down so hard, you almost can't hear the thunder. The lights have been flickering for a while now too."

"More than likely we're gonna lose power soon, but that's not the only thing I was thinking about. Kurt's in labor and in order for us to keep tabs on him, we have to periodically drag him upstairs to his room. I hate having to do that to him."

"I saw him having a hard time on the stairs. But what else can we do? We have the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom on this floor. We don't have a lot of options."

Finn and Blaine were lost in thought and didn't see Sam and Mercedes walk up to them.

"Guys, what's going on? You two haven't voted for any songs yet."

"We're trying to find an alternative to checking on Kurt without having to make him go upstairs."

Sam and Mercedes had noticed the exchange between the Kurt and Puck before they went to Kurt's room. "Jeff finally convinced Kurt to go up; Puck wasn't getting anywhere. I don't blame him - I wouldn't wanna move either. So what can we do? It's not like we can just make another room appear out of thin air."

"Yes we can - but we need a bed, or at least some cushions."

Blaine, Finn, and Sam looked at Mercedes in puzzlement. "What are you thinking?"

"Finn, remember when you guys were sharing the basement?" Finn nodded. "Any chance you saved the partition when you moved?"

Finn looked confused. "The what?"

Blaine started to see where Mercedes was going with this. "That divider Kurt used to split up the basement, you know, to give each of you a side?"

"Oh yeah, we still have that. Hey, we have a bed too!"

Sam smacked his head, "Duh, yeah - it's probably still in your closet, from the last time I stayed over. We can get the bed and use the divider as a privacy screen, set it up in here and ta da: instant exam room."

"And there are extra sheets and pillows in the closet, so it'll be comfortable...you think Kurt would be okay with it, though? A make-shift exam room isn't a bedroom."

Blaine interjected, "No it's not, but this is the better alternative, and quite frankly, I'd rather be able to stay put and not have to move around too much once we lose power. That's becoming a very near possibility. Nobody needs to be falling down any stairs."

"Are we going to just set it up or should we ask first?" asked Sam.

"I'll go up and 'ask' him. You three go ahead and grab everything and set it up in the mean time?" Finn, Sam, and Mercedes nodded and everyone split up and headed to different parts of the house.

While Blaine, Finn, Mercedes, and Sam were plotting, Puck and Jeff had gotten Kurt into his room for another check.

Puck looked to Jeff to ask how Kurt was doing so far.

"Well, his contractions are holding steady at about 20 minutes apart. They don't last long, maybe 20-30 seconds, but they have started to hurt more, at least from what I can tell." Jeff stopped there because Kurt grabbed his hand and winced. "Okay, make that 18 minutes."

"Damnit Baby, that hurts." Kurt slowly uncurled himself, knowing what was coming next. "Thanks for waiting Puck. You can go ahead now."

Puck grabbed the portable ultrasound, that Matt graciously happened to leave behind at the house, and checked for her position. He checked Kurt and was happy to at least give some good news. "Her heart beat is still really good, and she's still in a good spot and moving in the right direction. At least she's paying attention." Puck smirked at Kurt.

Jeff was staring at the little screen in awe. "Wow, Mama...she's so much bigger than the last time I saw her."

"Trust me – she's definitely bigger since the last time. So anything else Puck?"

"Well you're definitely progressing. 7 centimeters, almost 8. Not too bad for a few hours' worth of work."

"It's still not 10." Kurt pouted a little and sighed in aggravation, before looking to his belly. "You're going to be quite the handful, aren't you?"

"Of course she is - she's our mini-diva."

"Knock, knock. Can I come in?"

Puck answered, "Hey Blaine, yeah."

Blaine walked into the room and sat on the bed next to Kurt. "How are you doing?"

Kurt sighed again, "Still not quite there yet. What's up?"

"A couple of us were talking and we've come up with an alternative to where we do your checkups."

"Who's we?"

"Me, Finn, Sam, and Mercedes. The storm's getting worse and it's only a matter of time before the power goes out. We don't want to make you go up the stairs anymore either - and don't try saying it's okay - we can totally tell it's gotten a lot harder since this morning."

"Is this you asking me my opinion, or you just being courteous while they execute whatever plan you've all come up with?"

"...can it be both?" Blaine asked sheepishly.

Puck and Jeff started laughing while Kurt just gave his boyfriend a look. "It's a good thing I love you Blaine. What did you four come up with?"

Blaine had succeeded in stalling long enough for Finn, Sam, and Mercedes to get the living room situated. The boys were just leaving the bedroom when the lights went out. They could hear everyone downstairs, either shouting or cursing out the storm. Then the lights came back on.

Blaine got them moving, "Come on, let's get downstairs before it goes out again. I didn't grab a flashlight."

Once they got back to the living room, the video game system had been shut down and put away, leaving nothing out for anyone to trip on. The couch and chairs had been pushed back, leaving a large open space in the middle of the room. Wes saw them first asking if they were okay.

Jeff responded by saying they were fine, while Kurt did a quick count and noticed that they were short a few people. "Where's Beatz, David, Thad, and Mike?"

"They went to grab some stuff from the garage. How are you holding up?"

"Not there yet, but in good shape." Kurt looked to the side of the room and was surprised at what he saw. "Is that my partition? I thought we left that behind after we moved."

Finn popped out from behind it and motioned for Kurt to come over. "I asked Dad if we could hang onto it. You seemed to like it, and it is kinda cool. Wanna see what we did?"

Kurt walked around it and stood there, shocked. "What the -"

He'd forgotten about the foldout bed that Finn used for when the guys slept over, although it looked really comfortable and clean. "Blaine probably told you but this is for later on, or whenever you need to lie down. What do you think? I know it's not your bed, nor totally private, but it beats going up the stairs, right?"

Kurt sat on the bed and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it felt. He started to tear up a little. "This is fantastic. Thanks you guys. Although at the rate we're going, it's still going to be a while."

"Well we have time...none of us are going anywhere." As soon as Sam finished talking, the missing boys came back with their arms full of sleeping bags, blankets and pillows, which were dumped in the open space, before being attacked by everyone. "We figured we might as well get comfortable and keep digging into the pizza."

"Sounds good to me."

It only took ten minutes before everyone was situated. Luckily, the power waited that long before going out again, and staying out. Flashlights, lanterns, and candles were strategically placed around the room, so it looked like the lights hadn't gone out at all.

Once the power had gone out, cell phones were beeping with texts from parents asking if they were okay. Everyone was able to placate their families and had established a phone chain of sorts. It didn't make sense to keep all of their phones on, so some were turned off to conserve battery life. There were two important phone calls that got top priority.

Blaine's phone went off with the number for Lima Memorial, so he answered, "Hi Matt, how's it going?"

"You guys and girls doing alright? How's Kurt?"

"Everyone's doing well; we're just getting the parents taken care of, before we kill the pizzas."

"And Kurt?"

"In labor, but doing well so far."

"Yeah, I got your message. It's been a little hectic around here, as you can imagine. Neal called me earlier and said that Kurt's water had broken. Any progress?"

"Some. He's seven, almost eight centimeters, contractions are about 20-ish minutes apart and Baby Girl is holding her own. We'll keep you posted."

"You'd better. I've gotta go. If you need me, call the hospital directly, or Neal - he's good at making sure I get a message. Take it easy and good luck."

Blaine hung up and relayed Matt's good luck, just before Kurt's phone went off.

"Hey Dad."

"Kurt, are you all okay? Lose power yet?"

"Among other things, yeah. Have you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? And yes, we just got done hooking up a generator."

"I kinda started labor...there's a good chance you'll be grandparents by the time you two get back."

Kurt heard the phone drop and Burt curse, before Carole came on the line.

"Kurt, sweetie, why is your father flipping out?"

"I told him you would grandparents by the time you got back. My water broke a couple hours ago and I'm almost eight centimeters. We're doing fine, though, so don't worry too much. Everything's under control."

"If you say so...convincing Burt is going to take some work though. Can I talk to your brother for a second?"

Kurt said goodbye before sliding the phone to Finn, who'd been watching the exchange from close by.

Blaine looked at Kurt and asked how well Burt took the news, before getting the 'I know you heard him so why bother asking' look. "That good, huh."

"Yep."

It didn't take long for everyone to let their parents know that everything was under control. It was unanimously decided that they'd wait to tell them about the baby - they didn't need more adults freaking out.

By now, the living room was a jumble of teenagers, blankets, food, and lights. Just about everyone was on the floor. Blaine and Kurt got the couch again, while Jeff re-claimed his spot in front of Kurt, Nick beside him. The rest of the group was also split up in twos for the most part: Mike and Tina, Sam and Mercedes, Santana and Brittany, Finn and Rachel, Puck and Quinn. David and Wes were lounging in front of Thad, who grabbed one recliner, while Beatz and Artie were on the floor near the chair that Trent had claimed.

"So what are we gonna do now? Video games and movies are out."

"We have board games or cards."

It was Puck's idea that got the best response, "I've been told there's an interesting story involving some of you Warblers and a busted car, and I for one would love to hear it."

The boys in question groaned, with Wes putting his head in his hands and sighing. "Do we have to? Kurt still won't let us live it down. You don't know how paranoid I've been about having the Navigator."

The rest of New Directions was confused, and suddenly interested, at the looks of embarrassment on their faces, excluding a certain countertenor. Quinn saw Kurt's smirk and said, "Oh you have to tell us now, if his face is anything to go by."

The boys really didn't want to say anything, but their hesitation let Kurt to start telling the story for them.

"Okay, you've seen the bus we used for the competitions, right?" asking New Directions and receiving nods in return. "Mr. Franks is the bus driver and a really nice guy; he's best known for his shortcuts. There's this back road into Dalton that, while it does shave off a good 20 minutes off the drive time, is a dead zone for cell phones.

"Well, we were on our way back from Sectionals and the bus broke down. Mr. Franks does the typical 'let's try to turn the key a couple times and cross our fingers' approach – nothing. Our esteemed council," throwing a look to the still hiding Wes, David, and Thad, "were trying to call up the school or a tow truck. Obviously that failed. Mr. Franks went out to pop the hood, and the next thing we hear, is the hood slamming shut and him cursing. I ran off the bus to help."

Blaine chimed in, "It looked pretty bad. The latch on the hood didn't hold and it closed on his hands. Trent got the first aid kit and asked what was wrong with the bus. He said he wasn't sure; he didn't get a good look at it. So Kurt then looks at the rest of us and asks for a volunteer to come out with him to take a look."

Kurt took over again, "And the answer I get? A bunch of blank stares. So I threw my hands up and walked off the bus. Mind you, I was still feeling like crap at this point." He stopped there as he dealt with another contraction. Nick interjected with, "Oh yeah, he was yelling in French that, in my understanding was along the lines of 'how did I manage to get stuck with a bunch of boys who know nothing about cars' and 'didn't think this was possible'."

"You forgot about the cursing," said Jeff.

"How could I forget the cursing?" said Nick.

"Anyway," Kurt jumped back in giving both of them a look, "Blaine had followed me off the bus and asked how he could help. He held the hood open and I could tell right away what was wrong, but I could only get it to the point where we would be able to get back to school. So Blaine got me some stuff off the bus and voila! We were back in business - almost.

"Mr. Franks wasn't going to be able to drive us the rest of the way. So I told everyone to sit down and that I was driving. Mr. Franks was okay with it, but certain people said I was crazy."

Beatz interrupted, "We apologized for saying you were crazy, but seriously, how many teenagers can drive a BUS? And to prove you could, you whipped out your license, threw it at us, and drove us back to Dalton. And the best part, of course, was you lecturing us the whole way about proper maintenance care."

Santana couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Okay hold up. You're telling me that none of you know anything about cars? You have to be kidding me."

"Well, at the time...no," said Thad.

"But you could've changed a tire at least if that was the problem, right?" asked Mercedes to the Dalton boys.

Silence.

"Oh hell to the no. Kurt, please tell me they got a lesson like you gave us."

"Trust me Cedes, they got one. It was slightly different than the one I had for you girls."

That seemed to wake up Wes and David. "Wait a second - what are you talking about? You said you taught the girls the same lesson you gave us."

"Same lesson, different approach."

Quinn was the one to explain, "Kurt brought us to his dad's garage one day and spent a few hours showing us how to properly change a tire, check fluids, change the oil, and gave us a quiz he called 'under the hood'." Seeing their jaws drop was priceless. "I guess it was a little different for you guys then?"

David started, "A week later, Kurt blindfolded us, put us on the bus, and drove us to the middle of nowhere."

Thad added, "Next thing we know, we hear a bunch of noises, and Kurt said to take off the blindfolds. He had taken our cell phones and said we needed to figure out how to fix the bus to get it back to school."

Trent was next. "Kurt had been giving away random tidbits all week long about car maintenance, so by this point everyone remembered at least one thing he'd said."

"All he said was 'hope you've been paying attention' and handed us the manual from the glove compartment. He grabbed his bag, got off the bus, and just sat under a tree with a book."

"Wes, you forgot to mention he was timing us."

"Thank you Nicholas, how could I forget? We were being timed too."

"Kurt didn't do anything to help us out...not that he should've. When we had gotten stranded the first time, we kinda laughed at the idea that Kurt Hummel was gonna be our way home," added Beatz.

Tina asked the question that was on all of the New Directions' minds, "You forgot that his dad is a mechanic and Kurt's certified as one too." Again, silence. "You guys are unbelievable."

Jeff laughed, "We didn't get to the best part yet."

"What's the best part?" asked Brittany.

"When we finally got the bus moving, it was 4 and a half hours later. Kurt asked if we learned our lesson. We said we did, and that we'd never assume anything about him ever again. He seemed content with that, and the next thing we know, we were back at school. Turns out, we were in the back fields, ten minutes from campus. We could've walked back and didn't know it."

"Nice one Hummel. One of the oldest tricks in the book."

"Why thank you, Puckerman. I think it went pretty well, myself. Ow, son of a -"

Blaine resumed kneading Kurt's back, which seemed to help with the pain a little bit. Jeff was keeping track and starting biting his lip in concern. Finn got off the floor and moved to the couch, sharing a look with Puck and Blaine. This was something they had been waiting for. Kurt was concentrating on breathing, not realizing how quiet the room had gotten.

After what felt like a long time, but in reality was only a minute or so, Blaine could feel Kurt relax again. Even though he'd been taking care of his back, Blaine had kept a hand on Kurt's belly and felt the difference in the contraction.

"Better babe?"

"Yeah...that was the worst one so far." Kurt saw the concern on Jeff's face and offered a small smile. "You okay there Jeff?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? That almost lasted a whole minute, and it's only been 10 minutes since the last one."

"She feels lower than she was before. Maybe we're finally getting lucky and she's tired of staying put. Believe me, no complaints here."

That seemed to be enough to break the tension, not only for Jeff, but for the group as a whole. Apparently, everyone had been holding their breath. Finn noticed Kurt shifting on the couch and offered a hand up.

"You wanna try walking around again...maybe she just needs a little more encouragement. The sooner she drops, the sooner this will be over."

Kurt contemplated for a minute, and thought it sounded like a good idea. He was willing to do anything at this point to speed things up a bit.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. In the meantime, keep yourselves entertained. We've got plenty of board games and stories we could share. I'm not going far and between the twenty of us, we've got plenty of material to use. Don't worry; I'll be nearby to put in my two cents."

Several conversations did eventually start, as well as several games, which helped Kurt feel less guilty about ignoring everyone. He didn't dwell on it too much – he had other things to worry about.

"Is the walking helping any, Kurt?"

"I wouldn't count this as walking, but thanks for the encouragement."

Blaine bit back a reply. He could've said that Kurt hadn't been able to walk properly for the last couple of months, or something sappy, but there was a reason why he was one of the smartest guys around: he had common sense. If there was one thing he'd learned about Kurt Hummel over the last year, it was how to interpret Kurt's tone.

Kurt's wit and sarcasm, while often brilliant, was often used as a defense mechanism or a way to hide pain, be it physical or emotional. At this stage of labor, Blaine couldn't imagine how Kurt was feeling. He'd been stressed out and worrying for the last month, and he wasn't the one pregnant, nor the biological father. Kurt was the one stuck at home with a bunch of teenagers, in labor, during a blackout caused by one of the worst storms to ever hit Ohio.

So if sarcasm was going to help him through it, then so be it. However, from the looks Finn and Puck kept throwing at each other, something was wrong. The same time Blaine was thinking this, Kurt was dealing with another contraction, and from the looks of it, was starting to lose his composure.

When it looked like it was over, Blaine asked Kurt what he wanted to do. Kurt had started shaking, and Blaine was worried he was going to drop.

"I – I think I need to lie down...I don't feel good."

That was not something he wanted to hear.

"Okay, honey, couch or bed?" That's it Blaine, one easy question at a time.

"Uh, bed, please...I don't want the others to see anyth-oh that fucking hurts!"

Kurt would've fallen over if it wasn't for Finn coming to help Blaine. Once it was over, they maneuvered Kurt back to the hidden bed and tried to get him comfortable enough for Puck to check him again, but Kurt wasn't having it.

"No, that's it. I can't do this anymore. Somebody else has to do it. I can't –oh I think I'm gonna be sick."

Finn grabbed the trashcan just in time. Kurt hadn't eaten much earlier, but whatever he had managed to get came back up. He was sobbing and absolutely miserable. Blaine kept rubbing his back, while Finn made sure Kurt didn't fall off the bed. Puck grabbed a cell phone and called Neal.

"Hello?"

"Neal? It's Puck. We're having a minor crisis and I need you to talk to Kurt."

"What's wrong? Last time I talked to Matt, it sounded like you guys were doing okay."

"We were, but Kurt's throwing up and getting hysterical and we can't get him to calm down."

"Is he fully dilated yet, or close to it?"

"I haven't been able to check him again, but he was almost eight, about two hours ago."

Neal sighed, "He's more than likely in transition, although it sounds like he's having the tougher end of it. If he's not at ten now, he will be very soon. Take it from me; this part of labor is worse than pushing the baby out. Hopefully, this doesn't take long for him, but since this is his first, it might."

"Is there anything we can do for him? Even Blaine is having a hard time calming him down."

"With Casey, I was just nauseous, but a cool compress felt fantastic to me. With RJ, I did get sick and felt better with something warm on my back. Some people don't want anyone helping them; it's different for everyone. Let me try talking to him."

Puck moved back toward the bed and saw that Finn had already put a cool cloth on Kurt's forehead, while Blaine was rubbing his back. Kurt seemed calmer than five minutes ago, but was still looked ready to throw up again.

"Kurt, Neal is on the phone...do you wanna talk to him?"

Kurt slowly nodded and reached for the phone. "Neal?"

Neal sighed in relief, "Hey, I hear you're having a hard time."

"To put it mildly, yeah. I can't stop shaking and I feel so sick right now...does this mean something's wrong?"

"No Kurt, unfortunately this is just the suckiest part of labor. And believe me, it can change with every pregnancy. You're in transition, which is why you feel like crap, but this is good news for you. It means you're almost done. If I learned anything about your friends, they're probably saying the same thing. I know it's hard, but let them help you. Are the contractions really bad yet?"

"Yeah. I knew it was going to be bad, but it's so much worse than I imagined..."

"Kurt, what's the matter?"

"...is feeling like I have to push a bad thing right now?"

Now Neal was worried, "Not necessarily, but if you can, get one of the boys to check. If you're fully dilated, then you can start working on pushing. If not, you're at risk of hurting yourself. Can you put Blaine on for a second?"

He heard some shifting before he heard, "Neal -"

"Blaine, don't start freaking out on me now. Listen to me. If he's feeling the urge to push, you have to be his crutch. He can't get hysterical again. It'll just make things harder in the long run. Keep him calm; let him know that every contraction gets him closer to holding the baby. Make sure he tells you how he feels and work with that, but let him know he needs to listen to you three as well.

"Can you handle that?" Neal had faith in Blaine...he just wasn't sure if he felt the same.

"Yeah. It's not like I'm just gonna leave him to deal with this on his own. We'll take care of him. Thanks Neal."

"No problem. Keep me posted, and good luck."

Blaine hung up the phone and watched Kurt get sick again, although it didn't seem as harsh as before. He shared looks with Puck and Finn, as he thought how to go about getting Kurt in a more manageable position. They heard a light knock on the partition, and turned to see a pale Jeff.

"Hey guys...couldn't help but overhear...is Kurt okay?"

Blaine hadn't realized how quiet it had gotten in the room but obviously they all heard what was going on. He wasn't sure if he should explain what was going on, however, Kurt beat him to it.

"I'm not gonna lie; I've felt better. This is just a very nasty side effect of labor, one I hope you don't have to experience."

"What's wrong? Anything I can do to help – any of us for that matter?"

"Remember how Neal said the last 3 centimeters were the worst? He wasn't lying."

Jeff couldn't stand to see Kurt look so miserable. He didn't wait to see if they'd tell him to leave; he walked up to Kurt and gave him a light hug.

"Is it okay if I talk to your angel?"

Kurt actually smiled a little bit, which confused Puck. Everyone knew that Kurt didn't believe in God. Finn told Puck in a low voice, "Just because he doesn't believe in religion, doesn't mean he can't have an angel." Puck wasn't confused for long when he got the hint. "His mom?" Finn just nodded in reply.

"Sure sweetie, go ahead. I think that'd help a lot right now. Tell the others we're doing okay and that we'll have a new mini-glee member soon and I'm sorry if I scared you guys. "

"That's okay Mama – it's not like you're doing it on purpose." Jeff smiled before heading back to the group that had huddled together on the other side of the room.

The boys were happy to see Kurt smiling again and decided to take the chance while they had it.

"Honey, are you feeling good enough to move? I'll hold you like we did on the couch earlier. We need to see if you're at ten yet. I don't want to see you hurt yourself, and if you feel ready to push..."

Kurt sighed and reluctantly nodded. Kurt used Blaine as leverage and managed to turn onto his back, with Blaine sliding in behind him to support him. Kurt moaned again in pain, but was able to breathe through it, while Blaine hugged him from behind. When it ended, Kurt leaned back into Blaine's neck and just groaned. "This sucks, this just fucking sucks."

Blaine couldn't help it – he laughed. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Think you can handle a check?" Kurt nodded and Blaine motioned for Puck, noticing that Finn had disappeared.

"Where'd Finn go, Puck?"

Puck responded, "He went to let everyone know what's going on...they're all worried, and the storm's gotten pretty loud. Now don't worry about them; you have enough to think about right now. However, I do have good news for you, Kurt."

"Yeah?"

"You can start pushing when you feel like it – you're finally fully dilated."

Kurt promptly burst into a new set of tears.

Finn found everyone on the other side of the living room. It was strange to see them this quiet, but they were worried, hell, he was worried and he knew what was going on. Kurt was in good hands with Blaine and Puck, so Finn thought this would be the best time to get everyone else up to speed. Rachel was the first to look up as he walked over.

"Finn, how's Kurt? It sounded like he was in a lot of pain."

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose before responding. "I won't lie – things could be better. By a raise of hands, how many of you guys know the stages of labor, and I mean really know."

No surprise that Quinn did. Tina, Mercedes, Jeff and Nick raised their hands too, but that was it.

"Okay. Quick lesson then: first stage is spilt into early labor and active labor. Essentially it's all the prep that happens before you go thru with actually delivering the baby. The last part of active labor is called transition. The contractions last longer, come faster and hurt like hell, not to mention being unpredictable.

"Kurt's at this stage and having a hard time of it, as you've probably figured out. The only good thing about it – as soon as he's fully dilated he can be in the second stage, which is actively pushing the baby out. For Kurt's sake, I'm hoping she comes out sooner rather than later. The last stage is the messy afterbirth stuff that I'm not going into detail about.

"Blaine is trying to keep Kurt calm long enough for Puck to see if he's finally dilated enough to start pushing. I'm pretty sure he is. If this is gonna bother anybody, or freak you out too much, you can go upstairs and hang in my room. Any questions?"

"Is Kurt gonna be okay?" asked Wes.

"Yeah, he doesn't sound good," said David.

"Trust me, when he can start pushing, he'll be in much better shape. At least then, you feel like you're accomplishing something. That, and that truly means the end is near," added Quinn.

"We're staying put Finn. Just let us know if we can do anything," said Nick.

Finn heard Kurt crying as he walked back to their make-shift delivery room and was afraid something had happened. "Puck? What –"

"Kurt can finally start pushing. It's about fucking time, don't you think?"

"Dude that's my niece you're talking about...but yeah totally is about time." Finn sat next to Kurt and grabbed his hand. "How you doing bro? Ready to get this over with?"

Kurt smiled tiredly at Finn, "You have no idea."

Puck smirked, "Well, whenever you're ready Princess."

Another hour later and Kurt was sure of three things. For one, he was exhausted. Two, his daughter was grounded – indefinitely. And three, he was never doing this again.

"Kurt, I wouldn't lie about this. I see her head. A few more pushes and you're in the clear."

"Well that's just too bad, Puckerman. If you want her out then you get her out." Kurt was clearly at the end of his rope.

"Baby, you're so close. I know it's been a long day, and you're tired, but she's right there. Just think, a couple more and then you can relax. You can do this."

Kurt felt the next contraction and pushed hard. All he felt was blinding pain, and any remaining hope he had of staying calm went out the window.

"That's it Kurt! Her head's out! Wait til the next one to push again."

"Make up your damn mind Puck! You want me to push, and then you don't want me to push. Pick one!"

Finn was still holding Kurt's hand and rubbing his arm. "Bro, he's gotta get a good hold on her and help with her shoulders, or you'll be hurting a lot worse."

"Stop making sense Finn! Oh – please can I push now?"

"Last one Kurt – push!"

That was the best thing he'd ever heard, and finally after so many hours, Kurt felt relief.

And then there was the sound of a baby crying.

Kurt fell back against Blaine, completely drained but deliriously happy. "Blaine," Kurt murmured, "is she okay?"

"Puck – how does she look?"

"See for yourself." Puck held up the crying baby, and with help from Finn, got her wrapped up and settled in Kurt's arms.

"Oh my – Blaine, look at her. Hey there sweetie. It's about time you graced us with your presence. We've been waiting for you."

"Kurt, she looks just like you." Blaine tilted Kurt's face so he could give him a proper kiss. "Congratulations baby. She's adorable."

Kurt was so focused on the little bundle in his arms, he was oblivious to Puck massaging his stomach and cleaning up the mess.

"Finally!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, it sounds like we have a mini-glee member."

"Guys – "

"When do we get to see her?"

"You think Kurt's okay?"

"Guys – "

"Why hasn't someone come over here yet?"

"I'm sure everything's fine."

"Guys – "

"They're probably cleaning them up. We waited all this time – ten more minutes is nothing."

A whistle once again got everyone's attention.

"Thank you Jeff. Now can you all shut up?" Silence. "Thank you." Finn looked at the anxious faces and let a smile fall across his face. "Now that I have your attention: I'm proud to announce that Ms. Hummel has finally decided to arrive. She and Kurt are doing fine. Puck and Blaine are taking care of them at the moment, and as soon as we get them settled, you'll be properly introduced."

Everyone waited a little impatiently by the partition for the all clear to see Kurt and the new baby. Since they really didn't need the privacy anymore, Finn and Puck were going to move it in order to reveal to the group their new addition.

"Ready to meet her?" Excited nods and 'hell yeahs' were the responses they got. Moments later, everyone got to meet the little diva.

Kurt was tired, but at least semi-alert, still leaning against Blaine.

"Hey guys. Allow me to introduce my little trouble-maker: Zoe Elizabeth Hummel."