Title: Paper
Series: None
Fic Table prompt: #02 - Celebration (table at my journal here: ( sapphiresfic . livejournal . com/ 31402 . html )).
Summary: Fluffy Puckleberry future fic to celebrate my 1 year anniversary writing Puckleberry fics involving breakfast in bed and a surprise. One-shot for fic table prompt #02 - Celebration.
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N2: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D
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A/N3: On October 15, 2009, I began writing my first ever Puckleberry fic about what should have happened when Puck was at Rachel's when they were working on their mash-up ideas. I expected to only create a one-shot, or maybe a short few chapters and I called the story 'Out of the Blue'. On October 19, 2009, I posted the first chapter on my LJ ( sapphiresfic . livejournal . com ) just to test the waters with my writing skills and to see if anyone was interested in me continuing it. With the awesome feedback I got, I continued writing. At first, I didn't know how to use FF, so I only posted the first few chapters on my LJ, but as I learned how to use FF, I posted the first few chapters I had on my LJ on FF on October 29, 2009. This story is my baby, slowly growing into a toddler as we speak. Currently there are 65 chapters posted and many more to write. It has over 425K words, over 1100 reviews, 300+ people list it as a favorite story, with over 450 people getting alerts for it. It seems like every chapter I post, I get at least one new reader, and this story has given me many new friends that are closer to me than some of my friends I have here who I've known for years. I am and always will be a Puckleberry fan and writer, and this fic will continue either with 'Out of the Blue' itself, or it's sequel that is coming soon. I LOVE writing and plan to write my own novel one day and this is only one of many fics I have already written and I will continue to write, like 'Starlight' and other new ones that come to me staring Noah 'Puck' Puckerman and Rachel Berry... Okay, enough babbling from me... On with the fic in honor of my first anniversary of writing Puckleberry fics and the first birthday of 'Out of the Blue', I give you 'Paper'.
A/N4: Written as if Noah and Rachel were in the same grade and never broke-up at the end of Mash-Up.
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~Prologue~
Noah Puckerman never realized how much paper could change his life, but over time he learned just how powerful it could be.
At birth, a single sheet of paper confirmed that Noah Aaron Puckerman was born to Ethan and Deborah Puckerman on August 17th, 1992.
As a toddler, Noah loved to color on blank sheets of paper and before he started school, he knew how to write most of the alphabet.
At six years old, a few sheets of paper said his mom and dad were no longer together and his dad was leaving them, and then just a few months later, another birth certificate appeared, saying he had a baby sister named Arin.
In elementary school, paper is what got him in trouble when he threw it down the toilet in the boy's bathroom and his teacher caught him, sending him to the principal's office.
When he hit middle school, paper meant homework he actually had to do to keep his grades up enough to be on the football team and though no one knew it, he liked doing homework. There were a few times he turned in homework with blue and purple color crayon scribbles on them because his little sister got a hold of his work before he could put it away, but it never kept him from getting semi-decent grades and when he got a 'B' in English, his report card went up on the fridge; his mom was so proud of him.
At the start of high school, paper continued to be homework, book reports, notes for classes, grades and report cards, but it also helped him get his driver's permit and a test got him his driver's license before he went back for his Sophomore year of school. That summer paper also came in the form of cash that he got for cleaning pools and doing other things with the adult women of Lima, Ohio.
Junior year added sheet music from Glee Club to the paper in Noah's life, especially after he started dating Rachel Berry and got her total support in everything, especially when Quinn gave Noah a picture on glossy paper of their baby, after she'd had her first sonogram and found out it was a little girl.
Noah knew that the best thing for his little girl was adoption; he wanted to keep her, but didn't have any money or a decent job to support her, so he sadly agreed to an open-adoption and signed the papers after she was born. Just a few days later, he found out that Rachel's biological mother adopted her and Shelby agreed to keep in touch with Noah and Rachel, so not only could Rachel know her mother, but Beth could know who her father was.
Their Junior year ended and Noah managed to get on the honor roll and Rachel was sure that if he kept his grades up he could get into any university he wanted to. By the time the end of Summer came and they were starting their Senior year, both Noah and Rachel were looking forward to applying to universities in New York City. Noah wanted to get out of Lima and Rachel wanted to be on Broadway, so what better city for a young couple who wanted to stay together?
Love notes and letters were written between the couple and exchanged during breaks and soon homework, reports, and notes turned into mid-terms and other exams, the SATs, college information packets and applications and by Spring Break, both Noah and Rachel had been accepted to New York University (NYU), both to start in the Fall, so Noah, with Rachel's help began to work on finding scholarships. At the end of school, he already had enough money between grants and scholarships to start his first year of university.
A very important piece of paper was given to both Rachel and Noah in June of 2011; their diplomas. They were finally out of high school and couldn't wait to start the rest of their lives.
Four years of notes, homework, reports, books, exams, part-time on-campus jobs, and even living together for the last three years; once they'd lived in the dorms for the required first year of school, they couple, still much in love, ended their school careers with their degrees in June of 2015; Noah majoring in journalism and Rachel in vocal performance and vocal education, so she could teach or coach voice lessons.
With diplomas from NYU, the couple moved from their university apartment and into a small one in the city within their budget and over the summer while Noah went to different newspapers and magazines for interviews, Rachel was going through scripts and auditioning for roles in musicals both on- and off-Broadway.
One day, while skimming through the New York Times newspaper, Noah saw they were hiring a journalist for their entertainment section and he immediately applied and was called for an interview the next day and he walked out of the interview with a job as an entertainment writer for the Times; they were impressed by his knowledge of music and the arts from his experience with Rachel, so not only did he have a resume to support his education, he also had a portfolio of articles he'd written for the school's newspaper and personally written reviews of movies and concerts he and Rachel had gone to over the time they had been in New York.
All the scripts and auditions paid off for Rachel; at the same time Noah was hired at the Times, Rachel was cast as the lead in an off-Broadway musical, so the couple celebrated by returning home to Lima for a week vacation before they came back to New York to start their jobs.
While in Lima, Noah got an opportunity to talk to her dads alone and he asked them if he could propose to her and their positive response led him ring shopping on his breaks and time off from hunting down a story or spending time with his girlfriend during her time off. He wanted to keep it a secret and after a month of looking he found the perfect ring for her and bought it, signing his name a cross the paper receipt and took it home and on their sixth dating anniversary, he sang to her and played the guitar; singing his proposal as a song he wrote, which lead to a very tearful acceptance.
Reading over the program for Rachel's opening night, he was glad to see the write up about her being happily engaged, but knowing what was to come, he still got sick to his stomach when he watched her kiss another guy on stage; even if he knew the guy was gay in real life.
Planning their wedding, they decided to get married in Lima's Jewish Temple on their day, October 9th, and as the date approached, invitations were sent out and RSVPs were returned and once they got back to Lima in early-October for their ceremony, going to the courthouse in Lima to get their marriage certificate was a huge and exciting deal and he realized just how important that one sheet of paper would be; it was their official and legal connection to the other forever and he would cherish it as much as he would her, for the rest of their lives.
Sunday, October 9, 2016, Rachel became Mrs. Rachel Marie Puckerman and sobbed as she listened to him read words he'd written as his vows from a single sheet of paper and knew, without a doubt, that he had and always will make her the happiest woman on Earth.
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Monday, October 9, 2017
Rachel woke up on her day off and sighed, seeing the empty side of their bed and shook her head, "he has an office job, Rachel. He always works on Mondays," she thought, "I just wish he had taken today off; he has not even said one word to me about today being our anniversary; he always remembers my birthday and his mom and sisters... Why not today? I know he's been busy with work, but of all the days he forgets it has to be today?" She looked at her wedding and engagement rings and sat up, having one gift of his hidden so she could give it to him at the right time and crawled out of bed and headed for their bathroom.
Deciding that she needed an extra long shower to get through the day, she slowly washed her hair and body, relaxing under the hot spray and as the water reluctantly began to cool off, she gave in and stepped out, wrapping herself up in a fluffy towel and using a smaller towel to dry her hair, she walked back into their bedroom to get changed, but as she walked into their room, she froze in shock at what she saw.
Sitting on her nightstand was a huge bouquet of red roses, on the bed was two large trays of breakfast items and her husband was stretched out on the bed, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, "happy anniversary, beautiful," Noah smiled, standing up and moving towards her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, knowing exactly what she had been thinking as he felt her break down and start crying when they hugged, "I'd never forget the most important day of my life," he assured her. "I love you."
Pulling from their hug she smiled brightly and kissed him, "I love you, too, Noah. Happy anniversary," she said happily through tears.
He wiped her eyes and smiled, guiding her back to the bed, "have a seat, babe, I made breakfast. I thought we could eat in bed in bed and then see where things go; I figured I'd make dinner today since we always end up going out for dinner or eat alone because of our schedules."
Leaning forward to smell the roses, she smiled and leaned back on the bed to snuggle up against him once he laid back down, "the day sounds amazing as long as I get to spend it with you," she told him truthfully, "I'm sorry I thought you forgot what today was, but you hadn't said anything, so I was worried."
"Never worry about that," he told her, "yeah, I've forgotten a doctor's appointment and been late meeting you for dinner, but as I just said, I could never forget the most important day of my life; the day I gave you a grape slushy and asked you if you wanted to work on mash-up ideas, and also the day we officially became husband and wife," he smiled.
Rachel thought back to that day, eight years prior, and smiled, "I had a feeling that we'd be together forever; I guess I was right."
"You were," he agreed kissing her again, "how about breakfast?" He motioned towards the pancakes and various fruit scattered over the trays.
"Would love some; I'm starving," she admitted, sitting up and picking up a strawberry and popped it into her mouth.
"That's what happens when you don't eat when you get home from a show," he replied with a grin.
"I wasn't hungry last night, but you're right, I should have eaten," she agreed.
Sitting together on their bed, eating through the fresh fruit and pancakes with all the toppings, the couple pushed the mostly empty trays towards the end of the bed and relaxed back against their pillows. Noah tugged at her towel that was still wrapped around her and it easily fell away from her body, "so beautiful," he smiled, leaning over her and kissing her lovingly as his hand trailed down her arm, coming to rest on her hip.
"Make love to me," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck to keep him close, "let's celebrate."
"You don't have to ask me twice," he assured her, a bright grin on his face, but he pushed himself up and off the bed long enough to move the trays so they didn't get in the way and then tugged his t-shirt off, "I seem to be a little over dressed," he added.
Rachel watched him undress, her eyes locked on his six-pack and the metal rings he still wore shining from his chest, "I'm quite enjoying the show, Mr. Puckerman."
"Oh yeah?" He finished undressing and stared at her, "the view is amazing from where I'm standing, too," he replied, crawling back onto the bed with her and pulled her into his arms, "wanna make-out?" He asked, using the question he asked her eight years prior.
She giggled lightly at the question, "sure," she shrugged leaning forward and kissing him, her arms wrapping around his neck as they remained close, but she broke the kiss moments later, "say it," she whispered.
"Say what? Happy Anniversary? I already did," he commented, raising a confused eyebrow.
"What else did you tell me that day?" She asked pressing a kiss to his chest.
After a moment of thought, he pulled her closer, " 'we're a couple of good lookin' Jews... It's natural'," he murmured, running his hands through her hair.
"Yes we are," she nodded, moving a little so she could kiss him, "and maybe we could do more then make out."
"As you wish, my love," Noah responded with a grin.
...
Totally content, over an hour later, they laid in bed, soaking in the rare quiet time together, neither one wanting to move, "could we just stay home all day?" Rachel asked running her hand along his toned chest.
"We can," he nodded, "if you want to."
She smiled and closed her eyes, "sounds good to me," she replied.
Holding her against him, he didn't even want to move, but he had one more gift for her, "you know, I should probably take our dishes out to the kitchen."
"How did you manage to do all this without waking me up?" She asked curiously.
He smiled, "well, I woke up like I normally do for work at six and left to go get a few things, like the flowers and stuff to make breakfast. You were still sleeping, so I waited a little and stayed quiet while I made breakfast and when I heard you get in the shower I quickly brought everything in here before you finished," he explained kissing her lovingly.
"The flowers are beautiful and the breakfast was amazing. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he sat up a little, "you want anything when I come back?"
"No, that's alright. I'll be out in a few minutes," she told him.
"Alright," he kissed her again before sliding out of bed. Putting on his boxers and a t-shirt, he collected their dishes and moved into their small, yet comfortable apartment and over to the kitchen.
Rachel sat up and moved into the bathroom, brushing her hair and afterward, slipped into her silk robe and moved over to her nightstand, opening the drawer and pulling out a blue envelope from her notebook. Moving to her closet, she got the box his gift was in and then headed into the apartment and set his gift on the table, next to her gift. Seeing him standing at the sink, she stepped over and slipped her arms around his waist from behind, "hey, handsome."
He smiled and set the dishes in the sink and then turned around, "hey sexy."
She blushed, still not used to his compliments, "do you need some help?"
"Nope, they can wait 'til later," he said reaching for a towel and drying his hands off, "I have the other part of your gift," he added, moving towards the kitchen table and saw a box similar to his there, "looks like we had the same idea."
"Yes, we seemed to, but I bet what is inside is different," she said.
"I know they are," he grinned taking his box sat down at his usual spot and she took her seat next to him.
"Open yours first; I've been dying to find out what you think of it," he said honestly.
Rachel lifted the top off and pulled back the tissue paper, seeing the cover of a black scrapbook inside that had a small picture of them in the center from their wedding as they kissed for the first time, "wow, Noah," she smiled and picked up the book and opened it, reading his handwriting on the inside left cover, "to my beautiful wife on our first wedding anniversary and our eighth year together, I love you and hope we can continue this book together. -Love, Noah." Turning to the first page in the plastic sheet protectors, she saw a baby picture of him and her and small birth certificates for each of them with their names and birthdays on them.
"It's basically us from birth until now; important ages and things that happened to us. There's a collage of pictures of me and one of you from birth until we started dating, so that's when it really starts," he explained.
Rachel flipped to the next two pages was his collage and then after that were two of her, baby pictures up until high school for both of them. After the collages, the next picture was of them just after he'd finished singing 'Sweet Caroline' to her. Tears came to her eyes as she continued to flip through the book, remembering the dates and times of when they had been taken; the rest of the pictures we of them as a couple from getting together until just a few weeks prior when they were at a cast party celebrating a year of the show. That was the last entry, leaving a few pages blank, but were ready to be filled, "oh Noah, this is beautiful, I love it!" She exclaimed setting it down to slide into his lap, hugging him tightly.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, "you really like it? It's not stupid?" He asked; it was nothing fancy and he knew that he had no talent in scrapbooking, but he tried, because he wanted it to be something from his heart.
"I love it, Noah. It's absolutely beautiful and I know exactly how to continue it," she said hopping up to get her camera and returned taking a seat next to him, "open your gift first," she motioned to his box.
Noah opened the box and found three leather bound journals inside; one slightly smaller to fit into his bag that he carried to work and two normal sized ones to keep around the house; each one had his full name pressed into the cover and his initials on the spine, "babe these are awesome," he took each one out and saw they were just notebooks for him to use, but when he got to the last of the larger two, he opened it up and saw that it was staff paper to write music with.
"I know you're not doing much for music right now, but it never hurts to have something to write on if you ever do," she told him, "there are refills for all of them in the box, too," she added.
"This is great, babe. I love them. I do miss music," he admitted, glancing across to where his guitar was sitting, "or maybe I miss singing to you," he said with a grin, leaning over to kiss her, "thank you."
"You're welcome, and thank you for the beautiful scrapbook," she said hugging him. "I have one more gift for you," she said as they pulled apart and she reached for the card she'd kept until the end.
"You do? What is it? Tickets to a football game? A trip?" He took the envelope as she handed it to him and smirked at the gold stars outlining his name on the front. Slipping his finger under the flap, he pulled it open and tugged the card out, seeing a beach scene, and read the words on the front, 'to the most amazing husband in the world...' Opening the card up he first noticed a picture slip out, but he held off on grabbing it to read the text inside, '...happy anniversary!' She signed it and on the other side she wrote a note that said, 'I love you so much, Noah, and this time next year, when we celebrate our second wedding anniversary, we also get to celebrate as parents!' "Parents?" His eyes widened and grabbed for the picture that had fallen out and as his eyes focused on it, he gasped when he realized it was a black and white sonogram photo, "is this...? Are you...?"
Rachel bit her lip and nodded nervously, "I'm pregnant," she said softly.
He took a deep breath and blinked back tears as he stared at the photo some more, taking in what that meant, "we're having a baby? We're going to be parents?"
"Yes we are," she replied with a nod.
"YES!" He exclaimed jumping up and throwing his hands up in celebration, "this is the best news ever, baby!" He pulled her up and into his arms and kissed her lovingly. "We're having a baby!"
Rachel's legs wrapped around his waist as she hugged him, kissing him lovingly as her nerves and worries disappeared. She had been slightly worried he wouldn't want a baby after what they'd gone through in high school, but seeing and hearing his happiness, she knew she didn't need to be worry at all and now could express her happiness, too. "You do not know how hard it has been to hold in this news for a week, Noah! I wanted to surprise you today, but I almost slipped a few times, because I've been so excited," she said truthfully.
He grinned, "this is exciting news! I'm glad you waited; this amazing day just got even more amazing," he kissing her again, "who else knows?"
"Just my doctor and now you," she told him, "I wanted you to be the first one I told."
Still holding her against him, he took them back into their room and laid her back down on the bed, crawling over her, "I think we should celebrate some more and then many call our families to announce the news," he murmured, kissing down her neck to where her robe covered her chest.
She groaned and felt her body reacting to him, "I think that's a great idea," she replied.
...
Noah and Rachel knew that paper is the traditional first anniversary gift and they kept that tradition alive. Rachel's sonogram photo became the next page in the scrapbook he made along with a picture of his shocked expression that Rachel had taken just as he realized he was going to be a dad and they agreed the title of that page should be should be 'The Most Amazing First Anniversary Gift Ever!' and it finally hit Noah just how powerful paper was in his life; it stated he and Rachel were married and gave him a first look at his future son or daughter; their life was awesome, because of paper.
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( en . wikipedia . org/ wiki/ Wedding_anniversary )
Underlined text from Glee episode 1x08 - Mash-up.
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A/N5: Fluffy? Corney? LOL I know, but I'm a sucker for romance and fluff. Let me know what you think! I think it's a great and fun way to celebrate a lot of firsts: their first anniversary, my first anniversary of writing Puckleberry fics and the first birthday of 'Out of the Blue'; since that fic is my baby.
A/N6: Check out all my other fics; my WIPs are 'Out of the Blue' and 'Starlight' and for those of you who read them, I will be updating soon; hopefully within a week.
A/N7: Happy Birthday, Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC! Today (October 17th) is his birthday!
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