AN: Ok! So here is my very first multi-chapter Puckleberry fan fiction! It is four chapters long and completed. The chapters are rather short (ok, very short in some cases) and could probably be combined into one or two longer chapters, but I really feel like separating the chapters at the current points (the natural breaks in the story) is really the best option. However, because the chapters are so short, I won't make you wait long between chapters. My goal is to post one chapter a day for four days, but nothing ever seems to go as I plan, and it is the holidays… so I apologize in advance if that plan derails. I hope you enjoy! Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters I am having so much fun with, except the two characters you don't recognize. I won't say who and spoil anything!
Five years after graduation, Finn Hudson had finally decided to leave Lima. After much debate (aka about 5 minutes of thought), he decided to go to New York and try his hand at acting, as he'd wanted to do after high school. And if he were to run into Rachel, well that wouldn't be a negative thing, now would it? So, he moved to New York, and 2 days after he arrived, he ran into Rachel, sooner than he expected.
He was wandering around his new neighborhood when he saw a small store that caught his eye. "West Side Music Store" the sign proclaimed. He ducked into the shop and was shocked when he saw a very familiar face behind the counter.
"Welcome to West Side Mu- Finn?" Rachel quested, cutting off her greeting when she recognized her ex-boyfriend standing in front of her.
"Hey Rach." Finn replied brightly, surprised to see her so soon but still happy.
"What are you doing here?" Rachel smiled, moving around the counter to hug the tall boy in front of her. After he lingered with his arms around her for a moment longer than was comfortable, she pulled away and looked up at him waiting for his answer.
"I just moved here. Got an apartment right down the street. What about you? Working here until Broadway calls?"
"Actually, I own the place. I'm not really pursuing Broadway at the moment."
Finn looked at her oddly. "Rachel Berry not perusing Broadway?"
"Well," Rachel began, choosing her words carefully. "Let's just say the situation has changed." Then, as if punctuating the statement, a baby's cry rang out of the monitor Finn had previously not noticed sitting on the counter. Rachel excused herself and disappeared into a back room, leaving a dumbfounded Finn standing by the counter.
A moment later, Rachel reappeared in the main room holding a little girl in pink pajamas. Finn never was a good judge of age but if he had to guess, she was maybe a year old.
"Finn, this is Alexis, but we call her Lexi."
Finn remained silent, struggling to even come up with a gentle smile so as not to scare the child. After, a few minutes, the quiet was broken by Lexi tugging on Rachel's shirt and babbling, "Dadadada?"
The woman turned her head to the child and smiled. "Daddy will be here at dinner time, Princess. He's at work now."
The girl seemed happy with the answer, smiling and resting her head on Rachel's shoulder, looking up at Finn questioningly.
"How old is she?" Finn asked, surprising both himself and Rachel by not asking the more obvious question.
"She'll be 11 months next week." Rachel shifted the child onto her other hip and continued, "And, since I know you are going to ask, yes, I am her mother, but not biologically."
At this, Finn's face looked puzzled, a look she knew well from all the time she spent trying to help him with his Spanish.
"She's my fiancé's daughter, but I'm the only mom she's ever known. Her birth mother bailed as soon as she was born."
"Oh." Finn wasn't sure what else to say. A second later, the awkward silence was broken by a familiar voice singing "Sweet Caroline". Before Finn could place the voice, Lexi began calling "Da da da da!" Rachel pulled out her phone and silenced the singing by answering it. She stepped away slightly as she began to speak.
"Hello Noah... Mhm, she's with me right now actually. She just woke up from her nap... Of course... So, do you know when you will get out yet?... That early? Well why don't you meet Alexis and me here at the store and then we can go get dinner? If you get done at 6, then I should be able to close the shop by the time you get here... Ok... Alright, well you be safe... I know, Noah... Ok. Well Lexi and I love you... Bye."
She turned back to Finn after ending the call and he looked like he was either ready to scream or be sick. Lexi buried her face into Rachel's neck, clearly not liking the face he was making.
"Noah? As in Puckerman?" His voice was quiet, with an unsteady note to it.
"Yes, Finn. Noah Puckerman." After she spoke, she moved back towards the counter. Carefully balancing Alexis on her hip, she used her free hand to pull a play pen out from behind the counter and placed the child into it. For a moment the girl looked upset at being put down, but a brightly colored toy quickly caught her attention and distracted her. Once she was confident the toddler was settled, Rachel pulled two chairs around and settled in one next to the little girl. Finn set himself on the chair opposite her without really thinking.
"So," he began. "This is why you aren't on Broadway? Why you have this store? So you can take care of Puck's illegitimate child?"
Rachel's eyes and voice took on an angry edge as she responded. "First, I don't like your tone. She may not be my biological daughter, but she is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and to Noah. I love being her mom. Second, even four years at NYADA doesn't guarantee a Broadway role. It can take years to get even a minor or stand in roll, let alone a big break. So, I opened this store about a year ago. And yes, it just so happens to work well that I can take care if Lexi now that she's here. I don't watch her all the time though. Santana watches her two days a week so that I can restock and run errands and things."
"Santana? So, you're engaged to Puck and friends with Santana Lopez?"
"Yes. We've grown close over the years. Time changes some people Finn."
Finn's face registered the veiled insult, but he didn't say anything. Silence fell over them. Rachel turned to watch Lexi play as Finn stared past them both, focused on some unknown point on the wall. He still didn't move, even as a customer entered the store, browsed for a minute, and moved past him to purchase a CD. He finally spoke as Rachel slipped back into her chair after helping her customer.
"How did all this happen?" He asked quietly.
Rachel smiled as she replied. "It's quite a story." She paused to check her watch and continued, "I think I have time to tell it properly before Noah gets off work though. Do you have time?"
Finn simply nodded and waited for her to begin.