A/N: Prompt: Single mom Rachel. Her son wants to learn to play guitar, here enters Puck as a teacher...
Rachel never thought she'd be a divorced single mom of 2 at the age of 31. But she is.
Rachel and Ben got married because of their daughter Audrey and had Max trying to save it. They've been divorced for about 4 years, Audrey is now 11 and Max is 7.
Rachel had dreams of starring on Broadway. She was halfway there, attending NYU when she met Ben. He was 26 when they met, she was 19. They were only together for 5 months when Rachel realized the antibiotics she was taking cancelled out her birth control and she was indeed pregnant.
They ended up getting married. They had Max thinking things might change since this pregnancy was a conscious decision. They are both very happy because of their children, but know that they will never make each other happy. They love each other, but have never been in love with each other.
Rachel may not have her dream of Broadway, but she has her dream of living in New York City. She teaches music and she gets gigs singing background vocals for artists at Sony Music. So she has two kids that she loves more than anything and gets paid to sing in the best city in the world. She might not have dreamt this at 16, but it's her dream now.
Audrey is wise beyond her years and has always accepted her parents' divorce. Max however is the more sensitive of the two and still hoped that one day his parents would get back together. While Audrey is always scheming to set her mom up, Max is always chasing any guy away.
Max inherited his mother's love of music. He decides he wants to learn how to play drums, but Rachel knows that their neighbors in their apartment complex would not appreciate a 7 year old banging on drums all day. She tells Max that she thinks that he should learn how to play guitar, that way she can sing along with him. Max changes his mind and says guitar sounds way cooler.
Noah Puckerman was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a single dad at 30. He wanted to be a rock star when he grew up, but he doesn't really care about those dreams anymore. He has a band with his friends and they play weddings, reunions, and bar gigs, so it's something.
Noah also works as a mechanic full time and works two nights a week giving private guitar lessons. He teaches on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when his daughter has 4 hours of dance classes in the same building.
His daughter Beth is 13 and he thinks she is the most amazing person in the world. She's really into this dancing thing so he supports her. She's really good at it too.
Beth was born when Noah was 17. Her mother, Quinn wanted to give her up for adoption. Noah didn't know what he wanted, but that first time he heard Beth's heartbeat he just knew there was no way anyone was going to take her away from him. After she was born, Quinn's parents sent her away to live with cousins in Texas. She's married now to Sam and has a 2 year old son named Jackson.
Quinn came back once when Beth was about three but couldn't handle the guilt of leaving her in the first place and the pressure of her whole family. But when Beth turned 9, Quinn showed up again. After years of hating herself she met Sam and he as the first person to not make her feel like a monster for what she had done.
Quinn and Sam still live in Texas, but they will visit and Noah has brought Beth down a couple of times. Quinn and Beth also have a weekly date on the phone. It's not what Noah wanted for Beth, but it's better than nothing. This summer Beth's going to go by herself for two weeks for the first time.
Max always goes with his mom when she picks Audrey up from dance class. That is where he spotted the most perfect girl in the world. She is in the class next to Audrey's and Max always thinks of a way to get her attention. It's not hard because he knows he cute, cause his mom tells him all the time. Max is in love.
One time when his Mom was talking to the other moms, he asked her where the bathroom was. She told him she'd take him and held his hand on the way there. Max decides that she must love him too if she held his hand.
The other moms tell Rachel how there's a guy who gives private guitar lessons three floors up after she tells them about Max wanting to learn. That's how Max ends up getting guitar lessons from Noah Puckerman.
Max thinks Mr. P is really cool. He plays guitar and he likes dinosaurs. He gave Max a T-Rex sticker to put on his guitar too. When he's done his lessons he still gets to sit and watch his girl for 10 minutes which is even cooler.
About a month later, Audrey's dance class is done early so she goes with her mom to pick up Max. The second she sees the way Max's teacher looks at her mom when they walk in, she knows she needs to get them together.
The only problem is her little brat of a brother always ruins things like this for their mom. So, she has to be sneaky about it. She turns and whispers to her mom, "Max's teacher is super cute".
Rachel blushes and whispers back, "He is very handsome, yes."
Audrey smiles and thinks this is a really good idea.
Max's birthday is in two weeks and they are having a huge party at the indoor pool at the YMCA. Rachel, Audrey, and Max are making invitations at the dinner table when Audrey makes the first move in her plan.
Audrey turns to Max and says, "Why don't you invite Mr. P to your party Max?"
Rachel chimes in with, "That would be really nice. Do you want to give Mr. Puckerman an invitation next week?"
Max just shrugs his shoulders and says, "Sure, that's cool".
Max is running around at his party with gummy worms in his hair when he hears Mr. P call his name. He turns around and freezes. Standing next to Mr. P is the love of his life.
"Happy Birthday Max", Noah says, "this is my daughter Beth".
Max turns completely red when he remembers he has gummy worms in his hair and shakes them out.
"Hi, I'm Max. I play guitar with your dad and this is my birthday party".
Beth laughs and picks out the one gummy worm left in his hair and tells him happy birthday. Max thinks this is the best birthday ever.
As Rachel and Audrey walk over to Noah and Beth, Rachel asks, "Do I look okay?" as she smooths down her hair.
"Yea Mom, you look great." Audrey says smiling.
Noah looks up and smiles when he sees them coming.
"Mr. Puckerman, I'm so glad you could make it."
"Yea, no, I'm glad you invited me. This is my daughter Beth and you don't have to be so formal. Call me Noah."
Beth looks at her Dad like he's an alien and asks, "Noah?"
Embarrassed, Noah responds, "What?"
"Oh, nothing."
Audrey sees Beth smile as she looks between her dad and her mom.
Later, Audrey shows Beth to the bathroom and quickly tells her that she thinks that their parents should get together and that she should help her.
Beth smiles and says, "I'm in! But I have a question, are you Jewish?"
Audrey is a bit confused by this question but says, "Yea, why?"
"Because I think I have someone else who would love to help us too."
Audrey and Beth leave the bathroom 10 minutes later with the perfect plan. They see their respective parents still talking where they left them with Max telling some crazy story. When they rejoin them, Noah asks if they fell in and Max cracks up as the girls roll their eyes.
"No, we were just talking," Audrey says, "Mr. P, Beth told me you're in a band a need a girl to sing for a wedding next weekend. Did you know my mom's a singer?"
"No, Mom's an awesome singer!" Max butts in and then looks to Noah and says, "She sings on real cds"
"Right. So Mom's an awesome singer. Why doesn't she do it?"
Rachel laughs nervously and says, "You're Dad's going to be away next weekend, I don't know -"
"Oh well I always stay with my Nana when my Dad does stuff like this," Beth interrupts, "And she is always saying how she loves when she has a house full of kids. I bet she wouldn't mind having Audrey and Max over, right Dad?"
"She's right, my Mom wouldn't mind. And you'd actually be a lifesaver if you could do it."
Rachel thinks about it for a minute before smiling and nodding her head, "Okay, this sounds like it will be fun!"
They exchange numbers to work out when they can rehearse and iron out the details. Max smiles because this means spending a whole night with Beth. Audrey and Beth smile because step one of their plan is complete.
Audrey and Max stay at their Dad's the night Rachel goes to rehearse with the band. Audrey tells Beth that she needs to text her as soon as her Dad gets home and tell her everything. It's around 10 at night when Beth sends her a text telling her that her Dad hasn't stopped talking about what an amazing singer Rachel is. She asks if he said anything else, and she responds saying no, but he hasn't stop smiling which is a really good sign.
Max decides that he's going to tell Beth tonight he loves her with a song. Mom says that you can tell anyone anything in a song. Mr. P says he can play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" like a rock star and his Mom taught him the words, so he think this is the perfect plan.
Audrey sits with Rachel in her room while she gets ready for tonight. She goes through her mom's jewelry box and finds what she was looking for.
"Mom you should wear your Star of David necklace, you always said that it brought you good luck."
Rachel takes the necklace from her hands and puts it on and says, "Good idea, thank you."
Rachel, Audrey, and Max finally show up and Beth let's them in.
"Dad! Nana! They're here!" she yells.
Noah and his mother, Ava Puckerman come walking out of the kitchen to greet them.
"Hello Noah, Beth, Mrs. Puckerman" Rachel says.
"Noah?" Ava says shocked, completely mirroring Beth's same reaction at Max's party.
"What?"
She looks at Beth with an intrigued look and Beth nods her head towards Rachel and points to her neck. Her eye's light up at the site of the Star of David on her neck.
"So Rachel, you're Jewish?"
"Ma!"
"Oh Noah, stop it. I was just admiring Rachel's beautiful necklace. And call me Ava, sweetie."
Rachel smiles as she plays with her necklace, "Well thank you Ava, and yes I'm Jewish."
"So you're Jewish, beautiful, and my Noah here says you have the best voice he's ever heard."
Rachel blushes and Noah yells, "Ma, calm down, we gotta go, we'll see you later."
Ava sees Beth and Audrey smile and high five as their parents leave the house.
Max tells everyone that he has something to show Beth. He gets his guitar and sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Audrey realizes that Max has a crush on Beth and Beth thinks its the cutest thing that's ever happened to her. While even Audrey can admit that her brother is being completely adorable right now, he can quickly turn into a little monster if they're not careful.
Ava sees the girls talking quietly in the kitchen and goes to them, says she's in on whatever they're scheming, and asks what they're plan is. Max comes in right then and asks, "What plan?"
Before Audrey can stop her, Ava spills that they're trying to get their parents together. Audrey can see the evil in Max's eye and chases after him when he stomps out of the room.
"Max, stop! Don't ruin this please -"
Max stomps his foot and yells, "But Mom can't marry Mr. P because that means Beth would be my sister and then we can't get married."
Audrey sighs and says, "It's cute and all, but Beth is 13, that's not going to happen and you know it. And you always try to chase any guy away from Mom"
"Well how can Mom and Dad get back together if they get married to other people Audrey?"
"Well they're not getting back together." Audrey says. She stands next to Max and puts a hand on his shoulder trying to make him feel a little better, "And don't you want Mom to be happy?"
Max looks down at his feet and begrudgingly says, "Yes."
"Well, I think Mr. P could make her happy. They're always smiling and laughing and I like Beth and I like Ava. And Mr. P is really cool."
Max thinks it over for a while. He thinks his sister is right.
"Fine, what do I gotta do?"
Audrey smiles and drags him back to the kitchen and announces, "He's in!"
Max stops playing his guitar in the middle of a song during his lesson and looks at Noah.
"What's wrong Buddy?"
"Do you like my Mom?"
"Yea, she's really nice-"
"No, I mean do you like like my Mom?"
Noah looks white as a ghost and is struck speechless.
"Because Audrey and Beth and your Mom say you both like each other"
Noah shallows and says, "Yea? And what do you think about that?"
"Well Audrey says Mom should be happy and that you make her smile and laugh. So do you like her or not?"
Noah smiles and nods his head, "Yea, I do"
"Good. I mean who wouldn't like my Mom? She's the best ever. But you're Mom's really cool too."
Noah laughs, but Max gives him a very stern look for a 7 year old, "But Mr. P, don't hurt my mom cause if I say I don't like you, you're done."
Noah nods his head and says, "Got it."
When Rachel goes to pick up Max she thinks that it's sad that this is one of the highlights of her week. She shows up just in time to hear Max playing a new song. She is so proud of her little boy and can't help herself when he's done and runs over and gives him a loud sloppy kiss on his cheek. Max just laughs and kisses Rachel back.
"Mom?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"Mr. P like likes you."
Noah chokes on air and covers it up with a cough and avoids looking Rachel in the eyes.
"Max, why would you say that?"
"Because I asked him if he did and he said yes, duh."
Rachel smiles and whispers something into Max's ear.
"Mr. P, my Mom says that she like likes you too."
They smile at each other and laugh. Max sees that his Mom does look really happy and that makes him happy.
Rachel drops Audrey and Max off at Ava's before her and Noah's first official date. As soon as they are out the door, Max demands his rewards. Audrey gives him her weekly $5 allowance, Ava gives him a plate of her famous chocolate chip cookies, and Beth leans down and gives her a kiss on his cheek.
A year later, Rachel and Noah are still together. Both of their leases were up so they decided that they should all move in together. So they've been all been under the same roof for 2 weeks and they didn't take this step in their lives lightly. The same night they decided to move together, Noah proposed.
Max wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to go to the bathroom. When he walks down the hallway he hears his Mom screaming and runs to her room barging in and he is not happy with what he sees. He just screams, "What are you doing to my Mom?"
A couple minutes later, Noah and Rachel are sitting across from Max in the kitchen downstairs.
Max looks at Rachel and says, "Mom, I changed my mind. I don't like him."
Noah sighs, "Max, c'mon." as he puts his head in his hands.
Max just looks him square in the eye with a scowl on his face and says, "I warned you."
Rachel lets out a quiet giggle, "Max, honey, It's okay. Noah wasn't hurting me."
Max does not look like this is a good enough answer. "Then why were you screaming?"
"Because I was surprised?"
"Surprised?" Noah and Max say at the same time. Rachel gives Noah a look that says just shut up and go with it, I got this. Noah nods and Max waits for his Mom to explain herself.
"Yes, Noah and I were playing a game and he was winning and I was surprise because you know I never lose."
"You do hate when you lose, Mom."
"Yea, I have to work on that."
Max takes a deep breath, thinking this all over. He looks at Noah and says, "Sorry Noah, I didn't know it was just a game. It's okay, Mom yells at me all the time but that doesn't mean she doesn't love you."
Noah smiles, relieved, "Well that's good to know because I love your Mom a lot."
"Duh, who wouldn't love my mom a lot?"
Rachel and Noah laugh, and when Noah looks at her she mouths, "Love you too".
Another year passes and Audrey and Beth are next to Rachel and Max is next to Noah in front of all their family and friends. The Rabbi pronounces Noah and Rachel Puckerman man and wife. They lean in smiling and kiss for the first time as husband and wife. Next to them Audrey and Beth share a high five, celebrating the conclusion and final step of the best plan ever.
Less than a year later, Beth, Audrey, and Max are all sitting and waiting for Noah and Rachel to get home. They hear the front door open and Noah runs in smiling and yells, "Max, buddy, we're not alone anymore! It's a boy!"
The girls scream in excitement and rush to see Rachel.
Max jumps up giving Noah a high five and screams, "Yes!"