Beth gazes out over Central Park, watching the morning light penetrate trees and shine on ponds. She wears her green Bellwood uniform but her brown hair stays untied as she waits for her mother to come and plait it, tie it up in a ribbon or twist it into a neat little bun – as she does every morning.
Beth has her dad's hair. In the baby photos that decorate the walls of their house, she has light, blonde hair. Not long after the time she learnt to walk, though, darker hair shot out of her little head and it was clear that she was to take on her dad's colouring. Her mum and dad joked that clever three-year old Beth had dyed her own hair. At that point her dad would laugh about her mum's hair and reminisce about their high school days, when her mum had some kind of crazy turn and dyed her hair a funny pinky-red colour. Not many of these photos are on the walls, but Beth has seen them in the photo albums that she loves to explore.
Her dad's hair in high school was ridiculous too, but at least he kept it its natural colour – a dark brown. Beth always giggled when she saw photos of the silly stripe of dark hair down the middle of her daddy's head.
To Beth, her mummy and daddy were the weird ones in high school. According to Finn, they were the popular ones. Finn was like her older brother – he told her everything. Funny stories about her mum and dad and their friends in high school? She'd heard them all.
At the start, Beth had found it strange that her mum and Finn had been boyfriend and girlfriend in high school. After the shock of hearing that Finn had thought he was her dad, Beth had compared her mum and Finn. They were nothing alike! Finn was such a good person, had been in the army and loved to sing and dance. Her mum, however, was more of a no-nonsense, get-the-job-done woman. She was studying to become a Family Lawyer.
Beth couldn't see her daddy and Rachel together, either. Good friends now, they had dated in high school – briefly. Rachel was always meant for the limelight and there was never any doubt that she'd achieve her dream. Rachel had told Beth herself that she'd been a "diva" in high school. Beth's daddy didn't seem like the type of person that would go anywhere near Rachel. Even though her dad had been in the same music club as her mum and the others and he still played guitars and sang, Beth couldn't see him in the same position as Rachel. He had his business, pool-cleaning, and he was happy doing that.
"Beth, honey. You're up." A quiet, slightly nasally voice comes from behind the small brown-haired girl. Beth turns to face a woman in a with shoulder length blonde hair and a pretty face. Her mother. She takes the hairbrush off Beth's dresser and plants a kiss on her forehead. "Hello, sweetheart," she whispers.
She brushes Beth's straight hair gently, tying a ribbon around the simple ponytail. "Daddy's waiting," she smiles, stepping back to watch Beth tear out of the room.
Set up at a solid mahogany table in the kitchen is a laptop. Beth stands in front of it, smiling. "Hi Daddy!" she says, joyfully.
Her father's grin is just as wide as her own. "Hello, Monkey Face," comes his reply. Since Beth was very young, her dad has called her Monkey Face. "You look so much older in your uniform! How old are you again? Fifteen? Twenty-four?" Beth giggles.
"No, Dad! If I was twenty-four I'd be older than you! I'm only seven. And you're twenty-three." Her dad laughs, running a hand through his short hair. It is no longer a stripe down the middle of his head, instead shaved shortly and evenly. Beth always made it her business to know the ages of her parents and their friends – most of them were 23 currently, but she'd make it her duty to remind Finn of his age at his birthday next month.
"You're a cheeky little monkey!" Her dad exclaims. He wished he was with Beth so he could tickle her and blow raspberries on her cheek, like he did when she was little. Both of them laugh, Beth's high-pitched giggle harmonising with her dad's lower laugh.
"How's California, Puck-Daddy?" Beth asks, her face serious now. "I miss you." Her dad's face half falls, half smiles at his daughter's nickname for him. Puck-Daddy, a mixture of his high-school nickname and his relationship to Beth, had been coined by Beth when she was younger. She'd found it funny that he got called "Puck" by so many of his former classmates and even funnier was the fact that Puck rhymed with an expletive she had been warned not to use by her father and mother numerous times.
"California's good, Monkey-Face, but I miss you and Mum. It's getting really hot here. I want to swim in the pools, not clean them!" Beth laughs. To her, her dad is the funniest person in the world. Finn is a close second. "Why don't you swim in them then?" Beth's voice is shrill, curious.
"I have to do my job, Beth, so I can live and pay for your school! And your birthday present," he adds with a sly grin. "A little bird told me that it's your birthday soon." Beth rolls her eyes but her smile remains on her face. "A little bird didn't tell you, Daddy, you already knew! And it's in twenty-seven days."
"How's Mummy?" Puck asks after a while, making eye contact with Beth through the computer. "You just talked to Mummy," Beth exclaims. "You know how she is!"
Every morning, before Beth and Puck had their meeting, Quinn and Puck talked. This was the time in which Beth got up and dressed. It had become their routine. While Beth's mum did her hair, Beth's dad would wait to talk to her. Then it was Beth's turn to talk – she would talk to her dad whilst preparing her breakfast, taking care not to spill anything on her expensive green Bellwood blazer.
"Yeah, but I want to hear from you." Puck tilts his head to one side, watching his daughter place a spoon of cornflakes in her mouth. He laughs to himself – it was so like Quinn to make Beth eat healthily. He could imagine taking Beth to the supermarket. Secretly, he'd let her have Froot Loops and Lucky Charms and Frosted Flakes, which Quinn would scold because they were all full of sugar.
Beth finished her mouthful. "She's good. She's going to college today and she promised she'd pick me up from school and get an ice-cream with me. She's really happy! And we're gonna see Finn and Rachel in the weekend sometime." Puck is almost taken aback by Beth's joyful tale. He knows it was his choice to work in California, but every time Beth seems happy, he feels a tiny pang of sadness – not because she's happy, but for the fact that she's happy without him.
"That's great, Monkey. Are you having fun at school?" Beth nods, swallowing another mouthful of cornflakes. "Yeah, it's cool. We played soccer yesterday." Puck imagines the small seven year old kicking a ball around on a grassy field and is hit with flashbacks of his time playing on the football team in high school. Finn was the quarterback, Quinn the head cheerleader… Sometimes he misses those times so badly.
"Beth," chimes Quinn's sweet voice from another room. "It's time to go." Beth groans loudly, loud enough for her mother to hear. "I'm sorry, Beth. I want to talk to Puck-Daddy too. But I have college and you have school and your dad has pools to clean." Puck laughs again at the use of Beth's nickname for him. "Mama Bear's right, Monkey Face. Have a good day, you guys." Quinn rests her hand on Beth's shoulder. "Bye, Puck," she smiles. The high school nickname never had died out. "Bye Dad," Beth mumbles. "Talk to you soon."
And with a loud beep, the call is ended, Puck's face disappearing from the screen, and Beth and Quinn's faces disappearing from Puck's screen. Still sitting at his table, gazing at the laptop, Puck sings sadly.
"Beth, I hear you calling, but I can't come home right now."