2.
True to her word, Rachel steps in a few times to let Mike catch up on sleep and she can see how much better Mike seems for it. She finds out that Puck's mum watches Melody whenever she can when Mike's working and Rachel's glad that he doesn't have to worry about that too. It's a month later when Melody hits ten weeks that Puck's mum insists that Mike has an evening with his friends, like a normal 18 year old.
"She will be fine, Mike," She smiles at him as Mike once again frets about something. "I will call you if she needs you and you have my number to call me."
Mike nods as Puck grabs his arm to stop him moving.
"She'll be fine and we'll be back in a few hours."
"I know." Mike answers. "It just feels a little strange."
Puck grins two hours later as he looks over at Mike, who is laughing at Rachel. Rachel has her head buried against Mike's arm, watching the film that is on. He's glad Mike is enjoying some time for himself, he deserves it.
[+]
Rachel finds herself spending most evenings at Mike's apartment and she finds herself not minding. With both her Dad's away on business trips again, it's a welcome change from being home alone or not. She makes sure Mike's okay with it, she doesn't want him to feel like she's intruding.
His answer is a smile and a squeeze to the arm. "Rach, I love having you here, I'm not sure how I'd be coping."
One evening, Mike finishes work at 7 and Rachel, Puck and Matt had been sat eating at the diner, chatting to Mike whenever they can, helping him get through the shift. He makes his excuses after staying for one quick milkshake with everyone and he grins when he takes Rachel's hand under the table and she nods. He doesn't even need to ask. They say their goodbyes and he pulls her up gently, waving to their friends as they head for his car.
"Why aren't they together yet?" Matt muses as he watches them leave.
Puck rolls his eyes, "I say we give them till Christmas before we give them a friendly push in the right direction."
[+]
After picking Melody up, they head back towards Mike's place. Melody's settled once they get there and Rachel pushes Mike towards the bathroom and he gets the hint that she's happy to hold the fort whilst he showers. Rachel quickly fixes something together for him to eat, because she knows he'll claim he's too tired to bother once he comes out of the shower and dishes it up just as he steps out again.
"Thanks, Rach," He smiles as he heads towards her. "You really don't need to do that."
"I do." She answers and smiles back at him as he pulls her into a small hug. "Otherwise you won't eat."
He goes to answer, but there's a cry from the other side of the apartment and before he can react, Rachel places a hand against his arm.
"You eat and I'll see to Melody," She looks up at him to make sure it's okay. "That's if you don't mind obviously. I don't want you to feel like I'm taking over."
He shakes his head lightly, "I'd like that. It'd be nice to eat a meal in one go and Rach?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not taking over."
She smiles at him before crossing the apartment to where Melody is in her crib, picking her up, she wraps her snugly in the blanket and begins to make soothing noises watching as the little girls eyes begin to close again. She glances over at Mike and he smiles back from where he's been watching her, eating the food she'd made him. She glances back down at Melody, realising she's asleep and gently places her back into the crib. Making sure the little girl is snug and comfortable, she heads back towards where Mike is sat on a kitchen stool.
"Thank you," He whispers, "For helping with Melody and for making sure I'm fed."
She laughs a little and takes a seat next to him. "Anytime," glancing up at the clock, she sighs a little. "I should get going soon, before it gets too dark."
He swallows his last mouthful of food and turns to her, "Stay here, I mean you don't have to, but it's starting to get dark already and I don't want you heading out on your own."
She thinks about it for a few seconds, knowing she want her answer to be yes straight away, but she also doesn't know exactly where she stands with him right now and she doesn't want to make things awkward. Her heart wins over her head and she nods, "I don't have any spare clothes."
"I'm sure I have something you can wear." His answer is simple and she smiles and nods.
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
He takes her hand and stands up pulling her with him. "Rach, if I minded I wouldn't be asking."
They find a t-shirt and some sweats of his that aren't too baggy on her and she changes in the bathroom, folding her own clothes neatly. She notices his smirk as she emerges in his clothes, but pretends she hasn't and looks towards the sofa.
"Do you have a spare blanket?" She asks.
He shakes his head and motions towards his bed, "There is plenty of room here though. I mean only if you feel comfortable enough." He already knows her answer will be yes, they've shared a bed before, plenty of times when they've stayed at other Glee members houses. He knows he should probably try not to be as obvious as he is, because of course, he wouldn't have a chance now, not that he had an added human in his equation now, but he can't help it.
She smiles at him and heads towards the bed, settling herself under the duvet as he turns all the lights off minus his bedside lamp. "As long as you don't steal all the blanket, then I'll be comfortable."
He laughs as he climbs in too, making himself comfortable. "I can't promise that." He reaches for his phone as it pings and silences it quickly, not wanting to disturb Melody again. Opening the message he rolls his eyes realising its another cat video that Matt has sent him. He hears a giggle next to him and turns to look at Rachel, who is looking at him and his phone, still laughing quietly.
They end up spending the next hour watching funny videos before Melody awakes again, this time Mike knowing it's because she's hungry. Rachel is up before he can react and heads to make the bottle as Mike sits up and reaches over to Melody, wrapping her in his arms and sitting back against the heard board. He thanks Rachel as she passes him the bottle and settles back beside him.
"Is Santana picking you up in the morning?" Rachel asks and Mike nods.
"Yeah, Puck's mom is heading over here in the morning to watch Melody as there's some work going on in the house next to her. I don't have work either so saves my petrol." He laughs lightly. "Is she supposed to be picking you up?"
Rachel nods and takes her own phone out, "I best ask her to bring some clothes over too. I do not want to turn up in the same clothes two days in a row." She taps a quick text out and gets one back with a simple, "Wanky." She knows that's Santana's yes answer.
"Do you really trust Santana to dress you tomorrow?" He laughs as he pats Melody's back lightly.
"No, I'm actually terrified at the thought of what she's going to bring." She pulls a face, before laughing as Melody lets out a loud noise. "She is one hundred percent like you."
"Hey!" He jabs her side lightly. He notices how Melody is already falling back to sleep and knows how lucky he is that she's such a good sleeper. He places her back into the crib, checking she's okay before he lays back down, turning the lamp off noticing Rachel already lay comfortable too. "Goodnight Rach."
"Night," She mumbles back.