Charmed - The entire history of Rachel and Puck's relationship can be retold just from the charms on a simple silver bracelet.

Rating - T

Characters - Rachel & Puck

A/N -Reviews/concrit are loved, as are suggestions as to what you want to see happen. And I'm from the UK, so if anything American is not quite right, please let me know and I'll fix it.

Someone asked how old Beth was, in my head she's about 4 or 5 but an old 4 or a young 5 if that makes sense?


Chapter 9 - Plane and simple

Rachel sighed and fidgeted in her seat, she didn't usually mind flying and she was really looking forward to catching up with Quinn but she was dreading taking Kaleb on the 6 hour flight. Luckily the family had been given a row of four bulkhead seats in the middle of the plane, Rachel had fed Kaleb the second they'd found their seats before strapping him into his car seat and now as the plane taxied along the runway she could see his eyes drooping and she hoped he'd sleep his way to California. "Are you okay?" she asked Beth as they prepared to take off.

Beth nodded, "I'm a bit scared" she confessed.

"It's okay" Rachel wrapped her arm around the small girl, "you've been on a plane before haven't you?"

Beth nodded, "only with my Mommy"

"That's okay" Rachel smiled, "Noah and I won't let anything bad happen to you" she promised.

"Hey Babe" They were three hours into their flight when Noah lifted a sleeping Beth from her seat beside Rachel before sitting down himself and holding Beth on his knee. "I feel like we're miles apart" he joked even though there were only two seats between him and Rachel it still felt like too far. "That one looks nice." He gestured to the estate agent's brochure Rachel was currently looking at. "Where is it?"

"New York" Rachel sighed. Once Rachel and Noah had legal custody of Beth the rest of Shelby's Will had been read, she'd left a three bedroom house in New York and a large amount of money from her life insurance policy to whoever took on her daughter. After a long discussion Rachel and Noah had decided to sell Shelby's house and buy one of their own, the only problem was that Rachel wasn't sure that she wanted to stay in New York any more.

"Babe" Noah kissed Rachel's cheek, "if you want to go back to Ohio we can go back to Ohio it's not a problem."

"I don't want Kaleb and Beth to be Lima loosers."

"We don't have to go back to Lima, we could move to Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus Akron, Cincinnati, hell it's not Ohio but I bet we could drive to your parents from Indianapolis in about three hours if we didn't hit traffic. It's only four hours to Chicago, that's closer than New York."

"What about your training?"

"Don't worry about it, I've already looked into it I can transfer to another training course without too much hassle. What about college?"

Rachel shrugged and lowered her gaze from Noah's, "Since I had Kaleb I've been having doubts about going back." She admitted, "you know what it's like when were rehearsing for a show, I can leave the apartment at 7am and not be back until midnight I don't want to be that kind of mother to Kaleb or Beth."

"If you're sure?"

Rachel nodded, "I am Noah"

"We'd certainly get a lot more for our money in Ohio."

"Yeah we would" Rachel agreed.

"We could get a few extra bedrooms" Noah smiled seductively, stroking his hand over Rachel's flat stomach, "have our own show choir. But on a more serous note I was thinking if we did choose to buy something in Ohio we could maybe buy a second place and rent it out, it would earn us some cash and then Beth would have her own place when she's old enough."

"Would you mind moving back to Ohio?"

"Babe I'd move to the moon if it meant you were happy. We can start looking at houses in Ohio as soon as we get back" he smiled kissing Rachel again before settling back in his seat, Beth still sleeping on his lap.

"You're sat in my seat" Beth mumbled into Noah's chest, rubbing at her eyes as she woke.

"I just wanted to sit next to Rachel for a while".

"Did you kiss?"

"Maybe just a little bit" Noah grinned beginning to tickle Beth slightly.

"No" Beth giggled, "No Noah, please don't". Noah was forced to stop tickling Beth when Kaleb woke with a wail. "Hey sleepy bug." He passed Beth over to Rachel so he could unstrap Kaleb from his seat so he didn't become 'that' screaming baby everyone hated.

"Hey" Beth covered her eyes with her hands, "where's Kaleb gone?" She pretended to look around the plane, "Kaleb, where are you?" She paused for a moment before pulling her hand from her eyes, "boo!". She noticed Kaleb had quietened somewhat and quickly covered her eyes again, "Oh no" she gasped, "Kaleb's gone again. Where is he?" She heard Kaleb giggle and once again pulled her hands from her eyes, "boo!"

Rachel smiled and kissed Beth's head, she loved how easily Beth had taken to being Kaleb's big sister and it was obvious that Kaleb adored the attention Beth constantly gave to him. She remembered the first time she realised how much of a comfort Kaleb could be for Beth. She'd picked Beth up from school to find her eyes red and filled with unshed tears, her cheeks still damp from the tears she'd already cried. Beth didn't speak to Rachel as they drove home and she curled herself into a ball on the sofa once they arrived back at the apartment. "Bad day hey?" Rachel asked softly as she sat beside Beth and began running her fingers through the young girl's hair. Beth nodded into the cushion her face was buried in. "Want to talk about it?" Rachel asked. Beth shook her head. "Do you want to cuddle with Kaleb?" Beth lifted her head from the pillow, making eye contact for the first time since she'd left school she nodded slowly. "Okay." Rachel smiled, "give me a minute. She decided that the floor would be the safest place for Beth to cuddle Kaleb without her constant watch but she knew it wouldn't be comfortable so she took the duvet from both her bed and Beth's, folding her duvet in half before placing Beth's on top and then taking the pillows from both beds and the sofa, arranging them on the living room floor before settling Kaleb into the pillows, covering him loosely with a blanket and gesturing for Beth to lie beside him under the blanket. "I'll be in my room if you want me" Rachel told Beth, kissing both her and Kaleb before leaving the room.

She'd checked on them ten minutes later to find Beth curled tightly into Kaleb, her cheeks wet with tears as the usually noisy baby laid quietly beside her, her index and middle fingers grasped tightly in his fist it was almost like he knew Beth needed him to comfort her.

"Do you love me?" Beth asked quietly as she walked slowly into Rachel's bedroom, Rachel had left the door wide open so Beth knew she was welcome to go in if she wanted to.

"Of course I love you Beth" Rachel quickly pulled the girl onto her lap and hugged her tightly, "you shouldn't need to ask that."

"My friend Tegan said you and Noah don't love me and I only live with you because I have to and you love Kaleb more than me."

"Baby" Rachel wiped at Beth's tears, "if Tegan said that then she's not your friend. But Noah and I love you exactly the same as we love Kaleb and we always will do, it doesn't matter what you do or how angry or sad you get, Noah and I will always love you."

"Did you have to let me live here?" Beth asked quietly as she began to play with the hem of Rachel's shirt.

"No" Rachel told her truthfully, "after Mommy went to heaven someone rang us and told us what had happened and said they needed someone to look after you. We told them to bring you here and we told them that because we wanted you to come live with us, If we didn't want you we'd never have let you come live here, the only reason you live with us is because we love you and we want you to be part of this family. We're not going to send you away if that's what you're worried about. "

"Promise?"

Rachel nodded, "I promise Beth. We're probably all going to move to a new house soon so that Kaleb can have his own bedroom too, but you'll be coming with us, we want you to be able to have a big girl room and not have to sleep in Kaleb's nursery."

"Can it be blue?" Beth asked beginning to cheer up slightly.

Rachel smiled and kissed Beth's forehead, "baby it can be any colour you want it to be."

Kaleb's fingers grabbing at her arm pulled Rachel from her daydream. "Hey Bug" she somehow managed to hold him on her lap beside Beth.

"I think he needs changing" Noah told her, "I need to grab the changing bag" he gestured to the overhead locker "then I'll go do it."

"Okay" Rachel smiled waiting until Noah had the changing bag before passing Kaleb back to him.

The morning after the flight they collected their hire car and drove out to Quinn's apartment. Quinn froze as she saw Beth, she couldn't believe that the young girl in front of her was the baby she gave away almost five years ago. Part of her hated that she'd missed out on her life, but at the same time she knew she'd made the right decision to give her away, there was no way Quinn could have given her the life she deserved.

"Quinn" Rachel flung herself at Quinn, during their last year in high school Quinn and Rachel had slowly become friends, and she'd been there to answer all of the silly little pregnancy questions she'd been too embarrassed to ask Noah's mom.

Noah came up behind Rachel, "gonna let anyone else say hello?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" Rachel finally let go of Quinn, "Quinn, this is Beth" she gestured to the girl now clutching tightly to Noah's free hand. "Beth" Rachel crouched down to Beth's height, "this is our friend Quinn, do you remember we said we were going to come see her." Beth nodded shyly. "Are you going to say hello?"

"Hi" Beth whispered.

"Hey" Quinn smiled, "I've heard a lot about you."

"That's Kaleb" Beth pointed to the baby grizzling into Noah's shoulder, "I think he's my brother now."

"Oh my god Rachel, he's adorable" Quinn gasped, "you must be so proud of him.

"I think he's hungry" Noah announced as Kaleb began to chew on his shoulder.

"Puck" it was as if Quinn had only just realised Noah was there and she threw her arms around him causing Kaleb to whine. "Come in" Quinn gestured the family further into her apartment, "make yourself at home, can I get you anything?"

Rachel knew Quinn and Beth would get along but she'd never imagined just how well. It took a while for Beth to move from where she sat between Rachel and Noah but she was soon laughing and joking with Quinn on the floor of the apartment, the two curled into each other as they watched New Directions performing at Nationals in their senior year. Rachel couldn't help but smile when Beth and Quinn began singing along before Beth turned and asked Noah and Rachel to join them. Even Kaleb babbled along tunelessly.

"You're doing an amazing job" Quinn told Rachel as the two women prepared dinner later that evening. "I'm so glad she went to the two of you" Quinn glanced into the living area where Puck sat beside Beth, the young girl curled into his side, Kaleb on his father's lap as Puck read to them both, occasionally making Beth giggle with a silly voice. "I knew you'd make a great Mom. You're just, I don't know, it's like you were made to be a mom."

Rachel smiled, "thank you. And I'm sure that when the time is right you too will make a great mom. You've been great with Kaleb and Beth today."

"She's a great kid" Quinn smiled. "If it's okay with you I'd like to make this a more regular thing. I could come to New York next time". Quinn saw Rachel's expression change, "I mean if you'd rather I didn't then that's okay, I mean you probably don't want me pushing my way into your family, I understand."

"No, Quinn" Rachel was quick to correct her, "to me you'll always be Beth's mother and I would never stop you seeing her, I'd just hate for you to have a wasted trip to New York. Noah and I have been talking about moving back to Ohio" she clarified.

"Oh right"

"Yeah" Rachel nodded, the two bedroomed apartment isn't really great, Kaleb's nursery was fine for him but we've had to move him in with us. Noah can't even get in his side of the bed because we've had to push it against the wall and we can just get so much more for our money in Ohio, we haven't decided where yet, but we know it won't be Lima."

Quinn nodded in agreement. " You've got a family now, you need a house with a garden for them to play in. But what about college, Broadway?"

Rachel shrugged "I think for now I'd rather be a mom. College and Broadway will still be there when Kaleb and Beth are stroppy teenagers and I need to escape".

Noah and Rachel spent an enjoyable weekend with Quinn and their children. They were surprised at how quickly Beth had come out of her shell, she usually took a while to warm to new people but by Saturday morning Beth was like Quinn's second shadow. On a trip to the zoo she skipped along happily in front of Noah and Rachel, holding tightly to Quinn's hand as the blonde read out the information sheets at each enclosure they reached. They came to the first monkey enclosure and Beth let her hand slip from Quinn's and she ran back over to Rachel and Noah, "Look Kaleb, they're monkeys like you" she grinned, reaching into the buggy to tickle the infant before leaving him giggling to himself and going back to join Quinn.

"I had a really good time" Beth smiled throwing her arms around Quinn as Rachel and Noah waited by the hire car, "Rachel says I can see you again soon?"

Quinn nodded, "when you've all moved into your new house I'll come visit you, but I'll call you and we can talk on the internet okay? "

Beth's face lit up and she hugged Quinn tighter, "Will you be my best friend?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I will" Quinn thought her face was going to explode from smiling too much, "you be good for Rachel and Noah and I'll speak to you real soon." Quinn kissed Beth again before letting her go back to Rachel and Noah. Although it broke her heart to see Beth leave she knew she'd be seeing her again and after meeting the child for the first time she was absolutely convinced she'd made the right decision, not only in giving Beth to Shelby, but also allowing her to stay with Noah and Rachel, Beth was happy and she was so obviously loved and that was all Quinn wanted for the child.

Noah and Rachel had given Quinn space to say her goodbyes to Beth, Rachel leant against Noah as he leaned against the car. "I got you something" he whispered in her ear after kissing her neck, "I was going to wait til we made it safely back to New York, but I think the fact that we made it here in one piece deserves celebration, I was surprised how simple it was. He reached into his back pocket. "I love you babe" he kissed her again before handing her the next charm for her bracelet, a small plane to remind her of the first trip they took as a family.


A/N 2: I've started writing the wedding chapter (I think it's probably going to be chapter 11, 12 at the latest) but it seems to have taken on a life of it's own so I wanted to ask your opinion, would you like, a long wedding chapter (5000 words at least) for the wedding chapter to be split into two parts (would you like Puck to give Rachel a charm in each chapter in keeping with the story) or would you rather I did some major editing and cut the part down to the size of the other chapters?