Title: Patience Is For Amateurs (sequel to At Least She's Jewish by cleanslate)
Characters: Rachel/Puck, OC, Gleeks
Rating: M - Puck is a potty mouth and Rachel/Puck are married and totally do married stuff as much as possible.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I only own the CDs, DVD and a McKinley Football sweatshirt I got on eBay.
A/N: A huge cyberhug for cleanslate for letting me play with her fanfic and being a great Beta Babe! This is my first Glee fanfic and I'd appreciate any concrit you have to give. A big shout out to GoingVintage and knkykty (Thank you for the drive-by!) for listening to my ranting and pushing me to make this better. Kudos to im2looney for the help with deciding what the Gleeks would be up to. Y'all rock my socks off!
"Whoever said patience is a virtue is totally full of shit." Noah A. Puckerman, Sr.
Everyone at the table slowly stopped talking when they saw the pair walk in the room, their hands linked and huge grins on their faces. When Noah pulled out the chair for Rachel to sit in, there was a simultaneous jaw dropping around the table, along with a loud gasp from Quinn. Finn froze for a moment with half a sandwich hanging out of his mouth, not knowing what he had missed.
Okay, so subtlety just went out the window, Rachel thought as her eyes looked up to Noah. She snorted a little to see her husband's face plastered with a look like a deer caught in headlights. After seeing the first reaction of the group, she figured now was as good as any to let their friends know the reason they had called their "family" meeting.
Rachel stood, removed the hoodie and smoothed the baby doll shirt she had put on underneath. A quick move to show the Gleeks her gravid profile brought a squeal from the girls and shocked looks toward Noah from the guys. If the young couple had imagined their announcement would actually go this well without saying a word, they would have slept better the night before.
Soon enough, the stunned friends started to talk loudly over each other letting the couple know how excited they were, congratulating them, as well as asking too many questions at the same time.
Asher ran to his mother when he heard the explosion of noise; his head quickly hidden under her shirt. She let him stay there for a moment before trying to coax him out. Noah quickly waved his arms to signal to the group that they needed to quiet down, and they all did rather quickly.
"Bug, you need to come out from under Mama's shirt." she soothed. Rachel sat down again and carefully put him on her lap as she still whispered in his ear to help him focus. "I'll just snuggle you close for a little bit, okay? Our friends were just very happy that we're having a new baby so that's why they were loud. Do you understand?"
Asher nodded quietly then buried his face into his mother's chest. She hugged him to her as she felt him choking back a sniffle. This was definitely the hardest part of parenting for Rachel, trying to console her son. She sighed loudly as she gently toyed with her son's hair, "It's okay, Bug. Mama's here."
Noah picked up the boy and handed him the ultrasound picture he had pulled from his pocket. He winked at Asher and whispered into his ear, "Go on, Ash! You tell them that there are two babies, okay? You can do it!"
Asher quickly scrambled up to sit on his father's shoulders with the piece of paper in his hand. A big grin crept across his face as he held the sonogram over his head for everyone to see. The entire room paused to hear what he was going to say.
"Two babies!" he yelled, "Mama has two babies inside her."
His hands quickly went to his ears as he waited for the loudness again but was surprised when the group just sad there blinking for a few moments, except for Rachel's Dads who had just grinned when they saw their grandson with the pictures since Rachel had accidentally told them the month before. Asher quickly scrambled down from his father's shoulders and asked to play in the guest room upstairs away from the confusing noise of the grown ups.
Mark Berry put a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder, "Sweetpea, I'll go upstairs with Asher to keep an eye on him so you can attend to your guests."
"Thank you, Dad. I really appreciate it. I guess all this is just too much for him." she kissed her son on the cheek then turned back to her husband. "Are you ready for this?"
"Y'mean am I ready for this party? Because I sure as fuck am, baby." he exhaled loudly. "I need this after the last two weeks we've had of drama enemas and ER visits."
She took his hand to place it on her belly, "This, Noah. Are you ready for this?" she whispered. "Would I be a bad Mom if I said I was scared?"
With a quick move he hugged her close. "I think all parents are scared shitless most of the time, Rach. And for the record, you're an awesome mother and I'll kick the ass of the person who dares to disagree."
She laughed into his chest; he knew just what to say at the moment she needed it. "I love you so much, Noah."
"And you can show me some of that love tonight after we put Asher to bed, baby." he growled in reply.
Their quiet moment was interrupted by Artie who had come home for the weekend from the University of Michigan where he was almost finished getting his bachelor's degree in journalism.
"Guys! Big congrats on the new additions! It looks like Asher is pretty jazzed about his impending big brotherhood." he enthused. He gave Noah a high five and hugged Rachel along with a big grin.
"Thank you, Artie. We're really excited about everything and still kind of shocked about the prospect of twins." Rachel sighed. "If you'll excuse me please, I need to go talk to Quinn. Thank you so much for making the trip, we really appreciate it."
He nodded his confirmation and continued to get Noah up to speed on what life was life on campus. Noah half listened as his friend enthused about his life away from small town Ohio.
"Puck, you really need to come to campus this term. I'm sure you think that someone with my major wouldn't be invited to parties and such but you'd be surprised." Artie smiled, "I think I'm beginning to get a taste for beer."
Noah was happy for his friend but also wondered what it would be like to be able to take off for the weekend on a whim or sleep until noon then eat pizza for breakfast. After being a parent for five years he couldn't remember what just randomly doing something was like or putting chores on hold until he wanted to do them. He loved his family so wasn't planning on complaining.
Across the room Rachel was cornering Quinn in the attempt to get the ex-Cheerio to talk. The look that the blonde had on her face when she saw Finn walk in the room wasn't one an adoring girlfriend would have. The last time the high school sweethearts were together, Finn was hugging Quinn promising her he'd visit soon while she had her tear-stained face buried in his chest. At that very moment, daggers were being mentally plunged into the young man's back from the angry face in front of Rachel.
"Quinn? Can I just say you're scaring me a little bit with the way you're looking at Finn?"
"I just don't get it, Rachel. We've been together since we were in high school but for some reason he's scared out of his mind when I talk about marriage. He says he wants to be with me, he wants to have kids, but if marriage even gets hinted at he just shuts down." Quinn sighed loudly as she crossed her arms.
"He does realize that usually the traditional relationship progression is admission of love, marriage and then children, right?"
Quinn looked from glaring at Finn's back to Rachel's face that was now plastered with a big grin. Obviously the petite young mother chose her words specifically to get a reaction from her friend, and as usual she did a really good job of pushing the right buttons.
"Uh yeah, Rach. You and Puck are such bad examples having Ash first before getting married." The blonde rolled her eyes then wrapped her arms around her friend. "Jerk. Quit trying to make me laugh when I'm trying to set Finn's hair on fire with my superior telekinetic abilities."
The friends hugged for a minute before Rachel stepped back to find out the real source of Quinn's frustration.
Rachel raised her eyebrow. "Okay, so here's the big question. Does he know what you're specifically mad about? I mean, exactly that you want to get married and you don't understand why he doesn't?"
Quinn's face fell rather quickly as she listened. She knew that she needed to be bluntly frank with her boyfriend, inference just was not his forte, but she didn't understand how after so many years together he couldn't read her. It was plainly obvious to her so why didn't he seem to get it? It didn't used to annoy her when they were in high school but now that they were older she expected to not have to explain everything, she had hoped that he would hear her subtext.
A loud knock at the door interrupted the girls' conversation but when the door was opened a big cheer went up. Brittany and Santana had made the trip from Chicago much to everyone's surprise. Santana was studying law as well as working in a law firm while Brittany taught dance to kids at a local studio. Both girls were incredibly busy but were glad to make the trip to support their friends.
As soon as her eyes locked on the former captain, Brittany quickly left Santana's side to make a beeline for Quinn to smother her in a hug. While the petite blonde was happy to see her friend she found that she needed oxygen more. The struggle to break free continued until Quinn could turn her head to plead for air.
"B, I need to breathe!" she gasped.
Brittany released her deathgrip and began to tell her friends in excruciating detail what the two Cheerios had done that weekend during their visit to Lima. Everything. Even Rachel, with her love of minutiae was starting to nod off. Brittany continued to talk to Quinn even after the brunette had excused herself to speak to the former Ms. Pillsbury, now Mrs. Schuester. The Fabray glare was now directed at Rachel as she walked away, a laugh poorly stifled.
"Rachel! Oh my gosh! Congratulations. You and Noah must be very excited." the guidance councilor grinned.
Rachel hugged her close but paused for a moment putting Emma at arms length. She cocked her head to the side as she looked her up and down. The confused woman looked herself up and down to see if she had spilled something on her clothes then looked to the brunette.
"What? Did I spill something? What?" She was starting to panic.
A small smile started to form on Rachel's face as she leaned into whisper to the red head.
"I know your secret." she said quietly. "You said you've been feeling under the weather lately, right? You two are pregnant, aren't you?"
A well manicured hand goes up to Emma's mouth as she gasped, "H-how did you know? We just found out a few weeks ago and wanted to wait before we said anything. Y-you know, just in case." She can't look at Rachel when she says that because the young mother does know what that's like.
Rachel choked back her tears as she fumbled to hold her dear friend close, trying not to leave too many tears on the taller woman's shoulder. She tried to say how happy she was for them but for some reason any words came out as sobbing. Emma quickly took charge and escorted her outside, sitting down on the picnic table in the backyard.
Inside, Noah checked his watch to get the webcam ready for the link up with Mercedes, Tina, Mike and Matt. All of them were broke, too far away, or working so they couldn't make it back to Ohio. Tina was still studying linguistics in England, Matt was at UC San Luis Obispo getting ready to graduate with a degree in architecture, Mike was in Singapore translating for his family's business and Mercedes was in New York City working hard getting a poly sci degree while interning at the mayors office. The former bad boy laughed to himself when he thought about how different everyone's life was compared to where they thought they would be. None of the classmates had imagined that Rachel Berry and Puck would be together, married and parents before they were able to legally drink. When the news of Rachel's pregnancy hit the school grapevine most people who heard the news couldn't believe it - Rachel Berry was going to be a Broadway star and not a teenage mother. He had felt guilty about derailing her lifelong dream especially after the car accident and her miscarriage. During their rough patch while they were all healing, he had considered leaving Rachel and Asher to keep them away from his vortex of doom but when she saw the look in his eye she made him realize they needed him.
"Okay, everybody. About two minutes until the link up with the Gleeks who couldn't make it. Can everyone please gather around the table, please?" Noah requested. He scanned the room for Rachel as he spoke but couldn't see her. A pat on the back followed by a finger pointed from Mr. Schue to the picnic table outside let him know that his wife was talking to Ms. Pillsbury, uh, Mrs. Schue. A handkerchief brought up to wipe Rachel's face didn't make him too optimistic about how the rest of the day was going to play out. He must have groaned out loud at the sight because Artie was beside him trying to reassure him
"It's gonna be okay, Puck. You remember how she was when she was pregnant with Asher and that thing in the auditorium? Whoa. I have to say you handled it better than I would have back then." he flinched when he remembered the crying girl.
"She hasn't really flipped out that badly in a long time, Artie. I think she's upset about something else today and I don't think it's the babies." Noah groaned again at the use of the plural. "It's gonna take me a while to get used to the fact that we're having twins."
Artie smiled as slapped his friend's back, "Hey, I'm just glad it's you and not me."
Noah just rolled his eyes. "You can't hide your jealousy man. I see you checkin' out Rach and her wicked rack of doom. I do have to admit it is my favorite part about her being pregnant." he chuckled.
Rachel and Emma walked back into the kitchen just as the words left Noah's mouth. A wink from his wife let him know that she had heard what she said and they would have to discuss it later, most likely after their clothes were on the floor.
Okay, maybe the day was looking up.
As everyone got settled around the large table, Emma gave Noah a reassuring squeeze on his arm. "She's okay. I promise. We're just in a similar boat so it made her really happy and a sad when I, um, talked about my own concerns. I apologize, Noah."
Noah was glad it had nothing to do with him for once but wondered what the… WHOA! Schue had knocked up Ms. Pillsbury? He couldn't believe that he actually knew more than his former teacher about something. Well, actually, anything.
Rachel sat down next to her husband with a grin on her face. "Okay, just a few more Gleeks to tell! Are you ready for this?"
"Babe, I am. Let's do this." he winked.
The large monitor showed the four Gleeks sitting at their desks as they each linked to the Berry's camera. They all waved at the assembled people and started talking over each other.
Noah stood up and quieted everyone down then pulled Rachel up to stand.
"Okay, we called this family meeting today to announce..Rachel? Would you like to continue?"
Rachel turned toward the camera and then to the side so the remaining Gleeks could see her small but obvious belly. She traced a pattern on her midsection as she listened to their responses.
"Thank you so much everyone. I'm not due until spring break but I'm sure you're noticing that I'm a little bit large for thirteen weeks. Well, it's because we're having twins!" she beamed.
Emma quickly stood up to grab Rachel's hand as the room erupted in clapping and cheering. After a quick nod from the younger girl a very surprised Emma blurted, "Will and I are expecting, too. So it looks like there will be three new Glee babies by the time March rolls around."
The room suddenly went silent, the entire group had their jaws on the floor and their eyes on the redhead who was now clinging to her husband. She wasn't entirely sure she had made the right choice looking at the shocked appearances on their faces. The only people who had smiles on their faces were Rachel and Noah, Noah looking much like the cat who got the canary. Rachel was just relieved that someone could share the experiences with her this time around.
Quinn was the first to speak, "Oh Mrs. Schue! That's fantastic! I am so happy for you both."
All their heads quickly whipped around to look at her and she jumped at the sound. Asher chose this quiet time to run into the kitchen, he skidded across the linoleum floor and straight into Mr. Schue.
"What's up buttercup?" the boy laughed.
Will picked him up to put him on his shoulders tickling him as he went. "Well, Asher. Mrs. Schue just announced that we're having a new baby about he same time your family is. What do you think about that?"
Asher put both of his hands on the side of the man's face to turn it as much as possible towards him. His eyes were big as he spoke, "My Mrs. Schue has a baby in her, too? Good job, Mr. Schue. High five!"
Will high fived the boy back as the room broke into laugher. When he saw that the noise was getting to be too much for the boy he pulled him down to his chest to muffle the noise with his hands. The group quickly quieted down for the boy's comfort, just because he looked like a duck and quacked like one sure didn't mean he was. He was a boy who was smart beyond his years so his other issues were easily forgotten by the now grown up Gleeks.
Rachel held out her arms and motioned for him to climb on to her lap. He happily snuggled into her chest as he talked to her bump.
"Babies, my Mrs. Schue is gonna have a baby too so you'll be the same number as them. You be nice to Mama,babies, so no more making her feel yucky, got it?" he paused to wait for a reply.
When the bump started to jiggle with his mother's laughing he took it as a confirmation. He gently patted the bump while he spoke in a very serious tone.
"Good babies. I miss you babies." he whispered. He smiled up as his mother, planted a kiss on both cheeks followed by a raspberry on her neck. He loved to see his Mama smile best of all. He loved it more than ice cream, he loved it more than playing games with Da and he loved is almost as much as sleeping on the couch when his Ma and Da watched the singing movies, almost.
"I love you, Bug."
"I know, Mama. You tell me every day."
Asher held his arms up toward the ceiling, "I love you this much, Mama. The biggest big there is."
"What about me, Ash?' Noah leaned over his wife's shoulder to be close to his son's face. "Do you love me that big?"
Asher leaned forward to put his nose to his father's, "Oh yes, Da. I love you the biggest big too. Do you think I'll love the babies that big? It's a big job to be a big brother and I'm a little scared."
Both Rachel and Noah held their son closely for a few moments before he started to wiggle free.
"Okay, okay! I believe I can do it!" he sputtered, "Can we have some cake now?"
"Sure, Bug. Go tell your GrandPapa that we said it was okay." Rachel paused until Asher was out of earshot. "I think I feel a little bit better about this whole new experience Noah. Thank you so much."
Noah curled up his lip with a wondering look on his face, "For what, babe?"
"For being there for the long haul, for doing you best and admitting you're scared too. I love you Noah Puckerman."
He laughed at hearing his own words repeated back. "I love you, too Rachel Berry-Puckerman. I love you the biggest big."
A/N: Please take a moment to review or comment. It is the food writers live off of!