Author's Note: Okay let's hope this works. I've already tried uploading this part a few times and for some reason it's coming up as part two even though in the uploader it's showing part twelve correctly. Sorry everyone.
So… I've had a bunch of people asking me to do a sequel for this and… I may be caving a little bit. For it to work I'd have to have Brittany as the baby but as I already wrote her into the story in part nine as the girl Santana slept with I'm not sure. But, I did come up with a way to do it and I've already started writing an alternate part 13 to set up a sequel. For it to work I'd have to go back and change Brittany's name to Quinn's because she hasn't been in the story yet. So, if people could drop me a line to let me know if you want me to go back and change that part of part nine and do I sequel I'd really appreciate it. If enough people want me to do a sequel I'll do it but if there's not enough interest I'll just post my original ending for this story. Thanks.
Also this is a pretty long chapter so enjoy!
Rachel sat with Finn on the floor of his bedroom. She'd given the both of them a bath and changed them out of the clothes they'd worn to go see Jesse. To be perfectly honest she didn't think she ever even wanted to look at those clothes ever again because she knew she'd forever associate them with Jesse. Maybe she should burn them or give them to charity, that way she'd never even accidentally come across them and she could finally get Jesse out of her system for good.
She was brushing out her hair, Finn in between her legs facing her, staring up at her. "I'm sorry I took you to see that man. But I promise that you're never going to have to see him again." She told him, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair.
"Good. I did not like that guy at all. I really don't want him to be my Daddy, okay?"
"I just can't believe that he pretty much ignored you to attempt to get back together with me. A good father would have at least paid attention to us both equally, if not pay more attention to you." She told him. Puck always paid an equal amount of attention to the both of them. She honestly didn't know why she hadn't seen that as the good thing it was at the time. "He should have just loved you from the beginning, no questions asked. Everyone else does. Your grandfathers do, Santana does, Kurt and Blaine do." She listed, looking off into the distance thoughtfully. "Noah does." She added softly.
"Um, of course they do. It's 'cause I'm extremely loveable and adorable."
"Finn... do you love Noah? Do you want him to be your Daddy?" She asked him, searching his face for any clues that he did. He grinned at her and held up the receiver of his Sesame Street toy phone and held it out to her.
"You gotta call him and get him to come over. He needs to hear this."
She smiled at her son and pressed the phone to her ear. Maybe it was stupid to have a serious conversation with her one year old son who couldn't even speak yet. Playing was obviously a better idea.
"Hello, Finn's Mommy speaking." She said with a grin, stroking his chubby cheek happily. Her cell phone rang so she handed the toy phone over to her son. "It's for you." She told him, kissing his cheek and then getting up to go answer the phone.
"No, you don't understand. I want you to call Puck! Wait... what was that Elmo? Of course I like playing but now's not the time... What? No I don't want to speak to Grover! Who ever wants to speak to Grover?"
"Hello." She answered distractedly, watching in amusement as her son babbled into the toy phone looking frustrated. Her son was really very adorable.
"Mrs. Puckerman?" The man on the other end of the phone asked, making butterfly's start up in her stomach. Just being called Mrs. Puckerman was enough to get her thinking about Noah and make her blood sizzle. But there was only one place that would think she was Mrs. Puckerman and if they were calling her it was serious.
"Yes, speaking." She confirmed. She had worry in the pit of her stomach for Noah's grandmother but forced herself to try to be positive. It could be nothing.
"I'm sorry for calling you on you when your husband made it clear we should reach him on his cell but we can't seem to get in contact with him." The man explained. "This is Director Figgins and I'm calling from Harmony Aged Care about your grandmother in-law, Constance Fischer." He explained, though she'd already figured that out by herself. She frowned and sat down, running her fingers through her hair worriedly.
"Has something... happened?" She asked anxiously. She really didn't want her first contact with Noah to be her telling him that his beloved grandmother had died.
"She's been causing quite the ruckus around here." He told her instead of telling her she had passed away and Rachel let out a sigh of relief. That had really gotten her frightened. Then the man's words permeated through her worry and she rose her eyebrows. From her experience, Noah's Nanna Connie was always a bit of a trouble maker so she wondered what she'd done to warrant a phone call from the Director.
"Ruckus?" She asked in confusion and the man hummed in agreement.
"We're afraid that we're considering asking her to leave." He told her and she gasped.
"No, you can't do that." She begged. She knew from Noah and the few times she'd been with him when he'd gone to see her that she was doing so much better since she'd been there. She had more good days than bad days now and that was certainly a good thing that she wouldn't let them take away from the Puckerman family.
"I just don't know what else we can do." He told her and she frowned.
"Look, I'll come down and we can discuss a course of action. You just can't kick her out." She begged.
"I have an opening for an appointment in a half hour. Can you get down here by then?" He asked and she nodded hurriedly. The home wasn't that far away from where she lived, it's why she'd gotten involved in the first place, so she could definitely get there.
"Thank you. I'll be there shortly." She promised, handing up the phone. "Come on Finn, we're going to go see Nanna Connie." She told her son, strapping him into his pram and heading for the door.
"Nanna Connie? Is Puck gonna be there? Yay, let's go see Nanna Connie!"
It didn't take her long to get to the home. She was determined to do absolutely everything possible to make sure that Puck's grandmother could stay. Nanna Connie was overall a sweet woman, if a little conniving, and she didn't deserve to be kicked out of somewhere that had been good for her. Rachel was going to fight for her seeing as though they couldn't get a hold of Puck and he couldn't do it. She rushed up to Nanna Connie's room and rose her eyebrows at seeing an orderly standing in the doorway and Connie attempting to get around him.
"Nanna Connie!" She called out, getting the older woman's attention.
"They won't let me leave." She told her. "I can't find my Irving." She added. Rachel gave her a sympathetic look, remembering that Irving was Puck's grandfather's name. He'd died when Puck was still really young.
"Well I'll find him for you. Just come sit down for me, okay Nanna?" She asked and the older woman nodded, taking her hand and letting her lead her back to her bed. Rachel noticed that her face was smeared with chocolate and pulled out a wipe from her pram, wiping at her face. "I'm just going to clean you up, okay Nanna?" She asked and the other woman nodded, staring at her as she cleaned up her face.
"You're my favourite of all my granddaughter in laws." She told her, taking her hand and making her stop what she was doing. Rachel gave her a small smile, knowing she was very confused at the moment. "You're smart and talented and the sweetest person I've ever met. It's why Noah loves you." She told her and Rachel couldn't help but smile brighter. Those words were something she liked hearing, no matter if they might not be a hundred per cent true.
"There you go, all better." She told the older woman, finishing cleaning her face up.
"Hey, look, it's Puck. Mommy, when's Puck getting here?"
Finn had climbed out of his pram and grabbed one of the pictures of Puck from Nanna Connie's bedside table. He was holding it out to them, giving his mother a pleading look. Connie smiled and swooped Finn up into her arms.
"Oh, I've got hundred's of pictures of your Daddy. Do you want to see pictures of your Daddy?" She asked, carrying him over to her drawers and pulling out a worn looking photo album. She smiled triumphantly and carried him back to her bed, settling him on her lap as she started flipping through the photo album. "That's Noah there. That's your Daddy when he was your age." She said, pointing to a picture of a curly haired little boy Finn's age.
"That's Puck? Wow."
Rachel smiled at the sight of the older woman showing Finn pictures. She had to admit that hearing the older woman referring to Noah as Finn's Daddy was doing funny things to her insides. Seeing that both her son and the older woman were entertained she started tidying up the room a little because it was in disarray. She glared at the orderly still blocking the doorway, thinking that his presence was overkill. She rose her eyebrows when she found a bunch of chocolate wrappers and looked back towards Nanna Connie, remembering that her face had been smeared with chocolate when she'd come in.
"Nanna Connie, did you eat all of these today?" She asked, holding the candy bars out to the older woman.
"That bastard ate my candy bars." She said, pointing at the orderly.
"I did not you stupid old bat." He argued and Rachel sighed. She was pretty sure what had happened.
"I'm going to go see the Director and get this sorted out." She told her. "Come on, Finn, come with Mommy." She said to her son. He looked up at her, gripping the pages of the photo album, refusing to let Nanna Connie turn the page from a picture of Puck from when he was in high school and looked more like what the baby knew.
"But we're looking at pictures." Connie told her, giving her puppy dog eyes.
"It's okay, I'll watch them." The orderly told her, having a change of heart when the older woman wasn't trying to kill him. Rachel nodded and took off for the director's office. She had to sort this out, it wouldn't be fair if Nanna Connie got thrown out for something that wasn't even her fault.
She ran down the hallway, going to the director's office. She knew he'd said that he couldn't see her for half an hour and she still had a little time to kill but this was urgent. It wasn't fair that they were considering kicking Nanna Connie out when it wasn't entirely her fault. When she got there she was relieved to see that the Director's office was empty so barged right in, not caring if he was doing something on his computer or anything else. This was an important issue and she wasn't about to wait around when she could solve it right then.
"Mrs. Puckerman, right?" The Director asked, looking up at her. He recognised her from when he'd given Connie a tour of the home and because there was only one person who would have any reason to barge into his office like that.
"Yes." She agreed. "This wasn't Nanna Connie's fault." She told him and he sighed.
"She was found having wheelchair races down the hall and she bit an orderly when he tried to intervene." He told her. Rachel had a feeling it was the same orderly that had been watching Nanna Connie when she'd arrived based on the way he'd been acting towards the older woman.
"That's not the point." She snapped. "Wheelchair races? Really?" She asked, a little amusement in her voice. She knew it wasn't a good time to laugh but the mental image of that was funny. Besides, she could see Noah doing the same thing when he got older, and while he was in his right mind as well.
"Yes. Really." Figgins agreed dryly. "She nearly ran over three other residents." He added.
"Nearly. So she didn't?" She asked and he shook his head. "Well she didn't actually hurt anyone so I don't see the problem." She told him and he sighed.
"Except for the orderly she bit." He pointed out.
"Okay yes, she did do that." She agreed. "But it's really not her fault. You see, when we moved her in here my husband spoke to an orderly about her candy bar habit." She told him, taking a seat in the chair opposite his desk and smoothing her skirt out over her legs. He rose his eyebrows.
"Her candy bar habit?" He repeated in confusion and she nodded, spreading the wrappers out over the desk for him to see. Outside the office Puck was just arriving, a look of worry on his face. He couldn't let them kick his Nanna out because she really didn't have anywhere she could go that would be able to look after her. He would look after her but he couldn't be there for her twenty four hours a day and that's what she needed.
"You see, she loves her candy bars." Rachel explained. Her voice made Puck freeze outside the office, surprised that she was there. "But with her memory the way it is, she can't ever remember if she's already had one. So she ends up eating them all and gets all hopped up on sugar." She explained. Puck couldn't help but smile. There was only one person he knew who would use the phrase 'all hopped up' and that was that woman in there. God he loved her weirdness.
"I don't see how that makes it not her fault." Figgins said. Puck felt the urge to ram his fist into that guys face.
"Don't you see? She obviously ate all of her candy bars today because she'd forgotten she already had one and went a little crazy on a sugar high." Rachel said patiently. "And it's not fair because when we brought her here my husband pulled aside one of the orderlies and asked him to make sure that she only ate one candy bar a day and to spread the word to the other orderlies. He agreed to do so but obviously that didn't happen." She explained, a little anger seeping into her tone. Outside the office Puck couldn't help but swallow heavily at her calling him her husband. What he wouldn't give for that to be true.
"That's not the orderlies job." Figgins informed her.
"Then why did he say it was no problem? Why did he take my husband's money?" She asked in outrage. In her opinion it wasn't fair that Nanna Connie was being punished because of the actions of a greedy orderly.
"He said no problem? Were those his exact words?" Figgins asked curiously and she nodded, wondering where he was going with that. "It was probably Raul, then. The only English he knows are the words no problem." He explained and she gasped.
"Well then... you can't possibly blame her for this. If we'd known that, we would have gone through different channels." She protested and he sighed.
"I believe you would have." He agreed and she nodded. "But it doesn't change what happened." He told her, making her frown.
"But we know the cause now! If you just make sure she gets a candy bar with one meal a day this won't happen again." She argued passionately and he considered her proposition. Puck closed his eyes, hoping that Rachel could convince the guy because if she couldn't there was no way in hell he'd be able to. He was pretty sure she'd be able to, he hadn't yet met a man who could say no to the small feisty woman. It was one of the things that he loved most about her.
"I'll agree to give it a try." Figgins agreed finally and Puck let out a sigh of relief. Inside the office Rachel squealed happily.
"Nanna Connie can stay?" She asked excitedly and a small smile spread over the Director's lips at the happy look on her face.
"Nanna Connie can stay." He agreed, making her squeal again. She got up and ran around the desk, throwing herself happily at the Director and giving him a huge hug.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" She squealed happily. He chuckled and pat her back awkwardly.
"You're welcome, Mrs. Puckerman." He told her. She finally let him go, giving him another beaming smile. She nodded happily and marched out of the door, an extra spring in her step.
Just outside the door she spotted Puck standing there. She slowed her stride, brushing her hair behind her ear as he cleared his throat nervously. It was the first time they'd come face to face since the night he'd walked out of her apartment angrily.
"Hi." She said in a small voice, ducking her head slightly. Butterfly's were filling her stomach again just at seeing him again and it was a heady feeling. Everything with Jesse was finished once and for all and that had been one of the biggest obstacles she'd faced in admitting her feelings for Puck. Now she just had to figure out how to tell him all of that.
"Hey." He greeted, jutting his chin out in her direction. "What you did in there... it was kind of amazing. You really didn't need to do that." He told her and she gave him a surprised look.
"How long were you standing there?" She asked curiously and he shrugged.
"A while." He explained, trying to sound cool and collected when he was really feeling the opposite of that. "I had a message on my phone from this place so got here as soon as I could. I didn't know they'd called you. You didn't need to come down." He told her but she shook her head.
"I wanted to." She assured him. "They were threatening to throw Nanna Connie out and I just couldn't let that happen." She told him and he smiled and nodded.
"Well I'm sure she'd thank you." He told her, not able to just thank her himself. He was still hurt after what had happened and wasn't ready to voice his own thanks, so instead was using his grandmother to offer his thanks.
"Well I'd say that you're welcome. You know, to her." She said, knowing what he was trying to say.
"Where's Finn?" He asked curiously, he really wanted to see the kid before they left. He'd managed to spend some time with him behind Rachel's back but it didn't lessen how much he missed him. He'd gone from seeing him pretty much every day to only seeing him sparingly or from a distance and it hurt his heart. He loved that little boy (and the kid's mother) and all he wanted was to be able to be in his (their) life again.
"In with Nanna Connie. She's showing him pictures." She told him with a smile.
"Well I'll take you guys home. I'm sure you want to get back to Jesse and the little family you guys have." He told her, a little anger creeping through. It still stung to think about her giving that jerk another chance. She frowned and shook her head.
"Don't bother." She snapped at him. She couldn't believe he was still acting this way. She'd been sure Blaine would have told him how things had gone with that whole situation. Maybe he hadn't gotten a chance to yet or maybe he had and Noah was just acting like an ass, she couldn't be certain which was true. She started down the hallway, her heels clicking angrily, and he rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile in Nanna Connie's bedroom she was still showing the small boy pictures of her family. He got really excited whenever there was a picture that he recognised as being Puck.
"Azimio, lunch man." An orderly called from the hallway, making the orderly watching Connie and Finn look into the hallway, obviously wanting to go.
"Can't man, I'm making sure the old bat doesn't loose the kid." He told his friend.
"Get out of here, I can look after my great grandson. I raised four children and looked after ten grandchildren, I can handle looking after one of my great grandchildren." She snapped at him. He rolled his eyes and backed up.
"Fine." He agreed, turning and walking away. She grinned happily and looked back down at the photo album and at Finn who was staring at a picture of Noah from his sister's wedding where he had his brand new brother in law in a headlock. (She couldn't blame him, that punk had gotten her baby granddaughter pregnant at sixteen and now they had three children and she was barely 22.) She turned the page to a picture of Noah using his two nieces as weights, holding them in the air. While the two girls were obviously laughing, their mother was in the background looking torn between having a heart attack and laughing as well.
"They're your cousins, Ashley and Mia." She told Finn matter of factly. "And this is your cousin Justin." She added, showing a picture of Puck mid knuckle bump with a boy Finn's age that was on the same page.
"Hey, that's my thing. Stupid kid."
"He's a little older than you." She explained.
"Connie, have you heard the latest?" Mrs. Feinberg from down the hall said, coming to the door and peering inside. Connie's eyes lit up and she put Finn down on the chair next to her bed with the photo album in his lap to keep him entertained while she went to gossip with her friend.
Finn looked at the pictures on the page, smiling happily at seeing Puck. The man was very prominent in this photo album because he was Connie's favourite grandson, though she wouldn't admit that to any of her other grandchildren or her children. He looked up and around and spotted a cab driving past and his eyes widened.
"Puck! Hey Puck! Where are you going? You didn't come see me yet."
He put the photo album down and toddled over to the door. The two older women were standing next to the door, lost in their world of gossip. Finn stared up at them before toddling around past them and down the hall, clutching his blankie in his hand as he went. He got to the end of the hallway and turned to look down both directions it went, trying to figure out where to go from there.
"Hmm, where to? Ah, the elevator. Perfect." He got onto the elevator after some people got off and looked up at the buttons. "I don't know which one of these is the Puck button but I'll just press all these ones." He mashed his hand against the bottom row, the only buttons he could reach. The doors closed and he grinned, feeling the elevator move. It opened after a few moments and he stepped out onto the lobby. When he looked to the side he spotted another cab. "Puck, wait!" He headed in that direction, towards the open doors.
"Just let me take you home, Rachel. God, why do you have to make a whole huge deal out of this?" Puck asked upstairs in the hallway outside the director's office, throwing his hands up in annoyance. He'd run after her and grabbed her arm to make her look at him again. She scoffed, shaking her head at him and shaking her arm loose of his hold. She couldn't believe he was making out that she was the one making a huge deal out of this situation. He was the one who'd brought up Jesse when things had been going just fine.
"I'm not making a huge deal out of this, Noah. You are." She told him. He rose his eyebrows because he was pretty sure that she was the dramatic one out of the two of them. (Complete lie, he knew they were both overdramatic, just in different ways.) "You had to go and bring up Jesse and I just don't understand why." She added and he rolled his eyes.
"Because you chose that ass over me, Rachel, that's why." He told her angrily and all the fight left her, looking down at the floor and frowning.
"But I didn't." She said softly and he felt all the fight leave him as well. "I'm not with Jesse, I didn't even want to be. It was about Finn getting to know his father, not about me wanting to be with him again. And you're right, he is an ass. And he's out of our lives for good." She told him. He rose his eyebrows in surprise, taking a hesitant step towards her.
"You're not?" He asked and she shook her head. "Oh." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Why?" He asked, needing her to explain to him why she wasn't with the father of her child when it was clear he wanted to be with her.
"For... so many reasons." She said airily, waving her hand around. "And you might be one of them." She added. He felt like his heart had stopped beating before starting to pound again. He was one of her reason's for not being with Finn's father? What did that mean? Did she love him like he loved her? He could barely allow himself to hope for things like that. He'd hoped she felt that way before and had been crushed by her pushing him away, he didn't want to get his hopes up again only to have her not want him again. He took another step closer to her so he was in her personal space.
"And why's that?" He asked, his voice dropping down a few octaves. She swallowed heavily, looking up at him from under her lashes. Her heartbeat was speeding up because of the way he was looking at her, how close he was to her and the tone of his voice.
"I think... I think you know why." She told him quietly and he groaned, surging towards her and kissing her desperately. She couldn't help but moan, her fingers coming up to thread through his hair. He could take her breath away completely with just one kiss, it was amazing. She hadn't even felt this way with Jesse, which made sense because she now knew that whole relationship had been completely fake.
"Please don't be playing with me." He muttered into the kiss, winding her hair around his fist and using it to hold her against him. "I need you, Rachel. I need you and Finn in my life." He added. She moaned and held him tighter. She knew he would never hurt her now, both because of what Blaine had told her and because she could hear how desperately he was saying the words. You couldn't fake heartache like that.
"Noah, I can't find Finn." Nanna Connie's panicked voice came from the end of the hallway, making them pull apart. For a moment they were both frozen in shock, not quite in the right frame of mind for this conversation after their kiss, before they finally realised what she'd said. Both of them felt like their hearts were somewhere in their chests thinking about Finn being missing.
"What do you mean you can't find Finn, Nanna?" Puck asked worriedly, grabbing her arms.
"I... he was in my room and I was talking to a friend... when I looked back to check on him he was gone. I was looking after him, wasn't I?" She asked, looking distressed. It was clear she wasn't sure if it was her memory playing tricks on her again or if it was true.
"Yes, you were." Rachel agreed, taking off down the hallway, Puck hot on her heels. They got to Connie's room and found it empty, the photo album he'd been looking at on the floor where he'd dropped it. Rachel stifled a sob, completely worried about her son, and Puck immediately took her hand and rubbed her back soothingly.
"He can't have gotten far. He has to be around here somewhere, come on, let's look." He told her, sounding confident. Truthfully he was just as worried as she was but he knew that he had to be strong for her. If he fell apart with worry she would too and that would do no one any good. Especially Finn.
"We should call the police." Rachel said numbly and he nodded.
"And inform Figgins that he's missing." He agreed and she nodded. She fumbled to get her phone out of her purse and he started towards the door.
"Noah... what if something happened to him?" She asked worriedly, looking up at him with fear in her eyes, and he stopped in the middle of the doorway. He could see how terrified she was that someone had her son or that he'd wandered off and gotten hurt and was bleeding out or something. He knew exactly how she felt because he was feeling exactly the same fear. If something happened to that kid he'd never forgive himself. As scared as he was he could see that Rachel needed him to be strong and assure her that everything would be fine so walked back to her quickly and tugged her into his arms.
"I'm sure he's fine, Rach. We'll find him." He assured her and she nodded, leaning against him to try and get some of his strength. He gave her a positive smile and brushed his lips against hers before turning and running out again.
Out the front of the building Finn was walking up the street, his blankie dragging on the ground behind him. He was trying to find where Puck was but he couldn't seem to find him anywhere. There was a cab parked in front of the building but he'd already looked and Puck wasn't anywhere around it. He was getting frustrated because all he wanted was Puck and he didn't think it should be this hard to find him. He spotted a cab driving up the hill and his eyes brightened.
"Puck! Hey, wait up."
The cab took off without stopping and he let out an annoyed huff. He looked around and spotted the door to a car open and his face brightened. He knew that if he could just get into the car he'd be able to follow Puck and make him come back. The car was on a ramp because it was attached to a tow truck, which made it easy for him to walk up and get in. His blankie snagged on a rock so he let it slip out of his hands so he could pull himself up into the car and behind the drivers seat.
"I can't find a recent enough picture I can just give to you to show the police when they get here." Rachel said worriedly, searching frantically through her bag. All of the recent pictures that she had printed were at home, the others were in her phone and she couldn't really give Figgins her phone.
"I got one." Puck assured her, placing his hand soothingly on her back and reaching into his pocket for his wallet with the other. "It's about two weeks old but it should do." He told Figgins, pulling out the picture and handing it over. The other man nodded, looking at the picture. Rachel got a look at the picture and rose her eyebrows when she realised it was a picture of both Finn and herself.
"You keep a picture of us in your wallet?" She asked softly. His cheeks flared up in a blush and he shrugged. If it was any other moment she'd think that was really sweet and kiss him. At that moment though all she could do was think it was really sweet and worry about her son.
"I'm gonna go look outside." He said instead of answering her question. She nodded and followed after him.
"Okay, now, let's see how this works. Oh, that's right, first I have to put the stick in the hole. Now, where's that damn stick." Finn looked around and spotted what was actually a tube of lipstick. "Ah, here it is. There we go. Then I move my foot around and move the circle thing and... see, I knew I could drive."
The tow truck took off, with Finn in the car in the back. Just as it pulled away Puck and Rachel came out of the building and looked around. Rachel gasped as she spotted Finn's blankie in the gutter and rushed over, picking it up and holding to her chest. She was really fearing the worst right now and felt tears coming to her eyes.
"Noah..." She choked out but he shook his head, gripping her hand tightly.
"No. Nothing's wrong. He's just wandered off. That's all." He told her, not sure if he believed his own words. Truthfully he had horrific visions going through his head of Finn being snatched by some type of pervert or murderer or something. He scanned the street, trying to ignore Rachel's worried sobs so he could focus, and his eyes widened when he saw Finn's head poking up from the driver's seat of a car being towed. "There! He's in that car being towed! He was probably playing." He said in relief, pointing at the car. Rachel looked over as well, spotting her son and feeling some relief settle in her chest. Only some because who knew where that tow truck was going?
"Stop, please! My son's in that car." She cried out loudly, running after the tow truck, but the driver didn't hear her, his music too loud to hear her voice over.
"Come on, my cab. We'll follow behind him." Puck told her, grabbing her arm and pulling her hurriedly back towards his cab that was parked out the front of home. As soon as they were in the cab he took off after the tow truck, weaving through traffic to try to keep up.
"Noah, my baby..." Rachel said worriedly, clutching at his leg tightly.
"I know, Baby. But we'll get him. I promise we'll get him." He assured her and she nodded. She really believed him, he could make her believe anything.
"I am so good at driving. This is so easy." Finn looked around, still trying to spot Puck in the cab again. "Hey, watch it asshole, I'm driving here." A car came too close to the car Finn was in so he pressed his face against the window to glare at them. As he was glaring at the car he spotted a cab and brightened up. "Puck! Puck look, I'm driving! Puck, over here!" Nothing happened so he pressed on the horn, trying to get his attention.
"We're loosing him, Noah." Rachel said worriedly, watching the tow truck turn down a street.
"No way in hell, Baby." He assured her, cutting down an ally.
"Noah! What are you doing?" She asked in shock. This was definitely going to make them loose him and if they lost him she had no idea how they'd find him again.
"Don't you know by now just to trust me? I know these streets like the back of my hand. We'll come out ahead of him." He assured her and she nodded. She really did trust him, with her life and her heart and, most importantly, her son's life.
"Okay." She agreed softly. He rose his eyebrows, surprised at her not fighting him on that. Even after all these months of him being in her life and being really responsible for Finn, she still brought up how he'd almost killed them all in his cab the first time they'd met. It felt really good knowing that she was trusting him just because he'd told her to.
They came out of the alley way and he spotted the tow truck coming up behind them in the rear view mirror. He spared a moment to give her a bright grin, before slamming on the brakes as they hit traffic. Rachel took this moment to yank open the door and go running back towards the tow truck. Caring more about Finn than blocking traffic should the cars in front of him get moving again he got out as well and took off after her. By the time he reached her Rachel was already at the car Finn had been in, standing on her toes and peering through the windows.
"He's not there, Noah!" She said frantically, noticing that the door was open a little, enough for him to have been able to crawl out of, or God forbid, fallen out of. Puck ground his teeth together and stormed back to the tow truck driver's window, reaching in and yanking him out.
"Hey, asshole, my kid was in that car you're towing. Where the hell is he?" He growled at him, not even noticing that he'd called Finn his. He loved that boy like he was his own and he felt like he was his so it wasn't a big deal. Besides, it really wasn't the first time he'd called Finn his kid.
(Sometimes he took him to the park and the mother's there all told him that his son was a real cutie and he never corrected them that he wasn't his son, simply agreed that he was a cutie, even boasting that he was the cutest kid ever.)
"What are you talking about?" The tow truck driver asked in surprise and Puck glared at him, making him cower.
"My kid. He was in that car and now he's gone." He told him but the guy shook his head.
"I don't know. I didn't know there was a kid in there." He explained fearfully. He wasn't about to argue with Puck because the look in his eye made it real clear that he didn't want to be fucked with.
"Finn! Finn, where are you?" Rachel called out hysterically.
"Mommy? You're supposed to be with Nanna Connie."
Finn was standing in the middle of the traffic, looking around for Puck. He figured that he could see really well from there to be able to find him. He was confused about why he could hear his Mommy's voice though, because she was supposed to be back at the home looking after Nanna Connie. Rachel looked around and felt her heart jump up into her throat when she spotted Finn standing in the middle of all the traffic, looking around.
"Noah!" She cried out fretfully and he snapped his head to the side, tearing his gaze off of glaring at the tow truck driver to look over and see what had her so freaked out. She was pointing over at something so he looked over, his heart feeling like it stopped for a moment before starting up again faster than usual when he saw Finn standing in the middle of traffic.
"Oh shit. Finn, don't move!" He called out worriedly, taking off for him.
"Puck? Puck! I thought I heard you." Finn started taking a few steps and Puck's eyes widened.
"Stop Finn. Don't come closer. I'll be right there, I'm coming to get you, Buddy." He instructed, quickening his stride.
"Puck, did you see? I drove. I was driving! It was awesome."
Finn started running for him and Puck felt like his heart had stopped again. A car swerved slightly, coming close to hitting Finn, but Puck snatched him up into his arms and rushed to the side and out of traffic.
"Whoa man, that was kinda scary."
"Don't you ever do that to me again, Finn Hudson Berry. You scared the crap outta me. The middle of the road is not somewhere you should be." Puck told him sternly, though he was holding him to his body tightly in a hug and running his hands up and down his back, lessening the impact of the words.
"Yeah, I kinda agree. That scared the crap outta me as well. Literally. Can I get a new diaper?"
"My baby!" Rachel called out, rushing over to them and taking Finn out of his arms, holding him against her own chest. She pressed kisses all over his face and then pulled back to check him over. "Are you okay? Is anything broken? Are you bleeding? Any internal bleeding?" She rushed out, checking him over.
"Not even a scratch on him. He's a tough kid. And brave. A little stupid to be out there like that but brave." Puck told her, a small little smile on his face and ruffling Finn's hair.
"He's not stupid, he just didn't know any better." Rachel defended.
"Nah, that was stupid, Mommy, I can admit it."
"But at least he's okay." Puck said and she nodded, looking up at him.
"Thank you. For everything." She told him and he nodded, shifting slightly. Now that the danger and fear of the situation was over he had no idea what was going to happen now. They'd kissed and they'd been acting like a real couple while they'd been looking for Finn but now he had no idea what was going to happen.
"I'll, um, take you guys home. I think that's enough excitement for one day." He told her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Her face dropped and she nodded, cradling Finn to her chest.
"Oh, yeah, right. Enough excitement." She agreed flatly. She couldn't believe he was just going to ignore everything that had happened. He cleared his throat and nodded, leading the way back to the cab that was blocking traffic now that it was moving again.
"Okay, you two are being weird. What is with you guys? And this is stupid, I went through all this trouble to get Puck to be my Daddy and you're ruining it."
"Dad-dy." Finn said, reaching out for Puck, making them both freeze.
"Did he just... talk?" Rachel asked in surprise, looking down at her son.
"I think he did." Puck agreed with a grin. "And... did he say... did he call me Daddy?" He asked giddily and Rachel nodded.
"I think he did." She agreed. "I think... I think he thinks you're his Daddy." She told him.
"No, I'm talking to hear myself speak. Of course he's my Daddy."
"Well I guess it makes sense. I'm with him a whole lot." Puck pointed out and she nodded, agreeing with that. "And I hang out with you a lot too and you're his Mommy." He added and she nodded again.
"And he sees other kids with both a Mommy and a Daddy." She agreed and he nodded. They both stood awkwardly for a minute.
"I guess he thinks we're going to end up together." Puck said finally and she looked up at him.
"Is that what you want?" She asked softly. He felt his heart pounding. After all this time, after all they'd been through and their near misses he had a real chance for something here. As long as he didn't chicken out and attempt to play it cool. If he had any shot at all of actually being with her and really being Finn's Daddy he had to tell her how he really felt.
"Yeah. Yeah, I want that." He agreed with a voice thick with emotion. "What about you? Do you want that?" He asked, giving her a pleading look. She looked down at her son and his face fell. She was going to start thinking about what was best for Finn again and weigh all of her options. He knew that she'd come to the conclusion that he just wasn't good enough for her or to be Finn's father, that all he was good for was being the babysitter. He steeled himself to get ready for her answer, staring over her head instead of at her because it would hurt too much to see her rejection written all over her face.
"I think... that I've wanted that almost from the very beginning." She admitted softly, speaking so softly that he had to strain to hear her. His eyes widened and he felt like his heart was bursting with joy. She'd just admitted to wanting to end up with him, he didn't care what else was happening right now, nothing could take this moment away from him.
"Yeah?" He asked with a grin, cupping his hand around the back of her neck and leaning down closer to her. A grin spread out over her face as well, leaning into him, Finn pressed between their chests.
"Yes." She agreed and he grinned wider, pressing their lips together for a hot kiss. She moaned lightly, bringing up the arm that wasn't holding onto Finn to grip at Puck's shirt. They kissed for a few moments, just letting this moment wash over them.
"Um, hello? I'm kinda getting squished here. Mommy? Daddy?"
Finn pushed at Puck's chest lightly, making him pull away, realising they were squashing the little guy a little. He smiled down at the boy and pressed a kiss to the top of his head before slanting his lips over Rachel's again for another kiss.
"So, what are you doing this Friday?" He asked, taking her hand and threading their fingers together as he started back to the cab.
"Friday?" She asked in confusion, pressing herself closer to his side. He nodded, pulling her closer to him.
"I mean, we'll have to get another babysitter for Finn because I'll be busy." He told her and she gave him a look on confusion. "I was thinking... forever starts with a date, right?" He asked innocently. She looked up at him in surprise but smiled and nodded nonetheless.
"Yes, indeed it does." She agreed, snuggling up to him.
Author's Note: So, remember to let me know if you want me to do a sequel or not because I'd have to start from the next part : )