Thanks to IsisLes5 for the favorite, and SuzQQ and PuckleberryShipper326 for your reviews. Drizzle dating a junior St. James? The math doesn't work out, but what a tantalizing thought!
It was harder to come home than I thought it would be. It didn't seem fair that I'd just met Quinn, and now I had to leave her. I know I'm incredibly lucky. Not enough kids have two parents that care about them, and I have four. Six if, like Megan, you count my step-/destined-to-be-step bio-parents. The one problem in this is balancing everyone's feelings. I love Noah and Quinn. I didn't know it could happen so fast, its like calling them their names isn't enough, but calling them "Mom" and "Dad" would feel weird. I don't want my mom and dad to feel hurt by any of this. It also doesn't seem fair that, just because of geography, I'm going to end up spending so much more time with Noah and Rachel than Finn and Quinn. We already have a video-chat date set up, but it's not the same.
We parted ways from everyone at the beach with just enough time to hit the hotel, shower, drive to the airport, turn in our rental car and make our flight. Kurt was hanging back; he'd booked a redeye flight so he'd have time to actually hang out with his brother.
Rachel was hanging from Finn's neck again. I think I even saw her give him an Eskimo kiss. Noah and Quinn were hugging and talking kind of intensely, but I didn't hear what they said. Meanwhile, I hugged Brittany and thanked her for teaching me about being a dolphin and drinking the milk. "Thanks for being a dolphin with me!" she exclaimed. "Chug it!"
When Quinn pulled Rachel into a hug, my bfg looked surprised. "Thanks for being a pain in the ass and making this happen," Bio-Mom said.
"Anytime," she replied, with shiny eyes.
As I hugged Finn, he whispered, "Thank you for coming. You don't know how much it means."
Then it was time to say goodbye to Quinn. "Dreama…" was all she could say.
"I love you," I whispered so no one else could hear.
"Me to. Always have," she whispered back and held me so tight.
It was hard to let her go and get in the car. I waved as we drove away until I couldn't see her anymore.
When we arrived at JFK and headed toward the baggage claim, Mom, Dad and Megan were waiting for us. Megan was holding up a sign like chauffeurs do. It simply said, "Drizzle!" I knew she'd left off my last name just to confuse people and make them wonder whether it was a weather report or something. Her long, red curls looked sexy, as did her short skirt, leather biker jacket, low-cut tank top and high heels. According to the flight attendant, it was less 45 degrees out, so she must have been freezing, although she did have her hormones to keep her warm. Megs was clearly on the hunt.
"Oh, God," I whispered. "Noah, I'm so sorry. Megan might come on a little strong, but she probably won't actually try anything."
"Try anything? Berry, stay between me and the minor at all times!"
"Why? Surely you aren't afraid you'd…"
"I'm not afraid of what I'll do. I'm afraid of what she'll do. Remember that crush you had on Shue? You showed up at his house with his wife there, and that woman was psychotic. I don't have a psycho wife to protect me."
"So I'll have to do?"
"I didn't mean it like that. But, yes. Commence Operation Evade the Jailbait!"
"DRIZZLE!" Megan exclaimed, dropping her sign running to grab me. I dropped my carry-on and we did the girly squealing and jumping-up-and-down thing while Noah and Rachel shook hands with my parents.
"Megan, this is Rachel Berry."
"It's an honor," she said, shaking Rachel's hand. "I have all your cast albums."
"Thank you for supporting my career," Rachel said. "It's wonderful to meet you."
"And this is my bio-dad, Noah Puckerman."
"It's a pleasure, Puck," she purred and went to hug him. Noah reached out and put his right palm against her forehead, holding her at arms-length, and used his fingers to pat her head like she was a kindergartener or an Irish Setter. It was all I could do not to laugh, but Megs looked so pissed that I knew I couldn't. Rachel bit her lip to keep from laughing, too. My parents were just puzzled, since they didn't' know the "DILF" situation.
We headed for the giant conveyor belt and waited for our bags while chatting about our trip. I gave them the overview: how great Quinn was, how much I liked her husband and their high school friends, UCLA, karaoke and learning to surf. When we finally had our luggage, it was time for Noah and Rachel to go back to their apartments (or his? or hers?) and for us to go back to Connecticut.
I hugged my BFG first, thanking her for everything. Then I hugged my bio-dad, my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around me and straightened up so my feet dangled off the ground.
"I love you, Da…No...ah" I awkwardly whispered in his ear.
"Danno?" He asked with a laugh, then whispered back, "Love you, too, Drizz." He smooched my cheek with a loud, "Mwah!" and set my feet back on the ground.
Danno? I liked it. Half-Dad, Half-Noah. That would make Quinn…Quom? Minn? I liked "Minn" and hoped my bio-mom would like it, too.
We went our separate ways. I could barely think the whole ride home, because Megan and my parents kept up a steady stream of questions. Megan responded to each new fact with wild enthusiasm. When we dropped her off, I literally heard my parents sigh with relief.
"Thanks for bringing her, Mom and Dad. I know she's…"
"A lot." Mom said, laughing. "Hey, why did Noah grab her head?"
"Oh," I said, blushing. "Megan saw a picture of him and developed a…um…crush, I guess? I warned him about it, so that was part of 'Operation Evade the Jailbait.'"
"Good man," Dad said with a nod.
"Should I talk to her mother?"
"Oh, God, no. Mom, you can't! That would be humiliating. She would HATE me. And she hasn't actually done anything wrong. Noah showed her he wasn't interested. I'm sure Megan will give up."
"Megan doesn't give up on much," Mom replied skeptically.
"Well, Megan's never had a face-off with Rachel Berry, either."
