Glee Disclaimer: The characters of Glee belong to FOX. I was SO disappointed in Season 2. I'm hoping Season 3 brings it back up a notch!
Mark Salling: I am not going to Glee Live. Not because I don't want to see you, because I don't trust myself to see you LIVE and not… maul you. Really. I'd hate to be arrested…
Author's Note: Hmmmm. Interest in this story is hard to gage. I am still getting story alerts and favorites but not as many reviews… THANKS to those of you who have taken the time to review. I LOVE hearing from you. SERIOUSLY. You keep me going.
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When they got to the hospital, they parked and quickly raced to the floor where Mark had said they would be. He was not in the waiting room, but Puck texted him that they were there so he could find them when it worked. Shortly after they arrived in the waiting room, where Puck was nervously pacing, Mark came out of a nearby bathroom.
"Puck!" Man hug exchanged. Nod to Rachel. "Thanks for coming, man. I appreciate it. You too, Rachel."
"Course," said Puck, with an extra shoulder thump. "I'm always here for you. You know that. Where are the kids?"
"The neighbor has them right now. Her mom is in the room with her right now."
"What do you know?"
"She started bleeding, a whole lot. She wasn't even doing anything strenuous or anything, just folding laundry, but, it was bad. Scary. She was in a lot of pain. They called it placental abruption. I guess it means the placenta is trying to detach from her or something. It's dangerous for the baby. We could still lose the baby."
"Oh, no. What are they prescribing for Karen for treatment?" asked Rachel.
Puck was relieved that she knew what questions to ask. He wasn't even sure what exactly had happened. His head was spinning.
"They're going to keep her hear for at least a couple of days. After that it definitely requires bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. She'll start out with more frequent doctor appointments, and if there are any other complications, they'll keep her in the hospital or get ready to start labor. The baby needs the placenta to survive." Mark's eyes teared up with concern, and Rachel's swelled with liquid just seeing him in pain like this.
"I'm sure everything will be fine. She's getting good care here. It's the safest thing to do. I know they will do everything they can for her."
"Yeah, here is okay. It's at home where it gets complicated. Her mom will help out, but… she can't watch the kids at all."
"We'll alternate days. I'll take Fridays. Fridays can be Uncle Puck days. They can stay with me overnight so you both get some rest. You just take as much time off work as you can, and I'm sure her mom will help."
Rachel beamed at Puck, proud that he was so quick to lend a hand in the best way.
"Mark, my schedule is crazy, but I will help with the kids whenever I can. I promise."
"Thanks, Rachel. That's really sweet of you. Thank you, Puck. The kids would love it, but I know you don't have a good set up for kids…"
"Mark, it's going to be fine. They'll love it."
Mark ran his hand over his head, and grimaced, trying to collect himself.
"Karen's not really up for long visits, but I know she'd love to see you."
"Not tonight," Rachel said, "she needs to rest, and we just wanted to be here for you. Is there anything we can do tonight? Should we go to the house?"
"No, thanks for coming. Actually, I'm going to head home now and get the kids. Her mom is going to be here for a while, and I will come back in the morning."
When they left the hospital, a short time later, Rachel grabbed for Noah's hand, eager to console him.
"So… what exactly does that mean?" he asked.
"I'm not exactly positive, but I think it's pretty serious. The placenta is the tube that's attached to the mom that feeds the baby, and if that's detaching, then the baby is not getting something it needs."
He nodded. He kind of knew that. At least he was pretty sure he did.
He gripped her hand and they went back to his place to fall asleep holding each other, neither one even considering sex, just too exhausted not to need the arms of the other.
The rest of the week flew for both of them. Puck was trying to be helpful at work for Mark, but he also needed to clear some space in his apartment for Rachel's stuff. She really only had personal stuff since she had been staying at a friend's furnished apartment, but she would need some space. Karen had gone home from the hospital, and they were making it work with Mark working from home and the kids going to daycare part-time. Mark just wasn't comfortable leaving Karen alone yet.
Puck didn't see Rachel again until the movers were moving her stuff in on Friday. He had picked up the kids about 8 a.m. and taken them out for a pancake breakfast. Then they went to the zoo, and grabbed some lunch there. When he got back to the apartment, there were only a few boxes yet to be unpacked. He had hired full-service movers who would do as much as possible. David and Courtney were exhausted, and he put David in his bed and Courtney in the spare bedroom for a nap. Neither one complained, although he let David watch some cartoons, hoping that would help him stay calm. As much as the kids enjoyed being with Uncle Puck, they were quite aware that something was wrong, and they weren't entirely themselves.
When Rachel walked through the door, he grabbed her and kissed her, pulling her onto his lap on the couch.
"Babe, I missed you. What do we need to unpack first?"
"Well, the movers did as much as they could. I just had a few boxes marked 'personal', that I wanted to unpack myself."
"Yeah," he grinned lecherously, "I can't wait to help you unpack those!"
She smacked hi s arm. "What do you want me to make for dinner?"
He looked at her, and his jaw dropped. "You can cook?"
"Well," she flushed, "not really, but I figured I could make something kids would eat."
He grinned, glad he really did know her that well. "I was just planning to get pizza."
"Noah, we can't just load them up on junk."
"Why not? It's just one night."
She shrugged and agreed it wouldn't be that big of a deal. If he at least made sure they had some fruit and milk with it.
"Now, where were we?" he asked, with a grin, as he lowered his lips to her neck.
"Uncle Puck, I can't sleep. I'm too big for a nap anyway. Can I come out now? Oh, hi Rachel."
Rachel smiled and ruffled his hair. "David, I was hoping you'd be here when I arrived. I've missed you, buddy. I'm glad you're going to be staying with us tonight."
David smiled at her. I brought Candyland. Wanna play?"
So, they played Candyland until Courtney woke up from her nap. Rachel won all three games although she tried to make it work for David to win.
"You're REALLY good, Rachel. " He complimented.
"Wow, thanks, David. I'm impressed you're such a good sport!"
David just looked at her, having no idea what she meant.
"She means it was nice of you to say that after we lost three times to her."
David nodded and smiled. "Yeah, it's not as much fun as winning, but I like the game."
When Courtney got up, Rachel suggested Uncle Puck get his guitar out and play for them while they sang.
"Uncle Puck, you know how to play the guitar?"
"Yeah, buddy, I'm pretty good too."
"Do you know 'The Wheels on the Bus'?"
"I think I can handle it."
So, after an hour or so of kids' songs, Puck gave Rachel the look that said his brain had gone to mush and might not return to normal if they sang one more stupid song. She caught it and suggested they do something else. So they set David and Courtney up with some cars from David's backpack in the living room and headed to the kitchen to assess what they had for dinner.
They all four walked to the corner market, just to get out and have something to do. They got some strawberries for the kids as well as milk, since Puck didn't have any in the house. They walked another block, Noah carrying Courtney, to order a pizza and waited for it outside in the nice spring air. They walked it back to the apartment and sat down to a dinner. Rachel fixed a salad for the adults as well, although Puck was content with just pizza and breadsticks.
After dinner, they settled onto the couch to watch some of Rachel's DISNEY movies, apparently she had an entire collection of them. This was something new. Puck figured there was going to be a lot to learn about Rachel in the next few weeks as they settled in together. He had Courtney on his lap, but he still managed to caress Rachel's leg with his other hand as they watched Finding Nemo. When Courtney had fallen asleep, he asked a drowsy David if he was ready for bed too.
"I'll just watch TV in your room, Uncle Puck."
"Actually, David, you'll sleep in the other room with Courtney."
"But what about Rachel?"
Puck scrunched his face up, unsure what the kid was asking. "She'll be in my room. She lives here now."
David grinned. "Uncle Puck, did you and Rachel get married?"
"Noooo, she just lives here." Noah was beginning to feel uncomfortable, explaining himself to a four-year-old. "She needed a place to stay."
"Uncle Puck," David was using that irritating, I'm-trying-to-get-you-to-understand-this voice, "only married people sleep in the same bed. Everyone knows that. My nana says married people get to sleep together after the wedding; that's why people get married."
Rachel laughed at his explanation, and covered her mouth when she saw irritated looks from both David and Noah. "Sorry, David, your nana sounds pretty smart."
"She is. You and Rachel can't sleep in the same bed unless you get married. Then you can sleep together."
Puck was looking more than a little upset. This was the first night Rachel would be here living with him. They hadn't been together since Saturday night. He wasn't giving this up for anything.
"Well, we're going to this once, David. Don't tell your nana, okay?"
David frowned. "Uncle Puck, you can't do that. We're not 'posed to do anything that upsets Mama right now, and that might upset her."
Rachel agreed, "You're right, David. We don't want to upset your mama, so I will just sleep in the other bedroom with Courtney, and you can sleep with Uncle Puck in his room."
David nodded, clearly glad that they were seeing things his way again. Puck looked completely exasperated.
"But…" his voice trailed off at the look from Rachel that clearly told him there was nothing they could do.
'Tomorrow' she mouthed to him, and placed a kiss from her fingers to his lips to appease him.
He took Courtney to the other room. David went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then hopped into the big bed.
"Come watch cartoons with me, Uncle Puck."
Puck glanced down the hall where his girlfriend was sleeping and sighed, resigning himself to another night of no sex. He couldn't believe he had foolishly volunteered to watch these kids on their first night as live-ins. It had to be the most bonehead move of his life- and he had taken out an ATM with his mom's car when he was sixteen!
AN: Hoping to wrap up this story in the next chapter or two, but there will be a sequel- although I'm not sure if it will be started right away. I have a few other FUN ideas to work on!