Note: Finally! A new chapter. I didn't actually proof it that well, because I'm tired, but I wanted to put it up for, again, the people who've hung tight. I promise that a month won't go by between updates again. :) Enjoy

Catholic School Girl

Chapter 21: The Convoluted Puzzle of Puckermans

"Hi, Mrs. P-puckerman."

Tina had stood on the porch for 5 minutes, her legs freezing as a cold, spring night wind whipped hard against her, before she'd found the courage to knock. Puck's mom's was the last place on earth she'd expected to be, but it had been the shortest walk from her now dead car.

"Tina?" Shira Puckerman said, looking a little surprised, then a little embarrassed as she pushed the hair in her face back with one hand. "What are you doing here? I mean…I'm sorry, dear, it's been a long day."

"I d-don't want to bother you if you're busy…"

"No, no. Come in."

She ushered Tina into the kitchen, offering her a drink, and food. Tina declined her each time, saying she was fine. Puck had once told her there were few things more insulting to a Jewish mother, or grandmother, than to say no to food when offered but Tina wasn't hungry, and she wasn't about to have his mother wait on her.

Finally, after pouring herself a cup of tea, Shira sat down across from Tina at the kitchen table. "I suppose you're here to talk about Noah." It sounded like an accusation, mixed with a question. And Tina heard something else, too. Hope, maybe, or desperation? It was almost like Shira wanted her to bring Puck up.

"Actually, I was d-driving from my friend's house to Finn's and my car started smoking then died up the block from here. When I called for a tow truck, the guy said it was going to take awhile. I d-didn't want to sit in the car alone, in the d-dark," Tina said, twiddling her thumbs a bit, her jumping nerves showing.

"Doesn't Noah work at a car shop? Couldn't you have called him?"

"I d-did call him. But he was already out, towing some friend of Burt's who was kind of far out." Tina looked up from her hands. "If you want, I can just go wait with the car."

The last thing Tina expected was for Shira to reach across the table, and pat her on the hand. "I'm glad you are here. You can tell me what's been going on with my son."

Tina wanted to suggest that she should call Puck, and that he should be the one to tell her what he'd been doing. Or, better, she should let him come home so she would know all this stuff firsthand. But Tina didn't know how to say it without sounding disrespectful, which was the last thing she wanted to do. She liked Shira, and she knew that, deep down, they wanted the same things for Puck. It was just taking more time for Shira to heal from the pain, and shock, of the pregnancy than it had taken Tina. Which was something Tina could understand, so she recounted everything that had happened in the last few months, giving Shira the information she seemed to crave. Tina even told her the things that weren't so great, like she and Puck fighting and the almost break-up, so Shira could see that just because he made the mistakes didn't mean that he couldn't come back from them, and that he was really trying to clean up his act.

The way that Shira was looking back at her – eyes big and a little bleary – and hanging onto every word gave Tina a little bit of hope. Maybe she couldn't convince Shira of anything, but she could soften her to the idea that maybe she needed her son there. That maybe she should let her boy come home.

It wasn't until she got a little carried away, and flew head first into talking about the weekend he – she made the mistake of saying "they" – had spent meeting Quinn's aunt and uncle, that Tina felt unsure of herself.

Shira looked at her thoughtfully. This look was probably what Puck had called the "Jewish mom's know everything" look, because having this woman's eyes on her like this made Tina feel like all her secrets were exposed. "Are you sleeping with him?"

It wasn't the question Tina had expected, but it didn't rattle her quite so much as it probably should have. She didn't blink, or blush, even though she'd have rather done anything than answer the question. But Tina had been told that Shira was a woman who respected honesty. So that's what she was going to get. "I have. N-not for very long, though."

What came next was yet another question Tina hadn't expected. "Are you doing it to keep him?"

The words made Tina a little angry, mostly because she wasn't sure if Shira was calling her stupid, or calling Puck a whore. Either way, it was kind of insulting. But Tina maintained her composure. "It wouldn't be happening if I were just trying to keep him. And I d-don't think he'd have waited this long or tried as hard as he d-did just to get laid. So he's p-probably n-not going run of anytime soon."

It felt like a tense moment between them as Shira kept her hard gaze on Tina, and Tina refused to look away. Eventually, though, Shira, again, reached across the table for Tina. Only this time, she took Tina's hands in both of hers. "Please, for the love of god, don't let him be as stupid as he was the last time. Don't let what happened to that other girl happen to you. You're much too smart to be in that situation, and you have too many other things you could do than raise a baby at seventeen." Her voice cracked a bit on the last words. "And I don't want Noah to have to go through what he is now, having to give up another child."

"We're careful," Tina said, losing a bit of her confidence when her eyes flicked from the hands on hers, to Shira's expression.

Shira gave Tina a firm nod. "Good." Her hand then lifted to Tina's cheek, and it took everything in Tina not to flinch, or jump back. "I told you once that you were good for my Noah. And I still believe that."

Before Tina could respond, her phone rang. It was Puck, telling her that he was on the way to get her and her car. She wanted to tell him where she was, but she didn't want to put anyone in an awkward position. Shira hadn't actually said it was okay for Puck to come there, and Tina didn't want to get Puck's hopes up just because she'd been at his mom's. She said a few quick words to him then hung up.

When she stood, Shira reached out, patting her on the shoulder. "Take care, dear. And…tell Noah that if he'd like to come to Temple with me on Saturday, he should be here by the time we normally leave."

Tina couldn't help but wrap her arms around Shira in a tight hug. "I will."

Tina looked hot in his T-shirt.

Well, Puck thought she always looked hot but he kind of liked her best when she was lying next to him, wearing his clothes. He knew she shouldn't have been – Carole and Burt would have a stroke if they found him and Tina having sex in the basement. But they'd gone on one of these weird overnight dates Kurt liked to set up for them, and he really couldn't help it.

He was a 17-year old guy, and he'd waited 6 months for a girl that he loved to be ready. He deserved this. Besides, she was all over him – this had become his go-to excuse, "Tina made me do it," – and he couldn't resist her. What was he suppose to do?

His hand landed on her hip, pulling her so she was practically on top of him. "You're fucking sexy, you know that?"

The smile that spread across her face only proved his statement, and he leaned up to tease her lips, nipping at the bottom one, a hand skirting the bottom of his shirt, ending up on the small of her back. She squirmed under his touch. "D-don't tease," she murmured, not being able to break her mouth from his.

Puck rolled them both over, setting himself easily between Tina's legs, trailing tiny kisses from her ear to her collarbone. "Don't pretend like you don't love it." He wasn't being cocky, really. No more than usual, anyway. By the sounds she was making, he knew the tease was half the fun for her.

"Wait," she said, breathlessly, as he'd begun to lift the t-shirt over her head.

Puck looked up at Tina, propping himself up on his elbows so they could be eye level. "Something wrong?"

"N-no," she assured him, though Puck was utterly confused by her pulling herself out from under him, into a sitting position. "I just have something to tell you."

The way she was looking at him made Puck's stomach flutter a bit. Maybe it was a kneejerk reaction to any woman saying 'we need to talk,' but he felt uneasy as he straightened up and sat with his legs wrapped loosely around her hips. "Alright. What's up."

She was playing with the ends of her hair, which was one of her tells. She was as nervous about what she was going to say as he was. "When I was waiting for you to get me earlier, I went to see your mom."

Puck knew he was just staring at her, and he could tell it was freaking her out a little. Like maybe she thought she'd done something wrong by going over there. Or by telling him about it. But why would she bring it up if it was totally bad?

"What did she say," he finally asked.

Tina let out a little breath, which Puck figured was her being relieved that he didn't flip out. "Short version? She wants you to go to Temple with her on Saturday. She said to be there at the normal time if you wanted to go."

Wow. This is my in.

Even though he really didn't get the whole 'temple thing,' since his mom had never been big on the actual going part of their religion, there wasn't a lot of stuff that his mom held above being Jewish. She never really made a secret of that. He didn't know what the hell she meant by the "normal time," since they went to Temple maybe once a month when he lived there. But he wasn't going to question it. If she was willing to let him sit with her and his sister at service, then he might just be a few steps away from getting back into the house.

He was pretty excited about this, but he was going to try and play it cool with Tina for now. "She say anything else?" he asked, keeping his face neutral.

She had moved from playing with her hair to picking at the hem of the shirt. "She asked if we were sleeping together." Tina looked up from her lap at him. "And I told her yes. Then she asked if we were being safe, and I said yes. She just said she d-didn't want either of us to have to go through any of this baby stuff again."

He wanted to be irritated at his mom for basically interrogating his girlfriend like she was some kind of sex criminal or something, but it was kind of nice to know that maybe she was worrying about him a little bit. About how he was feeling about this stuff. Sure, she hadn't really helped him deal with any of it, but this whole adoption thing had made him realize something. He sure didn't want his kid to resent him some day for not being there for him, so maybe he should give his mom a break because all this time she might have been feeling as bad as he did about Sophia. Maybe what she was doing was no different than all the wrong moves he'd made in the last few months. He was lucky enough to be forgiven for those, why shouldn't he let her slide a bit? She was his mom after all.

Leaning forward, and pushing Tina so she was laying against his pillows, Puck kissed her lightly. "She had no right to ask you any of that stuff. Let me make it up to you."

Tina turned her head a bit, trying to avoid his kiss, which he found annoying. "So you're n-not mad at me for telling her everything that's been going on? Because I d-didn't like p-plan it that way, ya know. I really d-didn't want to sit in the car by myself in the dark. And your house was aclose."

Pushing Tina's hair off back from her face, Puck looked down at her with a grin on his face. "Not even thinking about it anymore, babe. I mean, I love you for doing it and I'm really glad that my ma is giving me a chance to maybe fix stuff. But we're both pretty much naked right now and that is kind of more important."

Tina giggled, which drove Puck a little crazy. "I'll work on my timing."

"Mmm, you do that," he said, as he pushed down the sweat pants he'd been wearing, then eased the shirt over Tina's head so he could continue moving his mouth down her body.