Chapter 36

oOo

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Summary: Will the proud music teacher eventually find love with the beautiful kindergarten teacher or will he forever come second to the football coach? Rated M.

Disclaimer: None of these characters belongs to me except for any OCs found wandering. I own nothing save for this computer.

"I can handle it; I'm a big girl!"

Judith's voice bounced around the interior of the elevator as she hugged her little bag of groceries. Kurt grinned as he shuffled his own brown paper sack from one arm to the other. He had stopped to pick up Judith and now he made sure she had her backpack secured properly as she marched out of the lift ahead of him.

"Hold on, baby, you don't want to drop anything, do you?"

Kurt chuckled as she stopped and rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him. When he was certain her little pink Princess backpack wasn't in danger of sliding down, he hummed and she moved off again.

He hadn't planned to pick up a whole lot of stuff and then it had occurred to him to go and pick Judith up. He'd tried to call Noah to let him know but the call had gone directly to voice mail. Now he and Judith, after having fun picking up the few things, were headed back to the condo.

Kurt called out to her now as she skipped towards the apartment door. "Hey, wait up, I've got the key!"

He chuckled as she stopped to look back at him, her little face wreathed in smiles. She was such a good-natured child, he hoped she would never morph into one of those always-sulky teens. He and Noah would have his hands full then.

As he walked towards her, Kurt pulled his set of keys out, thinking maybe Noah had left already. He approached the door and saw it was ajar and he called out, "Sweetie, are you still here?" even before getting to the door.

What he saw brought him to a halt and he automatically put one hand back to stop Judith from coming any closer. Kurt's eyes widened and he looked from Noah to the woman sprawled drunkenly on their couch.

"Noah?"

His husband spun around and Kurt bit back a gasp. He had never seen such fury in Noah's eyes before and Kurt immediately shifted so that Judith couldn't see into the room. Spinning back around, he leaned forward, effectively blocking the child's view and smiling at her.

"Hey, honey, guess what? I think I left something downstairs… uhm, in the car!." As she opened her mouth to protest he shuffled her backwards, making certain that her little grocery bag didn't slip. "Come with me?"

Judith smiled up at her Daddy Kurt and nodded before turning around to skip back to the elevator. Kurt threw one ferocious glance back at the two people in the flat and then hurried after her.

Noah, barely registering the fury in Kurt's eyes, turned back to Donna, his chest heaving and his fists clenched.

"You stupid bitch! Get out… get out NOW!"

Puck's roar frightened Donna and she cringed back against the back of the couch, her eyes wide and the bottle of wine slipping from her fingers.

"P-puck? Wha-why, what's wrong? Ow!"

Noah had had enough and leaned forward, grasping both her wrists and yanking her upward and off of the couch. He growled and threw her away from him, watching as she stumbled against the edge of the coffee table and fell to her knees. He stalked forward and stood over her, his mind almost white with rage and then he hauled her to her feet with rough hands.

"IF YOU EVER… EVER COME NEAR ME LIKE THIS AGAIN…!"

Donna cringed and whimpered as Puck roared in her face, tears springing to her eyes, spilling over and leaving a mascaraed trail down her over-rouged cheeks. She stumbled away from the furious man, gathered her fur coat tightly against her body and staggered to the still-open door.

She had thought that if he saw her again, how hot she still was, maybe he would realize how much he missed having a woman. Then maybe they could work out a better deal than what she had agreed to. She had never thought he would react in such a violent way and her heart thundered in her chest as she realized how close she'd come to getting a beating.

Downstairs, in the car park, Kurt pretended to search the floor by the front passenger seat for the 'missing' item. He had told Judith to get in the back and help him search too so her head would be down when Noah's ex-wife exited the building. Sure enough, as he took another surreptitious look at the front of the building, he saw the woman stumbling out on her too-high heels.

Kurt sighed and bit back a little growl of frustration. Oh, how he wished he could have given that woman a piece of his mind! He would have loved to have been able to gouge out her eyes or rip every strand of hair from her head, he fumed, but when Judith's head popped up he controlled his facial expression and looked mildly at her.

"Daddy Kurt, there isn't anything back here!"

Kurt, keeping one eye on the car that Donna had entered, tried to smile at the child but he feared it might have looked a little strained.

"Oh, you know what, maybe it's in one of these bags, sweetie. We'll check when we get back upstairs, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Judith agreed pleasantly as she grabbed up her little paper sack and hopped out of the car. She slammed the door and waited for Kurt to extricate himself, grab his own bag and then they headed back towards the building.

Kurt tried hard not to stare at the gleaming late-model rental that he could see Donna sitting in. It looked as if she had her head bowed but he couldn't tell for sure. The nerve of the woman! He felt like just going over to her and ripping into her; but for Judith, he felt sure he would have given into the urge.

As it was, he got the little girl inside and headed to the elevators before he pulled out his cellphone. He speed-dialed the apartment and bit his lip as he waited for Noah to pick up.

"Yes!"

Kurt jerked the phone away from his ear and then cautiously bringing it back, said, "Noah… sweetie, are you okay?"

Kurt could hear Noah release a huge gust of breath and then, "Hey, babe… I'm so sorry you had to see that…"

Kurt cut him off and then bundled Judith ahead of him into the lift again as he murmured, "I just want to know you're, okay, sweetie. I'll be right up."

He hung up before Noah could reply and then pocketed the phone again. He smiled down at Judith who was counting out loud as the elevator rose up past the floors. Finally, they got out on their level and Kurt hurried her towards the apartment, anxious now to see if Noah was really okay.

Noah opened the door as he heard Judith's voice quite clearly; apparently Spongebob had a fan club she wanted to join. He could hear Kurt's voice murmuring in reply and he caught Judith as she came barreling through the door.

"Hi, daddy! Guess what?"

As Noah tried to listen to her his eyes sought his husband's; he breathed a sigh of relief as it looked as if Kurt was calmer now. Judith didn't really even need him to say anything apart from the occasional "uh-huh?" and Noah was just happy that she had been unaware of her mother's unwelcome visit.

As they bustled about, putting away the few grocery items, Kurt and Noah held a silent conversation over Judith's unsuspecting head. When Kurt finally got the little girl to head to her room and prepare for her bath time, Noah grabbed him and buried his nose in the thick, fragrant hair.

Kurt could feel the residue of tension in Noah's muscular body and he hummed in a way that he knew soothed the other man. Finally, Noah eased away from him and stared into Kurt's wide, curious eyes.

Noah shook his head. "Seriously, I don't even begin to understand how she thinks anymore!"

Kurt nodded, a faint furrow between his brows. "Do you think she was here to try and seduce you, hon?"

Noah huffed, a trace of anger returning to his brown eyes. His lips twisted bitterly as he nodded. "Yeah, knowing her outsized ego, she probably thinks I'd cave to her sex appeal."

Kurt's lips tightened and he nodded. "That wasn't smart of her, though, was it? Considering that pissing you off would endanger the deal you had?"

Noah pulled him over to the smaller couch, frowning as he looked at the other one where Donna had sprawled, uninvited, but he sat with Kurt and turned toward him.

"Babe, you've got to know I had nothing to do with this, right?"

Kurt stared at him, his jaw dropping and then he slapped him lightly on one thick bicep. "Please, I'm not just a pretty face, you know!"

Noah stared at him and then a little gurgle of laughter escaped him. "No, you are so much more, babe," he said when he finally sobered. He leaned his head against Kurt's and sniffed him. "You are so much more. Brains, beauty, talent… all wrapped up in one very sexy package."

Kurt giggled and nuzzled him, sliding one long leg up and across Noah and angling his body so the other man was almost lying in his arms. Kurt offered his mouth and Noah gladly slipped into the warm, delicious space. They kissed and necked for a while, allowing their desire for each other to flow over and erase the memory of their anger at Judith's misguided mother.

Noah slid one large hand up Kurt's thigh, kneading it and marveling at how hot his husband was. He wished he had done this when they were in high school. Kurt had been so haughty, walking around with his nose up in the air and swinging his hips in those impeccable outfits. It used to drive him crazy that he couldn't just haul him into the nearest janitor's closet and get him all hot and bothered. He hadn't had the courage to make a move then.

Kurt breathed heavily as he rested his head against the back of the couch, staring at his husband now from between slitted lids. Noah was staring back at him, his eyes hot and riveted to Kurt's mouth.

Noah leaned in to nibble on the plump red bottom lip and then groaned when…

"Daddy?"

Their heads popped up from over the back at the couch and they stared at their daughter, dressed already in her pajamas and bathrobe.

"Yes, babe?" They both answered at the same time and then grinned at each other before separating their tangled limbs.

Judith watched her daddies and grinned at them. She knew what they had been doing; they always hugged and kissed each other whenever they thought she was elsewhere.

"Can I have some ice cream, please?"

Kurt and Noah stopped straightening their clothes to stare at her. "Ugh," Noah began, his brain still a little fuzzy from the aborted make-out session but Kurt beat him to it.

"No way, missy!" Kurt smiled at the little girl to ease any sting his words may have caused. "Dinner first and then ice-cream."

Judith laughed as she bounced towards the dining room. She knew she wouldn't have gotten away with it but she had to try. "Okay! I want ravioli!"

Kurt and Noah stared after her, looked at each other and then shook their heads at the same time. They both realized they had to be on their toes when it came to Miss Judith Puckerman!

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oOo

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Donna dreaded the moment she had to turn up at the old Puckerman residence. She had kicked herself but good when she'd sobered up, wondering what the hell she'd meant to achieve with that bone-headed move.

When she pulled up to the house, she recognized Puck's car and took a deep breath. There was another car there and she briefly wondered whose it was before getting out and heading to the front door.

The door opened before she could ring the doorbell, for which she was glad because it was cold outside. When she looked up into Sarah Puckerman's frosty gaze, however, she thought that maybe inside wouldn't be much better. She murmured a greeting that Sarah didn't return and stepped past her into the warm house.

She waited for Sarah to head into the living room and followed her, her heart pounding as she wondered what awaited her. Would Noah go back on his agreement because of her stupid stunt? Would he cut her off from Judith entirely? She may not have wanted to spend much time with her daughter but she didn't want to be estranged from her. It wouldn't look right and she, deep down, didn't want that either.

As Sarah walked into the living room with Donna trailing her, Kurt and Noah glanced away from the stranger sitting with them. None of the men got to their feet and Sarah waved Donna into a chair nearer to the stranger.

Noah stared at the woman to whom he'd so briefly been married and wondered what in God's name had drawn him to her. She was beautiful, yes, but looking at the permanent furrow between her eyebrows he realized it was the perfect indicator of her demanding, self-centered nature. The Puck of old had not realized that about her until it was too late; as usual, he'd been a dope and had let his dick do the picking for him.

Donna bristled as she saw the way Noah looked at her, faint disdain apparent in his eyes. She threw her shoulders back and then looked past him to the stranger. When she saw the expensive calf's leather attaché case, she realized the man was a lawyer. With an eyebrow raised she looked at Noah but it was the stranger who spoke.

"Good afternoon; I'm Edgerton Barrett. I think we should just get right to the point of this meeting." His grey eyes looked neutrally at them in turn, nodding when Noah nodded for him to go ahead. He pulled several documents from the attaché case and handed one each to Noah, Kurt and Donna.

"Here we have outlined the terms of the original custody agreement between Noah Puckerman and Donna Puckerman," he paused as Donna made a sound as if she meant to protest the name, but continued, "with regard to their daughter, Judith Puckerman, a minor."

They all looked at the documents in silence except for Sarah who was just there for moral support. She tried to keep her eyes off of her former sister-in-law as she wondered what had happened between her and her brother. She knew something must have transpired between the time they were last here and today; she knew Puck very well and she could tell he was furious with Donna. She was happy that Judith was on one of her sleepovers with Briony.

As Donna's eyes went down the document she breathed in sharply. At the time they had signed this, she hadn't minded that Puck was getting full custody and she got only supervised visits. She had her career that was just starting off and she had to concentrate on it. She had actually been glad that he had been willing to step up but now she realized how it looked, especially to her conservative fiancé and his family.

Noah narrowed his eyes as he watched his ex-wife look over the old custody agreement. He didn't give a damn if she regretted her former decision. The fact was and still is that Judith was his, at least until she turned 18 and there was no way in hell Donna was going to get her.

He dismissed the look on her face and turned to indicate the lawyer should continue. The man nodded and pulled out a second set of documents and passed them out.

"These are the adoption papers that will be appended to the original custody agreement. You, Mrs. Puckerman, will need to sign over your right to Judith Puckerman and Mr. Hummel, as spouse to Mr. Puckerman, will sign here… and here… and here…" he pointed to the spots on Kurt's document; "as the custodial parent, sharing, of course, with Mr. Puckerman."

The tension ratcheted up as the only sound in the room was the scratching of Kurt's pen against the heavy bond paper.

Suddenly Donna cleared her throat and if she had not been so upset she would have felt some satisfaction at the way every eye turned towards her.

"Uhm, do I still get to see my daughter?"

The silence stretched painfully and then Noah nodded, his eyes hard. "I told you that Kurt adopting Judith would not affect your right to supervised visits. I always stick by my word… even though some people don't."

Donna flushed and looked away briefly before looking at the lawyer. "Do I need to sign anything?"

The man nodded and showed her where to sign; she signed slowly and carefully, pausing to look at it before pushing the document toward the man.

Donna took a deep breath and looked at the lawyer. "Do I have any legal rights after this adoption is finalized?"

The lawyer, his professional face still in place, frowned slightly. "No. After an adoption, you, the 'other' natural parent, have no legal right to visit your daughter. She, of course, will no longer inherit anything from you or your family." He looked at her with a faint touch of kindness giving a slight warmth to his face. "You will no longer be obliged to support her, either. Any and all legal rights or duties you had regarding her will be terminated."

For the first time during all of this, Kurt felt a pang of sympathy for his husband's ex-wife. He was still angry with her for her behavior, both with regard to her demands to have Judith stay with her and for that slutty stunt she'd pulled the other night. Still, it couldn't be easy for any parent to simply relinquish all rights to her child.

He slid his hand into Noah's and looked at him, noting the hardness in his eyes. He squeezed the hand he held and felt Noah relax slightly.

Mr. Barrett looked between the newlyweds and the other woman, asking finally, "Are there any other questions you'd like cleared up?"

Noah looked at Kurt, his eyes softening. "Do we have to add Kurt's name to Judith's last name?"

Mr. Barrett shook his head. "If the child, Judith," he nodded courteously, "if she doesn't want her new father's name, she doesn't have to get it added." He tilted his head to look at Kurt curiously. "Did you add Puckerman to your own name when you were married?"

Kurt and Noah looked at each other and then back at the man. Kurt's cheeks were faintly pink but he answered without hesitation. "No, but that was because we had not really discussed it. I don't mind a double-barrelled name, at all!"

He, Noah and Sarah chuckled at that and Mr. Barrett nodded, smiling while he waited for them to sober. Donna, on the other hand, affected a bored demeanor, as if she wished she were anywhere else but there at the moment.

"Well," Mr. Barrett continued; "when and if you decide to add the new name, you can add yours to your daughter's as well."

Kurt felt a thrill go through him that, in a few weeks, Judith would officially be his daughter as well as Noah's. The lump in his throat didn't prevent him from smiling at the lawyer, however, and he nodded.

Looking at Noah, he leaned slightly into him and whispered, "How does Kurt Hummel-Puckerman sound?"

Noah whispered back, "Like a mouthful… but I'm cool with it if you are."

Kurt grinned at him and then turned back to the other man in the room. "How do I go about doing that – by deed poll?"

Mr. Barrett nodded again. "Yes, although it requires every identification document to be done as well. In the case of your daughter, a new birth certificate with the new name will have to be issued as well."

Noah smiled at Kurt, loving the happy gleam in his blue eyes. Kurt returned the smile, saying, "I don't care, really; if it means we end up all as Puckerman or Hummel-Puckerman, it's all good."

Sarah chuckled and then spoke for the first time since coming in with Donna, "And are you going to convert to Judaism, too?"

Kurt stuck his tongue out at her and then laughed at Mr. Barrett's faintly scandalized look. "No way! I don't mind that you guys are, though, but I've never been religious."

The tension seemed to have abated almost completely and Donna had been so quiet they could almost have ignored her presence. Almost. She was like a corpse at a wedding and Kurt was doing his best to keep everyone else's spirits up.

Finally, Mr. Barrett rose to leave, having packed back all the papers into his satchel and after he shook hands all around, Sarah escorted him to the door. Donna left not long after, Noah walking her to the door and speaking quietly while she nodded, subdued.

When Noah came back, he flung himself onto the seat beside Kurt and rested his head on the back of the couch. Kurt stroked his hair, neither of them interested in speaking yet and then…

"God, I'm glad that's over!"

Kurt stared at Noah and then leaned over to plant a soft kiss against his lips. Noah smiled into the kiss and then deepened it slowly, sliding a hand up the back of Kurt's head to hold him in place.

"Kurt, do you want_ oh, for Pete's sake! Guys!"

They pulled apart slowly and Kurt smiled up at his sister-in-law who was rolling her eyes at them. "What? Can I help it if your brother is irresistible?"

"Ugh, please, spare me! Anyway, I came in to ask if you want to eat here or should we go out."

Noah turned his head, still leaned back against the couch and eyed Kurt. Kurt thought about it for all of five seconds and then announced, "Out!"

Sarah chuckled and turned to head upstairs. "Okay, give me a few minutes to get ready… and don't start anything you can't finish right now!"

Kurt and Noah laughed at her and went right back to each other's arms. Relief was making Kurt almost light-headed before he realized he was probably just hungry. He was kissing Noah all over his face when his stomach let out a little growl and he pulled back, his eyes widening.

Noah stared at him and then burst out laughing before pulling his husband to his feet. "Come on, let's go warm up the car until Sarah comes down."

Kurt let himself be hauled to the front door and bundled into his coat and scarf, chuckling as Noah shuddered dramatically at the cold air when they headed out.

His heart was so much lighter now that the papers were signed and about to be filed. He knew that Noah, too, was relieved that Donna hadn't made a scene when the lawyer was there. She was an ambitious bitch but she wasn't stupid all the time. Had she done anything else to piss off Noah, she knew that Judith would be completely off-limits to her. As it was, he thought Noah was immensely kind to allow her any visitation with Judith at all.

They slid into the cold car and as Noah warmed it up and they waited for Sarah to join them, Kurt closed his eyes and thanked whatever deity people still believed in that Judith was now his.

As they drove along the highway, heading to a restaurant Sarah said was one of her favorites, Noah thought about the upcoming surprise dinner party for Kurt. It wasn't every day one became a parent, especially in such an unexpected way. He grinned to himself, looking forward to the look on his beautiful husband's face. Judith, too, would be so blown away and he knew that Burt and Carole would welcome her as their first grandchild with open arms. There was no doubt, too, that they would be bringing presents, the most important part for any five-year-old, undoubtedly.

If anyone had told Noah ten years ago that this was in his future, maybe a part of him would wish it were so, but a huge part would have scoffed. Who would have thought he'd be so happy? For all the crappy, stupid stuff he'd done in the past, he probably didn't deserve to be this happy.

He was though, and when Kurt reached over to squeeze his hand, he felt the smile take over his face and he laughed. When Kurt looked at him, his own eyes lighting up, he shook his head. Later he would tell him everything; right now, he, his husband and his sister were going to have the biggest steak dinner ever… and then they'd go and pick up their daughter.

Life was good.

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TBC

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IMPORTANT A/N: This is a work of fiction and, as such, some of the information in here with regard to step-child adoption has been tweaked to fit the story. It is also important to note that the procedure takes a lot longer than it does in this work of fiction.

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