AN:

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Chord, and my other originals. Glee's not mine.


As I stand hesitantly on the Puckerman front porch I have to admit to myself that I'm actually quite a bit nervous for Ruth to meet Chord. She was the mom I never had when I was growing up, and I don't want her to be disappointed in me for my foolish choices. I won't ever apologize for having my son, but her opinion always has and always will matter to me.

"Hey," is said from right next to me and I jump about a mile and a half in the air. As soon as I firmly back on the ground I immediately check to make sure that Chord's ok before looking over to place a face with the voice that just scared the shiz outta me. Come to find out it's the giant guy from glee.

"Hi," I say after clearing my throat a few times to make sure that my voice doesn't crack after being frightened.

"Ray, right?" the guy asks me politely with a small grin.

"Correct. And I don't believe we've actually been introduced yet," I say with a friendly grin as I hold out my hand for him to shake.

"Finn Hudson," he tells me with a grin as he takes and shakes my hand firmly. "So are you going in or...?" He questions hesitantly while gesturing to the still unopened front door with his hand.

"Oh! Yeah I am," I say as I open the door and hold it open for him. He shoots me another grin and after a quick thanks he heads upstairs while I go into the kitchen to see if I can find mama Ruth. I don't see her or anyone else downstairs so I grab a couple of sodas from the fridge before following Finn upstairs, and when I walk into Noah's room (Even if I was wanting too) I can't not laugh...

Santana has Noah in a headlock that he's struggling to break (Which, whoa! Can you say 'incredibly hot'?), Jake and Quinn are talking shit to each other as they play a one on one match, and poor Finn seems like he's a little dazed and confused. I'm laughing my ass off at them for over a minute before Jake finally turns his head and notices me in the room.

"Ray!" He shouts and immediately leaves his game unattended to tackle me into a hug bear hug.

"Hey Jake," I say with a smirk that quickly falls away when I hear Chord let out a piercing cry.

"Is that a baby...?" Santana questions in shock as she looks up and over to me with Noah still securely under her arm.

"Uh...yeah. He's mine," I tell them nervously as I untangle myself from Jake and go to grab my son from his car-seat that's on the floor next to me where I sat him during my laughing fit. I bounce and rock him for a few moments as I talk to him quietly and try to sooth him, and once he's finally calm I look up to see everyone staring at me with varying looks on their faces.

"Yours as in your brother? Or yours as in...ya know, yours?" Santana questions curiously with a small tilt of her head. Quinn, Finn, and Jake all stare at me with rapt attention also wanting to know my answer.

"He's, uh...he's mine. As in he's my son," I say a little worried about their reactions.

"He's so cute!" Jake squeals suddenly in excitement before clearing his throat and looking around the room in embarrassment. "I mean...how old is he?"

"He's three months," I tell him in between chuckles as I look around the room to gauge everyone else's reactions. Quinn looks curious as does Finn, and Santana looks slightly disappointed. My smile falls from my face momentarily at seeing her look, but I quickly force another one back on in it's place. "Any other questions?"

"What's his name?" Finn pipes up, still staring at my son.

"Chord Efran Berry," I tell them as I swell with pride. I see Santana smile at hearing his name and my smile instantaneously goes from fake to real.

"That's so cute. So, does his mom go to our school too?" Quinn questions as she stands from the floor and abandons her own controller as well. I look over at Santana and smile slightly at the jealousy I see in her eyes as she leans in closer while waiting for my answer. I then look down for a moment and take a steadying deep breath.

"Um...no. She doesn't. You remember the song I sang for my audition earlier right?" I ask them and at their nods I continue. "It was about her. It's complicated but we had some disagreements over what to do with Chord once he was born, and long story short, she gave up her rights and he's with me."

"Wait, she just left her kid for you to take care of alone?" Santana jumps in with anger in her eyes. I smile slightly at her, before taking another deep breath and clarifying.

"Not exactly. It's a really super complicated and kind of touchy subject, but she's not in his life anymore." I answer without meeting anyone's eyes while a feeling as if a hole is trying to eat its way through my chest decides to take root. I hate this topic of conversation.

Santana looks even more pissed than before now but I can tell it's not at me personally, and I can't help but feel a warmth settle in my stomach at her being angry about mine and my son's circumstances. If only she knew the half of it..."That's complete bullshit," she growls out with a dark look slowly forming over her face. Quinn, Finn, and Jake all nod at her statement, and on second thought if the anger in her eyes is any indication, maybe she shouldn't ever know the true extent of it.

"So who wants to get their ass kicked in COD?" I question with fake excitement to break up the tension that's now filling the room to an almost uncomfortable capacity. Everyone jumps at the chance of diffusing the suddenly uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere as well as an angry Santana and immediately we all settle around the tv to either watch or play.

"Can I hold him?" Santana asks as she sits down next to me on the floor.

"Course," I tell her with a beaming smile as I gently hand Chord over to her and watch with rapt attention as she talks to, coos at, and plays with him.

"Hey Noah, where's Sarah and mama Ruth?" I ask around an hour later when there still seems to be no sign of the two. I'm currently taking my turn playing the game with Finn, Noah, and Quinn while Santana's still hogging my son for herself and Jake's alternating between staring at Chord and Santana or cheering us on in our match. Santana seems to be completely fascinated with my boy and I can't be more thrilled with this fact.

"Ma's at work and Sarah's at a friends house for the night," he answers me distractedly. Then seconds later, "Fuck yeah baby! No one can mess with the Puckasauras!" he shouts as he gets the last kill that wins the match for our team, jumping up in excitement and thumping his chest multiple times proudly.

"Puck!" Santana and Quinn scream at him almost simultaneously in anger and annoyance. His outburst startled Chord causing him to wake up and cry, and as I reach out for him to take him back from Santana she turns away so I can't. I don't quite really know how to feel about that exactly, so I settle on pouting at being denied my own child. I can't help but to then smile as she manages to calm him down much quicker than I was expecting.

"You're good with him," I tell her fondly as I scoot closer to them.

"Thanks. I have a four year old brother," she tells me by way of an exploitation as Chord tries to suck on her finger. She patiently pulls it gently away from him and places his pacie in his mouth instead.

"Really? What's his name?" I ask as I watch Chord watch Santana. Smart boy. He already seems fascinated with the gorgeous Latina just like his Daddy.

"Alejandro, but we call him Alex," shen tells me and I go to respond to her before I'm interrupted by Noah.

"Hey San, are you going to play?" Noah questions her as they wait for another map to load up. She looks torn for a moment, looking between the game and my kid, before Quinn crawls over and physically takes Chord away from her.

"Hey! What the hell Tubbers?" Santana snaps harshly with a pout, but Quinn doesn't even bat any eyelash at her tone or the insult.

"Go play. You've been hogging him for over an hour now and I wanna see him," Quinn tells her, pointing over to her abandoned controller. Santana just scowls at her for a moment before giving in with one last dirty look and crawling over to sit next to Noah.

I watch her go while completely enjoying the view and turn to face Quinn when I hear her snicker. "What?" I ask with a bashful grin, already knowing her answer.

"You already know," is all she tells me with an amused eyebrow raise and a smirk before focusing her attention on Chord, who's absolutely loving all the attention he's been getting today.


A few hours later I hear the front door open and I immediately jump up in excitement. I can't wait to see mama Ruth again. I gently take Chord from Santana, who managed to steal him from Quinn (again) for like the fourth time, and I head from the room to make my way down the stairs.

Just as I'm reaching the bottom of the stairs I see Ruth head into the kitchen and I follow silently, knowing that she hasn't seen me yet. I sneak up behind her and stand a few feet back (for Chord's safety) before shouting "Boo!" loudly. She turns around quickly with a frightened scream, and once she sees that it's me who scared her she screams again, only this time in shock and excitement.

"Rayden!" she exclaims loudly as she pulls me into a tight hug. I don't hug her back because I'm trying to make sure my son doesn't get squished, and once she realizes something's not quite right she pulls back in a hurry. She looks down to see the baby cradled protectively in my arms in between us and smiles gently. "This must be Chord."

"Huh...?" I question her stupidly. I didn't think she knew anything about him. I mean yeah we kept in touch of course, but I was always too afraid to tell her about him.

"Sweetie did you really think that your dads wouldn't tell me about him?" she asks me with a 'really' look as she takes him from my arms.

"I...well...honestly, no. I didn't think they ever did," I tell her with a shrug as I toe the floor in slight embarrassment once I snap out of my own shock. Thinking back on it now it's stupid of me to have thought that she wouldn't know about him.

"They called me up as soon as you first told them about getting that...that girl...pregnant. Then they kept me updated on everything every step of the way after that. The only thing I wasn't aware of is you guys coming back, but I guess your dads' wanted that to be a surprise. You have no idea how much I wanted to fly to New York and beat some sense into her and her family, and to make sure you were really ok," Ruth tells me in a mix of anger and sadness as she bounces Chord back and forth in her arms lightly.

"Trust me Ma I know how you feel," I tell her with a smile as I watch them interact. Everyone's reacting better than I thought they would and because of this I feel all kinds of giddy.

"You can go back upstairs and play with your friends, I'll take care of him for a bit," she tells me as she grabs her juice she poured before I scared her off the counter and walks back into the living room.

"Are you sure?" I question, knowing her answer already.

"Of course I am, now shoo. Leave me and my grandson alone," she orders me and I salute her before going back upstairs.

"Where's Chord?" Santana and Quinn ask as soon as I walk into the room sans baby.

"Ohhhh...," I drawl out. "I see how it is. You guys only want me around for my son," I scoff out playfully.

"Duh..." Santana answers flatly with an eye-roll, her eyes never leaving the screen as she tries to maintain her killstreak.

"He's downstairs. Ruth demanded that I leave him with her, so sorry San," I answer as I take a seat beside her. She mock glares at me quickly before turning back to the game with a grunt.


"Hey baby boy," I coo out lovingly as I walk into Chord's nursery the next morning. I pick him up out of his crib and change him into a fresh diaper and clothes before heading downstairs to feed him. I'm currently only in a pair of gray sweats, having just finished my workout.

"Hey Daddy," I greet as I walk into the kitchen. I head over to the fridge to grab a bottle when my Dad walks into the room and takes Chord straight from my arms. "Hey!" I exclaim with an annoyed pout.

"You stink. Stop your torture of my grandson and go take a shower. Once you're dressed and ready for school then you can spend some time with him before you have to leave," Dad orders me as he pops Chord's bottle into the microwave. I walk out of the room pouting with a hard roll of my eyes and head upstairs to do as I'm told and get ready.

Twenty minutes later I'm standing in front of my mirror in a pair of khaki cargo shorts, a plain black v-neck, and my black chucks. I'm putting in my black tongue ring and debating on whether or not to start gauging my ears as I switch my normal stud earrings for my black diamond ones. I also want another tattoo, but I don't know if I can convince them to let me get another one just yet. The only reason that they let me get the one that I currently have when I turned fifteen was because it's a family thing. My Dad and Daddy both have the word equality tattooed on them, and I wanted that as well. Dad has it on his on the inside of his right upper arm, Daddy has it on his right pec, and I have it on my left wrist.

"Hey dads? Can I get another tattoo?" I ask distractedly as I finally make my way back into the kitchen with my bag slung over my shoulder. I drop my bag on the floor at the table and grab Chord from my Dad as I sit down. Him and Daddy share a look of uncertainty before Daddy sits a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me.

"Depends..." Daddy begins slowly as he sits at the table with us.

"On...?" I urge after I swallow my mouthful of food and he still hasn't continued.

"On what you want and when you want it," Dad answers for him.

"Soon? And I'm thinking of getting Chord's feet prints with his name over my heart," I tell them, staring down at my (now peacefully sleeping) son.

"We'll think about it, ok kiddo?" Daddy answers, and I give them a grateful nod as I stand up and take my now empty plate over to the sink.

I hand Chord over to Dad after telling him bye, say a quick goodbye to my dads, and walk into the garage. I hop in my jeep and head to school, excited for football tryouts later today. These kids ain't gonna know what hit 'em when I finally get back on the field.


Please review and let me know how the tweaks are working out! Also thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! = )