Noah picked up the phone and dialed the house. 'Pick up Rachel, please pick up' he thought as the answering machine clicked on. "Fuck" he muttered as the squad room secretary, Stacy, strolled up to his desk.
"Hey Noah, what's up? You look exhausted" Stacy said, her voice tinged with real concern.
"Hey Stacy, not too much you? And yeah I'm exhausted, been busy here and things at home are busy too ya know?" Noah answered.
Sitting on his desk, her short skirt rising higher on her thighs as she responded, "Things are good on my end. What's wrong?"
Noah noticed her tanned thighs but shook it off as he responded, "Well this guy that Rachel and I were friends with in high school came to visit… he was my best friend and her ex-boyfriend. He said he was still in love with her and we haven't seen him in a few years. I'm just nervous about him showing up out of nowhere."
Stacy placed her hand on his, gently squeezing as she opened her pretty mouth to say, "Noah, any girl who would choose another guy over you is crazy! Rachel loves you, she's a lucky girl."
"Thanks Stacy" Noah smirked. He was about to say something else when Rachel, Finn and the twins strode into the squad room. Noah's fists balled as he thought 'They look like the perfect family.'
"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Jack and Liana in unison. Noah couldn't help but smile. This was his family and he loved them. Rachel also smiled at him and she walked over and planted a chaste kiss to his lips. Noah normally hated displays of affection at work; he had a reputation to maintain, but today he didn't care. Rachel was about to pull away when Noah firmly grabbed her and kissed her hard.
"Noah!" Rachel exclaimed as she playfully swatted him away. 'He's never done this before, he must be worried' Rachel thought as she bit her lower lip. "We're here now baby, ready for lunch?"
"Yeah sure, just one second hun. Everyone this is Stacy, the squad room secretary, and Stacy this is my wife Rachel, my kids and Finn." Noah made his introductions quickly.
Everyone shook hands and the Puckerman family and Finn made their way to the diner down the block. The tension at the table was noticeable and lunch was awkward. Finn tried to catch Noah's eye but Noah refused to look at him.
Noah and Rachel held hands under the table as Rachel tried to come up with something to say. Finally an idea hit her, "So guess who I spoke to yesterday?"
Both men responded with "Who?" at the exact same moment. Noah glared at Finn out of the corner of his eye.
Rachel stuttered as she replied, "K-Kurt. He said he misses the old gang and wanted to get together over the summer. Wouldn't that be great?"
"Yeah Rach. That would be a lot of fun getting the whole group back together. You, me, and everybody." Finn replied shyly.
Noah pointedly looked at Finn as he responded, "Yeah I guess it would be great to show everyone how happy we are and how good OUR life is at the moment."
At this point Rachel had had enough of the awkward tension. "Let's go everybody, Noah pay the check and we're leaving."
Walking back to the station to drop off Noah was just as awkward. 'Maybe I should just forget about fixing things between all of us,' Rachel thought. But she knew she couldn't continue on this way. Noah and Finn had to make up and that was that. Once she set her mind on something, Rachel Berry Puckerman would not give up until she had achieved her goal.