"So, what did Mr. Schuester have to say," Rachel asked as soon as class let out.
"I'll tell you in the truck," Sam mumbled, pulling her to him. Shue hadn't said about not telling anyone but Sam guessed it was safe to assume that the arrangement shouldn't become common knowledge. "Let's get outta here." Rachel looked at him closely before shrugging and pulling her boyfriends to the door, chattering happily about some song or something while Puck shot Sam a look over her head. Sam winked and hummed an agreement with whatever Rachel just said.
However, as soon as they were in the truck, she flipped gears and turned to Sam, looking at him expectantly.
"Well apparently Shue pulled some strings and I'm going to be staying with him until I get a job and am able to get the emancipation stuff taken care of. Hopefully I can figure all this out soon. " Sam sighed. "Oh, and Shue is giving us a pass to get out of first period tomorrow to start working on the court stuff."
"I am still unsure if you staying with a teacher is a good idea," Rachel fretted.
Sam pulled her to him. "It's only going to be for a short time, baby. Once I get enough money for a deposit, I'll move out. I can do this."
"We can do this," Puck said, moving closer to them and wrapping them in his arms. "We're in this together." Rachel beamed at her darker boyfriend, kissing him briefly before kissing Sam. "Now, come on, we can fool around at my house for a bit before I gotta pick up Sarah from soccer practice." Giving them one last squeeze, he moved to his seat and started up the truck after everyone had buckled in.
That idea was ruined when they pulled up to the house and Puck's mum's station wagon is sitting in the driveway.
"What the-"
"Noah…"
"Can't we just go in?"
"No, because she'll want to sit you two down and learn your life stories." He smirked at Rachel. "Well, your story, Sam, since she's known Rachel since forever."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "She has not known me forever, Noah. But he's right, she'll want to talk." She chewed on her lip, thinking it over.
Puck sighed. "Well, do you want to go to your house, Rachel?"
Her nose wrinkled. "We can't do anything; Daddy gets off work early on Wednesdays. I think we should go in. It might be easier to tell her if Sarah's not home, just in case." Rachel doesn't say anything, but she still squeezes Sam's hand.
She decided to ignore Puck's grumbling and nudged Sam to get out of the truck and then pointedly glared at Noah until he turned off the vehicle and exited, grabbing his bag from the back. The three met at the front of the truck and Rachel ran her hand down his arm soothingly.
"It's going to be okay," Rachel murmured as Sam laced his finger through Puck's, who just smirked at Rachel.
""Course it is, babe, you know I gots this."
"'Gots' is not a word, Noah," she scolded him, even as she saw through his front.
"Come on, let's get this over with." He tugged them towards the house. Even though he was sure his mom would be cool with whatever he chose (as long as Rachel was in the picture, she really didn't give a fuck), there was still a lingering doubt after what happened with Sam's parents. Still, he opened the front door and yelled to his mom that he was home. She came rushing out of the kitchen, a streak of flour on her forehead and something red on the front of her apron.
"Sweet Moses, Ma, please don't tell me you were trying to cook again," Puck groaned.
"No, I was not 'trying to cook,'" she said, glaring at her son. "I was baking some cookies for one of my co-workers. Nosey-pants," she added with a grumble as Puck grinned. His ma was shite with cooking but a fucking amazing baker.
"Whatever. Ma, you know Rachel," the two hugged as they said hello, "and this is Sam."
"Hello, you must be Noah's boyfriend," she said, shaking his hand and smiling brightly. "I'm Tikva, Noah's mother. I've heard so much about you!"
They just stare at her in shock.
"Uh, Ma, who did you hear about him from?" Puck asked.
"Rachel's fathers, of course! We were making plans to break challah(1) at Temple last week and Jake mentioned something about inviting Sam and of course I had to ask."
Rachel groaned. "I asked him not to say anything."
Tikva shushed her. "Oh, dear, he didn't mean to let it slip and I promised them I would wait until Noah was ready to tell me but I'm afraid I got a little excited and jumped ahead of myself."
"Whatever, yenta(2)," Puck said, nudging his mother affectionately.
"If I'm a yenta, it's only because you never tell me anything, boychick(3)," she retorted, mock glaring at him.
"Yeah, yeah." He glanced at Sam, who was watching the exchange with a look of amusement and confusion. "Sorry, she starts dropping into Yiddish when she gets excited."
"Oy vey(4)," Rachel sighed. Noah's mum just smiled at her before turning back to Sam.
"Now, you must come with me, bubbala(5)- er, my dear, and tell me about yourself," she said, looping her arm through his and pulling the blond to the kitchen. Sam allowed himself to be towed, shooting a furtive glance over his shoulder.
"Ma, luzzem(6)," Puck barked as he and Rachel followed them into the kitchen/dining room.
"Nonsense, Noah, I just want to get to know him." Tikva scowled at her son before returning her attention to Sam. "So tell me about yourself, Sam."
Rachel looked up at her darker boyfriend as the other one began talking. "Do you know how much it turns me on to hear you talk in Yiddish?" she murmured, running one hand up his arms and squeezing his bicep.
"Oh, really?" he smirked, leaning down and whispering in her ear. When he pulled away, her entire face, neck and collarbone were red.
"Noah!" she admonished, her eyes darting to where his mother sat just a few feet away.
"What, you can't deny that was hot," he teased, dropping a kiss on her lips just as his mother let out a yell.
"What?"
Sam looked terrified and Puck glanced at the angry woman. "Ma, what happened?"
She didn't reply, just huffing about and muttering under her breath. "Rotten goyim(7)… momzer(8)… massive shtunk(9)…"
"MA!"
She turned from where she was slamming a tray of cookies onto the countertop and glared. "What, Noah."
"What's wrong? You were all cool, talking with Sam, and now you're pissed?"
"He was just telling me about his parents kicking him out and I had to pry that from him! What's wrong with these goyim?"
Well, that made sense, with all the derogatory terms she had been spouting. "Oh, yeah."
"Well, rest assured, Sam will be staying with us from now on," Tikva said, angrily throwing the cookies on a cooling rack. Rachel took over for her, trying to make sure the cookies didn't get ruined by the woman's anger.
"Oh, no, Ms. Puckerman, you don't-"
"Call me Vi, dear, and don't argue. I know you said you'll be staying with that nice Mr. Schuester, but I don't want him getting in trouble. You'll stay in our spare room."
"Ma-"
"I won't take no for an answer. If he's really that important to you, Noah, then he's mishpocha(10)." She leaned down and gave Sam a hug. "Now, do you want Italian or Chinese food for dinner?"
They share a glance. "Uh, Italian, I guess," Puck mumbled.
"Good. Now, Rachel, Sam, here's the menu. Just write down what you want and I'll pick it up after I get Sarah." She set the menu and a piece of paper on the table in front of Sam and went back to her cookies. Puck just glanced at his boyfriend and girlfriend and made the 'coocoo' motion with his finger. Sam bit back as laugh as Rachel scowled at them.
"Thank you, Vi," she said, quickly scribbling down what she wanted. "Do you need some help?" She wandered over to where the older woman was working.
"Sorry about the takeaway, my mum can't cook for shite," Puck said, ignoring the matching glares from his mother and girlfriend.
"Oh, no, it's okay, I never really got to eat out, what with my mum…" Sam trailed off and cleared his throat. "Anyway, I like Italian." He flashed Puck a grin before bending his head over to peruse the menu.
Every time Puck thought of Sam's parent's reaction to their news, a fresh wave of anger would flow through him and he had to curb the urge to punch something. They all knew there was a possibility of something like this happening; hell, he was pretty sure they had gotten off pretty lucky with two sets of parents being okay with their arrangement. Didn't make it any easier for Sam, though. He had been putting up a good front since last night but Puck knew shite wasn't kosher.
He watched as the blond took his time with the menu and Rachel laughed with his mum. Why were people so pissed when someone broke from the 'norm'? How was it fair that loving more than one person and being with them both meant that one of them got hurt?
All this deep thinking was hurting his head. He stood up and stretched, catching Sam when he eyed to smooth expanse of skin that was exposed when his shirt rode up. Puck winked at the blond.
"Find something you like?"
Sam glanced at him again, smirking. "Oh, a couple of things," he replied, writing something on the paper under Rachel's order.
"All done? Well, Noah, why don't you help Sam set up in the spare room and help make him comfortable? But not too comfortable," she added, shooting a meaningful look at her son, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, Ma, I know the rules."
"Doesn't mean you don't try to break them," she muttered under her breath, sticking the cookies into the oven. Rachel giggled as she help clean up the mess. "I love him, I do, but that boy will one day drive me crazy."
"Oh, I imagine most mothers think that," Rachel told her, wrinkling her nose as she threw some eggshells away.
"So, tell me everything," Tikva said, nudging Rachel until the younger girl giggled. "You're dads were pretty tight-lipped."
"Personally, I'm glad for that," Rachel said. "It's not that we didn't want to tell you, it's just that they decided that the best course of action would be to ask my fathers for permission beforehand. We wanted the three of us to be together when we told the parents, so on Monday, we worked out a time for both families. That's when Noah asked you when a good time was." Vi just nodded. "Sam said his, uh, family ate dinner together at least once a week and I thought, if we could set it up with Sam's parents for Tuesday, we could just get everything done at the beginning of the week."
Rachel paused as the guys reentered the house, carrying all of Sam's bags and laughing. She waited until they were upstairs and out of earshot before continuing. "He's been heartbroken since. Both Noah and I have tried cheering him up, but…" She looked at the older woman. "I don't know what to do, Vi. I love them both and it hurts to watch him go through this and know that there's nothing I can really do."
Vi wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist. "Bubbala, there's nothing you can do. The scales of fortune are fickle, always tipping. While his cup seems half empty now, soon it will appear half full. The universe will set things right." She grinned. "And with you and Noah by his side, I'm sure he'll be feeling better in no time." A sudden crash caused both of them to jump and then Noah's laughter floated down. "NOAH!"
"'S cool, Ma!" he yelled back, still chuckling.
She rolled her eyes (Rachel was a little surprised at the resemblance she had to her son at that moment). "Gay avek(11)," she told the girl, shooing her upstairs. "Noah, I'm going to pick up Sarah, I'll be back in fifteen minutes. BEHAVE."
"Yeah, yeah, Ma."
Rachel grinned when she reached the top of the stairs; Noah standing on the landing, laughing as Sam attempted to walk across it on his hands. He managed it pretty well, she thought, until he went to stand upright. It didn't quite work and he ended up falling on his back. Puck just laughed harder, his hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. Rachel ignored him, kneeling next to Sam and checking him over. As soon as he was able to, he started laughing as well.
"I give up," she announced, heading downstairs and turning on the telly. Just as she settled on a show to watch, her still chuckling boyfriends flopped down beside her. "Did you two do your homework?"
She missed the smirk and the wink that were thrown out just before the guys leaned in, Puck nuzzling her neck as Sam whispered in her ear. Rachel laughed, a great, big, gasping laughing that had her clutching her stomach.
"Dude, what did you say?" Puck glared at him.
"What you told me to!"
"He-he sa-said he wants, wants to see a donkey eat-eating a banana!" Rachel laughed. "He said it in Yiddish!"
"Seriously, that's not what you were supposed to say," Puck said, staring at his boyfriend. "I thought we went over the right way to say it."
"Well, I tried." Sam scowled at his irritated boyfriend and his hysterically laughing girlfriend.
"You two, go do your homework," Rachel said, nudging them both off of the couch. Grumbling, they both got up and headed upstairs. Pulling out her phone, she called her daddy.
"Hey, pumkin."
"Hello, Daddy."
"Oh, no, what did I do?" he chuckled.
"We're over at the Puckerman's right now. We arrived, worried what Noah's mum would think. Well, just imagine my surprise when Noah started telling his mum about Sam and she says she already knew. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Daddy?"
"Oh, yes, well, see-"
"Daddy…"
Jake just laughed. "I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to tell her but we were talking-"
"Yes, I know, Vi told us. I just don't know why you didn't warn us ahead of time!"
"I forgot! When we got home, I couldn't find my wallet and by the time I found it, the last thing on my mind was about my accidental slip up."
"I'm mad at you," Rachel told him simply.
"I love you, too. Listen, sweetie, I have to get off the phone now. Don't stay out past curfew," Jake reminded her.
"I won't. Love you, see you tomorrow."
"Oh, wait, before you hang up, did Sam ever find a place to live?"
"Mr. Schuester offered him a place but when Vi found out, she insisted Sam Stay in their guest bedroom, as she thought the arrangement was not the best idea, considering the student/teacher relationship. He's currently upstairs with Noah doing homework." I hope, she added silently.
"That's good, pumpkin. Well, I really do have to go, but I love you and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Love you too, Daddy." Rachel hung up her phone, glancing at the ceiling. It was just too quiet. Feeling particularly ninja-esque, she climbed the stairs and peeked into Noah's room. Sure enough, the two of them were seated on the floor, books spread out in front of them as they studied. Pride swelled inside her and she started thinking of ways to reward them.
"Kids, I'm back!" Vi called as the door slammed against the wall. Rachel hurried downstairs so that the boys wouldn't know she had been spying on them.
"Hello, Sarah," Rachel chirped, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately.
"Hi, Rachel! Guess what happened at soccer practice!" The energetic young girl then launched into a story that kept her so distracted that Rachel never heard her boyfriends come down until Noah leaned over her, stealing a sip of her drink. "Who's he?" Sarah asked, pointing at Sam.
"Don't point, it's rude," Vi admonished. "This is Sam, Noah's-" She cut off when Puck shot her a look and gave a slight shake of his head. She just rolled her eyes at him and continued, "Noah's friend. He's going to be staying with us for awhile."
"Like Quinn did?"
The air grew heavy for a moment as old memories were brought up, until Vi chuckled. "Yes, dear, like Quinn did. Now, settled down," she told her, setting her plate in front of her.
"Can I have a soda?" Sarah asked, poking a meatball.
"May I have a soda," Rachel corrected automatically. Puck just smirked at her and Sarah rolled her eyes.
"May I please have a soda, mother dearest?" she said, only a little sarcastic.
Vi laughed, shaking her head. "No soda's at the dinner table, but if you behave, you can split one with me after we eat."
Sarah shrugged. "Fair enough. Water, then, please?"
"Come and get it, you guys," Vi said, pulling a cup down for Sarah and filling it with ice and water. "Don't hesitate, Sam," she warned him, setting the glass in front of Sarah. "If you don't take what you want in this family, someone else will."
Puck and Sam shared a look. Yeah, it was what they were thinking when they got together with Rachel.
Dinner went fairly smoothly, albeit a bit awkward at first because Sarah kept asking Sam questions that he wasn't prepared for. Afterwards, Vi poured half of a Coke in a cup and sent Sarah in the living room while Puck, Rachel and Sam cleaned up the table.
"Sit," she told them once they were finished. They sat. "Now, if you're going to be living here, Sam, there are a few rules, even if Noah ignores them."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Whatever, Ma."
Rachel just giggled.
"Don't 'whatever' me, Noah. Sam, curfew is eleven on school nights, one on the weekends. If you're a little late, that's okay, it happens, but that doesn't mean take your sweet ass time about getting home. There's no smoking or doing any drugs in this house. You will be expected to clean up after yourself. Noah can show you were the laundry room is and where the towels are and such. I usually work graveyard, so I ask that you not be too loud when you get back. I'll give you a key to the house later. If you and Noah are in one of the bedrooms together, I want the door to be open, just like it is when Rachel is over. Other than that, I'm pretty lenient. If you have any problems or if you just want to talk, I'm here." She smiled at the blond sitting across from her. "Okay?"
"Uh, yes, ma'am," he stuttered again.
"Good. Now, I'm going to go watch TV with Sarah. Go do your homework, Noah," she added, rising from the table and leaving.
"Yeah, yeah," Puck grumbled.
Yiddish definitions:
(1)CHALLAH: A loaf of white leavened bread, typically braided, traditionally baked to celebrate the Jewish sabbath
(2)YENTA: A busybody, usually refers to an older woman.
(3)BOYCHICK: An affectionate term for a young boy.
(4)BUBBALA: A term of endearment, darling.
(5)LUZZEM: Leave him be, let her or him alone.
(6)OY VEY: "Oh, how terrible things are". (Rachel is using this term sarcastically.)
(7)GOY: A derogatory term meaning gentile, goyim is the plural
(8)MOMZER: A bastard, an untrustworthy person
(9)SHTUNK: A stinker, a nasty person or a scandalous mess
(10)MISHPOCHA: Family, usually extended family
(11)GAY AVEK: Go away, get out of here. (Tikva means it lovingly, though I'm not sure how it's actually meant to be taken.)
A/N: All the Yiddish was taken off of http: / www. sbjf. org/ sbjco/ schmaltz/ yiddish_phrases. htm (without the spaces), so if I didn't get them right, then I'm sorry and you shouldn't really blame me :)
Oh, and BIG props to anon reviewer A for making me feel better with their kind, kind words :)