Part 10

Living with your boyfriend had both advantages and disadvantages Rachel soon found out. The biggest advantage being the amount of time you could see each other. The biggest disadvantage she was noticing was how people were insinuating things regarding her relationship with Puck that just weren't true. It had been a week since there first official date and she had to stop Puck from beating up about 5 guys who made inappropriate comments to her.

"Noah," she tried to reason with him again, "teenagers are idiots and will say stupid things. We can't fly off the handle every time one of them opens their mouth."

"Fly off the handle?" Puck fumed. "When some asswipe suggests that my girl is 'open for business', there is no flying. There is ass kicking."

"You need to calm down," Rachel tries again. "We're almost home and you being upset will just get Beth upset. I don't care what those people at school think. You and I know the truth. Our friends and family know the truth. The rest of them don't matter."

"I know," growled Puck, "and if they were just saying shot about me, I would let it go, but it isn't me! They are talking shit about you and you don't deserve it!"

"That is so sweet," Rachel's eyes tear up.

"Huh?" Puck asks, clearly confused.

"You are upset because they are talking about me," Rachel tries to explain. "You care that what they are saying might be upsetting to me."

"Um, yeah," Puck agrees. "You're my girl and NO ONE talks shit about my girl!"

"That might be one of the most romantic things anyone has ever said to me," Rachel replies, smiling brightly.

GgLlEeEe

Just as the Berry/Puckerman household was about to settle in for dinner, there is a knock on the door. Since Puck is the closest, he goes to open the door. On the other side is an unknown man in a suit with 2 envelopes in his hand.

"May I help you?" Puck asks.

"I am looking for Noah Puckerman and Rachel Berry," the man replied dully.

"I'm Noah," Puck replied, then gestured to Rachel, "and that is Rachel.

"You have been served," the man responded, slid the envelopes into Puck's hand and walked away.

"What?" Puck sputtered, looking between the empty doorway, the envelopes and the table where everyone else was seated.

"Let me see the letters, Noah," Ephraim Berry said. After taking them from Puck and scanning them, he turned to everyone. "It looks like Ms. Fabray is attempting to sue for custody."

This announcement sent the room into chaos. Everyone was talking at once and not really listening to anyone else. Rachel looked pale, Puck looked like he wanted to punch in a wall, Hannah looked confused and the parents all looked varying levels of angry.

"She has no rights," Rachel stated as the room calmed down. "She gave Beth up. She has no rights."

"No she doesn't," her father agreed. "In the petition, it looks like she is attempting to show that you and Noah are unfit parents and that Beth is being raised in an unfit environment. To be honest, this looks to be the work of Ms. Fabray's father."

"He has tried to run us out of town several times," Leroy Berry frowned. "All of his Christian morals don't like a gay couple."

"They can't take her away!" Noah ground out. "I won't let them!"

"None of us will," Sela Puckerman assured her son. "He is just blowing smoke and trying to start something that he will not be able to finish."

"That's right," Ephraim reiterated. "Quinn has no legal right to Beth and this environment is perfectly acceptable. You both had been expecting Quinn to do something and it looks like this is it. What we need now is to come up with a foolproof game plan. Since I am personally involved in the case, I will find another lawyer at my firm to handle it. We will have a meeting tomorrow and get all out ducks in a row."