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Chapter 9
Rachel woke up the next morning, eager to get Hailey back. When she came home from the evening with Quinn, she couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness. It wasn't often that Hailey spent a night away from her. Whenever Quinn, Sam or Finn took her out, they always brought her back that same night, unless she had already fallen asleep at their place. But knowing that Hailey was with Puck made the feeling even more unusual.
As she made her way to the boys' apartment, Rachel couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the night before. She turned down someone because she might still have feelings for Puck and she wasn't sure what to do next. It would be easy to take Quinn's advice and just tell him how she felt but if he didn't feel the same way, she would be devastated and it could interfere with their attempts to co-parent Hailey.
By the time she had finished her thoughts, she realized she was standing in front of the boys' apartment. She knocked on the door and after a few seconds, Sam opened the door.
"Hey Rach. Come on in," he greeted, moving to the side so she could come in. Hailey, who was sitting on the stool in front of the counter eating breakfast, jumped down and ran to her.
"Hi Mommy!" she greeted, giving Rachel a hug. "I missed you."
"I missed you too angel. Did you have fun?"
"Lots. We watched movies and ate ice cream and talked."
Rachel smiled at the thought of them bonding. "Good I'm glad."
Puck gave a small smile and looked at Hailey. "Why don't you go get your bag while I talk to your mom?" Hailey nodded and went to get the bag as Puck walked over to Rachel. "You never told me if she was okay to have ice cream so I figured there was no harm in it and-"
Rachel held up her hand to stop him. "Noah, relax. I'm sure you noticed that ice cream makes her sleepy so it's okay."
"Yeah, what's with that? When I was her age, I was a ball of fire whenever I had ice cream."
"Then I should be glad that she didn't inherit that trait," she smirked as he gave a small laughed.
"Thanks for letting her stay here. It means a lot to me."
"No problem. I'm just happy both of you had fun."
Puck thought before asking his question. He'd been thinking about doing this all night and he knew that if he didn't get the balls to do it now, he might not ever do it. "So I was thinking, me and you should do something sometime."
Rachel's head snapped up at him in shock. Was he asking her out? "Something like what? A date?"
"Well…yeah. A date."
"Noah-"
"Before you say no, just hear me out. I've been going out of my mind lately, thinking about what Hailey asked us a couple weeks ago and I think it's possible that we could both still be harboring feelings for each other. All that I ask is that we try it out and see where it takes us."
Before Rachel could respond, Hailey came back with her bag. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
Rachel looked at her. "Great sweetie. Now say goodbye."
Hailey gave Puck a hug. "Bye Noah." Puck looked at her confused. "Is it okay that I call you that? I know you like being called Puck but I like Noah better and-"
"Hey, it's fine. As long as I get to call you Hail."
Hailey smiled. "Deal." She gave him another hug before walking out.
As Rachel started to follow, she turned around back to Puck. "Yes."
His eyes widened. "Seriously? You're not messing with me?"
Rachel rolled her eyes at the accusation. "No I am not messing with you. I want to see where this takes us too."
"Great. How about tonight?"
Rachel was put off by how soon this was happening but she knew it was better than nothing. "Sure. I'll have to see if Quinn or Finn or Sam can watch Hailey."
Sam stepped in. "I'll do it. Finn and Quinn are supposed to be having dinner with her parents tonight."
"I'm sure he's looking forward to that," Puck smirked. He knew that Finn was scared shitless of Quinn's father and hated having to be around them.
Rachel shot Sam a grateful smile. "Thanks Sam." She turned back to Puck. "So I guess I'll see you tonight."
Puck nodded. "Yes you will."
Rachel smiled before walking out. Puck smiled to himself before noticing that Sam was smirking at him. "What?"
"Never thought you and Rachel would get to this point."
"What point?"
"The point to where you guys are actually trying to be together romantically. I figured after her keeping Hailey from you all this time you wouldn't want anything to do with her."
Puck shrugged. "Well things change. I understand why she did it and while it was wrong, I wasn't exactly innocent in the whole thing either. What's important now is that we're here for Hailey and we try to be a family." Sam looked at him in shock. "Now what?"
"You actually matured since high school," he smirked. Puck threw a paper ball at him before going to his room.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Seriously Quinn, I'm freaking out. What am I supposed to wear?" Rachel complained as she spoke over the phone with Quinn.
Quinn laughed at her friend's nervousness. "Rachel relax. I'm sure whatever you choose to wear Puck will love it even more if it was off of you."
Rachel froze. "Oh no. What if he expects sex? I'm not ready yet. It's only the first date. Why did I agree to this?"
"Rachel!" Quinn yelled through the phone. "Seriously relax. You don't need to be worrying this much. Puck may expect sex on the first date from other girls but not from the mother of his child. You two will be perfectly fine."
"But-"
"No buts. Everything will go great. And if not, well at least you tried."
Rachel took in what Quinn was saying and nodded to herself. She had to relax. Everything would work out and if not, at least she wouldn't be left wondering what if. She could do this.
An hour later, Rachel was going back to the boys' apartment to drop Hailey off with Sam and her nervousness was so obvious, even Hailey took notice.
"Mommy are you okay?" she asked, looking up at Rachel. "You seem nervous."
Rachel quickly shook her head. "No baby, I'm fine."
Hailey could tell her mother was lying but chose to ignore it. "Why am I going back to their apartment?"
"Because Noah and I are going out on a date tonight."
Hailey jumped up excitedly. "So does this mean you two are in love? Are you going to get married?"
"Whoa slow down there. It's just one date. We'll see where it takes us."
"Okay." They kept walking until they reached the boys' apartment. When Rachel went inside and knocked on the door, Finn opened it.
"Hey guys," he greeted as he let them in.
"Wow Finn." Rachel looked him up and down as he stood in his best suit. "I thought you were just going to have dinner with Quinn and her parents?"
"I am but you know how they like to dress nice at dinner. So I'm stuck looking like a penguin."
Hailey giggled. "I think you look very handsome Uncle Finn."
Finn smiled at her. "Why thank you Hailey. Hopefully Quinn's parents think so too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get out of here or I'm going to be late. I'll see you two later and good luck on your date Rachel."
"Thanks. Good luck with dinner and tell Russell and Judy I said hello."
"I'll try. You know how they like to talk over me," Finn rolled his eyes as he walked out of the door. Sam came out of the back room and smiled.
"Hey. Babysitter reporting for duty," he saluted.
"Thanks again for agreeing to watch Hailey. I really appreciate it."
"Hey it's no problem." As he took Hailey and sat her down on the couch, Puck appeared from his bedroom. When he saw Rachel, he smiled.
"Hey. Ready to go?"
Rachel nodded and went to kiss Hailey on her forehead. "I'll see you when we come back. Be good for Sam."
"Aren't I always?" Hailey asked, putting on an innocent face. Rachel rolled her eyes and walked out while Puck ruffled Hailey's hair before following Rachel out.
As they sat in the car in awkward silence, Rachel tried thinking of things to say. She didn't want them sitting in silence for the rest of the ride. It was already nerve-wracking enough to know that if things didn't work out between them, things could become weird and unlike other couples who break up, they couldn't just stop seeing each other because they had Hailey.
After what seemed like an eternity, they got to their destination. As they went inside and were led to their table, Rachel still couldn't believe that she was actually on a date with Puck after all these years. They never got to experience actually dating each other so doing it now feels very unusual for her.
Puck stared at Rachel as she looked for what she wanted to eat. He had to admit, this was the most nervous he's ever been in his life. But looking at Rachel, he felt himself relax a little. This was the same girl from high school, just stronger from life's experiences. Knowing that she managed to raise Hailey on her own and she's the reason Hailey turned out to be such a great kid, it made him love her even more.
Once their food came, Puck decided it was time to engage in a serious conversation. "You know, I'm kind of surprised you even agreed to this."
Rachel looked at him confused. "Why?"
"I just figured the last thing you wanted to do was go out with me."
"I could say the same thing." When she noticed Puck's look of confusion, she sighed. "I know you're still upset with me about keeping Hailey from you and I honestly don't blame you. If I were you I would never forgive me."
"Rach stop. We agreed that we both did some unfavorable things but it's in the past. What matters now is that we're here trying to raise Hailey together."
Rachel nodded in agreement. "You're right. Besides, I know Hailey loves being with you. She can't stop talking about how much fun she has when she's around you."
Puck smiled at the thought of Hailey talking about him. "She's such a great kid. You did an amazing job with her."
"Thanks."
An awkward silence followed but Puck wasn't going to let that stop the conversation. There has been a question going through his mind ever since he found out about Hailey and he needed to ask. "Do your dads know? You know, that I'm Hailey's father?"
Rachel sighed and nodded. "Yes. And to say they weren't happy about it would be an understatement."
"Figured that."
"But they were more upset with both of us. You for leaving and me for not having enough sense to tell you about her. They just thought we were handling the situation like children and I can't say I disagree with them."
"Yeah. This makes me look forward to visiting them back in Lima," he smirked. Rachel giggled before smiling at Puck. "What?"
"I'm just glad that we have a second chance to do this. Maybe we can actually get it right this time."
Puck smiled back before responding. "Maybe."
XXXXXXXXXX
Going back to the apartment, Puck and Rachel couldn't be more satisfied with how the date turned out. Everything was going perfectly for them. The only thing that would make it better is having Hailey with them. However, when they walked inside the apartment, they froze at the site of who was there.
"Mom?" Puck asked in shock. Maria Puckerman looked at them and frowned.
"So I have to find out that I have a granddaughter from one of your roommates? Is that how I raised you, Noah?"
Puck stood, searching for the right words. "I-I was going to tell you. We're still trying to figure things out."
Before Maria could respond, Hailey ran out of the back room and into Rachel's arms. "I have a grandma Mommy."
"Yeah I see that sweetie," Rachel replied nervously.
Maria glared at her. "And who do you think you are? What gave you the right to keep this child from her father all this time? You should be ashamed of yourself."
"The whole thing was really complicated and-"
"There is nothing complicated about letting this little girl grow up without a father. My Noah should sue for custody because you obviously are not fit to be a parent if you are going to ignore the needs of your child."
"Mom!" Puck scolded.
Rachel shook her head. "No it's okay. I'm just going to take Hailey and go. It's what I'm good at, right Mrs. Puckerman?"
Puck turned to Rachel. "You don't have to go."
Rachel stared back at him in sadness before picking Hailey up to carry her. "I think I do."
As she walked out with Hailey trying to hold back her tears, everyone was silent not knowing how to react to the situation. What started out as a great night ended in an unfortunate surprise that might wreck everything they've been working toward. And no one was more devastated than Puck.
Drama! How do you think Puck will react to what happened? Will he lash out at his mother? And what will happen to Puck and Rachel? Find out in the next chapter. Please review! Bye for now :)
