A/N: So here we are at the end of the line. This idea came to me sometime over the summer from watching an episode of Veronica Mars and the way this story ends has been the entire plan all along and what the whole story was based around. So if you've ever seen that show (which I discovered thanks to some lovely Glee FF writer that kept mentioning it in their stories and author's notes) then you quite possibly might have some idea of what I'm talking about. But regardless I welcome you all to enjoy the final chapter of my first ever multi chapter Puckleberry fan fiction story that actually bothers to follow a story line, unlike my drabble collection.
I've also started work on a new story that I got from the drabble meme, but it's gotten so out of control that it is totally not anywhere near drabble length anymore. But I hope to have the first chapter up either by the end of the year or early next month.
Rachel can't help the smile that spreads across her face as she gazes down at her sleeping son. He's grown so much in the past year that it's hard to believe that he ever fit inside her at one point in time. She lightly runs her hand over Ethan's back as he shifts slightly into a more comfortable position. Sighing, the young mother glances down at the envelope in her hands and reads the return address for what feels like the thousandth time since she received it just over four months ago.
New York City Genetic Center
She hasn't been able to bring herself to open it all these months. Instead it's been hiding inside her first edition copy of War & Peace since she knows that no one is ever going to open that anytime soon for a bit of light reading and therefore it remains safe. Moving to sit in the rocking chair in her son's nursery she lets her mind wander to all of the things that have happened in the past year to bring her where she is now.
The first few weeks after Ethan was born were the most exhausting of her life. She was hardly getting any sleep and it was all she could do just to keep up with her homework in order to make sure that she graduated that May with all of her friends. Luckily though, she had a wonderful support group in the Glee club and they all took notes for her, brought her assignments to her and even made videos with their cell phones of what was being taught in her math and science classes since she tended to learn those subjects better visually instead of just reading it out of a book.
Of course her teachers were aware of her situation and were more than willing to let her off the hook in regards to her homework, just as long as she came in at the end of the semester to take her finals. But being Rachel Berry, she was determined to maintain the self imposed level of excellence in regards to her studies and made sure that her boyfriend turned it all in on time for her. He of course had been all for taking the time off from school but she wouldn't hear anything of the sort and made sure that he went everyday so that he could also keep his grades up and graduate on time. She knew how important getting out of Lima was to him.
So it was with smiling faces that Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman, along with the rest of the William McKinley's graduating class of 2012, walked across the stage and collected their diplomas. She couldn't keep the beaming smile off her face as she heard both of her fathers and her boyfriend's mother screaming and hollering for them when their names were called. Rachel just hoped that they weren't too loud for her son's ears as he was still quite young.
Once the summer had arrived, Miriam Puckerman had less of an issue with her son staying the night at the Berry's house in order to help out with Ethan, which pleased Puck because he had actually found himself missing the little guy when he wasn't around and he knew how much Rachel appreciated his help so that she could get in a good nap once in awhile.
The couple had spent a lot of time talking before they graduated about what they were going to do once it was time for college to start since they both knew that Rachel was going to New York to begin working on her Broadway dreams. Puck had told her that he was coming with her and Ethan no matter what and he'd work three jobs if he had to just to support them while she went to school. When her dads had heard this they went to talk to his mother and actually came to an agreement that worked out even better for all involved. They had told the couple that they had decided to move to New York as well since there was nothing to tie them down to Lima anymore. They then invited Noah to move in with them where he could live rent free but only if he got himself a job and at least went to community college or night school in order to at least get the basics out of the way until he could figure out what he wanted to do for a living.
So that August, the Berry family and Noah had packed up their belongings into a U-Haul truck and said one final goodbye to Lima, Ohio as they made their way in a small three vehicle caravan to New York. The Berry men had found a nice three bedroom house that they could all live in and were even going so far as to trust their daughter and her boyfriend to share a bedroom so that Ethan could have his own room. They wanted to be protective of their little girl but they weren't deluded enough to think that the young couple wasn't intimate with each other and therefore there was no real reason to keep them apart. Hiram and Leroy expected them to obey the house rules and to respect them as the heads of the household and neither teenager ever gave them problems.
Not long after arriving, college had started for Rachel and while her natural tendencies were to immerse herself in anything and everything that she possibly could, she knew that with an infant at home that she should allow herself time to relax. And so with a normal course load she was able to spend time with her boyfriend and son. Noah had managed to find himself a job at a nearby Mom and Pop style mechanic shop run by a sweet older couple. The owner's wife absolutely adored Ethan and told Puck that she would be more than willing to watch the little boy during his shifts so that he could have a better availability and earn more money for his family. So with the help of the owners, he was able to work full time during the day and then go to school at night just liked he had promised Rachel's dads.
At the end of November of that year, was when Rachel had gotten the letter in the mail from the genetic center. She had decided just a few weeks earlier that she would get the test done to determine if Noah was in fact Ethan's biological father or not. But once she held the results envelope in her hand she found that she didn't have the guts to open it herself and that perhaps she should let her boyfriend do it first. So she had decided to wait until Hanukkah to give it to him as a gift. But then she realized that if the letter said he wasn't the father that it would actually be a pretty bad gift. So that's when it got hidden in War & Peace.
The holidays passed quickly with a visit from Puck's mom and sister. They had all attended a few Broadway shows and made sure to do all of the typical tourist attractions in the short amount of time that they had together.
Hearing her son shift and fuss in his sleep, Rachel's head turns to check on him. Satisfied that he is still asleep, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and then stops to admire the ring on her finger. The memory of how she got it was one of the best in the past year.
They had gone to Times Square for New Year's Eve so that they could watch the ball drop since it was something that they both always wanted to do. They still had a few hours to go so they had gone ice skating before hand and even though Puck could dance fairly well, he was apparently terribly uncoordinated when it came to skating on ice. But the couple still had a wonderful time, even if he fell on his ass one time too many, sometimes even taking Rachel down with him. After the skating, they had gone for hot chocolate to help warm up as they made their way over to where the festivities of the evening were going to take place.
As they waited the crowd had gotten bigger and bigger and so Puck just wrapped his arms around his petite girlfriend and pulled her against his body in order to ensure that she didn't get hurt by anyone nearby. Even though he's not a fan of huge crowds, Rachel knew that her boyfriend was having a wonderful time just by the smile on his face. There was just something about the moment that made it magical and as the crowd shouted the countdown to ring in the New Year, she couldn't help but smile as well since she was finally here in the city that she belonged in with the man that she loved. But it wasn't until she turned around to get her kiss that Rachel realized her boyfriend was no longer holding her closely. Instead she found him down on one knee.
Holding a ring in his hand.
Tears had immediately blurred her vision as she threw her hands over her mouth to muffle her happy squeals. When Puck stood up, Rachel had launched herself into his arms and screamed, "Yes yes yes yes yes!" into his ears over and over again before kissing him in front everyone that was gathered around them.
She can't think of a better way to have rung in her new year than by getting engaged to her wonderful boyfriend and father of her son. Hearing a quiet noise at the doorway, she looks over and sees her fiancé (she loves saying that so much) standing there just staring at her. Rachel can't help the blush that creeps onto her cheeks at the way he looks at her. She knows that they're still young and have a lot to do before they're ready to actually get married (like finishing college for starters) but she's so unbelievably happy to be able to introduce him to her friends as her fiancé. To let all of those women out there know that this incredibly handsome man is hers and totally off the market.
"Hey Babe," Puck whispers as he walks over to her and drops a quick kiss to her lips. "Your dads should be home soon with my mom and sister so we can celebrate Mr. Man's first birthday together." She just nods and runs her hands over the envelope in her lap. "Whatcha got there?"
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in order to gather her courage, she looks up at him and says, "It's a letter from the New York City Genetic Center."
Puck's body freezes when he hears her answer and says dumbly, "Oh."
Rachel fidgets as she begins to explain. "I've actually had it for months now but I just couldn't bring myself to actually open it up and find out one way or the other. I know I probably should've discussed it with you before I went ahead and sent in the DNA samples but I had convinced myself that you wouldn't mind in the end since we've both kind of flip flopped back and forth between wanting to know and not wanting to know. So I figured that this way we would at least have the answers available to us in case we firmly decided on wanting to know. But then I thought that you might want to be the one to open it since it is more about you than it is me but I could just never think of a good time to give it to you. And I'm so sorry for going behind your back."
He's just standing there silently doing his best to listen to her spiel but all he can really grasp is that the answer to whether or not he is Ethan's biological father is sitting right there in his fiancé's hand and he's now no longer sure if he actually wants to know. Shaking his head slightly, Puck holds out his hand for the envelope and then stares at it once it's within his grasp. "How did you get a DNA sample from me? I think I'd remember you stabbing me with a needle."
Rachel smiles sheepishly at him before responding, "I swabbed your mouth one night while you were sleeping."
Puck chuckles as he flips the envelope over in his hands so that he can slide his finger under the flap but he stops when Ethan wakes up and starts crying saying, "Mama mama," over and over again. He watches as Rachel goes to the birthday boy and checks his diaper before picking him up to console him.
"Hi Mr. Man. Can you say 'Dada'?" she asks sweetly. He has just recently started talking and even though most babies say dada first (apparently it's an easier sound to make or some silly thing like that) their little boy is just an overachiever like his mom and so mama was his first word. Ever since then they've been trying to get him to say dada but it just hasn't happened yet.
Puck smiles proudly at his beautiful family as he walks over to them and drops a kiss on Ethan's head. "Happy birthday, Ethan." The little boy just blows a raspberry at him and pats his tiny hand against his cheek. "Your aunt and bubbe are going to be here later to eat cake with you."
A drooling smile is his only response.
When he looks at Ethan, all he can see is Rachel. From the deep brown eyes to the full head of shiny brown hair that apparently turns curly when he goes too long between haircuts. He doesn't really see any of himself in the little boy other than his reckless and carefree attitude when it comes to exploring his world but he's sure that probably has to do more with who's raising him than anything else; that whole nature versus nurture thing that the experts are always talking about or whatever.
Sighing, Puck decides that it's pretty much now or never when it comes to finding out the truth, so he begins to rip open the envelope. But before he can even finish getting the flap open he hears the one word that makes his heart swell so much that he literally feels like it could burst right out of his chest. Instead he quickly rips the envelope to shreds as he tells Rachel that he doesn't need some piece of paper to tell him what he's known all along. That he is Ethan's father because he's been there for both her and him all along. That he loves him unconditionally and only wants the best for their little boy; and while blood might be thicker than water, it doesn't mean everything.
Rachel just beams at her fiancé before throwing an arm around his neck to bring him closer so she can kiss him because she's never loved him more than she does right now. Then she hands him their son as he says the magic word again.
"Dada."
Thoughts? Questions? Rants? Raves? Reviews?