Disclaimer: I do not own the Glee world

Here you go then. I found it a bit hard to write this one for some reason. Hope you enjoy…

Chapter 6: Being Noah Puckerman's Friend

At 1 am and again at 5:30 am, Rachel almost, almost regretted being Noah Puckerman's friend. That little girl of his certainly had a good pair of lungs on her and she made full use of them to inform everyone in the Berry household that she was hungry.

On both occasions Rachel dragged herself out of bed and padded outside her room to help Noah. Both times he told her to go back to sleep but she hovered around in case he needed some form of assistance.

She leant on the kitchen surface and propped her head up with her hand.

"What time are you going to see your Mom?" she asked him as she tried to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes.

Puck looked up at her from where he'd been watching his daughter feeding in his arms. "She's got work from 10 this morning so I suppose if we get there about half 8 that'll give her time to get used to her grand daughter."

Rachel lifted her eyebrows slightly. She doubted that Mrs. Puckerman would accept the baby just like that but she was too tired to point that out to him. She frowned slightly at something he'd said.

"We?" she asked.

"Yeah, me and, er," he moved his arms slightly to indicate the baby.

Rachel blushed and stood up straight. "Oh, sorry, I thought you meant…" she trailed off and looked anywhere but at him. It had been foolish of her to think that he'd still want her around. He might have grudgingly admitted that they were friends but she knew that she still annoyed him.

"Whatever, Berry. You can come if you want. Actually, it might be a good idea to have a witness in case my Mom decides she wants to whack me after all," he joked and she gave him a tentative smile.

"Ok, well I also think you should inform the school that you intend to look after the baby. You'll be entitled to some sort of paternity leave, I suppose."

He perked up at that. "You mean I won't have to go to school for a few weeks? Awesome!"

"Yes, but, having time off now isn't exactly ideal because finals are not too far away and you'll be missing out on vital education."

He scoffed at her. "Berry, it's the beginning of April – finals aren't for another couple of months. I'll be fine."

She shrugged her shoulders and moved onto another subject. "Do you know how you're going to pay for her upkeep yet?"

"Give me a chance, Berry, I can't come up with a money making scheme overnight! The pool cleaning will pick up soon and there might be some benefits that come with that." He finished in a cryptic tone but she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're going to have sex with those old women for money?" she asked, slightly disgusted.

"What the fuck, Berry? How'd you know about the cougars?"

"We go to high school, Noah. There's no such thing as a private life for us." She sniffed. "I can't believe you'd sleep with someone for money."

"If you must know," he said tightly as he moved his daughter to his shoulder and started to rub her back, "I was never paid for my extra services but if I did charge from now on, I don't think I'd really lose many customers. Those ladies love a hot, young, stud just like myself."

She rolled her eyes. "So you'd become a whore for your daughter?"

"Ouch, Berry, I think that's the nastiest word I've ever heard you use. Look, I'm not overly keen on the idea but if it keeps my daughter clothed and fed then it's an option, isn't it?"

"As a last resort," she mumbled and he nodded.

"Probably," he agreed, "but it's not as though there are a load of jobs out there at the moment, especially if I have to fit it in around school."

She said nothing. She knew that jobs were scarce in the current economic climate and she wasn't about to give him a reassuring comment that would inspire some sort of false hope.

"I'm going for a work out on the elliptical," she announced and left the room.

A few hours later saw Rachel, Puck and baby entering the Puckerman household.

"Mom, Jem, we're here!" he called out before he remembered that his daughter was asleep.

Rachel tried not to be too nosy as she looked around his home. A woman emerged from another room and she assumed this was his mother.

"Mom, this is Rachel Berry. She's in Glee with me."

His mother gave her a small smile and Rachel held out a hand for the older woman to shake. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Puckerman," she said as they shook hands.

"Yes, you too, Rachel." Mrs. Puckerman's voice was quiet and shaky and Rachel couldn't help but sense that something didn't feel quite right. She was starting to wish she hadn't come, even though she'd practically invited herself.

Puck held up the car seat his daughter was laying in. "And this is…well, you know," he finished somewhat lamely seeing as the girl didn't have a name.

"Oh," Mrs. Puckerman gulped as she glanced at the baby for a second before looking away again. "Yes, how lovely."

Rachel tried not to look surprised as it would've been rude seeing as she was a guest in someone else's house, but the way that Mrs. Puckerman spoke about the baby as though she was commenting on the drapes in someone's front room was definitely peculiar.

She sneaked a glance at Puck and saw that he was frowning slightly. Good, so it wasn't just her who thought the older woman's behaviour was strange.

"Where's Jem?" Puck asked his mother as he walked forward to take a seat on the sofa.

"Your sister is at a friend's house," his mother said as she compulsively smoothed out some imaginary creases on her shirt sleeves. "I dropped her off a few minutes ago."

Rachel hovered nervously, unsure of what to do with herself. She eventually decided to take a seat on the sofa next to Noah and perched awkwardly on the edge of her seat.

"Why'd you do that? I thought you could both meet her together."

"Well, I didn't know if it was quite the right time to tell her. Everything's just happened so quickly and I –" she stopped abruptly and cleared her throat. "Do either of you want a drink? I'm feeling quite thirsty." And she practically bolted from the room.

Once again Rachel had to try extremely hard not to be a rude guest. She bit her lip to keep from saying anything that might upset the young man next to her. There were a couple of minutes of silence.

"Um, Berry, do you have any idea what's going on?" She turned to look at him and saw confusion etched clearly all over his face.

"I don't think your Mom is taking the news quite as well as you'd hoped," she said simply but could say no more as Mrs Puckerman re-entered the room with a tray of drinks.

"Here you go kids, I got you some juice. I hope you like grape, Rachel." She handed them a glass each and then sat on another chair.

"So, Rachel, I remember you from Regionals now. You're pretty much the star of the Glee club aren't you? I have to say, your voice absolutely blew me away; how you guys didn't win is a mystery to me."

Rachel opened her mouth to respond but then closed it again as she realised she didn't know how to. Mrs. Puckerman seemed to be acting somewhat normally now; her voice was steady and she didn't seem about to run out of the room again. Someone complimenting Rachel on her vocal talent was an almost ridiculously standard par for the course in her life but this wasn't a normal situation. Shouldn't Mrs. Puckerman being asking after her grand daughter?

"Well, there's always next year," Rachel eventually responded weakly.

She glanced at Puck trying to telepathically ask him what she should do. He somehow understood what she was saying (or at least she thought he did) and he shrugged his shoulders.

Rachel took a sip of her juice for lack of anything else to do. She didn't want to be the one to point out the glaringly obvious fact that something was wrong here but it seemed ridiculous to just ignore it. Luckily, Puck was the one who decided he'd had enough of his mother's odd refusal to acknowledge the baby.

"So, Mom, do you want to hold her?" he asked and Rachel tensed slightly.

His mother took a deep breath and looked at the child for only the second time since they'd been there. She gave her son a strained smile. "Yes, I think that would be ok."

Puck gently lifted his daughter out of the car seat and passed her over to his mother. The older woman rocked the baby slightly and bit her lip, nervously.

"What do you think, Mom?" Puck asked her in a gentler voice than Rachel thought him possible of.

"She's beautiful," his mother whispered and Rachel felt herself relax. It seemed that Mrs. Puckerman had gotten over her few minutes of madness. Rachel couldn't really begin to understand how it would feel to discover you suddenly had a Grand daughter – not to mention all the responsibilities that came with a new arrival.

Rachel looked up at Puck's mother to see that tears were streaming down her face.

"Mom? Are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

"Take her," his mother gasped and suddenly Rachel knew that things weren't going better after all.

"Mom?"

"Take her," she gasped again and Rachel jumped out of her seat to take the baby because Noah looked like he'd been rooted to the ground in shock.

"It's ok, Mrs. Puckerman," Rachel said soothingly as she transferred the baby into her arms. "It's a lot to take in."

Puck's mother sank back into her seat and completely broke down. "I'm sorry, Noah," she sobbed.

Rachel looked over at him to see that he was rubbing the back of his Mohawk in anguish. Yes, Noah Puckerman was in anguish. She felt awful for intruding on this private family moment.

"Um, I'll just step outside for a bit," she quietly said.

As she stepped towards the front door with the baby she heard him say, "No, Mom, I'm the one who should be sorry…" She fumbled slightly with the door latch before stepping into the cool morning air.

She sat on the porch step with baby Puckerman for a while, wishing she hadn't been witness to Mrs. Puckerman's breakdown. She looked down at the baby in her arms and was glad that the little girl didn't know how much trouble she'd caused. The baby's face scrunched up as Rachel thought this and she chuckled slightly.

After a few minutes the front door opened and Noah sat down heavily next to her. He reached a hand over to his daughter and she wrapped her hand round his finger.

"How's your mom?" Rachel asked tentatively.

"A bit better. She's sorry if she freaked you out. Do you wanna come back in?"

She smiled slightly. "Sure." He helped her stand up and she walked cautiously back in to the house.

Mrs. Puckerman was wringing her hands nervously and started forwards when she saw Rachel. She started to speak but Rachel cut her off.

"It's ok, Mrs. Puckerman, really. There's nothing to apologise for. This is a very emotional and sensitive issue for everyone involved."

"What you must think of me," Mrs. Puckerman muttered, holding a hand to her forehead.

"Please, don't be so hard on yourself, Mrs. Puckerman. It really was quite awful of Noah to unload this onto you." She saw him glare at her from the corner of her eye but she ignored him. "If it makes the situation any easier for you then I don't mind if the baby continues to live with me for a while."

Both mother and son started to protest but she shook her head. "No, I mean it. I don't mean to sound so blunt but you're obviously not ready to attend to the baby's needs right now, Mrs. Puckerman and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," she added on hastily because Puck was giving her a nasty look. "I think it would be better for you and her both if she moved in here when you are ready. It would be foolish to push yourself too far too soon."

Mrs. Puckerman looked like she wanted to disagree with her but everyone in that room (apart from the baby, obviously) knew that what Rachel was saying was the truth.

"Are you sure, Berry?" Puck asked her.

Rachel smiled at him. "I'm sure. Oh, and you can stay too, of course. I'm absolutely certain my dad's won't mind."

Mrs. Puckerman let out a long breath and gave Rachel a fond look. "Oh, Rachel, what did Noah ever do to deserve a friend like you?"

Rachel beamed at her.

"So," Rachel said as he started to drive them back to hers. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." he said shortly. "Not now, not ever."

"Why not?" she asked. "Most people find sharing their problems and feelings with another person comforting."

"Because I'm a fucking badass. I don't have feelings."

"Noah, since you acknowledged that we were friends, I believed that meant you were going to stop putting up this tough-guy façade."

"It's not a façade, Berry; that's just who I am and please believe me when I say I don't feel the slightest need to tell you about how I feel.

She sighed and looked out of the window. "You're such a jerk sometimes. I was only trying to help."

They were both silent for a couple of minutes before he broke it. "Look, Berry, I'm sorry if you're thinking I'm someone that I'm not but, there's not really a lot I can do about that."

She sniffed. "It's fine, Noah. Just forget about it."

Silence prevailed until they reached her house.

"So, what do you want to do now?" she asked him once they'd entered.

"Er, I dunno."

"Did you manage to come up with a name for her yesterday?"

"Not quite, there were a few I liked but I haven't picked which one yet."

"Well, we could do that then. I don't like not being able to call her by her name."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

Rachel set up her laptop and they went about looking at Jewish names on the internet, occasionally laughing at the more outlandish ones.

An hour later they had about five names picked out but Puck had yet to single one out.

"Oh, come on, Noah, there must be one name here that you want."

"None of them feel right, Berry."

"Ugh, let's go back to the website and keep looking then. How about Abbi?"

"Crabby Abbi? I don't think so."

"Annie?"

"Tranny-Annie."

"Roseanne?"

"Ho-sanne"

"Noah! For goodness sake! Do you have to do that to every word?"

"I'm just looking out for my daughter, Berry. I don't want her to get some filthy nickname when she's older."

"What about Sarah?"

"It's my Mom's name."

"So? It's nice to name children after members of your family."

"Yeah, I know, but it'd just be too confusing."

"Well what about your Grand mother's names."

"My Dad's mom was called Sharon and my Mom's mom was called Eve."

"And what do you think of those names?"

"They're all right, but…hang on. Sharon sounds a bit like 'sharing' and no dudes are sharing my daughter."

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked up Eve on the computer. "It means 'life' which I suppose makes sense seeing as Eve was the first woman. There are some other forms of Eve like Eva or Evie if you didn't want to copy the name completely."

She looked over and saw he had a thoughtful expression on his face.

He leaned over to look at the little girl who was still lying in her car seat.

"What do you think of Evie?" he asked, just as he had done for all of the other names they'd singled out. They had yet to get any response from her, which Rachel thought was hardly surprising considering she was just over a day old.

The little girl immediately starting bawling and Puck turned to her with a grin. "Evie Puckerman it is then!"

A/N Another quite depressing chapter. Sorry about that, but I hope I lifted the mood slightly at the end there. I know not all of you are gonna like the name but everyone has different tastes when it comes to names, which is good because otherwise we'd all have the same names!

Oh, and apologies if I (Well, Puck) dissed your name slightly there. I didn't mean to offend!

Um, guys! I don't think I have a question for you this time. In fact, I actually indulged in a bit of American culture by watching the Superbowl on Sunday. Well, I watched ¾ of it (I stayed up til gone 2am) I didn't get all of what was going on but hey, I wasn't expecting to!

Hopefully you'll get an update at the weekend where we should finally get to see the rest of the gleeks.

Let me know if you have any opinions on the story!

Lots of love,

Lil Drop of Magic

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