Puck lets Finn know that he has something to take care of with Coach Bieste after practice.
He finishes his day at school sitting on the bench during football practice. Once the coach seen the bruises on his chest she made him sit it out. He didn't mind though, it gave his a chance to think about what Tina told him.
He smiles at the thought of the Asian being the only one that actually talked to him. The chick never talks and hiring that Loren chick was a badass move on her part.
Puck is glad to have her help.
He lets his mind finally think about Callie, the baby, everything…
My head is so screwed up right now about Callie.
It hurts so much to think about her. God I want to hate her, to stop loving her.
But….my heart has other plans….
I tried to delete her number out of my phone and I couldn't do it.
I looked for her car this morning in the parking lot. Sappy shit..
I looked for her in the halls this morning. I knew I wasn't going to run up to her, but at least I would know she was here. She was close…Worse than sappy….
When I walked into the cafeteria, I looked for her. She was sitting with the chicks from Glee. Berry looked like she was going to be sick, Aretha looked like the apocalypse was coming and Callie…looked beautiful.
She came to me. I didn't have to ask...
We went into the empty classroom and then I was Puck the asshole.
She was really concerned about me, but then I just threw it in her face.
Even when I was yelling at her today all I wanted was to hold her, so I grabbed her arm and held on to her. I know I probably bruised her but I just wanted to touch her.
Instead of reaching out to her, I hurt her and drove her farther away from me. Her and my child.
I, Noah Puckerman, am going to be a father. A dad, a tatteleh.
Tina said that I have a chance to have my own family. So I close my eyes and I try to picture what it would be like.
Taking him/her to the park. Holding him/her when they cry. The first words, steps…Watching Callie hold their child…The love in her eyes…
After everything, can we be a family? Can we forgive each other?
He keeps his eyes closed for a little while.
Practice is over and Bieste tells him to wait in her office, that as soon as she is done they will head over to her house and the apartment.
Puck tells her that he rode with Kurt and Finn this morning so he doesn't have his truck. She knows where Finn and Kurt live so she will take him to pick up truck, then he can follow her to the house.
He doesn't have to wait long and soon they are on their way.
After picking up his truck he follows Coach Bieste. He wonders if this is a good idea, living alone. He thinks of his sister and his mother. Who knows maybe she can forgive him and he can go back home soon.
Nah that ain't happening, it's just one less mouth to feed for her and more booze to buy with the extra grocery money. She was more worried about what her drinking buddies thought than about him.
He pushes the thoughts back as he pulls into the driveway.
Coach Bieste has a nice house. It's as big as the Hummel house and just as nice. There is enough room for him to park his truck beside Coach Bieste's SUV in the garage, but he parks in the driveway not knowing if he is suppose to park in there yet.
"Come on Puckerman, I'll show you around." She walks up the stairway on the outside of the garage.
Puck follows her looking at the backyard, its huge. The baby would have a blast playing back there….Well once it got big enough…
Bieste opens the entry door to the upstairs apartment and more or less pushes Puck through it.
He looks around in awe. It's huge, all open, no walls except for separating the bedroom and bath from the rest of the living area.
The kitchen is in the far corner with a window in the dining area.
The living room has two window dormers. A place to sit, think and write music.
Bieste opens the bedroom door and it is big enough for a bed for him and a baby bed. Yeah I know, getting way ahead of myself. But….plenty of room….
The bathroom is the smallest room, but it is still large. A tub and a separate shower.
Puck has no idea how he is going to afford this place.
"Well Puckerman, do you like it?" Bieste has watched him since he walked in the place, his eyes wide like a kid in a candy store.
"Um, it's great. How much are you going to charge me a week? I got a little money, not a lot." He knows that he has about five hundred dollars in pants pocket.
"Well I was thinking thirty dollars a week and when the utility bills come in you can pay the difference of what they normally are, how does that sound?" Bieste watches his eyes light up.
Puck with shaking hands, pulls one hundred and twenty dollars out of his pants pocket and hands it to her.
"I want to pay the first month's rent up front, just in case I can't find a job soon." He hands her the money.
"Come on downstairs to my kitchen so I can write you a receipt. Always get a receipt if you pay in cash, that way you have proof that you paid a bill." She gives a piece of advice before motioning him to follow her.
Coach Bieste's kitchen is warm and inviting. She tells him to help himself to a soda or water, that she will be back in just a minute.
Puck's phone vibrates in his pants pocket, it's a picture text from Asian1. He grabs a water and sits down at the breakfast bar before he opens it.
From: Asian1
Thought you might like to see this…Don't delete it or you will regret it…
Puck opens the attachment. He stares at his child for the first time. He can see the head, at least he hopes it's the head and he can barely make out a hand. He blinks the tears through his dark lashes, He gently traces the images with the tip of his finger, letting it outline the baby.
The feelings in his chest is so strong; love, pride, fear, hope, happiness. After staring at it for a few minutes, he makes it his background screen on his phone.
Bieste sees him staring at his phone with tears in his eyes and gently clears her throat to let him know that she is in the room.
"Noah, you okay?" She uses his first name, since they are going to be living under the same roof more or less.
"Yeah Coach. You want to see a picture of my kid?" He looks up at her eyes shining with happy tears. He holds his phone up for her to see.
Bieste looks at the picture and smiles down at the kid sitting in front of her. She can see the pride and the amazement in his eyes.
"Looking good Dad, looking good." She hands his phone back to him and scruffs his stripe of dark hair.
"Here is your copy of the receipt and a key. I meant to tell you earlier that you can park your truck in the garage and that there is a laundry room in there too. Just make sure you supply your own soap for the washing machine." She watches him continue to stare at the picture.
"Um thanks coach. Do I have a curfew or any kind of rules to follow?" Puck looks at her knowing it's her house.
"Just be home at a decent hour. You are eighteen Noah, you have to make your own decisions now. Just try to make sure they are the right ones." Bieste knows this is going to be hard but it just might work out for both of them.
"You can go and talk to my friend George at the grocery tomorrow. He said he would give you a try, minimum wage but it's better than nothing."
"Okay. If I don't get the job, Kurt said he would talk to his dad about me working at his garage in the afternoon." His voice sounds optimistic. He stares at his child, even though the picture isn't that clear, his heart is a different matter.
"You want to get your stuff out of the bed of your truck and put it in your apartment?" She emphasizes your to him.
"Uh, yeah. All I have is in my truck. I don't have any furniture yet." He looks at the floor.
"You know Goodwill has a store downtown. They have furniture really cheap and I think I have an extra mattress if you want it. At least you will have somewhere to sleep tonight that's yours." Bieste knows he has to take care of himself but her mother instincts are coming out.
"Why don't you call Finn and see if he can help you move it upstairs?" She offers as a suggestion.
"Thanks coach. I don't know why you're being so nice to me or trying to help me so much, but thanks." Puck looks at her differently, seeing her as a human being and not just the coach of the football team.
He takes out his phone and calls Finn letting him know what is going on and that he needs his help.
About twenty minutes later Kurt and Finn show up. Kurt is there to help with the decorating and begrudgingly the toting of Puck's stuff upstairs.
Bieste has gone into her spare bedroom and started taking the linens and quilts off the bed.
No one ever used the room so why not let him have it? It's not like the kid can afford to buy all things he needs right now. And why the hell shouldn't I help him? Hell his own mother doesn't want to help the kid…Shit like this pisses me off, a mother that wants to act like her own son has the plague…And we wonder what is wrong with the world today…Yeah Sue told me about the rumors of Noah's home life…No wonder the kid has problems, a mother that is only interested in herself and a bottle…..
Her thoughts are interrupted as the boys come in to move the bed upstairs.
They look like brothers but from different mothers, joking with each other and Hummel going on about colors and patterns. Noah only shakes his head at the younger boy's suggestions about his place.
She hears Finn talking to him about the picture of the baby and she hears the pride in Puck's voice when he says his baby. Bieste knows that for right now Puck in on cloud nine, she just hopes it stays that way.
The moving party is over soon though as she watches Finn and Kurt wave goodbye to Noah. Kurt is telling him he will be back tomorrow to take him shopping for his new place.
Bieste watches as Noah heads back upstairs and she smiles to herself as she reaches for her phone to give Sue an update.
Most people wouldn't believe that Sue Sylvester had a heart, but with this kid she does. She held that crying boy, young man, in her arms.
She actually talked to him, well maybe at him, but she listened to him. She really listened to him. And she made him tell the truth, no matter how ugly it was, to them.
Maybe its because he reminds her of herself somewhat. But it shocked Bieste when Sue reached out to Noah yesterday.
Now she was happy to call and let her know that Noah took the apartment, that he was trying. And she had to share about the ultra sound picture. The way he lit up looking at it.
Sue and Bieste talk for a little while on the phone. Sue wants to see the picture, but only if Bieste can get a copy without anyone else knowing about it. Something about making sure it only had one head. But Bieste knew she wanted to see the baby too.
Sue also said that she would quietly have Noah's address changed in the system without all the wrong people knowing about it. She could tell that Sue was kinda smiling in the phone as they talked about how maybe things would work out for the two fuck ups as Sue called them.
The call ended with a plan of getting Callie into Sue's office tomorrow to talk to her. Sue said that she would send for Callie during lunch and that she would text as soon as she knew what time the meeting was and the call ended.
Puck closes the door to his apartment and looks around it. The quiet, the peace, no sounds except his own breathing can be heard.
Kurt had organized his closet, he still didn't understand the system but he appreciated the gesture.
He laughs at the memory of Kurt walking around the apartment so prissy, the way he was talking nonstop about colors and making sure that it all matched.
And the planned shopping trip tomorrow. That is going to be interesting to say the least. Maybe I should make Finn suffer too…
He smiles to himself and walks over to the window seat, picking up his guitar he sits on the cushioned bench. His calloused finger tips glide down the neck and gently strumming the strings.
Puck loves this time of night. The soft glow, the colors of the night sky blending with day. He remembers a song that his mother used to sing a long time ago.
He opens the picture of the ultra sound on his phone setting it beside him.
It takes a few minutes to get the chords right and then he begins to sing softly with his guitar.
I was never alive
'til the day I was blessed with you
When I hold you late at night
I know what I was put here to do
I turn off the world and listen to you sigh
And I will sing my angel's lullaby
Know I'm forever near
The one you can always call
Right now all you know to fear
Are the shadows on your wall
I'm here close enough
To kiss the tears you cry
And I will sing my angel's lullaby
So tell me how to stop the years from racing
Is there a secret someone knows?
I'll never catch all the memories I'm chasing
I'll never be ready to let go
And when the world seems cold
And you feel that all of your strength is gone
There may be one tiny voice
Your reason to carry on
And when I'm not close enough
To kiss the tears you cry
You will sing your angel's lullaby
Let this be our angel's lullaby
Puck wipes the tears away from his cheeks. He closes the picture and he knows that its getting late. He sets his alarm on his phone.
Puck heads to take a shower and then to bed.