Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: Not beta'd; all mistakes are mine. Please mention them if you find any.
A/N2: Sectionals was amazing! I loved it! This story is mostly AU after Mash-up, but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes, I may sneak in a conversation or cover the same topic, but I will put my own twist on it.
A/N3: Thank you, thank you to all of you who have been enjoying this and posting feedback for me! It means so much and it also keeps me writing, so keep it coming! :D
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At nine-fifteen Monday morning, the entire group was piling on the bus to go back to the convention center to get the results. "Oh God, that just does not go together," Kurt commented seeing Ethan dressed in his work uniform, solid black cargo pants tucked into black boots and a black shirt tucked into his pants, "POLICE" written on the back of the shirt with patches on his shoulders and on his chest with his rank and team logos.
"Gee, thanks Kurt, I'll be sure to pass on the information to my boss," he laughed, having gotten used to Kurt's clothing comments over the weekend.
The rest of the ride was Kurt talking about how uniforms were weird and he didn't understand why anyone would want to wear them. Puck turned around, "dude, seriously, chicks dig a guy in uniform," he retorted with a grin, Kurt's rant ending after that.
Arriving at the center, everyone filed in and stuck together as they headed towards the seating area and found seats, all the other schools doing the same thing; now waiting for the announcements to come.
The speaker that finally made his way onto the stage was one of the judges and he started out with the typical, "thanks for coming," speech and went on to explain he'd only say the top five schools who would be going on to Nationals. He said the fourth and fifth place schools, who had switched places from the last time, but were still going on, so now, Attaché, New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline waited to for their fate.
Vocal Adrenaline was announced again in third place, and though their group jumped up to congratulate each other, they were visibly upset they didn't place higher.
Rachel and Puck had been holding hands and as soon as Carmel had been announced, her fingers began to dig into his skin, "Rachel," he tried to get her attention, but she dug in deeper, "Rachel," he attempted it again, "Rachel!" He snapped, her hand getting tighter, so he tried to pry her fingers from his hand.
She shook from her daze and looked at him, seeing what he was doing, the nail marks on his hand a clue to what he was up to, "Oh Noah! I'm so sorry," she released her grip, but grabbed his hand to look for any broken skin.
"Dude, what was that?" he asked, a little concerned, but her answer never came as they heard, "and in second place, William McKinley High School's New Directions!"
His eyes widened at the announcement and the two jumped up with their friends, the fire in his hand ignored now as he pulled her into his arms, kissing her lovingly before picking her up and twirling her around.
"We took second!" Rachel exclaimed as they pulled away, turning to hug the friends they were sitting next to, everyone beaming with happiness.
Sharing hugs and handshakes, New Directions watched Mr. Schuester go up on stage and accept their second place trophy, holding it up in triumph before returning to the group.
Clinton's Attaché took first again, and now with the top five schools named, students and chaperones began to file out of the center, the five schools who were going on pausing to pick up information for Nationals.
No one wanted to leave right away, but most of them had to yet to finish packing and their check-out time was at one that afternoon, so they were cutting it close. Excitement filled the bus as they traveled back to the hotel, but as they headed into their rooms, those staying in Deborah's were the least enthusiastic.
Ethan, already being packed, helped Deborah and Arin gather up their things, while the four teens rushed around the room, collecting belongings from various counters and tables. Quinn and Finn were the first to finish packing, so they shared handshakes with Ethan to say goodbye, leaving so the family had some time alone.
Rachel finished packing next, but nervously dashed around the room, checking to make sure no one had left anything of importance, but Puck stopped her, "Rachel, babe, calm down," he laughed a little.
Her shoulders fell as she hugged him, "it feels weird to be going home."
"Yeah, I know," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and pulled away, seeing everyone had their bags ready. "We have everything?" He asked.
Rachel nodded, "I haven't found anything, so I think we're ready," she admitted.
Picking up their bags, everyone filed out the door, Ethan being the last one out, shutting it behind him. Kurt and Burt were walking down the hallway, so they all walked to the elevator together, waited for it and rode down in silence.
Stepping into the lobby they found Will and Emma taking the keys from everyone, so those who had keys passed them off and headed outside. Kurt waved at Ethan and got on the bus while Burt shook hands with him and joined his son moments later.
Emma and Will came out saying they were all ready and after a brief wave at them, Emma stepped onto the bus. "So I guess I'll see you around," Will said extending his hand to Ethan.
Ethan smiled at his former classmate, "you'll see me around a lot," he replied with a smile.
Deborah held up her left hand and Will's eyes widened, "whoa! When did that happen?"
"Last night," Deborah smiled. "Eth's moving back to Lima soon," she added.
"Wow! Congratulations," he said shaking Ethan's hand again before saying goodbye and stepping onto the bus.
Ethan and Deborah had dropped Arin off at the hotel the night before so they could go to his place and he could get his work gear. A friend of his took them back to the hotel so he didn't have to take his 'new car' to work the next day, which explained why a black van pulled up behind the bus. "Great timing, guys," Ethan muttered glancing around at his son, daughter, fiancée and soon-to-be daughter-in-law.
"Yo, boss-man!" The guy called out as he slipped out of the van.
Several other guys stepped out to wait for him, but also wanted to witness the goodbyes so they could give their boss a hard time later.
Ethan ignored his teammates looks to step over to Rachel and give her a hug, "I'll see you soon, Rachel," he said.
"As soon as I get home I'll put my pictures on my computer and will email them to you," she promised as they pulled apart.
"Thanks," he smiled at her.
Rachel returned his smile and stepped back a little, giving them some room.
Ethan turned to Arin who was on his right side, knelt down and wrapped his arms around her, "I'll be seeing you soon, baby girl," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"I'll miss you," Arin replied hugging him tightly, "see you soon," she said as he stood up.
Arin stepped towards Rachel and Ethan looked at his son next. The two shared a tight hug, "this isn't goodbye," Puck commented as they pulled away.
Ethan nodded, "it's not," he agreed, "just see you later."
Puck smiled, nodding at him as he stepped back to Rachel and Arin.
Ethan turned to his fiancée, wrapping one arm around her waist and one around her shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Deborah smiled and held on to him, pulling her head back just enough to look at him, "I love you, too," she replied, the two both going in for a kiss.
As soon as their lips touched, Puck groaned, witnessing something he never thought he'd see, but what caught his attention was not only the cat calls and the 'congratulations' being thrown from the bus, it was also what was coming from the guys waiting for his dad.
"About damn time, Puck!" "Puck's still got it!"
"What the...?" Puck said glancing over at them and then to his dad who was pulling away from his mom.
"Puck is my nickname, too. I've had it since I have been a cop because I play hockey," he laughed a little, "so that's the reason I don't call you that. I feel like I'm talking to and about myself."
"Noah is for family only, so it's fine," Puck smirked, "but good to know."
Ethan nodded at him and turned back to Deborah, pressing another kiss to her lips before he let her go completely, waving to the kids on the bus as Rachel, Arin and Deborah stepped on. Puck waited for the women in his life to get on the bus and he glanced towards where his dad was standing next to the van, putting on a black utility vest. Ethan looked up at him and smiled lightly.
Puck returned the gesture, before he stepped onto the bus and dropped his bags with Rachel's, taking a seat next to her.
Rachel took his hand as soon as he sat down, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he smiled at her as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw a message from his dad. 'You could be dressed like this one day,' the text read. Smirking, Puck replied to the message with, 'yep, total badass gear to me. I'm in.' Sending of the message, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and tugged his girlfriend to him, his arm wrapping around her shoulders.
"Would you like to listen to my iPod?" She asked softly.
"Sure," he shrugged. "Just no show tunes," he laughed.
Rachel blushed, "alright, I'll put it on shuffle. I have some of your music on here, too," she added pulling out her iPod and handing him one of the earbuds. Hitting the shuffle button, the first song that came up, Rachel grinned, "oh this is a perfect song for us! Just listen to it and you'll see why," she added, seeing his confusion.
Puck didn't recognize the hard saxophone notes; it sounded like the song was from the Big Band jazz era, but as the female voice sang out, he knew it wasn't from then, but he didn't recognize it. "I could feel it from the start; couldn't stand to be apart. Something about you caught my eye, something moved me deep inside! Don't know what you did boy, but you had it and I've been hooked ever since. I told my mother, my brother, my sister and my friends. Told the others, my lovers, both past and present tense. That every time I see you everything starts making sense. Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you. Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do. You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon. You got soul, you got class. You got style, you're badass - oh yeah! Ain't no other man its true! Ain't no other man but you."
As soon as he heard the chorus, he knew what it was, but let it play on. "Never thought I'd be all right. No, no, no! Till you came and changed my life. Yeah, yeah, yeah! What was cloudy now is clear! Yeah, yeah! You're the light that I needed. You got what I want boy, and I want it! So keep on givin' it up! Tell your mother, your brother, your sister, and your friends. And the others, your lovers, better not be present tense. 'Cause I want everyone to know that you are mine and no one else's! Ain't no other man can stand up next to you. Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do. You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon. You got soul, you got class. You got style, you're badass! Ain't no other man it's true. Ain't no other man but you."
Puck knew the song by they time it reached the first chorus, but never listened to the lyrics until that moment, realizing it did fit them. The next part of the song was a repeat of the bridge and chorus, but Puck kept quiet, watching Rachel's lips move as she silently sang along, a smile tugging at his lips. Focusing on the next verse, he listened, "you are there when I'm a mess. Talk me down from every ledge. Give me strength, boy you're the best. You're the only one who's ever passed every test!" "Okay, I get it. 'Ain't No Other Man' by Christina Aguilera can be our song," he agreed turning to press a kiss to her lips.
Rachel looked at him, her grin wide, "what sold you?"
"Well of course, 'you're badass' was the selling point," he admitted, earning a light punch in the shoulder, "alright, it was the whole song, a lot of the words are us to a tee," he laughed.
Rachel leaned towards him and kissed him gently, "did you know the man she married is Jewish?"
"She's married?" He asked narrowing his eyes in confusion.
Rachel nodded, "yeah, a couple years ago. They have a son now, too. He's Jewish and she, I think, converted so they could have a Jewish wedding. Her whole CD, the one that this song is on, is really good. It has an old jazz feel and some really emotional songs that are relationship based."
"And then there's 'Candyman' oh I love that video," he grinned; the images of said singer dancing in tiny costumes, set in the 1940s and acting like a USO girl, "yep, definitely loved that one. Especially how she created the idea of 'The Andrew Sisters' and the USO girls and the guys in the Navy uniforms," he explained.
"Yes, if you like girls swing dancing in short skirts and then at the end when she's in that blue outfit that looks like a Navy uniform, but hardly covers anything," she responded.
Puck smirked, leaning over, "when I think of that video now, I think of you dressed like that, dancing for me," he whispered in her ear before pressing a kiss to her shocked lips.
As they pulled away, Rachel blushed, but noticed he settled back against the seat casually, so as much as she wanted to continue to talk, she joined in, snuggling up next to him, letting the music distract her from thoughts she shouldn't have in the middle of a school bus full of friends and family.
Puck took control of the iPod when slow songs or show tunes came on, so he could skip to the next song; a jazz song came on, it was upbeat, but there were no words, so he sat back and listened to it, also hearing Quinn and Finn bickering.
"You say something."
"You're the one that brought it up at dinner."
"You're the one that suggested we talk about it on the bus ride home."
Puck immediately knew what they were talking about so he looked towards their teacher, "Mr. Schue, when and were is Nationals?" He asked loud enough so the entire bus could hear.
He pulled a paper out of his bag and looked at it, "it's in Seattle, Washington. We need to be there Sunday, April second and can leave on the afternoon of the fifth or the morning of the sixth, why?" He asked reading over the paperwork he had for the schedule.
Puck tugged the earbud from his hear and sat up a little, turning so he could look towards everyone else, "Quinn won't be able to fly to Seattle for Nationals," he said calmly.
"What?" "Say what?" "Oh great, what are we going to do?"
Quinn sat up a little, "I mentioned it to Rachel, Puck and Finn last night because I overheard someone talking about it being in Seattle. I can't fly and there is no way we could take a bus there and back. I'm due in early May, so it shouldn't be doing much the last month of my pregnancy," she explained, "and don't be mad at Puck, yes, he is part of the reason I'm pregnant in the first place, but we can't change that now," she added.
Will sat looking at everyone, "wow, well I didn't think about that, Quinn, Puck, but you're right," he paused, "does any one have any female friends who would like to join? We are going to have to think about new members coming for the new year and when the seniors leave, wait a second, are there any seniors in here?"
"No, Puck, Matt, Mike, Santana, Quinn and I are juniors," Finn said.
"That's half of the club!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Good," Will smiled, "at least we don't have to worry about anyone leaving for good, everyone is planning to stick with the club next year, right?" At everyone's nods, Will continued, "well, I guess for now, we just need to find someone who can dance. We can hide their vocals if necessary."
Rachel sat up, "um, Mr. Schuester, I may have a suggestion," Rachel said.
"What is it?" Will asked.
"Well, as some of you may or may not know, I was in over a dozen clubs last year and though this year, that number is much lower, Glee Club is my first choice. I know in some clubs, teachers offer students extra credit to join certain clubs and we know that we need someone to dance, but it's obvious we don't have a line of people waiting to join. Maybe if someone was offered extra credit to join temporarily we may have someone interested. And I mean, for now, one girl who is a Cheerio who needs some extra help in Mr. Schuester's Spanish class," Rachel said. "I say Cheerio because we already know she can dance."
Will tipped his head in thought, "that could work. Deborah, what do you think? You're their coach."
"I think it's a great idea. And I'm only coach until Sue comes back or until they find a replacement," Deborah commented.
Santana cleared her throat, "um, Ms. Puckerman, I think I speak for all of the Cheerios when I say that we really want you to stay as our coach," she called out, getting a nod from Quinn and Brittany in agreement.
Deborah's eyes widened in shock, but smiled, "thank you. I will stay for as long as I can," she nodded, "and as soon as I get back to school I'll talk to the team, unless you girls want to text some of your friends now," she added.
"Can you do that, Mr. Schue? Offer extra credit for joining a club?" Artie asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
Will nodded, "yes, it happens a lot. This may be a good time to see if we can get others to join. We're so borderline as it is with twelve members that it wouldn't hurt to have a few others, guys and girls, to be in the club full time or as alternates, in case someone is sick or injured."
With a slight plan in place, Puck settled back into the seat for the rest of the ride with his girlfriend next to him.
Everyone began to gather up their things as they started seeing the familiar sights of home and Rachel sent her dads a message that they were almost home. In response they asked to have her, Noah, Finn, Quinn, Deborah and Arin all come over to the Puckerman's once they get back.
"That's odd," Rachel commented, showing her boyfriend the message.
Puck raised a curious eyebrow and looked at his mom, "mom, anything going on at the house that I should know of?"
"No," she shook her head, but didn't turned to meet his eyes.
"Mom," he said again.
"Nothing that I know of," she said a grin on her face.
Hitting the city limits of Lima, Rachel put her iPod away and when the bus finally pulled into the school parking lot, Will gave them a brief 'we did it' speech before telling them he'd see them in school and to come to practice on Thursday with ideas for songs for Nationals.
Piling off the bus, Puck carried his and Rachel's things and headed towards his jeep, while, Finn, Quinn, Arin and Deborah headed to Deborah's car. "Alright, so what's going on at the house?" Puck demanded as he put their things into his jeep.
Deborah rolled her eyes, "nothing that you can't wait ten minutes to find out," she responded, shaking her head, "lets just go back to the house and you'll find out."
Puck and Rachel got into his jeep and backed out, waiting for his mom before leading her home, pulling up behind David's SUV. Parking along the street, he left their stuff in the back, but he and Finn carried Arin and Deborah's bags into the house, finding Alan and David kicked back on the couch, dressed in grubby clothes, both drinking beers.
"Hey kids, Deborah," Alan said hopping up to greet them, hugging his daughter first and congratulating Deborah on the engagement.
David joined in the greetings, trying to hold off on the surprise as long as they could, but they could tell Puck was anxious.
"I ask again. What is going on?" Puck asked calmly, looking around and noticing there were a lot of boxes sitting on the floor out of the way, along with a lot of stuff he knew had been in the store room upstairs.
The two men looked at each other, "follow us," David smiled, the two heading up the stairs. David reached the door to the fourth bedroom, that had been used as a storage room; the room they were going to turn into the nursery.
"Close your eyes," Alan said.
Once Puck and Rachel had their eyes closed, David pushed the door open and Finn and Quinn guided the two inside; everyone catching the faint hint of paint. Once they were all in, Alan smiled, "open them."
Puck and Rachel opened their eyes and Rachel immediately gasped in shock as they looked around, seeing the room empty with freshly painted lavender walls and ceiling with gray trim, matching the boarder of gray musical notes running around the top of each wall.
"Look down," David said.
Their eyes traveled down and found the carpeting had also been replaced with a new plush gray carpet.
Feeling tears in his eyes, Puck looked at the two men, "you guys did all of this over the weekend?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, after you guys left on Friday, we emptied out the room, tore up the carpeting and painted, all with Arin's help. Then when we brought her up on Saturday, we let it dry, and came back yesterday, did touch ups if we needed to, put the boarder up and then finished the trim. We laid the carpeting this morning," Alan explained with a smile.
"It's a start. We know with all the competitions, school and work you guys haven't had the time, but Abigail will be here before we all know it and with Nationals being over part of your spring break, you can't wait until then to do all this," David said.
Puck stared at them in shock, surprised that they spent their entire weekend painting and laying carpeting for the nursery. "Thank you," Puck whispered, looking at them, "I don't know how we'll ever repay you guys for this, but thank you," he murmured, moving to hug the two men.
Rachel wiped her eyes, "now I know why you were so determined for us to figure out what colors to use," Rachel commented hugging her dads, "thank you."
Puck hugged his mom next, "you knew all about this, didn't you?"
"Yeah, of course," she smiled, "but this means I need your help around here," she added.
"How?" Puck asked.
"Well, we can't have all those boxes and things sitting in the living room, so we're going to need to go through them. Maybe get the garage cleaned out so we could actually use it to put a car in, since we're all pack-rats," she laughed.
"Anything," Puck murmured, "I'll do it," he nodded looking at Rachel.
Rachel smiled, "me too, she is my daughter also."
"I'm in," Finn said, "I'm sure a lot of my memories are in those boxes, too," he admitted.
"I don't mind lending a hand, either," Quinn agreed.
Puck smiled at them, "thanks guys," he slipped his arm around Rachel's shoulders, "I think it's starting to set in," he added.
Rachel nodded, "less than three months and we'll be parents."
"Which means we'll be grandparents," Alan groaned, getting a nod from Deborah and David.
Finn looked at his childhood best friend, "and we'll be the cool aunts and uncle," he commented motioning between Arin, Quinn and himself.
"She is going to be so spoiled," David laughed.
"That's not counting the rest of the club or Will and Emma," Deborah added, "somehow, I don't think you'll ever have to worry about needing a babysitter."
Puck smiled and nodded happily. "Things are good, very good right now," he thought, looking around at his family and friends.
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Music: 'Ain't No Other Man' by Christina Aguilera and mentions of 'Candyman' on the same album; 'Back To Basics.' Christina is my all-time favorite female singer. :D
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A/N4: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this. I know it's a lot shorter than the last few chapters, but it finished out Regionals and their trip to Detroit. I'm close to being finished with Part 30, but it will be a while before it's posted, maybe this weekend. Part 30, 31 and maybe 32, will cover a lot between Regionals and Nationals, and when I start writing Nationals there's going to be some major stuff, so I'm planning it out now.
A/N5: I work on a Navy base in their grocery store and it's open every day except Mondays, so I have that day off and usually another day during the week, but this past weekend, it was my turn to have a Saturday, Sunday, Monday off, a fluke, that's for sure. Unfortunately it means that I work now through Sunday, so I'm going to try and get as much as I can done; hopefully to get Part 30 posted before I go back to work on Tuesday.