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: Feedback keeps me writing, so keep it coming :D
...
Reaching over Rachel to hit the snooze button on the clock, Puck settled back against the pillows and slipped his arm around her again.
"We should get up, Noah," Rachel whispered, having woken up from his movement.
Puck sighed, "fine," he muttered and moved his arm from around her and started to shift.
She grinned a little, but reached out for him, grabbing his hand before he could move to far, "I said we should, not that we had to right this second," she giggled lightly.
Looking down at her, he raised a curious eyebrow, "but we're awake," he commented.
"You know, for being so talented in bed you're pretty oblivious to when I'm-"
"Not oblivious," he shook his head, "still shocked you're so okay with this," he whispered pressing a kiss to her lips.
Rachel blushed and kissed his chest just above his heart, "you make me feel special," she replied.
Their conversation from the day before came flooding back to him as he pressed another kiss to her lips.
...
With another load of stuff in the U-Haul he was driving, Ethan was alone with his thoughts, but it seemed like his phone had been Grand Central Station since his sister and passed on the news that he was back with Deborah and she'd seen Noah, along with her sending out the picture Noah had given her. Now his mom, Orla, Kegan, his oldest sister, and Brian, Brianna's twin, had been messaging him non-stop since Friday night asking questions about them all. They wanted to meet Noah, Arin and Deborah, but Ethan had yet to mention one more detail; his son was going to be a father and his mom would soon be a great-grandma. He was thankful that Brianna hadn't mentioned that to them, because he wanted to break the news to his mom first. He'd purposely not spoken on the phone with his siblings or his mom, telling them he was in the middle of something and couldn't talk, but was free to text when he could. Passing a sign on the interstate telling him he was about 30 miles from Lima, he sent Alan and David a message that he'd be in Lima soon. The two men had offered to help Ethan unload the truck since Puck was gone and Mike had been unable to come because of family reasons, so once the message was sent he called his mom.
After two rings, a woman with a thick Irish accent answered, "hello?"
"Hey mom," he greeted her.
"Ethan! How are you, mo mhac?" (my son)
"I'm fine, how about you?" He asked setting his phone on the seat and letting the bluetooth in his ear do the work.
"I'm wonderful. Ethan, do you know how happy this news has made me?" She asked.
"I'm hoping really happy," he admitted.
"I never even got to see my grandson when he was born and hardly saw him after and now he's all grown up and he looks so much like you and you have a daughter! I have a granddaughter I didn't even know about! She's so beautiful! She looks like Deborah when she was younger, but you're in her, too," she gushed happily, "when can I meet them?"
"I don't know, mom, it's..." He sighed, "well, there's some things going on right now..."
"Mo chara, what's wrong? You sound upset." (my dear)
"Mom, nothing is wrong, it's just... Well, you know how you said you have a granddaughter you've never met?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Well, I'm about to be a grandpa," he said softly.
"What?" She gasped.
"My son is going to be a father, which means I'm going to be a grandpa and you're going to be a great grandmother," he almost whispered.
Her gasp was followed by several Irish words, "oh, my God! How old is he?"
Ethan took a deep breath, "he'll be eighteen in August," he replied.
"ETHAN! What did Deborah let him do? Let him sleep with anything that walks? Are you serious? He's not even an adult yet!"
"HEY! Leave my fiancée out of this! Noah is old enough to make his own choices and he admits he made a mistake, but he's taking responsibility for his daughter along with his girlfriend."
"What's that supposed to mean? You left Deborah to raise your children and she let him get his girlfriend pregnant!"
"It's not his girlfriend who is pregnant."
"WHAT? Ethan Michael Ballard, you better explain this instant!"
Rubbing his forehead, he sighed, at almost thirty-six he still hated it when his mom called him by his full name, "mom... He made a mistake and got his best friends girlfriend pregnant. She doesn't want to keep the baby, so Noah is keeping her and he and his girlfriend are going to raise her."
"His best friends girlfriend? How does... What... He's way too young to be a father! He needs to put it up for adoption! I can't believe you let this happen! It's all your fault!"
Listening to her blame Deborah, then demanding answers and telling him it was all his fault, he immediately felt like he was eighteen again, telling his parents Deborah was pregnant with Noah. Shaking his head, he shook the memories from his mind, "do not even try and pull that shit on me! Do you want me to hate you like I hate him?" He snapped at her. "I'm not a fucking teenager anymore, so don't treat me like one! Noah is my son and I'm supporting whatever decision he makes, unlike my parents who demanded I follow their rules. I didn't put up with it then and I sure as hell am not going to let you tell me what my son should do; you have no right!"
She gasped, "oh, mo mhac, I'm so sorry, but this is just such a shock." (my son)
"So you tell me it's my fault and blame Deborah?" He snapped as his knuckles held tighter to the steering wheel, willing himself to remain calm.
Orla quickly realized her mistake, "Ethan, please don't be upset with me," she begged, "it's just a lot to take in. It's one thing to find out that my son is back with the woman who he has children with, but it's a whole other thing to find that his oldest son is going to be a father when he's not even eighteen yet. It's scary," she replied.
Ethan's shoulders sunk as he shook his head, taking the exit for Lima, "mom, I don't want to hate you, but this conversation is nearing the same one as the one you, dad and I had about eighteen years ago when I told you guys Deborah was pregnant with Noah. I don't want to relive that and I sure as hell don't want to push you away again, but if you can't accept that this is happening..." He trailed off, knowing he didn't need to explain any further.
"I understand, Ethan, and though I'm shocked, you are correct. I do not have the right to judge any of you or tell you what Noah needs to do with his life. I'm sorry," she replied.
"I know you are," he agreed.
"I would really like to meet them all," she said, "and I haven't seen you since last year."
"Soon. Once I get moved back to Lima, we'll do something. Abigail is due in the next few weeks and Noah and Rachel are busy with school, so we're all a little on edge, but just give us some time, okay?" He requested.
"You're moving back to Lima? What? You're giving up your job?" She gasped.
"Mom, don't start. Seriously, don't start. Yes, I'm giving up my position as team leader on the SRT and returning to Lima. I'm going to be working at Lima PD once I get my transfers in place and we get married; we're getting married on July seventeenth," he quickly explained.
"Isn't that the same day-"
"Yes, it would be our official seventeenth wedding anniversary," he replied. "Look, I gotta go. I'm back in Lima and I've gotta unload the U-Haul and get back to Detroit tonight," he explained, "is tú mo ghrá, mom. I'll talk to you soon." (I love you)
"Is tú mo ghrá, mo chara," she replied. (I love you, my dear)
Ethan smiled lightly at her words and ended the call, slipping his phone and bluetooth into his pocket as he turned onto their street. Seeing David and Alan's SUV in front, he pulled up and backed into the driveway so they could unload things, but he needed to relax before he did. Once he was parked, he slid out, hearing, "daddy!"
Smiling at Arin, he scooped her into a hug and held her tight for a long moment, "hey baby girl, how are you?" He asked pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Great!" She smiled, but could see he wasn't, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, just had a weird conversation with your grandma," he said softly.
"I have a grandma? I thought she died before I was born," she commented as they walked towards the house.
Ethan set her down, "well your mom's mom did, but my mom is still alive, so you have a grandma, but you've never met her. Though she does want to meet you," he said stepping into the house, "hey," he said softly, nodding at David, Alan and Deborah before heading for the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"Beer at noon?" Deborah asked curiously stepping into the kitchen and towards him.
He glanced at her and popped the top, pressing the glass bottle to his lips and throwing his head back, downing half the bottle before coming up for air and plopping down onto one of the chairs nearby, "I needed it," he muttered, "I just had the worst conversation with my mother. I felt like I was eighteen again, telling her and my father that you were pregnant with Noah," he sighed reaching out to pull her down on his lap.
She raised and eyebrow at him and then realized what he was talking about, "you told her about Noah becoming a father?"
"Yeah," Ethan nodded, "and she first blamed you for raising him wrong and then told me it was my fault, then said that he needed to give her up for adoption, so needless to say, I stood up to her like I did eighteen years ago and told her she didn't have the right to judge me or my family like she did back then."
"What did she say?" She asked softly, draping her arms around his shoulders.
"She apologized because this is all a shock to her and agreed she didn't have a right to judge us or say what Noah should or shouldn't do," he explained.
Deborah pressed a kiss to his lips, brushing a hand against his cheek, "we're his parents and we're okay with it. David and Alan are Rachel's fathers and they're okay with it; that's all that matters," she told him.
Ethan turned his head to press a kiss to her hand against his cheek before hugging her, "exactly," he agreed picking up his beer and finishing it off.
"I guess you're not going back tonight," she commented, "because you know I won't let you out of the house to drive back with alcohol in your system."
"Maybe I did that because I knew you wouldn't," he grinned pressing a kiss to her lips, "and because I wanted to stay," he murmured.
~The foreign words are Irish; translations in () after the paragraph~
...
After a wonderful morning together, Puck and Rachel checked out of the hotel just after eleven-thirty and went to have lunch at the restaurant one more time. After lunch they said 'goodbye' to his aunt and she walked them outside and hugged them before they got into his jeep and started the journey home to Lima.
About three-fourths of the way back, Puck glanced in his backseat and then at Rachel, "we're gonna have to use your car for a while if we take Abigail anywhere," he said.
"Yes, I think it would be best," she agreed, "it would be very difficult to get a car seat in the back of the jeep."
He nodded, "yeah. I want to find a new car, but I don't wanna get rid of my jeep," he sighed.
"You don't have to," Rachel assured him, "and you really don't have to get a new car, either. The way I see it, we'll have to drive to school separately anyway," she explained, "you'll have football practices after school, and then basketball after that season is over, and I won't be able to remain at school until five or six, so we'll need two cars at school. If you drive to school with the jeep and I go with my car, I can drop her off at the sitter and pick her up after school."
"Or we could use your car to drop her off at the sitter and then go to school and you can go home to pick up Abigail and I'll catch a ride home with Finn or you could pick me up after practice. If I have to work then we can see each other for a few minutes and then I can head to Burt's from home," he suggested.
She glanced at him and nodded, "yes, that could work. It would save gas, I mean your jeep doesn't get the best gas mileage and mine gets almost thirty miles to the gallon since it's a Toyota Corolla," she admitted.
Puck glanced at her, "now you're concerned about gas mileage?" He laughed, "why didn't we bring your car along on our trip?"
"I never thought of it," she admitted with a blush, "I'm so used to us going places in your jeep I guess I kind of forget about it."
"Admit it, you like being in my jeep because you think it's badass," he grinned.
She blushed deeper, "I wouldn't say 'badass,' but I do agree that it first your personality."
"Okay, so what's my personality?" He asked curiously.
"Tough, yet a teddy bear, strong, yet emotional..." She sighed, "badass," she muttered.
"Okay, so if I'm a badass, and my car matches my personality then... Come on babe, it's simple logic; if 'A' equals 'B' and 'B' equals 'C', therefore 'A' equals 'C' so..."
"Your jeep is badass," she giggled.
Puck grinned, "yes, babe it is," he agreed glancing at her as he took the exit for Lima.
The two got quiet for a moment as he reached the outskirts of town and began to drive down the familiar streets.
"I should probably call my dads," Rachel commented, digging out her bag; breaking the silence, "I mean we're almost home, but I don't want them to worry," she replied, realizing her phone was still off from the day before. As soon as she turned it on, it beeped several times from messages so she waited to make her call.
"I think you can save the call," Puck admitted as he turned onto his street and noticed one of her dads' SUV parked along the street with the U-Haul in the driveway.
"Why is that?" She asked glancing up, only seeing the U-Haul.
He pulled into the driveway past his house to turn around and parked behind her dads' SUV, "because at least one of your dads is here," he replied. "So I'm assuming they probably helped my dad unload the truck."
"Oh, that makes sense," she blushed and returned her phone to her bag. "Take our stuff in now or wait?"
"Now, save a trip later," he admitted turning off his GPS, cut the engine and pulled his keys out.
The two slid out of his jeep and stepped around to the back. He pulled the door open and tugged out their bags. He threw his backpack over his shoulder with his duffel bag, Rachel shouldered her bag and then Puck got out her suitcase and set it on the ground for a moment to reach in and get the shopping bags. Handing those to her, he shut the back, picked up her suitcase and followed her up to the house.
Rachel pushed the door open and was greeted by Arin, "Rachel! You guys are home!" She hugged her as Puck dropped their bags by the stairs and shut the door. "Noah!" Arin went to him and hugged him next.
"Hey, kiddo," he greeted her and smiled at everyone in the living room, seeing her mom, Quinn, Finn, Rachel's dads and his dad sitting around, "hey everyone."
David got up and went to them giving Rachel a hug as Puck moved into the room to greet his mom.
"Did you guys have fun?" Alan asked from the couch.
"Oh yeah, nice place up there," Puck replied.
"Like you saw much of the place," David commented from where he was standing next to Rachel.
"Daddy!" Rachel blushed ducking her head.
"Come on, even I know what you guys went there for," Arin commented sitting down next to her mom.
Everyone erupted into laughter as the couple remained embarrassed, but then Puck looked at his dad, "so Brianna, huh?"
Ethan sighed, "I know! I'm sorry. I didn't even think to ask where you guys were going; I mean come on? What's the chances that you guys would pick that specific hotel to go to."
"Hundred percent, apparently," Puck laughed.
"And of the sisters she had to be the family gossip," Ethan muttered. "Oh and Kegan, Brian and your grandma are dying to meet the mini-Ethan," he commented.
Puck laughed, "oh great, more of them?" He groaned playfully.
"They're not as bad as Brianna, I swear, even if Brian is her twin," he admitted with a laugh.
"She seemed very nice once the initial awkwardness wore off after she introduced herself," Rachel explained.
A silence fell over the room for a moment, but Puck spoke up, "we've got some questions for you guys and don't know if you guys are up for them now or wanna wait," he said.
"Now's fine, we actually have something we wanna discuss with you two also," Deborah said.
"What did we do?" Rachel asked.
"Now who's jumping to the 'what did we do' conclusion?" Puck laughed plopping down in one of the chairs.
Quinn spoke up, "nothings wrong, but I remembered that we hadn't really discussed what to do when I go into labor and who I'll call first. We've kind of come up with an idea, but we wanted to run it past you guys since it involves taking care of Arin."
"What do you mean?" Puck asked curiously.
"From now until whenever she's born, I'm going to be staying at the Berry's so Finn doesn't have to keep dropping me off there before he goes to school, but I'll be further away from Deborah and I want her to be near," Quinn said, "I trust her and she's a nurse, so she knows what's going on, but if I'm at the Berry's and I call her in the middle of the night, it could be a bit before she gets to me," she started.
"So I'm going to start staying at the Berry's at night. If I stay there it's going to be difficult to come back over here in the morning to get Arin, so are you two going to be alright if you drop her off at school? Or the other idea is we all stay over there at night. You guys usually do that anyway, so it might be easier, but we wanted to offer it, since you both have kind of moved most of your stuff back here," Deborah explained.
Puck shrugged, "don't matter to me, probably would be better if we're all together, I mean, less phone calls and if she does go into labor during the night we'll all be there," he said.
Rachel nodded, "I think we should all stay there, too," she agreed. "I still haven't moved everything over, but most of the stuff I use on a daily basis is here, but that can be moved back, like my laptop and some of that stuff."
"But what if she goes into labor while we're at school?" Puck asked.
"My phone is always on and with me so she can call," Deborah said, "and I've already discussed it with Figgins and if she calls, he's given me free rein to leave if I need to."
"What about us?" Finn jumped in.
"He'll excuse you for a family emergency," Deborah added. "You guys also need to pack a bag for Abigail with the clothes you want her to come home in and get her car seat in your car, so it's already done."
"Rachel and I were just talking about that on the way home," Puck commented, "we'll be using her car when we go anywhere with Abigail because it'll be hard to get the car seat into my jeep," he explained, "and it kind of leads into something we wanted to ask," he paused, "um, Quinn, Finn, how are the four of us going to be when she does get here?"
Finn raised and eyebrow in confusion, "what do you mean?"
Rachel continued, "we know that Quinn will be watching Abigail during the day when we're at school, but once we're out of school for the summer and she no longer is nursing, we're wondering if it would be awkward for you guys to be around like you have been or if -"
Quinn shook her head, "don't worry about it. We'll still be around. It might be awkward but we won't avoid you guys if that's what you're asking. We're still going to be friends."
"Oh yeah, totally," Finn nodded, "Puck and I have been friends forever, not going to change now, even if we had a pretty rocky spot there for a short time."
Rachel sighed in relief, "I know we've talked about it before a little, but we just wanted to make sure."
"What we were getting at is we were curious about school next year. I know we have time to think about it, but Finn, after football and basketball practices, would you be willing to give me a ride home?"
"Yeah, I can do that. No worries," Finn nodded.
The room went silent again, so Ethan spoke up, "what else did you guys want to ask? You said had some questions, so if that's one or two, what else is there?"
Puck glanced at Rachel and then to their dads, "Um, well, it's more of a concern... Um, when I turn eighteen in August, Rachel won't be seventeen for a couple weeks and we got talking... And we were... Um, wondering... If it's... like legal," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously unsure how to ask since his sister was in the room.
Ethan and Alan exchanged glances for a second with the word 'legal,' but Alan looked at Puck and Rachel, "the age of consent is sixteen, so you're fine," he told them.
"Really? I mean even if he's legally an adult and I'm not?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, in the state of Ohio, at sixteen year old girl can date an older guy without issues because she's of legal age to consent to anything," he replied, stressing the last word to give them the clue without using specific words.
Puck reached over and took Rachel's hand, "guess you were right, there wasn't anything to worry about."
She nodded, "but it didn't hurt to ask," she admitted, squeezing his hand.
...
Deciding to start staying at the Berry's the next night, Quinn and Finn left for his house to have dinner with his mom and it gave the Puckerman's and Berry's a chance to have some family time. Ethan had a few beers that day, so he chose to stay the night, and after dinner, Rachel's dads went home. Since it was close to bedtime and Arin was going to bed, Ethan tucked her in and said 'goodbye,' because his plan was to get up early in the morning and head out as soon as possible so he could get back to Detroit in time to get his stuff and go to work. Ethan also said 'goodbye' to Rachel and Puck for the same reason and then he and Deborah turned in early, while Rachel and Puck gathered up their bags and headed to their room to unpack.
Rachel tugged out her toiletries kit from her bag and headed to the bathroom to put the stuff away, returning to see her boyfriend admiring something in his hands. "Noah, I can..."
Puck turned, holding up the lace and sheer garment, "explain?" He asked curiously, "more like why didn't you wear this when we were away?"
Rachel blushed, ducking her head as she stepped into his room, closing the door behind her, "Well, we... It seemed... I..." She paused taking a deep breath as she neared him, "well, I didn't need to talk you into anything, so why wear it when it's just going to come off? At least if you hadn't been in the mood it would have been incentive," she grinned pressing a kiss to his lips.
As their lips broke apart, Puck grinned, holding the black item to her chest, his own mind picturing what she would have looked like in it, "you have very good taste, but I like how you think," he murmured setting it aside and pulling her against him for a longer yet loving kiss.
...
Rachel woke from her sleep to hear the rumble of an engine outside getting quieter and realized that Ethan must have just left. She glanced at the clock and saw it was just a little after four in the morning. She debated getting up, but at hearing a faint, "go back to sleep, babe," from her boyfriend next to her, she took his advice and closed her eyes again, willing herself to sleep for a few more hours.
As Monday classes came and went, the kids were sitting around the choir room after school for Glee Club. They were well on their way to picking the songs for the showcases; Mr. Schuester had discussed with Figgins and the middle schools in the area and made arrangements for showcases at each one. Mr. Schuester gave out the dates and Rachel wrote them down and she asked which members were from which school. Everyone had gone to middle school in Lima except Mandy and Rachel, so there were members from each middle school they would be going to.
"Oh yeah, and after those performances during the week, Friday, June eleventh, we'll have a performance here that afternoon in front of the school, as well as one that evening, where you guys will be free to invite your friends and family members for a big end of the year show," Will said.
"Oh my God, we have to get costumes finished for Mandy and Travis and figure out costume changes... This is going to take forever!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Not really," Will said, "for the ones at the middle schools I think it would be more appropriate for us to wear our usual converse and jeans and then have t-shirts on. Those of you from that school we're at could wear a school shirt, or you can wear a McKinley one," he shrugged, "simple, but that night, at the concert for your friends and family we can go full out. I was also going to mention that anyone from the schools we go to is welcome to come to that showcase and we'll ask for donations, but not require everyone to pay for a ticket," he said. "Quinn said depending on when she has Abigail she'd like her, Santana and Brittany to do 'I Say A Little Prayer For You' at their middle school. It's the song they auditioned with, which makes me wonder if any of you would like to sing lead on something at your school," he said.
"I wouldn't mind singing something," Mercedes said.
"I'll do something," Tina replied.
"Okay, so Rachel, Puck I'm going to give you guys your first job as presidents, take suggestions from everyone about songs they want to do and figure out a way to perform them. We need to keep our performances under an hour at the middle schools, but we won't have to limit what we do at the concert that night, but keep in mind that no one is going to want to sit forever, so figure it out."
"What?" Puck sat up from his slouched position, "seriously? Us figure it out?"
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I've complied a list of all the songs we've done this year and have a good start," Rachel replied sweetly.
"Oh, alright, well um, what do you need me for?" He asked with a laugh.
"Support," she replied gently.
As Will's speech finished, Rachel collected the names of the songs that everyone wanted to sing and wrote them down; most being songs they had performed at competition and a few other ones that they had done throughout the year they liked.
"Hey Rachel!" Matt said looking over at her.
"Yes, Matt?" Rachel asked glancing up from her papers.
"Can we have your boyfriend for the evening?" Matt asked.
"Uh, I'm sitting right here," Puck commented.
"Dude, we've got plans, so we're asking your girl if you can go," Mike replied.
"Don't worry, Artie and I will be there, too," Kurt added.
Puck raised an eyebrow at the confusion, but shrugged, "okay, fine, whatever."
Rachel eyed the guys and then looked at her boyfriend, "I don't mind. Go have fun."
"You sure?" Puck asked.
"Yes, Noah, I don't mind," she laughed a little, "you have friends, you're welcome to go hang out with them."
"Good come on, then," Finn said patting Puck on the shoulder.
Puck handed over the keys to his jeep and kissed his girlfriend, "can you get some clothes for me packed up before you go over to your dads?"
Rachel nodded and pocketed the keys, "yes, I can," she agreed and pressed another kiss to his lips, "have fun."
Saying goodbye to the girls, all the guys headed out to their cars. "So where are we going?" Puck asked as he chucked his backpack into the back of Finn's car and got into the passenger seat.
"The bowling alley. It's league night so there won't be many people aside from those bowling, so Mike's dad is letting us have the pool room," he commented.
"Nice, I haven't played pool in a long time," Puck admitted.
"Yeah, I know. The guys were saying you're spending too much time with Kurt; they were wondering if you were going gay on us," Finn laughed.
Puck scowled, glaring at Finn, "dude, that's not funny. I have to work and I've got a kid on the way, it's not like I'm just chillin'. I love Rachel, so of course I'm going to spend time with her and the only reason why I'm around Kurt a lot is because I work for his dad."
"We all know that, they just are giving you a hard time, me too, actually, because we hang out a lot with Quinn and Rachel. They don't have much right to dog on us, either, cause every other comment out of Matt's mouth is how he's so happy with Mercedes or about something they did."
Puck sat back and nodded, "so is this a guys night or are we going to be bustin' each others balls about our chicks?"
"Probably both," Finn replied with a laugh.
Once the seven boys arrived at the the alley, they headed back into the empty pool room, while Mike went to pick up some pitchers of soda before meeting up with them, "so this is like the first time us guys have done something together other than when we sang that song back in February," Mike commented setting two pitchers down on one of the tables the guys were sitting at.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Finn commented, "we gotta do this more often."
"Well," Puck smirked, "what are you guys up to this summer?"
"Why do you ask?" Mike asked curiously.
"My parents bought the house across the street from where we're livin' now and it sounds like dad wants to gut and rebuilt the house before they move into it, so he was wondering if you guys were up for something to do this summer. I guess it's called 'flipping' or at least he's done it before, but can't do it alone. I'll be helping and think Finn will be, so we'd need some extra hands. He said there's money involved," Puck added with a grin.
"I'm in," Matt commented, "I've done it before, well, I helped my dad when he redid our kitchen."
"I'd say I'd help, but my parents are split up and I have to go spend the summer with my dad," Travis commented with a sigh. "Which means I won't be at your parents wedding."
Puck nodded, "no worries dude, I'll let Rachel know."
Travis nodded his thanks and they all kicked back. Mike said he'd help when he wasn't working at the alley and Kurt and Artie said they would help when they could, "but I'm not going to wear a tool belt unless it matches my outfit," Kurt commented.
"Kurt, does everything with you have to involve clothes?" Matt asked curiously.
Kurt crossed his arms over his chest ,"just because you guys don't care about your clothes, doesn't mean I can't."
"You need to chill out," Mike commented patting Kurt on the shoulder, "have you ever worn just jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes?"
Kurt's eyes widened in shock, "I most certainly have not!"
"Dude, like Mike said, chill out," Matt responded. "Just because you like guys doesn't mean you can't dress like one."
"Look at my in-laws," Puck commented, "Rachel's dads are gay, yet they dress normal. Well, normal for adults who are a lawyer and psychologist, but doesn't mean they can't chill in jeans or something."
Kurt's mouth dropped open in shock, he'd been called out by the Glee guys and he knew they were right, and he hadn't even thought about Rachel's dads being gay; "well I knew they were, but it just didn't click," he thought before looking around, "I... um... Well..."
"My God you made him speechless," Artie laughed.
Shaking his head, Kurt looked around, his eyes landing on Puck, "I guess it never clicked that Rachel had two dads. I mean I know, just didn't put the thoughts together."
Puck nodded, but shrugged, "I was literally thrown into it the night Rachel and I started going out," he laughed a little, "Alan came home from work and saw us kissing and I ended up staying for dinner. Never met parents, especially dads and I didn't have just one, I had two to deal with," Puck commented, thinking back to that day.
Finn narrowed his eyes in concentration, "that's what you were doing when I called to tell you about when coach gave us that ultimatum... The next morning is when you told us you met your girlfriends parents."
"And that Monday, Rachel came to school wearing your Letterman's jacket," Kurt replied.
Puck nodded, "yeah, didn't see her come to school that day because I was working with Artie and the band on 'Sweet Caroline,' but I did hear about it," he laughed.
Artie nodded, "yes, and I think we have all come a long way since then. Rachel and Puck are the epitome of a Mash-up and I believe part of our growing is from them being together," he explained.
"Dude, that's deep," Matt said.
"But he's right," Finn agreed.
Puck rolled his eyes, "yes, I think so too, but this is a guys night, so lets play some pool. Hey Mike, where's the food?"
The guys laughed at him, but Mike got up and went to check on getting some food, returning with a large platter of nachos and some french fries, "um, Kurt," Mike said calmly.
"Yes?" Kurt responded.
"So, like I know who your dad is and all, but is he like seeing someone?" Mike asked.
"Um, not that I know of, why?" Kurt asked standing up.
"Because he's in the diner with a woman and I think... Well, she looks an awful lot like, um, Finn's mom," he replied scratching his head.
"WHAT?" Finn exclaimed jumping up and following Kurt running out the door.
"Stay here," Puck commented to the others before getting up and chasing after Finn and Kurt.
When Puck reached the two, the two boys were frozen, staring into the diner. Puck glanced between them and sure enough, Carole Hudson and Burt Hummel were sitting at a table eating dinner together. "Oh shit," he muttered nudging the two inside.
Finn and Kurt stepped inside and Kurt was the first to speak up, "dad?"
"Mom?" Finn choked out.
Puck stood back, but didn't hesitate to get a picture to send to Rachel, "oh this is classic. If only I had a picture of Finn and Kurt's faces, wait..." Puck thought turning a little and snapping one of Finn and Kurt, before putting his phone away.
The two adult's head snapped up and stared at them.
Burt looked up, "um, Kurt-"
"Finn, what are you boys doing here?" Carole asked quickly.
"What is going on?" Kurt asked coming out of his shock.
"We're having dinner," Burt said calmly.
"We can see that, but how..." Finn shook his head unsure just what to ask.
Kurt looked between the two, "is this the first time or has this happened before?"
"A few times," Carole admitted, glancing down.
"Define a few times," Finn replied calmly.
Burt took a deep breath, "a few times a week since Christmas."
Both of their kids' eyes widened in shock and moved further to their parents, "are you guys like dating?" Finn asked.
The two exchanged looks, "yeah," Carole replied.
Puck felt like he was intruding on something more personal, so he stepped out and headed back to the pool room to see Matt, Mike, Travis and Artie around the pool table, "oh shit, guys," he muttered moving over to them.
"I take it that it is Kurt's dad and Finn's mom?" Artie asked.
"Yeah," he nodded, "apparently they've been seeing each other a few times a week since Christmas," he replied. "It was getting personal so I chose to leave."
Mike shook his head, "wow, never saw that one coming."
"Same here and I work for Burt," Puck agreed.
Unsure how long Kurt and Finn would be, the guys in the room continued to play pool, teasing each other when someone missed an easy shot or dogged on them when they beat someone else. It was almost twenty minutes later when Finn and Kurt returned. Puck looked at them, "you guys alright?" He asked.
Finn sat down on a chair and Kurt in another, "they've been dating for four months and we're just finding out," Kurt muttered. "He's been widowed for ten years and now he starts dating," Kurt sighed, leaning back.
Finn nodded in agreement, "this is just... I never expected it. She was fine with being single and I always thought she'd stay single."
"Though I'm sure you guys don't want to hear this, they do have one major thing in common," Puck said slowly, "they lost their spouse a long time ago and understand what the other one has gone through."
"That's what they said, too," Finn replied.
"Just think, if they get serious you guys would be step-brothers," Matt commented, "and I'm not saying that to be funny, I mean it. You guys at least know each other and get along, unlike couples who get together and their kids are like enemies."
"He does have a point," Kurt nodded.
"But it's always just been mom and I... And now Quinn, this just... It's not what I planned."
"You're jealous because you've been the only guy in your mom's life since your dad died and you don't want to share," Puck said.
Finn nodded, "yeah, no offense Kurt, to you or you dad," he added.
Kurt shrugged, "none taken. I get what you mean and I feel the same way, or at least I'm not used to sharing my dad... But if they're happy, then I guess it's easier to support them than to be against it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Finn agreed.
"I hate to break the news," Artie laughed a little, "but it seems as though our guys night out is bordering on a girl's night out with all the emotions."
Several of the guys groaned and tugged Finn and Kurt off their seats and nudged them to the pool table, trying to get them back to normal state so they could enjoy the rare time as just 'the guys.'
...
A/N4: Oye, so I fully intended to start the birth at the end of this chapter, but I wrote too much and it got pretty long, so I chose to start fresh in the new one.
A/N5: A shout-out to Karma22 for the suggestion of a little guy time; though it did get interrupted by the new relationship that I've been planning on since Deborah and Ethan got together. (Many, many moons ago I once thought of putting Deborah and Burt together, but I chose to create Ethan. I realized that Burt and Carole both are widows and are single still after so many years, so... new relationship. ;) )
A/N6: Thank you to everyone who is reading this; even if you don't comment. (Though I know not everyone does, feedback keeps me writing.) I look forward to you all continuing on the journey through 'Out of the Blue' and it's sequel. The response I got has just been amazing; the feedback, the alerts, just totally awesome! I try to respond to as many reviews as I can, so keep an eye out to your inbox on FF or LJ for a message from me. Thanks again, y'all!