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 please comment or review. :D
...
No one slept much during the night; except Quinn and Abigail. Puck and Rachel would nod off for an hour or so and wake up to check on Abigail, while Finn and Rebecca would do the same, checking on Quinn, who had been awake while they had slept and had occupied herself with something quiet to keep from waking them up.
As sunlight began to peek through the curtains of her room, Rebecca got up and opened them, shedding some real light into the room. The guys stepped out and gave Quinn some privacy and went down the hallway to wait, picking up some bottles of soda from the machine they found. When they returned to the room they sat around with a little more quite time until Abigail began to cry; she'd been changed already, but she was hungry, so Puck sat his soda down and moved to pick her up, keeping the blanket wrapped loosely around her body and took her back to his seat, sitting down and holding the baby bottle for her, "I feel like I'm seven again. Doing this for Arin. At least when she screamed I could pass her off to mom to deal with," he laughed at the memory, "I loved going to first grade that year. Got six hours of peace."
"Oh sure, leave me with her while you guys are at school," Quinn huffed, but then laughed, "then again, I only have six or so hours with her, then she's all yours."
"And we appreciate you watching her, Quinn," Puck replied honestly.
Rachel nodded in agreement, as she reached over, teasing Abigail's hand until she latched onto her finger, her eyes focusing on Rachel, even with the bottle in her mouth. "I can't believe she's already doing this," Rachel said.
Puck shrugged, "she's looking around and though she can't make out our faces, she sees the movement. She'll start to recognize us in the next few weeks, but like mom says, she recognizes our voices," he explained and once Abigail had what she wanted, he gently burped her and let her fall to sleep in his arms.
Hearing a knock, they looked up to see Deborah, Ethan, Arin, David and Alan coming into the room, "morning everyone," Deborah said.
Puck smiled up at them, "hey guys," he replied.
"Haven't moved much; we left you in the same spot last night," Ethan laughed as he walked over to his son.
"I've moved, just been sitting here," he shrugged, "just fed her and now she's out like a light again."
...
Eleven in the morning, Brad arrived, dressed in an OSU alumni sweatshirt and jeans, his badge clipped to his sweatshirt, "morning, guys." Puck was half asleep in his chair, so he didn't greet him like he normally did. "Boy, someone didn't get any sleep last night," he laughed patting Puck on the shoulder as he walked in.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I'm tired," Puck admitted, "soda hasn't kicked in yet."
Brad nodded, "I see that," he moved around to the small table and set Quinn and Abigail's charts down. "I'm gonna do an exam on Quinn and then I'll go get Dr. Roberts to come over and check out Abigail."
"You're in jeans and a sweatshirt? Is today your day off?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, but when I have patients here, I don't trust to pass them off to someone else," he admitted glancing at her.
Quinn smiled, "thanks."
He nodded at her and opened up her chart. "Rachel, Rebecca, Deborah, go ahead and stay, but everyone else, it shouldn't take too long, so why don't you guys go down the hallway to the waiting room."
Ethan, who was holding Abigail again, passed her to Deborah, then they all left the room, except the few who were staying.
...
Quinn's exam went well, she felt okay, given what she'd done a little more than twelve hours before, but before Brad would release her, he wanted her to get up and walk around, so while he filled out some of her paperwork, she changed and her and Rebecca went for a walk around the wing, to make sure she could manage it.
Once Quinn and Rebecca had headed out of the room, Brad got Dr. Roberts to come down, and Brad turned into a 'nurse' writing down Dr. Roberts' comments as he gave Abigail a check-up.
"Where's her dad?" Dr. Roberts asked, checking her heartbeat with his stethoscope.
"He is down the hall," Rachel replied.
He nodded, glancing at Deborah, "does he know I was his doctor when he was born?"
Deborah laughed, "I don't think he's put the two together yet," she admitted.
"I haven't seen him since your daughter was born," he replied, "would you mind getting him?"
Deborah shook her head, "no, I don't mind," she said getting up and heading for the door.
"They can all come back if you want to tell them, no need to make them sit in there any longer," Brad told her.
"Okay," Deborah nodded and left, heading down the hallway to where everyone was, "hey, you guys can come back now," she said. "Dr. Roberts would like to meet Noah and Quinn is on a walk with Rebecca," she added.
"Is everything alright?" Puck asked concerned as he stood up and headed towards her.
"Everything is fine," she assured him, "Dr. Roberts would just like to meet you," she replied, "Finn, you can go find Quinn and Rebecca, or you can come back, it's up to you."
"I'll go find them," Finn replied and stepped out of the waiting area and headed down the hallway to find his girlfriend.
Ethan, Arin, Alan and David followed Puck and Deborah back to the room; Puck noticed the older doctor, looking to be in his late-forties, just wrapping Abigail back up in her blanket when they came in.
"Dr. Roberts, this is my son, Noah. Noah, this is Dr. Roberts. He was your pediatrician when you were born, and Arin's, too," Deborah explained.
The man picked up Abigail and turned around, moving to Noah, "it's nice to meet you," he said, passing Abigail to him.
Puck smiled at her before looking at the man, "you too. You were mine and Arin's doctor?"
Dr. Roberts nodded, "yes I was. Your mom mentioned it last night when we were talking," he admitted, "I unfortunately don't remember every baby that I care for, but moms and dads tend to. It's not every day that I can meet someone who I cared for when they were born; let alone care for their child."
"Yeah, that's pretty cool. I guess we turned out alright, so I'm sure she will, too," he grinned.
The older doctor laughed lightly, but nodded, "she checks out great, nothing major. Her weight is good and she's active and reacting to sounds and touches, so I see no reason to keep her. I'll go ahead and get the paperwork going to release her."
Puck sighed in relief, "thank you," he replied looking at the man.
"You're welcome," he picked up her medical file from Brad and moved a few feet, pausing next to Deborah, "and you must be Arin. I was your doctor, too."
"Really?" Arin asked.
He nodded, "yes."
"Cool," Arin smiled and waved at him as he walked out of the room.
Puck walked over to his girlfriend who was standing a few feet away, "hey babe," he smiled at her, "you okay?"
Rachel nodded, "yeah. Could really use a nap, though," she admitted rubbing her face a little before slipping an arm around his waist.
"Once we all get back to our house, we'll watch her so you guys can get some sleep," David said, "it's obvious you are both tired."
Rachel looked at her dad, "are you sure?"
"Yeah, you guys will be better off with sleep," Ethan replied, "and it gives us some grandparents time," he added.
As he finished talking, Quinn, Rebecca and Finn returned to the room. Quinn was walking slowly, but didn't seem to be in pain; just still sore from the events of the day before. Brad asked her a few questions and when she told him she was fine, but sore, he agreed there was no need to keep her any longer, so he would get the paperwork going to release her.
...
Alan and David had driven Rachel's car to the hospital that morning, so they went to get the car seat from it and brought it back to the room so they could get Abigail settled in. Her paperwork was dropped off by Dr. Roberts about one, and Rachel and Puck signed the papers for her release, but they chose to wait until Quinn was released to all leave together.
With Abigail now released, they gathered up some of their stuff and Rachel was nervous about trying to dress her.
"Babe, you're gonna have to do this," Puck commented from his seat.
Rachel huffed as she stared down at Abigail, who was asleep in the bassinet. "But I don't want to wake her up and I don't want to hurt her."
"Uh, sweetheart; that's about all she's going to do for the next few weeks; you'll probably be waking her up to feed her, too," David supplied. "And you're not going to hurt her."
"But her skull isn't quite fused together and I never read anything about them sleeping for the first few weeks," she sighed. Puck took the shirt Rachel wanted to put on Abigail, a pink sweatshirt with a sun on the front. He gently put his fingers in the neck and tugged at the neckline, stretching it just slightly. "Noah! What are you doing?" She exclaimed.
"I'm stretching the neck out so when you pull it over her head it doesn't get tight around her neck and will be more comfortable," he replied, handing it back to her, "the only way you're going to learn this is to do it. We're all right here if you need help, but you won't," he assured her. "She'll fuss by you trying to push her arms through something or get her leg into the pants, but once she's dressed she'll settle down." Seeing her still confused and worried look he smirked, "do I have to remind you how old I was when I was dressing Arin?" He asked curiously.
"Seven, I know," she sighed, "you've only told me a thousand times."
"Well, I'm hoping eventually you'll get the point I'm trying to tell you; if a seven year old boy can do it, then so can a sixteen year old girl," he explained.
Taking a deep breath she gently unwrapped the blanket that was wrapped around Abigail and bunched up the shirt so she didn't have too much to pull over her head and carefully lifted her head slightly to pull it on. Abigail cried a little, but once it was off her face, she settled down and just as carefully Rachel guided each of her arms through the sleeves until it was completely on.
"Great job babe, now the pants," Puck held them out with a grin.
Rachel's eyes went wide, but took them loosening them up a little and looking at him, "the same way?"
Puck nodded, so Rachel guided her feet into the legs of the pants and tugged them up until she had them settled around her hips. Puck handed her a pair of baby socks and she stretched them out again and carefully slid them onto her feet. Abigail didn't seem to like that much, kicking her feet and crying a little, but after a few moments she seemed to relax to the feeling. "See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Puck asked, "though I am wondering if I have any gray hair growing yet," he commented glancing up as if looking for one.
"That's not funny, Noah," she retorted, picking up the child along with the blanket and settled Abigail in her arms again, "this is all new to me. Dressing and changing the diaper on a doll is one thing, doing it for real is new," she sighed.
Puck moved and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, trapping their daughter between them, but he was careful not to hit her, "I know, babe, but you've gotta trust all of us when we tell you something; she barely fussed dressing her; you did great," he explained, pressing a kiss to her lips before looking down at their daughter, "and so did you, baby girl," he grinned kissing her forehead.
Brad walked in with the paperwork to release Quinn, "sorry it took so long," he said, "not sending you home with any prescriptions because you don't seem to be in any pain. As long as you're still going to use breast milk, no drugs of any kind, no caffeine, though I'm pretty sure you already know all this," he said.
Quinn nodded, "yeah. When do I need to see my doctor again?"
"Two to four weeks or sooner if you're having issues. You can follow-up with me, or with your doctor. Totally up to you," he explained handing over the release papers to Rebecca. She signed them and handed them back to him and he nodded, tugging off the top paper to hand to Quinn and the other to keep in her file, "the nurse is bringing in a wheel chair and if you guys have everything, I'll walk out with you," he said.
"Oh, did you have any paperwork on what I asked you about?" Quinn asked.
Brad glanced down at the folder in his hand and flipped through the pages, "yes, I did find something," he laughed a little and handed the pamphlet over to Finn.
Finn raised a curious eyebrow, "what is this? Shouldn't it be going to Puck?"
Brad shook his head, "uh, no. Quinn asked me about what it's like post-birth and wanted you to read up on it. Obviously the 'dad' part won't pertain to you, but the rest will."
As soon as Finn heard him say that, he saw the topic of the pamphlet was intercourse post-birth, "oh, I get it," he blushed.
"Makes for a very long six to eight weeks," Ethan commented with a laugh.
Deborah smacked him in the shoulder, "Ethan Michael!" She exclaimed, but she couldn't help laughing herself.
Ethan smirked, "I'm just being honest, babe."
...
With their belongings gathered up, Alan, Ethan and Rebecca went down to the parking lot to move their cars around to the patient pick up area, while the rest walked down with Quinn and Abigail. Puck was carrying the car seat with Abigail strapped into it and a warm blanket thrown over her just in case, while Rachel walked next to him with her purse over her shoulder. Deborah had Abigail's bag while she and Arin followed Puck and Rachel, walking next to David and Brad, who was pushing Quinn's wheel chair, and Finn had Quinn's bag and the paperwork and a nurse was also walking with them to take the wheel chair back for Brad so he didn't have to go back.
Once downstairs and outside, they walked over to the waiting cars. While the nurse and Finn helped Quinn get into Rebecca's car, Puck and Rachel hooked the car seat up in her backseat and per hospital policy, Brad watched them, approving of how they hooked it up. Rachel slid into the backseat, taking the baby bag from Deborah before she and Arin headed for Ethan's jeep. Rachel was also taking pictures of 'Abigail's first car ride' and was already planning out her scrapbook.
Once everyone was settled except Puck and Finn, they both walked to Brad, "thanks, Brad."
The doctor nodded and shook both of their hands, "you're welcome. If either of you or the girls or anyone need anything, just call me. I put my cell phone number on both of the release papers, though I know Deborah has it and you can just call Brittany, but just because I'm a doctor doesn't mean my job stops here; especially for friends. I'm sure you won't need any help, but if you guys have questions, don't hesitate to call," he finished.
The two young men nodded at him, shaking his hand again, before climbing into their cars. Finn slid into the backseat of Rebecca's car, while Puck climbed into Rachel's backseat. Ethan took the lead to leave and was waiting for the other two cars to get behind him before he pulled out, knowing that Rebecca didn't know where she was going, but both Finn and Quinn could give her directions if she got separated.
"You know, this is the first time I've been in the backseat of your car," Puck commented throwing a grin over to Rachel.
Rachel's mouth fell open in shock, "of all the things he comes up to say, it's that?" She thought, a blush growing on her cheeks. "Noah, my dads are in the car."
"I was just making an honest comment; we hardly ever use your car and now we will be," he said as he reached over the car seat to take her hand in his.
Rachel continued to blush, but gently squeezed his hand, "yeah, like that's what you mean."
Puck let the conversation end, both him and Rachel getting lost in staring down at their daughter; asleep. Their hands were still clasp together, resting on the edge of the car seat. To catch her attention, he brushed his thumb over her hand, "thank you, Rachel, for everything. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here," he explained, looking down at Abigail. "Just the thought that I could have lost her scares the crap out of me and if you hadn't been supportive of this, or helped me deal with Quinn... I probably would have lost her for good," he whispered, knowing tears were falling from his eyes now.
Blinking her eyes to fight the tears from falling, she reached over and wiped his eyes; her hand lingering against his cheek, "don't think about what could have happened. Our daughter is finally with us and what matters is right here; we can't live in the past," she replied gently.
"I know," he nodded, smiling at her, his other hand raising to join hers, "but it doesn't mean that I can't be thankful you came into my life and helped me straighten out mine."
"You're welcome," she whispered, "and I think I got a pretty good deal out of it all, too," she added, looking down at Abigail.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" he smirked.
She smiled, "you and Abigail."
Their conversation ended as the three cars pulled up to the front of the Berry's house. Puck got out and unhooked the belt holding the car seat and took Abigail out, while Rachel gathered their bags. Finn helped Quinn from Rebecca's car and wrapped his arm around her waist as support as he guided her up to the house. Once everyone was inside, Puck set the car seat on the couch in the living room and gently took the still sleeping baby out to hold her. A flash went off and he shook his head, "I'm going to go blind if you keep doing that," Puck commented with a laugh, "seriously, babe; chill on the photos for a few minutes." Rachel blushed and put her camera aside, moving over to him and kissing their daughters head.
"I hate to do this, but I've got to get home," Rebecca said with a sigh.
Everyone was currently gathered in the living room; Quinn sitting on the couch next to Finn.
"So soon?" David asked, "are you sure you don't want to say the night? You're didn't sleep much last night, either."
"I know, but I've got a two hour drive home and would like to be back before my kids go to sleep," she admitted, "and it seems like you guys have everything under control, so I know my sister will be well taken care off," she smiled, glancing at Finn and Quinn.
Quinn stood up and moved to her sister, wrapping her arms around her, "I love you, Rebecca, thank you for everything," she told her.
The older sister held Quinn for a long moment, "I love you, too," she replied pulling away, "call me soon, okay?"
Quinn nodded, "yeah, I will; call me when you get home."
"I will do that," she assured her. With handshakes and hugs to the rest in the room, Rebecca waved goodbye and left the house; knowing her sister was in good hands.
"Gimme," Ethan commented holding his arms around to his son.
Puck glanced at him and laughed as he handed Abigail over to him, "you're going back tonight, aren't you?"
Ethan nodded, "yeah, as much as I want to stay, I can't," he admitted taking the small child into his arms and sitting down on the couch with her. "So knowing I gotta leave in a few hours, I wanna get as much time in as I can before I do go," he added, looking at Puck.
Puck nodded and squeezed his dad's shoulder gently, before glancing at Rachel, "nap time?"
"Yes, I believe it would be a good idea if we took a few hours to sleep," Rachel replied.
"You could have just said 'yes,' babe," he laughed and slipped his arm around her.
Rachel blushed and nodded, "yes," she replied. "Are you guys sure it's alright if we go get some sleep?"
"Yes, it's alright. You all need it," Deborah assured them.
With a silent nod, the four teens made their way upstairs; going into their respective rooms. Puck shut the door behind him and kicked off his shoes, beginning to pull clothes off as got closer to her bed until he was down to his boxers. Pulling the blankets back, he slid into bed and Rachel joined him, relaxing as he wrapped his arms around her, "Noah, not even twenty-four hours ago we officially became parents," she whispered, "finally."
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he tightened his arms around her, "yeah, finally," he admitted, "I love you, Rachel, so much."
Rachel smiled, "I love you, too, Noah," she replied softly turning to kiss him on the lips before snuggling up and letting her eyes drift closed.
...
Rachel woke up and shifted a little, feeling a piece of paper by her hand where her boyfriend should have been. Opening her eyes, she focused on the paper and the scratchy handwriting to read, 'downstairs, love you.' Smiling at the simple statement, she turned her head to the clock and saw it was six-thirty. Sitting up, she crawled out of bed and moved to her closet to get some clean clothes. She found a pink t-shirt and a jean skirt to put on and slipped her feet into the shoes she'd had on earlier in the day and then glanced at herself in the mirror. Seeing her hair pretty messy, she moved over to her vanity and picked up her brush, running it through her hair for a few moments, untangling the mess, before leaving the room and making her way downstairs.
Noticing the empty car seat on the floor in the living room, and seeing Arin alone in there watching TV, she followed the adult voices and headed to the kitchen, finding Puck and Finn sitting at the island, Puck feeling Abigail, while Deborah, Ethan, Alan and David stood around the kitchen. "Hey Rachel," Finn said seeing her first.
"Hello, Finn," she smiled at him.
Puck looked up from Abigail, "hey babe. How did you sleep?"
Rachel moved towards her boyfriend and kissed him, "great. I could have probably slept longer, but I figured I wouldn't get to sleep tonight if I did," she admitted.
"Not like it'll matter," he laughed, "she'll be up when she wants to eat, no matter what time it is."
"Oh yes, that is true," she agreed, "are we going to sleep at your house tonight?"
"I think it's best to," he replied, "the sooner we get her settled into her crib, the better."
"Okay," Rachel nodded, "but what about Quinn? If we go back over there, then how will Quinn get to us?"
"I'll drop her off in the morning," Finn said.
"And David and I can take her over on our way to work if she stays here at night; we drive past there every day to go to work," Alan added.
Rachel nodded, "perfect," she smiled, hearing the doorbell.
The echoing noise startled Abigail and she stopped sucking on her bottle to cry, so Puck set the bottle down and carefully shifted her up to his shoulder to try and calm her down.
Rachel's eyes widened as her hand joined Puck's, gently trying to soothe the crying child as Ethan headed to answer the door, returning moments later with several bags of take-out boxes from their favorite Chinese place. "Sorry, told them to knock, but he obviously didn't get the message," Ethan commented looking at Rachel and Puck.
Puck shrugged, "she's gotta get used to it sometime," he admitted as the cries began to subside and he shifted her to continue feeding.
Rachel felt her stomach respond to seeing the food, "wow, I didn't realize how hungry I was," she sighed.
"None of us have really eaten well since yesterday morning," Deborah replied, "so we're all a little hungry."
Puck finished feeding Abigail and put her back into the car seat, letting it sit on the floor so it didn't accidentally slip off the couch and covered her up, gently rocking it until he saw her eyes drift closed and he knew she was asleep.
"Come on, Arin, lets eat," he motioned towards the kitchen.
Arin turned off the TV and the two headed into the kitchen, Quinn appearing a few minutes later with Finn right behind her; having gone up to get her. Filling their plates from the various boxes of food, they founds seats either in the living room or at the table and ate.
As dinner ended, those who had been staying at the Berry's began to pack up their stuff. Finn was going to stay the night with Quinn, but Ethan, Deborah, Arin, Puck and Rachel packed up their stuff, ready to get back to a normal routine of some sort. Ethan only had a few things to pack, so he took his stuff out to the jeep, and then helped Arin and Deborah, while Rachel and Puck also packed up their stuff from the week of being back at her dads and making trips out to her car. Once most of their important stuff was in their respective cars, David and Alan said bye to Abigail and then Puck took her out to Rachel's car and buckled her seat into the back and carefully closed the door, so he didn't startle her.
Rachel, Deborah, Ethan and Arin said bye to the two men, Quinn and Finn and then they all left. Puck went as a passenger in Rachel's car, Deborah drove Puck's jeep back and Arin and Ethan went over in his jeep.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel started the car and glanced in the backseat, thankful Abigail didn't wake up. Once Ethan and Deborah had pulled the two jeeps away from the curb, she carefully put the car in gear and slowly turned the wheel to turn the car around and follow them. She nervously glanced between her side mirrors, the rear view mirror and the front of the car, as if she was looking for something.
Puck raised a curious eyebrow, "babe, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she said, turning onto the main road, slower than normal.
"Then why did a turtle just pass us?" He asked calmly.
"Noah! I'm being careful. Our daughter is in the car," she replied.
"Um, you're going like fifteen miles under the speed limit, that's actually more dangerous," he explained, "and she's fine. You've gotta get used to driving with her in the car; the road vibrations help rock them to sleep, so she's going to sleep while you drive," he added.
"Oh, well," Rachel accelerated just a few miles per hour more than she had been, but continued to glance at her mirrors until she turned onto the Puckerman's street.
Ethan, Deborah and Arin were carrying their bags inside as Rachel and Puck arrived, just after eight-thirty. Rachel and Puck got out of the car and she carried Abigail inside with her purse and the diaper bag over her shoulder, while Puck followed her in with their bags and set them by the stairs, moving into the living room to Abigail, while Rachel went to drop something off in the kitchen.
"Do you really have to go?" Arin asked Ethan, plopping down in the chair in the living room.
Ethan knelt down in front of her, "yes, I do, but I'll be back again Friday night," he told her, "and I'll be here all weekend, but will still have to leave Sunday night. It won't be much longer until I can stay permanently."
"Why can't you stay now?" She sighed.
"Because my job isn't over yet up there, so I have to stay until it is," he said.
Arin sighed again, "I just miss you when you're gone."
"I know you do, baby girl, I miss you too," he said brushing the stray hairs from her face, "but I'll be back here in no time."
"Promise?" She asked.
"I promise," he said with a smile.
Arin leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her against his chest, holding her in a long hug.
Puck watched the interaction between his dad and sister and felt tears in his eyes as he realized that would be him and Abigail in a few years. He hadn't meant to 'spy' on their moment, but he couldn't help it when he was sitting on the couch with Abigail. Wiping his eyes he looked down at his daughter, "I don't wanna leave you, baby girl, I really don't, but I don't think I have another choice," he thought as she continued to sleep in the car seat.
"How about I leave after you go to sleep?" Ethan asked Arin.
"Okay," Arin smiled as she pulled away from him.
"Go get ready for bed and I'll be up in a bit," he promised.
Arin nodded and got up, "goodnight Noah," she said moving to her brother and hugging him.
"Night, sis," he pressed a kiss to her cheek as they hugged and then she walked away.
Ethan looked at him, "you alright?"
"Yeah," Puck nodded.
Ethan moved to sit on the couch next to his son, "no you're not," he said turning to look at him, "what's wrong?"
Puck looked at his dad, "I just saw Abigail and I in a few years," he admitted motioning towards where Ethan and Arin had just been.
A confused expression passed over Ethan's face for a moment before nodding, "oh, I see. Thinking about changing your mind?"
"Do I have a choice?" Puck asked quietly.
"Of course; everyone has a choice. You feel the Navy is the best way to provide for your family, then you have to stick with it. You know, when your mom and I broke up, I went up to Cleveland to spend some time with my mom and I sat in my car for about three hours outside the Marine Corps recruiters," he explained.
"What? You did?" Puck asked.
Ethan nodded, "yeah. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do it or not. At the time I felt like I didn't have anything else, but I couldn't get the courage to walk in there; especially when I saw guys your age walking in. I was almost twenty-five and I couldn't figure out if it was really me. Took me three hours to realize I didn't want that life and left; the next day I drove up to Detroit, walked into the first police station I saw and asked them how to become a cop and I suppose the rest is history," he explained.
Puck's eyes widened at his dad's explanation, never expecting that's how he became a cop; he knew it had been quick and just after he'd left, but before he could say anything Ethan stood up, his hand resting on Puck's shoulder, "if joining the Navy is what you really want to do, go for it. Point yourself towards a master-at-arms, which is a military cop, put in the years you have to and then come back home and apply at Lima PD," Ethan smiled, "there will always be a spot on my team for my son," he squeezed Puck's shoulder, "think about it."
Puck nodded at his dad, "thanks, dad."
"No problem, and hey, if you decide against the military, we'll talk."
"What do you mean?" Puck asked confused.
"You haven't factored one thing into your whole life equation," Ethan was at the stairs now, but paused, turning to see Puck's still confused expression, "you forgot me," he finished climbing the rest of the stairs.
Rachel had been in the kitchen and heard their entire conversation, a smile on her face at what Ethan was talking about, but as she stepped into the living room to say something, she noticed the blank, confused look at her boyfriends face, "Noah?"
He turned to look at her and then glanced down at Abigail, unbuckling her from the car seat and carefully took her out of it, "huh, yeah?"
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you guys talking," she said softly.
"Oh, good, maybe you can tell me what he meant," he said glancing at her.
Rachel moved over to him and sat down next to him, reaching out for Abigail and taking her into her arms, "I know exactly what he meant."
"Translation?" He requested, slipping his arm around her shoulders as Rachel held Abigail.
Rachel looked at him, "considering that I have two dads, and even though they say they love me and I know they do, they don't always know how to say what they mean; or because of some male DNA strand they don't like expressing their feelings the same way a woman does. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he's telling you he supports your decision to join the Navy if it's what you really want to do, but if you change your mind, he can pay for a university," she explained, turning her eyes back to Abigail. "He also means he doesn't think you've realized yet that he's here to be a part of and take care of his family, just like you are trying to do for Abigail and I."
Puck's mouth fell open in shock, his head falling to her shoulder as they sat on the couch, "crap, I never even thought about that."
Rachel nodded, "no one ever expected you to have all the answers right now, but now you know it's at least an option."
"Only if by some miracle I'm accepted," he told her.
Rachel bit her lip, "I know why you're choosing the military, and I'm supporting your choice, but Noah, I just think if you looked at what you could get at OSU you'd see that... that there's possibilities there," she whispered.
Puck nodded, "look, can I have some time to think about this? I don't... It's a lot to take in and it's already been a long weekend, so just give me some time, okay?" He asked softly.
"Of course, Noah, when you're ready to talk, I'm here," she replied, pressing a kiss to his lips before standing up, "come on, lets go see how Abigail likes her crib," she suggested with a smile.
Puck stood up and grabbed the baby bag and motioned for her to head towards the stairs, "after you," he grinned.
"Can you get my camera?" She asked.
Puck headed for her bag, "I'll bring your bag, you can find your camera. I learned a long time ago not to go through a woman's purse. I thought mom was going to kill me when I went looking for gum one day," he laughed getting it and heading up behind her.
"I should probably change her, huh?" Rachel asked stepping into the nursery.
Puck nodded, "yeah, and she hasn't eaten in a few hours so it probably wouldn't hurt to give her a little more. It might keep her from waking up in an hour," he replied handing her the bottle from the bag.
She took the offered bottle and took a seat on the rocking chair and gently woke up the sleeping child and she began to suckle on the bottle after a few moments of coaxing her to take it.
He smiled as he watched them and then moved across to the dresser and dug out a one piece pajama outfit with purple flowers all over it, complete with feet and long sleeves. While she was feeding her, he got out what she'd need to change and clean her up and then glanced up to see his mom and dad coming into the room, "hey," he said to them.
"Has it sunk in yet?" Deborah asked with a grin.
Puck laughed a little, "not yet, wait until she wakes us up in the middle of the night, then it'll hit us," he admitted. Glancing over at Rachel, he smiled, seeing her burping Abigail and realized it was the first time since she'd been born that Rachel had done it, "told ya you could do it," Puck grinned.
Rachel blushed and stood up with an awake Abigail in her arms, "it's not that I couldn't do it, like I said, it's different if it's a real baby," she admitted, "I know I have to get over the fear of hurting her, and it's still there, but not as much as it was last night and this morning," she added.
"Good, that's how it's supposed to be," he replied taking the bottle from her, "all yours," he motioned to the changing table.
Taking a deep breath she felt a little pressure knowing she had an audience, "okay, you can do this. You fed and burped her, now all you have to do is change her, clean her up and put her in her crib. Maybe an audience is good; they can help if I need it," she thought as she gently laid the baby down on the changing mat and carefully removed her pants, and then shirt; getting a little noise from her when she took the shirt off, but once it was off, she settled right down. Remembering what she'd seen done and also what she'd read, Rachel carefully removed the diaper, cleaned her up, put a fresh diaper on and worked the outfit onto her without any struggles, but she suspected it was from her boyfriend standing near her, her tiny hand wrapped around his index finger. "Noah, I need her arm," Rachel grinned.
"Oh," Puck smirked a little and worked his finger free, getting a little cry as he did.
Rachel carefully worked her arm into the outfit and then began to button it up and then picked her up, "so how did I do?" She asked with a smile.
"Did great," Puck assured her, "you're a natural."
"Really?" She asked skeptically.
"Yeah, you did everything right," he moved forward and pressed a kiss to her lips, "trusting yourself is the most important thing."
Kissing his daughter's head, Rachel smiled and stepped to the crib, pressed her own kiss near where Puck had and then laid her down, being careful not to bump her head against the mattress and then stepped back once she was settled, "see you in a few hours, sweetie," she commented gently.
Puck slipped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck gently, the two taking a moment to look at her; finally home. "So what did you want your camera for?" He whispered in her.
Rachel's eyes widened and she moved over to her bag and dug it out, "I wanted to get a picture of her in her crib," she said turning the camera on, but making sure the flash was off, she took one of her laying in her crib and they all waited until she fell asleep which didn't take too long and Rachel took one again with the flash on.
Puck stepped back and rolled his eyes with a laugh as he reached for the baby monitor. Turning it on he grabbed the receiver and waited for Rachel. "Come on, babe," he said motioning towards the door.
"Time for me to go," Ethan admitted.
Rachel grabbed her bag and the four stepped out of the nursery, Puck closing the door as the last one out. Rachel dropped her bag in Puck's room and then followed the others downstairs. Puck and his dad shared a long hug and then Ethan gave Rachel one before the two stepped aside. Watching his parents hug and kiss, Puck bit back the 'get a room' comment that was begging to surface, knowing it was easier to tease them when he didn't have to leave.
"I'll see you guys Friday night," he said, "just a few more weeks of this and I should be good to stay," he grinned.
"Good," Puck smiled, "we'll see you Friday."
Ethan nodded and with one final hug to Deborah, he headed out of the house and into the night. Puck glanced at his watch and saw it was nearing ten at night, "I suppose we should get to bed," he commented, "if I'm stuck going to school tomorrow, I need sleep."
"See how things go and if you guys don't feel like going, don't, but the sooner you guys get into a routine for school, the better. You don't want the last quarter of school to suffer," Deborah commented.
"She's right, Noah," Rachel said looking at her boyfriend.
Puck laughed, "I never said she wasn't, I just don't want to go to school; I never do."
"Just a few more weeks and you'll be on summer break; I'm kind of excited myself; I'll actually have a summer off and get paid for it," Deborah grinned. "And I'll be off the next week to make sure Quinn has things under control before we leave her alone with Abigail," she added.
"Really?" Puck asked surprised.
Deborah nodded, "yes, she asked me to, and I felt it was a good idea."
"Thank you," Puck smiled.
She nodded at him and the three closed up the downstairs and headed upstairs to their rooms, "night mom," Puck said wrapping his arms around her.
Deborah was a little shocked, but wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug, "goodnight, Noah, Rachel," she pulled away and smiled at them before continuing into her room and closing the door.
Puck and Rachel continued into his room and he set the receiver on the nightstand by his clock and undressed enough to crawl into bed, Rachel joining him moments later, "do you think she'll actually sleep for long?" She asked softly.
"Don't know. Every baby is different. She'll probably wake up in a few hours hungry or needing to be changed," he explained.
Rachel nodded and snuggled in next to him, "so we take the time between to be together," she whispered.
"Yeah, pretty much," he agreed, tugging the blanket up and over them and then wrapped his arms around her, "we'll have a lot of time together, we just won't be alone all the time."
"I think we'll be fine as long as one of us isn't the only one getting up at night; we should switch off so we can get as much sleep at night as possible," she explained.
Puck pressed a kiss to her lips and reached back to turn up the volume on the baby monitor and then tapped the lamp so it went off, plunging his room into darkness as he slipped his arm back around her, "we'll take things one step at a time," he whispered, "switching off will help and she'll sleep through the night within a few months and once we're off of school it won't be a big deal what time we get up," he added.
"Good point," Rachel agreed looking up towards him, her eyes not fully adjusted yet so she couldn't really see his face, "goodnight Noah, I love you," she whispered.
He leaned forward and pressed another kiss to her lips, "I love you, too, Rach, goodnight."
...
A/N4: LOL I finish editing this as my dog snores very loudly in her kennel near me.
A/N5: Abby's finally home... After four months of writing this, we finally get her home! Yeah! I hope you guys enjoyed this. Editing it, I got tears in my eyes a few times, so let me know what you think.
A/N6: I assure you all, 'Out of the Blue' has a long way to go before I finish it, and even when it does, a sequel will take over just after it ends, so this 'universe' is far from being over ;) BUT for the time being... while 'Out of the Blue' is my first priority, I will soon be posting another Puckleberry WIP. The summary: "He's the star who just wants to be a high school student; she's the loser, who dreams of her name in lights on Broadway... When they meet at WMHS on the first day of a new school year; how will they take each other? ~ AU from the eps." If you're interested, keep an eye on my LJ, my profile or add me to your author alerts and you'll find out when I post it.