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
...
Waking up the morning after Mother's Day, everyone in the house was quite happy. Rachel was still reeling from an emotional yet wonderful day, and when she greeted Quinn at the door, Quinn could easily tell she had a good day, "I take it you enjoyed Mother's Day?" She asked with a grin.
Rachel smiled, "it was amazing!" She brushed her hand against the heart charm against her neck, "they got this for me; it's my birthstone and Abby's."
"It's beautiful," Quinn admitted, leaning forward to get a closer look, "are you going to wear both?" She asked, noticing she still had on the '20' around her neck.
"For now," Rachel nodded. "I've gotten so used to having it on, and why I wear it, that I don't want to take it off. Besides, if Kurt says anything about it clashing, I'll just remind him that you can by jewelery that is both golds," she laughed.
Quinn giggled, "good point. So where is everyone?" She asked stepping further into the house.
"Upstairs. How was your day yesterday?" She questioned nervously.
"It was great, actually. Carole loved what we got her. I sent flowers to my sister and dinner went pretty well. I think Kurt and Finn realize there is something there between their parents," Quinn replied.
The two girls chatted for a few more moments before Puck, Arin and Deborah came down, ready for the day. Quinn gave Deborah a stack of homework to turn in for her and then Deborah and Arin left after a brief conversation. Deborah needed to drop Arin off at school before she headed to work and since Deborah had been off for a week, she needed a chance to check in with Principal Figgins and to check on things before the day started. "Alright, I guess we should head out, too," Puck said looking at Quinn, "and dad's upstairs, I think either sleeping or just getting up, and knows you're here, so he should be down in a while," he explained.
Quinn nodded, "yeah, I noticed his jeep was still here. How long is he staying?"
Puck grinned, "for good. Friday was his last day."
"Oh wow, that's awesome," she smiled, "um, do you guys still need me to come over? I don't have to."
"No, it's alright," Rachel said, "but it wouldn't hurt to ask him today. At least he'll be here if you have issues," she added.
"Okay, I'll do that," she agreed, nodding at them, "so, see you guys later. Say 'hi' to everyone in Glee for me."
"Will do," Puck nodded, pressing a kiss to Abigail's forehead before Rachel handed her of to Quinn.
Once Rachel and Puck were off to school, Quinn settled Abigail in her bouncer and got her backpack from the corner of the room, tugging out some homework; doing her best to keep up on it. She found herself on her laptop writing reports more than anything, since most of her teachers, instead of giving her weekly assignments, told her they wanted her to do research papers on the topics the class would be learning about in school; she had a lot to do. Math and Spanish were the only two classes she had to keep up on her work more, since they still were doing the chapter assignments. After a while of looking over her Spanish, she heard footsteps coming downstairs and glanced up to see Ethan, "morning Ethan," she greeted.
"Morning Quinn, how are you?" He asked.
"Okay. I hear you're back for good," she commented.
"Yep, Friday was my last day," he agreed sitting down in one of the chairs near where she was.
"That's cool. I bet Deborah is really happy," she replied.
"Yes, she is. We both are," he agreed, grinning.
"Nice. So um," she leaned back on the couch, "since you're here, do you still want me to come over?" She asked curiously.
"Sure," he shrugged, "I don't mind. It might be helpful actually. I still have to meet up with my soon-to-be boss and have some projects to take care of around here, so it'd be easier if you were here, so I can go out and you can stay with Abby."
"Okay, that sounds good. When Puck told me this morning, I wasn't sure if you'd still need me to come over," she admitted.
"Understandable," he agreed, standing up, "and as much as I'd love to take care of her all day, every day for them, I still have some things to do and it's gonna be hard to take her with, so just keep with your plan of watching her and I'll be around if you need help," he explained, "I'm gonna go make something for breakfast, you hungry?" He asked.
"No thanks, I'm good. I had breakfast before I left Finn's," she said.
...
After school on Tuesday, Ethan and Deborah went down to the real estate office to talk to the realtor about the house and found out that things had gone through and at the end of May it would be theirs. While the parents were gone, Rachel, Finn and Quinn sat in the living room at the Puckerman's talking, since Puck was at work and Arin was at her friend's.
"I think we should do it at Schoonover Park, since the lake is right there," Finn said.
Rachel nodded, "I think that would be perfect. They have that covered pavilion that we can rent and if they like it, they can have their reception there, too," she agreed.
"They're really dragging their feet on this whole wedding announcement thing. I mean I know they don't want anything fancy, but it's two months and a few weeks away," Quinn commented.
"I know," Rachel sighed, "and I don't even know his family's names... Oh wait! All I have to do is invite Brianna and ask her to pass the message on to the rest of their family," she smiled, "and my dad still has Mike's number so he can tell Ethan's former team members and see if any of them can come down," Rachel added.
...
With a plan in place, the teens set to work planning a birthday party for Deborah and Ethan. Both of their birthday's are just before Memorial Day, in May, so on the Saturday before the holiday, just a few days after Ethan's birthday and the day before Deborah's, they were putting together a surprise party. They chose to use the park Finn suggested and David and Alan went to rent the picnic pavilion so they wouldn't be interrupted by anyone else. All of the Glee kids and their families were invited; Puck called his mom's sister and brother and invited them and their families, Rachel contacted Brianna, who promised to pass on the message to her and Ethan's siblings and their mom and Alan contacted Mike, who promised to be there with his family and would pass the invitation onto the rest of the team.
To keep suspicions down, discussions of the party went through text messages and emails, and once they knew how many people would be there, Carole and Quinn offered to take care of the food and cake, since if Rachel was caught talking about anything in the house, the surprise would be blown.
...
At almost three weeks old, Abigail was getting more active; she still slept a lot, but when she was awake, she was silently studying her surroundings and also seemed to be recognizing Puck and Rachel's faces easier. She was starting to move around a lot more, lifting her head when she was laying down, or being held by someone. Once her umbilical cord fell off and it had a few days to completely heal, Abigail got her first real bath, since she couldn't get the umbilical cord wet.
Though she was still waking them up during the night, the two to three times, went down to one to two times and Quinn was noticing during the day she seemed more curious; looking around, and making sounds that was more than a cry and one night when Rachel and Puck got home from school, Abigail smiled at Rachel when she picked her up, and Rachel realized it was the first time she'd done that, causing tears of happiness from the new mom.
The day before Ethan's birthday, Abigail had her first doctor's appointment. After school, Puck, Rachel and Deborah took her in and since it was her first appointment, it took longer since they not only had to take her weight and length, they had to give her a complete physical, check out her soft spots and give her the first set of shots. She didn't like the shots one bit and cried for a long while, but Puck managed to get her calmed down before they took her out of the exam room.
Her doctor, which had also been Puck's pediatrician when he was younger and was still his sisters, gave Abigail a clean bill of health and assured them she was progressing well for a child her age.
...
Ethan's birthday fell on a Wednesday and he made it clear he didn't want them to make a big deal about it. After some compromising, he agreed to let them take him out to dinner that night, so Quinn and Finn babysat so the Berrys and Puckermans could go out to dinner to celebrate Ethan and Deborah's birthdays.
Neither birthday person seemed to have any clue of the surprise party that was being planned; or at least they didn't let on that they knew anything. The planners kept Arin's involvement to a minimum. They knew she could keep a secret, but they didn't want her to know a lot of details in case she slipped on accident, but so far she had kept quiet. Her part of the plan wasn't going to start until Saturday morning.
Friday night, as Puck and Rachel go into bed, she was excited for the following day, "I really hope they don't get mad at us."
Puck laughed, "mad? No, they won't be mad at us. Shocked and surprised, but not mad. They're playing along if they know, but I'm pretty sure they have no clue," he admitted.
Rachel nodded, snuggling up to him, "Finn, Carole, Quinn, Burt, Kurt and my dads will be at the park early to set up," she said softly.
"I know," he smirked, "we've already talked about it."
"Oh, right," Rachel blushed and kissed him, "I knew that and I know I'm going to be up early, even though we all agreed to sleep in, but I'm going to be too excited to focus on sleep."
"If you've got excited energy, I know a way you can work some of it off," he pressed a kiss to her lips and slipped his arms around her body, pulling her closer to him.
...
Saturday morning, Rachel was awake at seven, but no one appeared in the living room until after nine. Once the family got a chance to sit down to breakfast, Arin looked at her parents, "can we go to the park today?"
"I don't see why not," Deborah said, raising a curious eyebrow, "how come? You haven't wanted to go for a long time; what changed?"
Arin shrugged, "something different to do," she replied.
Puck glanced at Rachel, "wanna go?"
"Sure! Abigail's first day at the park, sounds fun," she admitted with a grin.
"Family day," Ethan commented sitting back and looking at his fiancée.
Deborah glanced at Ethan as he spoke, noticing the skeptical look in his eyes, but she didn't say anything, figuring she'd wait until later to ask him what was on his mind.
After breakfast was over, the family began to get ready for a trip to the park. Rachel packed up the diaper bag with things for the day, along with making sure Abigail was dressed and ready. It was just after eleven-thirty, when Puck came into the nursery with his phone, "hey beautiful," he whispered.
Rachel smiled, "hey handsome," she grinned turning as she finished dressing Abigail.
He grinned, "I was actually talking to Abigail, but you're beautiful, too," he added slyly.
Rachel stuck her lower lip out in a pout, "so now I'm second to our daughter?" She asked curiously, closing the baby sun screen bottle and stashing it in the diaper bag, before picking up Abby from the changing table.
Puck slipped his arms around her from behind, "you know that's not true," he murmured, "you and Abigail are my family now; my family always comes first," he pressed a kiss to her neck.
Smiling, she leaned back against his chest, but then turned towards him, "I was just teasing you; I know we come first," she replied, kissing him on the lips.
"Good," he commented, brushing a gentle kiss against their daughter's head before returning his lips to his girlfriend. "I don't pick favorites with my girls," he added.
Rachel blushed at his words, "good to know," she smiled and settled against him. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he replied, staring down at Abigail, "Finn says he thinks everyone is there already, so they're just waiting for us to show up."
Rachel nodded and kissed him gently, "I've got Abigail ready. I just need to change."
"I'll take her downstairs and get her in her car seat, you go change," he whispered. Rachel shifted Abigail and he took their daughter into his arms, but leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend before she stepped away, "meet you downstairs," he murmured.
She smiled, nodding at him, "okay," she replied gently, before moving out of the nursery and into their room to change.
Puck gathered up the diaper bag and making sure they had everything, he threw it over his shoulder and headed downstairs, with Abby in his arms, finding Arin sitting down on the couch. "Where's mom and dad?"
"Backyard," she said, "dad wanted to talk to her about some ideas he had for back there and is also showing her what he's been doing out there," she replied.
"Oh okay, I haven't even seen it," he admitted buckling Abigail into her seat.
Rachel bounded down the stairs moments later, "hey, ready to go?" She asked.
"Yes, we are. Mom and dad are out back. I'm gonna go get them," he said glancing at his watch and moving towards the dinning room and out to the backyard, pausing on the deck to look around. Though it didn't look a lot different, it did look cleaner. Puck had only mowed the yard, so he never took care of anything else, but now it seemed more presentable. His parents were standing under the large maple tree off to one side of the yard, "lookin' good out here," Puck said with a smile.
"Thanks," Ethan replied, "you guys ready to go?"
Puck nodded, "yep, just coming to get you."
"Alright," Ethan answered, taking Deborah's hand and guiding her towards the house.
The three returned to the living room where Rachel and Arin were, playing with Abigail in her car seat. Deborah grabbed her purse and they started to go outside. Puck buckled Abigail's car seat into Rachel's back seat and Arin wanted to go with them, so Deborah and Ethan got into his jeep and waited for Rachel's car to pull from the curb, taking the lead.
On their way, Ethan glanced at his fiancée, "why do I feel like our children are conspiring against us?" He asked curiously.
Deborah laughed patting him on the shoulder, "I was thinking the same thing! Something's up," she admitted.
Noah was in Rachel's passenger seat, "I think they're on to us," he said, seeing his mom laughing with her hand on his dad's shoulder; from the reflection in the mirror, "either that or dad just told her a joke.
"I don't know how they could think something is up. Is it not normal for families to go to the park on the weekends?" She asked.
"We don't usually go. We did when we were younger, but we haven't been in a long time," he explained.
Rachel bit her lip, "well I hope we can pull it off... I realized something," she said, changing the subject slightly, "you guys are going to meet your grandma, aunts, uncle, their spouses and your cousins today."
"I'm so excited!" Arin grinned.
"While I don't share you enthusiasm, I do think it's pretty cool," Puck agreed glancing at Arin and then to Rachel.
The drive to the park didn't take too long, and as Rachel pulled up to a spot with two empty spaces, she parked her car and Ethan pulled in next to her. It was a nice late-Spring day, warm, but not to uncomfortable, so there were people and families all over. She saw a few familiar cars as they started to get out, but no one was parked right together, so they hoped they could manage a surprise.
Puck unbuckled the car seat and got Abigail out, covering her with a light black so she didn't get too much sun, even though Rachel had put sunscreen on her earlier. Rachel slipped her phone and camera into the diaper bag and threw it over her shoulder so she didn't have to take her purse, and closed the door, stepping over to where the rest of the family was waiting. She hit the lock button on her keys and put them into the baby bag before taking her boyfriend's free hand and began walking towards the grassy park. "Where to first?" Ethan asked doing a double take on an SUV he saw with Michigan plates and smirked, looking at Deborah.
"What?" She asked looking at him.
He grinned stepping closer to her, "I know that license plate," he whispered in her ear as he threw his arm around her shoulders.
"Yes, I'm sure you do. Michigan; you used to live there..." She realized what he meant, "oh..." she grinned looking at Rachel, Puck and Arin who were a few feet in front of them.
"Yep, they're up to something. I wonder if they know we used to come here when we were in high school," he murmured.
"I don't think so," she shrugged, "but we did come here a lot. It hasn't changed much, either," she admitted.
Ethan looked around, "you know, we should use this place for our reception," he commented, "it's nice and obviously everyone knows where it is," he smiled, seeing the large group standing around the covered area.
Deborah groaned, "they didn't," she murmured glancing at him.
"I think they did," he laughed pressing a kiss to her lips.
"You do realize I haven't spoken to your mom since we were eighteen, right?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, I know," he nodded, "and I see your brother, so it's fair game; because I'm sure he wants to kill me," he muttered.
Deborah giggled, "no he doesn't; or at least he got over that a while ago."
Ethan groaned as they reached the massive group; Rachel, Arin and Puck turning around and along with the rest yelled 'SURPRISE'.
The couple stepped closer to them, Deborah blushing, "wow, you guys, this is so amazing. How did you manage all this?" Deborah asked.
"Very careful planning and a lot of emails," Rachel grinned.
Puck smirked, "and we had to swear everyone to secrecy," he explained hugging his mom and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
The engaged couple split up, moving around the group to greet their friends and family. Deborah's brother and sister had come up from Southern Ohio with their families, Ethan's brother, sisters, their families, and their mom all came down from Northern Ohio. Several of Deborah's friends from the hospital came and Ethan's whole former team came down, Mike and Nick with their families; both with young children, Allison with her husband and Tim and Nate the only single ones on the team. On top of the families, and coworkers and their families, all of New Directions were there and some of their family; Carole, Burt, Brit's whole family; her younger sister, her dad and mom, Mercedes' parents and her younger siblings, Will and Emma.
Ethan had greeted his former team first; since they were closer to where he had been standing and as he reached his family, his mom was the first to hug him, then his siblings and their spouses, before his nieces and nephews got a chance to greet Uncle Ethan.
The Puckerman and Ballard families were sitting close to each other, so as Deborah and Ethan greeted them separately, they stepped together, and reintroduced the other to their families.
Kegan and Brianna rushed right to Deborah and gave her a big hug, while Brian also shared a hug with her before Orla, their mom stared at Deborah a smile on her face, "I'm so glad you and Ethan are back together, dear. Welcome back to the family," she said wrapping her arms around Deborah.
Deborah hugged her, "thank you, Orla, that means a lot. It's been... Well... it was before Noah was born that we spoke last," she said softly.
"I know, and I'm sorry about that, but we're together now," she assured her.
Carmel, Deborah's sister, wrapped Ethan up in a big hug, and as she pulled away, Ben, Deborah and Carmel's older brother stepped over to Ethan, "it's been a long time, Ethan. Welcome back," he said holding out his hand.
Ethan's eyes widened in shock, but shook it, "thanks Ben, it has been a long time. I have to say I'm surprised you're not punching me," he admitted.
Ben smirked, "well, I've had ten years to cool off. You hurt my little sister and for a long time all I wanted to do is beat the shit out of you, but she's happy again and as much as I'm surprised that it's because of you, after everything that happened, I'm glad she is happy again. Besides, if Noah can get over it, then so can I," he added.
Ethan nodded, "good. Thank you. That means a lot," he agreed, already relaxing now that he knew that her brother didn't want to kill him.
Puck, Rachel and Arin were over across the covered area with Rachel's dads, Finn, Quinn, and their friends, talking, but Puck kept an eye on his parents and their families.
"Who is your dad talking to?" Rachel asked.
"That's my Uncle Ben," Puck responded, "and so far so good. He's my mom's older brother and I begged him to be nice."
Rachel's eyes widened, "why did you need to do that?"
Puck glanced at his girlfriend, "because he was not happy at all when he found out mom and dad were back together, but once he realized how happy mom was and that I'd forgiven dad, he warmed up to the idea. He's still not totally cool about it, but looks like he's being nice."
"I'm sure he just needs some more time, if he isn't over it yet," Rachel replied, "shouldn't you two go over there," Rachel motioned towards Arin and Puck.
"Probably, but you should come, too, you are part of our family now," he told her with a smile.
Rachel blushed, "are you sure?"
"Yes. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," he replied, taking her hand and squeezing it. Glancing at David, who was holding Abigail at the moment, "dad, do you mind watching Abigail for a while?"
David looked up, "no I don't mind," he smiled, "have fun."
"Come on, Arin, lets go see what mom and dad are up to," Puck said nudging his sister. Arin got up, and the three made their way over to the other families, stopping between Deborah and Ethan, "so, we thought we'd come over and say hi," Puck commented looking around.
The gasps coming from the Ballard family echoed, "told you," Brianna grinned stepping over to Puck and Rachel, "nice to see you two again," she said hugging them both, "and you must be Arin," she looked at her and smiled, "I'm your dad's sister Brianna, but everyone calls me Bree," she said holding out her hand to her.
"Hi," Arin said shaking her hand, "nice to meet you, too," she replied, unsure just what else to say.
While Brian and Brianna are twins and it could be seen, Brian looked a lot like Ethan, which meant Puck also looked like his uncle; as Brian stepped up, Puck got a glimpse of him, now wondering what his grandfather had looked like, "Uncle Brian," Puck said holding out his hand.
"You remembered," Brian smiled, shaking his hand, "it's nice to see you again."
"You, too. I think the last time I saw any of you was just before I turned six," he admitted.
"It's been way too long. We should have never listened to our brother," Kegan said stepping over and wrapping her arms around her nephew, "just because he was a dumb ass, doesn't mean the rest of us had to follow along," she commented.
"Mom, be nice!" A tall boy near her said.
"Thanks Kevin," Ethan smirked looking at his oldest nephew.
"Welcome," Kevin smiled moving towards his cousin, "nice to see you again, Noah," he said holding his hand out to him, "I'm Kevin, by the way."
Puck shook his hand, "you too," he agreed, "you're older than I am, that much I remember," he admitted.
Kevin nodded, "I'm twenty now," he replied as someone cleared their throat. "Oh yes," Kevin grinned, glancing at three of their cousins, "on behalf of the twins, Rich and I, we'd like to say thank you for having the first great-grandchild for grandma. We've been under a lot of pressure," he commented.
"Kevin!" Orla exclaimed moving towards them, "there is nothing wrong with wanting to meet my great-grandchildren before I die." A smile tugged at the older woman's lips as she stood face-to-face with Puck, "or to finally meet my grandson and granddaughter," she said looking at Arin. "Which is something I've wanted for a very long time."
"It's been a long time coming," Puck admitted, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a hug, "but it's nice to meet you, grandma," he smiled, unsure just what else to say.
Arin joined their hug and smiled up at her brother and grandma, "finally," Arin added.
The woman stared at them and tightened her arms around them for a long moment, pulling away with tears in her eyes, "you're here now, that's what is important. Now if only your grandfather was here, the whole family would be together," she whispered.
...
Ethan heard his mom mention his father and he rolled his eyes, turning on his heels and moving towards the large group of Glee members and their families; huddled around David with Abigail, "hey everyone, can I borrow Abigail for a moment?" He asked.
David looked at him, "sure. How's things going with the family?" He asked handing over Abigail.
"Great; until he was mentioned," he muttered settling Abigail in his arms.
The psychologist in David wanted to discuss that with Ethan, but it was a party; for Ethan and Deborah, so he also knew that was not the right place to talk to him about it, so he just nodded, "have fun. Oh and you better take Rachel's camera," he grabbed it from the baby bag and handed it to him.
Ethan laughed at the offered item and took it, "always prepared for a picture," he smiled, "thanks for letting me borrow her. I know you guys haven't seen her that much the last week or so."
"Don't worry about it," Alan said, "we'll get her later. We only stayed away because we were planning a party," he added.
"Really? Well, I should have figured that one," he admitted with a grin, "okay, be back."
...
Puck was glad to finally meet his grandmother; since Ethan and his parents hadn't spoken since Ethan moved out, he never met his grandma before, but had known his uncle and aunts, their spouses and their children who were close to his age.
Realizing Rachel was next to him, Puck took her hand, "I'm sorry, everyone, this is my girlfriend, Rachel. Rachel, this is everyone," he said motioning around, not only to Ethan's family, but also to his mom's as well.
Rachel blushed and held up a hand, waving at them, "hello everyone. It's nice to finally be able to meet all of you," she admitted.
Orla, who as standing near her, smiled, "welcome to the family, Rachel, and congratulations to the both of you on your daughter," she said giving Rachel a hug.
Rachel smiled, "thank you," she replied as the woman stepped away.
Ethan came over with Abigail and stepped towards his mom, Orla gasping as her hand went to her mouth, looking at her son, then to her grandson and Rachel before looking at the small child in Ethan's arms, "oh, she's so beautiful," she murmured stepping closer to Ethan.
"You can hold her if you'd like," he said glancing at Rachel and Puck.
The couple nodded at him and moments later, Ethan handed Abigail to Orla and then handed Rachel's camera to her. Soon enough, Rachel was snapping pictures, and everyone in Ethan and Deborah's families were starting to come over to meet Rachel, and introduce everyone to her, including all of Noah and Arin's cousins, aunts and uncles.
Deborah's brother and sister both had two kids each, so there was only six new ones from her side that Rachel met, while Ethan's side was the largest. His oldest sister, Kegan, is married with four kids; her oldest being Kevin. Brian has four kids, but two of them, the oldest two, at 17, are twins, Laura and Logan, and Richard 'Rich' is the oldest kid of Brianna and her husband, and Rich has two younger siblings.
Once the initial introductions had been made and Abigail had been passed from her great-grandma, great aunts and great uncles and some of her dad's cousins, she was returned to her parents and most of the younger kids took off towards the playground just a few yards away, clearing out the sitting area for just the adults and some of the older kids.
Rachel took a seat near her dads, her boyfriend by her and Abigail with them. Some of his older cousins, the ones in high school, seemed to settle around and got to talking to the rest of the Glee kids and before long, Finn got his football from his car, so the older teen guys, Puck, Matt, Mike, Finn, Kevin, Jacob (Deborah's sister's son), Rich and Logan headed out to the grassy field not far away and started throwing the ball around.
"I hope he's careful. He hasn't played since he got hurt," Rachel muttered to Kurt, Travis, and the girls sitting around her; Quinn, Jessica (Deborah's brother's oldest daughter), Tina, Mercedes, Mandy, Brittany, Santana, Laura (Logan's twin) and Kelly (Kevin's sister).
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Quinn said looking at Rachel, "it's been seven or eight months," she added.
Rachel nodded, "but it's the first time he's played since then."
"Who are you talking about?" Laura asked.
"Noah," Rachel said glancing at his two female cousins who had just met him, "at the end of October last year, Noah got hurt during a football game. He had several broken ribs, a punctured lung and a bad concussion," she explained.
Kelly's eyes widened, "oh my God!"
"It was pretty scary," Rachel admitted, "we'd only been dating a few weeks when it happened, but I think it brought us closer together. As much as I don't want to think about it, if it hadn't happened, I'm not sure how things would have been different."
"It woke us all up," Quinn admitted, unconsciously resting her hand on her flatter stomach.
Laura and Kelly exchanged glances, confused at the movement, "wait a second," Laura started softly, "what was that? What didn't our parents tell us?"
Rachel eyed the two girls and then looked at Jessica, who was Deborah's niece and then to the girls from the club that were around, "um, Quinn gave birth to Abigail, but gave me and Noah all rights to her," she said softly.
"Don't feel too bad, I just found out a few weeks ago myself," Jessica admitted.
The two girls' mouths fell open in shock, but Kelly recovered first, "this makes so much more sense. When mom told us that Noah was going to be a father, when I asked who the mom was and all that, she didn't say anything. She must not have had all the details. They obviously didn't think we needed to know."
"Either that or they didn't want to be the ones to tell us," Laura added, "can I ask you though; what are you going to do when she gets older? I mean, you two don't look alike," she commented motioning between Rachel and Quinn.
"I'm hoping she looks like Puck," Quinn said.
Rachel shrugged, "she has Quinn's eyes. We will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we're just enjoying our daughter," Rachel admitted looking down at her.
"So, you and Noah dated and broke up before you knew you were pregnant?" Kelly asked.
"Um, no," Quinn shook her head, "I... we had gotten drunk and I cheated on my boyfriend, his best friend."
Rachel saw the shocked looks on his cousins' faces, "before you start passing judgment on Noah for what he did, both he and Quinn admit they made a mistake and have been forgiven from those who were hurt. Noah is taking responsibility for his daughter because Quinn didn't want to keep her and I accept Abigail as my daughter," Rachel said quickly, defending her boyfriend and Quinn; not wanting Noah's family to be judging them.
"Oh no," Kelly shook her head, "we're shocked, but we'd never... He's our cousin, we wouldn't judge him for that."
Laura smiled, "he's doing the right thing, especially if you, Quinn, didn't want to keep her."
Quinn nodded, "I didn't. I don't... I'm not ready for that yet," she admitted.
Laura laughed a little, "I'm sorry, I don't meant to laugh at what you said, but Kev, Kel, Logan and I feel the same way and do you know how annoying it is to hear our grandmother talk about great-grandchildren? Thank God for Noah and Rachel," Laura admitted looking at Abigail, "now we're off the hook for a while."
They all laughed and then noticed, Brian, Ethan, Ben, and Burt, along with the guys from Ethan's former team, Mike, Nick, Tim and Nate, all heading for the young boys playing football and Jessica's eyes widened, surprised her dad, Ben was with the group, "dad's gonna play football? We need a video camera!" She exclaimed.
Deborah came over, "doesn't he coach football at your high school?" She laughed looking at Jessica.
"Well yes, and I know he played in high school, but I've never seen him like actually play; he's like old. He might brake something," she replied seriously.
Most of the guests that were not watching kids on the play toys were sitting around watching the guys play football. Some had moved out into the sun, while others remained under the covered area and soon even the kids were cheering on their dads or their cousins, brothers or friends and Carole, Quinn, and Rachel's dads started taking care of getting the burgers and hot dogs going, getting some help from some of the others there, who were not watching the game
The game had gotten intense; with eight guys on a team, they had almost the the same amount as on a regular team, and were all enjoying the fun. The younger guys were ahead by two touchdowns and currently had possession of the ball. Matt snapped the ball back to Finn, who threw it to the only open person and the time, Puck. Puck saw his dad coming towards him and he jumped to catch the ball and took off with it, heading towards where they'd designated the end-zone to be. Ethan was still on his tail, trying to reach out and touch him, since they were playing two-hand touch instead of full on tackle, but Ethan seemed just inches short. Puck continued and Brian came at him from one side and Ben the other and when Puck noticed his uncles, he stopped in his tracks, but Ethan didn't see him stop, so he barreled into his son, knocking them both on the ground and then Ben and Brian were running to fast to stop, so they ended up falling; landing on them.
The other guys all stopped, watching and Finn's exclamation of "holy shit," got everyone's attention. Those who hadn't been watching at the moment all began to try and figure out who was involved in the 'crash' and when they realized it was Ben, Ethan, Brian, with Noah on the bottom, Rachel rushed forward, the memories of the day many months ago coming back to her as she stared at them.
The three older men, groaned and Ben found his balance and stood up first, giving Brian a chance to get up and then Ethan who was on his stomach on top of his son, moved and pushed himself up on his knees, and rested a hand on his son's shoulder, "Noah, you okay?" He asked, knowing what happened months prior.
Puck groaned and turned his head to his dad, "I take it you didn't see me stop," he muttered working his arms out from under him and rolled himself onto his back for a second.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ethan laughed, "you okay?" He asked again.
Puck nodded, "yeah," he replied sitting up on his hands. Ethan stood up and held out a hand to him. Puck took it and let his dad pull him up, "next time I'll wave a stop sign," he laughed at his dad as he came up on his feet.
Before Puck realized what was happening, someone wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, and Puck noticed it was Finn. "Oh, thank God you're alright! I had a horrible flashback to the game last year and I thought it would have been my fault again," he muttered pulling away to look at his friend.
Puck looked at Finn, who was slightly taller, feeling a little awkward, "um, thanks, I'm fine," he assured him, "it wasn't your fault last time, and it wasn't this time either. Uh, you're not going to kiss me now are you? Because I have a girlfriend," he commented nervously.
Finn laughed and stepped away, "dude, I was just a concerned friend."
"I hope that's all it was," Puck grinned patting his friend on the shoulder.
"You sure you're okay?" Ben asked looking at his nephew.
"Yes, Coach Puckerman, I'm fine," Puck commented with a smirk.
Ben rubbed his side, "yes, I'm sticking to coaching from now on. I'm too old for this; which one of you jabbed me with their elbow?" He asked looking between Ethan and Brian. The brothers pointed to each other and the whole group around them laughed, "couldn't tell you guys were brothers, could we?" Ben laughed.
Brad walked over to the guys, "everything alright over here? Any injuries I need to look at or maybe some ice?" He commented with a grin.
"I'm fine," Puck turned to Brad, "really. No doctor necessary," he assured him, "though the old guys might need some pain meds here soon," he said patting his uncle on the shoulder and nudging his dad.
"Hey! Who you calling old?" Mike Adams commented from next to Ethan.
"Adams, we're old; I think it's time to accept that," Ethan laughed patting his friend on the shoulder.
"This from the guy who wants to get his fiancée pregnant," Mike nudged Ethan playfully.
"What?" Brian looked at his brother.
Nate smirked from where he was next to the other SRT guys who had been playing, "he hasn't told you yet?"
"Dad and mom want to have another kid," Puck commented before moving around the group of men and towards where his girlfriend was. He walked up to her and could see the worry in her eyes melt away, "hey baby," he murmured wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him.
Their lips joined together in a loving kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up and twirled them around for a moment, never breaking the kiss until he set her back down on her feet. Rachel blushed, hearing the whistles and cat calls from those around them, but she ignored them, "you okay?"
He nodded, "yep, never better," he assured her.
"Good," she smiled, "kind of scary to see three grown men on top of you."
"Didn't feel very good, either," he admitted guiding them back towards their friends.
Everyone gathered around the food and started eating, some finding seats in the grass, while most stayed under the covered area. Jessica, Rachel, Puck, Finn, Quinn, and a few of Ethan's nieces and nephews were sitting around one table when Jessica sighed, "I guess Lima isn't so bad."
"Why do you say that?" Rachel asked, "I kind of like it here."
"We're moving here," Jessica said.
"When?" Puck asked looking at his cousin.
"This summer. Dad wants to wait until we finish our school year. I'll have to start my Junior year at a new school," she sighed.
"Wait a second, what?" Puck stared at her, "why are you guys moving?"
"You didn't know? Deborah never told you?" Her eyes widened in shock, "um... dad got a job at his old high school."
"That's the same high school we go to," Puck motioned to those who went to McKinley, "what is he... Oh shit!" Puck jumped up and moved over to where his uncle was sitting, "when were you going to tell us you were moving back to Lima and was going to be the new football coach and why are they telling us the assistant coach is going to be our coach?" Puck asked.
Ben looked at his nephew, "because I didn't know I had gotten the job yet. As far as they knew they were going to give the assistant coach the job, but they still needed to fill the gym teachers spot. When I applied, they saw I was already coaching football, so they accepted me and I just found out like a week ago, but yes, I will be coaching at McKinley next season."
Puck grinned, turning around, "Hudson, Rutherford, Chang, come here!"
The three guys were a little confused as to why he was calling them by their last name, but they came over as requested, "what's up, dude?" Mike asked.
Puck motioned towards Ben, "guys, I'd like you to meet our new coach, my Uncle Ben."
"Whoa, seriously?" Finn's eyes widened.
"That's cool! You've been coaching before, right?" Matt asked.
Ben laughed, but nodded at his question, "yeah, at Dayton High School," he replied, "hopefully I can help you guys win a few more games next year," he added.
"Well going from zero to a few was like a miracle, but it's worth a shot," Puck laughed.
Seeing as though a family get together was not a place to talk 'shop' or in their case, football, the guys returned to the groups they had been sitting with, finishing their meal and relaxing. Once everyone was done with lunch, the cake was brought out and Ethan and Deborah were forced to face the thirty-six candles on the cake for each of them, a total of seventy-two candles in all.
"Don't forget to make a wish," Rachel called out from behind her camera.
Deborah glanced at Ethan and he looked at her, "what?" He asked curiously.
"Nothing," she smiled and the two gave in, blowing out the candles and as the last one went out, they turned to each other and kissed before stepping back from the cake.
Carole and Deborah cut the cake and while everyone was still nearby, Ethan hopped up on one of the benches and got everyone's attention, "everyone I have to say this has probably been the best birthday in a long time. I think I speak for Deborah also when I say thank you all so much for coming today, it really means a lot. I know my birthday hasn't been a big deal in the last few years, and Deborah and I didn't want the kids to make a big deal out of our birthdays, but to those of you who planned all this, thanks so much. This is a great way to spend a birthday. Deborah and I will be getting our present in a few days, too-"
Puck groaned loudly, "please don't say it."
Ethan raised a curious eyebrow at his son, "that we're getting the house? 'Cause that's what I was talking about."
"Oh, then carry on," Puck motioned at him and relaxed.
Ethan laughed, "anyway, Deborah and I bought the house across the street from where we're living now and we'll be spending the summer renovating it to eventually move into it, so we can pass on our current house to our son and his family. If anyone wants to help with the renovations, let us know. Also, Deborah and I are getting married again on Saturday, July 17th. Yes, that day would be our anniversary. We're getting married at the courthouse that morning and plan to have a reception here, so once the invitations get that detail in it, we'll be sending them out, but now you all know and are welcome to come. I know a lot of you drove several hours to be here, and that really means a lot that you did. I'm aware it's getting later, so I'm sure you all will want to start leaving, but again, thank you all so much for coming, today has been amazing," he smiled at them, nodding as he finished his speech and stepped down, hugging Deborah as he did.
...
A/N4: So when I was working on this on Thursday, I didn't expect Deborah's brother to be a coach until I wrote it and now McKinley has a new football coach to replace Tanaka ;)
A/N5: I hope you all liked this! Wow, there were so many people at the party it was hard to have conversations, LOL, but I liked how it turned out. :D
...
A/N6: To all my readers, please read...
I'm promoting something I just signed up to do and it'd be awesome if any of you could help out this great cause.
A reader of mine, truelovepooh ('Pooh' and 'Stacie'), is currently battling ovarian AND breast cancer without medical insurance. The group 'Support Stacie' is a way for them to help raise money for her medical bills. I was asked to be a part of the 'Author Auction' and I would not pass up the chance to help out.
Starting March 26 and going through March 29, members of the forum (anyone can join) bids on an author and at the end of the auction, the winning bidder (after their money is sent), gets a fic written by me, for them.
Several friends / fellow Glee authors are partaking in this auction...
(remove the spaces to use the links)
Myself (SapphireEJ / SapphiresFic:)
( http :/ www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2047)
GoingVintage:
( http :/ www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2031)
Bookgurrrl:
( http :/ www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2063)
Mag721:
( http :/ www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2068)
The main forum:
( http :/ www. supportstacie . com / phpBB3/ )
This auction is listed under the '2010 April Author Auction' thread and we, specifically, are listed under the 'Glee Auctions'. I recommend that you check out all the topics to learn how & what to bid, and there are also some FAQs there to read.
If you would like any of us to write a fic for you and you're willing to bid on us, hop on over to the forum and check it out, see our auctions and see what it's all about. It's totally worth it!
Having a family member who went through a double mastectomy back in December for breast cancer, I am super supportive of this cause because it hits so close to home...
Thanks!
SapphireEJ/SapphiresFic, GoingVintage, Bookgurrrl & Mag721
... (PM if you are having issues with the links ~ need to remove the links for them to work)