Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: Thank you so much to my beta, Heather! (Bookgurrrl)
A/N2: This story is mostly AU after Mash-up (1x08), but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes and music used, I may sneak in a conversation, cover the same topic, or use the same song, but I will put my own twist on it and may use some of the music.
A/N3: Feedback keeps me writing, so please comment or review. :D
...
During the two hour trip down to their hotel in Columbus, Rachel tried to talk to her dads, but her mind kept drifting home. She wanted to go to New York and spend the time with her dads, but she couldn't help thinking of her boyfriend and their daughter.
As they checked into their rooms, Rachel called her boyfriend and after the fourth ring he didn't answer, she got worried, didn't leave a message, and then called back, hoping he'd answer. After three rings, someone did, "hey Rachel," Ethan said.
"Ethan? Where's Noah? Why didn't he answer?" She asked quickly.
He bit back a laugh, "that's because he's upstairs putting Abby down. We all stayed downstairs for a while and then he went up and gave her a bath; he should be done soon," he explained.
"Oh, um, alright. How is she?"
"She's alright, Rachel. Honestly, if she gets upset you're gone, it won't be until tomorrow or in a few days when she hasn't heard your voice," he told her truthfully, climbing the stairs and stood in the doorway of the nursery, watching his son lay Abby in her crib and turning on her mobile.
"Oh, that does make sense," she admitted, "I, um, if he's busy, I guess I can call back later," she said.
"No, it's alright. Here he is, talk to you later, Rachel," Ethan said handing off Puck's phone to his son.
Puck nodded at his dad as he took his phone from him, "hey beautiful."
"Hello, Noah," she smiled, hearing his voice, "how are you? How's Abby?"
"We're fine, babe," he promised stepping out of the nursery and closing the door, "she's down for the night and I'm about there myself. Well, I figured I'd do some more studying until I fall asleep," he admitted.
"Alright," she unzipped her small suitcase, "we just got to the hotel a little bit ago and we have to get up early, so I'm going to try and get some sleep now."
"Babe, you'll be fine. Sleeping is going to suck this week, but I'm sure we'll manage," he told her.
Rachel picked up something and gasped, seeing what was folded up between his t-shirt and a pair of shorts she planned to sleep in. She picked up the soft item and looked at it, "Noah, did you put one of Abby's blankets in my suitcase?" She asked feeling tears in her eyes as she held the soft pink fleece blanket to her chest.
He smiled, "I might have slipped one in," he said casually.
"Thank you," she blushed, taking in the scent of the freshly washed blanket, "now I can sleep in your shirt and with her blanket and feel like I'm at home."
"That's the idea," he agreed, heading downstairs. "Hang on a second," he held the phone away from his mouth, telling his parents and sister 'goodnight', before going back upstairs, "I figured you'd like the surprise," he added.
"I love it, Noah," she wiped her eyes and put her phone on speaker and set it down so she could change, "so what are you doing tomorrow?" She asked.
Puck kicked his shoes off and took off his pants, pulling back the blankets and taking a seat on the bed and grabbed the large study guide for his test, "well, when I get up I'm going to call Keystone and figure out when I can get in to take a practice test before you guys get back, then go to work and talk to Burt about quitting," he admitted.
"I really hope he doesn't get mad at you," Rachel said softly.
"He won't," he responded, "like we talked about last night; he's probably expecting it and as long as I give him notice and I don't just walk in and quit, we're good," he added.
With an early wake-up time in the morning, Rachel and Puck only talked about a half an hour; she promised to call him as soon as they landed and were on their way to their hotel and after their goodbyes, the two hung up their phones and Rachel laid right down and tried to get to sleep.
Puck stayed up about an hour longer reading, but soon his eyes were drifting closed, so he set his book aside and turned off his light, sinking down into bed and already missed his girlfriend's petite form in their bed. Reaching over, he wrapped his arms around her pillow and rested his head on it, taking in the scent of her shampoo and closed his eyes, hoping he'd get some sleep.
...
Wednesday
It took Puck two hours to fall asleep; finally getting there just after midnight. He slept a full two hours before he woke up, and spent another hour trying to get back to sleep, and when he did fall bask asleep, it was a restless sleep, so when he woke to Abby at seven, he crawled out of bed and went into the nursery. He picked up Abby and changed her diaper, before taking her downstairs, where he got her a bottle and then sat on the couch in the living room, feeding her, "I wonder how mommy slept last night, because daddy slept like shit," he commented to her.
Rachel had drifted off to sleep in her boyfriend's shirt and holding Abby's blanket close, but she only got a few hours of sleep before she began to toss and turn, missing the safe and comforting feeling she felt when Puck had his arms around her at night. She lay in the strange bed for a good hour before her body drew her back to sleep, only to spend the next few hours tossing and turning until her five-thirty alarm went off.
She got up quickly and placed Abby's blanket back in her suitcase, took a quick shower and packed up her belongings and walked to her dads room by six-thirty. They needed to be at the airport around seven, so once her dads had their things, they checked out of their hotel, doubled checked they had everything from their car and then boarded a shuttle that took them to the airport. Once they checked their luggage and got their boarding passes, they moved over to security, where she sent her boyfriend a text message telling him she didn't sleep well, and they were in the security line.
After Abby had her fill of breakfast, Puck burped her and took her back upstairs; he knew he needed more sleep, and hoped that if he laid her down with him, he'd sleep better. Gently placing her on Rachel's side of the bed, he then placed a protective layer of pillows on the edge. Grabbing his cell phone from the night stand, he saw a text from Rachel, so he wrote back with, "slept like shit, just fed and changed Abby, now gonna try to sleep. Love you and miss you so much! Call me when you land." He kicked back in bed next to his daughter, his body curling around her protectively as he brushed his hand gently along her cheeks, relaxing and soon they both drifted off to sleep.
Rachel got his message just after they were sitting down for breakfast in the airport's food court and she was happy and also felt bad to hear he didn't sleep. She was happy to know he was suffering just like her, but felt bad that he'd have to work without much sleep.
Boarding their plane, Rachel pulled out the New York City tour guide she'd picked up, and though they'd been there before, she wanted to at least see some new places they hadn't visited, so the entire two hour flight, she was marking places in the book where she wanted to go.
Landing in the airport at eleven-am, Rachel and her dads collected their bags and hailed a cab that took them to their hotel in Times Square. Once they were in their suite, Rachel called her boyfriend.
Noah had just gotten off the phone with his recruiter when his phone began to ring, "hey babe!" He greeted.
Rachel smiled, "hello Noah. I'm sorry I didn't call when we landed; I thought I'd wait until we got to our hotel."
"I just got off the phone with my recruiter, so it's okay. What are you doing the rest of the day?" He asked taking a seat in the living room.
"We are going to do some shopping in Times Square and stay around here today," she admitted.
"Sounds cool," he leaned back, "okay, so I'm gonna say it. Last night sucked," he commented.
"It did," she replied, "I miss you so much."
"I miss you, too, babe," he said, rubbing his forehead, "I honestly never thought I'd be this attached to someone, but I can't wait to until you come home," he explained, "I need you in my arms."
Rachel blushed, "I agree, Noah. I'm so used to you holding me that when I didn't have it, I just couldn't sleep; it didn't seem right to."
"Hopefully it gets better, because it won't be long before we're going to be apart for a long period of time," he said sadly.
She'd been thinking about what he was meaning for a while, "yes, we will be, so that will make the time we're together more special, Noah. I'm sure we will get used to being apart enough that we will be able to sleep, even if we still want the other one in bed," she admitted.
"I guess we'll see how this week goes to know," he replied, "I love you, babe."
"I love you, too, Noah," Rachel replied, "how's Abby?" She asked.
He glanced over to Abigail in her bouncer, batting at a toy that was hanging by her, "Abby is just fine," he smiled, "she's batting at one of her toys."
"Give her a hug and kiss for me and tell her 'I love her', please," she said.
"I'll do that," he promised.
"When should I call you, or, well, when should we talk on the phone while I'm gone?" Rachel asked.
"Um, what do you mean? You can call me anytime," he told her.
"I know, but I don't know when you'll get up and I don't want to wake you and it will be kind of rude when I'm with my dads to talk to you on the phone," she admitted, "so would it be alright if we just talked like at night before bed and text throughout the day?"
"That works for me," he admitted, "I know you're going to be busy and you know when I get home from work, so call anytime after that and we can text during the day; that will probably be easier," he explained.
"Alright, sounds like a plan to me," Rachel picked up her bag, "dad, daddy and I are going to go out now, so I should probably let you go. When do you take your test?"
"Tomorrow at ten," he replied. "It's just practice, but we'll see where I stand," he added.
"Best place to start," she smiled, "I love you and I'll talk to you tonight. Hope everything goes okay with Burt, too."
"Me too," he agreed. "Love you, babe."
Hanging up his cell phone, Puck relaxed for a moment until he heard a car in the driveway and he glanced out to see his mom and sister returning from their shopping trip. He didn't need to be asked; he got up and headed outside and helped them bring in the grocery bags and put them away.
The three family members had lunch and he told them he was taking the practice test the next morning. Lunch ended, and soon Noah had to get ready for work, so he spent some time with Abby, feeding her, changing her and playing with her, with a rattle. When he had to change for work, he picked her up and hugged her, whispering, "mommy and daddy love you, baby girl," to her before pressing a kiss to her cheek and laying her back in her bouncer.
Changing for work, he left the house; Abby now asleep and his mom watching her for the night. Pulling into the parking lot, he parked next to Burt's truck and headed inside. Two of the guys were currently in the garage working on cars and Burt was on the phone in the waiting area. Nodding at Burt, Puck headed inside and clocked in when it was his time to, before returning to where Burt was. "Sooner I do this, the better," he thought.
Burt hung up the phone and looked at Puck, "hey, how is everything? Rachel and her dads get to New York alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, they did. Last night was tough, but hopefully it'll get easier. Um, you got some time to talk?" Puck asked nervously.
"Sure," Burt nodded and motioned to the office, "everything alright?"
The two stepped inside and Puck closed the door, "um, well, I don't know."
"What's going on?" Burt asked concerned, narrowing his eyes at the teen.
Puck took a deep breath and plopped into one of the chairs, "so you know that football practice is starting up, soon, right?" Puck asked.
"Yes, Finn and Kurt both got letters reminding them," Burt knew where this conversation was going and he had been expecting it, but wanted to let Puck bring it up.
"Well, when school starts back up, I'll be in classes until three, and will have football practice four days a week, including Saturday, and then we'll have Glee two days a week after school," he explained, "and when I started working here, I didn't play basketball, but this year I plan to, so I'll have practice for that," Puck stopped for a second, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think I'll have time for school, football, Glee, basketball and working here," he said, "so I guess what I'm getting at is I think it's time for me to give you my two-weeks' notice."
Burt sat down casually in the chair, "I was waiting for you to say something," he admitted.
"You were?" Puck asked.
"Yeah, when Finn and Kurt got the letters, I knew it was only a matter of time before you'd want to quit. I know you're joining the Navy, so on top of school, sports and Glee, you'll have to do things for that. I also understand that you're going to want to spend as much time with your family as you can before you go, so I get it," Burt explained, looking at him, "I hate to lose you, I really do. You're a great worker, but everyone has to move on at some point."
Puck eyed him, "wow, um, okay. I, um, I'm really sorry for doing this to you. I hate putting you in a bind. You really helped me out when I needed a job and I will never forget that, but you're right. I do want to spend as much time with my family as possible before I leave."
Burt shook his head, "don't worry about it. No hard feelings. You know, when Kurt first told me you were looking for a job, I was a little hesitant to hire you, but I did and as I got to know you, I was glad I did. You're a great kid and I know you'll turn out to be a great man. I already see it in you. I know your parents are proud of you and so am I. I've looked at you like another son for a while now."
"Thank you," Puck smiled, "that means a lot. Wow, I go from having no dad, to four in less than a year. To be honest, I've looked up to you like a dad, too. Got a chance to work with you, and I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you for hiring me in the first place, and," he smirked, "then there's the Glee trips you went with us on," he smirked.
Burt groaned, but laughed, "yeah, there is that and you guys are great, but I just feel so out of place. It's not really my thing, but I did enjoy going and spending some time with Kurt and you, and I think that's why Finn and I seem to get along, you know, because we knew each other before he found out about me and his mom."
Puck nodded in understanding, "yeah, I get that. Finn likes you and Carole has been another mom to me for so long and I know she misses Finn's dad, but I'm really glad she's happy. When we start going on Glee trips again, you and Carole should come. It'll help with all the chaperones we need and will give us all a chance to hang out," he added. "I know mom and dad will be coming, and I'm not quite sure who will be watching Abby, but we'll figure something out," he explained.
"I think that's a great idea. I'll be sure to mention it to Carole, and I'm glad you think Carole's happy, because I'm happy, too. It's been a long time since I felt this way about someone and it's time."
"Yeah," Puck nodded, unsure just what to say, so he stood up, "um, I should probably get to work."
Burt stood up, "why put off the inevitable? Get out of here. Go home, be with your daughter. Don't worry about the shop. Come in tomorrow at this time and I'll have your final pay check for you. And if you ever need anything, someone to talk to, help of any kind, a reference, you know where to find me," he held out his hand, "so don't be a stranger. I know I'll be seeing you around," he added.
Puck looked at him and shook his hand, but was still unsure, "are you sure about this? I don't mind. I was planning to work until school started so you could find someone else."
"I'm sure. We're pretty slow right now, so we can handle it. I'll find someone," he assured him, patting him on the shoulder and then motioned towards the door, "go clock out and go home. See you tomorrow," he told him.
Nodding at him, Puck smiled, "thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, then." He left the office and clocked out, waving at the guys in the garage as he got into his jeep and drove home. He pulled into the driveway, just after four and walked into the house, and noticed his parents were on the couch, making out, "damn you two," he laughed, "seriously? Can't you do that in your room?"
Deborah gasped, a blush creeping over her cheeks. Ethan smirked, "you're supposed to be at the garage. Why are you home so early?" He asked curiously, leaning back on the couch.
"Burt expected me to quit and told me there was no point in prolonging the inevitable, so he told me to leave," he replied, "I didn't expect him to, but I'm not going to complain too much," he admitted kicking off his boots.
Deborah looked at him, "understandable. Was he pretty understanding about why?" She asked.
"Yeah, he was. I just didn't want to get my hopes up, in case he got mad or something, but he wasn't, so it's all good," Puck replied, "I'm gonna go change. Where's Abby and Arin?"
"Arin is down the street at her friends and Abby is upstairs taking a nap," Deborah replied, "dinner will be ready about five."
Puck nodded at them and then headed upstairs, changing into regular clothes and checked on Abby, finding her wide awake. "Hey, sweetie, I bet you heard daddy, huh?" He scooped her up and held her against his shoulder, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "come on, let's go see if grandma and grandpa can keep their hands to themselves," he smirked, moving into his room to grab his study guide and headed downstairs.
He sat in the living room, Abby against him and the book sitting on the coffee table. Arin came home just before dinner and the family ate in the living room. After dinner, all three of them went upstairs and were packing up their stuff and started making trips over to their house. Puck offered to help, but they told him not to worry about it; he needed to study; he could help later.
After a few hours of packing and a trip over to the new house, it was about eight; so Puck took a break from studying to get Abby bathed and ready for bed. Once she was settled down, he headed back to the living room and as soon as he sat down on the couch, his phone rang and he saw it was Rachel. Picking up the phone, he smiled, "hey babe."
"Hey, Noah!" She greeted, "how did work go?"
He smirked, "oh, it was so horrible! I explained why I wanted to quit and then he bitched about me leaving, and then I snapped back and he told me just to leave and not come back, so I left and have been home since like four."
Rachel gasped, "oh my! How could he do that? You were honest with him!"
He debated going on, but she wasn't there, so he figured he should probably be honest with her, "babe, I'm kidding."
"Noah! That's not funny!" She exclaimed, "be serious!"
"Come on, babe, you know Burt. He wouldn't be like that. He was cool with it," he told her.
Rachel sighed, "Noah, I'm not there to see you joking around, I didn't know," she replied.
"Babe, I'm sorry, but come on, you gotta admit it's funny. Knowing him, do you seriously think he'd bitch me out for that?" He asked curiously.
"I suppose not," she admitted, cracking a light smile, "it's just that I'm not there, and I'm used to being able to tell when you're joking," she replied. "And that doesn't explain why you were home at four, or was that not true?" She asked.
"I've been home since four," he replied, "he said we're slow enough they can handle it and told me not to worry and let me go home. I fully expected to work until school started, but he insisted, so I came home," he shrugged, "and walked in the house to find my parents making out on the couch. Abby helped me study when I got home, too," he added.
Rachel smiled, "really? Did you tell her I love her?" She asked.
"Of course I did," he smirked, "but she knows it, even if she can't say it back yet."
Their conversation continued for a while. Deborah, Ethan and Arin had gone to bed while Puck was getting Abby ready for bed, so Puck turned the lights off downstairs and headed up to his and Rachel's room as he talked to her, stripping down to his boxers and crawling into bed, knowing he had to get up early so he could go take the test.
"So what are you wearing?" He asked with a grin.
"Noah!" Rachel blushed, relaxing in her bed. "You know perfectly well what I'm wearing," she added softly.
"You know, we never have had phone sex," he commented, "and we should practice as much as possible, you know."
"Noah, my dads are in the other room," she murmured, her mind drifting to thoughts she should not be having hundreds of miles from him.
"My parents are down the hall, my sister is next door and Abby's in bed, I think I just one-uped you," he smirked.
"You know I love you, Noah, but this is not the right time. I'm exhausted. We walked all around Times Square today and I didn't sleep well last night," she admitted.
"Yeah, I hear that. So what did you buy me?" He asked curiously.
"Who said I bought you anything?" She laughed, "and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. It's a surprise."
"Hey! No fair. Come on, just a hint?"
"Nope, you'll have to wait and see when we get home," she replied.
"Fine," he sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get it out of her.
The continued to talk until Rachel almost fell asleep while still on the phone. Reluctantly hanging up, the two both hoped they'd sleep better that night, even though they still missed each other.
...
Thursday
The teens slept better than they had the night before; they still tossed and turned, and work up a few times, but at least they could get more than a few hours of sleep.
Puck got up and was at the recruiters by ten, sitting down to a computer to take the test. He was nervous, but pushed aside all the nerves so he could focus on the questions and the four choices for each one. He felt pretty confident as he answered the questions, and a little over an hour after he started, he selected his answer for the last question and a printer outside the computer area started up, printing out the results.
Jack had already gotten the results from the printer and was looking over them, "hey. Do you have time to talk about them now or do you have to go?" He asked as Puck came out of the computer area.
"I've got time," Puck replied taking a seat in front of his desk.
"To be honest, for a practice test, and what you want to do, these are great results," He admitted, glancing at the scoring charts for a master-at-arms, "if you do these on the real test, you'll have no problem getting in."
The two discussed the details and Puck was happy that he wouldn't have to study too much more if he didn't want to, and by noon, he walked out of the office with an appointment for Tuesday at ten to take the real test. Sure, it was soon, but Jack and Puck were both confident in how well he did on the practice, that he'd do just as well on the real thing, so Puck picked Tuesday. Rachel was coming home that day, but it would be later in the afternoon, so he'd have time in the morning he could do it and be done before they got back.
He debated calling Rachel, but sent her a text instead, knowing she was shopping at Rockefeller Center and sightseeing around there with her dads until it was time for Wicked that night.
Puck went into the shop around two that afternoon and picked up his final paycheck and Burt promised him there was no hard feelings, which Puck was glad about.
Rachel and Puck messaged back and forth throughout the afternoon and when she went into the theater, she promised she'd call as soon as they got back to the hotel after it was over, so while Puck had some time, he studied a little more and got Abby ready for bed, kicking back in the living room with his family after she was asleep to watch a movie.
...
Friday
Sleep came easier the third night apart, but Puck and Rachel still woke up a few times, missing the other in bed.
When Rachel and her dads got up on Friday morning, they had planned to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Empire State Building that day, and that evening they were seeing another musical, 'Hairspray'. When Rachel saw it was playing, she wanted to go see it; remembering the song from it they had learned that Ethan, Deborah, Will and Brianna sang with the club at their evening performance at school.
The Berrys had spread out the locations they wanted to go to, so they weren't rushing around town and they could actually enjoy the places they visit and could be a little spontaneous if they found something else they wanted to do along the way.
Since leaving home, Rachel had her family in her mind; she tried to focus on where they were, enjoying the places they visited, picking up souvenirs and gifts for their families back home, but as soon as they were on the subway, a bus or in a taxi, on their way to their next destination, her family flooded her mind; putting a smile on her face to know what she had to go home to, but saddened her, because she was apart from them.
Stepping into St. Patrick's Cathedral, the family made it in time to get into a guided tour and got a chance to learn a little about the history of it; it hadn't changed in the years since they'd been there last, but this time Rachel felt different being there because now she knew someone who was Catholic, or at least had been; now Ethan was Jewish and his mom, siblings and their families still were.
The tour ended at the gift shop and as with other stops, they picked up a few souvenirs and she had been collecting post cards from the various spots they'd been; they were easy to pack.
Leaving the Cathedral, Rachel's mind drifted to her family, so she sent her boyfriend a text message, "just left St. Patrick's Cathedral. Beautiful. How are things?"
They had been texting during the morning, but she hadn't responded to him since they'd gotten to the Cathedral, so she didn't know what he'd been doing since. His message came back just as they were going into a restaurant for lunch, "cool. Helping mom and Arin pack while dad's at work. Moving most of their stuff this weekend."
Rachel's eyes widened, "so soon? What happened to the end of the month?" She replied back.
"That was when I was gonna be working. Now that I'm not, we can move them before practices start up in a week and a half," he responded.
She was shocked, but also understood that Deborah would be busy with the Cheerios, while Puck was at football practice and Ethan would be at work, so she knew the last few weeks of the month would be hectic and wouldn't give them much time to move them over.
They messaged over lunch, and on their way to the Empire State Building, but once inside, she put her phone away and enjoyed the view of Manhattan and beyond from the eighty-sixth floor of the building, where the observation deck was. The view reminded her of what they saw when they went up into the Space Needle in Seattle, but the Empire State building was several hundred feet taller than the Space Needle.
Rachel took a picture with her phone and sent it to her boyfriend, with a message added of, "reminds me of Seattle, but you were with me then. Wish you were here, love you!"
"Love you, too, babe. Someday we'll be there together," he responded minutes later.
A few hours wandering around the observation area, the three finally made their way to the gift shop and left the building, checking another location off their list of places to see. They headed back towards Times Square and had dinner, before returning to their hotel long enough to freshen up and get ready to go see 'Hairspray'.
Rachel had to admit, she had never seen the musical before now. She had seen the movie several times, but had never attended a showing of it in New York, but she was glad she did; the music was amazing, and they even performed 'Come So Far', which all three got a kick out of, knowing the club had done the same one.
Returning to their hotel, Rachel got into bed and called her boyfriend like she had done every night and he was still awake, so as with the last few nights, they talked until one of them was almost sleep and then said their goodbyes until they spoke the next day.
...
Saturday
Puck woke at eight-am to Abby crying. He was shocked he slept through the night, and didn't know if it was a good thing or bad thing, but he'd take it. He hadn't sleep well since Tuesday night and running on four to five hours of good sleep a night was not going to cut it. Taking care of changing and then feeding Abby, he chose to stay up and after a shower and eating breakfast with his family; they got right into their day.
Ethan's first week of work had ended uneventfully, but even though he had the weekend off, he still was on call, in case something happened. Finn and Quinn came over and while Deborah, Arin and Quinn worked on packing up clothes and belongings from around the house that Deborah wanted to move to the new house, the guys made trips over to the new house with the boxes, dropping them off in their respective rooms.
By late-afternoon the master bedroom and bathroom was empty of Ethan and Deborah's stuff and Arin's things were moved, so the large group moved into the master bedroom, "I don't think I've ever seen this room this empty before," Ethan admitted.
Deborah nodded, "same here," she agreed, "it was my parents room, then my moms, then ours when we switched rooms with her, then mine for so long," Deborah leaned against Ethan, "a lot of memories in here."
"And other things," Puck muttered, not wanting to know exactly what memories the bed in the middle of the room held.
The group got a laugh out of his comment and Deborah looked at Ethan, "you think this could be done before Tuesday?" She asked.
"I've got everything on order and I have the paint swatches Rachel picked out and carpeting," he admitted, "if they can do it on 'Trading Spaces' with three people, then we should be able to.
"What are you talking about?" Puck asked.
Ethan smiled, "when we were picking out colors for the house, I asked Rachel to pick out what she wanted for the bathroom and bedroom; I knew you wouldn't want girly colors and she wasn't into blues, so she picked out greens. I know what ones she wants, so with the room empty, we could get it done and surprise her when she comes back," he told him.
Puck nodded, "I'm game, but do you think we can do it in what? Three days? You've got to work on Monday."
"Right, but if we can get the carpet torn up tonight, the bathroom empty and get the trim off the walls, we can go to the hardware store in the morning or late tonight and pick up the paint, tile and what we need; the new fixtures are in the garage at the new house; had them delivered when they delivered the others, so other than having them deliver the carpeting, if you guys call your friends, I'm sure with all the help we can get most of it done by tomorrow night and what isn't done, you and the guys can finish up on Monday while I'm at work," Ethan said.
"Alright, I'm in, let's do this," Puck smiled, remembering how much they needed the bigger room now.
Deborah took some 'before' pictures of the bathroom and bedroom, knowing Rachel would want some, and while she and the girls left the room to take care of Abby and get dinner going, the guys moved most of the furniture into the hallway and Ethan got his tools and soon, the bedroom and bathroom were stripped down; the carpet ripped out, the tub, sink taken out of the counter and the toilet torn out and after dinner, Puck, Ethan and Finn went to the hardware store to get everything they'd need, and Quinn called the Glee guys to see if they were up for helping. Kurt was helping Burt at the shop, Artie had plans, Travis wasn't back from his summer away, but Matt and Mike were able to help and both planned to be over by nine in the morning.
Getting back around eight, Quinn and Finn left, and Puck got Abby ready for bed, and once she was down, he said 'goodnight' to his parents and sister, and they went over to the new house to spend their first night there, but since the kitchen wasn't stocked, he knew they'd be back in the morning.
As usual, Rachel called about nine, after he had already settled down in bed; waiting for her call. The house seemed more quiet without his parents and sister there, but he tried to ignore it and when Rachel called, he didn't tell her what was going on; just that they'd moved the rest of their stuff to the new house and he was tired. Rachel told him she and her dads went to the American Museum of Natural History, most recently known from the movie 'A Night at the Museum' and then spent the rest of the day in Central Park.
Their conversation ended, this time, when Puck was almost asleep; the last few nights it had been Rachel to get tired first. Hanging up the phone after telling her goodnight, he set his phone next to him on the night stand and relaxed in bed, closing his eyes and fell asleep; a lot on his mind, good and bad.
...
Sunday
Puck was starting to wonder if Abby had an alarm clock in her nursery that let her know when it was almost eight-am, because this was the third morning in a row she woke him up just before eight. He padded across the hall and went into the nursery, picking her up, changing her diaper and then headed downstairs with her to get a bottle, finding his parents and sister already there, "when did you guys come over?"
"About ten minutes ago," Ethan replied.
Nodding, he sat down at the table and settled Abby in his arms to feed her, "when are the guys coming over?" He asked.
"About nine," Deborah said from the counter where she was getting coffee.
"So what exactly do we have to do? Are we tiling the bathroom?"
"The tile in the shower is good, so we're only going to be painting the walls, and counter, laying new laminate over what is already there, then we'll replace the tub, shower head and knobs, toilet and sink. Once those are in, we'll put the trim back in and be done with the bathroom," he explained. "And aside from that, other than a coat of paint and carpeting and the trim, the bedroom will be done."
"Only? Dude, that's like a few days' work, not one day," Puck groaned.
"No it's not. I think the longest job will be to paint. The bathroom isn't that big, so the floor won't take that long and when the carpeting gets here, we just roll it out, cut it to size and then put the trim back up," he explained, "trust me, it'll be done quick; just watch. We already took the trim off so as soon as the guys get here we can get going on painting."
"Who's going to be watching Abby and what about the paint smell? Isn't that bad for her?" Puck patted her back as he shifted her against his shoulder to burp her.
"Arin and I will be downstairs all day cleaning and going through things," Deborah said, "we'll watch her, and Quinn is going to be down here with us, too," she added. "You guys can take care of upstairs, I'm sure you don't need all of us up there. As for the smell, it's not good for her, so just turn the bathroom vent and a few fans on and make sure the window is open and it should dissipate pretty quickly," Deborah explained.
Puck nodded and took Abby upstairs to change her clothes and brought her back downstairs and laid her in her bouncer while the family ate breakfast together. He got dressed just before the guys and Quinn showed up and soon they were getting to work on their project.
Ethan and Puck focused on the bathroom, running the light green paint along the walls and ceiling and a darker green on the cabinet, while Matt, Mike and Finn did the same thing in the bedroom. It took about an hour, but the bathroom was painted and the bedroom walls and ceiling was done, so Finn, Matt and Mike moved onto carefully painting the door frames, window sills and the trim the darker green color, while Ethan and Puck moved into the bathroom and started work on the floor.
The trim and the floor was done by noon, so they stopped for lunch and that's when Puck realized his cell phone had been in his room; he hadn't been texting Rachel, so he got it and found four messages from her. The first one was telling him when she woke up, the next one was telling him they were on their way to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park and another one had a picture of her outside the building. The final message, he expected, "Noah, it's not like you to ignore my messages. You're worrying me! Please tell me everything is alright at home. Is Abby okay? You, mom, dad, Arin?" It was sent only ten minutes prior, so he hit the reply button and responded with, "I am so sorry, babe. Phone has been in our room all day and I've been helping move things around. We are all fine, I promise. Where are you now?"
He returned to the group in the backyard and ate lunch with them, getting a message back from Rachel, "oh thank goodness! I was so worried! Dad and daddy told me not to, but I couldn't help it. Are you sure everything is okay? We are having lunch in Battery Park and then we're going to see the Statue of Liberty in about an hour."
Puck smirked and her question, but had to think on a response, "nice. Yes, I'm sure everything is okay. You'll be home in like forty-eight hours and you can see what we've been up to."
Finishing up lunch, the guys started the next step, by moving the bathroom fixtures over from the other house and as they got started putting them into place, the carpeting arrived, so they brought it up and set it aside for when the bathroom was done.
Ethan had most everything ready so all they had to do was make sure the drains were lined up, the water was hooked to the right knobs, the toilet was hooked up correctly, and after sealing things down so they wouldn't leak, they put the trim back in and in less than an hour, they'd written the bathroom off as finished.
Laying down the carpet padding first, the guys cut a few corners out and shaped it to fit into the closets and then they did the same to the carpeting and soon they were putting the trim back, nailing it in place and vacuuming it to get all the dirt and dust out of it, finishing the bedroom; it's amazing what a new coat of paint and carpeting can do. Deborah took some 'after' pictures of the bathroom and bedroom before the guys moved the two dressers and two night stands back into the room and since Puck wanted to keep the bed he and Rachel had in his room, he went in and tugged the sheets off the bed and soon they moved the frame from his and Rachel's room into the master bedroom and then set up his mattresses.
With the major work done, Matt and Mike headed out, Ethan tried to give them some money for their work and they didn't want to accept it, but he insisted, so they gave in.
Ethan suggested he use the other bathroom for a few days to let the seals set, so while Ethan went back to their house to shower, Puck showered in the bathroom he always used and soon, the Puckermans were sitting down to dinner.
After dinner, Puck started moving some things into his and Rachel's new room. First his lamps, for light, then he made his bed and set up his clock and the baby monitor on the nightstand along with his cell phone charger, and figured the next day he could deal with moving everything else.
He got Abby into bed after a bath and after saying goodnight to his family, who went back home, he got ready for bed and was relaxing, in their new room, when Rachel called. When she asked him about his day, he just told her that in all the moving boxes and stuff, he just got sidetracked a lot, and once he got her on what she'd been doing, her concentration when to tell him about their trip to the park, the Jewish Museum and the Statue of Liberty.
When Rachel started to drift off, he told her goodnight, that he loved her and promised to respond to her messages better than he had that day. She returned the sentiments and as they hung up, Puck looked around the very empty room as he turned the light off, images coming to mind of all the future possibilities of the room; the one he'd share with Rachel for the rest of their lives, and that was enough to put a smile on his face as he fell asleep, missing her, but now really looking forward to her return and the continuation of their lives together.
...
A/N4: I hope you guys enjoyed. New York was a tough one for me; I've never been there, so I had no clue where to even start, but thanks to some ideas from knkykty / KittyGoddess415 and karmakaze22 / Karma22, I figured out a trip. The rest of the trip will finish up in the next chapter. It's a bit longer than this one, and after that the chapters might be a bit shorter. Let me know what you think, don't forget to review, please.
A/N5: Also, for all you new readers and past readers who have gone back and reread the fic, for some reason fanfiction dot net won't let me use my separators that I have always used, so I'm going to go back and fix them to something else that will work.
A/N6: I would like to apologize for it being over two weeks since I last posted. I've had things going on; I got a virus on my laptop and had to save everything onto my external hard drives and format my laptop; thankfully I didn't loose my fic in the process, and then my editor had a family emergency to deal with, so getting the chapters edited to post was not able to happen right away, but finally we're back... My work schedule is going to get extended, which means less time to write. One girl is quitting and another coworker is still out from complications she had from surgery in mid-April, and we don't know if/when she'll come back and my boss won't hire anyone, so the rest of us will get more hours. It's great for some more money, but it sucks because I'll have less time to write, but I promise, I'll be keeping up better and it won't be 2-plus weeks between updates, that much I know. So so sorry that it's been so long.
A/N7: I'm posting this on May 28th, and we just passed Ethan's birthday on the 26th and Deborah's is the 30th, so Happy Birthday to them! :D (I know they're fictional characters, but in my mind they're real) ;)
A/N8: I'd like to say a huge thank you to whoever it was who nominated 'Out of the Blue' and / or 'Starlight' for the Glee Awards; it means so much to me! The nominations are closed and starting soon, the next phase in the nomination process will begin. Each story has to be 'seconded' to go onto the next phase, so keep an eye out on ( community . livejournal . com/ gleeawards/ ) for when you can start this. You will have until June 10th to second a fic, so don't forget to second 'Out of the Blue' and 'Starlight' so they can continue on!
A/N9: If anyone wants to see what Mark Salling really looked like at 16/17, he had a small part in 'Walker Texas Ranger' and I finally found and downloaded the episodes and screen capped it. I made a mini collage of them that you can see here: ( sapphiresfic . livejournal . com / 28515 . html )
A/N10:
~Spoilers below~
What did everyone think about the last few episodes of Glee?
* 'Laryngitis' - Mohawk-less Puck, honestly, so glad it's gone. There is a reason that in all my fics he's shaved it off. I had a friend who had one and it drove me nuts! Mark Salling is hot, but his hotness factor went up when he shaved it off... Just not a huge fan of the 'hawk... 'Lady is a Tramp' ROCKED! I love Big Band jazz music and Mark's voice along with it, WHOHOO! The Puck/Mercedes storyline was interesting, but I thought it was cool. I think the Kurt storyline is a bit much, I understand it, but Kurt needs to relax a bit, too. 'One' - did you all see the Puckleberry moments? :D I screamed when I saw them and woke my dog up and she barked, LOL.
* 'Dream On' - okay, so I watched Doogie Howser, MD when I was a kid and LOVED NPH so to see him in Glee, AWESOME! LOL the flashback; NPH so did not look like that as a teen, lol, but it was good... I didn't know he could sing and him and Will with 'Dream On' great job! I felt bad for Artie in this, but his dance sequence... Kevin can dance! :D Rachel's storyline about her mom... I knew Jesse was up to something and it didn't have to do with ruining their chances against Vocal Adrenaline. I knew when I heard Indina would be in the show and seeing pics of her, I knew they were bringing her in as Rachel's mom.
* 'Theatricality' - Talk about WHOA! I'm not a Lady Gaga fan at all. Never heard her music and chose not to listen to her, but the girls and Kurt did a great job on the song and I like 'Bad Romance' and 'Poker Face'... The guys, especially Mark, dressed up like KISS! OMG! AWESOME! The Tina issue; that was a great plot idea, and did you see her face when Puck suggested 'Catholic school-girl'? Hehe, like she was actually thinking of it. Asian Vampires rock! :D The Quinn/Puck storyline with the baby naming? 'Beth' made me sob like a baby and props to Mark Salling, he did amazing in that scene and every time I just think about the song I cry. I'm glad that the Rachel storyline about her mom is over; that was worrying me (or is it over?). Finn and Kurt living together - wow, that whole scene with Burt, Kurt and Finn, I cried at that, too. Mike O'Malley, awesome job there.
* All in all, the last 3 eps since I posted last were pretty good, and a few storylines might come up in 'Out of the Blue' and possibly 'Starlight' we'll see how things go; there are some that won't work or fit, but some might... ;)
...