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
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A/N4: Voting is now open for the Glee Awards and will be until June 26th, so don't forget to head on over before then and cast your votes! Both 'Out of the Blue' and 'Starlight' are nominated in the 'Best Work-in-Progress' category as well as the 'Favorite Puck/Rachel' one competing against some awesome fics and authors who are also friends of mine. The voting entry is here: ( community . livejournal . com/ gleeawards/ 4156 . html ) (remove spaces) You don't have to be an LJ user to vote; you can use email or post to their voting entry. All the instructions on how to vote and where to send your emails are on the link I listed. Thank you to whoever nominated and seconded me. I have never been nominated in anything like this before, so it truly is an honor!
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Rachel's eyes fluttered open as she woke up, feeling the warm body of her boyfriend next to her. She snuggled closer to him as if he'd disappear if she didn't and she gently lifted her head from his chest and looked to see him still sound asleep. Resting her head back where it had been, she let her eyes drift around the room, getting her bearings in the new surroundings. It took a moment for the memories from the night before to return to her, and as they did, she smiled, pressing a kiss to her boyfriend's chest.
Puck felt his girlfriend lift her head off his chest and he was too comfortable to even open his eyes, but as he felt her soft lips press a kiss against his warm skin, he smiled and opened his eyes enough to glance at the clock, seeing it was almost eight, "mornin'," he murmured.
She turned her head to look at him, then shifted so their heads were next to each other on his pillow, "good morning, Noah," she whispered.
"Very good," he agreed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, "so glad you're home."
"Me too," Rachel replied. Puck opened his mouth to say something, but just as he did, Abby's cry filled the room from the baby monitor and Rachel jumped, "I'll get her," she said quickly, getting out of bed and rushing out of the room.
"Talk about not fair," he muttered to an empty room, wondering just when they'd be able to have some time alone. With a sigh, he pushed himself out of bed and went to brush his teeth and use the bathroom before returning to bed, hoping Rachel would be back soon, because he did not want to get out of bed yet.
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Rachel moved into the nursery and went right over to Abby's crib, "good morning, sweetie. Why the crying?" She asked, gently picking up the crying child, "oh I know why," she hugged her gently as she moved her to the changing table, and even after a week gone, Rachel effortlessly took care of the dirty diaper and cleaned her up before dressing her in a clean onesie and then picked her back up, "there we go, all clean," she kissed her on the cheek and settled her against her chest, "let's go get you some breakfast and then we'll go see what daddy is doing," she murmured.
Heading downstairs, Rachel moved into the kitchen, noticing how quiet the house was. "This is going to take some getting used to," she said to no one in particular as she got a bottle ready for Abby and noticed a note on the table addressed to her and Noah. Moving towards it, she opened up the paper and read, "Noah and Rachel - hope you enjoyed your first night together again. Sleep in if you want, Arin and I will probably be over by nine for breakfast, but don't feel you have to get up then. I think it best to go get the kitchen stuff today, so we can get things set up and soon we won't have to come over for breakfast and you two can have the mornings alone, if you'd like. Love, Mom."
Picking the note up, she adjusted the bottle in Abby's mouth and left the kitchen, climbing the stairs and turned into the bedroom they used to have and blushed as she backed out and moved into their new room, seeing her boyfriend laying on his back, hands behind his head.
"You went in our old room, didn't you?" He asked, noticing the blush on her cheeks.
She nodded, "yes, I did."
"Don't feel bad, it took me a few times to get used to it, too," he said pulling the blankets back on her side of the bed so she could retake her spot.
Rachel slid into bed next to him and set the note from his mom on his chest as she settled Abby in her arms and continued to feed her, "your mom left us a note."
"She has been," he admitted reading over her words and nodded, "I'll even go help pick out kitchen stuff if it means we get more alone time this week," he grinned.
"Noah," she giggled.
"Babe, someone interrupted me when I was gonna try and get some," he eyed their daughter, "so any free chance we get, I'd love to christen our new room," he winked at his girlfriend.
Rachel blushed, but agreed with him, she missed that, too. "I'm sorry I was so tired last night," she said softly.
"Don't apologize," he said sitting up and wrapping his arms around her body and kissed her lips and then brushed his finger along their daughter's cheek as she was focused on her bottle, "I was tired, too," he admitted.
Leaning against him, she looked at Abby, "but hopefully we'll have some time free today. I need to unpack because," Rachel looked around the bare room, "I have gifts for everyone that I need to get organized and I want to shopping with your mom and sister, but I want to have time with you and Abby, too."
"Abby and I will go with you guys on your shopping adventure and after, I'll help you unpack and we can maybe move more of our stuff in here, so it can start looking more like a bedroom," he explained.
Rachel nodded, "I'd like that," she smiled and turned her head to kiss him.
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Once Abby was fed, the small family wanted to stay snuggled up together, but knowing his mom and sister would be over soon, Rachel took Abby back to the nursery, so the couple could shower and get ready for the day.
Closing the door behind her, Rachel removed her pajamas and moved into the bathroom, where her boyfriend had the shower warming up. He snaked his arms around her and guided her towards the shower and the two stepped in, liking the more spacious tub than what was in the other bathroom. "You guys did an amazing job on the bedroom and bathroom, Noah," Rachel murmured pressing a kiss to his chest before standing up on her tiptoes and kissing his lips.
"Thanks, babe," his hands moved to rest on her hips as they stood under the warm spray.
...
They took a slight detour before actually finishing their shower, but once they were dried off, they got dressed and headed downstairs after getting Abby from the nursery.
"Good morning," Puck said walking into the kitchen, acting a little more chipper than he usually was, his mom and sister there.
The two looking at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Good morning, Noah, Rachel," Deborah said with a laugh, "have a good night?"
"Yes and an awesome morning so far," he smiled slipping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders while she was holding Abby.
Rachel blushed and knew that was all Deborah needed to know, "yes, it was wonderful to be together again," she replied.
"I'm glad to hear it," Deborah said lightly, "figured we'd go simple this morning for breakfast," she motioned towards the table with various cereals, bagels, jelly and cream cheese sitting on it.
Puck took a seat while Rachel got Abby settled in her bouncer and then sat next to her boyfriend and the four chatted over breakfast. Once the dishes were cleaned up, they got Abby ready and Rachel added her cell phone and wallet to the diaper bag, not having time to unpack her larger purse from the trip yet. By ten-thirty they headed out, Puck driving his dad's jeep, Deborah in the front passenger seat and Arin, Abby and Rachel in the back.
They spent the late morning and early afternoon shopping, but by two, they were carrying the purchases into the new house and Rachel and Deborah put things away. Without much food in the house still, by the time Ethan got home, they all went back to Rachel and Puck's house to make dinner and Rachel's dads came over, too; they had done it most of the summer; it was a great time for the Puckermans and Berrys to spend time together.
Once they were home, Rachel checked her email on her laptop in their old room and printed out the picture with Ethan and Mike that had the caption on it, but she set it aside so no one would see it right away; she hadn't talked to Ethan yet and didn't know if he'd said anything to his family, so she was going to ask him at dinner.
Abby was settled in her bouncer, already fed and was batting at toys while the family sat down at the dinning room table, talking about their day. David and Alan had taken the rest of the week off, so they spent the day unpacking and going through the week's mail, and then Deborah mentioned their shopping trip from the day and as the conversation settled, Rachel looked at Ethan, "Ethan, would you talk about the picture I sent you?" She asked nervously.
"What picture?" Puck asked.
Deborah raised a curious eyebrow at her husband and then watched Rachel get up and disappear for a moment, returning with a picture in her hand. She handed it to Ethan first, but Deborah was sitting next to him, so she leaned over and looked at it.
Ethan eyed the picture, a sad smile growing on his face as he remembered that moment along with others from September two-thousand-one.
"Where did you get this?" Deborah asked trying to figure out when it was taken and then read the caption and saw the New York officers names, "was this..."
"Almost nine years ago," Ethan said handing it across the table to Puck, "just after it happened, at like, what? Nine in the morning our time? Someone from the office had the TV on in the break room and soon we were all huddled around to watch what was happening, feeling helpless, but our boss at the time authorized our team to take a few weeks so we loaded up two SUVs and the six of us headed to New York and spent those weeks helping them sort through the devastation. That was what I meant about having been to Saint Patrick's Cathedral almost nine years ago. I didn't know New York that well and a few of the guys were going, so I went with them. I had only been a cop for about two years and I was twenty-seven. It was mine and Mike's first disaster. We were the rookies at the time. Being on the SRT we had extra training, but nothing prepares you for the real thing. It was terrifying, to be honest," he sat back and picked up his beer and sipped it, fiddling with the label for a moment, "I'll never for get it. I mean at the time we were there, there were still small fires from the fuel of the planes, so that's why we're wearing the black and yellow firefighter pants and boots; and we had taken off our masks, but we had to wear those because the air was toxic to breathe. There were a few people walking around with cameras and we were all told to just go about working, but I remember the guy who took this, he was an NYPD: CSI and he asked us who we were and that's why the caption has our names on it. One of the cops with us there knew the guy, so that's why we're actually standing together for the picture instead of just working," he explained.
Puck stared at the picture, seeing his dad in a completely new way, "I was only nine when it happened, but I remember it," he admitted softly, "where did you find this?" He asked Rachel.
"We went to Ground Zero and there is a tribute center, which is kind of like a museum and in looking around, I found a list of all the officers, firefighters and aid workers who came from all over to help out and Ethan and Mike were listed under Michigan and then dad saw this picture on a wall just covered in pictures that had been given to the center. The woman at the center, when dad told her who he was, emailed me the picture with and without the caption," she explained. "She also wanted us to tell you 'thank you'," she added looking at Ethan.
He smiled and nodded, "no thanks needed. I wanted to be there," he said, "our brothers needed help and we were there to give it."
Arin was looking at the picture now and she knew of what happened, but was only two, so she had no memories of it, "you and Noah look a lot alike," Arin said seeing her brother in that picture and also seeing her dad.
Ethan smirked, "yeah, it's the first thing I thought of when Rachel sent the picture to my phone."
"Actually that's how I recognized him when I first saw the picture," Alan admitted, "I thought, 'that guy looks a lot like Noah,' and then when I read the caption I realized why," he laughed lightly.
The table got a laugh out of that and Ethan reached for something in his pocket and set it on the table next to Rachel's plate, "if you want to add it to your scrapbook, you can, I have more," he admitted.
Rachel picked up the colored patch and stared at it, an image of the towers and an American flag were in the background with the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority logos in front of the towers, with the words, 'Never Forget' on the top, the date, and a yellow banner at the bottom that said 'volunteer'. "This looks a lot like the patch I saw in the gift shop at the center."
Ethan nodded, "about a year later when all the patches were made, anyone who volunteered got a bunch so we could put it on our uniforms. I wore it on mine, but you probably didn't notice because you weren't looking for it when you saw me in my SRT uniform," he replied. "I still wear it on mine now," he added, "but I only have seven uniforms and have a bunch left over, so you're welcome to it."
She smiled and set it back down, "thank you. I will."
Dinner ended, but no one really got up to move, enjoying the moment. The conversation had turned kind of sad, as everyone thought back to the memories of that day, but Puck chose to break the silence with something else, "do you guys think it would be alright if Rachel and I went away for a couple nights, not this weekend, but the next one?"
Rachel's eyes widened in shock as she looked at him; they hadn't even talked about it since she'd gotten home, but it had come up a few times over the summer; sometime after his eighteenth birthday and before she turned seventeen and school started, they would try and go away for a small weekend trip, probably to Sandusky again, but in the twenty-four hours since she'd returned, it had not come up and she didn't know if they'd actually be able to find time.
At her reaction, no one said anything, but Puck turned to her, "do you not want to go?" He asked honestly, "because if you don't, that's fine, just tell me, but I looked at the calendar and that weekend is the last one left before school starts where we'll be able to do anything and I figure we should take it if we're going to."
"I do want to go, but do you think we'd be able to? With all the moving and things we have to do before school starts?" She asked.
He turned his eyes to their parents, waiting for their answers, "I guess that's up to them."
The four parents exchanged glances and David was the first to speak up, "I don't think that would be a problem. You two should get away before school begins."
The other three nodded in agreement, so Puck went on, "okay, we're going, next question, who would watch Abby? With you guys not living in the house anymore it's not as easy."
"David and I could. We can stay here for a few nights so Abby has familiar surroundings," Alan suggested, "we don't get to spend as much time with her as you guys do."
"Totally fine with us," Deborah said with a nod, Ethan nodding in agreement.
The rest of the evening they talked lightly about the plans and as Alan and David left for the night a plan was in place; Puck and Rachel would work on getting their room put together and also set up his parents old bed in one of the bedrooms and Alan and David would stay there the two nights Rachel and Puck were gone. They'd have a little over a week to get the bedrooms organized and then that Friday night, they'd leave and return sometime Sunday evening, since Puck would have football practice the next day.
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Thursday, Rachel and Puck started organizing their bedroom, adding in furniture from all the rooms that they wanted in there and once they were sure they had what they wanted, they brought in their laptops and the printer and made trips to bring all their other belongings in and then she stated to unpacked her suitcases, dirty clothes filling up a basket, while gifts and unused items were left for the next day.
Friday, they continued what they had been, but Puck needed to start getting his football gear together, so while she unpacked, he packed his large McKinley duffel bag with his football gear and things he'd need to put in his locker at school. Needing a few things at the store, he made a Wal-Mart run and while there, he got a call from Jack Keystone, his Navy recruiter, who had his tests results and wanted him to come in before the day was out to talk to him about them.
Puck called Rachel and told her he was going to stop there on the way home, so he'd be longer than planned. She thanked him for letting her know and also wished him luck and hoped he got what he wanted. He appreciated that and as he got to the recruiting office, he sat down with Jack and looked at his results.
He scored well in all categories; he didn't 'ace' it, but he had a long list of jobs he placed into, master-at-arms (MA) being one of them, while some others he'd heard of and a whole bunch he didn't even recognize.
Glad he got what he wanted, they talked about the next step, which was applying, by him and Jack sitting down and filling out an application to submit to the military, so he gave him a list of things he'd need to bring with him the next time he came and also would need to start monthly measurements; he had to fit a certain age-to-height-to-weight ratio and if he did, he wouldn't have to worry, but he'd have to keep in shape so he could maintain, but with football, basketball and Glee, Puck didn't figure he'd have too much problem maintaining his weight.
"So, after my application is accepted, then what?" Puck asked.
"Pick your top three choices form your list; MA will be number one, and two others, then you'll go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Columbus and get processed, they'll do a bunch of tests, medical and otherwise to make sure you're fit to join, you'll be sworn in and you'll be in the delayed-entry program (DEP), which is what most everyone does, because it gives you time to graduate, tie up lose ends and all that, so keep your grades up because if you don't graduate on time, you could get in trouble. Once you're sworn into the Navy, you'll sit down with a career counselor who will tell you what is open and you'll pick the job you want. Here, after all that, we'll do monthly weight checks, you'll have some random drug tests and we also have monthly meetings you will need to attend and when you go to MEPS you'll get a book of things to study that you need to know when you go to basic," he explained.
"When do I have to start all this?"
"Anytime. For now, one step at a time, sometime next week come in with the stuff on that list and we'll fill out your application," he said, "then we'll go from there. The trip to MEPS is usually a two day thing, drive down in the morning, do most of the medical stuff the first day, then you'll stay in a hotel and the next day you're sworn in and if there is a job available that you want, they'll put you into it and you're given your leave date for basic and then we'll come home that evening, so you'll have to miss two days of school for this," he explained.
Puck groaned, "my girlfriend is going to hate that."
"Sorry, but unfortunately they are not open on the weekends or at Winter Break, and MEPS should be done before the end of the year, just to make sure things are ready for when you leave, probably next summer."
Aware of what the next few months would entail, Puck made an appointment for the following Thursday and then left the office and returned home, finding his parents, sister, Rachel's dads, Finn and Quinn all there with Rachel and Abby, so he was able to tell them all the news, to let them know what would be going on in the next few months.
Finn and Quinn had come over for dinner, having given the couple a few days together before coming to visit and as they all ate, they talked about the Berrys' trip and other things going on, including the beginning of Cheerios, football and the new school year.
One of the topics that came up was Abby converting. It had been discussed on the shopping trip a few days prior with Deborah, Rachel, Puck and Arin and while Puck didn't think it was a big deal either way, Deborah understood Rachel's concerns, so she agreed to talk to her friend at the temple in town. Deborah was able to talk to her friend that afternoon and they made a tentative appointment to do it on the last Friday of the month; the first chance the Rabbi was available for it and the whole family thought it was a good time to do it, so it was done before the teens went back to school.
Everyone there noticed the last few weeks of the month were quickly filling up.
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When Quinn was over Friday, Rachel asked her to go shopping with her for some lingerie; she wanted to get something special to wear for her boyfriend's birthday and also something to take on their trip. The two girls' shopping trip, soon turned into a big adventure; Puck's cousin Jessica, Ben's daughter, who would be starting her Junior year at McKinley, was becoming friends with Rachel and wanted to hang out with her, so Rachel invited her and then Quinn mentioned the three girls were going shopping at the mall to Kurt, and Kurt wanted to go, and then he called and invited Tina, Mercedes and Brittany, who invited Santana and Mandy, and Mandy came, but the only person who didn't come was Santana, because she was still in California visiting family, but everyone knew she'd decline anyway. Santana and Puck had been done and over with for almost a year, but she was still bitter about it; she stayed away from the girls of Glee, at least the non-Cheerio ones, outside of Glee and also avoided going to many of the Glee functions.
Once the teen girls and Kurt met in the food court at eleven on Sunday morning and everyone found out just what kind of shopping trip it was, they all gave their opinion on what Rachel should get as they walked towards Victoria's Secret.
While everyone was chatting and joking about what she should get, Rachel's mind traveled to something completely different; she had friends, aside from her two dance friends who were now members of Vocal Adrenaline. When she had come to McKinley as a Freshman, she was the 'new girl' and the 'outcast' and didn't have any friends aside from Kelly and Angela. The 'new girl' title went away, but 'outcast' stayed through the year and when Mr. Ryerson got fired, she thought the only musical out she had at school with Glee was gone, but when Mr. Schuester took over in her Sophomore year and got Finn and everyone else to join, things looked up. As her and Puck's relationship grew stronger the longer they dated, both of them matured and she found the club doing more things together, the girls inviting Rachel out, which at first didn't look like it would happen, but now she had formed an unlikely alliance with not only the head Cheerio, who at first hated her guts, but also with the girls and Kurt, who she would have never met if it hadn't been for Glee.
Rachel's contemplation continued throughout the day as she and the girls had a fun shopping trip; she'd found a few things she liked and bought and soon they were having lunch and chatting before everyone parted for the day. Rachel, Quinn and Jessica returned home. With Rachel driving, she dropped Jessica off first and then she and Quinn went back to their street; not too far away and when she pulled her car up along the street of her and Puck's house, she noticed his jeep was gone, Ethan's jeep was gone and her dads' SUV was there. "That's odd," Rachel said looking at her phone to see no missed calls or new messages, confused at what was going on because when she left, her boyfriend said they'd be there when they got home.
Walking into the house with their purchases, she saw Deborah, Arin and her dads with Abby, "hey, where are the guys?" She asked, knowing Finn had been there when they left.
"Ethan took the boys to the gun range. It's probably the last time they'll be able to go before you guys go back to school, since the next few weeks will be busy," Deborah explained.
The three had gone a few times over the summer and while Rachel didn't like the idea of her boyfriend or Finn using guns, she also knew that her boyfriend would be a cop, so eventually he'd carry a gun, anyway; to her, it was good that he could learn to use one from his dad, who she trusted, and it was a chance for the three of them to have some guy time. Her dads had been invited along, but they both were against guns, so they declined, but understood Ethan having one and, like Rachel, trusted Ethan and was glad Puck could learn to use one from his father.
Alan and David knew the girls had gone shopping, but seeing their daughter holding the pink stripped bags with 'Victoria's Secret' printed on the side, the two men exchanged glances, "I don't think I even want to know what's in those bags," David commented.
Rachel's eyes widened, pulling the bags behind her, "um, I'm," she blushed, "I'll be right back," she dashed upstairs to hide the bags in her closet so her boyfriend wouldn't find them right away and returned, "sorry, I-"
"Please don't try and explain. The less we know the better," Alan laughed, even if he was trying to be serious with his comment.
Nodding silently, Rachel went to greet her daughter and sat down on the floor next to her bouncer and picked up one of her toys and gently tickled her nose with it until she smiled and grabbed at it.
Quinn watched Rachel from across the room, feeling happiness for her friend and elation that she didn't have to be a mom; she didn't want to be one yet. She and her sister, Rebecca, had talked a lot in the last few months about this because Rebecca was concerned that one day Quinn would wake up and be jealous of Rachel, but Quinn knew it would never happen. Quinn never wanted to keep her and knew she'd give her away, but instead of giving her to complete strangers, she gave Abby to her biological father and his girlfriend and she was quite content to be Aunt Quinn and watch her niece grow up with Noah Puckerman and Rachel Berry as her parents; it's the reason why she refused to sign the birth certificate; she knew that Puck and Rachel were it for each other and Abby would be the start of their family together. Quinn would never stand in the way of the happiness she saw when she watched Puck and Rachel with Abby; they loved each other and they loved their daughter and Quinn knew that Abby was right where she belonged.
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A/N5: This was a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, but I wanted to post something for you all, so I chose to end the chapter here. The last paragraph hadn't been there before, but as I was going over it again, I realized that I'd never discussed Quinn's side of things and how she sees Rachel with Abby, so I thought it was the perfect time to add something in. Hope you guys like it. Review and let me know. Next up: Cheerios and football practice start, the football team finds out just who Coach Ben is, the Cheerios are missing someone and Puck turns 18.
A/N6: Huge hugs to all! You guys rock! All the story alerts, favorites, and reviews I'm getting mean so much. You do not know how awesome your reviews make me feel, so please keep them coming! I'm getting better at responding to them, but I know I have many I need to respond to, but I will soon.
A/N7: After finding out my schedule for next week, I wanted to post something for you all. Aside from today (Friday) I will have 1 day off in the next 9 days, so I'm not going to have a lot of free time to be writing. We have the big wigs in town and we're short handed by 2 people, but the big wigs will be gone after next week, so I will hopefully go back to a more normal schedule and have more time to write. Writing is the only thing that keeps me sane and without being able to write as much, I've wanted to either pull my hair out or tell everyone at work to fuck off, LOL.
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