Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this chapter, so all mistakes are mine.
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
...
Puck turned eighteen on a Tuesday and on Thursday, the young couple took another step into their future; they, along with his cousin, Jessica, and their friends from Glee, all met at school, for Junior and Senior check-in, where they picked up their school schedule, got their yearbook picture taken and picked out lockers for their new school year. The 'original' members of Glee and Jessica got lockers in the same section, so they could find each other easily and Puck and Rachel got ones right next to each other.
Rachel got embarrassed when they first got in line to get their schedules; she went with Puck, Jessica, Mandy, Matt and Brittany into the 'N-Z' line, and it took Tina to point it out before she realized she'd gotten in the wrong line; so used to being a Puckerman that she forgot her last name was still Berry.
The football players and Cheerios had the day off from practice, so once they were done at school, Puck and Rachel took Jessica home and picked up Abby. Arin was also over there, but she didn't want to leave, so Puck and Rachel let her stay, the couple heading home with Abby, having things to take care of.
Puck sat down at the kitchen table and opened the folder he had left there, looking at the list of things his recruiter needed for his application and compared what was in the folder to the list, double checking to make sure he had everything; he had an appointment that afternoon with his recruiter to fill out the application for the Navy, the next step in his enlistment.
"Do you have everything?" Rachel asked picking up the list on the table as she held Abby with her other arm.
"I think so, or as much as I have," he replied, "obviously I haven't graduated yet, so I wouldn't have my high school diploma, I've never been out of the country," he knocked his knuckles on the wooden table, "and 'knock on wood', I've never been arrested, done drugs or had to deal with the police," he explained.
Rachel frowned, "I hate to admit this, but I thought you might have gotten in trouble once or twice with the law," she said softly.
He smirked, guiding her down into his lap, "there's badass and there's dumbass. A dumbass will get arrested, I am a badass; smart enough to not get caught," he winked at her, his hand brushing along Abby's cheek.
She blushed, "have you really done stuff that could have gotten you arrested?"
"I don't know, just silly pranks and I've gotten into a few fights, but nothing where the cops were called. Honestly, I didn't have time to get in trouble; watching Arin and keeping up with school and sports, kept me pretty busy," he explained.
Rachel nodded, "I apologize for thinking that you had been in trouble with the law."
"Don't worry about it. We've never talked about it and the last thing I want is for you to be thinking about me getting arrested," he added, pressing a kiss to her lips as he held her on his lap and then kissed Abby, who was content where she was with her pacifier in her mouth.
"I don't think about that," she assured him, "I just sometimes realize that we've only been together a little under a year and didn't know each other much longer than that," she whispered, "I wish I knew more of your past."
"All you have to do is ask and I'll tell you," he replied, kissing her again, "I won't hide from you."
She smiled and settled against him, letting her head rest on his shoulder, "I'm glad, maybe we could ask your mom for all the family photo albums," she said softly.
"Sure, we can do that. I'm sure there are a lot of embarrassing pictures of me in them," he laughed.
Rachel giggled and shifted to stand up, "come on lets go into the living room, it's more comfortable in there."
Puck smiled and stood up with her, putting all his papers back into the folder and then picked it up and took it with him as Rachel guided them into the living room where she laid Abby down in her bouncer and then took a seat on the couch. He set his folder on the coffee table and joined her, "I know somewhere else that's more comfortable than this," he grinned.
"You have somewhere to be," she nudged him back so he laid on the couch, his head resting on the arm rest and she crawled up and settled against his chest, "or I would have suggested that, but I figured this is the next best thing," she explained.
"This works," he agreed, holding her against him, his eyes glancing at his watch to see it was twelve-thirty and his appointment was at one, "got a little bit for this, but then I have to go," he added sadly, "but then when I get home, I'm all yours until practice tomorrow morning, and then we'll be be leaving tomorrow afternoon for a weekend away."
She grinned, "I can't wait. I'm going to miss Abby and I just got back, but I'm looking forward to this weekend away with you," she told him.
"I'll miss her, too, but she's in good hands," he kissed her, "and it'll only be two nights."
She nodded, "I know," she replied.
...
Puck walked into the recruiting office just before one and noticed Jack wasn't there, but someone else was there.
"Can I help you?" The guy asked.
"Is Jack Keystone around?" Puck asked, "I have an appointment with him at one."
"Oh, he should be back any minute. He's on his lunch break," he replied, "have a seat at his desk and he'll be in soon."
As promised, Jack walked in a few minutes later and went right to his desk, "hey Puckerman. I forgot to tell you I had lunch from twelve-thirty to thirteen-hundred," he said.
"It's alright. I had check-in today for my last year in high school so I had time," Puck replied.
Jack nodded and sat down, "big year. Have you started football practice yet?" He asked.
"Yes, we started Monday."
The guys talked football for a few minutes until Jack got them down to the reason Puck was there, "I brought you what I had. I don't have a high school diploma yet," he said.
Jack nodded, "I know. You're applying into the DEP (delayed entry program), so as long as you graduate on time, there won't be any problems," he explained, "and from what you've told me, I'm sure you will graduate on time," he added, taking the folder Puck handed him and opened it up.
Among the things Puck had to bring was a list of at least four character references, and he listed Alan, David, Will, Carole and Burt as them. He knew he couldn't use his parents or his girlfriend, and it suggested adults, so he went with the important people in his life who weren't family, either blood or legally (yet, since David and Alan, one day would be his fathers-in-law). He trusted all of them to be honest with anyone who called to talk about him, and from what he'd heard from Nate, his dad's former teammate, they would call.
It took about an hour, but after filling out all of the application by hand, double checking his information before initialing each page at the bottom, he finished with it. Jack made copies of it and the paperwork he'd brought along and then called the processing center to let them know it was coming and he faxed it over and while on the phone, the person got it and packaged it up together so none of the papers would get lost and told him he'd have his answer in about a week.
...
Walking out of the recruiting office, Puck called Rachel, hoping she'd answer.
"Hello, Noah, everything alright?" She answered, concern laced in her voice.
"Hey babe, everything's fine. I just finished up and wanted to see if you had talked to our families to see if they were coming over for dinner," he said.
"I couldn't get to daddy, but dad said he and daddy were going out to dinner tonight and that you, Abby and I should have dinner together tonight, and your mom said the same thing without even saying what my dad said," she explained, "and I like the idea. We haven't had dinner with just the three of us in a long time," she said.
Puck grinned, "I think I love our parents even more. I'll cook tonight, too. Do you have anything special you'd like?"
Rachel blushed at his voice, "are you suggesting something aside from food?" She asked curiously.
"Maybe," he drawled out, "but we do have to eat sometime."
"Your meals are always wonderful, Noah, so I am open to anything. As for after dinner, I'm sure we could find something special to do," she replied.
"Awesome," Puck smiled, "I'll stop at the store and see what I can find for dinner," he said.
...
Walking into the house just before three, Puck found his girlfriend at the coffee table, working on her scrapbooks. Over the summer she'd really focused on them and had numerous ones she was working on, each in different stages. She had finished her 'Sophomore Year' and had gotten started on Abby's from birth and got through his parents wedding, but hadn't worked on that one for a while so she could do the 'Summer 2010' and continue to work on the one of her and him that she'd started just after they started dating. "Scrapbooking, I see," he grinned, moving into the kitchen to set his bags down before coming into the living room and took a seat next to her on the couch, looking at the pictures she was adding in at the moment, pictures of them together at his birthday party a few days prior.
"Yes," she nodded, turning to press a kiss to his lips, "I'm working on ours right now," she replied. "Actually, I'm almost done with this page. Then when we get back from our trip and you go back to football practice I'll be working on the rest of my summer one and Abby's."
"It looks great babe," he smiled, throwing his arm over her shoulders as he watched her press certain stickers to the page around the pictures, one of them being where they were 'practicing' feeding each other cake for when they do that at their wedding one day. He laughed, "you put that in there?"
She nodded, "yes. It turned out great. I think mom took it," she replied, "and I love it," she smiled as she looked at it. "Makes me think of when we will do that again," she admitted turning to look at him.
He smiled and kissed her lovingly, "we will do that again, babe, I'm just not tellin' when," he winked at her as he stood up, "I'm gonna go make dinner."
Rachel nodded, her smile bright at the thoughts she had filling her mind, thoughts of their future, curious how things would play out.
...
Puck pulled together tacos and rice for dinner, knowing Rachel would go for a taco salad, while he'd probably eat his with tortilla chips, and after the food was on the table and it was set, he went into the living room to find Rachel stretched out on the couch, her hand reaching out, teasing Abby with a stuffed animal, "it's not nice to tease," Puck grinned moving to her crawl on top of her, pinning her to the couch, but was careful to balance himself so all his weight wasn't on her.
"We're playing," Rachel said, "she likes this."
He brushed her hair from her neck and kissed her soft skin, just below her ear, "I know," he whispered.
"Now who's teasing," she murmured, a smile tugging at her lips
"I plan to follow through, just after dinner," he replied, his breath tickling her skin, and he felt her body shiver, "you cold babe?" He asked deviously.
"No, I'm not cold," she murmured, turning her head to look at him.
He kissed her lips, "dinner's ready," he smiled, pushing himself up and standing before bending over and getting Abby, "I'll feed Abby while you eat."
Rachel felt her body flush for a moment as she composed herself, sitting up, "are you sure? Noah, she'll be fine until after we eat, just move her bouncer into the kitchen," she explained.
Though he had planned to feed Abby while Rachel ate and then she could take her while he did, he agreed with her suggestion, so he carried Abby and the bouncer in and set it up near them, but far enough away so they wouldn't trip on her and she settled in, already content to play with the toys that hung from ribbons on the handle.
Rachel noticed the table was set and she smiled as he flicked a lighter and lit the candles he'd set on the table, "something we haven't done before," he commented, flipping off the lights so the only light was from the candles and the sun coming in the kitchen window.
"For a badass, you're sure romantic," Rachel smiled, walking up to him and hugging him, "but this is amazing Noah."
He returned her hug and pulled her chair out, "I can be romantic when I want to be and I'd only do this for you and maybe my mom and sister," he added sliding her chair in as she sat down and then turned to kiss her lips before he took his own seat next to her.
...
After the leftovers were put away, dishes were done and Abby was fed, the couple found themselves in their room, packing their bags for their weekend away. Puck still had to go to football practice the next day, so he wouldn't have time to do it later.
As his bag was packed and sitting by the door, they bathed Abby and got her settled down for the night and after making a quick run through the house to make sure things were put away and it was locked, they enjoyed their quiet night together.
...
While Arin was over on Friday, Rachel packed her bag as light as possible, knowing they'd only be gone for two nights and by the time Puck got home just after two, she had both of their bags by the front door along with her purse. Arin went home just after Deborah got home from practice, giving Puck and Rachel a little bit of time alone with Abby before they left.
"Dad and daddy will be over around four. I know that's pretty late to be leaving, but it's the earliest they could get off work," she said.
"It's okay. That's about the time we left last time," he replied, "we'll still have plenty of time to go to dinner or order room service when we get there," he assured her.
Rachel nodded, trying to calm her nerves. The closer it got to four, the more the butterflies felt like migrating birds in her stomach, afraid to leave Abby, which found her by three snuggling with Abby on the couch and when Puck tried to take Abby for a moment to hug and kiss her, Rachel almost started crying. Puck noticed this and sat next to her on the couch, "Rachel, do you still want to go? We don't have to. I don't like the idea of leaving Abby either, but we're going for two nights, we'll be back in plenty of time to get her a bath Sunday night, so that's only forty-eight hours away," he said, trying to put into perspective the time they'd be gone.
"I know," she nodded, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, "it's just a short time, but I'm worried she'll notice we're gone easier. You were here last time when I was gone, now you won't be, either."
"But she knows our parents, they're not strangers to her and even if your dads are here and she realizes we're gone, they'll be able to calm her down," he told her. "But if you don't want to go, just tell me. I can call Bree and cancel our plans."
She shook her head, "no, I don't want to cancel. I'm looking forward to this, but I'm just worried, but I'll get over it," she replied kissing Abby on the cheek.
"Good," Puck smiled and wrapped his arms around his girls and kissed them both.
...
As promised, at four, Alan and David arrived and while David sat in the living room with Abby, Alan followed Rachel around the house where she was 'showing' him everything for Abby, "sweetheart, I know this might come as a shock to you, but we'll be fine," Alan said as they headed back downstairs. "We did raise you and I'd like to think we did a pretty good job, so I think we can handle Abby for the weekend," he assured her.
Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but then blushed, "you're right, you did... I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little nervous."
"You have every right to be, but don't worry, we've got it under control," David said from the living room, now where Ethan, Arin and Deborah had joined Puck, Abby and David.
She nodded, "I get that, now," she replied, "well, um, I guess we should go, huh?" She asked, looking at her boyfriend.
"If you're ready," Puck nodded.
"I think I am," she admitted, "it's going to be just as hard now as it will be in ten minutes," she explained, moving towards David.
David handed Abby to her and Puck joined them and the young parents took a moment to say 'goodbye' to their daughter, and then their families, "don't forget to call us when you get there," David reminded her.
"I won't," Rachel kissed him on the cheek, and then joined her boyfriend at the front door, "see you guys Sunday night," she replied.
"I'm sure we'll talk to you before then," Alan commented, "have fun."
Puck picked up their bags and waved at them before slipping his arm around Rachel's shoulders, "I'm sure we will. See you guys," he guided her out of the house and she pulled the door shut on the way out.
They were taking her car this time, but Rachel didn't feel brave enough to drive, so once their bags were in the trunk, she got into the passenger seat and he in the driver's seat and after adjusting the seat for his height and fixed the mirrors, he started the car, "we good?" He asked.
She took a deep breath and nodded, "yes, we're good. Let's go enjoy our weekend."
"Sounds good to me," he agreed, starting the engine.
...
The two hour drive to Sandusky started out a little emotional, both missing Abby, but they calmed down to the fact that she was safe with family they trusted, and slowly they began light conversation on the drive.
After being checked in at the hotel by his aunt, Bree gave them her home address for the next night, so they could come over for dinner, and then the teens were off to their room to relax.
Waking up Saturday morning and rolling out of bed just after nine, Puck ordered room service for them and they stayed there until early afternoon, when they took a walk around the hotel, seeing a little bit more than they had when they'd be there before and stopped to have a light lunch at the hotel's restaurant, knowing they would be having dinner at his aunt's place.
Bree was not at the concierge desk when they walked back to their room, since she was off that day, so as they got on the elevator, Rachel looked at her boyfriend, "how many kids does Bree have? And what is her husband's name again?"
Puck smirked, "I had to ask dad," he admitted, "I know Rich is their oldest and he just graduated high school and her husband's name is Richard, so he goes by that to keep him and Rich apart, but other than that, I didn't remember." He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his wallet and looked at it, "Adam is six, their daughter is Dana and she's a year or so older than Arin," he explained.
Rachel nodded, "okay, so that should be easy, if I just remember Adam and Dana. Their last name is Olsen, right?"
"Yep, that I knew," he laughed, sliding the keycard into the door to their room and pushed it open, letting her go inside first before following her in and shutting the door.
"Thank you," Rachel responded with a smile, "I just don't want to be embarrassed by calling someone the wrong name."
"It'll be fine," he assured her, "I didn't even remember the names of the other two until I asked dad. I'm still learning all of my family members, too," he added.
"Oh, right," she blushed, "I keep forgetting that you've only just met them all in the last few months, too," she replied, taking a seat on their bed.
"It's okay," he shrugged, sitting down next to her. "We should probably go soon," he added, seeing what time it was.
Rachel leaned against her boyfriend for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding, "I'm glad we came here," she admitted.
"Me too," he agreed, his arms wrapping around her as they sat there for a moment, "it's nice to get away, even just for a few days. No school stuff, no parents, siblings, kids, just us... The calm before the storm, because I know this year is going to be stressful."
"You really think it will be?" She asked softly, "I thought with me living there things would be less stressful."
Puck sighed, "I don't know, but we'll see each other at school, and at home, but with Abby and everything, there's going to be a lot going on," he admitted. "And I didn't want to tell you this yet, but Mrs. Morgan went back to work after mom got the job at school, so she's not gonna be able to watch Abby and Arin like she had."
Rachel's eyes widened, "what? Why? When did you find out?"
"When mom got the job at the school, she decided to go back to work part time, because she needed something to do, because Arin wasn't going to her place, but she didn't think about this school year when we'd have Abby. I just found out at my birthday party-"
"Oh no! What are we going to do? Noah, we can't afford to pay a sitter for the day and your dad is working and mom is working and my dads are working... What are we going to do?" She jumped up and began pacing.
"Okay, so maybe I did want to see her panic attack," he thought, slowly letting a smile grow on his lips.
"Why are you smiling? We start school in a little over a week and we have no one to watch Abby! And what are we going to do after school with Arin? She can't be home alone yet!"
"I'm smiling because you're entertaining when you're like this, and I've already got it taken care of," he added.
"Don't you even suggest dropping out of school!" She snapped, keeping her voice low, knowing the walls were pretty thin.
He shook his head, "no, I'm not dropping out," he assured her, standing up to rest his hands on her shoulders, rubbing gently, "Aunt Susan. She doesn't work and now that Hannah and Arin will be going to the same school and in the same grade, Aunt Susan can pick them up from school or they can ride the bus home and she can watch Abby, too. I already talked to her about it, but we wanted to talk to you before we make plans definite," he told her. "We'll be taking Jessica to school, so it makes sense."
Rachel slumped against him and nodded, "that's an amazing idea. She seems like a wonderful woman and your mom and her are close, so if you and your mom trust her, then I do, too," she replied, as the worry disappeared.
"We do, she's great," he assured her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, "now let's go have dinner with some family," he told her.
...
Saturday night, while Puck and Rachel were enjoying dinner with Bree and her family, their parents, Ethan, Deborah, Alan and David were having dinner together in Lima at Deborah and Ethan's house. Arin was over at Ben's house, and Abby was entertained in her bouncer, so the four adults had some time to sit down, and Ethan needed to talk to them, but he wasn't sure how to bring up the topic, and he knew his half-there responses to the conversation they were having was a hint something was up, but no one said anything right away.
Towards the end of dinner, David couldn't wait any longer; he knew something was wrong; he'd known Ethan long enough to know when he was upset, and being a psychologist, he knew the signs, "Ethan, what's wrong?" David asked from across the table.
At his name, Ethan looked up, "huh?"
"What's wrong?" David asked again.
"Oh, um," Ethan rubbed his face with his hands and sat back in his seat, "I need to talk to you guys," he said softly.
Deborah turned to him, "Eth?"
"Monday morning I have to go down to Columbus for a while, could be gone a couple days, depending on how long it takes, but um," he took a deep breath, "I have to be at the indictment of Terri and Ken."
"What for? I thought we were already past this," Deborah admitted softly, "and what's an indictment?"
Ethan took a deep breath, "it's a formal way to officially accuse someone of the crimes they are charged with (1). It goes before a grand jury and they decide if they did or did not commit a crime," he explained.
"But they were charged like four months ago and have been in jail, since, right?" She asked concerned.
"Yeah, but because of the severity of the case, Quinn being a pregnant teen and me being a cop, they want to make it official, I think," Ethan replied, "anyway, it's Monday afternoon and they have to hear what happened and then the jury has to deliberate and come back with a decision and I need to stick around in case they need to talk to me more. I wanted to tell you guys, but I don't want to tell the kids until it's over," he admitted.
Deborah rested her head in her hands and sighed, trying to relax, "why does this keep getting brought up every couple of months? We are just starting to get back to normal after Quinn and Rachel had their break downs and now it's dredged up again... How much longer will this go on?" She bit out.
Ethan slipped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, "I know, but hopefully this will be over soon," he whispered.
...
Puck and Rachel returned to their hotel room just before midnight after spending the entire evening at his aunt and uncle's house, staying there way past Rich's brother and sister going to bed, enjoying the fun conversations and a chance to catch up with family.
They learned that Brianna and her husband were high school sweethearts, just like Deborah and Ethan were, and had married just after they graduated from McKinley. They moved to Cleveland where he went to Cleveland State University and she had gotten a job at a hotel as a receptionist. They hadn't planned to get pregnant so soon but, just four months before Puck was born, Rich was born, and with school registration dates and age cut-off dates, that's why Puck is only a Senior, yet Rich just graduated in June and he's only four months older than Puck. They also found out how Ethan ended up in Detroit of all places; he could have become a cop in any town in Ohio, but Bree, her husband and Rich were living there at the time. After Richard had finished school in Cleveland, he got a job in Detroit, so they moved their young family there, and when Ethan left Deborah, he spent some time in Cleveland and then headed for Detroit, and on the drive there, he made the decision to become a cop, and wanted to stay, since he had family there. It was only four years prior that Bree's family moved from Detroit back to Ohio, when Richard's job brought him to Sandusky, making Rich start ninth grade in a new place, so he and Rachel could relate, since she had gone through the same thing, her ninth grade year at McKinley being her first school year in Lima.
As Sunday morning came, Puck woke up first and laid back, staring up at the ceiling as his thoughts swirled with things to come in the next year. He glanced at Rachel, curled against him and smiled, reaching to brush his hand gently through her long hair, "I love you," he whispered, unsure if she'd hear him or not.
Rachel felt her boyfriend's hand in her hair and she slowly woke up, but her eyes remained closed, content to stay where she was and as he whispered his love to her, she smiled and opened her eyes, "I love you, too," she replied, kissing his chest.
He smiled at her, "hey, didn't know if you'd wake up," he murmured.
"I felt your hand in my hair and it felt good," she admitted, "is everything alright?" She asked, "you're usually not the first one up, unless Abby wakes us up."
"I woke up a bit ago and was thinking," he said turning onto his side to face her.
"Thinking? About what?" She asked, slightly concerned.
"Us, mostly, but also about school and what's coming up in the future. I guess maybe thinking a little about what I'm getting us into by joining the Navy," he explained.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "are you having second thoughts?"
"And third and fourth thoughts," he laughed lightly, "I just keep thinking about the 'what ifs' and they bother me sometimes, or maybe just make me think more about it."
Rachel pressed her hand to his chest above his heart, "you're joining, Noah, and I'm supporting you. It will be tough, but I have faith everything will work out, and I know you do, too. We will make it through and we're going to be strong for each other, so don't let the 'what ifs' bother you, because I'm not leaving you," she told him shifting to kiss him on the lips, "I promise."
He smiled at her response and pulled her close to him, "which is why I love you so much," he murmured, kissing her neck as they hugged. "I promise I'm never giving up on us."
She smiled into his chest as they hugged and when they pulled away, she leaned forward and kissed him, "show me how much you love me," she whispered in his ear.
"As you wish, my love," he smiled.
...
Zipping up his duffel bag, Puck glanced around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything as Rachel was finishing up in the bathroom. She stepped out moments later with her toiletries bag in her hand, "I'm done and we got our stuff from in there," she told him.
"Alright. My stuff is packed, so just waitin' on you, babe," he replied taking a seat at the small table in the room.
Laying her small bag into her duffel bag, Rachel slipped her feet into her sandals and finished packing, adding her last few items into it, "I think I'm ready now," she admitted.
It was almost noon and they had to check out by then, so with a final look through the room, they headed out and down to the lobby and waited in line behind a few other families also checking out.
"Hey Noah, Rachel," Bree said as they got up to her at the desk.
"Hey," the two greeted her, handing over they keycards, "did you get any sleep?" He asked.
Bree laughed, "yeah. A little. Now that we're working eight hour days instead of twelve, it's not as bad to sleep," she replied, "how did you guys sleep?"
"We slept great. It's been a long time since we stayed up that late," Rachel admitted, "we usually go to bed by nine or ten because Abby is always up early."
"Totally understandable," she admitted, "easier to sleep when the baby's sleeping."
Puck paid for their stay and knew she was busy, so they just said 'bye' at the counter, promising to be in touch and to visit when they could.
Going out to Rachel's car, they put their bags in the backseat, but before Puck got into the driver's seat, he looked across at her, "you want to drive?" He asked.
"Um, I'm not sure," she admitted, biting her lip, "I've never really driven on the interstate before," she replied; she'd only had her license for a little less than a year, so she had still not experienced everything driving had to offer.
"Come on, give it a shot and if it gets to be too much, you can pull off and I'll drive the rest of the way. You gotta do it sometime," he said walking around the car and wrapped his arms around her.
She smiled, snuggling against him for a moment, "you're right," she agreed, pulling away and taking the keys, "but you're going to have to direct me out of town," she added.
"No problem," he smiled and kissed her gently before guiding her around the car again, and pulled the driver's door open for her and once she was in, he moved around and slid into the passenger seat, "let's go home and see our daughter," he told her, hooking his seat belt.
...
About halfway home, Rachel was a little nervous to merge onto the next interstate, running north and south, but Puck coached her along and she managed without any problems, even if she was leaning forward and her knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel. "You did great, babe," Puck said, reaching over to rest his hand on her knee, "relax, the worst is over, next stop, home," he assured her.
She nodded and slowly relaxed enough to remove her right hand from the steering wheel, taking his hand in hers, "thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome," he replied relaxing in his seat and lifted their hands to press a kiss to her hand, "I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't think you could do it, babe."
It was a Sunday afternoon with mild traffic, so while keeping her eyes on the road, she left her hand laced with his, resting on his knee as she continued to drive, the miles ticking closer to Lima.
Taking the exit off the interstate for Lima, Rachel was back in her comfort zone and while she was proud of herself for driving on the highway, she was glad to be back in familiar territory. It didn't take long for her to pull her car into their driveway and park, "we're home," she smiled.
Puck shifted and sat up a little and pushed the door open, "home sweet home," he smiled, climbing out to stretch his arms and legs.
They got their bags from the back seat and soon they were walking up to the front door and going inside, finding their dads and Ben in the living room watching a baseball game on TV.
"Hey guys," Puck greeted them.
"Welcome home, have fun this weekend?" Ethan asked.
"We did," Rachel nodded.
All four guys were focused on the game, but welcomed them home, and Rachel and Puck both moved over to Abby, in her bouncer. Rachel leaned down and picked her up, hugging her to her chest, "hey baby girl, mommy and daddy are home," she said, kissing her on the cheek.
Puck stepped to her and wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders and leaned over, kissing Abby on the cheek as his hand joined his girlfriend's on Abby's back, "we missed you, little one," Puck replied.
Even though Abby was snuggled up to her mom, one of her hands reached towards her dad and he took her hand gently and kissed it.
Puck's attention was quickly drawn to the commotion on the TV, especially when his dad was happy, while the other three were pissed; the Cleveland Indians were in Detroit, playing against the Detroit Tigers and Puck knew his dad was a loyal supporter of the Detroit sports teams.
"We're going to have to discuss this, dad. I'll support the Red Wings, but seriously, the Tigers? You were born and raised here in Ohio," Puck commented with a laugh.
Ethan smirked, "good point, but look who's winning," Ethan replied, motioning to the TV.
Focusing on the score, Puck saw that Detroit was winning by two and it was the bottom of the eight inning, so one more to go, "I see," he moved and took a seat next to David on the couch and pulled Rachel into his lap with Abby, but his attention was focused on the game.
Rachel laughed lightly as she sat on his lap, "where are the girls?" She asked.
"Grocery store," David replied, "they're picking up stuff for dinner. We didn't think you two would be back so soon."
"We had to check out by noon, Bree was working, and Rich had plans today or we would have stayed there longer," Rachel explained.
"And we missed home," Puck added, "even if we did enjoy the weekend."
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1. ( en . wikipedia . org/ wiki/ Indictment )
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A/N4: Huge shout out and thanks to PKTeach, Karma22 / KarmaKaze22, and KittyGoddess415 / knkykty for helpin' out with some of the bits in this chapter.
A/N5: I hope you guys enjoyed this. Next up: more on the trial, Abby converting and the last few days before school starts at McKinley... I'm foreseeing this school year going a lot quicker... Since I already went into a lot of detail for Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals, during the last school year, I don't plan to focus as much on them again, so it will progress the story along. I'll focus on things here and there, and there will be a lot of 'summary' to cover big gaps in time, but I'm looking forward to getting some of the characters out of high school, opening up some new doors for them in the fic and for me to write more as they turn into adults and are not held back from things because of high school or their age. What do you guys think?
A/N6: I wanted to get this posted earlier in honor of a major day in the fic, but it didn't happen, so it's close. July 17th, in 'Out of the Blue' was the day that Ethan and Deborah got married, on what would have been their 17th wedding anniversary, if they would have stayed together. Their anniversary date is also the same in 'Starlight', but they never split up in it.
A/N7: In the last chapter's author's notes, I mentioned the fic table... It is now posted at my LJ here: ( sapphiresfic . livejournal . com / 31402 . html ). I have opened up my journal for anonymous comments, so if you wanna take a look at it, feel free and if you have thoughts for any of the prompts; comment about them there. I may just use your idea for one of my fics. :)
A side note for what's to come... For those of you who don't read my other fic, 'Starlight', in the author's note for chapter 17, I mentioned what's coming up in the next chapter and one of the things is an introduction of a new character. The new character will be featured in both 'Starlight' and 'Out of the Blue'. The character will be introduced to Puck, Rachel and the gang here in 'Out of the Blue' in the beginning of the new school year, which is only a few chapters away. I thought I'd pass that along for those of you who don't read it, or who do and are wondering when the character will show up in here.
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