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.
...
Rachel opened her eyes just before their alarm went off and rolled onto her back, glancing at her boyfriend who was still asleep. Rubbing her face, she let her eyes drift closed as her mind continued to replay the emotional events of the day before, but as the alarm went off, she sighed and reached over her boyfriend to hit the snooze button.
Puck woke when the alarm went off and he felt Rachel over him, so he slipped his arms around her and tugged her close, "morning."
"Good morning," she pressed a kiss to his cheek, "how did you sleep?" She asked resting her head on his chest as she relaxed against him.
"Okay," he shrugged, "how are you? You doing okay after last night?"
"Yes," she nodded, "a lot happened yesterday and I feel good about things. I'm going to take things one step at a time and just be very careful about what I tell her until I get to know her more," she said softly.
Puck brushed a hand along her cheek and then through her hair, "that's a good idea. As long as you're okay. We didn't get a chance to really talk last night. We were tired from everything that went on, so once our families left we crashed after we put Abby down," he admitted.
She turned her head a little and pressed a kiss to his palm with a smile, "I'm okay. I've got you, our parents, your sister and all our friends to stand behind me and that means a whole lot," she told him, "so I have nothing to be upset about. I'm glad I got to meet her, it's just going to take some time for me to trust her enough to really let her into our world."
...
"I'll meet you at school," Puck said when they finished getting their things ready and a still asleep Abby was settled into her car seat, ready to go to Ben and Susan's.
"What? Why?" Rachel asked, confused, "it's Glee today; you always go with us."
"I know, but I need to go to my recruiters and weigh in for this week, so I'm gonna go quickly after school and be back for Glee, or I might be a little late," he told her.
"Oh, that's right, I remember you mentioning you had to go sometime this week. Sorry, it slipped my mind," she replied softly.
Puck wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently, "it's okay. You've got a lot going on."
"Yes, I do, but that is no excuse to be forgetting important things going on with our family," she sighed, relaxing against him for a moment.
As they pulled away, the two glanced around the house to make sure they had their things and with keys in hand, they headed outside. Puck helped Rachel put Abby in the car and after hugging one last time and telling his daughter he loved her, Puck got in his jeep and headed to school, while Rachel went the opposite direction to Ben and Susan's house. Gathering up Abby and her things, Rachel went up to the front of the house and knocked lightly and Jessica opened the door moments later, "hey! How are you doing?" She asked stepping aside to let her in.
Rachel walked into the house and smiled, "I'm alright. It was a big day yesterday, but things went well," she replied.
"I'm glad to hear that, but you're okay with how things turned out? I mean, does she seem cool?"
"Hello Rachel," Susan said as they came into the kitchen, "how did everything go yesterday?"
Rachel gave them a brief summary of their visit with Shelby, but didn't go into a lot of details; she hadn't processed them all herself, but some of the details were more personal, so she kept it simple for them.
...
Getting to school, Rachel parked next to her boyfriend's jeep, "why did Noah drive today?" Jessica asked, "I thought we have Glee after school," she said.
"He has to go to his recruiter's office for something. The office closes at five-thirty, but since we don't know exactly what time we'll get out of Glee, he's going to go right after school and come back for Glee, so he may be a bit late, depending on how long it takes," she explained as they locked her doors and started to walk towards school.
Jessica nodded, "that makes sense. I'm just surprised that it takes so long, I mean school only started and he's already signing up and stuff; I didn't think it'd take that much work."
"There are many things that Noah has to do from now until the time he graduates, or well, not too much once he actually signs the contract, but he still has to manage his weight and check in every few weeks before he goes."
"It's never really come up, but how do you feel about him joining?" Jessica asked curiously.
Rachel looked at her as they walked into the school, "to be honest, I feel okay about him joining. The time apart is going to be horrible on us, but I trust him and have faith that he will do well and the time will fly by. I know I'll be upset, scared and worried, but I think that the time apart will be good for us to strengthen our relationship; we've been practically inseparable since we got together and though we will be apart and he's not always going to be able to talk on the phone, we'll be okay."
Jessica nodded, "well, if you ever want to talk or anything, let me know, I'll be here for you and I'm sure everyone else will be, too."
"Thank you," she smiled at her as they reached their lockers, her boyfriend talking to Finn and Quinn, "good morning," Rachel said to their friends.
"Hey Rachel, hey Jessica," Quinn said when Finn waved at them, "so, how did things go?"
Rachel explained the same she had to Susan and Jessica that morning, not wanting to tell them everything, even though over time they would learn more. As more of the teens arrived, Rachel also told them the same thing and everyone was just as supportive as expected, even though they were still shocked that of all people, Rachel's biological mother was their rival club's coach.
...
Trying to get back into a routine, the school day went like it usually did and when Puck kissed her 'bye' after school, she went to the choir room with their friends and hoped he wouldn't be too late. He returned just after Glee started and once he apologized for being late and greeting his parents, they continued on with their practice, working on some of the songs they wanted to try for their Invitational coming up in about a month.
The next day passed like a normal day and Rachel had let Shelby know Thursday evening what time she should be over for dinner at Alan and David's on Saturday, so she could plan her drive up.
Friday night was an away football game, so the team and the Cheerios rode the bus to the game, but not many showed up to support McKinley; Puck insisted that his family didn't have to go and while Rachel wanted to, she agreed it wouldn't be the best to keep Abby out at night in the cold, so David and Alan watched Abby while she went with Ethan and Arin to the game, with Susan, Jessica and Hannah following them and they all got to watch them win their second game in a row.
Saturday morning, Puck still had practice, so he was gone by nine-thirty and Rachel, Ethan, Arin and Abby headed out to the grocery store, while Deborah was at Cheerios practice, to pick up things for dinner that night; Rachel was going to make dinner, with Deborah's help; and Arin's.
"Are you sure we have everything?" Ethan asked as he set some of the groceries on the island in the kitchen of the Berry's.
Rachel nodded, "I'm sure," she replied.
"I think you bought everything, but the plates," Alan commented setting some more bags on the island as Arin and David came in, Arin with a few lighter bags and David with Abby and her things.
"Sweetheart, you do know we have food in the house," David said setting Abby's car seat on the island long enough to get her out.
Rachel giggled, "yes, daddy, I do know that, but I didn't know exactly what you had and aside from spending hours over here finding out what and how much of things you had, it was easier to just buy what we needed for dinner," she explained.
David laughed lightly, "alright, you do have a point," he agreed kissing his granddaughter in greeting and then passed her to Alan.
...
The dads were in the living room with Abby; she had finally started to sit up on her own, and they had her sitting on a blanket in the middle of the living room, batting at and reaching for toys that the three grandpas were entertaining her with.
Arin and Rachel were in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and getting things ready to start dinner. From where they were, they could hear Abby's giggles and coos as the guys entertained her and Rachel peaked inside to see what they were doing and couldn't help taking a few pictures as the three grown men were turning into putty by their four-month old granddaughter.
As Rachel finished taking the pictures, the front door opened, realizing it was about the time Deborah and Puck would be there and her thoughts were confirmed as the two walked inside. "Hey mom, hey Noah," Rachel said, moving through the living room to greet them.
"Hey Rachel," Deborah smiled, wrapping her arms around Arin as she came from the other way to greet her mom.
"Hey beautiful," Puck replied, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lips, "what are you taking pictures of?" He asked curiously.
Rachel blushed as they parted from their kiss, "dad, dad and daddy have been entertaining Abby and I couldn't help taking pictures," she replied, glancing at them.
"These three are big teddy bears," Deborah smiled walking into the living room to greet her husband.
"They are," Rachel agreed as everyone else joined them in the living room, Abby now looking around at the new arrivals and when she saw her dad, she reached out in his direction.
"Hey baby girl," Puck walked over to her and knelt down, picking her up and kissing her on the cheek as he took a seat and held her against him.
Rachel smiled from where she was standing, using her camera to take a picture of him holding Abby before setting it aside to sit down next to him and take a few moments to enjoy the family bonding.
...
Rachel emailed Shelby that morning and as far as she knew plans were still the same. She explained that she probably wouldn't be back on her computer to check her email before Shelby was supposed to be there, so the best way to get her was through her cell phone.
After some family time, Deborah, Rachel and Arin went back into the kitchen to get going on dinner before it got much later; they wanted things almost done when Shelby got there. The three women in the kitchen insisted they didn't need any help from the guys, so the dads continued to entertain Abby and watch TV.
"Wow," Puck looked around the kitchen, seeing dinner coming together just before Shelby was to arrive, "looks like you're making a five course meal," he smirked, "you do realize you don't have to impress her, right?"
"Yes, I know that," Rachel commented, "I just wasn't completely sure what she liked to eat, even though she said she was open for anything, so I figured we could have a variety of options," she explained.
"Smells good, whatever it is. Can I kiss the cook?" He asked with a grin.
"You better," Rachel smirked.
Puck slipped his arms around her and pulled her against him, pressing his lips to hers and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, not wanting to break the kiss.
"Gross, get a room you two," Arin scrunched up her nose and nudged her brother in the back.
"Arin, be nice," Deborah laughed lightly.
"We do actually have a room here," Puck replied as he and Rachel broke from their kiss, his hands guiding her back towards the hallway by the stairs.
"Noah! This is not the time. We can enjoy each others' company later," Rachel pulled from his grasp.
Puck sighed dramatically, "fine. When's she suppose to be here, anyway?"
"Soon," Rachel responded.
...
When the doorbell rang, just before five, Rachel hopped up from the couch where she was sitting with her boyfriend and moved towards the door, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath before she pulled the door open, revealing a casually dressed Shelby Corcoran. "Hello, Shelby, welcome," Rachel smiled as she stepped aside, "please come in."
"Thanks, Rachel," Shelby smiled and stepped inside. David and Alan had also moved over to the door, so once she walked inside, she recognized them right away, "David, Alan, hi."
"Shelby, it's good to see you again," Alan said holding out his hand to her.
She shook it, "you guys, too. I... I'm sorry if this caused-"
"It's forgotten," David said, waving away her apology, "we always wanted you to have a relationship with Rachel."
Shelby nodded, "I should have taken you guys up on your offer. I know that now."
"Come on," Alan motioned into the living room, "have a seat, we can talk for a bit. Dinner isn't quite ready."
"I'd like that," she agreed, stepping into the room and sat her bag down by the couch.
Rachel stepped around them and looked at Shelby, "you remember Noah and Deborah," she motioning to them, "this is Ethan, Noah's dad, also Deborah's husband and my other dad and this is Ethan and Deborah's daughter and Noah's sister, Arin, but she's now also my sister, too," Rachel smiled. "Ethan, Arin, this is Shelby."
Ethan nodded at her, "hello, it's nice to meet you, Shelby."
"Hi," Arin waved lightly at her from her spot next to Deborah.
"It's nice to meet you both," Shelby said, smiling at the two new people she didn't know.
Puck was holding Abby on his lap and stood up, walking towards where Shelby and Rachel were, "and this is our daughter, Abby," he said, turning Abby around so she was facing her.
"Oh she's beautiful," Shelby smiled reaching out to 'shake' Abby's hand by letting Abby wrap her hand around Shelby's finger, "hello Abby, you're so adorable," she cooed to the small child and then looked at Puck and Rachel, "congratulations to you two, I... I was really caught off guard by the news the other day, but I'm happy for you guys," she said truthfully.
"Thank you," Rachel smiled, "I imagine it was a big shock to find out."
"Yes, it was," she agreed, "but I honestly didn't know what to expect when we met, so anything was possible," she added.
"Would you like to hold her?" Puck asked.
"Sure," Shelby smiled, "how old did you say she is?" She asked, looking at Abby's parents as she took the baby from her father.
"She just turned four months old. She was born in early-May," Rachel explained as Shelby sat down on the couch and Rachel took a seat next to her so they could talk.
Since Rachel was right next to Shelby, Abby didn't get too fussy when the stranger was holding her, but she wasn't quite as animated as she usually was, skeptical of the woman who sounded a lot like her mom, but she'd never met before.
...
There was a nervous tension in the air for the first bit of time that Shelby was there, but slowly the clouds cleared and between catching up and finding out more about her, they Berrys and Puckermans were starting to slowly open up around Shelby; everyone but Ethan.
As a cop, Ethan is trained to be open to anything, but also careful around anyone and he was starting to have neon signs flashing in his mind for many reasons. He had a feeling that she wanted to reconnect with Rachel for more than just knowing her biological daughter and he also noticed since Shelby had sat down, she had not let go of Abby, even after Rachel and Puck offered to take her from her and Shelby said she was fine; it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Shelby was longing for a child and if she is unable to carry one now, Rachel is her only child and she's drawn to babies because she always wanted one.
Deborah, Ethan and Arin finished up the last details of dinner while Puck fed Abby and then laid her down for a nap since she'd been awake most of the day and afterward everyone sat down for dinner.
"I'm curious," Shelby looked at Rachel and Puck, "how do you two share custody of Abby?"
"We don't share custody; we live together, so Abby does not have to be passed between us," Rachel explained, knowing there was no way to hide that she hadn't been living there. She had already been assured by her dad that they could not get in trouble for what they were doing. She had told him a few days prior that she was afraid that Shelby would not approve of their choices and try to report them or split them up because of their ages, but Alan, along with David, had promised her Shelby could not do that, because they'd already spoken to several people to be sure and had been told they were safe.
"Oh, okay," Shelby nodded, "that makes more sense. I was just curious because the house didn't look very baby oriented. Is that legal with school?" She asked looking at Alan.
"Yes it is," Alan nodded, "she is still under our care because she's out daughter, we just live apart. Well, David and I practically live at their house now," he added with a laugh.
Rachel blushed, "I love being around you guys, but I just want to be with my daughter and boyfriend, too," she explained.
"We know, sweetheart," David nodded, "and we love spending time over there, too."
"Good," she smiled and looked across at Shelby, "um, so, do you have anyone special?" She asked, unsure if it was a sore subject or not, but was curious, "you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she added.
"It's alright, and no, I don't have someone special. I have dated, but unfortunately my schedule with the club keeps me busy during the week and on the weekends I play catch up with everything else I have to take care of. I know that's not the best life to have, but right now it's all I have," Shelby explained.
"What made you get a job at Carmel?" Puck asked, "I mean, weren't you living in Columbus before?"
"Yes, I was, but when I came back, I was just looking for any job I could find and when I saw that Carmel had a choir teacher position open, I applied and they hired me pretty much on the spot when they found out that I also knew dance because they needed a new coach for the club. Dublin isn't too far away from Columbus, and I admit I knew that David and Alan had lived there, so I had kind of hoped over time I might bump into one of them at the store or something," she blushed lightly. "How long have you lived here? What made you guys move?" She asked curiously.
"We've been here a little over two years. Alan got a job offer he couldn't refuse. We moved just before Rachel started Freshman year and she's a Junior now," David replied.
At the faint cry coming from the living room, Rachel jumped up before anyone had a chance to react and by then, she was already checking on Abby, "sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked the small child picking her up and snuggling her. "Oh, mommy knows," Rachel murmured, feeling that her diaper needed to be changed. Grabbing the diaper bag, she headed for the stairs, "I'll make it all better," she promised, pressing a kiss to Abby's cheek and went up to her old room.
"She's amazing with her," Shelby admitted, hearing footsteps head up the stairs.
"Yeah, she is," Puck smiled, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
"After the first few days of being nervous and unsure, she's now a master at taking care of Abby," David replied.
Ethan was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Shelby, a few seats down from her and he easily saw the jealous look flash across Shelby's face, but she was doing her best to hide it. Ethan knew that look all too well because he had it whenever he'd see a father and son in public when he worked in Detroit; jealous of their relationship because he screwed up a good thing with his son, but was now thankful he could have his chance. Keeping his observation to himself, he realized that Shelby might need to talk to someone who's been there and see just what she's got on her mind because was not going to let this woman destroy his family.
...
When Rachel returned, she set Abby on her lap at the table and Abby contently sat in her mom's lap, but Puck kept reaching at her, tickling her cheeks and tummy, getting her to erupt into laughter, which entertained everyone at the table.
Puck, Arin and Ethan did the dinner dishes so everyone else could relax and continue to talk.
As it got later, they all knew the night would end; even though it wasn't a school night, Shelby did have an hour and a half drive back home, so around eight-thirty, she finally gave in, "I really hate to leave, but I do have a long drive to get home," she said reluctantly.
"I understand," Rachel nodded, "we should do this again. Some afternoon when we have more time," she added.
Shelby smiled, "I'd like that. I'm free pretty much every weekend, so just let me know and I'll come up," she said standing up.
Everyone else stood to say 'goodbye' and Shelby started with Deborah, Puck, Ethan and Arin, then brushed a hand along Abby's cheek, "be good for your mom and dad, little one."
Rachel passed Abby to her boyfriend and she, David and Alan walked Shelby to the door. "It was so nice to see you again, Shelby. You still look like the beautiful young woman we knew seventeen years ago," David said giving her a hug. "Thank you for giving us a beautiful daughter."
Shelby blushed, but smiled, "you're welcome. Rachel is amazing and I'm really glad I was able to help you all." She hugged Alan and then Rachel, "I'll talk to you soon?"
Rachel nodded, "yes, you will," she agreed.
"Thank you all for dinner. It was wonderful," Shelby told them, looking at Rachel, "you did a great job."
"Thanks, but mom and Arin helped. Mom is teaching me to cook," Rachel explained.
Shelby nodded, "but still, it was great. I'll see you all later," she waved at everyone and pulled the door open and after a final wave, she stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her.
...
Rachel looked at everyone in the room once Shelby's headlights had faded away, "so, what do you think?" She asked curiously.
"She's cool," Puck shrugged.
"She hasn't changed much and seems to be doing well," Alan said vaguely. "I'm sure if she continues to be around, we'll find out more about her," he added.
David nodded in agreement, "yeah, we will. It's ironic that I deal with family cases like this all the time, yet now that I'm faced with it, I totally draw a blank on what to ask or say," he commented.
"I admit I am a little unsure of being around her; I mean, when Noah and Ethan started talking they did that through emails and phone calls, so when we met him, there wasn't an awkward silence or time to wonder what we should or shouldn't ask or talk about," Rachel admitted, then turned to look at Ethan, "what do you think of her?"
"You don't want my answer," Ethan said shaking his head, "you wouldn't like it."
Rachel narrowed her eyes in confusion, "what do you mean?"
Ethan sighed, "I don't trust her. She's hiding something," he replied sitting back.
"Oh thank God! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like that," Alan admitted.
"I don't usually trust people I don't know, so that's normal, but why don't you guys trust her?" Puck asked.
"Like Ethan said, I feel like she's hiding something," Alan explained.
Ethan nodded in agreement, "I'm not saying that she's bad or anything like that, but she's keeping something from us. I think I know what it is, but I'm not even going to suggest something until I know more," he admitted.
"I agree with all of you," Puck said looking at Rachel, "what do you think?" He asked her.
Rachel was silent for a long moment, bringing up what she'd learned about Shelby in the short time she'd known her and realized she did seem to be holding back something, "though I admit I don't know her well, I don't think she's 'hiding something', but I do agree she might not be telling us everything," she explained tugging the pink blanket up a little to cover Abby who was curled up in Puck's arms, asleep.
"I don't want you to get hurt," Puck told her, "you don't deserve to get hurt by her or anyone."
"Thanks, Noah," she leaned against him a little, "and I'll be careful. With all of you to protect me, she can't hurt me," she added with a smile.
...
A/N3: Hope you liked. The next chapter will conclude the Shelby storyline so the fic can move on. I'm dying to write Puck going into the Navy, but there are things I still want to have happen before then, but starting in the next chapter there will be the start of a progression; small scenes, conversations and / or summaries to move things along. I'm not going to skip over like six months just to move along; like I said I still have things I want to do or have happen, so there will be like weeks or months summarized, but trust me, you'll enjoy.
A/N4: For those of you who don't know, or do not have me on your author alert list, 'Out of the Blue' just turned a year old. On 10/15/09, I began writing it and posted it on my LJ on 10/19/09. In honor of that and it being my first anniversary of writing Puckleberry fic, I write a fluffy little Puckleberry one-shot and posted it on 10/17/2010 called 'Paper'. You can find it on my LJ and FF; it also is part of my fic table, prompt #02 - Celebration. Check it out; I'd love to see what you guys think! For those of you who read it, thanks for reading/reviewing!
Mom update: She's doing as well as can be expected. This week she had her 4th treatment of chemo and is almost done with her 4th week of radiation. One more full week of radiation and 2 more chemo sessions and we'll be steps further in her recovery. She's not feeling the best; she's feeling kind of 'blah', much like when someone is just getting over the flu; you can't stomach a lot of rich foods, but you eat what you can to get nourishment into your system. She's taking it easier and I'm doing more errands and shopping for her, so my free time is limited. She saw the doctor who will be doing her internal radiation treatments in Seattle (5 sessions only over a span of a few weeks) and he said she's already showing signs that the tumor is dying and he's looking for a 100% cure. My psychologist said they wouldn't say 100% if they were not that sure, so it's excellent news. I'm hanging in there. Sadly I went back on my anti-anxiety meds, but I feel a whole lot better and seem less stressed, so that's a great start. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers; they mean a lot. Love you all!
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