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.
...
Monday morning, though Puck wanted to sleep in, he and Rachel were both awake by seven and neither got to stay in bed too long; they had things to do that day. Their fellow Glee members would be over to discuss songs for Regionals, since they couldn't at school because of the snow days and the sooner they decided on songs, the more time they'd have to get ready for the competition.
With Abby still asleep, since she usually slept until about eight, Puck and Rachel first took care of getting themselves ready for the day and then had breakfast, before they got to work. Taking all the dinning room chairs into the living room, along with the ones from the table in the kitchen, the two organized and picked up the living room, giving everyone plenty of places to sit.
Rachel knew that at least the original members of the club, along with Jessica and her boyfriend TJ, Ryan, Mandy and Travis would be there. It had been short notice when Rachel invited them over because of the holiday break, but she had heard from one of the new girls, Kris, who asked for directions and said she and her sister, Andi, and her sister's friend, Mel, would be there since they were all members. In addition to the teens, Will, Deborah and Brad, the directors would be there, only missing Ethan, since he had to work, but he'd be checking in throughout the day.
Since her sleep schedule had been a little off, Abby slept until about nine, which gave her parents a chance to organize and mostly clean up the house mostly. While Rachel was getting her changed and dressed, Deborah and Arin came over, having only just gotten up themselves, because Deborah wanted to talk to Rachel and Puck before they went shopping. While talking, Rachel decided she should go along, and since Arin didn't want to go, she stayed at the house with Puck, Abby and Kona.
A little after ten, Quinn, Finn and Kurt came over, wanting to hang out for a while before everyone else arrived. "No offense, but you and your dad are spending a lot of time at the Hudson's," Puck commented, looking at Kurt as they sat around in the living room, watching Abby crawl around on one of her blankets and play with a few toys.
"None taken," Kurt assured him, "and yeah, we are," he shrugged, "I kind of like it. It's nice to be back and forth, actually. Kind of like when you were spending a lot of your time at Rachel's," he added.
Puck nodded, "very true."
Quinn laughed, "I've told them they'll be step-brothers one day, but they don't believe me."
"You might be," Puck replied, nodding in agreement, "they're spending nights together and you guys are moving back and forth... If not officially, you could be living together soon," he told them.
Kurt and Finn exchanged glances and then looked at Puck and Quinn, "do you guys really think it's that serious?" Finn asked.
"I don't know. You guys know your parents more than we do, but from what I know about their relationship, this is the first one they've had since the passing of their former spouses and I don't think mom would stay with someone that long, spend nights with him or have him and his son spend nights at your place if things weren't serious," Puck told them.
"When you put it like that, it does make sense," Kurt agreed, "I haven't seen my dad this happy in a long time. I also know that their house," he motioned to Finn, "is a lot bigger than mine and dad's, so that's why I stay at their place, but Finn and Quinn usually don't stay at ours. I guess it wouldn't be bad if we lived together, but it still would take some getting used to."
Finn nodded, "yeah. I guess it wouldn't be any different than when you guys stay for a few nights at our place, but it'd be permanent," he shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's just weird to think that at eighteen my mom's gonna get remarried, but she does seem happy."
Puck looked around a little and laughed lightly, "tell me about it. That's the last thing I thought would happen to my mom, but I'm glad she and dad got remarried; she's happy."
"Burt hasn't proposed yet, so it might not happen, either, but I just mention it sometimes so you can think about it, because Burt probably wouldn't do that unless you were both alright with it," Quinn added.
"I get what you mean," Finn nodded, sitting back on the couch, "I guess we'll see."
The other teens in the room nodded, letting the conversation settle and Puck moved to sit in front of the tree to keep Abby from heading that way while she was crawling around.
"I didn't think you would put a Christmas tree up," Kurt commented, "you guys are Jewish."
"Yeah, we are, but we want Abby to experience both holidays, like Rachel and I did when we were kids. Mom and dad bought a new tree for their place, so we decided to put this one up to have our first family tree. We're going to decorate it in a few days," Puck explained, motioning behind him.
"That's a cool idea and time for more presents," Finn smirked.
Puck laughed a little, "we did most of our present exchanging at Hanukkah, but yeah, we'll still exchange some. When Rachel and I decided to put this up, dad mentioned it's the perfect time for us to start making our own traditions and he's right. We're doing the actual holiday stuff at my parent's house, you know? Dinner and presents, but we still want our own tree, decorated with things we had up on our family trees growing up. Maybe one day we'll host Christmas here, but right now I'm totally cool with it just being the tree and some decorations," he admitted, "and like Rachel said, the holiday season is about being with family and friends."
"It definitely is," Kurt agreed.
Before anyone could respond, Kona began barking at a noise outside, which startled Abby and made her start crying. Puck slid closer to where she was sitting, rattle still in her hand and picked her up, "it's okay, kiddo, Kona just hears mom and grandma outside," he murmured, holding her close and gently rubbing her back. Kona stopped barking when she saw Rachel and Deborah and as they walked in, both Abby and Puck turned to look at the door, "see, mommy's home," he grinned, kissing her cheek, "nothing to cry about," he assured her, her emotions changing quickly when she saw Rachel.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, hearing what Puck was saying.
"Kona's barking scared her," Puck replied, "but now that she sees you're home, she's alright," he replied.
Setting her bags down out of the way, she waved at their friends and moved over to Puck, reaching to take Abby from her dad, "hey sweetheart. I missed you," she murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek and holding her close, "everything's alright. Nothing to get scared about; Kona is just protecting her family," she told her.
Puck smiled and stood up, pressing a kiss to his girlfriend's lips, "hang out here. I'll help mom with the groceries."
"Thanks," she returned his smile. "Mom and I didn't bring in the bottles of water and cans of sodas, so you could do that," she added.
"Sounds good," he nodded, "Finn, you mind helping?"
"Nope," Finn shook his head and got up, following Puck outside.
Rachel kissed Abby, "daddy will be back," she told her softly, taking a moment to focus on her daughter before turning her attention to Kurt and Quinn, since Arin had gotten up to take the groceries into the kitchen, "hey. I didn't think you'd be here this early."
"We thought we'd come over and hang out before everyone showed up. Also wanted to see if you needed any help with preparations," Quinn explained.
"Oh, okay, that's cool," she smiled, "I don't think there's too much preparation. We picked up some snacks, chips and drinks. We'll order pizza once everyone gets here, since we don't know what everyone will want or like on theirs and have it delivered," she explained, "so we've got plenty of time to hang out."
"Has anyone really thought of songs?" Kurt asked curiously.
"Honestly," Rachel shook her head, "I've had a few ideas or suggestions, but specific ones, no. We've had other things going on, so we've got a lot of work to do."
Quinn nodded, "yeah, same here. We may be here a while."
...
When all the groceries were put away, the kids and Deborah sat back and relaxed for a little while, and around eleven, Ben, Susan, Hannah, Jessica and TJ showed up and joined those who were already there. As time ticked closer to their scheduled time, more of the Gleeks arrived and by noon, all of the original members were there, along with TJ, Ryan, Mandy, Travis, Kris, Andi, Mel and Will, giving them three out of four directors and nineteen members, a large enough majority to come up with and agree on songs for Regionals.
Since Abby was normally had her nap at noon, while Deborah was taking pizza suggestions, Rachel got Abby down in her crib and returned downstairs and joined everyone. Once they all had drinks and found places to sit, they got down to business, knowing it may be a long process to figure out music.
Will had brought along the list the club had come up with the previous Monday at school, the songs everyone had liked, but not enough of them could really make a solid choice on any of them, which brings them to the reason for the 'emergency' meeting over break.
Starting with the list they had, everyone gave Will suggestions to add to it and after a bunch more were added, pizza arrived, so they took a quick break to get lunch and then returned to their seats to get back to work. With a list of about sixty songs now, they definitely had a lot of work to do, so they started by going through the list and people gave reasons why they shouldn't use a song, including too much work for vocals, intricate band music or no sheet music available; Will had his laptop with him, checking the website he purchased music at to see what was there.
With the list finally down to under forty, they were getting close, but time was ticking by. Knowing they needed at least one ballad, they focused on that one first and by two-thirty, they'd settled on a ballad and everyone nominated Puck and Rachel to sing it, since it was a love song. The two agreed and were glad to at least have one song chosen, even if it took almost three hours.
Abby woke up about three and while the group continued to talk, Puck went up to take care of her and they came downstairs a little bit later. Puck retook his seat next to Rachel and Abby was curiously looking around the room at all the faces, but stayed snuggled to her dad, a little shy and not fully awake.
Refocusing on what they were doing and trying not to get too sidetracked, by the time Ethan got over there around four, a Rachel and Quinn duet had been chosen; the two girls thought it would be fun, because they hadn't really done one together and everyone was okay with their choice and were close to being done.
Because of their limited time and being a mom, Rachel was concerned about practicing. She knew she and her boyfriend could work on their duet anytime, and the same with Quinn, but she suggested that others take the leads on the other song.
Agreeing with Rachel, Will looked for more volunteers and Kurt and Tina stepped up. Liking the combination, the two each picked a few songs they'd like to sing, of the ones on the list, and having one in common, they looked to the others and when almost everyone agreed on it, a sigh of relief echoed around the room as they finally had their three competition songs.
It was now close to five and darkness began to settle over the town. Most of the guests thanked Rachel and Puck for having the meeting at their house and then said 'goodbye' before leaving, the group quickly being cut down by half.
When David and Alan arrived around five-thirty, the 'usual' people were still there, all of the Puckermans, TJ, Finn, Quinn, Kurt, and Ryan. Though Kurt had come over that morning with Quinn and Finn, Ryan invited him out to dinner and to hang out afterward, so they left just after Alan and David got there.
Sticking around to help clean up, Finn and Quinn returned to the Hudson's home, Rachel insisting they take some of the pizza with him, because they had a lot left over with toppings the family didn't eat. Just after they left, TJ, along with Ben, Susan and their daughters went back to their place, leaving the close Puckerman and Berry family.
Snacking on leftovers from the day for dinner, the family sat around and talked, discussing going to David and Alan's house the next day to decorate. The guys were taking a half day off work and would be there around one, but Rachel assured them she, Noah and probably Deborah, Arin, Quinn and Finn would be over there before then. They didn't mind that and by eight, everyone headed home, giving Rachel and Puck some time with Abby, before they got her ready for bed and laid her down.
...
"Wow, what a day," Rachel sighed, finally crawling into bed around ten.
Puck nodded, "yeah, tell me about it. I really didn't think it'd take almost five full hours to pick three songs," he admitted, joining her, "but I'm glad it's done with. Now we can focus on our break and worry about that next year," he added, slipping his arms around her.
"But Noah, we should..."
"No," he shook his head, "I know what you're going to say and I'm saying 'no'. I want to spend my last high school winter break with my family. It's bad enough we've got homework to do," he told her, "I love you, but please, don't say we should practice."
Thinking about what he said, Rachel noticed there seemed to be more to what he was getting at, especially the way he said 'high school winter break'. "Um, alright. I won't. Why do I get the feeling that you mean, what you said, differently than what I think you did."
Letting his eyes drift closed, Puck gathered his thoughts, sighing, "getting time off for the holidays are slim to none for the first few years of being in the Navy," he whispered, "it's another reason why I want us to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah," he admitted sadly. "I'll be the low man on the totem pole and others above me will get the luxury first. It also depends on exactly what I'm doing for a job, where I am and what day the holiday falls on, too. That's what my recruiter and I talked about the last time I saw him. He kind of warned me and thought I should let my family know," he paused, tugging the blankets up over them, "I know I should have talked to you about it then, but I was going to wait until after the holidays, so we could just enjoy them, then talk after the new year, but when Quinn, Finn and Kurt mentioned they were surprised we put up a Christmas tree, I started thinking about this and I haven't been able to shake it."
Rachel leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, "I know," she said softly, "about missing holidays. I've been to many military family support forums and that was one of the biggest gripes they had," she slid closer and hugged him, "I hate that you may miss one, but I get why. It's one of the reasons why I want to celebrate both, too. If you miss one, we've got the other, but we'll figure something, Noah. We'll be together for the holidays somehow."
Puck sighed in relief, glad she understood, even if the situation sucked, "I love you so much," he murmured, "I know we'll figure something out, too. I'm just really glad you get it. I've been worried about how I could bring it up because I know it's an upsetting topic."
"Oh trust me, I've been preparing for almost a year," she assured him, "as soon as it came up and you started talking serious about joining the Navy, I was looking things up about having a family with a military spouse," she told him honestly. "I know it's going to be rough and I don't like that we'll be apart, but thankfully we have technology that gives us a lot more connection than even five years ago did, so we'll work through this. It will be hard, but we'll make it," she told him honestly.
"We will," he nodded in agreement and held her close, "I love you so much."
"I love you, too, Noah," she smiled, kissing him again, "you're right, we should just enjoy our last winter break before you join the military. I can't wait to see you in a sailor's uniform," she added with a wink.
Puck smirked, "oh really?"
"I can't help thinking about it. I've seen pictures of guys wearing them and just imagining what you'd look like in one," she blushed, "I think you're going to look amazingly handsome."
"Amazingly handsome?" Puck smiled, holding her close, "that's a new one. Hopefully reality is just as awesome as your imagination."
Rachel pressed a kiss to her lips, "I'm sure it will be. You're always handsome to me."
...
Because of the year before, Finn and Quinn had become part of the Berry family and David and Alan wanted the two teens to join them in decorating and celebrating the holiday. They had already agreed to help out, but hadn't stayed long enough the night before to find out the 'when' details, other than knowing the next day, so when Puck and Rachel got up they messaged their friends to let them know the time.
Though David, Alan and Ethan would be taking a half-day off and not getting home until after noon, Rachel, Puck, Abby, Deborah, Arin, Quinn and Finn, headed over to the Berry's home around ten in the morning to get an early start.
The two men had put up their artificial Christmas tree in the living room where they wanted it and boxes of decorations had been set around the living room, so once they arrived, they started sorting and putting some things up, not wanting to wait until the guys got there.
"This feels right," Quinn commented after a while, sitting in the living room helping sort out decorations from ornaments and other items.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked curiously.
"My parents and I always went to my sister's place in Columbus for the holiday, so we never decorated here. Last year was the first Christmas that felt like I was a part of the family and this year feels the same. Like, even though I'm not biologically related to you all, I'm still part of your family and we're celebrating part of Christmas together. I know living arrangements have changed a little over the past year and we have our own families to be celebrating with, too, but I still feel like being here is a home, too," she explained.
Rachel smiled and moved to sit next to her, "I know how you feel. You are part of the Berry family and always will be. I like to think after how close we got, we're like sisters, so I'd hope you feel like family here, too."
"I definitely feel like we're sisters," Quinn agreed, returning her smile. "We've come a long way in a short time and I know I've said this before, but I really appreciate you guys taking me in like you did. I don't know what I would have done, but unfortunately I don't think I'll never be able to really repay you," she said honestly.
"You don't have to," Rachel assured her, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug, "that's what friends and family do for each other," she smiled, "and if we had to do it all over again, we would."
Quinn accepted her hug and nodded, "thanks. I'm really glad things worked out the way they did."
"We are, too," Puck agreed from across the room, where he was going through Christmas lights for outside. "And the holidays are supposed to be happy times, so let's not bring up all the not so happy stuff and focus on the fact that we're all healthy and we've got awesome family and friends to be around," he suggested.
...
Agreeing with Puck's words, the girls let their conversation settle and everyone returned to what they had been doing. Abby was crawling around on the floor near Rachel and Quinn, checking out what they were doing, and came up to a large stuffed penguin wearing a blue scarf with silvery snowflakes on it and a matching hat. Seeing the animal, she first stopped and looked at it and then reached out to touch it, giggling when she felt the fur.
Abby's giggle caught everyone's attention and Rachel jumped up to get her camera, wanting to catch the moment and managed to get a few pictures of her crawling closer to it and wrapping her arms around the animal, greeting her new friend.
"I think we may need to bring Mr. Penguin home with us," Puck commented with a grin, watching Abby snuggle into it's soft body.
Rachel nodded, "that's definitely a good idea. My grandma gave him to me several years ago and we kept him with the holiday decorations because of his hat and scarf. He was one of those holiday toys that was made specific for the year she got it."
"She's a sucker for stuffed animals, and I know if we tried to take him away from her she'd cry, so I'm just saying now, it comes home with us," he smirked.
"Wow, Puck's a big softie for his daughter," Finn grinned, trying to tease his friend a little.
"Of course I am. She's daddy's little girl," Puck smiled, knowing Finn's tone was to tease, but he didn't care; he'd spoil his girlfriend and daughter as much as he could and wouldn't hide it. "I want my girls happy," he added, moving to take a seat on the floor next to Abby and the penguin, lifting one of it's wings and teasing her nose with it.
At her giggling, Rachel smiled and took another picture, before getting up and sliding into his lap, "I can tell you that we are definitely happy," she assured him.
Puck grinned and kissed her, enjoying the family moment, "good. I'm glad."
...
Getting back to work after a few moments, it wasn't long before Alan, David and Ethan were arriving after their half day of work. Having a simple lunch, they got back to decorating and the guys turned their attention to the lights outside.
Deborah had started dinner while they were outside and the girls decorated the living room, kitchen, dinning room and other rooms the guests would be in during the party and also added the lights to the tree.
When the guys came inside from putting up the lights, it was close to dinner time, so while Rachel fed Abby, they warmed up a little with hot chocolate and coffee, before everyone sat down to eat.
Talking lightly and relaxing together, they all enjoyed the family time and when dinner was over, like they had the other night, they put their focus on decorating the tree with ornaments. As decorations were pulled out to use, Rachel picked through them, taking her ornaments and others she wanted on her, Puck and Abby's tree and used other ones to put up and in a few hours they had the tree finished, with Rachel having many set aside for the other tree.
"Thank you all for helping out decorating. I know with everything going on the past few weeks it's definitely been the last thing on our minds, but it's been a great day," David admitted, smiling at everyone.
"It's always fun," Rachel grinned, holding Abby on her lap with the penguin next to her.
"Yeah, and we weren't freaking out like last year because it started snowing," Puck added, sitting next to his girlfriend with his arm around her shoulders.
"And I wasn't miserable being pregnant," Quinn added, then blushed, "sorry Deborah."
Deborah laughed lightly, "it's alright, Quinn."
"Decorating next year is going to be different though," Alan said softly.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, looking at him and David.
The two men exchanged glances with each other and then looked around, "we've got something we want to tell you guys," David admitted.
"Rachel, Quinn, you know you'll always have a place in our home," Alan started, "but David and I have decided that it's time for us to move."
"What?" Rachel exclaimed, her tone raising an octave.
Rachel's outburst started Abby, so Puck reached over and pulled their daughter into his arms to calm her down, letting the Berrys talk for a moment.
"We always knew when you moved out, we'd downsize at some point. This house is way too big for us. Now that you've got your own home and we're hardly here, it's just not sensible for us to live in such a large home," David explained, "we're not leaving Lima; we're just going to get a smaller place," he added, wanting it to be clear they were not leaving town.
Learning that they were staying in Lima, Rachel relaxed a little, but her eyes still filled with tears at the news, "but what about all my stuff? My room? All the memories we have here?"
"You will always have a bedroom at our place, no matter where we live, Quinn, the same goes for you," Alan said honestly, "and yes this place does have a lot of memories, but we'll be able to make new ones in another place. We know this is hard news and we're sorry to drop it on you after a great day like today, but we've finally made the decision and by the first of the year we'll be putting bids in on a few places we're interested in."
David got up and moved to sit next to Rachel, wrapping his arms around her tightly to comfort her, knowing she'd take it the hardest.
Rachel leaned against him and tried to relax, completely understanding their logical reasons for wanting a smaller place, "I... I know," she cried, "and you're right and I get it, but it's just... It's just so hard to think about leaving this place... I've got so many good memories here and I won't have a physical reminder of them."
"We know and we feel the same way. Nothing is going to change overnight and you'll always have your memories; those aren't going to go away with the move. And besides, home is where your heart is; your heart is with Noah and Abby," David told her honestly, "and yes, we know you love us, but where we live doesn't change that."
Taking a deep breath she nodded, "I know and I'm sorry for getting all emotional, but it's just so sudden and nothing I even expected," she paused, pulling back from him a little, "I get it, I do... It's just a lot to take in."
Puck reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, "I'm here, babe. We all are."
Turning to look at him, she smiled, taking his hand in hers, "I know. Thanks," she smiled, "so, um, where are you going to move? I mean, you said you're staying here, but what part of town?"
"Well, we're not making any promises, but we have found a place within walking distance of where you guys live," Alan commented.
"Really?" Rachel asked, calming down a little when she realized their place could be even closer than it already was.
"You know the new homes where Ben and Susan moved to?" David asked, and when she and the others nodded, he continued, "well, there's a few homes that hadn't been completed when they bought theirs, and we're looking at one of them on the street; you actually walk or drive past it every day when you go drop Abby off," he explained. "We're not the only people looking at it and as soon as it's open to bid on, we're going to put one in on it, but like dad said, we're not making any promises because it might not go to us."
"But there's still a chance, right?" Rachel wondered hopeful.
"Oh yes, there is," Alan nodded, "but we just don't want you to get your hopes up and then find out we don't get it. It's definitely what we're looking for and we'll be in the office the day we can bid on it, so hopefully our offer will be accepted, but if it isn't, then we'll have to keep looking or fall back on some other choices."
Rachel nodded, biting her lip, "and those are where?"
"Further away," David said, "but let's not worry about those right now. We're hopeful that we'll get the one near you, but we do have back-up options, just in case."
Taking a deep breath, she nodded, "well, then, I'll hope for the best, because it'd be really awesome if you guys lived closer," she said, settling from her emotions to hope they'd get the place.
"Yeah, it would be," Alan and David agreed.
...
Though David and Alan's announcement was shocking to Rachel, Quinn, who was like another daughter to them, was okay with it; appreciating they'd still give her a place to stay if she needed it and assured them she understood their reasons for wanting to move.
As much as Rachel didn't want to leave right away, it was getting late and they had to take care of Abby and check on Kona, since she'd been home alone all day, except for the brief time Ethan had gone to let her out and check on her for them, so they started to gather things up to get ready to go.
The guys helped put the storage boxes away and Puck took the box of stuff Rachel wanted, out to their car, and others helped make sure the house was cleaned up and presentable, talking about plans for a few days later, when they were having the actual party.
Quinn and Finn were the first ones to say 'goodnight' and then Deborah, Ethan and Arin left, leaving Rachel, Abby and Puck. The three only stuck around a short time longer, Rachel assuring her dads she was fine and was still upset, but was hopeful they could be closer, so it was helping her keep positive about the move.
When the young family finally headed home, Rachel was emotionally drained and wanted to get to bed, so she and Puck took care of Kona and Abby and once Abby was settled into her crib, Rachel crashed in bed. Puck didn't blame her; he understood major news like that was hard to take, plus they'd had a long day, so he settled just be close to her and there if she needed him.
...
Waking up the next morning, Rachel was surprised to find herself in bed just after eight. "Wow, I was out of it last night," she mumbled rolling onto her back.
"Yeah, you were," Puck agreed, sitting in bed with Abby on his chest, "you alright, though?"
"Yes," she nodded, "I think it was just the emotions really hit me and drained the rest of my energy," she admitted, sitting up a little to press a kiss to his lips and then Abby's forehead, "morning."
"Morning," Puck replied, shifting closer, "you want to talk about the news?" He wondered, unsure if she would be ready.
"There isn't much to talk about. Dad and daddy let us know they were looking for a smaller place. I understand their reasons completely. I mean, they're not the only parents who decide to downsize when their only or last child leaves home," she explained, "but it's upsetting with all the memories I made there, especially since you and I got together, but daddy's right, I'll always have the memories and my home is with you and Abby now."
Puck smiled, kissing her forehead, "I'm glad you feel that way, because I feel the same," handing Abby to her.
Rachel took their daughter and kissed her cheek, then snuggled closer to him, "good to know and thanks, Noah. For understanding and being there for me, not just for last night, but for anything."
"No problem, babe. I'll always be here for you," he promised, kissing her gently as he wrapped his arms around his family. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"
"I don't know," she admitted, "did your mom mention something about dessert on Christmas Day with the Hudsons, Hummels and Jessica's family?"
"You really were out of it last night," he smirked, then sobered to continue, "yes, she did. She said she was going to talk to Carole and see what she thought about doing an extended family dessert party after Christmas dinner and even though my aunt, uncle and their family doesn't celebrate Christmas at all, they still could come over, too. You mentioned there was some baking you wanted to do and she was going to let us know soon about plans."
"Oh yes," Rachel nodded, "I do want to make some sugar cookies and a few other things. I need to go to the store and get some ingredients. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go out and finish Christmas shopping and get some additional decorations, and a few new ornaments for us as a family to put on our tree, then this afternoon we can decorate and I can get going on baking either tonight or on Christmas Eve," she explained.
"I can help, too," Puck told her, "remember the cupcakes?" He asked curiously.
Rachel smiled, "yeah, I do. The help will definitely be appreciated and will be fun to do together," she told him, "so shopping?"
"Yep," he agreed, "why don't you hang with Abby and I'll go shower. Then when I'm done, I'll take care of her and Kona while you get ready. We can have breakfast when you're done and then figure out where we want to go and all that," he suggested.
"Okay, sounds good," she nodded, kissing him gently. "Love you," she added with a grin.
Returning her kiss and smile, he hugged them, "I love you, both, too."
...
Taking a quick shower, it wasn't long before Puck and Abby were heading downstairs, so Rachel could get ready for the day. Letting Kona outside and feeding Abby, by the time Rachel joined them, Abby was fed and they put her in her playpen while they had breakfast. Over their meal, Rachel wrote a shopping list and after eating, they got Abby ready and soon the family was heading out to the store. David and Alan's party was mostly a potluck, but Rachel always made some dips and dishes, so while picking up items to make cookies, she also go the ingredients for some of the things she usually made.
On top of getting ingredients and things for the next few days, they also finished their Christmas shopping and picked up a few new ornaments for their tree, things that meant something to them as a family or a couple, making sure to get a 'Baby's First Christmas' ornament for Abby.
Returning home around two, they put their things away and after having a late lunch and getting Abby down for a nap, the two sat back in the living room to relax. "Would you like to start decorating?" Rachel asked after a few moments.
"Sure," Puck nodded, "it's probably a great time, since Abby is down for her nap."
"That's what I was thinking. I still want to have her with us for a little bit of it, but she can't do too much," she added.
"Exactly," Puck replied, kissing Rachel's cheek.
...
They weren't decorating as much as at their parents' homes, so it didn't take too long to lay some garlands and a few cute decorations around, before they got into working on the tree. Picking out strands of colored lights, they started wrapping them around the tree, and when they were content with the amount, they sat down with their ornaments and began going through them.
At first, they put up the ornaments they'd just gotten, ones geared towards their current events; their first as a family, Abby's first Christmas and a few 'couple' ones, along with some other ones that meant something to them together.
Abby woke up at that time, so they took a brief break to get her changed and taken care of and then the family returned to what Puck and Rachel had been doing.
The two started going through each ornament they'd brought over from their parents' homes and while putting some up, they'd explain the reasons for them. A lot of their ornaments were ones they'd gotten in their favorite characters from movies or cartoons, along with things they'd been in during school, like Puck had football and basketball ones, and Rachel had dance and music ones, but together, the ornaments made the tree theirs.
They'd set Abby in between them, so they didn't have to hold her and she was content to sit there with her new penguin, so it gave Puck and Rachel a chance to continue what they'd bee doing. When they finished, Rachel got out her camera and took a few pictures, then got Abby to sit in front of it, with her penguin and Kona joined her and Rachel took a few pictures with them in front of it.
"We should have mom or dad come over and take one of all of us in front of it," Puck commented, taking a picture of them with his phone.
"That's a great idea," Rachel smiled, "would you call?"
"I'll text," he replied, sending his parents a message asking if one of them could come over to take a picture of them.
It was close to dinner time and Deborah was in the middle of cooking, so Ethan came over and when they explained what they wanted, he gladly took a few pictures with her camera and their phones, his included. Rachel really liked the picture when she looked at it and thanked him for taking it; she decided to post it on her Facebook page for their families to see, since she'd also posted one of them during Hanukkah.
Ethan hung out for a few minutes, but headed home; it was the one of the few nights that week that the families decided to have dinner apart, because the next three, at least, they'd be together for the holiday.
"I guess we should think about dinner, too," Rachel admitted, realizing it was five-thirty and they hadn't started it.
"I'll get dinner tonight, babe. You just hang out with Abby and Kona," Puck told her, "you've got baking to do and are helping out with your dads' party tomorrow, so I got this."
...
Thankful for the help, Rachel got a chance to sit back and relax a little, knowing the next day would be hectic, but also fun because some of their friends would be there, just like the year before.
Realizing something, Rachel looked at Abby and saw she was content in her playpen, so she got up and headed into the kitchen, "Noah, you know what I just realized?" She asked.
Puck smirked, "that you can't relax?" He wondered.
Blushing lightly, she shook her head, "no, not that, and I just thought of something and I wanted to tell you," she said seriously, "do you know what tomorrow is?"
"Your dads' Christmas party?" He asked, unsure what she was getting at.
"Well, yes, but that's not what I was talking about. Do you remember what happened at their party last year on the same date?"
Thinking for a moment, he tried to remember, "did it start snowing?" He asked, "because I don't think there's any in the forecast, if that's what you're getting at."
"No, that's not it," she replied, trying not to get frustrated, realizing that a lot had gone on in the past year to remember every detail, but she hoped he'd still remember that one.
"My dad calling me?" He asked and when she nodded, he returned her nod as he worked on dinner, "I remember. That's not something I'd forget."
"Alright. I just wasn't sure if you had. I just realized it myself," she told him, "are you going to talk to him about it?"
"Of course," Puck replied with grin, "it's the biggest moment in some ways, because if he hadn't called, some or most of this might not have happened," he motioned around, "we'd obviously still have Abby and be together, but other things would be different, like mom and Arin would still live here and you, Abby and I might be living with your dads."
"Really?" She asked surprised at the last part, but understood the rest.
Puck nodded, "yeah. It was something that had come up. We knew Abby couldn't be passed between our homes all the time, so one of us would have to move in with the other. If mom and Arin had stayed here and dad hadn't returned, I may have chosen to move in with you and your dads," he told her.
"Oh, wow, I never thought of that," she admitted, moving towards him, "I guess that did change things."
"I'm glad they turned out the way they did, because now we have our own house," he replied, wrapping his arms around her. "so I try not to think about the 'what ifs'," he added.
Rachel nodded, "I know. I'm glad we've got our own place, still shocked, but definitely glad," she smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Returning her kiss, Puck glanced at the stove, "babe, let me get dinner. You need to go kick back and relax. Big day tomorrow," he murmured, kissing her once more.
Blushing, but nodding, "alright, I'll go. Thank you again for making dinner."
"No thanks needed," he assured her, "I'm happy to help out."
...
Giving in and relaxing, Rachel snuggled with Abby on the couch until dinner and fed her and Kona just before they ate, and Abby was content to stay in her high chair while they were eating. When dinner was over, Puck let Rachel help with dishes and soon the three of them were returning to the living room; sitting on the floor and letting Abby crawl around between them on a blanket.
As it got later and knowing they had a big day the next day, they got Abby ready for bed and once she was down to sleep, Rachel and Puck headed to the kitchen to prep a little for the next day, deciding to take Christmas Eve to do the baking she wanted.
Getting to bed around ten, the two set their alarm for eight, knowing they had things to make and do the next morning and needed time to get ready and gather things up, to take over to her dads early so there was time to prepare for the late-afternoon start to the party.
When the morning arrived, Rachel began packing things up to take over and Puck took care of Abby and by eleven they were heading over to her dads' place. The rest of their family and friends would be over later in the day, so for a while it was just the few of them and by one, Quinn, Finn, Carole, Kurt, Ethan, Deborah and Arin arrived, pitching in where Rachel needed help to get things ready. Jessica, Ben, Susan and Hannah had also been invited and the family joined them, even though they didn't celebrate Christmas, just so they could spend time with their family and friends.
By three in the afternoon, guests from David and Alan's offices, along with friends of the Berrys' slowly began to show up, filling the house. None of her dads' coworkers had met Rachel's daughter yet, but they did know that David and Alan were grandpas, so Abby was the center of attention once she woke up from her nap and Rachel enjoyed mingling with everyone to introduce her, happy that everyone seemed to be accepting of her choices.
The Berrys' party was always just a chance to mingle with coworkers and families without the burden of the office surrounding them, and with the holiday just a few days away, it was understandable that not everyone could attend, and those who did make it, some didn't stay too long, having other things going on, but still wanted to make an appearance.
With a fun, relaxing, but uneventful party, by seven, most of the guests began to leave, until it was just the Puckermans, Berrys and their close family and friends.
"Well, this was a better end to the party than last year," Puck commented, sitting down next to his dad.
"Isn't that when Mr. Schuester told us about Sue leaving?" Quinn asked.
"Well, yeah that was that day, too, but now what I'm talking about," he replied, motioning to his dad, "do you remember calling me?"
Ethan smirked a little, "yeah, I do. In a way it's the call that started it all, huh?"
"It was. I know at the time I was pissed, but I'm glad you called. Things might have been different if you hadn't," Puck told him.
"Yeah, they might have, but I think we would have been in contact sometime after that if I hadn't called, actually. Your mom and I were still talking and I wanted to marry her again. Though I'm glad I called, because I was able to propose and meet with you all a lot sooner than I had first thought I would," Ethan admitted, "if I had to do it again, I still would have called."
"I know. I'm glad you and mom are back together and we're a family again. It sucks that you left at all, but I now know why you did leave," Puck paused and took a deep breath, "and I don't know if I've ever actually told you this directly, but I've forgiven you."
Ethan smiled, "I've been pretty sure you had, but it's nice to hear it for sure," he admitted, "and it really means a lot to know. Thank you."
Puck nodded and returned his smile, "no problem. I had hoped you knew, but still wanted to say something if I hadn't in the past and I thought tonight was a good time to bring it up."
"It is," Ethan agreed, "and it's nice to spend Christmas with my family. Never thought I'd ever get to spend any of the holidays with you guys, so this is definitely a big deal for me."
"We're glad you're here, too," Arin said, moving over to sit on his lap and gave him a hug.
Returning her hug, he kissed her cheek, "the first of many holidays with you all."
"Sounds like a great plan to me," Deborah agreed from where she was sitting next to him.
"Me too," Puck replied, smiling at them, then glanced at Rachel who was on another couch, holding Abby, "this is definitely a great time to spend with the family."
...
Settled in with the family, though no one was ready to leave, Rachel and Puck decided to head home around nine to get Abby into bed and everyone else decided to leave at the same time. Rachel's dads promised to be over around noon and would spend the next night at their house.
Arriving home, Kona was happy to see them. Aside from Puck going home to check on her around five, letting her out and feeding her, she'd been alone all afternoon, so after Rachel and Puck got Abby settled, they spent some time with Kona, before turning in themselves.
Waking up on Christmas Eve morning, the young couple relaxed in bed as long as they could, then got up and did their usual morning activities, but this time, once breakfast was over, Rachel started baking. She had several things she wanted to make and had put off until that day.
Moving Abby's playpen closer to the kitchen, so she wasn't left alone, Puck joined Rachel and the two spent the rest of the morning mixing ingredients, and putting things into the oven to bake.
"Now this is fun," Puck admitted, sitting down at the table in the kitchen, taking a break from what they'd been doing.
Rachel smiled, sliding into his lap and slipping her arms around his neck, "it is. This is just another thing I love doing with you," she told him.
"Oh really?" He kissed her, as he wrapped his arms around her, "I feel the same way," he agreed, "and just what other things do you enjoy doing with me?" He wondered curiously.
Shifting a little in his lap, she straddled his hips and leaned in, kissing him gently, "that list is never ending, Noah. I love doing this with you, I love kissing you, I love singing with you, I love spending time with you, talking to you," she started, "and so much more."
Puck tugged her closer and kissed her again, letting one hand trail up to run through her hair, "I'm so lucky," he murmured, holding her close. "My list is just as long. I love being with you, holding you, knowing you want to be with me... I love having a daughter with you, and I look forward to the day we can have more children together," he smiled brightly at her, "you're so beautiful."
Rachel blushed, feeling tears in her eyes as he spoke and hugged him tightly, "thank you, Noah. I feel the same way you do, too. I want to have more children with you, I just know that right now it's too much, but when we're out of school and Abby's a bit older, I'm sure we'll know when we'll be ready for another child," she explained.
"Exactly. I totally agree. Besides, we've got our whole lives to have a bigger family," he added, reaching up and brushing his hand along her cheek, "no crying. It's the holidays," he winked.
"I know, but I just can't help it. I'm so happy," she replied, hugging him.
"Me too," he agreed, kissing her cheek and holding her close, but their moment was interrupted when the oven timer went off, "cookies are calling."
Rachel sighed, "and I was comfortable," she murmured, sliding off his lap to move to the oven, checking on the cookies and taking the pans out.
Watching her bend over, Puck definitely enjoyed the view, but agreed he liked having her in his lap, "I promise my lap is open for use anytime you want," he grinned, "but I also enjoy this view, too."
Knowing what she meant, Rachel blushed, "thank you."
"You're welcome," he got up and moved to stand behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, "it'd be even better if you were naked," he added with a grin.
"Noah!" Rachel gasped, her eyes widening as she turned around to stare at him in shock.
"What?" He slid his arms back around her and smiled brightly, "babe, we have lived in this house for months, alone, except for a few nights a week when your dads stay over," he let his hands slip under her winter themed sweater to rest against her warm skin, "there are so many places I wanna make love to you. I can think of five right now, and that's just here in the kitchen."
Rachel's mouth fell open, shock still evident on her face, but feeling his hands against her skin, caused sparks to ignite all over her body, "but we have Abby... And our parents come over a lot," she said, trying to resist, but finding it difficult.
"They knock, most of the time, and if they did walk in on us, it'd be the last time they didn't knock," he winked, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips and then trailed his lips down her neck, "don't tell me you haven't thought of christening our house."
As much as Rachel wanted to say she hadn't, she knew that would be a lie. She preferred to make love in their bed, but she couldn't deny that at times, she'd thought of doing it in other places around the house, especially knowing that it was theirs, "okay, I admit I've thought about it," she agreed, "now you sound more like Puck than you do my Noah," she added softly.
"Well, Noah is allowed to have sexual thoughts about his girlfriend, right?" He wondered, his arms slipping around her waist to gently lift her up so she was closer to eye level with him, "and Puck and Noah are the same person."
"Of course you're allowed to; I'm not denying that. And yes, physically they are the same person, but Noah is a big soft teddy bear and Puck is a badass tough guy and I don't see him as often as I did when we first started dating. In some ways, to put it in perspective, I think of Puck as 'sex' and Noah as 'making love', and," she blushed, "I love our relationship, don't get me wrong, but I never got to experience just 'sex' with Puck and I want to."
With one arm holding her, Puck used his other to move aside the few things on the counter behind her and then carefully set her down, his hands resting on her hips, "I get what you're saying, babe," he started, resting his forehead against hers, "but I've always been Noah to you, because I respect you; you're worth so much more to me than 'just sex' and that life is way in the past for me," he told her honestly, "but, if you wanna have some fun, all you gotta do is ask," he added with a wink, letting one of his hands slip under her skirt to rest on her thigh.
Smiling, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck as she slid to the edge of the counter, "I love you, Noah, and it means the world to me that you respect me and I know you'll always treat me right," she started, then looked at him, her smile turning into a devious grin, "but I definitely wanna have fun with you, too," she finished, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Puck's entire body reacted to her words, causing him to groan into their kiss, as he held her. He was extremely happy that she knew of and was okay with his past, and he swore to himself that he would never push her into anything. He always wanted her to be the one to make the next move and did expect this conversation to come up one day, and now that it was out in the open, his mind filled with ideas, "babe, that sounds like an amazing idea, but no matter what we do, or how we phrase it, I'll always be making love to you. Whether it's a quickie against the counter or in our bed, it'll still be a special moment between us, but if you're ready, I'd be happy to show more," he said honestly, trying to calm down from the moment, knowing they didn't have time to get into anything because they'd have visitors at any time.
"I never doubted that," she replied, kissing him gently, "I think I wanted to bring it up to let you know I'd be willing to try. I just wanna be as close to you as I can be."
He nodded in understanding, "me too, Rachel, and I promise we will be and I'd love to try out something now, but our families could be here any time and we're baking."
She blushed, "I'm... I'm sorry if I got you, um..."
Puck pressed a kiss to her lips, "don't be sorry. I'm fine," he assured her, helping her down from the counter and hugging her tightly.
Rachel relaxed in his arms for a long moment, before looking up, "I suppose we should get this finished," she murmured, looking at the various things on the counter, including baking pans with cookies still on them.
Glancing around, he nodded, "yeah, that's a good idea."
...
Though their conversation had been important, the two were glad it had ended, because about ten minutes later, her dads showed up, soon followed by his parents and sister.
The Berrys and Puckermans had talked the day before and agreed to have a movie day, like Puck and Rachel had done the year before on Christmas Eve. Everyone had brought over a few choice movies and Rachel and Puck had picked some from their collection and once they all had lunch and Abby went down for her nap, the family found seats in the living room and settled on the first movie.
The first movie Rachel had seen before, so she bounced between watching it and finishing up the cookies and then sat through the whole second movie. Around four, Abby woke up from her nap and the second movie had finished, so while Rachel took care of Abby, the others chipped into make dinner and when it was ready, they sat down to eat.
Once they were finished eating, they retook their seats and looked through the stacks of movies for another one to watch, "oh we have to watch this!" Rachel exclaimed, holding up the case for 'An Officer and a Gentleman'. "We watched it last year, and afterward Noah first mentioned he'd thought of joining the Navy and now he is and it seems fitting," she admitted.
"See, I told you she'd want to," Deborah said, nudging her husband with a grin on her face.
Ethan smirked, "yeah, you were right."
"But I'm not going to be an officer. Just enlisted. There's a difference," Puck replied, smirking at his girlfriend and parents.
"It still involves the Navy. Can we?" She asked her boyfriend hopeful.
"It's fine with me. I like the movie, but there's others that need to agree," Puck shrugged, "if they don't mind, go for it," he added.
"I'm fine with it," Ethan agreed.
"We are, too," David nodded, "we actually thought of bringing it over, too, but Alan reminded me that Deborah had it, so we didn't bring ours over," he commented with a grin.
Rachel blushed and got up, moving to put the DVD in before returning to her spot next to her boyfriend on the couch, "I think we should make this a tradition; to watch it every Christmas Eve," she suggested, her blush still tinting her cheeks.
"I think that could be arranged," Deborah smiled, "you guys know it's my favorite movie."
...
Curled up against her boyfriend, Rachel watched the movie and found she understood it more, not only because she'd seen it once before, but also because she knew more about the various aspects of military lives; learning from family forums online and also from things Puck talked about he learned from the book he needed to read.
Certain parts hit her just as hard as the first time, and both her and Deborah were in tears by the end, "I promise I'll be at your boot camp graduation," she told her boyfriend softly as they hugged.
Puck smiled, "I know you will be, babe. I never doubted that," he said honestly, kissing her gently, "and maybe one day I'll be able to sweep you off your feet like he did," he added, holding her close to him.
"That would be so romantic," she smiled, wiping her eyes, "I didn't expect to start crying."
"It's okay, you're allowed to get emotional," he assured her, glancing at Abby in her playpen, "looks like someone else was watching, too," he added, motioning to how Abby was laid back on her stuffed penguin, with her attention in the direction of the TV, as if she had been watching the TV through the soft mesh of the playpen.
"Oh, sweetie," Rachel grinned, moving to pick her up, "were you watching the movie with us?" She asked, kissing her cheek and settling her against her chest as she retook her seat next to Puck. Abby snuggled up to Rachel and her eyes closed, "I think you might be tired, huh, little one?"
Puck leaned over and pressed a kiss to Abby's cheek, "I think you're right," he nodded, seeing the signs that she was sleepy. "Definitely time for bed."
...
Taking a break from movies, Rachel and Puck got Abby ready for bed and once she was settled into her crib for the night, the two returned to their family. They decided to watch another movie and when it ended around eleven, Ethan, Deborah and Arin decided to go home and get some sleep. After agreeing to be over at their house the next morning around ten for brunch, the three left and then David and Alan headed up to Puck and Rachel's guest room for bed. Rachel and Puck stayed up a little longer, but once they had put some things away and closed up the house for the night, they went to bed themselves.
As with almost every day, Abby woke her parents just after eight, so they got up with her. Rachel took care of changing her diaper and feeding her, while Puck got showered and ready for the day and then he took care of getting Abby dressed, while Rachel got showered and dressed, finishing about the time her dads woke up. Once Alan and David were up and ready, they all gathered up the presents they'd wrapped in the past few weeks and around ten headed over to Deborah, Ethan and Arin's house, and this time Kona went with them.
Greeting everyone and setting the presents around the tree, the family sat down for brunch and once they'd finished, they gathered in the living room. Since they'd done a lot of gift exchanging at Hanukkah, the adults decided to just get gifts for the kids, so when they were settled onto a spot on the floor, their parents began passing out the presents.
Abby was sitting in Puck's lap at first, but then he settled her onto the floor so she could check things out, because she was drawn to the shiny bows, colorful wrapping paper and crinkly ribbon.
As Puck slid the curly mass of ribbon off one of his presents, he handed it to her, "just don't eat it," he smirked. Taking the decoration from him, Abby shook it and giggled when it rustled in her hands and then crawled closer to him, "do you want to help me open my presents?" He asked with a laugh, seeing her grabbing at the paper.
Rachel grinned, "she's going to love it when all the paper and stuff is on the floor," she admitted, handing over a silver bow that had been on her gift, "but we just have to keep her from eating anything."
"I know," Puck nodded, "we'll watch her," he assured her, laughing when he saw Kona was rolling on her back on a pile of paper from Arin's package. "Between Kona and Abby, this is gong to be an entertaining morning," he said honestly.
"Yes it will be," Rachel agreed.
...
As Puck said, the unwrapping of presents was an adventure. Abby and Kona had experienced a little of opening presents on Hanukkah, but the gifts had been spaced out between eight days, where as Christmas was only one day, so the two were both enjoying the mass of paper, ribbon and bows piling up in the middle of the living room floor. Kona spent most of the time rolling around on the pile as it grew and Abby liked rustling everything she could find and really seemed intrigued with a larger, fluffier and shiny purple bow that had been on a package of Arin's.
"Abby, you have good taste in colors," Rachel commented, taking a pictures of her sitting in the middle of the wrapping paper, holding the bow. Reaching out to rustle the item, Abby giggled and started shaking the bow to make more noise.
Snapping a few more pictures, Rachel reluctantly gave up, knowing she and Deborah already had a ton of that morning, mostly of Abby and Kona playing in the wrapping paper and decorations. Picking up Abby and letting her keep the bow in her hand, Rachel moved them over to sit down on the couch next to Puck, "now this is what the holidays are about. Having fun and enjoying the time with family," she said.
Puck nodded, "yeah, that is very true," he agreed, kissing Abby, then Rachel, "and just wait until Abby's older next year and she's able to do more. It'll be even more fun."
"I don't even want to think about her being older. I mean, it feels like she was just born and now she's almost eight months old. Time is going to fly by so fast," Rachel sighed, "and I know there's noting to stop it, so I'll just settle for making great memories."
"Sounds like a great idea for me," Puck agreed, slipping an arm around her shoulders and holding her close to him, "I love you."
Rachel smiled, settling against him, and pressing a kiss to his lips, "I love you, too, Noah."
...
A/N3: I hope you guys enjoyed it! As I said at the end of the last chapter, there is going to be a lot of summary to progress the fic along, in hopes of getting closer to the summer in the story. Let me know what you guys think! This chapter is two parts on LJ because it was too long.
A/N4: I think I'm finally getting back on top of things so updates may be more frequent. I know I've said this before and I'm sorry, but I didn't intend for this update to be so far apart from the last one. I have not quit writing and I don't plan on it. I have just had a bunch of personal things going on that has keep me busy or distracted. The hardest one was having to put my three and a half year old dog to sleep. She got sick one day and after three trips to the vet in three days in early January, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and she kept getting worse. She didn't deserve the pain and suffering she was in, so we had to let her go. It was super tough to say goodbye and it has been pretty lonely around the house without her, but I, along with my parents, know that we did the right thing because she is no longer in pain, but it still hurts like hell.
A/N5: As I stated in my last update for 'Starlight', I've decided to try my hand at writing Lark (Lea/Mark) fics. Since FF has some rules about RPF, I will only be posting it on my LJ. I have just finished my first fic and will be posting it this week. It's called 'Breaking The Rules' and I'm SapphiresFic on LJ ( sapphiresfic . livejournal . com ). I'll share the link on my Tumblr page and mention it in my author's notes at the bottom of my next fic updates. I'll also add a section on my FF profile for links to the stories on my LJ, so keep an eye out for it. You can read and comment on my LJ, even if you don't have an LJ account, too, because I allow anonymous comments.
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