Beginning Our Life

Last Time: Carole went into labor. Sarah was afraid of any pain that she'll have when she has Nathan. Samantha Abigail Hummel was born. Shelby and Beth visited the new baby. Kurt returned home to meet his sister. Finn said he plans on going to see Rachel in New York. And that's what you missed on Beginning Our Life.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any songs that I may put in here.

Sister Struggles

Puck's Point of View

I sang softly to Sammie as I tried getting her to sleep. I didn't have class today, so decided to stay home and help Ms. Carole, who was currently taking a nap in her room. Sarah and Grace were at school while Burt worked. Finn had gone back to New York with Kurt to talk to Rachel two nights ago.

Sammie was determined not to fall asleep, her big green eyes continuously staring up at me.

"Come on Sammie, please go to sleep," I whispered, "I know I'm not your mom or dad, but you know me. Remember? I gave you a bath last night with Sarah."

That was an event. Sammie had screamed and cried the entire time. I was convinced Sarah was going to start crying too sometime around soaping up Sammie's legs.

Sammie clenched her fists open and closed. I gave her my finger to hold onto, surprised at how strong she seemed for being just a week old.

I brushed my free finger through her light hair, "Are you hungry? I can feed you again even though your mom fed you an hour ago."

Sammie just blinked.

I sighed, "I know, I know, you're not hungry because you did just eat. I don't know what to do," I held her tightly against my chest and gently rocked her, "I wish Sarah was here. Do you wish Sarah was here? She's a really good sister to you. She loves you so much. That's how I know she's going to be a great mom."

I pulled Sammie back to look at her only to see her eyes closed and her mouth slightly opened, showing me that she was finally asleep. I smiled in triumph while carefully reaching out and grabbing her duck blanket to drape over her.

Just as I stood from the couch to bring her to the crib, the phone rang. I groaned. Sammie's eyes shot open and a blood curdling scream escaped her lips. Wonderful.

I made my way to the home phone and checked the caller i.d. It was Grace's school. I adjusted Sammie so I was holding her against my shoulder with one arm while reaching out with the other to grab the phone.

I hit the talk button, "Hello?"

Sammie screamed louder and I winced.

"Is this the home of Grace Puckerman?" the woman on the other end asked.

"Yeah," I walked over to Sammie's basinet and set her in it.

"May I speak with either Burt or Carole Hummel?" the woman continued.

I sat on the couch while sticking a foot out to slowly rock the basinet, "Sorry, Burt's at work and Ms. Carole's sleeping because she just had a baby."

"I can hear that," the woman muttered.

I rolled my eyes, "But I'm Grace's older brother. I'm nineteen and believe I'm on Grace's emergency list."

"Um," the woman breathed, "Are you Finn Hudson or Noah Puckerman?"

"Noah Puckerman," I told her.

"Oh, ok, so you really are her older brother?"

"Yes. Can you please tell me what's wrong with my sister?"

"You have to come down and get her. She got in a little bit of trouble."

I groaned, "Alright. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you," the woman hung up.

Sammie screamed louder and I put my head in my hands. This is just fantastic.

~~~~~GLEE~~~~~

After apologetically waking up Ms. Carole and promising her I could take care of Grace alone, I got in my truck and drove to the elementary school.

I have no idea what Grace could have done. She wasn't really the person to get in a fight. Maybe she talked back to her teacher, that was possible. Or she's failing school like she originally thought.

I pulled up to the school and went inside. I walked in the office, immediately stopping at the sight of Grace sitting in one of the chairs with an ice pack to her eye and a scowl on her face.

I quickly ran over to her, "What happened?"

She shrugged, "I got in a fight."

My eyes widened, "What?"

A door opened and a lady, probably the one I talked to on the phone, "Mr. Neilson can see you now."

I straightened up and started walking to the principal's office. For once, I wasn't going because I was in trouble.

Grace ran forward and grabbed my hand. I looked down to see her big eyes and a look of regret on her face. I felt her shaking as she leaned against me.

I almost felt bad for her, almost. The reason I didn't was because she did this to herself.

Wow. Never thought I'd think that.

We went in the small room where a tall man was sitting behind the desk looking over a piece of paper.

He looked up at us, "Hello there, please sit. I'm Mr. Neilson."

I nodded while sitting down, "I'm Noah Puckerman."

"My name's Grace," she whispered as she sat next to me.

"So, it seems like you had a problem today, Grace. Care to explain?" Mr. Neilson asked her.

I watched Grace play with her hands.

"I yelled at a girl then punched her when she yelled back," Grace muttered.

"Why?" I asked.

Grace looked up at me with watery eyes, forgetting about the principal sitting across the desk from us, "I thought Mom was going to come."

"You got in a fight so Ms. Carole would come here?" I stared at her.

"She doesn't talk to me anymore so I thought if she had to come and get me, she would talk to me," a small tear dripped down Grace's cheek.

"Why doesn't your mom talk to you?" Mr. Neilson asked.

Grace glanced at him, "She had a real daughter now," she spit as the tears flowed faster down her face.

Mr. Neilson looked at me then back to Grace, "Grace, would you mind giving me and your brother a minute alone?"

Grace whimpered and nodded. I reached a hand out to squeeze her's as she left the room.

Once the door was closed, Mr. Neilson looked at me, "I've looked at Grace's papers and saw that she was adopted at the end of the school year, but was under the guardianship of those same people for a few months. Is the woman the one she was calling Mom?"

I nodded, "Yeah, she actually hasn't talked about our real mom in a while."

"And her new mom just had a baby?" he continued.

"Yeah," I muttered, "Grace was so excited to be a big sister, I had no idea she was going to be like this. It's a new baby, we have to take care of her," I put my head in my hands, "I'm sorry, I really didn't think she'd get jealous and fight someone."

Mr. Neilson was quiet for a minute before speaking, "It's not your fault. You said you didn't know Grace was jealous of her new sister."

I looked up, "Is she still in trouble?"

Mr. Neilson nodded, "Whether or not Grace actually did plan on coming into school to get in a fight for her mom's attention, she still has to be punished because she did punch a girl."

I groaned, "How long?"

"Well," Mr. Neilson looked down at his calander, "It's Thursday, so I'll suspend her the rest of the school day and tomorrow."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, but what about the other girl? Grace had an icepack to her eye, she got hurt as well."

"She's getting the same treatment," he told me. He pressed a button on the phone, "Mary, can you send Grace back in here, please?"

A second later, Grace walked in. She was wiping the tears from her eyes. I noticed a small bruise forming above her left eye.

"Am I in trouble, Noah?" she softly asked.

I bit my lip before slowly nodding, "Yeah monster, you're in trouble. You're suspended from school for the rest of the day and tomorrow."

"Grace, I'll be calling your parents tonight to tell them what happened and your punishment," Mr. Neilson said.

Grace nodded, "Ok."

I stood, "Thanks for your time."

"Goodbye," Grace muttered.

"I'll see you around, Grace," Mr. Neilson smiled.

She nodded and rushed out in front of me. I chuckled while following her. I quickly scribbled my name on the list to check her out before walking over to where she was waiting at the door.

I grabbed her arm and led her to my truck. Once she was in and buckled, I jumped in the front seat to drive away.

I turned down the radio, "Care to explain what exactly happened?"

"Noah," she whimpered.

"Grace, come on, what happened?" I prodded, "You need to tell me."

"Mom and Dad don't love me, Noah! It's not fair. All Sammie does is take up their time. I need a mom and dad too. I'm more important because I don't even have real parents anymore," she started sobbing.

I winced with each word, "Grace, that's not true."

"Yes it is Noah! Nobody tucked me into bed last night or when I came home from school everyday this week, there wasn't a snack on the table for me. How come they don't like me? Is it because I'm not their real daughter?" Grace cried.

I pulled into a parking lot and shut off the car. I rushed out and went in the backseat next to her. I pulled her on my lap and against my chest.

"You know they like you," I whispered, "Love you, actually. Just because you're not their 'real' daughter doesn't mean you don't mean as much."

Grace continued crying, "I wish Sammie would just go back where she came from."

"Grace," I warned, "Don't say that."

She rubbed her face on my shirt as her sobbing softened. I listened as she started hiccuping.

"I'm sorry," Grace breathed.

"It's alright," I sighed and held her away from me to take in her red stained eyes and swollen face.

She reached a hand up and wiped some stray tears away from her cheeks while letting out a shaky breath, "My head hurts."

I chuckled, "I'd bet."

"And this," Grace ghosted a finger over the growing bruise.

I laughed, "That should barely hurt, it can't count as a bruise."

Grace gasped, "What do you mean?"

I shrugged, "She didn't even punch your eye if that's what she was aiming for."

Grace laughed, "You're right, she didn't punch that hard anyways."

"And what about you? How'd you hit?" I asked.

She leaned in towards my ear as if she was telling me a secret despite us being alone in the car, "I was awesome. Right between her stupid little eyes."

I laughed and hugged her tightly, "I really shouldn't be proud of that, but I can't deny that it makes me smile to hear that you kicked butt."

Grace crawled off my lap and looked around the parking lot, "Can we get ice cream?"

I chuckled, "Sure."

I sighed as Grace jumped out of the car and waited for me to do the same. She was a handful.

~~~~~GLEE~~~~~

We somehow managed to get all the way to dinner without either Ms. Carole or Burt ask what happened to Grace today. We had just sat down to eat when the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Burt reached towards the wall to grab the phone, "Yes, this is her father."

Grace looked up from her chicken at me with wide eyes. I just shook my head. There was no way I could get her out of this.

"I'm sorry, but she did what?" Burt asked into the phone. He quickly stood from the table and walked away.

Ms. Carole glanced at me before looking at Grace, "What'd you do?"

Sarah stared at me across the table as if she could read my mind. I hadn't told her anything that'd I done today and I could tell it was sort of bothering her.

"I got in a fight," Grace whispered.

Ms. Carole's mouth formed a thin line, "About what?"

Grace shrugged, "A girl was bothering me."

"Grace," I muttered, "Say why."

"I don't want to," Grace spit thru her teeth at me.

I raised my eyebrows, "Trust me, it's for the best."

She sighed, "I wanted to get in a fight so you'd have to come and get me from school and we could hang out."

Ms. Carole's eyes widened, "Why?"

"Sammie," Grace breathed.

"Wha-" Ms. Carole started until Burt walked in.

"Grace Marie Puckerman, tell me right now why you're suspended tomorrow," he demanded.

Grace desperately looked at me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

The baby monitor screeched, making us all jump.

Ms. Carole stood, "We're not done," she pointed at Grace.

"Wait," I stood as well, "I'll get her."

"Noah," Grace whimpered.

"Didn't you want their attention?" I asked softly while leaving the room.

I was just walking in Sammie and Grace's room when someone grabbed my hand.

"What's happening?" Sarah asked.

I sighed and bent down to grab Sammie from her crib. I turned off the monitor before turning around to look at Sarah, "Grace wanted your mom and Burt's attention, so she figured if she got into a fight, she'd get it."

"Oh," Sarah sat in the rocking chair, "Wow."

I nodded and sat on Grace's bed, softly rocking Sammie, "She was a mess earlier."

Sarah nodded, "I bet. So she can't go to school tomorrow?"

I shook my head, "She punched the other girl pretty hard, so she had to leave school for the day and tomorrow."

I noticed Sarah chew on her lip slightly.

"What?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Just thinking of how your were probably proud of her for it."

I smirked, "Yeah, I am pretty proud."

Sarah laughed and came to sit next to me, "I can understand how she could be jealous of Sammie. She has been been taking up a lot of our time."

I tightened my grip on a now quiet Sammie, "I did feel a little bad for her."

Sarah nodded, "I know," she leaned into my arm while looking down at Sammie, "Even I'll admit I'm a little jealous of all the attention she's taking up."

I glanced at her, "Really?"

She shrugged, "I kinda miss just being able to hang out with Mom."

I carefully put an arm out and wrapped it around her, "You know that I'm always here, right?"

Sarah laughed softly, "Yes, I know that."

"And," I moved my hand down to rub small circles on her stomach, "He's always here for you too."

She laughed again, "Oh, trust me, I know. He decided to practice soccer today during math. Uncle Jake thought it was pretty cool, right Nate?"

"Oh, you had Jake feel our kid kicking you today?" I asked.

"Mhmm," Sarah smiled, "He's actually pretty cool since he joined glee."

"That's good," I nodded.

"Yeah, I was thinking about inviting him over for dinner or something. What would you think of that?" Sarah asked.

I shrugged, "I guess that's fine."

"Good," she kissed my cheek, "I want you guys to actually know each other."

I nodded, "I know."

Sammie stared up at us with her giant green eyes. Her mouth opened and closed as her tiny tongue stuck through her lips.

Sarah laughed softly, "Even if she takes time away from us, she's really cute."

I chuckled, "Yeah."

"Am I cute, Noah?"

We looked up to the door where Grace was standing. Besides a couple tear tracks down her face, she looked ok.

I smiled, "Yes."

Grace smiled and ran over to us. She jumped on the bed before curling into my side.

"What happened?" Sarah asked.

Grace sighed, "I'm grounded until Monday."

"Are you ok?" Sarah continued.

Grace sat up, "Yeah, I guess. I really shouldn't have punched her even if she deserved it."

I chuckled, "You're gonna have to work on that because it's really hard."

Sarah laughed while shoving my arm, "Do you have experience in that?"

I smirked at her, "Maybe."

Sammie made a small gurgle, making us all look down at her.

"I don't hate you," Grace whispered, "Sarah and Noah are right, you're really cute. I promise I'll be the best big sister you ever had, besides Sarah of course."

I gently bounced Sammie in my hands, "Are you going to be a good little sister, Sammie?"

She reached a hand up and curled it in a fist.

Sarah lightly rubbed Sammie's stomach, "Is that a yes? Huh? Are you going to be a good little sister?"

Sammie smacked her lips together before closing her eyes and letting out a long breath.

I carefully stood, "Looks like someone wants to go back to sleep."

"Sarah, can you help me with my science homework?" Grace asked.

"Of course," Sarah answered.

I turned around after setting Sammie in her crib, "I can help."

Sarah and Grace exchanged a glance before Grace looked at me, "No thanks."

Sarah snorted and hid her face when I quickly stared at her.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, whatever, I probably have homework anyways."

Sarah grabbed my hand before I could leave the room, "Meet you in our room in an hour?"

I smirked, "Sure."

Sarah smiled and nodded before turning to Grace, "Wanna go in the living room?"

~~~~~GLEE~~~~~

A/N: What'd you think? I know some of it was pretty emotional, I think I even cried a little while typing it. PLEASE REVIEW with any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions! I love hearing your thoughts and ideas!

~~~~~GLEE~~~~~

Tyra - Thank you!

dance-sing-live - Thanks for the idea and all the kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it's not what you originally thought!

smilin steph - Thanks!

~~~~~GLEE~~~~~

Sneak Peak: The front door suddenly slammed open and Finn angrily walked in, muttering something about Rachel and an idiot. He quickly went upstairs where we could hear him kicking the furniture. "So...am I able to ask who that was?" Jake questioned.

Not only dinner with Jake, but Finn comes home.