Fic: Out of the Blue, Part 37a by Sapphire (PG-13)

[sapphireej]

Title: Out of the Blue, Part 37a
Author: Sapphire (sapphiresfic)
Pairing/Characters: Rachel, Puck, Rachel/Puck, the Glee clubbers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4,242
Spoilers: Up to 1x13 ~ Sectionals; just to be safe
Series: 'Out of the Blue' (List of all the parts on my LJ)
Summary: Family meeting and the return to school...
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot and ideas.
A/N: Not beta'd; all mistakes are mine. Please mention them if you find any.
A/N2: Sectionals was amazing! I loved it! This story is mostly AU after Mash-up, but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes, I may sneak in a conversation or cover the same topic, but I will put my own twist on it.
A/N3: Feedback keeps me writing, so keep it coming :D

~*~
 

Puck woke to feeling small hands on his shoulder, shaking him. Opening his eyes, he shifted slightly to see his sister standing next to the bed. Carefully moving to sit up without waking Rachel, he looked at her, "Arin, what's wrong?"
 

"I'm not fine," she said and in the dim light of the room, he could see her tears.
 

He narrowed his eyes for a moment, "I didn't think you were," he whispered, "come on," he replied gently getting up and slipped an arm around her shoulders, grabbing his discarded hoodie from the night before and guided her back downstairs. Pausing a moment, he put on the hoodie, sat down on the couch and tugged her into his lap, "alright, talk to me. Did you have a bad dream?" He asked genuinely concerned.
 

She nodded, "yeah," she replied curling up to him.
 

"You want to tell me what it was about?" He reached for her open sleeping bag and threw it over her, since he had his hoodie and then grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over his legs so his feet wouldn't get cold.
 

"Dad and Quinn died and Terri stole Abigail," she cried. "I thought I was okay, but I had a bad dream and I can't stop thinking about it," she explained through tears.
 

Puck tightened his grip on her for a moment, "I know, kiddo, I know how you feel," he admitted, rubbing her back gently, "but they are safe and Abigail is, too," he promised.
 

"But it could have happened," she buried her head in his chest holding onto him tightly.
 

"It could have, but it didn't," he told her, "you want to know something? I had the same dream the first night I heard about what happened."
 

She looked up at him shocked, "you did?"
 

"Yeah, just the thought of loosing dad, Abigail and Quinn, hurt and scared me so much."
 

"What did you do to forget?"
 

"I didn't," he admitted, "but I did keep telling myself that I needed to believe they were going to be okay."
 

"How?"
 

Puck bit his lip, "well, bad things happen a lot, but if you just believe they'll work out, a lot of times they do. Not all the time, but sometimes," he sighed, "just listen okay?" He asked softly, knowing he couldn't explain as well as the song could. At her agreement, he took a deep breath and gave in, lightly singing the song they'd preformed and he'd said to his girlfriend, mom and Finn a few times while they were gone, "many nights we've prayed, with no proof anyone could hear. In our hearts a hopeful song, we barely understood. Now we are not afraid. Although we know there's much to fear. We were moving mountains long before we knew we could. There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve. When you believe, somehow you will. You will when you believe..." Before he got to halfway through, he realized she was asleep in his arms, "figures," he laughed a little, but gently kicked back and closed his own eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep.
 

Waking up to an empty bed next to her, Rachel looked to see it was after eight in the morning and she was surprised to find her boyfriend was already gone. Feeling where he'd been, she realized it was cold and the blankets were thrown off as if he'd gotten up in a hurry, which worried her, so she quickly got up left her room, realizing the door was open. Padding downstairs, she stopped to see not only Finn and Quinn, but Ethan and Deborah staring into the living room. "What's wrong?" She asked.
 

Ethan held his hand up to his mouth, "shhh, don't wake them up," he said as a flash went off and she realized Deborah was taking a picture of something.
 

Moving further in, she grinned, "aww," she murmured, seeing her boyfriend kicked back on the couch with his sister in his arms, both of them asleep with her pink and purple sleeping bag over her and his upper body and the couch blanket thrown over his legs. She couldn't help it and moved to her tote bag she'd used as a carry on and dug out her camera and quickly turned it on and got a few shots in before they woke up.
 

"I've known him a long time and that's not something I'm used to," Finn admitted softly.
 

Deborah smiled, "Noah is a big cuddly teddy bear when he wants to be. He's gonna be a great dad."
 

Ethan sighed, "no thanks to me," he admitted.
 

"Don't beat yourself up," Deborah slipped her arm around his waist and guided him into the kitchen, "actually it is thanks to you," she told him, "if you hadn't left, he wouldn't have helped raise her; he's been dad to Arin since she was born."
 

Rachel, Finn and Quinn followed them into the kitchen; Deborah and Ethan were up for the day and it looked as if Quinn and Finn had just gotten up, going for coffee or breakfast. Rachel excused herself to go take a quick shower and met her dads coming out of their room. She mentioned the cute sight in the living room before she went into her room and got ready for the day, returning to everyone about thirty minutes later to find Arin and Puck also awake and sitting with them.
 

"Rachel, Ethan and I were just mentioning to everyone that we want to have a little talk about some stuff before we all head home or go to out for the day," Deborah said.
 

"About the wedding?" Rachel asked with a grin.
 

"Yes, that's part of it," she admitted.
 

Puck was in the middle of making breakfast so once he was done, everyone sat down at the island or in the dinning room to eat.
 

As the kids finished breakfast, they headed upstairs to get dressed or shower. Quinn and Finn used the hallway shower, while Arin and her brother fought over Rachel's until Puck gave in and let her shower first. Once she and Quinn were done, the boys showered and it was a little over an hour before the entire family was able to sit down in the living room.
 

"The main reason why we wanted to talk you all is because Ethan and I have some news, but first I wanted to ask," Deborah looked at Puck and Rachel, "have you two thought any more about your futures?" She asked.
 

"What do you mean? We're staying together," Puck commented.
 

"I know that," Deborah laughed a little, "I mean about what you're doing after high school."
 

"I've chosen to stay here in Lima and go to school at the OSU campus here," Rachel said, "their vocal and dance programs are at this campus," she added.
 

Deborah nodded, "what about you, Noah?"
 

Puck glanced at his sister and then took his girlfriends hand, "I'm not going to keep bouncing around with it anymore, I'm joining the Navy," he told them.
 

"What?" Quinn's mouth fell open, having not been around for the last few conversations they'd had about it.
 

Puck nodded, "yeah, can't afford to go to school and don't have the grades to get in with a full ride. Can't work at Burt's and take care of a family on that paycheck," he replied, "so it's been a thought for a while, but I've made up my mind; I'm joining."
 

"Wow, okay," Quinn nodded.
 

Finn was just as shocked, but shrugged, "more power to you, dude. I couldn't handle being gone for so long."
 

"Same here, but I'll have to deal. Rachel's going to continue to live here with Abigail so they can still be around family and friends and I'll come home when I can. It's not like I'm going to join and be in there forever. It'll be just a few years to get some experience or a job skill and come home," he shrugged.
 

"So you're for sure staying here," Deborah asked Rachel.
 

Rachel nodded, "yeah, we'll stay in Lima."
 

"David, Alan, what would you two think if Rachel moved into our house after Abigail is born?" Deborah asked softly.
 

"Huh?" Alan was caught off guard by the question and David's eyes widened.
 

"Sorry," Deborah laughed, "I caught you guys off guard, but we've all agreed that Abigail needed one place to call home and not be bounced between two places just so Noah could stay here one night and at home the next. He doesn't want to leave the house he grew up in, so he chose our house as Abigail's. Rachel's going to be around a lot, so we figured she'd want to move in and are offering, as long as you two are alright with it," she explained.
 

"Oh, it's not that you caught us of guard with the question," Alan admitted, "we just didn't expect you two to bring it up. We've already discussed that and figured she'd be spending most of her time over there, so Rachel, you're welcome to do that, as long as you promise to keep your grades up and remember that you're still under age, so you need to keep us in the loop with what you're doing, since you're a minor. We don't mind you living there, but technically your address will remain here," Alan said.
 

"And we'll pay for college like we promised," David added.
 

Rachel was floored at the request and her fathers' response, but smiled, "really? I can?" She asked and at their nods she jumped up and went over to hug her dads before returning to sit next to her boyfriend.
 

Ethan and Deborah smiled at each other. "The reason why we're asking is because Deborah and I have chosen to purchase the house across the street from ours and we wanted to make sure you two were still planning to remain here in Lima, because I'm going to spend my time on updating and fixing it so Deborah, Arin and I can move in, giving Rachel, Noah and Abigail the house we're in now, but we'll keep it in our name until you guys officially graduate from high school and are married," Ethan explained.
 

Everyone gasped and Rachel looked at them, "you're giving us the house?"
 

"What?" Puck's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"
 

Deborah nodded, "yeah, we are. It's paid off, thanks my mom before she died, so yeah, you grew up in it and want to stay here, so why not?"
 

Puck eyed the suspiciously, leaning forward, "what's the catch?" He asked curiously.
 

"There isn't really a catch," Ethan admitted, "other than I'd like to have the master bedroom, master bath, bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen done before we move in and I'd like it done before August, so I'm gonna need some help. I figured you guys will help, but we may need a few more hands, so I was gonna see if you wanted to ask the guys from the club if they wanted to help out. After those are done, I also want to update our master bedroom and bathroom before you and Rachel move into it," he told his son.
 

"So, considering that I'd be helping you anyway, you guys are still giving us the house?" Puck asked a little shocked.
 

"Yes, Noah, we're giving you the house," Deborah replied. "As long as Arin's alright with moving," she added.
 

Arin shrugged, "it's the same street so we're not moving far away, right?" She asked.
 

"Right," Ethan nodded.
 

"Then I'm okay with it," she smiled.
 

"I have a question though," Puck said, "um, Rachel and I aren't even out of high school, is that even possible?" Looking at Alan for an answer, since he was the lawyer.
 

"Yes and no. You'll be eighteen in August, so it won't affect you, but Rachel will still be a minor until September two-thousand-eleven, so she really shouldn't be living away from us, but you two are going to be parents, so it would make sense that you live together. Like I said earlier, as long as her address remains ours, she keeps her grades up and keeps us up-to-date with everything, we don't have an issue with her living there. Besides, you guys live less than a mile from here," Alan laughed a little, "so we'll be seeing you a lot. The school can't really say anything about it either, since we're giving our children permission for it and Deborah and Ethan are keeping their name on the house, so it's still theirs," he explained. "And your room will always be yours, Rachel, so you don't have to move out completely, but I'm sure you'll want to move the stuff you use on the a daily basis."
 

Puck nodded and rubbed his face, "wow, you guys are really giving us the house?" He kept asking because he thought was dreaming. At their nods, he sat back, "wow. Talk about major."
 

Rachel nodded squeezing his hand, "yeah, major is a good word for it," she admitted.
 

Deborah and Ethan smiled, "we're getting married in the middle of July and the job I'm going to be taking here is with the Lima Police Department, but the person I'm replacing isn't retiring until July and I mentioned we're getting married then, so the supervisor is okay that don't start until August," Ethan explained, "that's why we need to have as much of the house done as possible before then; I won't have as much free time to do it. I have to be out of the house I'm in up in Detroit at the end of this month because it's sold and will be finalized on the last day, but I'll still have to stay up there until all my paperwork and transfer is complete, which could be a month or more, so I'm just gonna stay in a hotel while I finish up there."
 

"Where are you going to put all your stuff?" Puck asked.
 

"Drive a U-Haul down here to drop stuff off; most of it can go in the garage until we need it in the new house," Ethan said, "and it could be the end of May before we get it officially."
 

"Now I see why you need extra hands, that's less than two months to get it done," Puck nodded.
 

"Yeah, plus getting things set up for the wedding in July and help you guys figure out who's going to babysit Abigail while you're in school," Ethan said.
 

"Actually," Quinn spoke up, "I figured I'd be taking care of her, at least until the end of this school year, considering I'll be nursing," she admitted. "As soon as I have her, I won't be able to go to school, but my teachers are going to let me finish my classes as long as someone can drop my work off, so I was going to offer it."
 

"You'd be willing to nurse?" Puck asked glancing at her.
 

Quinn nodded, "yeah, actually Rachel and I have talked about it. It's important for a baby to nurse and all I'll be doing is homework and taking it easy, so why not?"
 

Deborah smiled, "thanks Quinn, I was going to suggest it, but I didn't want you to feel obligated, considering the situation."
 

Quinn shrugged, "I'm pregnant with her, so I can nurse her, just not going to be her mom; just her aunt, nothing more."
 

"Thanks," Puck smiled at her, "for doing that," he admitted.
 

She nodded at him, "you're welcome."
 

"Speaking of babies," Deborah blushed.
 

Puck groaned, "oh please don't tell me you're pregnant," he begged.
 

"No, but we're thinking about trying for another one after we get married," Deborah replied.
 

"So I could have a baby brother or sister?" Arin asked, "awesome!"
 

Puck glared at his sister and then turned to his parents, "do you realize that if you do have another one, I'll be almost nineteen before they're born, so when they're twenty I'll be pushing forty?"
 

"Yes, we know that, and we'll be in our late fifties, but it's kind of our last shot; I don't know how many more years I'll be able to have children," Deborah admitted. "The two times he's proposed to me has been on Valentine's Day and we're getting married on our anniversary," she started.
 

Rachel caught on, "so having another child will bring things full circle. That's a great idea," she smiled, "though Abigail will have an aunt or uncle younger than her."
 

The two nodded and looked at Puck, knowing Arin had already approved, they were just waiting on him to say something. Puck thought for a long moment, knowing they were asking for his blessing. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I had another sibling," he admitted, with a long sigh, "this one wasn't too difficult," he motioned to Arin. "Can I request a brother, though?"
 

"Me too! I already have sisters," Arin said looking at Rachel and Quinn.
 

Both girls smiled, "thanks Arin," Rachel replied.
 

Quinn's 'thanks' was cut off by Finn, "what am I? Chopped liver?" He asked with a pout.
 

Everyone laughed, "no, you're the same age as me, so it doesn't count the same. You're still my brother," Puck commented. "And you'll have a little brother running around, too," he added.
 

"Oh yeah, good point," Finn grinned.
 

"Before you guys talk kids, shouldn't you be discussing a wedding?" Quinn asked.
 

Deborah and Ethan exchanged looks, "kind of," Deborah admitted.
 

"Why kind of?" Rachel questioned.
 

"We're not going to do the whole marriage like normal. We've already figured out what we're going to do. Get the license during the week, then that morning we'll go to the justice of the peace and sign the papers with a few friends as witnesses. That afternoon, we'll have a big reception somewhere and when we get there, we'd like to have Noah say something and that's when we'll exchange rings, so everyone can see," Deborah explained.
 

"Me? What am I supposed to say?" Puck's eyes widened.
 

"We'll come up with something," Rachel patted his knee with a smile, her and Quinn exchanging glances that were a silent conversation about plans. "What are you guys doing for rings?"
 

"Ethan proposed to me with the engagement ring he gave me the first time, and when we got married we went with gold bands and he's worn them since we split," Deborah started.
 

"And I don't want to take them off, so we're going with what we wanted to do when we first got married; Claddagh rings. They were harder to find back in the early nineties, but now are easier, so we're going to get them," Ethan continued.
 

"Once we exchange rings, I'll give him back the engagement ring and he can continue to wear the rings like he has and we'll have the other ones," Deborah finished.
 

"What is a Claddagh ring?" Quinn asked.
 

"It's an Irish ring that's given for many things, usually for love, friendship or as wedding rings. It has two hands, holding a heart and usually there is a grown on top of the heart. Depending on how you wear it means something different," Puck explained.
 

Ethan narrowed his eyes at his son, "how did you know?" He asked curiously.
 

"You're stealing my idea," Puck muttered, "but it's cool. Not like I'm the only one who wants to wear them as wedding rings."
 

Rachel turned her head to her boyfriend, "you're already looking at rings?"
 

"Looked," he clarified, "and made my mind up on your engagement ring and our wedding rings back in December when I got these," he admitted, lifting up his left hand to show the band on his hand. "And no, I'm not going to tell you what it's going to be," he added slyly.
 

"Um, since we're all here," Quinn started, glancing around the room and waited a moment for everyone to look at her, "while Ethan and I were, um, not here, we had a chance to talk and he told me what his parents did and I can relate. I also kind of feel the same way and I told him something and then mentioned it to David and Alan yesterday. I want to let the rest of you know," Quinn explained, "I'm never going to move back in with my parents. I would like to talk to my mom, but I probably will never talk to my dad again. My sister and I have discussed it and we've decided that we're going to tell our parents that I gave the baby away in a closed adoption so they can't look for her, and I'm also not going to tell them who the father is," she explained. "They don't know who Puck is and I want to keep it that way, so they don't see him in the store with Abigail and wonder. I know we're friends, but I won't let her meet Puck or Rachel, not because I'm ashamed of any of you, I just don't want them to know you just in case of Abigail. For now I'll stay here, but after she's born, I'll spend the days with Abigail and then either come here or stay at Finn's," she replied.
 

"Wow, you've got it figured out," Finn commented.
 

She shrugged, "it's not that far off and I had a lot of time on my hands recently," she admitted.
 

"It's a good plan," Deborah said, "and will help out for school until June," she added.
 

"I can't believe it's less than six weeks away," Puck said softly, "or less depending on when she actually gets here."
 

"Yeah, it's not far off. She will be here in no time," Ethan said softly.
 

"Got a lot to do in a short amount of time," Deborah agreed.
 

Kicking back to start discussing what they had to do, their conversations continued, but Finn admitted he should get home to see his mom for a while, since he'd been gone for so long. Ethan offered to give him a ride back, and Quinn wanted to go with Finn, so Deborah, Quinn, Finn and Arin gathered up their stuff and loaded up Ethan's jeep, leaving Puck and Rachel with his jeep so they could come over when they wanted.
 

When Ethan parked in the driveway of their house, they climbed out and got their bags from the back. Deborah and Arin said 'bye' to Quinn and Finn and headed for the house, but before the teens could start walking away, Ethan stopped them, "Quinn, Finn, take things slow," he warned softly.

"What?" Finn looked at him confused.
 

"Just take it easy. Quinn, you've been through a major ordeal and I know your okay right now, but you never know. That could change and you both need to be careful. You can talk to Finn, me, Deb, Rachel's dads, Noah, Rachel, any of us, but you can't bottle up everything for too long, it's not good, alright?"
 

Quinn nodded, "yeah, thanks. I'll call you if I have to," she admitted, "um, so I should probably get your number," she added pulling her phone and typing the numbers in as he told her what it was. She quickly gave him hers before she and Finn headed down the street, while Ethan followed the path of Arin and Deborah into their house.
 

Deborah was in the kitchen getting something to drink when Ethan walked in and wrapped his arms around her, "welcome home, baby," he whispered.
 

She smiled and turned around in his arms, the bottle of water forgotten as she pressed a kiss to his lips, "you, too," she replied.

~*~

Rachel and Puck found themselves up in her room; he packed up his suitcases again since he'd dug through them for clothes and added some more things of his he should have at the house and found Rachel hardly unpacking. "Rach, you going to unpack?" He asked curiously.

"Not really, well, yes, but not as much as I normally would... I can't believe I can move into your house," she grinned.

"Our house," he corrected her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "I'm still really shocked that they're doing that, too. Did my parents really say they're going to try for another kid?"

Rachel nodded, "yeah."

"It's gonna suck that their big brother isn't there for them, like I was for Arin," he whispered.

"You will be, just like you will be for Abigail, but for a few years you won't be there every day. And we'll all keep you up-to-date, and every long weekend or chance I get off, we'll come visit, Noah, we can make this work," she promised, "so stop moping about it," she replied.

Puck smiled at her, "I love you, you know that, right?"

"I'd like to think you do, but it's still nice to hear. I love you, too," she added snuggling up against his chest. "What do you want to do for the rest of our break?" She asked moments later.

Shrugging, he pulled away lightly, "Burt wants me to work through Sunday, starting tomorrow, so I won't have much of a break and we've got homework to get going on, since we didn't get anything done while we were away."

~*~

Music: 'When You Believe' as sung by Celtic Woman... Yes, I used it again, but I think it worked out, though; Puck singing to Arin; never seen that before.

~*~

To Part 37b