Fic: Out of the Blue, Part 79 by Sapphire (PG-13)

[sapphireej]

Title: Out of the Blue, Part 79
Author: Sapphire (sapphiresfic)
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Rachel, Puck, Rachel/Puck, the Glee clubbers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 6,533
Spoilers: Up to 1x22 ~ Journey; just to be safe
Series: 'Out of the Blue' (List of all the parts on my LJ)
Summary1: When Puck admits something to Rachel 'out of the blue;' what happens? Now both will face the ups and downs of his admission and find a little bit about each other along the way.
Summary2: Family time and Judy arrives.
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot, ideas and original characters.
A/N: I edited this chapter, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N2: This story is mostly AU after Mash-up (1x08), but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes and music used, I may sneak in a conversation, cover the same topic, or use the same song, but I will put my own twist on it and may use some of the music.

~*~

A/N3: I decided to post this update now, in honor of 'Out of the Blue' turning 2! October 15th, 2009, I started writing the first chapter and posted it on my LJ on October 19th. After many awesome reviews, I continued writing. At first I only posted it on my LJ, but when I finally got the hang of FF, on October 29th, I posted the few chapters I had on LJ, and from then on, I updated it on both FF and LJ... 'Out of the Blue' is far from over and even when it does end, a sequel will continue it on. It's been an amazing two years. 'Out of the Blue' is my first ever Puckleberry fic and I know it won't be my last! To all of my readers, thank you for everything! For supporting my writing, for reading, reviewing, praying for my family when we were going through rough times, your words of encouragement; all of it! I honestly can't thank you enough for how you guys have helped me out these past few years! You all are amazing, I love you and I hope you all this continue the journey with me!

~*~

Snuggling close to each other, Rachel and Puck helped each other stay warm under the two heavy comforters and blankets they had on their bed. Their room was pitch black, except for the flashlight that Puck purposely left turned on so they'd have some sort of light.

Sometime in the early morning, before sunrise, Puck woke up and noticed their alarm clock was flashing '12:25', which he knew was wrong, so he glanced at his watch, seeing it was just after four-am. "Power must have come back on about twenty-five minutes ago," he thought, shifting a little.

"What's going on?" Rachel murmured, waking up when she felt her boyfriend move.

"Power's back on," he replied, reaching out to set their clock so it would stop flashing.

"Oh, that's good," she said softly, sticking her arm out of the blanket to feel the room warmer than it had been when they went to bed the night before. "I should go check on Abby," she added.

Puck smiled, leaning over and kissing her forehead, "no, I'll go do that. You stay here."

"Okay," she returned his smile and settled back into the pillows.

After warming up the night before, neither had put any clothes on, so as Puck crawled out of bed, he threw on a pair of boxes and a t-shirt before quietly stepping out of their room and moving down to the nursery. Going inside, he carefully went over to the crib and checked on Abby, seeing her sound asleep. "Sleep well, baby girl," he murmured, before leaving the room and returning to bed, "she's sound asleep," he commented as he closed the door.

"Good," Rachel smiled sitting up a little bit.

"You put clothes on," he noted.

"Yeah, I figured we could take the extra blanket off the bed and still stay warm," she said, motioning to the end of the bed where she'd folded it up.

"Works for me," he shrugged, crawling back into bed. "I vote for a few more hours of sleep," he commented, wrapping his arms around her.

"Sounds good to me," she replied, settling back in his arms and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Puck smiled and tugged the blankets back over them and let sleep take over.

~*~

An hour after Puck and Rachel got back to sleep, the phone rang again, and this time Rachel answered it, when Puck refused to. Finding out school was canceled that day, she returned to bed and the two went right back to sleep, glad for the early start to their Winter Break.

Sleeping as late as they could, they finally got up for the day around eight-thirty and found David and Alan just coming in from outside. They'd cleaned their car off the rest of the way and got it cleared from the snow so they could get it out, "oh, we were just going to leave you guys a note," David admitted.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked.

"We're going to go home," Alan replied, "to check on things there and I need to go to the office for a few hours and try to catch up with my missed work."

"Oh, um, are you sure it's alright to be driving out there?" She glanced outside, seeing the road had been plowed right down the middle during the night.

"Yes it is, sweetheart," David assured her, "we've been here two nights and though I don't have to go to work because they closed the clinic yesterday and today, dad's gotta go catch up on work," he said.

"But we'll be back this evening for dinner, then we'll go home tonight and be over at the Hudson's sometime before Quinn's mom shows," Alan explained.

Rachel bit her lip, but nodded, "alright. Just be careful. I'll call Quinn and find out exactly when she invited her mom over so I'll let you know tonight," she replied.

"Alright. Sounds good," David nodded, wrapping his arms around her, "we'll be fine," he promised.

"We'll call when we get home and be over around four-thirty," Alan replied.

"Okay," Rachel said reluctantly.

Puck was standing next to Rachel, with Abby in his arms, and after the two men hugged Rachel, they said 'goodbye' to Puck and Abby and headed out to their car, having already put their bags in it earlier.

Rachel watched them leave and then followed Puck into the kitchen, "I didn't expect them to leave so soon," she admitted.

"Well, like they said, your dad had to get to work for a while, and wanted to check on their house," Puck replied, settling Abby into her high chair.

"Yeah, I know, but I just... Wish they would have waited a few more hours," she said softly.

"Babe, relax. They'll be fine," he assured her, wrapping his arms around her

Taking a deep breath, she nodded, relaxing in his arms, "you always know what calms me down," she murmured.

Puck pressed a kiss to her forehead, "because I don't like seeing you worried or stressed out," he explained, "so I help out where I can."

She smiled and stood up on her tip toes, kissing his lips, "thank you."

He grinned, "no thanks needed, babe."

~*~

Taking the time to feed Abby and eat breakfast, David called to assure Rachel they'd made it home safely and they'd be over later on that day, so Rachel relaxed from the worry she had and focused on the day.

After eating, Rachel and Puck took turns showering and then settled in the living room. Rachel sat on the couch, leaning over the coffee table, already starting on homework they'd gotten a few days prior, Puck was on the floor, leaning back against the couch, playing a video game, Kona was nearby, laying down on a fluffy dog bed and a blanket was laid out in the middle of the floor not too far away from Puck with Abby on it, occupying herself with stuffed toys and a rattle they'd given her to play with.

"You know, we do have two weeks off," Puck commented, pausing his game.

"I know, but we've missed two days of school and the sooner we get it done the better," she replied, looking at him and something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, so she turned to look at Abby, "oh my!" She gasped, "look!"

Puck looked towards their daughter and saw her on her hands and knees, crawling towards him. She'd been getting close to crawling, but would always fumble and stop trying, no matter how much anyone would coax her to continue, but this time, she was going for it, without stopping. "That's my baby girl!" He grinned, setting the game controller on the floor, spread his legs out and let her keep crawling, holding his hands out for her, "come on, come to daddy," he coaxed.

"I've gotta get my camera!" Rachel exclaimed, jumping up and heading to where she'd left it the day before, near the stairs, so she was still able to keep her eyes on them.

Hearing the commotion, Kona perked up, watching what was happening. Abby kept going towards her dad, grinning and gurgling a little when Puck started talking to her and when she finally reached his hands, he picked her up and hugged her, "good job, baby girl! I'm so proud of you!" He said, feeling his emotions on high at what had just happened.

"Me too," Rachel agreed, kneeling down next to him and showing him the picture she managed to take of Abby crawling towards his open hands. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Abby's forehead, "our baby girl is growing up," she added, feeling tears in her eyes.

"Yeah she is," Puck agreed, "why don't you go sit by the TV and see if we can get her to crawl to you," he suggested, taking her camera.

"Okay," Rachel nodded, taking his suggestion and moving to sit across the room, spreading her legs out like Puck had, "hey Abby, come here. Come to mommy," she said happily.

Puck returned Abby to the floor to see what she'd do and within a few seconds, she was crawling towards Rachel, so Puck stood up and was able to get a similar picture to what Rachel had gotten of him and Abby.

While Abby crawled this time, Kona got up and moved closer, in protection mode, but didn't get in the way. She, Puck and Rachel were watching as Abby kept crawling to Rachel without stopping and when Abby reached her mom, Rachel picked her up and snuggled her, "oh, sweetie, I'm so happy," she murmured, tears falling from her eyes, "mommy loves you."

"Talk about an awesome day," Puck commented, moving to Rachel and wiping her eyes, "I also think it's time to set up the play pen," he added with a grin.

"It's a very awesome day," Rachel agreed, "and I do believe it is time for that and also time to start baby proofing the house."

Puck smirked, "now we know what we'll be doing over the break. I figured we'd have to start soon anyway; now we know for sure," he explained.

"We do," Rachel nodded in agreement.

~*~

Passing on the news to family and friends that Abby was crawling, prompted return messages of 'that's awesome', 'congratulations' or similar statements that were just as happy as Puck and Rachel were. Susan responded that she'd have to get some baby gates to put up in the house to keep Abby from getting anywhere she shouldn't and Puck and Rachel agreed they'd have to start doing the same thing.

Pushing aside what they had been doing, the young couple spent the rest of the morning on the floor, crawling around with Abby, who was definitely interested in checking out the rest of the living room, now that she was mobile.

Kona was quiet protective of Abby, not being more than a few feet from her at all times and Puck and Rachel didn't mind, because she stopped Abby a few times from getting too close to the brick fireplace that they never used, before either of them could catch her.

As lunch time rolled around, Deborah, Ethan and Arin came over and they had lunch together, then got a chance to see Abby crawling around first hand. They were just as happy to see her moving around as Puck and Rachel had been and also noticed Kona keeping close watch of her, glad to have her there, because they knew as both Kona and Abby grew, Kona would continue to be protective of Abby.

Deborah and Ethan had also come over to find out what Puck and Rachel were out of, because they were going to make a trip to the store and Arin didn't want to go, so Puck and Rachel were going to let her hang out with them.

Once the two adults left, Rachel took Abby upstairs for a nap, because she was starting to show the signs of being tired and when she returned, Puck and Arin were watching TV.

"I should really call Mr. Schuester and find out what we're going to do with the Glee Club plans," Rachel commented.

"What plans?" Puck asked.

"About how we're going to pick the songs for Regionals, since there's no school. We can't wait until we go back in January to pick them," she explained.

Puck nodded, "yeah, I get ya. I remember talking about it. Well, we'll be busy tomorrow and a lot of them go to church on Sunday, so that's probably out, but we could meet on Monday. I guess they could come over here, though that's a ton of people to have in our house."

"It would be," she nodded, "but we've had that many over before; besides, I don't think everyone will show up. The original members and a few of the new ones for sure will be here, but I don't know about the rest."

"We don't really need everyone here, either," Puck added as an afterthought. "I mean, with the original members and some of the new ones, plus the directors, that's almost twenty people. That's a majority. If not everyone can come, those who can't will have to deal with the songs since they weren't here to help pick them," he explained.

Rachel thought for a moment, "yes, I agree, but I want it to be fair to everyone."

"You can't always make everyone happy. Someone is always going to disagree. If you make arrangements for Monday, that's plenty of time for everyone to plan to come over; if they still can't make it, then we'll have to make a decision without them," he told her.

"Okay," she nodded, "I'll go call Mr. Schuester."

~*~

Heading up to her and Puck's room, while Rachel dug out the information list for the new club members, she called Will. She explained what she and Puck had talked about and he agreed that the club should meet soon to discuss music and went along with the Monday suggestion. Finding the contact information for the new members, she offered to let everyone know and after a few minutes discussion, they agreed that noon was a good time to have everyone over at Puck and Rachel's and then Rachel hung up, so she could contact the others.

Staying in their room, Rachel took a seat on the bed and though she was going to first send a text message to all of the members, she held off for the moment, wanting to call Quinn to ask her about the next day.

"Hey, Quinn," Rachel said, once she answered.

"Hey, Rachel, everything alright?" Quinn asked.

"Oh, yeah, it's wonderful," Rachel smiled, then something hit her, "I... I, um, should be asking you that."

"Me, why?" Quinn wondered.

"Because Abby is crawling... It's a big milestone," Rachel said softly.

"I'm fine," Quinn assured her, "just because I gave birth to her doesn't mean I'm her parent. I'm definitely not. Abby is one-hundred-percent yours and Puck's daughter. It's awesome that's she's crawling, but I don't have the same feelings you do about it. I can't... I see you with Abby and I just can't see myself being like you are. I hope one day when I do start a family that I'm as motherly to my kids as your are to Abby, but right now, I couldn't be like that," she explained, pausing for a moment, "and we don't need to go through this every milestone either," she added with a light laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"I understand," Rachel agreed, taking a deep breath, "please don't take this the wrong way, but some days I worry I'm going to wake up and find this is all a dream or that you've changed your mind or something... I know we've talked and you say you won't, but I just can't help but worry sometimes," she admitted, biting her lip nervously, because she knew they'd already talked about it a few times.

"Rachel, I get that you worry, but I promise you that I am not going to change my mind. Period. Abby is yours and I'm not going to take her away from you or Puck. She is with her parents. I'm just the cool aunt," Quinn told her truthfully.

Rachel giggled lightly at the last part, "thanks Quinn. I'm sure you're tired of hearing me bring it up, and I try not to, but I guess with everything that went on with your mom at Sectionals and then tomorrow, my worries have resurfaced a little more," she admitted softly, "and now it sounds like I don't trust you, but I do."

"It's okay. I get it and it doesn't bother me that you ask, but hopefully after tomorrow you won't have to worry anymore," Quinn explained, "you'll see that Judy, um, my mom, means what she says and you'll trust her."

"I hope so," Rachel nodded, trying to relax, "speaking of Judy, what time is she going to be over? When would you like us over?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"I asked her to be here about noon, so I'd like everyone over before she gets here, so between eleven and eleven-thirty, how's that?" Quinn replied.

"That sounds good. We were just curious and I need to let Susan know so she can be ready to watch Abby for a while," Rachel admitted.

"Alright," Quinn nodded, "hey, um, thanks for going along with that. I just really think that having her around right off the bat might be too much."

"No worries. It's the same reason why I didn't take her when Noah, Deborah and I went to meet Shelby the first time," Rachel explained.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that," she admitted.

Rachel nodded, "oh! The other reason I was calling was to tell you about Monday. I just spoke to Mr. Schuester and he agrees that the club should meet sometime over break to pick songs, so I'm calling the meeting for noon, on Monday, here at the house," she said. "I wanted to talk to you first and then I'm going to go message everyone else."

"Monday sounds fine. I'll tell Finn. Want me to let Kurt know, too? Burt, Kurt and Carole are on their way over to get us and then we're all going to the store to get stuff for tomorrow," she explained.

"Sure, you could tell Kurt and Finn. I will probably send out a group text message to everyone and anyone who can come that doesn't know how to get here, I'll call personally," Rachel told her.

"Okay, works for me," Quinn paused for a moment, "I should let you go. They just got here and I still need to change."

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Rachel said, "be careful out there."

"We will. See you then," Quinn replied.

Hanging up the phone, Rachel reached for the paper sitting next to her with the club members information and just as she was about to add all their numbers to her phone, she heard someone clear their throat. Turning around, she saw Puck standing in the doorway, "hey Noah."

"Hey. Talk to Quinn?" He asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "she'd like us over there by eleven-thirty tomorrow so we'll all be there when her mom arrives at noon."

"Alright," he walked further into the room, "still worried about Quinn changing her mind?" He wondered, having heard part of her conversation.

Rachel gasped, "you heard that?"

"Yeah," he nodded, moving to sit next to her on the edge of the bed, "I heard that with all this that's going on, some of your worries have resurfaced and you figure she's tired of you bringing it up. Which I'm guessing is about her and your worries that she'll change her mind," he explained. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I came up to check on Abby and you, since you hadn't been back down for a while," he added.

"It's okay. I don't mind. I... Yes, I did mention it. Given that Abby started crawling today and I told everyone, I wanted to see if she was alright, you know?" She said, continuing on, briefly explaining what she and Quinn had talked about.

"Well, I'm sure Quinn told you this, but she's not going to change her mind. I trust her word and I also am sure that Judy isn't going to try something," he promised, wrapping his arms around her.

Rachel relaxed against him and took a deep breath, "I wish I could be as sure as you are," she murmured, "I just can't seem to shake it."

Puck rubbed her back and kissed her forehead, "I wish I could take your worry away. Maybe tomorrow once you have a chance to talk to Judy, you'll relax more," he suggested.

"That's kind of what Quinn said. I hope that happens," Rachel replied, "if not, I'll just try to push it aside and not let it bother me," she said, "I'm trying to do that now, but it doesn't seem to work."

"Maybe I could try to help you forget," he smirked, "with a little physical education."

"Noah! Arin's downstairs," Rachel gasped, blushing deeply with his suggestion.

"So? She won't bother us and Abby's still asleep," he winked.

Taking a moment to breathe and relax, she was tempted to take him up on the offer, but her mind was still cluttered with other things and didn't think she'd be able to focus, "as tempting as that sounds, Noah, I need to contact the club members and..."

Puck pressed a finger to her lips, "hold on," he murmured, standing up and moving to their door. Closing it, he returned to her and took her phone and the papers she had on the bed and laid them on the corner of her nightstand, "you've got all weekend to call a meeting," he said softly, taking a seat next to her. His hand lifted up to rest against her cheek, his thumb brushing gently against the soft skin, "and you're wound up from emotions, so let me help you relax for a while," he suggested.

Listening to his words, Rachel leaned into his hand and let her eyes drift closed, slowly starting to relax. Feeling how her body reacted to just his hand, she knew the closer she got to him the more relaxed she'd feel, so she smiled and opened her eyes, looking at him, "make love to me, Noah," she whispered.

Studying her face for a moment, Puck returned her smile and leaned forward, kissing her lips gently, "gladly."

~*~

Puck didn't expect Rachel to go for his suggestion, but when she did, he gladly showed her love and care as they joined together and shared some intimate time together. As the two slowly settled back against the pillows, relaxed and snuggled under the blankets, they soaked in the time they had, but knew they couldn't stay there forever.

Abby soon woke up, which was their indication to return to reality, so they got dressed and went back to what they had been doing earlier. Rachel sent the message to all the Glee members about the meeting on Monday while Puck took care of Abby and then Rachel called Susan to make plans for her to watch Abby, before finally joining Puck, Abby and Arin in the living room.

Deborah and Ethan returned from their shopping trip a little later and brought over what they'd gotten for Puck and Rachel's house, along with what they'd picked up for dinner, so Deborah and Rachel got to work on that while Ethan and Puck watched Abby and Arin.

David and Alan arrived around four-thirty and they got a chance to see Abby crawling and were just as excited as everyone else had been. Everyone in the house all started to chip in getting dinner ready and when they sat down around five-thirty, the family ate and got a chance to celebrate Abby's milestone, no one in a hurry for her to have many more, though they knew that she would continue to grow and couldn't wait to learn more about her.

After dinner, everyone settled in the living room to chat or watch TV like they usually did and Rachel told them about Quinn's plan for the next day. They agreed to be over at the Hudson's by eleven-thirty and before it got too late, David and Alan decided to leave, even though Rachel assured them they didn't have to. The two men wanted to sleep in their own bed and Rachel did understand that, so they said 'goodnight' and left, promising to see everyone the next day. Once they were on their way home, Ethan, Deborah and Arin chose to head home themselves, since it'd been a long day and wanted to be well rested for the next one.

"Looks like it's just you, me, the dog and the kid," Puck commented, kicking back on the sofa, but his eyes were glued to Abby, crawling around on the floor, checking out a few of her toys they had down there with her.

"It looks like it is," Rachel agreed, "we really should get the play pen set up. It's up in the nursery," she told him, "and I already washed the sides and mat cover, so it just needs to get put together."

"I know. We just haven't needed it yet," he sat up a little, "I'll do it tomorrow. No need to get it out now. She'll be going to bed soon," he admitted.

"True," she agreed, "would you like to... um," she blushed, "continue where we left off earlier?"

"Rachel Marie Berry, are you asking what I think you're asking?" He grinned, pulling her into his arms and kissing her lips.

Returning his kiss, Rachel smiled, her blush deepening, "yes," she replied, "I am."

"Maybe we should get Abby ready for bed and we can have the rest of the night to ourselves," he suggested, "I mean, it is almost her bedtime anyway," he winked.

Rachel glanced at Abby, who was sitting on the blanket they had laid out entertained by one of her toys, "maybe we could spend a little more time with her and then get her ready for bed," she suggested, "then I'm all yours," she added, wanting to spend some more family time with her.

"We could do that, too," he nodded, shifting a little and slid off the couch onto the floor, then patted the carpet next to him, "spending that kind of time with you is awesome and what's almost as awesome is having family time."

Joining him on the floor, Rachel folded her legs under her and leaned against him, "I definitely agree. They are two of my most favorite things... Abby," she cooed, patting Puck's leg and smiling.

Hearing her name, Abby grinned, shaking her rattle a little and then crawled over to her and reached up, wanting her to pick her up.

Rachel happily picked her up and hugged her gently, "I love you, sweetie."

Puck shifted and wrapped his arm around her and Abby and kissed both of his girls' foreheads, then smiled, "I love you both."

~*~

Spending a little more time together, Abby began to get sleepy, so after a light bedtime snack and a bath, Puck and Rachel got Abby dressed in her pajamas and carefully laid her down in her crib for the night.

Taking care of a few things downstairs, soon Rachel and Puck were turning in for the night, enjoying the alone time and this time Rachel wasn't worried that someone would interrupt them, because they knew the house was empty except for them, Abby and Kona.

When morning arrived, they were up around eight, had breakfast and started getting ready for the day. Puck had some free time, so he put together Abby's play pen, giving her some space to crawl around and play in without getting near anything she could hurt herself on. It took him a little longer than the directions said, with many colorful words being used, but it wasn't too long before Abby was in it, checking out her new space.

While she was in her pen, Puck relaxed and kept an eye on her while Rachel filled up her diaper bag with things and soon she was finished and taking a seat on the couch next to her boyfriend, "we should go soon. It'll take us some time to walk over to your aunt and uncle's house," she said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm ready whenever you are," he admitted.

"Help me get Abby changed?" She asked.

"Sure," he nodded.

Taking some time, the two dressed her up in her warm winter jacket and pants and Rachel made sure to add a few more sets of clothes for her just in case she needed them. Once the two had gotten their jackets on, Puck carried Abby while Rachel threw the bag over her shoulder and began their short trek a street over to Ben and Susan's place.

With a lot of snow still on the ground, Puck and Rachel walked down the strip of road that had been plowed so they didn't slip, but were still careful for ice; Puck didn't want to fall with Abby in his arms. It took a few extra minutes than normal, but they finally arrived and dropped Abby off, finding Arin, Deborah and Ethan there; they had walked Arin over so she could spend the day with Hannah, Ben and Susan's younger daughter, the same age as her.

Talking for a bit, the four said 'goodbye' and made their way back to the Hudson's house and saw Kurt's SUV outside. Knocking on the door, Finn answered it moments later, and everyone moved inside, taking the time to greet Carole, Burt, Kurt, Quinn and Finn. Once everyone had their jackets off, Puck, Finn, Ethan and Burt went into the living room while Rachel and Deborah chipped in with the preparations in the kitchen and it was about eleven-thirty when David and Alan arrived.

With everyone there, except Judy, Quinn was now even more nervous than she had been and was starting to pace in the living room as she watched outside for Judy's car.

"Quinn, relax," Finn said, getting up and moving towards her.

"I can't relax; I'm so torn. Part of me wants to tell her off and forget she exists for what she did, but on the other hand, I know she was only doing what he said, so I keep thinking I should just forgive and forget," she explained.

"You'll never forget," Puck said honestly, "but it's what she does from here on out that will prove she's sorry for what she did, so you can forgive her. Things just need time," he told her, remembering from personal experience.

Quinn nodded, "yeah, you're right and I know that," she agreed, taking a moment to relax. Glancing outside she saw her mom's car and took a deep breath, "she's here," she said softly.

~*~

Moving to the door, Quinn greeted Judy first and invited her inside. Once she had taken her jacket off and hung it up, they moved into the living room and Quinn looked around, "I'd like you to meet my family," Quinn told Judy honestly, motioning around and introducing David, Alan, Rachel, Puck, Ethan, Deborah, Finn, Carole, Burt and Kurt.

Looking around as Quinn said their names, Judy nodded in greeting and took a deep breath, "I'd... I'd like to thank you all for accepting my daughter into your lives," she started, "I know what happened was unacceptable, but at the time, I didn't have any say in the matter. I'd always followed along with my ex's plans because he was the one who had the job and money, but not anymore. What he did to Quinn should have been the deciding factor, but I didn't know what to do at the time and was still blinded by several things. When we moved, things changed and it took me a while, but when I finally realized he was cheating on me, I woke up, took my life into my own hands and filed for divorce. You'd think after being married as long as we were, that I'd be upset that we're split up, but I'm not. I'm relived to be rid of him and I hope now that he's out of the picture, I can... I can rebuild a relationship with Quinn. I know it's not going to be easy, but I'm willing to do anything to have you back in my life," Judy explained, turning to Quinn as she said the last of her speech.

Quinn glanced at Puck, remembering what he'd said just before Judy had arrived and bit her lip, "I think I told you this when we saw you this weekend, but I can't just forget what you did or forgive you. I know he was controlling, but you had so many opportunities to contact me and you never did. I need time."

Judy nodded, "I know and I'm willing to give you all the time you need. I'm also sorry for catching you, out of the blue, like I did this past weekend, but I didn't know any other way to meet up with you... Rebecca said they were going to see your performance and it seemed like the best time, without you thinking I was trying to corner you."

"Yeah, I get that now," she admitted, "I know I was pretty defensive, because you caught me off guard, but I'm glad you had done that when I had others around. If you would have moved back here and I saw you somewhere, I probably wouldn't have talked to you," she told her truthfully. "When are you moving back here?"

"Soon, your niece and nephew are out of school for break, so your sister and brother-in-law are going to help me bring my things up here. I don't have much to move. Most of my stuff is still here. I got the house, here in Lima, in the divorce," she explained, "and it hasn't been touched since we left earlier this year."

Quinn nodded, "okay," she paused, "I don't even know where to start."

"How about we get our food and come back in here and we can talk over lunch," Carole suggested, breaking the nervous tension in the room.

~*~

Thankful for Carole's suggestion, everyone agreed with her and moved towards the kitchen to fill plates with food and returned to the living room to sit down. Judy wanted to know everything from the time Quinn found out she was pregnant and though Quinn did most of the talking, others joined in at times to explain things, including how Puck and Rachel came to keeping Abby. They didn't go into every detail for the time Judy had missed, but gave her enough to fill in the blanks.

Judy kept thanking everyone for helping Quinn out and was apologizing for the mess that she and her ex had made, but could definitely see that Quinn was happy, which is what she always wanted for her.

When things came up about Abby, Rachel paid more attention to the conversation, watching Judy's reactions. Judy was surprised Puck and Rachel decided to take on the role of parents at such a young age, but after they explained their reasons for their choice, Judy assured them it wasn't her place to judge them, because it was their life, and as long as Quinn was happy with the arrangement of letting them parent her biological child, she'd respect Quinn's choice. Rachel was glad to hear that and was slowly starting to warm up to Judy; her worry wasn't as strong and she was slowly getting the feeling that Judy was serious about being in Quinn's life and there wasn't a hidden reason for her return.

As the history telling came to an end and they were starting to talk about what was going on at school and current events, Judy turned to look at Rachel, "so Rachel, I notice your daughter isn't here," she said to her.

Though slightly caught off guard by her comment, Rachel nodded, "um, yes, we thought it might be better if she wasn't here at first. In case you were uncomfortable. She's with Noah's aunt and uncle," she explained calmly. Thinking about what she'd heard that day and feeling less worried about Judy, she glanced at Puck and then back at Judy, "would you like to meet her?" She asked softly.

Judy smiled at her, "I'd like that, but it's up to you, her dad and Quinn," she admitted, looking at Quinn and Puck, too.

"I'd be okay with that," Puck said, looking at Rachel, who just nodded and smiled at him.

"Me too," Quinn agreed, "though it's not my decision, it's all Puck and Rachel."

"I'll go call and have them bring her over," Rachel said, taking her cell phone from her pocket. Getting up she stepped into the kitchen so she wasn't interrupting the others and made the call. She spoke to Susan briefly and she said she, Ben and the girls would come over with Abby, knowing Jessica would want to go along and they couldn't leave Hannah and Arin alone. With plans made, Rachel hung up and returned to the living room, "they'll be over in a bit," she announced as she retook her seat next to her boyfriend.

~*~

Continuing conversations while they waited, it wasn't long before Ben, Susan, Jessica, Hannah, Arin and Abby were arriving. Rachel met them at the door and as soon as Abby saw her, she was reaching for her, "hey sweetie. Did you miss me?" She asked, taking her from Ben as they all came inside. Abby snuggled up to her as soon as she was in her mom's arms and Rachel kissed her forehead.

Puck got up and moved over to them, greeting his daughter and while Quinn introduced the new arrivals, Rachel and Puck took Abby's winter clothes off, leaving her in a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants. Kissing Rachel's lips gently and then Abby's forehead, Puck looked at them, a silent question of 'are you sure?' being asked and when Rachel nodded, he smiled at her and let her lead.

With Abby in her arms, Rachel walked over to where Judy was sitting next to Quinn on one of the couches, "Judy, this is Abby," she said softly, turning a little so Abby was facing her.

Judy smiled and stood up, "well hello Abby," she said, gently taking her hand and shaking it, "you're adorable."

Abby looked at the new face and for a moment she was okay, but when Judy started talking to her, she kind of pulled back and buried her head against Rachel, "sorry, she's shy with new people," Rachel commented, rubbing Abby's back.

"That's understandable. I'm glad I got to see her," Judy admitted, "I don't want to scare her or anything."

Rachel nodded, "yeah, she probably will start crying," she said honestly, "baby steps," she added, moving to sit down where she had been next to her boyfriend.

Watching the interaction between Abby, Puck and Rachel, Judy could see what others had said and knew she was in good hands, "I admit I was curious to see you two with her and I can definitely see that she's where she needs to be. You two are great parents and she seems very happy with you both."

"Thanks," Puck nodded at her.

Though Rachel still had some insecurities about Judy's return to Quinn's life, she knew that she wouldn't have a lot of interaction with Abby. Rachel was growing more comfortable with Judy being around and though it wasn't necessary, she was glad that Judy was able to see Puck, Rachel and Abby together and in a sense, give them her blessing to continue to be a family, "thank you," Rachel smiled happily.

~*~

This chapter is dedicated to one of my awesome friends, SkyeDrgn. I feel absolutely horrible that I missed her birthday and wanted to give her a huge shout out and wish her a happy belated birthday!

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A/N4: Hope you guys enjoyed! Review and let me know! More summary up next, so we'll see how far I get. Anything you want to see? Feel free to message me.

A/N5: I'm so sorry I haven't replied to many reviews lately. I've been working hard at getting chapters written, but I do read them all and they really cheer me up and encourage me to continue writing, so keep them coming!

A/N6: I promise my Puckleberry fics will continue to be updated as regularly as possible and won't be neglected, but I wanted to let you know that I am expanding my fan fic writing to another ship, Mark Reynolds and Maddy Shannon on Terra Nova. I love the show and am definitely shipping those two. I have a fic in the works and hope to post it soon, and there are a few ideas floating around in my head, too.

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