Life Change - 1/30
Summary: Sometimes you need a new life. And you don't know what things will come with your choices... but they could surprise you.
Note: Here's a story everyone wanted to read again. A favorite of yours, if I dare to say it. Hope you still love it.
(Also, I'm sorry but I seem to have lost the sequel for OPIP)
Chapter 1: You won't forget me again
It was a cold January day in Boston. Snowflakes were starting to fall and Rachel smiled to herself while she hid her hands in the pockets of her coat.
She loved winter, the romanticized idea that it represented, even when her heart didn't feel romantic at all since a very long time.
She opened the door of the very small café that greeted her with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and warmth that made her shiver. That smelt and felt like home, like a dream, even when her dream had changed just a few years ago.
Going from working in the show business in Broadway to a small café in Boston seemed like a radical change but she followed her heart. She wanted happiness and fulfillment and she wasn't getting that in her old job. Sure, she'd had lots of attention and praise, admirers and detractors, but her heart kept feeling empty and she needed the feeling of people around her; the warmth of care. She wanted true friends and true love, a peaceful life, things that had been elusive for her in New York.
And she enjoyed the irony of her decision. In her search for warmth, she had moved to colder places.
"Morning, Miss Berry," Quinn greeted her from behind the counter, holding a blue mug and sipping her morning coffee. The blonde girl giggled when Rachel shook her head to shake off the snowflakes in her dark hair and Rachel chuckled.
"Quinn," Rachel smiled and as soon as she took off her coat, Quinn had gone and come back with another mug, a green one that she offered to Rachel. "Thanks."
"So, we have a lot of work today," Quinn arched an eyebrow, "because it seems like things are starting to pick up for our business."
"We've never had a problem with the café," Rachel replied. "If anything, we've had a very nice year."
"Thanks to the baked goods that are so yummy and my business skills," Quinn added smugly and both girls laughed.
"Well, at least you learned how to make a decent coffee and not just using the calculator. I was pretty sick of being the only one actually working while you just sat behind the counter taking the money." Rachel reprimanded her playfully and Quinn scowled.
"Okay, okay, no fighting," Quinn showed her palms as a mockery of surrender. "But I do make a pretty mean coffee and hot chocolate."
Rachel chuckled and nodded. "I give you that."
A second of silence passed between the girls until Quinn decided to break it.
"You know that the business isn't everything, right? I mean, I know that you are a little wary about dating and all, but you never know, maybe-"
"Don't, just don't," Rachel cut her off in a sternly tone. "I'm done doing what I'm supposed to, to be the one looking for what I need. You know my new philosophy. It's not about what I want, but what I need and if my destiny thinks I need a man, then destiny will send me one and he'll be the one."
"You think he's just going to walk in here and say: 'That's the woman I want. Marry me'?" Quinn looked at Rachel in disbelief.
"If you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous," Rachel smirked. "But I'm telling you. The right man will come because he's meant for me and not because I go through a desperate search to find one."
"Are you calling me desperate?" Quinn joked and Rachel chuckled.
"No, but you're pretty close," Rachel burst into a fit of laughter and Quinn frowned but soon she was laughing too.
Soon the first client came in and the routine began for the coffee shop.
"Dammit!" Puck pounded his fist against his desk and growled.
"Dude, easy," Mike chuckled at Puck's side.
"Easy?" Puck frowned. "You want me to take things easy? I have to go to a press conference in an hour and I was supposed to pick up Adah from school and worse than that, the sitter just called to let me know that she's sick and she won't be able to go today, so yes, Dammit! Actually, shit!" Puck growled.
"C'mon there's gotta be someone who can help," Mike offered.
"Sam has his show and you're clearly working and I don't have time to find anyone else."
"Maybe I could watch her while I work?" Mike asked cautiously.
"No, I hate when she's here because she hates the hassle and not everyone is fond of the kid in this damn newspaper." Puck sighed.
He really wanted to have time for his little girl, but now his job demanded that he assisted to a press conference as the sports columnist he was. He loved his job and he had worked hard because of it and because he had to provide for Adah.
Puck was a single dad and had raised his daughter with the help of his mother and mainly his friends, so he didn't complain except when he was in problems like this.
At that moment Mike saw someone walking past them and he smirked.
"I have an idea," Mike said to Puck, who frowned in response.
Mike sprinted towards the flamboyant man who was pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Kurt," Mike grinned and Kurt eyes him suspiciously. "Do you remember Adah, Puck's daughter?"
"Remember? That sweet girl is my youngest hero, though no thanks to her sense of style because you, Neanderthals, ruined her with the sports clothes, but because she's smarter than anyone and that has to be praised." Kurt smiled at the memory of the girl. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"
"Oh, she's fine, she just fell from the monkey bars the other day but she has nothing more than a bruise in her left shin," Mike babbled and then shook his head. "Anyway, the thing is that Puck has a press conference with the Celtics and I'm busy with tomorrow's edition, so I was wondering if maybe you could look out for her for a couple of hours? I'll pick her up if Puck gets held back."
"Chang!" Puck called from behind him and Mike and Kurt looked at him with wide eyes. "Dude, you can't just ask that to anyone-"
"Excuse me?" Kurt gave him a scolding look. "I'm more qualified than any of you to take care of a child, since my vocabulary is more adequate and I actually understand that a girl needs to know more things than the name of the Celtics' point guard."
"She knows all the players, Hummel," Puck added proudly.
"She's six, Puckerman, she should watch cartoons, no basketball games."
"She likes the Sox too," Mike smirked.
"Ugh! She needs to spend time with a more sensitive and smarter person," Kurt huffed. "I'll take care of her this afternoon and I'll see if she lets me braid her hair or at least comb it."
Puck chuckled. "Good luck with that. She hates pigtails since Sam made a disaster out of them."
"God, she released the whole Puckerman wrath on Evans. He almost shitted his pants." Mike snickered and Puck too.
"Oh, my God, do you talk like that in front of her? Poor girl," Kurt shook his head. "I'll finish my article in a while, so just let me know at what time I have to pick her up."
"Thanks, man," Mike patted Kurt's back a little too forcefully.
"Get your hands off my Prada," Kurt complained and Puck smirked.
"Thanks, but don't turn her into a small diva." Puck joked.
"I think that's impossible given her genes," Kurt replied and left Mike and Puck looking at him with a frown on their faces.
"Well, at least you solved the problem," Mike said.
"I just hope that this doesn't become another one." Puck sighed and went back to his desk.
Kurt felt extremely weird being outside the primary school waiting for a child. Obviously, he had dreams about having a kid, a little girl or boy that he could spoil and raise, but not so soon.
After a few minutes he saw a yellow knitted hat worn by a girl with dark hair.
"Uncle Kurt!" She smiled at him and ran to meet him. "Where's Daddy?"
"He had to work," Kurt mumbled and took in the look of the girl.
Adah wasn't the typical six year-old. Her yellow Boston Bruins' hat and her jeans and sneakers made her stand out from the other girls of her age, who wore nice little boots with stylish hats and pretty coats. Anyone could tell that she was Puck's daughter.
"Oh," she sighed. "So I have to go to the paper? I don't like it there."
"Don't worry, honey, I have a girls' afternoon prepared for us," Kurt smiled and Adah frowned.
"You're not a girl and I don't want to go shopping for dresses or shoes," she warned him and Kurt huffed.
"You're just like your father," Kurt said and Adah smiled.
"Daddy is the best," she stuck her tongue out and Kurt shook his head but snickered.
She took Kurt's hand and started to talk excitedly about how she wanted to play hockey this winter and was waiting for her daddy to buy her a stick, while Kurt thought that the girl would be even more dangerous with a weapon in hand.
Kurt told her about the Celtics and she told him about the last game which he obviously didn't even know about and frankly didn't care, but she looked so happy that he let her talk as much as she wanted.
"I'm hungry!" Adah complained and Kurt rolled his eyes. "And Uncle Sammie's show is on, I want to hear him, he said he would talk about me, he promised."
"You are very demanding girl, you know that?" Kurt told her and Adah looked at him while they walked down the street. "And I can't believe that you have managed to have three men at your feet. You should be the envy of many women and men."
Adah snickered.
"Uncle Mike and Uncle Sammie just do whatever I want because they're stupid according to Daddy, but I know that it's because they like me." She smiled proudly.
"That's what you think now. Just wait until you're a teen. Boys will have to deal with three men instead of one father." The girl gave him a quizzical look.
The two of them were approaching to a small coffee shop and when they stood outside the door, Kurt talked again.
"Okay, these are my friends, so you better behave-"
"I always behave, better than Daddy according to Nana," Adah interrupted and Kurt chuckled.
"You're too smart for your own sake." Adah smirked just like her father and Kurt smiled. "But I bet that just like your fathers and your uncles, you love cookies and this place is the heaven for cookies and cupcakes, Ade," Kurt almost burst into laughter when Adah looked at him with wide eyes. "You want to come in?"
"Yes! But may I have hot chocolate? Frosted cookies? Oh, oh, oh… blueberry muffins! They're funny because they're blue inside," Adah spoke excitedly and Kurt smiled and led her inside the shop.
There were a few clients inside, talking over the soft music.
Adah looked around and saw a blonde woman behind the counter that soon lifted her gaze to see her and Uncle Kurt, and smiled. Kurt promptly approached the counter and lifted Adah to sit her on a stool.
"Wow, Kurt, that was fast. I didn't know you had a kid already. It's a big secret to keep it hidden for so long." Quinn quipped.
"Ha-ha." Kurt glared at her. "This is Adah. She's the daughter of one of my co-workers." Then he looked at Adah. "Adah, this very mean woman is Quinn; she's not funny at all and loves to mock me, so we don't like her." Adah snickered.
"I like her," Adah smiled while she looked at Quinn. "Just because she mocks you."
Kurt gasped and Quinn laughed.
"Oh, God, I like you too, Adah," Quinn said. "And because of that, I'm going to give you a big cup hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows, okay?" The little girl nodded happily and Quinn walked away to make the cocoa.
Kurt sat next to Adah and helped her to take off her parka and she placed her backpack next to her stool.
Soon she saw another woman coming from the kitchen. She had dark long hair and was shorter than Quinn, her eyes were dark brown and she seemed to be in a hurry.
"Quinn, did Alice call? Her cake is ready so she can pick it up any time now-" Rachel stopped talking when she saw Kurt and the little girl beside him. "Hi," Rachel smiled brightly.
"Hi," Adah murmured and both girls looked at Kurt.
"Oh, right, Ade this is Rachel, she and Quinn own the café," he explained to the younger girl. "Diva, this is Adah, she's a co-worker's daughter and I'm looking out for her this afternoon."
"Adah, it's a very pretty name," Rachel said to the girl.
"Nana wanted a Jewish name and Daddy is scared of her, so he said yes," she shrugged. "I like it." Rachel snickered.
"What about your mo-" Rachel was about to ask about the girl's mother but Kurt shook his head and tried to stop her. She frowned and decided to ignore the question. "Would you like a cookie? I have some frosted ones that I just baked and I know you'll love them."
"Really?" Adah smiled and Rachel saw the beautiful hazel eyes of the little girl, her wavy dark hair that looked a bit messy and she thought she looked adorable. "I really like cookies."
At that moment Quinn came back with the hot cocoa.
"Oh, and they will go great with that," Rachel grinned and went back to the kitchen to bring back the baked goods.
Meanwhile, Quinn talked to Kurt and Adah took sips from her drink.
"What time is it? Uncle Sammie's show must've started," Adah told Kurt. "Quinn, could you tune in the radio, please?"
Quinn just smiled and complied. Soon they were hearing the voice of a man.
"… and as always to the most beautiful girl on the planet, Ade, you know we're having dinner together tonight, so be ready, baby…" Sam's voice spoke and Adah giggled.
"Everyone must think that you're his girlfriend," Kurt chipped in and Adah nodded.
"Uncle Sammie said that I couldn't cheat on him," Adah took a sip of her cocoa, "but Daddy said that he'll beat the crap out of him or any boy that comes near me." She smiled wickedly when Kurt and Quinn gaped at her words. "What? I said crap, not like Daddy, he said shit."
"Adah!" Rachel screeched once she was back with a plate full of cookies. "You can't be talking like that."
"But Daddy, Uncle Mike and Uncle Sammie always-"
"You can't be talking like that, it's not proper. And maybe your daddy talks like that, but he shouldn't either," Adah looked at her embarrassed.
"Sorry," Adah mumbled. "Daddy says that too, he doesn't like it and he doesn't say stuff like that in front of me."
Rachel smiled at the little girl. "Your daddy is right, you should listen to him." Adah grinned.
"He's the bestest," Adah chuckled. "I know it's not a word but he is." Rachel chuckled.
"He must be very proud," Rachel leaned on the counter in front of Adah and Kurt and Quinn noticed the smiles between the girls, while the both of them grabbed a cookie and started to chat animatedly.
Quinn smiled at the scene.
"She wants that, now she needs the man."
"The man…" Kurt murmured to himself and thought for a second. "Oh, God! I forgot about Blaine. I was supposed to meet him at five." He looked at the time and it was a quarter past five. "He's going to dump me. How could I forget? What am I going to do with Adah? I can't leave her alone-"
"Okay, Kurt, breathe," Quinn chuckled. "Just go with Blaine and I'm sure Rachel and I can take care of Adah for a little while." She looked at Rachel who was laughing at something that Adah had said. "At least they seem like they are getting along."
"Rachel, could you help me with my homework?" Adah asked, about a half hour after Kurt had left to meet Blaine. "Daddy always helps me, but tonight we have dinner with Uncle Sammie and Uncle Mike and I wanted to finish it early."
"Sure," Rachel walked around the counter and helped Adah to get on her feet and led her to a table to be more comfortable. "I hope your dad doesn't get mad at me for helping you." She joked.
"Oh, no, but he's going to check it, because once Uncle Mike helped me and he used very complicated words that confused me and Uncle Sammie is not very good with this, so he's the only one who helps me now."
"He seems like he cares about you very much," Rachel smiled softly and decided to ask the question that Kurt hadn't let her ask. "What about your mommy?"
"I don't have one," Adah replied nonchalantly while she opened her notebook. "She left me with Daddy and I've never met her."
"I'm sorry, Ade, I-"
"No," Adah smiled. "It's okay. I have Daddy and his friends. It's family and Nana is awesome too and Aunt Ellie, though she's in New York now."
"I didn't have a mom either," Rachel confessed.
"Really?" Adah tilted her head to a side.
"I have two dads, so I know how it feels a little bit." She added softly. "Don't you want a mom?" She asked because she always dreamt about one, not because her dads weren't enough, but because of the feeling of having someone to teach her how to be a woman and a mother, eventually.
"Sometimes," Adah sighed. "Mostly because of Daddy. Uncle Kurt says that he's such a guy, all the time. But I'd like to have a sister or a brother and you need a mommy for that. And I think he's lonely." Suddenly she scowled. "But I didn't like his last girlfriend; she was mean, so he promised that from then on, I would pick his dates."
Rachel chuckled. "Well, I bet you have better taste than he does."
"I just want a mommy that's nice to me and Daddy and she has to be funny and put up with Dad, because he's a little grumpy sometimes, especially in the mornings." Adah said sheepishly.
"Everyone is grumpy sometimes, but I think your Daddy must be a great guy if he raised you. You're a very nice girl, smart and pretty." Rachel smiled.
"I know I'm not pretty like the other girls, because I don't dress like them and Daddy doesn't know how to braid my hair." Adah spoke a little sadly.
Rachel looked at the girl in front of her. She was a precious little girl and her heart ached a little when she heard her words because she knew exactly how that felt. She had been there.
"Do you want me to braid your hair?" Rachel asked and Adah widened her eyes.
"I dunno, I always say no to Uncle Kurt."
"I promise I'll be gentle. I always had to braid my own hair because my dads didn't know how, so I'm an expert." Rachel grinned brightly and Adah smiled.
"Okay, but if I don't like I'm gonna tell you."
Rachel laughed and soon she led her to the small office in the back of the café to do Adah's hair.
Kurt had a nice afternoon with Blaine, even after his tardiness. They had been together for a few months now and still everything was like a dream. Kurt was sure that at some point they were going to have a big fight and he hoped that it was because of the apartment in which they were going to live when they move in together.
After his date, he went back to the paper because he had to pick up the invitation for a premiere the next day. He worked as a spectacle critic for the same paper where Puck worked.
"Hey, man, I was just going to call you," Mike greeted him and Kurt quirked an eyebrow. "Puck and I wanted to pick up Ade to go home-"
"Oh, God!" Kurt exclaimed.
"What?" Mike frowned.
"I-I-"
"Where's Adah?" Puck called from behind Mike and Kurt paled. "Hummel, where's my kid?"
"Dude?" Mike scowled and soon Kurt panicked when the two much bigger men looked at him menacingly.
"I-I might have forgotten her with-"
"What?" Puck screeched and Mike had to stop him before he jumped and kicked Kurt's ass.
"I had a date with Blaine, but she's in good hands, with my friends. They're really great, better than that, better than me." Kurt spoke nervously.
"They better be, because if something happens to my daughter, I'm gonna kill you, Hummel." Puck grunted and Mike threw a disapproving look at Kurt.
"What if Daddy forgot me? I mean, Uncle Kurt did." Adah told to Quinn and Rachel who were closing the café.
"Honey, your Daddy must be busy killing Uncle Kurt, but I'm sure he's worried." Quinn said and Rachel and Ade laughed.
"Well, in case Daddy doesn't kill Uncle Kurt, Quinn and I will, okay?" Rachel spoke and Ade smiled and nodded.
Rachel smoothed a hand over one of Ade's pigtails and she grinned. Adah hadn't liked the braids but she liked the pigtails that Rachel had done because, unlike Uncle Sammie's, they looked pretty.
"Daddy must be really mad and I should yell at Uncle Kurt, he's so clueless sometimes," Adah huffed. "I'm gonna be mad if I'm not home to have dinner." She folded her arms across her chest and Quinn smiled as she walked to the kitchen.
At that moment someone rapped on the door rapidly and forcefully. Quinn was on the back of the shop, so Rachel left Adah seated on a stool and went to check.
She looked through the blinds and saw the figure of a tall man with broad shoulders and behind him another tall and leaner man and then Kurt. She sighed.
"I guess your Daddy didn't murder Uncle Kurt," Rachel told to Ade.
Rachel opened the door slowly and soon a pair of hazel eyes locked with hers. She knew those hazels; they were just like Adah's.
"Daddy," Rachel mumbled and Puck gave her a quizzical look and a smirk. She blushed furiously. "I mean, you must be Adah's Daddy." She stuttered a bit. "Come in." She moved aside and let the men in.
"Daddy!" Adah jumped off the stool and ran towards Puck's arms, who smiled at her. "I thought you had forgotten me, but Rachel and Quinn said that you were probably killing Uncle Kurt." Puck and Mike snickered while Kurt gulped and received a scolding from Rachel. "And look," Ade showed him her pigtails. "Rachel did my hair and I like it, she could teach you, she's really good and it didn't hurt when she combed it. And she gave me cookies and a blueberry muffin and Quinn made me hot cocoa and then Rachel helped me with my homework and she said that I shouldn't cuss." Puck frowned. "I'm sorry." She mumbled and Puck pecked her forehead.
"I was worried about you and you were having fun without me," he murmured and Ade threw her arms around his neck. "We should go home, duckling."
Rachel smiled at the sight of the strong man with the little girl in his arms. He doted on his daughter and she looked at him with pure love.
"I'll go and look for her jacket," Rachel interrupted and Puck took a real look at her for the first time.
She was short and had long and silky dark hair and legs that looked endless in her jeans and he couldn't complain about the sight of her backside. When she handed him Adah's things he saw her face. Big dark eyes and plump lips, her front side wasn't bad at all.
"Thanks," Puck murmured and Rachel smiled. Damn, her smile was blinding.
"Oh, Daddy, she's Rachel." Adah said. "And Rachel, this is Daddy, I mean Noah, his name is Noah but everyone calls him Puck."
"Hi, Noah," Rachel greeted him and suddenly Mike and Kurt felt uncomfortable, like they shouldn't be there.
"Thanks for taking care of the little devil, Rachel," he smirked.
"She's a sweetheart, a little reckless and foulmouthed but a really nice girl." Rachel snickered.
"We should go, she has to have dinner soon and go to bed early." Puck added. "I'm sorry for all the trouble."
"No, no problem. Really, it was nice to meet her." And it's definitely nice to meet you. "You have a beautiful daughter."
"I know," Puck commented smugly.
Mike cleared his throat to call for attention.
"You must be one of the famous uncles?" Rachel snickered.
"Uncle Mike," Adah added.
"So she talked about me?" Mike narrowed his gaze and looked at Ade, who snickered.
"Only bad things," Rachel joked and Adah and she laughed.
"Seriously, Ade? About me? But I'm your favorite uncle!" Mike complained.
"No, I don't have favorite uncles because you and Uncle Sammie start fighting," Adah shook her head. "And Uncle Kurt forgets me." She frowned.
"I'm sorry, Ade, I swear," Kurt looked ashamed.
"I forgive you just because Rachel and Quinn are really cool," Ade smiled.
Then Quinn showed up and looked at the men in the café and she most definitely saw the looks between the man with Adah in his arms and her best friend.
"Hi everyone," Quinn said and proceeded with the introductions.
"We really should go," Puck said after greeting Quinn. "Sam is waiting to have dinner with you, duckling, and take-out gets cold pretty soon."
"Okay," Ade agreed and motioned for Puck to set her free. "Bye, Quinn. I liked the cocoa but I wished it had more whipped cream because it was yummy and sweet, so next time you give me more, 'kay?"
"Ade!" Puck scolded her about her cheekiness but Quinn waved him off and snickered.
"Totally, Ade, more whipped cream next time," she smiled and then Adah turned to Rachel.
"Bye, Rach, I really liked the cookies and thanks for my hair and the homework, you're great." Ade hugged her around the waist and Rachel was stunned and so did most people in the room.
Puck had never seen his daughter so affectionate with someone and much less with a woman that she had just met. And he found oddly attractive the way in which Rachel softly returned the hug to Ade.
"It was nice to meet you, Miss Adah," she smiled. "And I have something for you." She reached behind the counter and grabbed a small paper bag. "Here, more frosted cookies that you loved but don't eat them all in one go and not at night either, okay?"
"'Kay," Ade smiled and took the bag. "Let's go, Daddy." She added as she handed him her cookies and her backpack and placed her hat over her head. "I'm hungry."
Soon Puck, Mike and Adah were walking towards Puck's car to go home to have a nice and quiet evening, but Ade couldn't stop talking about Rachel and then he heard Mike's comments about how hot the baker chicks were.
But he knew he couldn't try to woo a woman (at least not openly because he wasn't celibate at all) because of his daughter… or could he?
Note: Here's a story everyone wanted to read again. A favorite of yours, if I dare to say it. Hope you still love it.
(Also, I'm sorry but I seem to have lost the sequel for OPIP)
Chapter 1: You won't forget me again
It was a cold January day in Boston. Snowflakes were starting to fall and Rachel smiled to herself while she hid her hands in the pockets of her coat.
She loved winter, the romanticized idea that it represented, even when her heart didn't feel romantic at all since a very long time.
She opened the door of the very small café that greeted her with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and warmth that made her shiver. That smelt and felt like home, like a dream, even when her dream had changed just a few years ago.
Going from working in the show business in Broadway to a small café in Boston seemed like a radical change but she followed her heart. She wanted happiness and fulfillment and she wasn't getting that in her old job. Sure, she'd had lots of attention and praise, admirers and detractors, but her heart kept feeling empty and she needed the feeling of people around her; the warmth of care. She wanted true friends and true love, a peaceful life, things that had been elusive for her in New York.
And she enjoyed the irony of her decision. In her search for warmth, she had moved to colder places.
"Morning, Miss Berry," Quinn greeted her from behind the counter, holding a blue mug and sipping her morning coffee. The blonde girl giggled when Rachel shook her head to shake off the snowflakes in her dark hair and Rachel chuckled.
"Quinn," Rachel smiled and as soon as she took off her coat, Quinn had gone and come back with another mug, a green one that she offered to Rachel. "Thanks."
"So, we have a lot of work today," Quinn arched an eyebrow, "because it seems like things are starting to pick up for our business."
"We've never had a problem with the café," Rachel replied. "If anything, we've had a very nice year."
"Thanks to the baked goods that are so yummy and my business skills," Quinn added smugly and both girls laughed.
"Well, at least you learned how to make a decent coffee and not just using the calculator. I was pretty sick of being the only one actually working while you just sat behind the counter taking the money." Rachel reprimanded her playfully and Quinn scowled.
"Okay, okay, no fighting," Quinn showed her palms as a mockery of surrender. "But I do make a pretty mean coffee and hot chocolate."
Rachel chuckled and nodded. "I give you that."
A second of silence passed between the girls until Quinn decided to break it.
"You know that the business isn't everything, right? I mean, I know that you are a little wary about dating and all, but you never know, maybe-"
"Don't, just don't," Rachel cut her off in a sternly tone. "I'm done doing what I'm supposed to, to be the one looking for what I need. You know my new philosophy. It's not about what I want, but what I need and if my destiny thinks I need a man, then destiny will send me one and he'll be the one."
"You think he's just going to walk in here and say: 'That's the woman I want. Marry me'?" Quinn looked at Rachel in disbelief.
"If you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous," Rachel smirked. "But I'm telling you. The right man will come because he's meant for me and not because I go through a desperate search to find one."
"Are you calling me desperate?" Quinn joked and Rachel chuckled.
"No, but you're pretty close," Rachel burst into a fit of laughter and Quinn frowned but soon she was laughing too.
Soon the first client came in and the routine began for the coffee shop.
"Dammit!" Puck pounded his fist against his desk and growled.
"Dude, easy," Mike chuckled at Puck's side.
"Easy?" Puck frowned. "You want me to take things easy? I have to go to a press conference in an hour and I was supposed to pick up Adah from school and worse than that, the sitter just called to let me know that she's sick and she won't be able to go today, so yes, Dammit! Actually, shit!" Puck growled.
"C'mon there's gotta be someone who can help," Mike offered.
"Sam has his show and you're clearly working and I don't have time to find anyone else."
"Maybe I could watch her while I work?" Mike asked cautiously.
"No, I hate when she's here because she hates the hassle and not everyone is fond of the kid in this damn newspaper." Puck sighed.
He really wanted to have time for his little girl, but now his job demanded that he assisted to a press conference as the sports columnist he was. He loved his job and he had worked hard because of it and because he had to provide for Adah.
Puck was a single dad and had raised his daughter with the help of his mother and mainly his friends, so he didn't complain except when he was in problems like this.
At that moment Mike saw someone walking past them and he smirked.
"I have an idea," Mike said to Puck, who frowned in response.
Mike sprinted towards the flamboyant man who was pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Kurt," Mike grinned and Kurt eyes him suspiciously. "Do you remember Adah, Puck's daughter?"
"Remember? That sweet girl is my youngest hero, though no thanks to her sense of style because you, Neanderthals, ruined her with the sports clothes, but because she's smarter than anyone and that has to be praised." Kurt smiled at the memory of the girl. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"
"Oh, she's fine, she just fell from the monkey bars the other day but she has nothing more than a bruise in her left shin," Mike babbled and then shook his head. "Anyway, the thing is that Puck has a press conference with the Celtics and I'm busy with tomorrow's edition, so I was wondering if maybe you could look out for her for a couple of hours? I'll pick her up if Puck gets held back."
"Chang!" Puck called from behind him and Mike and Kurt looked at him with wide eyes. "Dude, you can't just ask that to anyone-"
"Excuse me?" Kurt gave him a scolding look. "I'm more qualified than any of you to take care of a child, since my vocabulary is more adequate and I actually understand that a girl needs to know more things than the name of the Celtics' point guard."
"She knows all the players, Hummel," Puck added proudly.
"She's six, Puckerman, she should watch cartoons, no basketball games."
"She likes the Sox too," Mike smirked.
"Ugh! She needs to spend time with a more sensitive and smarter person," Kurt huffed. "I'll take care of her this afternoon and I'll see if she lets me braid her hair or at least comb it."
Puck chuckled. "Good luck with that. She hates pigtails since Sam made a disaster out of them."
"God, she released the whole Puckerman wrath on Evans. He almost shitted his pants." Mike snickered and Puck too.
"Oh, my God, do you talk like that in front of her? Poor girl," Kurt shook his head. "I'll finish my article in a while, so just let me know at what time I have to pick her up."
"Thanks, man," Mike patted Kurt's back a little too forcefully.
"Get your hands off my Prada," Kurt complained and Puck smirked.
"Thanks, but don't turn her into a small diva." Puck joked.
"I think that's impossible given her genes," Kurt replied and left Mike and Puck looking at him with a frown on their faces.
"Well, at least you solved the problem," Mike said.
"I just hope that this doesn't become another one." Puck sighed and went back to his desk.
Kurt felt extremely weird being outside the primary school waiting for a child. Obviously, he had dreams about having a kid, a little girl or boy that he could spoil and raise, but not so soon.
After a few minutes he saw a yellow knitted hat worn by a girl with dark hair.
"Uncle Kurt!" She smiled at him and ran to meet him. "Where's Daddy?"
"He had to work," Kurt mumbled and took in the look of the girl.
Adah wasn't the typical six year-old. Her yellow Boston Bruins' hat and her jeans and sneakers made her stand out from the other girls of her age, who wore nice little boots with stylish hats and pretty coats. Anyone could tell that she was Puck's daughter.
"Oh," she sighed. "So I have to go to the paper? I don't like it there."
"Don't worry, honey, I have a girls' afternoon prepared for us," Kurt smiled and Adah frowned.
"You're not a girl and I don't want to go shopping for dresses or shoes," she warned him and Kurt huffed.
"You're just like your father," Kurt said and Adah smiled.
"Daddy is the best," she stuck her tongue out and Kurt shook his head but snickered.
She took Kurt's hand and started to talk excitedly about how she wanted to play hockey this winter and was waiting for her daddy to buy her a stick, while Kurt thought that the girl would be even more dangerous with a weapon in hand.
Kurt told her about the Celtics and she told him about the last game which he obviously didn't even know about and frankly didn't care, but she looked so happy that he let her talk as much as she wanted.
"I'm hungry!" Adah complained and Kurt rolled his eyes. "And Uncle Sammie's show is on, I want to hear him, he said he would talk about me, he promised."
"You are very demanding girl, you know that?" Kurt told her and Adah looked at him while they walked down the street. "And I can't believe that you have managed to have three men at your feet. You should be the envy of many women and men."
Adah snickered.
"Uncle Mike and Uncle Sammie just do whatever I want because they're stupid according to Daddy, but I know that it's because they like me." She smiled proudly.
"That's what you think now. Just wait until you're a teen. Boys will have to deal with three men instead of one father." The girl gave him a quizzical look.
The two of them were approaching to a small coffee shop and when they stood outside the door, Kurt talked again.
"Okay, these are my friends, so you better behave-"
"I always behave, better than Daddy according to Nana," Adah interrupted and Kurt chuckled.
"You're too smart for your own sake." Adah smirked just like her father and Kurt smiled. "But I bet that just like your fathers and your uncles, you love cookies and this place is the heaven for cookies and cupcakes, Ade," Kurt almost burst into laughter when Adah looked at him with wide eyes. "You want to come in?"
"Yes! But may I have hot chocolate? Frosted cookies? Oh, oh, oh… blueberry muffins! They're funny because they're blue inside," Adah spoke excitedly and Kurt smiled and led her inside the shop.
There were a few clients inside, talking over the soft music.
Adah looked around and saw a blonde woman behind the counter that soon lifted her gaze to see her and Uncle Kurt, and smiled. Kurt promptly approached the counter and lifted Adah to sit her on a stool.
"Wow, Kurt, that was fast. I didn't know you had a kid already. It's a big secret to keep it hidden for so long." Quinn quipped.
"Ha-ha." Kurt glared at her. "This is Adah. She's the daughter of one of my co-workers." Then he looked at Adah. "Adah, this very mean woman is Quinn; she's not funny at all and loves to mock me, so we don't like her." Adah snickered.
"I like her," Adah smiled while she looked at Quinn. "Just because she mocks you."
Kurt gasped and Quinn laughed.
"Oh, God, I like you too, Adah," Quinn said. "And because of that, I'm going to give you a big cup hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows, okay?" The little girl nodded happily and Quinn walked away to make the cocoa.
Kurt sat next to Adah and helped her to take off her parka and she placed her backpack next to her stool.
Soon she saw another woman coming from the kitchen. She had dark long hair and was shorter than Quinn, her eyes were dark brown and she seemed to be in a hurry.
"Quinn, did Alice call? Her cake is ready so she can pick it up any time now-" Rachel stopped talking when she saw Kurt and the little girl beside him. "Hi," Rachel smiled brightly.
"Hi," Adah murmured and both girls looked at Kurt.
"Oh, right, Ade this is Rachel, she and Quinn own the café," he explained to the younger girl. "Diva, this is Adah, she's a co-worker's daughter and I'm looking out for her this afternoon."
"Adah, it's a very pretty name," Rachel said to the girl.
"Nana wanted a Jewish name and Daddy is scared of her, so he said yes," she shrugged. "I like it." Rachel snickered.
"What about your mo-" Rachel was about to ask about the girl's mother but Kurt shook his head and tried to stop her. She frowned and decided to ignore the question. "Would you like a cookie? I have some frosted ones that I just baked and I know you'll love them."
"Really?" Adah smiled and Rachel saw the beautiful hazel eyes of the little girl, her wavy dark hair that looked a bit messy and she thought she looked adorable. "I really like cookies."
At that moment Quinn came back with the hot cocoa.
"Oh, and they will go great with that," Rachel grinned and went back to the kitchen to bring back the baked goods.
Meanwhile, Quinn talked to Kurt and Adah took sips from her drink.
"What time is it? Uncle Sammie's show must've started," Adah told Kurt. "Quinn, could you tune in the radio, please?"
Quinn just smiled and complied. Soon they were hearing the voice of a man.
"… and as always to the most beautiful girl on the planet, Ade, you know we're having dinner together tonight, so be ready, baby…" Sam's voice spoke and Adah giggled.
"Everyone must think that you're his girlfriend," Kurt chipped in and Adah nodded.
"Uncle Sammie said that I couldn't cheat on him," Adah took a sip of her cocoa, "but Daddy said that he'll beat the crap out of him or any boy that comes near me." She smiled wickedly when Kurt and Quinn gaped at her words. "What? I said crap, not like Daddy, he said shit."
"Adah!" Rachel screeched once she was back with a plate full of cookies. "You can't be talking like that."
"But Daddy, Uncle Mike and Uncle Sammie always-"
"You can't be talking like that, it's not proper. And maybe your daddy talks like that, but he shouldn't either," Adah looked at her embarrassed.
"Sorry," Adah mumbled. "Daddy says that too, he doesn't like it and he doesn't say stuff like that in front of me."
Rachel smiled at the little girl. "Your daddy is right, you should listen to him." Adah grinned.
"He's the bestest," Adah chuckled. "I know it's not a word but he is." Rachel chuckled.
"He must be very proud," Rachel leaned on the counter in front of Adah and Kurt and Quinn noticed the smiles between the girls, while the both of them grabbed a cookie and started to chat animatedly.
Quinn smiled at the scene.
"She wants that, now she needs the man."
"The man…" Kurt murmured to himself and thought for a second. "Oh, God! I forgot about Blaine. I was supposed to meet him at five." He looked at the time and it was a quarter past five. "He's going to dump me. How could I forget? What am I going to do with Adah? I can't leave her alone-"
"Okay, Kurt, breathe," Quinn chuckled. "Just go with Blaine and I'm sure Rachel and I can take care of Adah for a little while." She looked at Rachel who was laughing at something that Adah had said. "At least they seem like they are getting along."
"Rachel, could you help me with my homework?" Adah asked, about a half hour after Kurt had left to meet Blaine. "Daddy always helps me, but tonight we have dinner with Uncle Sammie and Uncle Mike and I wanted to finish it early."
"Sure," Rachel walked around the counter and helped Adah to get on her feet and led her to a table to be more comfortable. "I hope your dad doesn't get mad at me for helping you." She joked.
"Oh, no, but he's going to check it, because once Uncle Mike helped me and he used very complicated words that confused me and Uncle Sammie is not very good with this, so he's the only one who helps me now."
"He seems like he cares about you very much," Rachel smiled softly and decided to ask the question that Kurt hadn't let her ask. "What about your mommy?"
"I don't have one," Adah replied nonchalantly while she opened her notebook. "She left me with Daddy and I've never met her."
"I'm sorry, Ade, I-"
"No," Adah smiled. "It's okay. I have Daddy and his friends. It's family and Nana is awesome too and Aunt Ellie, though she's in New York now."
"I didn't have a mom either," Rachel confessed.
"Really?" Adah tilted her head to a side.
"I have two dads, so I know how it feels a little bit." She added softly. "Don't you want a mom?" She asked because she always dreamt about one, not because her dads weren't enough, but because of the feeling of having someone to teach her how to be a woman and a mother, eventually.
"Sometimes," Adah sighed. "Mostly because of Daddy. Uncle Kurt says that he's such a guy, all the time. But I'd like to have a sister or a brother and you need a mommy for that. And I think he's lonely." Suddenly she scowled. "But I didn't like his last girlfriend; she was mean, so he promised that from then on, I would pick his dates."
Rachel chuckled. "Well, I bet you have better taste than he does."
"I just want a mommy that's nice to me and Daddy and she has to be funny and put up with Dad, because he's a little grumpy sometimes, especially in the mornings." Adah said sheepishly.
"Everyone is grumpy sometimes, but I think your Daddy must be a great guy if he raised you. You're a very nice girl, smart and pretty." Rachel smiled.
"I know I'm not pretty like the other girls, because I don't dress like them and Daddy doesn't know how to braid my hair." Adah spoke a little sadly.
Rachel looked at the girl in front of her. She was a precious little girl and her heart ached a little when she heard her words because she knew exactly how that felt. She had been there.
"Do you want me to braid your hair?" Rachel asked and Adah widened her eyes.
"I dunno, I always say no to Uncle Kurt."
"I promise I'll be gentle. I always had to braid my own hair because my dads didn't know how, so I'm an expert." Rachel grinned brightly and Adah smiled.
"Okay, but if I don't like I'm gonna tell you."
Rachel laughed and soon she led her to the small office in the back of the café to do Adah's hair.
Kurt had a nice afternoon with Blaine, even after his tardiness. They had been together for a few months now and still everything was like a dream. Kurt was sure that at some point they were going to have a big fight and he hoped that it was because of the apartment in which they were going to live when they move in together.
After his date, he went back to the paper because he had to pick up the invitation for a premiere the next day. He worked as a spectacle critic for the same paper where Puck worked.
"Hey, man, I was just going to call you," Mike greeted him and Kurt quirked an eyebrow. "Puck and I wanted to pick up Ade to go home-"
"Oh, God!" Kurt exclaimed.
"What?" Mike frowned.
"I-I-"
"Where's Adah?" Puck called from behind Mike and Kurt paled. "Hummel, where's my kid?"
"Dude?" Mike scowled and soon Kurt panicked when the two much bigger men looked at him menacingly.
"I-I might have forgotten her with-"
"What?" Puck screeched and Mike had to stop him before he jumped and kicked Kurt's ass.
"I had a date with Blaine, but she's in good hands, with my friends. They're really great, better than that, better than me." Kurt spoke nervously.
"They better be, because if something happens to my daughter, I'm gonna kill you, Hummel." Puck grunted and Mike threw a disapproving look at Kurt.
"What if Daddy forgot me? I mean, Uncle Kurt did." Adah told to Quinn and Rachel who were closing the café.
"Honey, your Daddy must be busy killing Uncle Kurt, but I'm sure he's worried." Quinn said and Rachel and Ade laughed.
"Well, in case Daddy doesn't kill Uncle Kurt, Quinn and I will, okay?" Rachel spoke and Ade smiled and nodded.
Rachel smoothed a hand over one of Ade's pigtails and she grinned. Adah hadn't liked the braids but she liked the pigtails that Rachel had done because, unlike Uncle Sammie's, they looked pretty.
"Daddy must be really mad and I should yell at Uncle Kurt, he's so clueless sometimes," Adah huffed. "I'm gonna be mad if I'm not home to have dinner." She folded her arms across her chest and Quinn smiled as she walked to the kitchen.
At that moment someone rapped on the door rapidly and forcefully. Quinn was on the back of the shop, so Rachel left Adah seated on a stool and went to check.
She looked through the blinds and saw the figure of a tall man with broad shoulders and behind him another tall and leaner man and then Kurt. She sighed.
"I guess your Daddy didn't murder Uncle Kurt," Rachel told to Ade.
Rachel opened the door slowly and soon a pair of hazel eyes locked with hers. She knew those hazels; they were just like Adah's.
"Daddy," Rachel mumbled and Puck gave her a quizzical look and a smirk. She blushed furiously. "I mean, you must be Adah's Daddy." She stuttered a bit. "Come in." She moved aside and let the men in.
"Daddy!" Adah jumped off the stool and ran towards Puck's arms, who smiled at her. "I thought you had forgotten me, but Rachel and Quinn said that you were probably killing Uncle Kurt." Puck and Mike snickered while Kurt gulped and received a scolding from Rachel. "And look," Ade showed him her pigtails. "Rachel did my hair and I like it, she could teach you, she's really good and it didn't hurt when she combed it. And she gave me cookies and a blueberry muffin and Quinn made me hot cocoa and then Rachel helped me with my homework and she said that I shouldn't cuss." Puck frowned. "I'm sorry." She mumbled and Puck pecked her forehead.
"I was worried about you and you were having fun without me," he murmured and Ade threw her arms around his neck. "We should go home, duckling."
Rachel smiled at the sight of the strong man with the little girl in his arms. He doted on his daughter and she looked at him with pure love.
"I'll go and look for her jacket," Rachel interrupted and Puck took a real look at her for the first time.
She was short and had long and silky dark hair and legs that looked endless in her jeans and he couldn't complain about the sight of her backside. When she handed him Adah's things he saw her face. Big dark eyes and plump lips, her front side wasn't bad at all.
"Thanks," Puck murmured and Rachel smiled. Damn, her smile was blinding.
"Oh, Daddy, she's Rachel." Adah said. "And Rachel, this is Daddy, I mean Noah, his name is Noah but everyone calls him Puck."
"Hi, Noah," Rachel greeted him and suddenly Mike and Kurt felt uncomfortable, like they shouldn't be there.
"Thanks for taking care of the little devil, Rachel," he smirked.
"She's a sweetheart, a little reckless and foulmouthed but a really nice girl." Rachel snickered.
"We should go, she has to have dinner soon and go to bed early." Puck added. "I'm sorry for all the trouble."
"No, no problem. Really, it was nice to meet her." And it's definitely nice to meet you. "You have a beautiful daughter."
"I know," Puck commented smugly.
Mike cleared his throat to call for attention.
"You must be one of the famous uncles?" Rachel snickered.
"Uncle Mike," Adah added.
"So she talked about me?" Mike narrowed his gaze and looked at Ade, who snickered.
"Only bad things," Rachel joked and Adah and she laughed.
"Seriously, Ade? About me? But I'm your favorite uncle!" Mike complained.
"No, I don't have favorite uncles because you and Uncle Sammie start fighting," Adah shook her head. "And Uncle Kurt forgets me." She frowned.
"I'm sorry, Ade, I swear," Kurt looked ashamed.
"I forgive you just because Rachel and Quinn are really cool," Ade smiled.
Then Quinn showed up and looked at the men in the café and she most definitely saw the looks between the man with Adah in his arms and her best friend.
"Hi everyone," Quinn said and proceeded with the introductions.
"We really should go," Puck said after greeting Quinn. "Sam is waiting to have dinner with you, duckling, and take-out gets cold pretty soon."
"Okay," Ade agreed and motioned for Puck to set her free. "Bye, Quinn. I liked the cocoa but I wished it had more whipped cream because it was yummy and sweet, so next time you give me more, 'kay?"
"Ade!" Puck scolded her about her cheekiness but Quinn waved him off and snickered.
"Totally, Ade, more whipped cream next time," she smiled and then Adah turned to Rachel.
"Bye, Rach, I really liked the cookies and thanks for my hair and the homework, you're great." Ade hugged her around the waist and Rachel was stunned and so did most people in the room.
Puck had never seen his daughter so affectionate with someone and much less with a woman that she had just met. And he found oddly attractive the way in which Rachel softly returned the hug to Ade.
"It was nice to meet you, Miss Adah," she smiled. "And I have something for you." She reached behind the counter and grabbed a small paper bag. "Here, more frosted cookies that you loved but don't eat them all in one go and not at night either, okay?"
"'Kay," Ade smiled and took the bag. "Let's go, Daddy." She added as she handed him her cookies and her backpack and placed her hat over her head. "I'm hungry."
Soon Puck, Mike and Adah were walking towards Puck's car to go home to have a nice and quiet evening, but Ade couldn't stop talking about Rachel and then he heard Mike's comments about how hot the baker chicks were.
But he knew he couldn't try to woo a woman (at least not openly because he wasn't celibate at all) because of his daughter… or could he?