Bumps Along the Way | J. Puckerman (2)

Missed

To my surprise, Santana came over less than an hour later. Her plane landed early and she wanted to surprise us. 

"Oh my goodness," I cried. "You're here!"

"I'm here," she laughed, lifting me up and spinning me in a circle. 

I looked over at everyone else, Marley was clearly upset about something, but everyone else seemed to be super happy to see Tana. 

"Well, my loves. I am going to head into the kitchen and start on food. The tiny human is still sleeping, she woke up for a few minutes but had a long day so she's getting some rest. Tana, make yourself at home... the rest of you know the drill already."

I kissed Marley on the cheek and stood on my tippy toes to kiss Jake before heading into the kitchen. As I started into the room, I remembered something that I was going to tell Santana to make us all laugh. 

"Hey Tana," I said with a smile. "Ask Marley what her boyfriend's last name is."

 Marley raised an eyebrow, "Puckerman?"

Santana opened her mouth in shock, "You girls, what did I tell you? We. Don't. Like. Their. Kind. Goodness, what am I going to do with you?"

Marley sat back in her seat awkwardly, "Maybe it's none of your business," she said under her breath. 

"What?" Santana asked, in a slightly sour tone. 

"Hey Marls," I said, walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Do you still want to help me with dinner?"

Marley looked up at me and sat up, "Yeah, of course. What did you need?"

"Not a lot honestly, just you in there to keep me company. Tana is going to talk to the guys because she hasn't seen them in forever. I'll spend the day with her tomorrow and talk with her at dinner and when we play games."

We got the chicken marinated and put it in the oven. When we walked back into the living room, Santana was bouncing Kamryn on her lap. Marley looked over at her and glared. 

"She stole the baby," Marley whispered to me. 

I matched her tone, "I think Jake gave her the baby."

"The baby was robbed."

"Nope, that's not the one. Jake gave her the baby."

"Emily, she is so sad."

I looked over at Kamryn giggling at Santana, "She looks pretty happy to me Marls, if she gets sad I will save her."

Marley walked over to Tana and reached her arms out for Kam. She shook her head and hid in Santana's chest, laughing when Marley's face fell. The difference between Marley's face and Jake's fake pout that made Kam laugh is, Marley is actually hurt by this.

When it was time for dinner, I sat between Jake and Santana, we all laughed as Blaine, Sam, and Santana made jokes about when I was a freshman in glee before Marley and Jake got there. I laughed at them, adding to the stories every once in a while, but also bringing up things from after Santana left. 

Tana helped me clear the table when Marley went up to the bathroom, when she came back down and saw that it was done her face fell.

"Hey," I heard Marley say to Jake, "Can I steal the baby for a few minutes?"

"I'm sorry," he responded. "I just laid her down for the night. You can go and give her kisses if you."

Marley walked upstairs, and we all kept talking and laughing at each other. After about ten minutes I started to worry about what Marley was doing upstairs so long.

I looked over at Jake and raised my eyebrows, he mouthed 'go' and I started up the stairs. As I made my way to Kamryn's room, I looked into the guestroom and saw Marley crying on the bed. She had her hand covering her mouth to try and muffle the sound. I walked over to her and put my hand on her back.

"Marls," I said softly, sitting on the bed next to her. I pulled her into my chest and kissed the top of her head. 

She cried harder, clearly trying to make herself stop. "I'm fine," she cried.

"Honey, you clearly are not fine. Just talk to me and tell me what is going on." 

She shook her head, "go be with Santana she is more important."

I whipped tears off of Marley's face, "No, right now the only person important to me is you, Miss Marley Rose. So, let's talk."

"Ryder," she whispered. "He's right. He was always right. Now that Santana is back everyone loves her more. And they should. I was just here until you guys found someone better."

I took Marley's hand, "What is my daughter's middle name?"

"Blaine?" She said with tears still running down her face. 

"Oh honey," I said in a soft voice, rubbing her back. "It's Kamryn Rose Blaine Puckerman. Named after my all time best friend. Marls, Santana is great and I love her I really do. But you are my best friend. Santana and I have memories together from before I met you and she wanted to share them, she wanted to see the baby and her friends that she hadn't seen in months. That doesn't mean that we don't love you, it just means that we are trying to spend time with Tana because we know that it's limited. It doesn't mean that we don't love you, Miss Marley Rose."

She cried harder and laid her head in my lap. I brushed her hair with my fingers until she fell asleep crying. I moved her under the blankets and walked back downstairs. 

"Is everything okay?" Santana asked.

I shook my head, "Just some stuff with Ryder going on... she'll be okay. She's sleeping now. We can go ahead and watch the movie though, she's already seen it twice."

We watched the movie and when it was time to go to bed, Jake kissed the side of my face, "Go sleep with your girl so she wakes up next to you. I love you, goodnight beautiful."

"Goodnight, love," I kissed him and wrapped my arms around him taking in his sent for a few minuets. "We really need someone to watch the baby so we can sneak away and just have one day."

"We will figure it out," he lauged into my hair. "But, for now, go be with Marls. She needs you."

And I need you, I need my warmth and my safety. But focus on Marley, you will be fine, like he said. She needs me. 

"I will, I love you."