One Big Happy Family

42

"Hey." Puck answered the phone.

"Hey." Finn responded. "I just wanted to check in and see how everything's going now that you're back in L.A."

"Yeah, let me call you later." Puck said. "We just finished dinner and I wanna get Beth to settle in."

"Sure." Finn replied. "Call me whenever you have time."

"I will." Puck promised. "Bye, Finn."

"Bye, man."

Puck hung up the phone and got to work on the pile of dirty plates and utensils in the sink. Since it was just him and Beth, there wasn't much, and he was done shortly.

"Daddy!" Beth called.

"Yeah?" Puck called back.

"Mommy's here." Beth announced. "Open the gate!"

"Okay." Puck said, looking outside. He opened the gate and looked at Beth. "Go start the bath, B."

"I wanna see Mommy first." Beth replied as she opened the front door, happily waiting for Quinn.

"Hi, B." Quinn smiled, scooping up the brunette as she entered the house. She looked at Puck. "Hey."

"Hey." Puck repeated, looking at Beth.

"I'm going." Beth muttered before squirming out of Quinn's arms and walking away.

"Everything okay here?" Quinn wondered.

"You've been out all day." Puck said. "I texted you."

"I'm sorry." Quinn apologized. "But since when do I have to answer to you?"

Puck furrowed his eyebrow.

"How did your meetings go?" Quinn asked.

"Good." Puck nodded.

"Good." Quinn repeated, looking for more.

"Beth behaved really well, and the album will be out in early October." Puck told Quinn. "I'll be doing a lot of press all month, so I'm gonna see if my mom can come to help out with Beth."

Quinn nodded slowly.

"How did everything go with Mercedes?" Puck asked.

"You were right when you said Beth comes first." Quinn began.

Puck furrowed his eyebrow.

"I wanna stay here." Quinn said. "So we can coparent and be like a family. I can take one of the bedrooms on the second floor and I can pick Beth up from school some days, and I'll pay rent and-"

"You don't have to pay rent, Q." Puck interrupted.

"This will be my version of getting an apartment." Quinn noted. "And this place is insane, so I should pay for my share of things, including rent, groceries, water, electric - things like that."

"We can figure out how we wanna divide things later." Puck said. "What about your career? And all that stuff you said about wanting to be away from me?"

"I wanna be an actress." Quinn answered. "And I'm gonna be an actress. I'm gonna take acting classes, and luckily, I have a degree in drama and theatre from an Ivy League school."

Puck nodded slowly.

"And I'm gonna keep up with voice and dance lessons." Quinn continued. "I really think that if I get back to doing the things I love, I'll feel more like myself than I have in a while, although being with you and Beth has really helped."

"I'm proud of you." Puck told Quinn. "And I'm happy for you."

"Are you okay with all of this?" Quinn questioned Puck. "Having me here even though we're not together?"

"Totally." Puck nodded. "Hey, can you check on Beth? I have to return a phone call."

"Okay."