EPILOGUE
Puck stood on the sidewalk in a throng of other parents, his eight-month old daughter squirming in his arms. She was fussy because it was so warm outside so Puck bounced her gently, singing softly in her ear to soothe her as they waited. She stopped fussing and her big brown eyes stared up at him, forcing a huge grin onto his face. Just then, the doors of the pre-school burst open and children began pouring out.
He watched as the dark hair of his four-year-old daughter came into view. Her eyes swept over the adults, searching, and then settled on her father. "Daddy!" Megan shouted, launching herself at him. He bent down and hugged her with the free arm that wasn't holding his smaller daughter. She kissed his cheek, patted her baby sister, Lindsay, on the head, and then grabbed her father's hand.
"Where's Mommy?" Megan asked as they headed toward Puck's truck. Mommy usually picked her up from school, not Daddy.
Puck unlocked the truck and opened the door, helping Megan up into the tall vehicle. She crawled over the baby seat and climbed up into her booster seat and quickly belted herself in. Meanwhile, Puck buckled Lindsay into her car seat. "Mommy had a meeting today. We're going to meet her for lunch." Looking up from the baby, he asked, "You all buckled in?"
Megan nodded proudly and Puck reached across the space so that she could give him a high five. Then he closed the door and jogged around to the driver's side. Megan grinned and bent over the open space between herself and her sister, sticking her tongue out so that Lindsay would giggle as Puck pulled out into traffic.
"So you're not going to go back to work today?" Megan asked.
"Nope, Megs. We're meeting Mommy and then we'll all go home together. Maybe I'll get out the pool and let you splash around this afternoon." Puck ticked his eyes up and looked in the rear view mirror at his daughter. "Does that sound okay?"
"That sounds good, Daddy! It's so hot outside that I could just die!" Puck chuckled at the dramatic words of his oldest daughter. She's so much like her mom. Megan was always keyed up and could launch into long speeches about the littlest of things. Sometimes, she was so nearly identical to Rachel that it scared him. She may have looked mostly like him but she was all Rachel. Lindsay, on the other hand, was the spitting image of her mother but already seemed to be more relaxed and low-key at eight-months-old than Megan had been at the same age.
Puck parked outside the restaurant and began the task of unbuckling seat belts and getting his girls out of the truck. With the diaper bag thrown over his shoulder and Lindsay now asleep against his chest, he grabbed Megan's hand as they crossed the street and entered the restaurant. Spotting Rachel as soon as they were inside, Puck nodded at the hostess and made his way toward his wife. Rachel stood up, taking Lindsay from his arms, and then she bent to kiss Megan before standing up to kiss her husband.
"Hey, babe," Puck said, brushing his lips across hers. "How'd it go?"
The Puckerman family sat down at the table and Rachel smiled. "Well, Noah… I told you that Mr. Sanford has been a large benefactor with the Seattle Musical Theatre for ages, right?"
Puck nodded.
"Well," she continued, "the reason he wanted to meet with me is…" Rachel bit her lip, looking up at her husband through her lashes, "…he's producing the revival of "Oklahoma" on Broadway. And he wants me to play Laurey."
Puck's mouth dropped open. When Rachel told him that she had a meeting with a theater producer and that he needed to pick up the girls that Wednesday, he hadn't expected this to be the result.
"What did you tell him?" Puck asked quickly.
"I told him that I needed to talk to you and that I'd call him this evening." The look of hope and excitement on her face told Puck all he needed to know.
"Babe, I told you years ago that if you wanted Broadway, you could have Broadway." He looked between the three females that ruled his life and owned his heart. "So it looks like we're moving to New York City?"
"But Noah, what about Tina and Nick and Jackson? I hate to leave them."
Megan's head popped up at the mention of Jackson, her three-year-old playmate and Nick and Tina's son. "Do I get to see Jackson today?"
Puck patted her knee. "I dunno, baby. We may invite them over this evening." Shifting his attention back to Rachel, Puck said, "They will come see us, Rach. They know that this is your dream. It has been your entire life. You're calling Mr. Sanford and you're telling him that you're taking it."
Rachel began to protest but Puck stopped her. "Not up for discussion, Rach. I'm getting kind of tired of Seattle, anyway. We've been here forever. So we're going."
Rachel let out a squeal of excitement, which caused Lindsay to wake up and start crying. Rachel jumped into "momma mode" and soothed her daughter until she was quiet again. Meeting her husband's eyes across the table, she said, "I can't believe we're doing this. From Seattle to New York City?"
"No, babe…From Seattle Musical Theatre to Broadway," Puck corrected.
Just then, the waitress approached the table with a pleasing smile on her face. After arguing with Megan that she needed to have carrots with her spaghetti and not French fries, Puck and Rachel ordered. Once the waitress was gone again, Puck looked back at Rachel, who sat starry-eyed.
"I love you, you know," she said, "for supporting me."
Puck snorted. "Babe, you've had me whipped for so long that I don't know any other way to be. Besides, you know I don't care where we live. As long as I've got my girls, I'm good. Well," he corrected with a grin, "my girls and beer and ESPN."
"And your guitar, Daddy," Megan interjected, sounding authoritative and informed, "don't forget your guitar. You don't have that, you can't sing to Lindsay and me!"
"You're right, Meggie," Puck agreed, his large hand patting the knee of his daughter, "I gotta have my guitar."
"So what do we do first?" Rachel asked. "I mean, Noah, there's so much to do! We have to call a realtor and get our house on the market and then call a realtor in New York City and have them start looking for a place for us to live. I have to resign. You have to resign. We have to withdraw Megan from pre-school, close our bank accounts, hire a mov—"
"—Rach," Puck interjected, laying his hand on hers. She lifted her head and met his eyes. "Slow down. We'll take care of all!" Leaning back, he crossed his arms. "How 'bout tonight, we invite Nick and Tina and Jackson over and we grill out. Afterwards, we'll all sit down and make a huge checklist and we'll make sure everything is on it. And I'll even let you work on one of your stupid 'emergency, just in case disaster strikes' plans, as long as I don't have to hear about it."
Rachel shook her head and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's going to be okay, isn't it?"
"Babe, we're moving so that your hot little ass can be on Broadway!"
"Mommy! Daddy said one of those words again!" Megan announced quickly.
Puck scowled at his tattletale daughter and looked back at his wife. "Rachel Puckerman…your name will be in lights. We'll figure it all out because this? Totally worth the pain in the ass it is to move."
"Mommy!" Megan insisted, clearly frustrated at her father's use of bad words, "Are you gonna yell at him or do I have to?"
Puck snorted and then looked at his daughter. "I apologize, baby. How 'bout I buy you ice cream to make up for it?"
Megan bit her small lip thoughtfully. "I think that's acceptable, as long as you refrain from bad words," she finally said.
"Good god, woman, she's more like you every day," Puck muttered, watching as Rachel laughed at her oldest daughter.
As the waitress brought their food to the table, Puck bent down to get a napkin tucked in to Megan's shirt to avoid a messy disaster. Then he leaned over and checked on Lindsay before sitting back down to eat his own food. Rachel watched him, her eyes appreciating the physical power he exerted while doing something so gentle and caring.
Silently, she reached across the table and grabbed his hand. He looked up from his plate and linked his fingers with hers. Her eyes were filled with tears and swimming with emotion.
"Noah, I'm really going to be on Broadway!"
Author's Note: So that's it for the Puckermans of Seattle. Between "All Roads Lead to You" and this story, I think we've spent enough time with them! Time to send them off to the bright lights of NYC so Rachel can wow 'em.
Thanks for reading/commenting!