"Who's a little badass? You are, that's who!"

Razi Puckerman stared at her son, equal parts befuddled and relieved. For the first time in months, the odd, angry tension Noah had been carrying around with him seemed to be gone and he was focused on something non self destructive.

Beside her, Rachel Berry, Noah's pretty little friend from his singing club, stood appraising the scene with a satisfied smile. The girl had shown up at their house a few minutes earlier, toting a carrying case and announcing she had a Hanukah present for Noah.

As it was the last night of the festival of lights, Razi had invited her in and called Noah down from where he was brooding in his room. He hated when she called it that, but she called things like she saw them.

When the girl had presented him with a small, mostly black puppy, Razi had been shocked, but the smile on Noah's face was worth it. Sarah was excited too, climbing onto a chair to get a better look at the puppy as Noah cradled it and babbled, suddenly unconcerned with maintaining his carefully crafted illusion of cool.

Leaning towards Rachel, Razi murmured, "How did you know he'd react like that?"

The girl opened her mouth to reply and visibly had to force herself to lower her voice. "I simply thought back to when Noah's truly out of character behavior began and realized he needed a healthy outlet on which to focus his frustrated parental urges. I think he was more enamored of the idea of being a good parent than he let on and through a puppy, he can let some of those impulses out without…well, another baby."

Bless her heart. The girl made a sound of surprise when Razi impulsively hugged her. The she asked, "So, Noah, what are you going to name her?"

"Bella!" Sarah immediately offered. "Oh, or Alice or…."

"No way," Noah replied with a mock shudder. "She needs an awesome name like…Joplin or Cass or Nico…but dude, they all died young…"

"Bella!" Sarah insisted again, but to no effect.

"Dusty," Noah concluded with a nod of finality and Razi saw Rachel nod as well.

"Dusty Springfield," she murmured and Razi smiled. Clearly, this girl understood her son.

She and her mother were clearly going to have to play matchmaker…though, if the looks and smiles being traded between the teenagers were any indication, it wasn't going to be a particularly difficult job.

Comments, pretty please?