Laughing Fate (23 page)

This was a big step; she was dating someone. For the first time, Puck was letting herself believe that maybe love did exist… She still had a lot of insecurities and issues from her past that she had to deal with every day, but being with Potter felt right. He made her happy, being with him made her a better person. Every time he smiled his crooked little smile or his big wolfish grin, it brought an answering smile to her lips. That was all the more reason for Puck to go ahead and have this date with Potter. She wanted this date; she wouldn’t let her negative thoughts get in the way of her fun.

Puck set down her brush and sighed, trying to fill her head with positive thoughts. She was so used to thinking that guys didn’t find her attractive (she was too aggressive for most men) but Potter was half afraid of her and still seemed drawn to her, surely that was a good sign? She stared at her image and crossed her eyes, trying to lighten up the mood a little. This was just a date. They would have fun, Potter would probably try to feel her up, and Puck would sucker punch him. It would be a great day.

Puck smiled slightly at that thought and walked over to the closet. So what would she wear? It would help if she knew what they were doing on their date, but Potter had been annoyingly quiet on that subject. Play clothes or dress clothes?  She finally decided on a flirty little dress that she had in the back of her closet. It was a white dress with Hawaiian looking red flowers on it, that fit tightly on her chest, and than poofed out (thanks to the netting underneath) until it hit just above her knees. Because it was strapless, Puck also grabbed a black sweater to keep her warm and black strappy high heals to complete the outfit.

She looked at herself in the mirror and had to admit that she looked better than her norm. The dress emphasized her breasts, made her waist look even smaller, her nonexistent hips look fuller, and her legs look long and lean. She left her hair falling around her shoulders, remembering the surfboard that Potter had designed for her. Then, to really make this a special evening, Puck grabbed her make up bag. After dusting it off, Puck rummaged through it until she found all the makings for smoky eyes and pouty lips. When she was done, she smiled wickedly at how shocked Potter would be.

He had seen her in many outfits, some not so bad and others just plain embarrassing, but he had never seen her all dressed up before. She couldn’t wait until he got here!  She walked into her living room humming happily to herself.  She saw Perri was on the couch leafing through a magazine, she was wearing a large black sweat shirt with her old school logo on it and black sweatpants. Since when did Perri wear sweats? Perri was usually dressed impeccably. Even her pajamas were cute and trendy. Puck shrugged and sat down in the recliner.

Things had been better between the two of them, mostly because they hadn’t spent much time around each other. They never stayed mad at each other for long though, so Puck knew that it would all blow over soon enough. Even when they had been young, they had never really fought the way Puck had fought with her brothers. They had thought that their soul mission in life was to torture their little sister and teach her how to undergo tribulation of all kinds.

Of course, Puck more than paid back any torture from them with her own special brand of tormentation.  They had squabbled and fought through out their whole childhood, but a strong current of love flowed underneath all the bickering and bloody battles.

With Perri, though, it was different. She was so much quieter than the rest of the Berri kids and so much better behaved, that everyone had felt the need to protect her. Sure, they had still had their fights, but they were nothing like the all out wars that she’d had with her brothers.

Puck sighed and decided it was time to make peace with her little sister. She struck a pose in front of Perri and asked, “What do you think?”

Perri didn’t look up from her magazine, just said, “It’s nice,” in a bored voice.

Puck frowned down at Perri and wondered why she was acting so out of character lately. “Yeah, so I was thinking I’d go down to the docks and sell myself to the highest bidder at the docks. You may have a new brother if things go well for me tonight. I’m thinking a big, hairy, smelly fisherman. What do you think?”

Perri flipped the page of her magazine.

“I mean sure, some people would tell me, why aim so low? Just think! I could land me a real nice homeless guy that smelled like sweat, dirt, and poo. Sure that would be great for a little while, but after a while other people might really get jealous of my good fortune. So I think I’m better off whoring myself on the docks. I’m sure you agree since you haven’t objected yet, so I’ll be home late tonight.”

Perri, who still hadn’t bothered to look up from her magazine, replied in the same bored voice, “Sure, go ahead.”

Puck sighed and sank down next to Perri. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m sorry if I’ve been grouchy or too pushy or trying to run your life. I know I can be really annoying, but I am sorry so you have to forgive me.”

Perri just grunted some indistinct reply and flipped the page. She looked completely disinterested in anything Puck had to say.

Puck frowned at her sister, but tried to keep her calm. Just what was going on with her sister?! It wasn’t like Perri to be this moody or to hold a grudge this long. “I know that you probably don’t hear me apologize that much, but this is the point where you are supposed to say, ‘Oh Puck, I’m so sorry too! And of course I forgive you, because you are my favorite big sister in the world and I worship the ground you walk on!’ and then I say, ‘Please, please, save your worship for god, I am just a mere mortal! A brilliant, perfect, humble, mortal, but…”

Puck glanced at Perri to see what effect this was having on her. It wasn’t any different. Dang it! She was being funny! She was dressed to the nines, and had just apologized; couldn’t Perri take any kind of interest in her? She glared at Perri’s magazine, what could be so dang interesting about a bunch of glossy paper and anorexic models?

“What the heck are you reading that’s more important than talking to me?” demanded Puck as she ripped the magazine out of Perri’s hand. It took a while for it to register in Puck’s brain that she was holding a magazine for expecting mothers. She glanced at Perri , who was glaring defiantly at Puck and then back at the magazine. Puck had to hold back a few curses, as suddenly all the clues came rushing together.

Perri had been moody, she hadn’t been eating much of anything in the mornings, she was wearing baggier clothes, and had obviously been hiding something. She was never home, on edge all the time, and had been very sensitive about smells. Then of course there was this baby magazine. Two plus two equals four, dummy… why hadn’t Puck realized this sooner? Her baby sister was pregnant.

Puck felt her jaw drop and she glanced at Perri again to confirm her suspicions. Perri just lifted her chin higher and snatched her magazine back. “Go ahead and yell at me, I know you want to.”

Puck was literally speechless. Her little sister was pregnant! How could that be possible? She was supposed to be a virgin still! She was the good sister, dang it! “I don’t suppose that this is a miraculous conception and that Jesus has a brother?” Puck asked hopefully.

Perri rolled her eyes at Puck and snorted. “Do I really have to answer that? God, I hope my baby doesn’t inherit your smarts…”

“
So…how far along are you? Who’s the dad? Are you okay? Was this…planned?”

Perri put down the magazine and sighed. “I’m three months along. The dad doesn’t want to be a father so we broke up, and no I didn’t plan on getting pregnant, it was an accident.”

“So what, you accidently fell on his dick? I find that hard to believe.”

“
Puck, stop it. Stop making this into a joke.” Perri stood up and started to walk away.

Puck felt so helpless, what was she supposed to say? How could she fix things and make them all better? How would they be able to afford another person to take care of? She guessed that she’d have to get a second job after all…since she was fired, she had picked up extra shifts at the diner, but that wouldn’t be enough with another mouth to feed.

“It’s okay, we’ll make this work. From now on, I’ll go with you to your doctor appointments, I’ll get another job, and we can start buying all of the stuff you’ll need.  Me and you can share a room again and my room will be the nursery. It’ll work out okay, we can make this work.”

Perri stopped in her tracks and spun around. She did not look happy. “Stop making this your problem! You don’t have to fix anything! You get no say in what I do, because you are not the one who is pregnant! So stop trying to sound like you have all the answers! Because you don’t!”

At that inopportune moment, the doorbell rang. Perri stormed out of the living room, leaving a dazed Puck behind. Puck cursed and went to get the door. “Come in,” Puck said as she opened the door, not bothering to wait for a reply. She was already on Perri’s trail; she had to fix things before she left on her date!

Potter frowned as he watched Puck walk away. Where was she going? They had a date. He watched the dress sway to and fro as she walked quickly down the hall, and couldn’t help but notice how cute her butt was. He tried to think of the last time he’d seen her in a dress, but couldn’t remember ever seeing her in one. He wondered what was going on with Puck. She didn’t seem angry…just preoccupied about something. He sat down on the couch and waited for Puck to come back.

He could hear Perri yelling in her room, but couldn’t hear the words. Pretty soon Puck started to yell too, the words that Potter were able to catch would have made a sailor blush. He winced when he heard the door slam, and then Puck was back in the living room, looking flustered and angry.  He didn’t have to wait long to find out what was going on.

“
She told me to go to hell.  I do everything for her! I’ve sacrificed the past few years of my life taking care of her! I worked two jobs, killing myself so that she could have a comfy life and hang out with her friends and get knocked up! I am nothing but supportive of her, and she wants me to go to hell!”

“
Wait a sec, Perri’s knocked up?” Potter asked incredulously, wasn’t Perri the good sister?

“
Yeah. She just told me. She’s three months along, the dad is out of the picture and she wants me to go to hell. Did I mention that she wants me to go to hell?!”

Potter walked over to Puck and put his arms around her. “It’ll be okay,” he murmured against her hair. “It’ll all be okay. You guys will find a way to make this work.”  At first Puck held herself rigid, anger still running through her blood, but then she slumped against Potter, letting her head rest on his chest.

Puck stifled back a sob and whispered sadly, “She won’t let me. She won’t let me help her. I really think she hates me.” She felt a single tear travel down her cheek, which was quickly followed by another. “I don’t know what to do, I’m not equipped to handle this. Mom and Dad should be dealing with this right now! Why did they leave me?”

Potter felt his heart trip at the pain in Puck’s voice. “Aww baby, don’t cry!” he crooned as he held her closer, his arms cradling her, trying to comfort her. It broke his heart to hear his strong, confident, cocky girl break down in tears like this. He remembered when her parents had left, the whole town had been shocked that they had abandoned their kids like that. Sure Perri had been an older teenager at the time, but it just wasn’t normal to leave them on their own at such an early age. It had forced Puck to grow up way to quickly, making her work too hard, and worry too much.

Puck sniffled against Potter’s shoulders, and smiled a weak little smile. “Don’t call me Baby.” It felt so good, to be in his arms, to hear his deep comforting voice, and to know that he really cared. She let him hold her close, rub circles on her back, and murmur comforting drivel against her hair. She sniffled one last time and then pushed herself out of his arms. She looked into his eyes, and smiled a little. “I’m okay, really. I just was shocked that Perri spoke like that to me.”

Potter nodded and stepped back, giving her the space that she needed right now.  He sat back down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. Puck smiled and sat down, grabbing his hand and playing with his fingers. Potter couldn’t help but smile. When she’d been crying he hadn’t known what to do, except rub her back and reassure her, but handling a Puck who was hiding her pain and pushing it far far back in her subconscious, this he was able to handle.

“You look hot.”

Puck glanced at him sideways and couldn’t help but smile. Potter in his goofy way was trying to make things better. “I do, don’t I? I bought this dress for my brother’s wedding. The bride kind of freaked out though because my dress had white on it. It’s not like it’s an all white dress though, so I wore it anyways.”

“I bet you looked prettier than the bride, if I would have been there at his wedding, maybe you and me would have been dating long before now.”

“
Ha, I doubt it! You would have run away screaming out of fear!”

“
Yeah…maybe that’s true. I still would have noticed how hot you were though, even if I was running for my life.”

Puck smiled at that image and dragged his hand on her lap so she could continue playing with his fingers. He had such strong hands, his fingers were long and lean, a working man’s hands. Letting out a small sigh, she laid her head on his shoulder and thought how amazing it was that this man liked her. He was such a good man, kind and thoughtful, funny, attractive, macho, adventurous, and attentive. He was so good at reading her thoughts and feelings and being just what she needed him to be.