And Here's What You Missed on...GLEE

“Alright!” Puck exclaimed when we were in his car, Grayson buckled into the backseat. “So, ice cream to celebrate?”

“I can’t say no to that. What about you, Gray?” I turned around in my seat and looked at him.

He was grinning from ear to ear, clapping his hands.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Facing the front again, I turned the radio off and reached into his glove box to pull out his CD collection.

“Did I say you could do that?” he questioned me, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” I replied in a similar tone. “But I’m looking through it anyway.”

The only CD that I actually recognized was a Greatest Hits album of Billy Joel, so I just popped that in the player and waited for it to start up. “I’m so glad that you like Billy Joel,” I informed him. “I’ve been a huge fan since…kinda forever.”

“So have I, and you kind of know my reasoning behind that.” He gave me a cheeky smile, so I rolled my eyes.

Within a few minutes, Puck had parked at an ice cream place, and I unbuckled Grayson from his seat. Immediately, he wanted to start running around, especially after he got a glimpse of the cows wandering around out back, but I kept a firm grip on him.

“You know what kind I want,” I sighed to Puck. “I have to let Grayson see the cows. Meet us back there?”

He nodded, so I muttered at Grayson to stop being a brat as we made our way behind the stand. The cows were all wandering around slowly and lazily, chowing on cud. What the appeal was to Grayson, I could never be sure.

“Oh, they’re just lovely,” I humored him. “And they smell wonderful.” It took a lot of self-restraint to keep me from bursting into hysterical laughter after that last comment. Too bad I was the only one that would have found that funny.

“MOOO!” Grayson screeched, pointing at the cows. “MOOO!”

“Yes, yes. Moo moo.” I looked around to see that a few moms were staring at Grayson with those faces that said, ‘Aw, look at that baby. He’s adorable.’ And then they saw me: irresponsible teenage mom. Too bad that WASN’T THE SITUATION. Just once, I would love if they assumed that Grayson was my baby brother. Was that so hard for people?

“Cookies n’ cream, at your service,” Puck presented, putting the cone in my hand with a smile.

“Thank you,” I smiled. “Alright, Grayson. It’s time to go eat your ice cream. Time to say bye to the cows.”

I expected him to throw a fit to embarrass the hell out of me, but I was pleasantly surprised when he reached up and waved a couple of times. “Bye-bye, Moo.”

We took a seat on a big boulder, and I handed the small cup of chocolate ice cream to Grayson, hoping to God that he didn’t get it all over himself. Of course, since he was a toddler, he found every possible way to get an even coat all over his skin, clothes, and hair. Splendid.

“I’ll just clean him up and change him when we get back to my house,” I sighed, watching as Grayson tried to lick a blot of ice cream on the tip of his nose, completely avoiding the mess that covered his mouth.

Puck looked at me like, ‘Okay, thanks for the update. I don’t care.’

Soon enough, our treats were gone, though some of us consumed more than others. I felt kind of disgusting as I picked up Grayson, already feeling the dried ice cream sticking to me. Ugh.

“Why in the world did you have to do that?” I grumbled at him as we started back toward Puck’s car.

Soon enough, we were back at my house, and I got everything out of Puck’s car. “So,” he whispered in my ear as I struggled to open the door, “when are you going to come through with your promise?”

“After Grayson leaves,” I assured him. “But don’t worry. I’m a girl of my word.”

“Elegance Joy!” Mom’s voice screamed at me the second I walked through the door. With the shock, I almost dropping Grayson, but my reflexes were good enough to keep him in my grasp.

“Your name is Elegance?” Puck questioned, but I ignored him.

“Where the hell have you been?” Mom snapped. “It’s past eight at night, and I haven’t heard from you since two!”

“I was at a Glee thing, remember? I brought Grayson with me. And then we went out for ice cream because we won first place. Not that you care.”

“What if Aunt Piper had come back to get Gray and he was gone? What then?”

“It’s not my fault he was gone!” I argued. “You forced him to come with me! You dropped him on my lap and ran. I had no choice.”

“I thought you loved watching Grayson!”

“I do, but he’s not the ideal guest for a Glee Club competition, Mom. You’re lucky that Mr. Schuester agreed to watch him while we performed.”

“’You’re lucky.’ Gee, Ellie, it sounds like you’re threatening me!”

“What…?” I took a deep breath and lowered my voice, seeing that Gray’s face was starting to twist up, getting ready to let out a loud cry. “Mom, that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that it seems like I’m the adult here most of the time. It’s not fair. I’m a teenager. I have stuff to do.”

“And I’m going through a divorce, so you are in no position to tell me that you’re busy, that you have things to do.”

I gritted my teeth and handed Grayson over to Puck, who accepted him with a shocked expression. “Mom, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you ordering me around and dumping Grayson on me all the time. I love him to death, but sometimes I just want to hang out with my boyfriend!” I gestured to Puck. “Or with my friends!”

“You’d rather hang out with a faggot than take care of your own cousin?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Puck interjected. “I am not-”

“Not you,” Mom and I snapped at him at the same time.

“You know what, Ellie? If you’re sick of the way I run things here, then don’t stay here.”

I hesitated, letting the words sink in for a second. “What?”

“You heard me. Get out! Be just like your father. Leave me alone here.”

“Mom, where would I go?”

“That’s not my business. You just can’t stay here. I have put up with your mannerless, rude, unappreciative self for long enough. So just GET OUT!”

“Some therapist you are,” I replied with biting sarcasm. “Oh, I have a family problem, so I’ll just throw my daughter out on the street.”

“I’m not kidding.” Her face had as much emotion as a brick. “Pack your stuff and get out. And take Grayson with you. Aunt Piper’s not picking him up until tomorrow. So just come over before three tomorrow and drop him off, make it look like I was taking care of him the whole time.”

With that, she went upstairs and hid out in her room. The sound of her door slamming behind her was easily heard in the kitchen.

“Well,” I said simply before the emotion settled in, “Puck, let’s go pack my stuff.”