Just a small drabble that I came up with. :)
Enjoy!
He feels Alex's merciless grip on his hand, peering down to the little boy, "you okay, buddy?"
Alex only stares ahead at the sea of playing children, flinching at the noise of the kindergarteners who run past every few seconds. They're early to the school, but so is everybody else apparently. The young boy clutches onto his Power Rangers lunchbox a little tighter at the sight.
On the other side, Rachel leans over her five year old slightly and places a hand on his shoulder, "looks fun, right? I bet that you'll make lots of friends today." Finn catches the worry in his son's eyes.
"Mama," Eva tugs on Rachel's dress before patting her large baby bump, something that has become quite a habit of the three year old, "I need potty. Now." She pouts, hopping from one foot to the other.
Rachel shares a look with Finn, her eyes slowly shifting over to Alex. "We'll be five minutes, okay? She stands on her tiptoes to give him a sweet kiss, smiling shyly afterwards. With Eva's hand in her, they make for the bathroom.
He turns himself around until he is face to face with who he assumes to be the teacher, a kind faced woman with grey hair. "Are you a parent?" she asks.
"Err…yeah," he smiles because it would be totally weird if he wasn't a parent, "it's my son's first day of school. My wife really wanted me to be there for it, you know?"
The woman – Claire her nametag says – nods along in understanding. "Is he your first?" she smiles knowingly.
Finn rubs the back of his head idly, "yup. The oldest Hudson. The big man." He chuckles to himself, "he'll be getting a new brother in a couple of months. Maybe a little competition."
Claire laughs, "ah, yes. My eldest got a little visit from the green monster when his brother came along."
"That won't happen to Alex," he shakes his head, "the little guy loves to share. He has a little sister so it's kinda a given." He smiles, thinking how good his kids are at sharing, especially when compared to some of those he's seen. Maybe it was a good idea having the kids born so close together, so that they grow up with it.
"Where is he then?" Claire smiles eagerly, clasping her hands together.
"Oh, he's…"
He spins to the side, expecting to see his son though is met with thin air. "Alex?" he breathes, scanning around the room through the cry of colours and hills of toys, "Alex, where are you?" Looking back at Claire, he notices her calm demeanour and his eyebrows knot together.
"Don't worry," she says, "kids run off all the time."
"No, this isn't like him." He knows his own son.
She pats him arm, probably an act that is a lot less consoling that she thinks, "he'll show up."
Bloody teachers, he thinks as she begins to walk away and he uses his height to his advantage to do a full scope of the room once more. He notices a flash of a blue sweater – the same one that Rachel had cleaned and primped to perfection just for today – move out of the door to the outside area and quickly follows.
There aren't any other kids out here yet and the swinging door of the playhouse suggests that maybe his son is in there. Crouching down, he pops his head into the pink plastic doorframe. "Knock, knock, anybody home?" he jokes.
But his face soon falls at the sight of Alex huddled in the corner, in the way that he does when he's upset.
"Hey," he whispers, unsteadily crawling into the playhouse which is clearly not built for Finn Hudson sized people, "what's wrong?"
Alex shared his head, his floppy brown hair moving too. By the time Finn reaches the boy, there are tiny little tears on his face. He wraps his arms around him, easily sliding his son onto his knee. "You gonna tell me what's wrong?"
"I don't wanna go to school," he mumbles into Finn's shirt.
"Why not?"
"Because!" he says stubbornly.
Finn resists the urge to roll his eyes, as is the usual process when Alex gets like this, "that's not a reason, that's a word."
His son looks up at him, those huge Rachel Berry eyes that every one of his children miraculously inherits already widening. "I'm scared, daddy."
This catches him by surprise as it's the first time that Alex has called him daddy in about six months. It must be bad. "And why are you scared?" He finds himself running a hand through Alex's hair, a technique usually used by Rachel to calm him.
"What if I don't make friends?" he asks, "I don't wanna be the weird kid."
"Now where did you get an idea like that?" he raises an eyebrow, the suspicions already arising.
"Jack," he says quietly.
Finn sighs, "and haven't we told you that Jack Puckerman just likes to tease you because he can?"
The boy nods, eyes shining innocently. "What if he's right though?"
"But he isn't," Finn says surely, "you're going to march into that room, confident and happy, and you're going to have a great first day at school."
"I'm not very good at things like that," he shakes his head, "not like mommy." Finn can't help but smile at the way that Alex seems to think that his mother is perfect, which he can't exactly disagree on, can he? His wife is all kinds of awesome and more.
"Stop comparing yourself to your mother." He taps Alex's tiny nose, "you're half Rachel Berry, you know?"
"You mean I'm half girl?" he gaps out in surprise, suddenly staring down to his crotch. Finn almost facepalms but slowly redirects Alex's attention.
He smiles, "I mean, you have inherited so many good things from her. And that's what makes you perfect too." Finn grins, hugging his son with one arm, "so, are you going to let school bring you down?"
Alex, with a new boost of confidence, shakes his head, "no, sir."
"That's right," Finn says, "and also, you're a Hudson. And remember, Hudson's –"
"Don't give up that easily," they finish together, Alex grinning at him.
"You see?" he grins, "let's go and conquer Kindergarten then!"
The boy jumps up, bounding out of the door and singing about taking Kindergarten by storm. Finn smiles proudly and begins to climb out himself, finding himself staring at a group of mothers who only return curious looks back. "Kinda having a pep talk," he explains, pointing to the house awkwardly, "everything is totally cool. He's my son – I know him. I…err gotta go." His cheeks turn red from embarrassment and could they stop staring?
He returns inside to see Alex already having taking over the sand area.
"Daddy!" he hears Eva squeal and sees his baby girl running up to him, her pigtails bouncing as she runs.
"We were looking for you," Rachel smiles tiredly, "I was worried." Her eyes follow Alex as he helps a brown haired girl to make a sandcastle.
Finn wraps his arm around her shoulder, "Rach, he's fine. I totally got this."
Her eyes widen, "you started the you're a Hudson speech again, didn't you?"
"Works every time," he grins.
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