Finn Hudson gazed at the two story suburban house, and thought it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw. It was nothing special to look at, there wasn't anything in particular that distinguished it from all the other houses lining the street, it wasn't even his childhood home. The one that held all the memories he had with his mother and maybe a few special ones he didn't remember with his birth father. This house was the one he moved into his sophomore year of high school, the one him and his mother had shared with Burt and Kurt.
But none of that mattered to him, the only thing he could think of, after being four years away from it, was "This is it, I'm finally home"
When he entered the house what he sawed shocked him. It was all the same! Everything, the furniture, the TV, the rugs. He should've known that not much would be different in four years, but he had expected his mom and Burt to have updated the TV and the appliances or at least moved the furniture around while he was away
After being gone for what felt like a lifetime, he was afraid he had built an image of home that was more fantasy than reality. Whenever another soldier in his unit asked him where he was from, no one knew where Lima was, so he just told them Ohio. The inevitable "lions, and tigers, and bears oh my!" jokes would come and he would be known as the Ohio guy. Finn didn't mind. He knew that joking around was just a way to relieve stress in the tense atmosphere they were in.
He kind of liked it actually. It was funny how he lived his whole life trying to get out of Lima Ohio, but when he did, it became the placed he longed for the most.
Even though his tours of duty required him to be gone for six months to a year, he never did come home between missions. It was selfish, he knew, to deprive his mother of seeing her only son. She was never crazy about him joining the military in the first place. If he just came home just to be called back to service multiple times, it would just kill her. There was also the small part of him that knew it would kill him to keep saying goodbye to her. But he knew that a long as she had Burt, she would be taken care of.
Then he got injured last year. He knew that was when he should've returned to Ohio, but he didn't. His mother probably would've gone into a coma if she saw him lying in a hospital bed, one of her worst fears coming true.
It was no big deal really he was still conscious, had all his limbs, and most important of all he was alive. Sure he couldn't walk right then and now he would need a cane to support him for the rest of his life, but after the things he's seen, he counted himself as one of the lucky ones.
So he chose a place for physical rehabilitation far away from Ohio, where his mother couldn't visit him. They told him it would be at least a year before he could walk again, but he was motivated. It took him only 7 months. Maybe the 1 year timeline was some kind of strategy by his therapist. It didn't matter; he was home and could walk for himself. He had wanted to surprise his mother with the present of being home 5 months early.
Speaking of which "Mom, It's me. I'm home." He shouted as he walked through the seemingly empty house.
He wandered into the kitchen and noticed a plate of cookies on the counter. He touched them. They still felt warm. Awesome! She wasn't known for her cooking, but it was still something homemade from his mother. Excited he went to the fridge to pour himself a glass of milk. Then he noticed a post-it note on the door.
"Going to pharmacy real quick, love you" it read. Hmm, that was weird. Did the people at the hospital call and to tell his mother he had left?
Before he could ponder the note any further, he was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Carole, we're here" Santana shouted from his living room.
Finn almost jumped at the voice. He remembered the last time he saw her. It was the night before he left. He sometimes thought of her when he reminisced about home, maybe a little more than his other friends. Even though they weren't particularly close and never shared much, well except losing his virginity to her and some weirdness for a bit during junior year that he still wasn't sure about.
When he stepped out of the kitchen to greet her, what he saw took his breath away. She was gorgeous. He always knew she was hot, but that was high school. She had matured since then, the way she was dressed her hair, which was much shorter, and the way she carried herself. He barely recognized her as the girl he knew in high school. Santana had become an adult. He wondered if she would think the same of him. He looked down at his uniform, of course he had.
"Carole, I'm sorry we're a bit early today but I got called in" Santana continued to yell up the stairs.
Who was we? Finn was confused. Then he spotted the little girl holding Santana's hand. He felt his stomach drop. Was that her kid? Was she married? Wait, why where they even here in the first place. Did his mom run a daycare from the house now? Were she and Burt in some sort of financial trouble?
Santana was standing there looking around at everything except for him, she hadn't seen him yet. Finn had no idea how to approach the pair.
"Mommy! Who's that?" the little girl questioned pointing her finger, when she spotted him across the house.
It was then that Santana saw him. Her eyes widened and she stopped dead in her tracks. They just stared at each other from across the house. Finn decided that he should be the one to break the stalemate. He determined the easiest thing would be to start by answering the little girl's question.
"Hello there. My name is Finn Hudson." He told her as he went down on his knees."What's your name?"
"My name is Isabella. Are you in a hero Mr. Hudson?" She asked, smiling up at him with dimpled cheeks.
He smiled backed and responded to her question "Well what makes you say that?"
"You are wearing a uniform with all those illustrious medals." She explained to him seriously
He almost laughed "Whoa, where did a little girl like you learn how to use such big words."
"Aunt Rachel said that just because I'm a baby shouldn't mean I can't learn how to speak properly. She's already won several competitions by my age." She told him matter-of-factly.
"That's nice princess" He replied. She started to giggle. It was cute. People always commented on his dimples as long as he could remember, he never understood what the big deal was. He had to admit though; no one could ever get sick of seeing this face. "What. What did I say?"
"You called me princess. That's what popi always calls me." She informed him.
From the few times he's met Santana's father," princess" was something he could never imagine him calling anybody. In fact, it sounded more like something Burt would say, but he put that thought away.
"Tell me princess. How old are you? He questioned slowly.
"I'm three and one half" She announced proudly holding up 3 fingers and half of a pinky finger.
Finn racked his brain to do the math, but there was no way. There was no way Santana would have. Would she? He looked up to see the girl's mother. The expression on her face made him feel like someone had knocked all the air out of his lungs.
He got to his feet and they resumed their earlier performance of staring at each other, waiting for the other one to make a move. This time Finn had no idea where to start.
All of a sudden, he felt a small pressure on his knee and two tiny arms wrapped around his leg. Isabella had kissed his knee and was currently hugging his right leg.
"Thanks princess. What was that for?"
"When I get a booboo mommy kisses it and I feel all better." She squeaked out, her face still buried in his knee. She looked up at him with a concern expression. "You were crying so you must be hurt."
Was he? He couldn't even remember the last time he cried, not even when he was injured. Finn brought his hand up to his face, and realized she was correct. He didn't even notice.
"Izzy sweetie, why don't you go up to your room so I can talk to this nice man." Santana had finally spoken.
He watched the little girl walk up the stairs, her shoes making the only sounds in the silent house. When he turned to face Santana, he knew she was staring at the room Isabella was in even though it was out of sight. If possible, without Isabella as a buffer, the atmosphere had become even more awkward. He heard the sound of car engine close by, and tore his gaze away from Santana. Through the window he saw his mother's car pulling into the driveway.
What Santana Lopez told him next, Finn Hudson would remember for the rest of his life.
"Welcome home Finn, try not to get my kid killed before your mom gets here." And she was gone. I mean it, she was outta there.