A.N. - This was originally posted as a self-para in an RP of mine, but I thought it works pretty well on its own too, figured "what the hell", and here we are. The only thing that's worth mentioning before you read it is that Finn got the world's dopiest Shiba Inu dog for Christmas, which is who "Finn's newly acquired dog" refers to.
Finding the motivation to wake up and get out of bed on this particular day was hard every year. Something in Finn's body always told him to stay were he was, hoping that if he buried himself under enough pillows and covers, he'd be allowed to just lay there and wait for the day to pass.
That thought was quickly out of Finn's head though when he woke up this morning, his newly acquired dog licking his face and pawing at his chest, demanding immediate attention. Too lazy to get dressed, Finn just threw a jacket over his pajamas before taking his dog on the daily 4 am walk around the backyard that he apparently couldn't do without.
"Be extra nice to Mom today, ok?", Finn asked his dog in a low voice once they were back inside, bending down to brush the snow and dirt off his pet.
"It's been 17 years since Christopher died, sweetie", Carole's voice gently informed him, and Finn's gaze shot up to see her standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "I'm not going to have a break down. I promise." Eyeing the dog that had sat down obediently at the sight of her, she added. "Unless you don't stop going outside in the middle of the night."
"Sorry", Finn apologized, mentally kicking himself for creating enough commotion to wake his mom, and on this day of all days.
"Do you want pancakes?", Carole asked suddenly, returning to the kitchen. Checking to see that Finn had followed her there, she continued as she got out the necessary ingredients. "I know Kurt makes them better, but you still like mine too, right?"
"Love them", Finn said truthfully, drawing out a chair to take a seat at the kitchen table, but was intercepted by his dog, who apparently desired the spot too. He was about to fight him for it, but lost track of what he was doing when he heard his mom's laugh.
It wasn't that Carole never found anything funny. On the contrary, she had a very broad sense of humor. But Finn couldn't remember a single time he had heard her laugh on January 11th before. Even smiles had been rare during the first years he could remember. Then again, his mom was so happy lately, ever since she'd found Burt. It shouldn't really have surprised him that the anniversary of his dad's death hadn't hit her as hard this year around as it used to.
Oblivious to Finn's observations, Carole continued with her cooking as if nothing was out of the ordinary, serving up an extra large load of pancakes for her son, planting a kiss on the top of his head.
"I swear you look more and more like your dad every year", she commented as she took a seat, with more happiness than anything else in her voice. "God, he would have hated your haircut though", she added jokingly, but Finn figured there was some truth to it, or she wouldn't have said it. "Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he had a trimmer picked out for you first buzz cut before you were even out of my belly."
Running a hand through his hair, Finn smiled as Carole continued to talk about his dad until Kurt and Burt woke up and joined them a few hours later. Some stories were new. Some he had heard a thousand times before. He didn't care either way though, as all of them put a smile across his mom's face, and that was exactly the motivation he needed to successfully get through this day another year.
A.N - Originally posted on the tumblr "iamfinnkong"