Future Part One
"I can't do this. I just can't."
Leroy Berry looked at his daughter in the mirror. "You love Finn. That much I know. This isn't a mistake. I know it seems like a big decision now, but you'll know in the end."
Rachel rubbed her eyes, but Leroy slapped her hands away to save her makeup. "What happened to my brave little girl?" Hiram asked the twenty-six-year-old daughter. "The Rachel Berry I know isn't scared of anything."
"I'm not scared of performing on stage," Rachel agreed meekly.
"See? Then this is nothing," Leroy said.
"No! This is so much more!" Rachel objected, her breath speeding up. "This is a decision that could change my life as we know it, and I'm not sure I can handle it! Should I really be getting cold feet?"
"Rachel," Hiram said, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetie. Everybody gets cold feet on their wedding day. Trust me- when you walk down that aisle and see Finn's face, you'll know you made the right decision."
"But why does it make me feel so bad?" wailed Rachel. "I shouldn't feel like this. I know Finn's the one. When you love someone like this, why do you feel like this?"
"I'm a terrible, terrible person."
"What's up?" Kurt Hummel asked, plopping happily into a chair next to his step-brother and the groomsmen. The six men were in a tiny, closet-like room behind the altar.
Finn lifted his head up from his hands. "Oh, nothing. It's just my wedding day and I'm freaking out," Finn said sharply.
"Whoa, no need for the attitude, mister!" Kurt shot back. "Unfortunately, you picked me to be your Best Man, so I have to help you out of this funk. So tell me: why are you freaking out?"
"I don't think I can go through with this, man. I can't handle it." Finn looked away and at the floor. "What would Rachel think if she knew I felt this way? She would hate me!"
"I can guarantee that she's feeling exactly the same way," Kurt said positively.
Finn looked at his brother in surprise. "Wait, what? How do you know?"
"Everybody feels like this only their wedding day." Kurt glanced over at the other boys, making sure they weren't listening. "Even me," he added secretively.
"But… but… you love Blaine," Finn stated, confused.
"I do." Kurt nodded. "But I was still nervous. You're right, it is a big decision. But you aren't making the wrong one. Trust me."
Finn met Kurt's eyes, and knew right away that his brother was right.
"Are you ready?"
Rachel looked up into the mirror at herself for the first time. She looked more confident than she felt, but she really did look like a bride. It was strange. She rubbed her eyes, but Leroy slapped her hands away for the sake of her makeup.
"Yeah," Rachel said bravely, standing.
Hiram opened the door to the little room and Rachel's five bridesmaids pushed inside.
"Oh, baby!" Mercedes Jones exclaimed, crushing Rachel in a hug. "You look so beautiful!" She pulled back and wiped away some pre-wedding tears.
"I thought I was the one who was supposed to cry at my wedding," Rachel said slowly.
"You will, don't worry," Leroy assured her.
"Okay, let's make sure you've got everything." Tina Chang stepped closer to the bride, her six-month-old baby bump protruding from her pale blue bridesmaid dress. "Something old?"
"My earrings," Rachel said, looking at the plain, diamond studs in the mirror. "They were my first pair. Grandma Barry gave them to me when I was eight."
"May she rest in peace," Hiram said traditionally.
"Something new?" Tina continued.
"Pretty much everything," Rachel chuckled.
"Something borrowed?"
"She's got my garter," Santana Lopez snickered. "Because she definitely doesn't have one." Rachel rolled her eyes to keep from laughing.
"And something blue?"
"The hair combs," Quinn Evans commented, admiring the elegant, flowery combs that held the veil in place.
"Looks like we're ready to go, then," Rachel murmured.
"But first," Brittany Pierce said, pecking Rachel's cheek, "a kiss for good luck." The other girls smiled and did the same.
"Okay," Santana practically shouted. "Let's get this show on the road!" She led the girls and Rachel's parents out to the lobby. Everybody formed a blockade around Rachel to prevent any late-arrivals from seeing her.
Quinn's mom, Judy, scurried over to the group, one sandy-haired toddler in each arm. She handed each twin, Lucy and Parker, to Quinn. The little girl was in a fluffy white flower girl dress, and the boy was wearing a mini tux . "Only a couple more minutes," Judy huffed.
Rachel peeked over Brittany's shoulder into the chapel. Finn and the groomsmen were lining up at the altar, but Rachel had chosen a church with such a long aisle that she couldn't tell who was who. Damn her obsession with extravagance. She could spot Artie, because he was in a wheel chair, and-
Brittany shifted her weight obliviously, blocking Rachel's view.
Judy exhaled a long breath. "Okay, kids, it's time."
"I, Finn, take you, Rachel, to be my wedded wife." The priest read the next line, and Finn repeated. "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."
Rachel did the same. "I, Rachel, take you, Finn, to be my wedded husband." The lump in her throat she had been waiting for all day finally began to form. "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness." Finn moved to wipe away a tear from Rachel's cheek, causing all of the wedding guests to aw.
The priest grinned, closing his Bible. "By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you man and wife. Finn, you may kiss your bride."
Finn lifted Rachel's veil and lightly kissed her lips as their audience cheered. They both pulled away, smiling at each other.
"Come on," a familiar voice hissed at the couple. "It may be adorable, but you two can't just stand here all day. We're on a schedule." The guests began to file out so they couple watch the happy couple leave.
Finn and Rachel looked over at Kurt, who cracked a smile. "Go! Pretend to leave the church, then we take pictures, and then we can go party!"
"'Go party?'" Finn laughed.
"Go," Kurt repeated, pushing the couple back down the aisle. "They're waiting to throw Fruit Loops at you."
"Wait, Fruit Loops?" Finn asked as Rachel pulled him towards the front doors. "No rice?"
"Fruit Loops," she repeated slowly. "They match the girls' dresses."
Finn smirked as they stepped out into the sun. A shower of Fruit Loops fell on them from all around.
"Take this, Finnie boy!" Puck yelled as he pelted the cereal at Finn.
"Exactly how I imagined my wedding: Puck throwing cereal at my head," Finn said sarcastically, flinching.
"So it's just like any other day," Rachel teased.
Finn rolled his eyes. "Let's hurry through the pictures so we can... go party."
Quinn shifted her weight. She was standing in the front of the ballroom, on the platform next to the head table. "This is usually the time when the Matron of Honor talks about she and the bride have been friends from the start," she began, anxiously twirling her wine glass. "But that's not exactly how it is for Rachel and me. We met in high school. I wasn't really... nice. I was jealous that she was so confident about her future, and that she had somebody as awesome as Finn." She chuckled, but then her smile faded.
"I was terrible to you, Rachel." The bride shook her head. "No, I really was. Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that you forgave me… when I couldn't even forgive myself." She turned back to the audience, continuing the story. "We ran into each other in college, a few years later. We didn't know we both ended up going to school in New York. She suggested we go out for coffee; make amends. I don't know what I expected to come from that visit, but I walked out of that coffee shop feeling like a weight that I had been carrying for almost four years had been lifted." The tears Quinn had been holding in finally began to fall. "I had a best friend. I was happier than I had been in a really long time."
Rachel bit her lip, her own eyes glittering with tears. "Now I just want to tell you how great of a couple Rachel and Finn are," Quinn said the crowd, "if you didn't already know." She giggled. "I don't think two people were ever so obviously made for each other." Kurt cleared his throat loudly, nodding to Blaine. Everybody laughed. "They deserve to be happy together for the rest of their lives. I know we all wish the luck. But they don't really need it," she added in a whisper.
She raised her glass. "To Finn and Rachel."
"To Finn and Rachel," she audience echoed softly, clinking glasses with one another and drinking.
Mercedes took the mike from Quinn and beamed. "Let's dance!" she shouted. The wedding party and guests whooped and filed onto the dance floor as the music began to play.
The party had started to settle down; it was nine p.m., and Rachel's girlfriends were gathered around her as she bounced her goddaughter Lucy in her arms.
"You look beautiful," Quinn said for the fifth time. The rest of the girls grinned- Quinn didn't seem to notice she had already said it.
"This is the most awesome wedding ever," Lauren Puckerman said, her mouth full of desserts. "You have a chocolate fountain."
"It's all for you, Lauren," Rachel laughed.
"Rachel?"
The bride turned around in her chair and her mouth fell open. A woman, almost like her twin, stood there.
"Mom?" Rachel breathed. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited," Shelby answered nervously. "Wasn't I? I got an invitation, and I RSVPed to," she looked down at the card, "Kurt."
"Oh, he must have invited her, that little sneak," Tina chuckled.
"I can go if you don't want me here," Shelby said uncertainly. She slowly backed away.
"No!" Rachel hopped up and pulled Shelby closer by the wrist. "Stay!"
A warm smile its place on Shelby's face. "There's someone I'd like you all to meet," she said vaguely.
Rachel cocked her head as a dark-haired girl only about the age of ten stepped up near Shelby. "Momma, they have a chocolate fountain," she told Shelby excitedly. She had such familiar light green eyes…
Quinn gasped. Every girl turned to see the blonde holding her heart, almost falling off her chair.
"This is Beth," Shelby said in explanation.
The girl in question looked around at the group of bridesmaids, looking shy but curious. Her eyes lingered on Quinn, seeming to see the resemblance as well. Quinn stood up from her chair and took a step closer to Beth.
"Can I just… hug her?" she asked Shelby, her voice wavering. Shelby nodded, smiling, and the blonde took the girl in her arms.
"Hey Puckerman!" Rachel called across the ballroom at the mow hawked man at the bar with her husband. "Look who's here!"
Puck weaved around the tables and chairs to the group of girls surrounding Beth. He recognized her right as way, too. "Mah baby girl!" he wailed playfully, pulling Beth up from the ground and swinging her around in a circle.
"This calls for a request," Artie Abrams said from behind the DJ booth, "for Beth."
Beth by Kiss began to play, and Puck led the girl out onto the dance floor.
"They look exactly alike," Quinn said dreamily, watching the man she had a fling with twirl with their daughter around.
"But she has your eyes," Rachel commented.
Kurt Hummel came up behind the pair. "I have an announcement to make," he said to Rachel.
"Shoot," said Rachel uninterestedly.
"You and Finn are going on a honeymoon." Kurt voice was rushed, as if that made the fact more interesting.
"No we aren't. Finn and I are saving up so we can go somewhere ah-mazing next summer."
"Blaine and I are paying for it."
Rachel tore her eyes away from Puck and Beth to gape at Kurt. "Excuse me? I'm not letting you two pay for this."
"Um, yes you are," Kurt said stubbornly.
"Well then where am I going?" Rachel asked, trying to look more unhappy than she felt.
Kurt smirked. "You'll have to wait and see."
TBC