A/N: I saw this prompt, and I had to fill it; I just couldn't say no. Most of the books Finn and Rachel get are made up, and any similarities to actual books are purely coincidental.

"Tell me again why I'm doing this."

"Because you're my best friend and you love me."

"No, I mean, tell me again why I'm the one coming back from the drugstore that is literally fifty feet from your apartment at nearly eight o'clock at night instead you."

"Kurt, please just hurry, Finn could be back from work any minute."

"I'm coming, Rach; I'll be up in five minutes or so. You are very lucky I find your absurdity endearing."

"Hurry!"

Kurt slipped his phone back into his pocket and tucked the bag under his arm; going into the drug store and purchasing of those little pink boxes was embarrassing, and the clerk kept giving him this look that clearly said she was judging him. Rachel owed him and owed him big. He made his way up the stairs to the sixth floor walk up Rachel shared with Finn, and when he arrived, he found the door unlocked; Finn would have a fit if he knew she was being so reckless, and Kurt made a mental note to lecture her on safety at the first opportunity. Before he could say anything Rachel practically tackled him, grabbing the bag from beneath his arm and racing toward the bathroom, and he was forced to follow her, still confused by her sudden panic. He found the door shut, and the sounds of murmured obscenities reached his ears; if he hadn't known better he'd think Santana Lopez was in that bathroom.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, do you want to tell me why you had the sudden need to pee on little white sticks and why it couldn't wait until my brother got home?"

"At first I thought it was a stomach virus, but my favorite skinny jeans don't fit properly and I can smell that cologne Blaine got you for your birthday through the door." He wanted to be offended, but he was too busy adding everything up in his head.

"Rachel, are you sure it's not just migraines from the stress, and you told me that Finn's been attempting laundry so he might've shrunk your jeans again." When she didn't answer, he kept fishing for other explanations. "It really could just be a stomach virus, or you could just be bloated; there are all sorts of explanations for what you're feeling?"

"Shut up, Kurt!" It wasn't like her to snap, and Kurt knew in an instant something was wrong.

"I'm coming in!" He found her sitting in the floor, her back against the cabinet under the sink and her knees pressed to her chest; he could see the pregnancy test sitting on the edge of the sink above her head, and he picked it up gingerly. "Two bars, Rach—"

"I know what it means." She snapped, tears stinging her eyes.

"You'll figure it out, Diva; you and Finn always figure things out. Just wait until he gets home and talk it out with him."

It took him fifteen minutes to convince her to leave the bathroom and curl up on the couch, where she trembled and continued to cry quietly; despite the heat of the June weather, one of the only things that soothed Rachel's nerves was peppermint tea and chocolate, and soon Kurt settled next to her on the couch, handing her a cup, and tried to convince her that things were alright. He didn't want to leave her alone in the apartment, but he couldn't exactly stay; Finn might not be home for quite a while, despite Rachel's early concern that he could be home any minute, and it was getting late. He felt useless; Rachel was crying, and nothing seemed to calm her. Usually he'd suggest that they have a Barbra marathon, but he was sure that Funny Girl would not solve her problems this time. Luckily he heard the jingle of keys, and when the door swung open Finn appeared; Kurt stood up, patting her knee, and headed toward the door.

"I've got to get going; I promised Blaine I'd stop and get Thai food, and I'm sure he's starving by now."

"Whoa, I hate to get between a hungry Blaine and food." Finn chuckled, patting his brother on the back as Kurt hurried passed him into the hall.

"Rachel, call me if you need anything." Kurt called from outside the door before he could be heard practically running down the hall.

"Hi, baby!" Hanging his jacket on the hook, Finn swooped in to kiss Rachel, tasting peppermint on her lips, and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Peppermint tea, Rach, is something wrong?"

"Nope, just a little tired, that's all." She leaned up to kiss him back, her smile weak.

"I'm all gross, babe; one of the summer interns at the station managed to spill coke all over me as I was leaving. I think I'm going to jump in the shower." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You want to think about ordering dinner?"

Rachel nodded, offering him another smile, and he kissed her forehead softly and headed toward their bedroom; he stripped out of his sticky clothes, dropping them into the hamper, and quickly jumped into the shower. He hummed quietly to himself as he scrubbed away the residue, and soon steam filled the entire bathroom. In his rush to get cleaned up he hadn't noticed the small white stick resting on the counter by the sink, but as he reached for the towel he'd tossed there before stepping into the shower he spotted it; wrapping the towel around his waist, he carefully picked it up, and there was no doubt in his mind what it was. But why would Rachel have a pregnancy test, and what the hell did two bars mean? He'd never really paid attention to the commercials for them on TV or anything, and he and Rachel were always very careful because they both knew they weren't ready for kids or anything. Still holding it, he pulled in a breath and went to get dressed, trying to come up with the best way to ask Rachel about it without upsetting her.

How does one announce an unplanned pregnancy? Baby, guess what, I'm pregnant. Oops. None of the options seemed viable to Rachel, but she couldn't very well hide it from him. It wasn't that she hadn't considered the possibility of children with Finn, in fact they'd discussed the idea on a few occasions, but she certainly hadn't considered the idea of children before they were married or even out of college. They were both going to be juniors in the fall, and they were not ready to start a family. They'd been so careful, and now this had happened; it was like the universe was playing some horrible cruel joke on them. When he came out of the bedroom she was just going to have to tell him; Kurt was right after all. She and Finn would figure it out; they always did. Thinking back, she was pretty sure she knew how it had happened—besides the obvious; tears stung her eyes again, and she buried her face in her hands.

"Rach, is there something we need to talk about?" She looked up to see Finn kneeling in front of her, holding the pregnancy test in his hands. "Two bars mean—it means you're pregnant, doesn't it?"

"Yes." The moment the word left her lips, she began to cry in earnest again. "I'm sorry, Finn."

"Wait, baby, don't cry; don't apologize. It's not your fault." The test dropped to the floor, and he quickly moved to sit next to her on the couch, pulling her into his arms. "I just don't know how—I mean I know how, but we're careful. We're really careful."

"Remember about a month ago when I had that bad throat infection, and I had to take a Z-pak?" Finn nodded, confused. "It knocks out the pill, and we were all out of condoms; but I was feeling so much better, and we—"

"Oh," he pulled in a breath, his eye flickering to the test on the floor at his feet. "And you're sure that thing is accurate?"

"I did three, and they were all the same, positive. I'll need to make an appointment to be absolutely sure, but I seem to have a great many of the signs. I feel like vomiting all the time, my favorite jeans no longer fit—I've apparently gained fifteen pounds in the last two weeks—and I've been picking up smells a dog might miss. I'm quite certain that I am, in fact, pregnant." She was biting her lip hard, her hands trembling in front of her.

"Rachel—"

"I thought it was just stress or a stomach virus or maybe that I'd made some miscalculations somewhere." She explained quickly, her voice dangerously high pitched. "Oh Finn, what are we going to do? We live in a tiny apartment, with part time jobs, and we're supposed to go back to class in the fall."

"It'll be alright, babe; we'll figure it out somehow." He whispered the assurance after a moment's silence.

"I don't want to give up our child, Finn; I know it would difficult, but I can't—I don't want to make Shelby's mistakes, Finn, and I saw what Quinn and Noah went through with Beth. I know I'd regret it." The words came rushing out before she could stop them. "I know it's not just my choice, Finn; it involves you too, but I don't want to give up our baby."

"It wouldn't be easy, Rach." Finn waited until her eyes met his. "But I don't think I can do what Puck did; I don't think I could go through life knowing there was a piece of me out there in the world I'd never meet. He'd kill me if he knew I told you this, but I know how screwed up he was about it all."

"I'd never want you to go through that; I don't want regrets between us, or resentment. I couldn't bear it." She allowed him to pull her into his lap, her head against his chest. "I love you so much, and our love created something special; I don't think I can give that up, Finn."

"Then we won't; we'll make it work." He held her tight against him, his lips pressing to the top of her hair. "You'll be a mother, and I'll be a father; we'll make it work. It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it, Rach; I promise."

Worry instantly set in when Finn arrived home to find the apartment empty; Rachel had crawled out of bed with severe morning sickness, and she'd called in sick simply could not come in to work because the smell of grease made her want to vomit. Morning sickness was becoming routine in the weeks since they'd discovered Rachel was pregnant, but some mornings were worse than others. Since he was now the morning DJ at the college radio station, he'd convinced her to just get some rest and promised to bring home lunch if she felt like she could keep anything down. Leaving the vegetable stir fry he'd picked up from Rachel's favorite vegan Chinese restaurant on the counter, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and quickly called her, and he was relieved when she answered almost immediately.

"Rach, where are you? I thought you weren't feeling well."

"Sorry baby, I really wanted some marshmallows, and you were at work so I just thought I'd go get them myself." The giggle on the other end of the phone was too cute to stay angry at her. "And then on my way home I passed the bookstore."

"The bookstore? You mean the Barnes & Noble? Do you want me to come meet you?"

"Please! I can't carry all these."

He spent the entire cab ride to the bookstore wondering just how many books Rachel had decided that she needed and why she thought she needed that many; part of him could only laugh because some things apparently never changed. When he finally found his girlfriend she was seated between two shelves in the childcare section, surrounded by stacks of books on babies and preparing for your first child and eating vegan marshmallows out of the bag; she looked up at him with a sheepish smile, and he couldn't resist a soft chuckle at the petite brunette before him, dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt with the words "NYU: Tisch School of the Arts" across her chest. Clearly she had decided to set up camp and wait for him to arrive, and either no one had noticed her and attempted to ask her to move or she had successful defended what amounted to a fort made of books.

"Baby, how many books do you think we need?" He tried not to laugh as he knelt to pick up a book entitled Babies on a Budget and then a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting.

"Well, I was only going to get the marshmallows," she pointed a canvas tote that apparently contained four packages of vegan marshmallows in addition to the one she had opened. "But then on my way back to the apartment I passed the bookstore and got to thinking about how we don't know anything about having a baby; we're totally unprepared, and I just thought a few books would help."

"Rach, this is more than a few books; I'm pretty sure this is half a paycheck's worth of books, probably more than that." He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she popped another marshmallow into her mouth.

"I know Finny, but there were just so many. I didn't know which ones would be most helpful."

"So you decided to get them all?" She shook her head. "Ok, so most of them."

"I just want to be prepared, Finn. I know it seems silly, but the idea of being unprepared and messing things up terrifies me." Placing the book back in the stack, Finn reached for her hands, pulling her up into a standing position and wrapping his arms around her. "I don't know how to be a mother; I don't even know what to expect. It's not like I had a mother to use as an example."

"Baby, it's ok to be scared; I'm scared too. I have no idea how to be a dad, Rach; I never had anyone to look up to, not until Burt showed up, and even then, it's not exactly the same." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll figure it out together; I promise."

"Finny, I still want the books." She bit her lip as she looked up at him, and he mouthed the words 'all of them'. "Yes, Finn, I want all of them."

"Alright, Rach, we'll get the books." She rewarded him with a quick kiss before turning to begin picking up the books.

Finn had to ask for a box, much to his embarrassment, in order to carry Rachel's new baby book library, but it was worth it to see her practically glowing; she smiled up at him as they made their way to the counter, ignoring the way the clerk raised his eyebrows at them. Once they were back in a cab on their way home, Rachel leaned against his side, quietly eating her marshmallows, and he wrapped and arm around her shoulder.

"You do know we have to tell our parents, right? I don't want to wait until you are way far along and showing so that we have to tell them because it's obvious." She looked up at him, a marshmallow in hand. "Your dads will kill me; I mean they are going to kill me anyway for getting their baby girl pregnant before I married her, but if they think we tried to hide it from them it will be worse. Mom's gonna lecture us, but she'll eventually be on board with it because she'll have a grandchild to spoil; it's your dads I'm scared of mostly."

"I'd rather tell them in person, Finn; I don't want to call them and just spring it on them. That way we can give them some assurance that we've thought this through."

"When are we going to see them? We live in New York, and our parents live in Lima; they don't exactly visit a lot, and we don't go home very much."

"We'll just have to make a trip to Lima if they aren't going to be visiting us anytime soon." She kissed his cheek. "We will tell them, Finn. But in the meantime, let's keep this between us, and of course Kurt; I want our parents to know first."

"Finn, we are going to be late; I don't want to be late for our appointment." Only Rachel could arrive home later than expected from work and still be showered, dressed, and ready to leave before him on his day off from the station.

"You were the one who insisted on showering and getting dressed up for a doctor's appointment, baby." Finn glanced over his shoulder at Rachel, who was sitting on their bed watching him change.

"I couldn't very well go while I smelled like food and wearing my poodle skirt, could I? It's Grease week at the diner." She giggled softly when he remarked that she was adorable in her poodle skirt and tossed a pair of socks at him.

Ten minutes later as they sat together in the back of a cab, Finn let the excitement sink in; according to Rachel's meticulous calculations and Rachel's OB, they were pretty sure that she was at least eight weeks pregnant, and, though he didn't like to think about it, he remembered that Quinn had been around ten weeks pregnant with Beth when they'd first heard her heartbeat. He tried not to dwell on the past, not when he had this amazing present and incredible future, and both he and Rachel had avoided any talk of the first time he had thought that he was going to be a father. In some ways things were the same; he and Rachel weren't married, and they weren't exactly prepared for a baby. But this time it felt different; even if it was happening earlier than expected, it felt right. That wasn't to say that he wasn't absolutely terrified, but there was no one else in the world he would rather be terrified with than Rachel. She squeezed his hand gently with a soft smile.

She was terribly nervous, and she had been for weeks now; the confirmation of her pregnancy had made her reconsider so much in her life. She was suddenly concerned that her vegan diet was unhealthy for the baby, and she already wandered about the apartment, muttering to herself that it was much too small and that she was unsure how they were going to manage once the baby arrived. They had yet to tell anyone that they were expecting, and even Kurt had been sworn to secrecy, though he'd already told Blaine; their parents still remained in the dark, and Rachel had resolved to tell them on their next visit to Lima. Somehow she doubted that her plans would be successful, and she was quite certain that they would not be able to keep things a secret for much longer. One hand rested lightly on her stomach, toying with the fabric of her shirt, and the other held his tightly, her slender fingers laced with his; it was all so frighteningly real, and she squeezed his hand, watching the corner of his mouth twitch into the half smile she loved so much. That smile alone gave her hope, despite her fears.

Seated in the waiting room, Rachel couldn't help but feel lucky to have Finn; she couldn't imagine doing this on her own, and there were several women seated alone. She held his hand in her lap, fingers tracing over his knuckles in an effort to distract herself from the nervousness that was suddenly threatening to overwhelm her again; he pressed his lips against her temple, whispering that he loved her, and for a moment she could forget that she was only twenty and that they were only juniors in college. She'd often dreamed of children with Finn; she just expected it to happen after she was twenty-five and an established Broadway actress with a Tony or two on her shelf, not when she was still in college and she and Finn lived in a tiny apartment surviving on scholarships and part time jobs. She knew that she and Finn would find a way to make it, but it was a daunting prospect that scared her almost as much as the fact that they had no idea what they were doing.

"Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson?" They looked up simultaneously when the nurse called their names. "Dr. O'Connor will see you now."

"Come on, baby; it's gonna be fine." Finn pressed another kiss to her temple when her grip tightened. "I'm scared too."

His whispered confession was enough to soothe her nerves for the moment, and they followed the nurse to the back examination room. They had just switched to Dr. O'Connor because Rachel didn't feel comfortable with a male doctor, and this was their first visit with her. It wasn't that Dr. Gregory hadn't been an excellent doctor; it was simply that Rachel was still very particular and modest, at least when it came to strangers, and she felt more comfortable with a woman. As she sat on the bed glancing around the room, Finn bent to murmur something to her abdomen, his hands resting lightly on her stomach, and she couldn't help but giggle.

"Hi baby! It's your daddy; mommy and I already love you so much."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hudson?" Dr. O'Connor stepped into the room, smiling brightly, and took a seat next to them.

"Oh no, we aren't married," Rachel's response was instinctive. "I'm Rachel Berry, and this is my boyfriend, Finn Hudson."

"Oh I see; so I'm guessing this your first." Finn nodded, his hand quickly finding Rachel's and squeezing it gently. "Well, not to worry, you and your baby are in good hands; let's take a look shall we?"

Rachel unbuttoned her blouse and reclined on the bed; she bit her lip and pulled in a sharp breath, goose bumps rising as Dr. O'Connor applied the ultrasound gel to her skin, and Finn scooted the chair closer and lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. When she turned to meet his gaze, a broad smile had spread across his face, and she couldn't help but smile as well, unable to resist the dimples and the way his eyes sparkled; his excitement was infectious.

"Miss Berry, Mr. Hudson, would you like to hear your baby's heartbeat?" Rachel felt Finn squeeze her hand, and they turned to face Dr. O'Connor and the screen. "The heartbeat might be faint, but from what we can see here your baby appears to be very healthy; by your next appointment we should be able to hear it much clearer."

"Oh my gosh Finn!" Rachel felt her eyes begin to tear as she heard the soft rapid beating of the baby's heart; her voice cracked slightly as she murmured. "That's our baby's heart."

"We did that, Rach," he whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek. "We made that, together. C-could we maybe get a picture? I mean, I know that you can't see much, but I'd kind of like to have one."

"Absolutely! I'll get you a couple of printouts." Dr. O'Connor smiled softly, offering Rachel some tissues to wipe the gel from her abdomen before heading toward the door. "I'll give you two a few minutes, and I'll be back to go over a few things and answer any questions you might have."

The moment her shirt was buttoned, Rachel threw her arms around Finn, settling lightly in his lap as she kissed him; tears sparkled in her eyes, and he held her tight against his chest. Whispering that she loved him, she buried her face in his chest, and he could feel her trembling slightly in his arms. When she pulled back to look at him a bright smile lit up his face, and she gently stroked his cheek, her thumb wiping away a tear.

"We're going to be parents." He whispered the fact as if he didn't quite believe it. "We're going to have a baby, and we just heard our baby's heart beating. I swear that's one of the most incredible sounds I have ever heard. Thank you so much."

"What are you thanking me for? I'm pretty sure it took two of us." She giggled.

"No babe, for wanting to keep our baby, for wanting to be a family; it's like a dream come true, Rach." He took both her hands in his, gently tracing her knuckles. "I mean, sure, I thought we'd be married before it happened, and I sort of assumed we'd be out of college, and you know, planning this stuff ahead of time. But it doesn't really matter how it happened, not when you get right down to it, because you are all the matters, you and the baby. I love you so much."

"I love you too." She squeezed his hands gently before leaning in to grant him a quick kiss; with a soft smile, she placed one of his hands on her stomach. "You're going to be a wonderful father Finn."