Finn worked for FDNY, and he'd be gone for twenty-four hours at a time, leaving Rachel alone as there were very few roles both appropriate and safe for a pregnant woman.

He came home early one morning, having been relieved early, and found all the lights on and the doors double-bolted. He thought perhaps Rachel had (foolishly) watched a horror movie, so he went upstairs to check on her.

Finn did not expect finding three lumps in his bed instead of one.

He inspected the heads and realized Rachel was lying between Kurt and Blaine. Why his wife was in bed with his brother and brother-in-law, he wasn't sure.

Finn leaned over Kurt and kissed Rachel's forehead.

"Hey Rach… I see you've been cheating on me," he deadpanned.

"They're gay, Finn," Rachel said, cracking her eyes open. "Don't be jealous."

"She called us at one in the morning terrified that you'd die and she and the baby would be all alone," Kurt added without opening his eyes. "This was the only way we could get her to shut up."

Rachel elbowed him gently, but he only grunted, turning his back on her, intent on returning to sleep.

Finn leaned over and scooped Rachel up. He may or may not have accidently-on-purpose bumped Kurt's head with his elbow in the process.

Rachel giggled. "Waffles, Finn. We want waffles."

"All right," Finn said as he set Rachel down at the table. "Vegan waffles, coming right up."

Rachel hid her face in her hands. "I don't think the baby's vegan. I ate turkey yesterday, Finn. Turkey."

Finn laughed. "We've gotta give baby whatever he or she wants, huh? Gotta keep 'em healthy."

Rachel ended up abandoning her vegan diet for the duration of her pregnancy. It practically killed her, but the kid liked meat, just like its father.

Rachel woke Finn up in the middle of the night with about a month left until her due date.

"We need to go to the hospital," she whispered, a note of anticipation evident in her voice.

"Oh, okay," he said, suddenly wide awake. He scrambled out of bed and hurriedly got dressed, grabbing the suitcase they'd packed in preparation for this very event.

He was freaking out, and Rachel was every kind of calm. Was that normal?

They were admitted straight to the maternity ward when they arrived, and Finn caught his breath enough to call Kurt and Blaine and tell them to get to the hospital. He needed their moral support. And maybe they would bring cookies.

They waited for several hours before Rachel was declared far enough along to be moved to Labor and Delivery. Kurt and Blaine waited outside while Finn went in with Rachel, practically surgically attached to her side.

About halfway through Rachel started to get tired.

"I can't do this anymore," she whispered.

"Yes you can," Finn encouraged her, squeezing her hand. "For me. For you. For our baby. For all three of us."

But suddenly the doctors burst into a flurry of action and told Finn he needed to leave. He refused to leave Rachel, though, and he had to be physically removed.

"I love you, Rachel!" he shouted as they pushed him through the door.

"Love you too, Finn," Rachel said weakly. The last he saw of her, her eyes were wide as she gasped for air.

Blaine and Kurt stood when he emerged, worry evident in their eyes.

"They kicked me out," Finn muttered, beginning to pace furiously. "Something's gone wrong."

He waited, alternately pacing and sitting with his head in his hands.

Eventually a doctor came out, and Finn leapt to his feet.

"We're sorry, Mr. Hudson," the doctor began, "but we were unable to save your wife."

He sank back down in shock, staring at the floor as the doctor rattled on about the complications and treatment and whatever they did that didn't work.

"The baby," he said suddenly. "What happened to our baby?"

"Your son is in stable condition in the NICU," the doctor told him, "but we're keeping an eye on him."

"A boy," Finn whispered. He and Rachel (but mostly Rachel) had decided not to know the gender of their child until the birth, but the surprise seemed bittersweet now.

The two of them had discussed names; Rachel wanted to name a potential son after Finn, but now he found it more appropriate to name him after Rachel somehow.

The name came to him suddenly, as if whispered in his ear by an unseen entity. Raymond Christopher Hudson. It fit with what he wanted and with Rachel's requirements. There was one last thing, though, that he had to do before he could leave to meet his son.

"Can I see her?" he asked the doctor quietly.

The doctor nodded briskly, showing him into the room it seemed he had only recently vacated.

Rachel lay still upon the regulation hospital bed, her eyes closed as though she were merely sleeping. She had been cleaned up somewhat, any blood wiped away; a sign of respect for the dead, he supposed.

He picked up her hand. "Rach," he whispered, "you were so afraid of me dying and leaving you and the baby alone. But now— the tables have been turned. Irony, isn't that what you called it? I know it's not your fault. I just kind of need someone to blame, I guess. You look so peaceful just lying here— and I feel like you'll wake up at any moment. Rach— please. Come back. We need you. I need you. Please. Just— just open your eyes. I only want to see you smile one more time. Please—"

His voice broke, and he abandoned his fruitless pleas in favor of sobbing brokenly.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, you can't leave us like this. You can't. It doesn't happen. Not to you. Not to me. Not to us. Come back, Rachel! Come back!"

Finn was vaguely aware of arms wrapping around his torso and pulling him away from Rachel. He cast a solitary glance back at Rachel beseechingly, as if he thought she might arise from her deathbed and speak to him, smile at him with her mouth and eyes and heart. But her eyes stayed closed, her chest did not rise with newfound breath, and her hand remained cold and limp as it slipped from his own and came to rest dangling from the bed.

The other person— Finn was too distracted to even think of trying to figure out who they were— pulled him out of the room and the door shut with an air of finality.

To be continued.

Thank you all for your feedback and alerts; it really means a lot to me.

-MJ