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She's always hated airplanes. They give her anxiety. Simply the thought of being in one scared the wits out of her. Even being in an airport gave her goosebumps.

But it wasn't she who was getting on a plane today. She was keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground. Instead, she watched as her husband boarded the plane that would take him far away from her. It made her want to puke. Watching him leave on a plane was worse, she thought, than having to get on one herself.

Three Hours Earlier:

Rachel awoke early in the morning to Finn's arms around her and his warm breath on her neck. She took a deep breath and sighed, then remembered what today was. Leaving day.

She groaned a little and turned around in Finn's arms, so she was facing him. She didn't want to wake him, because he was sleeping so peacefully. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. Finn stirred a little after a while and his eyes opened.

"Morning." He mumbled, still half asleep.

"Good morning." She replied, smiling a little.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Okay, I guess. I woke up a few times. Then I remembered what's happening today."

"Don't be upset. I'll be home again before you know it, okay?"

Finn tightened his arm around Rachel, pulling her as close as he possibly could. They laid like that for at least an hour before they finally had to get up and get ready to leave. 8 days just wasn't enough. It simply wasn't.

She watched from the terminal as his plane took off, flying high into the air. First he'd stop in Paris for a layover, then head back to Afghanistan. Back to the war.

She sighed. After what seemed like forever, she left the airport. She stopped in at a cafe and bought herself a croissant and coffee, then made her way to a nearly empty Central Park. She sat on a bench and simply watched the snow fall for a while.

They new year had been rung in the night before. She and Finn had made love, drank champagne, and just stayed up most of the night. What a year it had been. She'd been in two Broadway shows. She'd won a few small, but still great, awards for her roles. She'd spent most of the year alone, yes, but that hadn't meant it had been a bad year. The ache for Finn hadn't left her completely useless. She had friends, sure.

But Finn missing from her life had left her numbed. Her achievements hadn't felt so sweet knowing that her love wasn't there to see her receive them.

She leaned back against the cold metal of the bench she sat upon. She sipped at her coffee and sighed. Alone, once again. But she didn't mind. She'd gotten used to being alone these days.

Rachel sighed and let her eyes close slowly as she took a deep breath of the crisp air. She always loved winter, especially the snow. The way winter made everything feel as if it were suspended in time. So cold you could just sit there forever.

But finally she forced herself to stand up. She walked through the park for a while, not caring that she was absolutely freezing and hungry still. She just needed to numb herself.

Once she'd finished with the park, she began to walk along the avenues and streets, shopping a little here and there. After Christmas sales were going on, and Rachel figured she might as well take advantage of the offers.

And so she returned to her apartment late that evening, sometime around six or seven, with several bags in her hands. Dorothy was delighted to see her, and vice versa. She sat in the living room and peeled the layers off of her body until she was just in her jeans and long-sleeve shirt. She started a fire and laid on the couch until the growling in her stomach forced her to get up and eat something.

She rummaged through the fridge for a while until she found the leftovers from Christmas Day.

Rachel hummed quietly as she prepared them, and once they were done, she scarfed them down quickly, satisfying her hunger.

She then retreated to the bedroom, crawling into the unmade bed and cuddling Finn's pillow. It smelled like him. She smiled and closed her eyes, wanting to just fall asleep and ignore the world.

But then her phone rang, and she sat up, annoyed.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Rachel, honey. How are you?" Her father, Leroy, asked. "I heard from Carole that Finn left for Afghanistan today."

"I'm doing alright, daddy." She sighed, laying back against the pillows. "He did, but I'm okay."

"You don't sound okay, Rach. I have something to tell you though."

"Mhm?" She asked, just wanting to go to sleep.

"Dad and I got you a plane ticket to come home for a while. It's not good for you to be so alone with Finn gone and everything. Besides, it'll give us a chance to catch up. We haven't seen you in a while."

"I appreciate the thought, but I really should stay here, dad. I've got things to do.."
She lied. Really, she didn't have anything to do. She just didn't want to go.

"Rachel, please. We're worried about you. Kurt and Blaine and all your friends want to see you too. You've kind of cut yourself off from everything. It's not okay."

"Dad.. I really can't come back. I love you all, but... I just don't know."

"Please?" He begged. "Just for a week or two. Will Schuester even asked us if you'd be willing to help out with the Glee club while you're here. I know how much you loved that club in high school."

"I still love Glee, but I really don't know if I should come back to Lima."

"Well, I sent you the plane ticket in the mail, so I really think you should come back. The plane is tomorrow at noon. Please, Rachel."

She sighed a long sigh and closed her eyes. "Fine... I'll come home for a while. I guess you're right. It'll be good for me to see people."

"Thank you baby. I know you don't want to, but it'll be good for you. You'll see. I love you, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye daddy. Love you too." She told him before hanging up. She sighed again and laid down in the bed. They were worried about her. Everyone was. How could you not worry about the wellbeing of a military wife? So alone, 90% of the time.

Soon, she fell fast asleep, huddled under the thick down comforter on their bed. She slept until 8 AM the next day, when she shot out of bed and realized she hadn't packed at all. Rachel quickly threw a bag together and got herself ready as well. By the time she was done, it was nearly 11 AM. Her plane left in less than an hour. After leaving out some food for Dorothy, Rachel rushed out of her apartment and hailed a cab.

It was snowing rather hard, and of course there was traffic. It was New York City, after all. She arrived to the airport around 11:30 AM, and rushed to check in and make it to her flight.

She'd barely made it.

The flight itself was short, but turbulent. The snow had almost caused it a delay, but they were able to take off after all.

Rachel hated planes. She had to take two anxiety pills just to get through takeoff. Thankfully, the ride was short, and once it landed, she was alright. She exited the plane, glad to be safe on the ground once again.

And there were her fathers at the baggage claim. Each of them hugged her so tightly it was as if they hadn't seen her in years. It had only been a few months.
She knew the look of disapproval in their eyes. To them, she was a little too thin, a little too melancholy, and a little too not Rachel.

But she was who she was. Just a little sad. Who could blame her? The only thing she'd been thinking of was Finn. Is he alright? Is he dead? Does he miss me?

Yes. No. Yes. (hopefully).

Rachel slept the whole ride to her house, and once inside, she fell asleep in her old bedroom. Her fathers were worried slightly, but perhaps it was simply exhaustion? What happened to Rachel, though?

She slept most of the day and into the night, only waking up to eat a small dinner. She was starving, but she didn't want to eat much. Why was she starving? She never got this hungry.

In the morning, Rachel sat down to breakfast with her dads. It was normal, with normal conversation. She didn't want them getting more worried than she already knew they were.

Later that day, Rachel was in her room, looking through some old photographs, when she got a strange feeling in her stomach. She quickly set the photographs down and ran to her bathroom. She then emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. What the hell? She thought, frowning a little as she stood up. She brushed her teeth thoroughly and walked back into her room. Wait. She frowned again and looked at her phone's calendar. My period didn't come. It was supposed to have come three days ago. Oh...shit.

Rachel paced around her room for a while, thinking of all the possibilities this could be except for that one thing. The one thing in the back of her mind. The one thing she knew it probably was. "Oh shit, shit, shit." She said aloud. "No fucking way this is happening."

She tried to calm herself down as she slipped her shoes on and pulled her red woolen pea coat on.

"Dad, Daddy! I'm running to the store for something! I'll be back later!" She yelled as she exited the house, taking her dad's car and driving through the snowy suburban neighborhood until she reached a convenience store.

She nervously walked inside and over to the aisle she needed. She grabbed several pregnancy tests; one from each brand, then paid and walked out of the store hurriedly.

"This isn't happening. They're going to be negative, don't worry."

Once home, she ran to her bathroom and locked the door. She did each test and set a timer, then sat on the edge of her bathtub, hoping the timer would never go off. It was quite possible she was just freaking out over a little food poisoning. But I never ate anything weird, she thought.

Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!

She silenced her phone then turned to the nine pregnancy tests resting on the counter.

Each one had either a plus mark, or two lines. Both of those meant one thing.

"Oh my God." She groaned, dumping each pregnancy test into the trash can. "Oh fuck."

She stood in front of the mirror sideways and looked at her abdomen. It was still flat. "Well... It's not the end of the world, Rachel. It's just a baby." She sighed, rubbing her stomach slowly. "Just a little baby."