Boys' Day
It was Friday afternoon, and the Lady Gaga blasting from Rachel Berry Hudson's iPod could be heard all the way from the stairwell of their apartment building. So absorbed in their raging dance party were Rachel and Chris that Finn was able to open the door and slip inside unnoticed. He stood just inside the door, laughing hysterically at the sight of his wife and son decked out in crazy wigs, sunglasses, and feather boas, dancing and jumping on the couches and singing at the top of their lungs. As she was leaping from one couch to the other, Rachel glanced up to see Finn doubled over with laughter. She and Chris collapsed into a giggly heap, feeling a little silly about being caught in their Gaga outfits.
"So this is what you two do when I'm at work? I think I'm going to have to issue you a citation for disturbing the peace," Finn grinned, "I was just in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd stop to say hello to my two favorite little monsters."
Rachel melted inside at the sight of her tall, handsome husband in his police uniform. He always changed into his street clothes after his shift, so she only got to see him in uniform when he stopped in while on duty. He just looked so strong and brave and downright irresistible, Rachel thought dreamily, and to top it all off he was holding a bright bouquet of sunflowers.
"These are for you, babe," he said, handing her the bouquet. She beamed as he bent down and kissed her cheek gently.
"Thank you, Finny," she demurred, leaning into his chest.
"And this is for you, buddy," he said, giving Chris a white paper bag. Chris opened the bag and peeked inside.
"A sprinkle cookie! Thanks, Daddy!" exclaimed Chris, hugging Finn around his waist. "Mom, can I have it now?"
"Sure honey," said Rachel, "since you ate a good lunch after kindergarten today." Chris took his giant cookie out of the bag and started munching away.
"Well, I've got to run," Finn said, "I just wanted to do something special for Mommy since I won't see her much tomorrow...hmm, what's tomorrow again, Chris?" he teased.
"BOYS' DAY! OH YEAH!" Chris shouted, doing a celebratory dance.
Rachel laughed. Tomorrow was the third Saturday of the month, which meant that Finn and Chris would be joining Uncle Blaine and Manny for some guy time while she and Kurt had a day of pampering and girl talk. Afterward, they'd all meet up for a family dinner at Rosewood, where they'd stuff themselves silly and laugh about whatever adventures they'd had that day.
"Looking forward to it, my man!" Finn agreed, high-fiving his son.
"Bye, Officer! Thank you for the flowers! We're sorry about the noise!" teased Rachel, kissing Finn lightly on the lips.
"Just keep it down, ma'am," he grinned, tipping his hat.
"WAKE UP, DAD!" Chris shouted, his face two inches away from his sleeping father's. He had already dressed himself in a Jets jersey, red sweatpants, and two different socks. He had also gotten into Finn's hair product and pushed his hair forward, then spiked it up a little in front, just like dad.
"CHRIIIIIIIIIIS," Finn groaned, rolling over. "Nice hair," he mumbled, "but it's sooooo early. We're not meeting them until ten," he said, squinting at the alarm clock, which read 7:02.
"But I'm so excited," said Chris, frowning, "I can't wait that long."
"Alright," Finn conceded, "I'm up now, anyway. Here, I'll put on your TV show and you can snuggle up with Mommy while I get in the shower. Try not to wake her up, okay?"
"Okay!" he shouted, diving into the blankets.
Finn yawned as he stood letting the hot water hit his shoulders. Truth be told, he was pretty excited for Boys' Day too. It was a tradition that the Hummels and Hudsons had begun about a year ago, when Kurt and Blaine first fostered Manny, who then had just turned two. Now officially adopted, Manny was a three-year-old with an energy level to match that of his older cousin. Finn was thrilled for his brother, and he loved that they all got to be a part of each others' lives. Finn had the kind of family he had always dreamed of. Of course he really hoped they'd add a baby girl to the mix once they got a bigger place, but for now everything seemed complete.
Finn wondered what they might do that day. Most of the time, they'd meet up with Blaine and Manny at Prospect Park, where they'd toss a football around or shoot some hoops, then let the boys burn some energy on the playground. Then they'd go out and get some awesome, greasy food that Kurt and Rachel would never approve of, like double cheeseburgers and cheese fries at Shake Shack. After lunch, they'd take the kids down to the fields to watch the soccer games, go bowling, or maybe go back to one of their apartments to watch the Ohio State game and teach the boys the finer points of football. Sometimes they'd find out about something going on nearby that the boys would be into, like a model train exhibit or a car show. It was going to be a gorgeous fall day, maybe they'd take the boys to do some fishing at the pond in the park.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Finn smiled at the two lumps hiding under the bedspread. Chris had woken Rachel up, of course, and had convinced her to hide with him to play a trick on Daddy. Chris's muffled giggles could be heard beneath the blankets.
"Hmmm," said Finn loudly, "I wonder where Mommy and Chris are. I guess I'll just lay down here on my lumpy bed and wait for them!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chris and Rachel screamed as Finn pretended to lay down on top of them.
"Hey, what are you two doing there?" Finn said in mock amazement.
"Tricking you!" Chris yelled. Finn managed to snuggle his large body in between Chris and Rachel, nuzzling into Rachel's shoulder.
"Back to sleep," Finn murmured peacefully as Rachel played with his wet hair.
"C'mon, Chris," she laughed, "let's give poor Daddy a few more minutes to rest. I'll get you some breakfast."
Rachel and Chris made their way to the kitchen and poured themselves some cereal. Rachel smiled at Chris as he crunched his Raisin Bran.
"Excited, buddy?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Chris exclaimed, "what are you and Uncle Kurt going to do today?"
"Well," Rachel said, "we're going to the salon and then we'll do some shopping."
"Are they going to do your hair?" he asked nonchalantly.
"No, just my nails," Rachel replied, "why?"
"Maybe you could tell them to do your hair too," Chris said, squinting critically at her messy bun, "it's kind of crazy."
"You're a piece of work, you know that kid?" Rachel laughed, nearly choking on her cereal.
She was excited about her day, too. She and Kurt liked to joke that someday, they would spend their girl time getting seaweed wraps at a fancy spa and shopping on 5th Avenue. For now, they were more than happy with the $30 mani-pedi special at Park Slope Nails and hunting for vintage treasures at thrift shops. They were both fortunate enough to have amazing husbands, beautiful sons, and steady work on stage doing what they loved, and that was worth more than any luxury could provide.
After a rigorous morning of jumping in leaf piles, learning how to dribble a basketball, and running around Prospect Park like maniacs, Chris Hudson and Manny Hummel had worked up quite an appetite. Blaine and Finn had to go back up to the counter to get more cheese fries for themselves so they wouldn't have to fight the boys for them. They shook their heads, laughing, as Chris and Manny repeatedly took sips of their milkshakes and shouted, "BRAIN FREEZE!" and erupted into giggles. Finn was just about to ask the boys what they'd like to do after lunch when Chris suddenly piped up with one of his random thoughts.
"Dad, can you tell me about when you used to sing on a stage like Mommy?" he asked.
Finn was taken by surprise. He smiled, thinking about all of those Glee Club competitions in high school where he and Rachel belted out duets in front of a big crowd, and how amazing it felt.
"Wow, buddy, that was a loooooong time ago," Finn mused, "but, yeah, I used to sing on a stage in front of lots of people when I was in school. It was a lot of fun."
Blaine grinned. "Chris, your dad is an awesome singer. He always sang the big leads, lots of times with your mom," he boasted, hitting Finn on the back.
"Hey Manny, your dad was a big singing star too, did you know that?" Finn interjected.
Manny's eyes widened as he smiled shyly, unsure if Uncle Finn was joking.
"You know..." Blaine began slyly, "that gives me an idea of what we can do this afternoon. Boys, how would you like to see your dads sing on a stage?"
Finn laughed. "Uh oh, I think Uncle Blainers has gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."
"No, I'm serious, Finn! Karaoke—we're doing it!" Blaine asserted.
"Blaine, we can't take our kids to a bar! Kurt and Rachel will have us killed!" Finn reasoned.
"Finn, I'm not suggesting we bring the children to a bar!" Blaine exclaimed, "Kurt said some of his castmates were talking about a diner over on Flatbush that has karaoke. What do you say, boys?"
"Yeahhhhhhh!" cheered Chris, "I wanna hear Daddy sing!" Manny clapped his hands with excitement.
"Fiiiiine," Finn conceded, throwing his hands up in the air, "but I'm not singing 'Jessie's Girl,' I don't need Chris reading into the innuendo in that one. And you are NOT singing 'Teenage Dream,'" he warned.
"I promise," Blaine laughed.
Finn looked around as they walked into the diner. The place was packed with families, and on the stage an adorable little girl was singing about the sun coming out tomorrow. Kids, parents, and teenagers were looking through books of songs and waiting their turn to take the stage. Finn relaxed upon seeing the casual environment and began to get excited about singing in front of people again. In fact, he couldn't wait to show Chris what his old man could do. He grinned as they walked over to counter to peruse the song selections.
Not a moment after Blaine opened up one of the binders, Chris and Manny began to shout, "Toy Story! Toy Story!" pointing to an illustration of Woody the Cowboy.
"DADDY!" Chris exclaimed, "I WANT YOU TO SING A TOY STORY SONG!"
"Well, Finn, looks like you'll be broadening your musical repertoire today," joked Blaine, "I never thought I'd get to see you sing a Disney song!"
"Ohhhh no," Finn said, "I'm not doing this alone, dude."
"Well, I guess it'll be a daddy duet then," Blaine laughed, "we're gonna rock this place, boys!"
When their song came up, Blaine sat Chris and Manny right in the front of the stage.
"Let's do this," Finn nodded at his brother-in-law.
The music began and Finn began to sing, "You've got a friend in me, ohhh, you've got a friend in me..."
Blaine joined in, "When the road's lookin' rough ahead, and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed..."
The restaurant suddenly got quiet as heads began to turn toward the stage. People began to clap along. Finn noticed several people whisper to each other, "hey, these guys are really good!" He smiled brightly as he sang, "Some other people might be a little bit smarter than I am, bigger and stronger too..." They both pointed to their sons as Blaine finished, "but none of them will ever love you the way I do, it's me and you..." Chris and Manny giggled with glee, totally in awe of their dads. When the song ended, the whole place thundered with applause, and Chris and Manny cheered and ran to Finn and Blaine, nearly knocking them to the ground.
"Daddy, you and Uncle Blaine are big stars like Mommy!" Chris exclaimed, hugging Finn around his waist.
"I don't know about that, buddy," Finn laughed, "but that was a lot of fun!"
Sitting at their table at Rosewood, Chris and Manny colored in their Batman activity books and argued over whether Batman should have a black cape or a blue one. Finn was looking skeptically at Blaine, who was suggesting that Batman was the most fashionable superhero because he had costumes in several color schemes, when Kurt and Rachel walked in.
Finn smiled as his beautiful wife made her way over to the table.
"Mommy!" shouted Chris, jumping into her arms.
"Hi baby!" she said, squeezing him tightly, "how are my boys?"
"Mommy, Daddy SANG at a RESTAURANT! And Uncle Blaine did too! They sang the TOY STORY SONG!" Chris shouted, jumping up and down.
"What? Oh my goodness! Did you guys go to that new place on Flatbush?" Rachel exclaimed, "I can't believe I missed out!"
"It was really cool, Mommy!" said Chris. "Daddy was awesome! But don't worry, you are still a good singer, too," he said encouragingly.
"Thanks, buddy," Rachel laughed. She stood behind Finn's chair and slipped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him from behind and kissing him softly on the cheek.
"I can't wait to hear all about it," she said, sitting down next to her husband. "I'm totally getting my own private performance later," she whispered in his ear, "but not Toy Story...maybe a little 'Pretending'? We'll kick that ending up a few notches."
Finn raised his eyebrows, grinning. He'd definitely have to make a habit of singing more often.