It had been a long week, Rachel and Finn had not spoken since Finn came home drunk, and made a fool of himself. Finn went to his job interview; he got a call a few days later, saying they were going another way. He was actually relieved, the firm was pretty boring. All they did was set and monitor regulations in golf. Rachel had been told by Carole that Finn was turned down. She felt bad, for him but at the same time she just hadn't come to terms with everything. She had asked Carole if it would be better for her to go to her dad's house in Columbus, but Carole was pretty insistent on her staying. Rachel didn't know what Finn was doing but he left the house every day. He came back normally after Rachel and his parents had dinner. Rachel had been helping Carole out with some things; she would run errands or do housework.
Yesterday, they went to visit Finn's grandmother, Alison, in Lima Hills Nursing Home. She was a very sweet old lady; Rachel met her the summer before senior year. Finn called her Grammy Ali; it was hard to see her in a home because last time Rachel had seen her she still lived in a house just outside of city limits. Grammy Ali was so excited to see Rachel because Carole had told her about the engagement a few weeks prior, that Rachel just told her she wasn't wearing the ring because it was a little big. Alison had told Rachel something that really stuck to her.
"You know when Finn brought you to my house that day; I knew something was special about you." Alison smiled knowingly at Rachel. Carole had been working something out with the nurses and was currently out of the room. "I told Carole the next day that he better keep that one, she agreed. I don't know if I'll make it to your wedding. I'm here because I'm getting too old, but I do have a gift I guess for you." She smiled at Rachel.
"Finn and Carole are the only Family I have, my older sister never married, or had any children. All I had was Carolyn, my husband he had money, money saved from a young age, money left by his parents. I always offered Carole more help after Christopher died. She told me the only thing she needed from me was free babysitting of Finn. So I've got a lot of money saved up. My husband never invested it because he never believed in using others money to make himself richer. It's been there for years" She smiled again.
"When I pass, I have it specified that Carole gets half of it, and that Finn and you get the other half. After taxes, I believe it will be close to half a million." Rachel gasped at that figure. "I hope that you and Finn will use it to start your family, maybe buy a house. Here or in New York." She smiled again to the crying Rachel.
"Alison that is very, very generous." Rachel breathed wiping her tears. Carole returned soon after, notifying her mother that her diet had been off, and they were reducing the fat and sodium in her diet.
"Wait they put salt in the food?" Alison joked. "I thought salt added taste, are you sure they haven't been giving me the no sodium diet?"
Rachel had determined that this was the final push she needed, to make up with Finn, heck it was practically his dying grandmothers last wish that the two be happy. Even though she wasn't dead.
Knock knock
Finn heard the soft knock on his door that morning he recognized the soft knock to be Rachel's.
"Can we talk?" She opened the door before he actually allowed her into the room.
"Yeah, sure," he answered cautiously. She sat down on the side of his bed, they sat in silence for a while, each person waiting for the other to say something.
"Can I ask you something?" Finn started.
"Yes, of course Finn. Anything," Rachel encouraged him.
"When I came home drunk last week you know, what did I do? Mom won't talk to me about it, and Burt just laughs it off when I ask." Finn sighed.
"Well to sum it up, you like that Kurt and Burt's names rhyme and think Burt is a cool dude," Rachel told him. "And you told your mother that you loved my sexy body and the noises I make during sex." She looked down at her hands, blushing a little.
"Shit Rachel I'm sorry," Finn groaned, Rachel winced at his language.
"You were intoxicated Finn, you would not control yourself." Rachel looked at him. "Besides, I was pretty cruel to you." She looked at her lap again.
"I was pretty mean too," he sighed, leaning his head against the headboard. "Rachel I'm really sorry about everything. Maybe you were right, maybe we weren't ready and I rushed things."
"I was wrong," Rachel blurted biting her lip for a second in an attempt to determine what to say next. "I thought about it a lot, we are in a bad place after everything that happened. However, I talked to your mom; she talked to me about a lot of things. I never even thought about some of it, but I thought more and everything she told me about what she observes in you, I see it too. So she can't be wrong right? We're not perfect, we never will be. We are going to fight, but we love each other despite that." She took a deep breath for the next part, "Finn, I don't know what is going to happen; I don't know if you're going to get a job in New York, or if when I get home I'll have one. I don't know when we will get married, or if we'll ever have kids. But, I love you Finn; that is never going to change. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is; if it's okay with you I want to be engaged again. I want to be with you always, maybe you getting drunk and making a fool of yourself was what I needed to see it."
Finn shut her up with a kiss that deepened quickly. He pulled her closer and they broke apart. "You're amazing; I would love to be engaged to you again too." Finn breathed smiling at her they were so close their foreheads were touching. They kissed more passionately then before, that quickly turned into multiple kisses, and neck nibbles. Soon their kisses carried much more urgency, and Rachel had her hands gripped around the waistband of Finn's boxers. "My mom had the morning shift, and Burt should already be gone." Rachel bit her lip.
"I can't Finn, the doctor said a few weeks, and I don't think I'm ready," Rachel sighed looking at her lap. "I'm sorry," he said not looking at him.
"I'm not gonna rush you Rach. When you're ready you'll be ready. Actually I need to talk to you about something." Finn caressed Rachel's arm.
"Really? What about?" Rachel looked up at him.
"So the other day I got a call from Columbia University." Finn started, "No wait let me explain," he was acknowledging Rachel's surprised expression. "It was the head of the athletic department. He said that his assistant, who works right below him recently left. He told me he remembered reading about me looking for a job in New York; he told me that I was more than qualified to do it." Finn smiled at her, "He wants me to come out an interview. I need to call him tomorrow with what I'm going to do."
"Finn that's amazing!" Rachel exclaimed. "We could fly back at the end of the week, if it's okay with you. I'm supposed to go back to work on Tuesday next week."
"I wasn't sure if you would even want me in New York after what happened last week. I don't understand yesterday morning you ate your cereal in Kurt's room because I was sitting at the table." Finn said acknowledging the sudden change of heart.
"I talked to your mom you know, a lot. Then your mom and I went to see your grandma Alison, and I just realized how silly this whole thing is, plus it didn't help that she told me how I was now in her will, I mean I felt so horrible." Rachel smiled at him.
"She told you about that?" Finn smiled she had told him she was changing it after Finn told her about the engagement. "I think she uses it as a leveraging tool, mom told me that the first time she told her about the will was when Mom talked about putting her in a home."
"That's horrible! But I told her the ring was just getting resized." Rachel told him.
"Please you cannot get anything past her, when I was little I never got away with anything. I think Puck is still afraid of her." Finn laughed. "Do you want your ring back?" Rachel nodded yes excitedly. Finn pulled it out of his bedside table drawer. "Oh I forgot to tell you the best part if I get this job,"
"And that is?" Rachel asked expectantly while slipping her ring back on her finger.
"The head, he is like really old, he told me on the phone he is looking for someone young and fresh that can learn the ropes the next few years and take over his job when he retires. In a few years I could be running the athletic department at Columbia." Finn told her.
"This is a really amazing opportunity for you Finn, I'm so happy for you!" Rachel exclaimed wrapping her arms around her fiancé (again.) He sighed into the embrace and they stayed like that for a while.
Carole came home to find two sounds being emitted from the kitchen. The sounds of her son and his girlfriend or fiancé or whatever she was to him laughing. She looked into the kitchen to find Rachel sitting on the floor next to Finn's in a fit of giggles, and her son covered in what appeared to be spaghetti sauce.
"Um hello," Carole stated from the doorway knowing that when she left that morning the two were not speaking, let alone laughing with each other. Rachel's head snapped up to the doorway and Finn turned around.
"Hi Carole," she said while trying to compose herself. "Finn was trying to make lunch but he dropped the spaghetti, and slipped on it causing him to fall into the handle of the pan of spaghetti sauce that proceeded to drench him." Rachel told her as she stood up. "I was just an innocent bi-stander. Scouts honor." Rachel held up her two fingers.
"I guess I was just surprised to find you two in the same room, and laughing." Carole smiled taking a seat at the table. "Finn you're going to clean that up right?"
"Yeah mom, and Rachel and I had a talk this morning. We are officially engaged again." Finn told her smiling broadly. Rachel took a seat next to Carole, nodding.
"Well that is great in my opinion." Carole smiled.
"Finn also told me about Columbia, he is going to fly home with me on Friday we actually just bought our tickets." Rachel told her, while Finn was cleaning the spaghetti and tomato sauce of the floor.
"Great, I really think this is the best opportunity for him. Also I heard the conversation on the phone; the athletic director really seemed to like Finn." Carole told Rachel, "To be quite honest I'm glad the other jobs haven't worked out. I think this one is the best."
"I'm going to go change," Finn told the two women at the table.
"Ok sweetie, Rachel and I will restart lunch, or we could go out?" Carole suggested.
"Yeah sure mom that's cool." Finn said already out the kitchen door and up the stairs.
"You know I looked up the position online, I honestly don't know why they are so interested in Finn. I love him death but he doesn't have nearly as much experience as others could have. Another thing is that I looked it up online, he is looking at a starting salary from 60 – 70 thousand a year." Carole looked a Rachel expectantly.
"That sure is a lot," Rachel said, she was making about 15,000 a week on wicked. It was not nearly as much as she made, and what she made wasn't a lot considering when a company will only run for a year or two, and then you can go months or years without another job on Broadway. Rachel had of course discussed those fears of uncertainty with Carole before. "It will be nice once we are together to have a steady income."
"That's what I thought too." Carole perked up. "I'm really glad you guys worked it out before you go home."
"Yeah, me too!" Rachel said. "Really it was your mother who helped me see how silly I was being."
"Yeah Grammy used the will on Rachel too mom" Finn joked as he re-entered the kitchen.
"She did?" Carole smiled. "I guess that was her way of welcoming Rachel into the family." Carole smiled. "Are you guys ready to go?" Carole stood up.
"Yeah," Rachel said, "Let me go get my bag." The three made their way to breadstick's. They were eating and talking about various things and things have toned down to a comfortable silence while the three ate.
"Rachel, have you thought about seeing a therapist when you get back to New York?" Carole broke the silence. Finn and Rachel both stopped eating to look at her.
"No, I haven't really," Rachel said looking back down at her plate.
"Mom," Finn warned.
"No Finn its fine your mom is just worried about me." Rachel told him, in response to his tone.
"I just worry, because you'll be going back to the stress of work, and all and this is a hard thing to overcome. When Christopher passed, I went to see someone, it really helped. I also know that Kurt saw a therapist until his junior year after his mother." Carole explained.
"I'll have to look into it Carole." Rachel smiled at her. "I know my insurance has a few options, it's something they go over when you get insurance for the first time." Rachel laughed.
"You have your own health insurance? I'm still on my mom's plan." Finn asked her.
"Well I've been out of college for a year Finn; once you are out of college for a while you're not eligible on your parents plan. Plus since I'm an actress, I don't have a steady job so most actors and actresses qualify for self-employed health insurance." Rachel explained to the dumb-founded Finn.
"Finn, moving out getting a real job and getting married is going to be a real eye-opener isn't it?" Carole joked.
"My dads raised me to be aware but after I graduated they sat down and told me a lot I didn't know." Rachel announced.
"I know about it, but you just forget you are going to be responsible for a lot of this. Like my bank account is still attached to my moms, she still transfers money to it every once in a while." Finn said through a bite of his pasta.
"Yeah once you get settled with your job Finn that gravy train stops." Carole smirked. "Maybe you and Rachel should open a joint account once you guys are living together. It will make things like bills and rent a lot easier." Carole told them.
"Yeah, my income is a little weird the way I handle it, half of it goes to my savings account, as soon as I get my paycheck. The theatre doesn't take off my taxes so I have to put it aside or I was warned that you can dig yourself into a hole pretty quickly." Rachel informed Carole.
"Finn, at your job they do that automatically for you," Carole comforted the silenced by confusion Finn. "Also you get things like healthcare through them; it's just different for Rachel. Rachel can probably go on your health insurance once you two are married. Burt and I are looking into 'married-plus-spouse' plans now that we won't have children, family plans cost a lot."
"How did we even get started talking about this?" Finn asked slightly agitated.
"Well honey I know it's frustrating but you two are moving in together and getting married." Carole told him. "It's something that has to be discussed. When two people get married or even live together they have to discuss this stuff. Whether it be a checking account or health insurance or even something like if your cell phones will eventually be on the same plan."
"Yeah well let's just not talk about it now." Finn emphasized now. Rachel rubbed his arm soothingly.
"So are you guys still thinking about a June wedding?" Carole asked changing the topic.
"Well we haven't talked about it that much, I know that is what Kurt is interested in, but it sort of depends what is available where we choose to get married." Rachel explained before taking a bite of her pasta.
"Have you guys decided New York, or Ohio?" Carole questioned further.
"Well we have Kurt looking into both, but we think we want to get married around here. We have family, and friends here. New York is our city, but at the same time we think it will be a good way to end our life here in Ohio, and to start a new one in New York." Rachel explained.
"Yeah Kurt found a really cool place, it's actually in Kentucky right across the River, in Newport. We really liked it from the pictures. Kurt was going to try to figure out when we could tour it, but then things happened. So if I get my job, and Rachel comes out to help me move we think we are going to drive down and look at it." Finn told his mother the new information.
"It's really pretty, it has this small theatre with a stage where we would have the ceremony, and could be transformed to the dance room, and there is a small dance floor there. And then there is a small area in the entryway with a bar for drinks, then behind the place apparently there is a large lot where you can get a nice air conditioned or heated tent, to have the dinner." Rachel told her, excitedly. "Kurt talked to the people who run it, and he showed me and emailed Finn the online pictures. They even said they would block off two Saturdays in June for us to choose from if we decided to do it."
"It sounds lovely. Why don't you call them and try to drive down to see it before you leave to go back to New York, see if you can do a tour on Wednesday?" Carole suggested. "How come you did not tell me sooner?"
"Well we were not sure about it, and then things happened. Actually we just started to talk about it again this morning." Rachel said. "I'll get the number from Kurt, from what he told me, one of the ladies that runs it just loved Kurt." Rachel and Carole both giggled at the fact that everybody seems to love Kurt.
"Yeah, I don't care. I don't have anything going on." Finn looked up from his food.
"I also want to visit my dads; I talk to them a lot at night. They won't admit it but I think they feel like they are getting replaced because I'm spending more time with you guys," Rachel told her. "However, it is completely silly."
"Your flight is Friday morning right? Well you can see if you guys can get a tour of the wedding place on Wednesday, and drive back to Columbus that night and spend Thursday there with them and fly to New York on Friday." Carole suggested.
"I think that could work." Rachel smiled at her future mother-in-law, and rested her head on Finn's shoulder. He put his arm around Rachel as she cuddled into him.
"Oh Daddy you should have seen it, it was beautiful!" Rachel exclaimed, she was sitting on her father's loveseat cuddled in the arms of her quietly snoring fiancé. Her dads were sitting across from them on the couch. Finn was worn out from the two hour drive from Lima to Cincinnati, and then the other two hours to Columbus. "I was perfect, I'm hooked. Finn liked it too! Plus the lady was so nice she already had the first and last weekend of June blocked off, we just need to send her the deposit and chose which one. Finn and I like the first weekend. We called Kurt and he likes that too! What do you guys think?" Her fathers listened closely. To be honest they were worried that she'd get there and be horribly upset, especially how she had sounded just a few days prior.
"I think we would set aside our whole month of June for your wedding if need be." Leroy stated.
"How much is the deposit?" Hiram asked. Rachel bit her lip at this; the reality of the price of a marriage as she made her first major decision of many for the wedding hit her.
"It's a lot, I never knew it could be this expensive, the venue can fit about 100 they said with the tent we may get 150, but it's still going to be about 3,000 down payment." She looked down and her hands.
"Rachel that's 15,000 for the venue if it's the average 20% down payment, please tell me it's 30%, or 50% down payment." Rachel shook her head no and her fathers sighed.
"Rach baby your father and I have been saving for your wedding, and we carried some over from the college fund you barely dipped into since your scholarship. We want to give you the princess wedding you deserve but with these figures we cannot promise that it will be enough to cover this wedding."
"I know Dad, I really do but Finn and I talked about it, we are going dip in my savings if we have to. I am fully prepared with the price of this; Kurt had been throwing numbers around for a month. I don't care about some big fairy-tale wedding; if you ask me this venue will help keep it low-key due to its size. I just want it to be amazing." Rachel told them.
"We understand sweetie, we will do everything we can to make that happen." Leroy told her.
"I think it's getting late, and we should all get to bed. Finn for example, checked out about half an hour ago." Hiram stated. "Goodnight baby-girl." He stood up to kiss his daughters forehead, his husband followed the same suit.
"Night dad, night daddy," She told them as they walked down the hall to their bedroom in the two bedroom apartment. "Finn come on lets go to bed," Rachel playfully slapped Finn's arm.
"Oh ok," he said groggily. "I'm coming," he followed Rachel to the spare bedroom that had her same furniture from high school however it wasn't her childhood room, since her father's put most of her stuff in storage when they moved and decorated the spare room to be more appealing to guests. She sighed laying down on the bed, then scooting over to make more room for Finn, they cuddled close together.
"I love you Finn," Rachel started.
"Mmmhmm" He yawned "me too."
"I think this wedding will be amazing. It will be more than amazing it will be perfect." Rachel smiled as she cuddled into Finn's chest.
"It will be amazing because it's you and me," Finn told her and Rachel giggled at the cheesiness of Finns comment. "No I'm serious," he told her. "Hey can I ask you something that has been bothering me for a while."
"Ok shoot," Rachel semi yawned.
"Ok so when we were fighting you said something that hit me," Rachel winced a little at the mention of their argument but nodded a yes. "You had said that you had already thought of names, I was wondering what those names were."
"You're going to laugh at me." She lifted her head to look at him in the eye.
"No I won't, I promise." He smiled.
"Ok so I have a lot of logic to this," Finn couldn't help but grin. "See you're already laughing."
"No I'm fine, go on." He told her.
"Well first, the names have to mean something, I just don't want names pulled out of a random page in a baby name book; I want their names to tell a story. Second I've been thinking of two names per gender. The girl names were easy; the first one is Alianna Carolyn, after your mother and grandmother. I know your grandmother's name is Alison but I think Alison Hudson sounded weird. I thought Alianna was very pretty and we could call her Ali, like you call your grandmother Grammy Ali. Then next was Lola Shelby. When I was little I for some reason identified with the name Lola, and secretly thought I should have been name Lola. My teacher even called my dads once telling them that I was insisting being called Lola when it was school policy nicknames had to be derived from given names. Then I know my relationship was never much of anything but at the same time she is my mother, and I would hate for her to not be represented when your mother is." Finn was smiling broadly at how organized and planned everything was. "Now the boy names are a little different, I couldn't just choose what I want, I have the names I want to be included but I cannot to say as to where I want them. I'm thinking Christopher, Finn, Robert and Liam." Finn raised his eyebrows at the last one. "Liam, being a semi-combination of Leroy and Hiram, I love my dads dearly however it is a long joke that they found each other because of their strangely odd names. So there you have it, may I ask for your input?"
"Your amazing," Finn started, " I really like Alianna Carolyn its very pretty, and I love Lola for the backstory, and I would have insisted on having Shelby in there if you had not said it. Now for the boys, I really don't want to use Finn. I think it's a very weird name that is an acquired taste my parents received. Plus I don't want a little Finn running around if there is no little Rachel, and let's face it the world can only handle one of you. Now personally I know it's a mouthful but I really like Liam Christopher Robert Hudson. Just throw them all in there, and if we have to we'll deal with a second boy name, we could figure something out."
"I like Liam Christopher Robert, but two first names not two middle names. Plus we could call him LC or something, and no hyphens. Hyphens in names are a pet peeve of mine, for example, when we get married none of this Berry-Hudson junk. My stage name will be Rachel Barbra Berry Hudson, and I will be called Rachel Hudson, not Rachel Berry-Hudson." Rachel rattled off.
"You're so silly, you worry too much about silly things. I wouldn't care if you changed your name to Lola, when we get married." Rachel shook her head at this. "Rach, I'm really tired, let's go to sleep," Finn pulled her closer to his chest, and turned out the light."
"Night Finn"
"Night Baby"
Did I know 20 min ago I would be posting this? No. However I liked this chapter so much I wanted to make up for that mess of a chapter six. I don't have the next part done of course, but I will write both and post them soon. I'll probably get one done tomorrow. Again this is my favorite chapter. A fun fact I have not shared about me. I'm an Ohio girl, so pardon my extensive knowledge of Columbus and Cincy as I lived my first ten years of life halfway between the two. Second fun fact, the place where Finn and Rachel are getting married is a real place. It is where my cousin got married a few years ago. I loved the beauty and charm of that place. I just had to put it in there. So the description is from my memory, and the online pictures. I think that is my favorite part of writing this is that it's set in Ohio and I get to use my real life a little bit here and there. Like in the first chapter the airport and a pretty valid description because I fly back and forth to Ohio all the time.
Sorry this is sooo long but it's a long chapter.
I love you and this is not good bye… we still have the two part epilogue.
Mady!
