[Disclaimer] Glee isn't mine. Also, MAJOR fluff alert.

Light peaking through the curtains gently woke Rachel from her sleep. Opening her eyes slowly, she was greeted with an envelope addressed to "my gold star" and a single red rose lying on the pillow next to her. Suddenly more awake, she picked up the envelope and tore it open, gazing lovingly at the personalised anniversary card Finn had made for her.

It was a picture of them on stage at nationals sharing that kiss, with a message saying "happy one year anniversary" at the top. Rachel could already feel her eyes welling with tears at his thoughtfulness and the day had barely begun. Opening up the card, her heart soared as he filled the inside page with endless doodles and little drawings. (One particular doodle, she happened to notice, said "Mr. and Mrs. Hudson", and she nearly died on the spot.) On the opposite page he'd written a sweet little paragraph about how beautiful she was, how lucky he felt to be with her and how he loved her "more than anything in the entire world, even more than football and breadsticks".

After finishing reading it (and re-reading it multiple times), Rachel's phone rang - Faithfully, it was Finn - and she quickly grabbed it.

"Happy anniversary, baby!" She squealed excitedly into the phone, making her boyfriend chuckle at the other end.

"Happy anniversary to you, too, Rach! I love you so much. Did you like your card?"

"Like it? Finn it's the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me - other than write me a song, of course."

"I'm glad," he smiled. "That's not all I've got you..."

"Finn! You shouldn't have!"

"It's our first proper anniversary; I wanted to. Besides, you deserve it."

"Oh god, my gift is going to pale in comparison to this," Rachel exclaimed.

"Nah. Having you as my girlfriend is the greatest gift you could give me."

"Stop it! Stop being so cute! You're going to make me cry and my face will be all red and puffy and gross for our date today."

"Sorry, Rach," he laughed. "So do you want your present or not?"

"Of course, Finn!"

"Happy anniversary, baby!" He opened the door, a large pink suitcase in tow.

Rachel stared at him in shock, unable to form any words.

He neared her bed, kissed her sweetly, and handed her another envelope. Confused, she opened it, read the letter inside and began to cry.

"Those are happy tears, right?" He asked, a nervous tone to his voice.

"Yes, Finn! Yes!" She squealed. "We're going to New York?"

"Yeah, we are, baby!" Rachel collapsed with giggles as he put on an exaggerated New York accent and Finn began laughing too, sitting down beside her. "We leave tonight. Kurt packed your bag for you, but don't worry, I made sure he put in a couple of your favourite outfits. And one of my own. Namely, that blue dress..."

A wide smile broke out on Rachel's face. "Maybe if you're lucky, I'll kiss you this time."

Finn growled and began tickling her, as they both laughed and laughed, filled with happiness and excitement about their return to their favourite city.

As they'd eloped, Finn didn't have the chance to buy Rachel the beautiful ring that she deserved. It had nearly been a year since they got married and, even though Rachel frequently denied needing a ring, he wanted to do something special for their first anniversary as a married couple.

Despite Kurt vehemently arguing that his brother required assistance when shopping, Finn decided to brave the jewellery store alone.

"Hello there!" A bubbly middle-aged woman greeted him as he entered the expensive looking store. "I'm Angela - how can I help you today?"

"I'm, uh, looking for wedding bands for me and my wife." Finn blushed slightly as Angela verbalised her disappointment that he was taken. "And I want something else for her. You see, it's our first anniversary, but we eloped last year and I didn't have the chance to buy her an engagement ring..."

The sales assistant smiled, said "I can help you with that" and began leading the way to the counter featuring wedding bands. It didn't take long to find a silver pair that he liked; they were simple, but beautiful. Finn also asked her to engrave "I'm forever yours" in Rachel's ring to make it a bit more personal to them.

They then set about finding Rachel's extra special present. Angela suggested, since it was a bit late for an engagement ring, how about a diamond necklace, which Finn really liked the idea of. She showed him a couple, but none of them felt right, until he saw a sparkling star shaped one and he knew he had to buy it.

That weekend, as they lounged opposite each other on their apartment floor, Finn said, "hey, do you want part one of your anniversary gift now?"

"What?" Her eyes widened. She told him not to spend too much this year; they were saving to get their own, slightly larger apartment, perfect for starting a family. "Finn..."

"No, babe, it's not too much. And besides, it's only what you deserve." He pulled out the large black box from behind his back. "Open it."

Rachel shook her head lightly at him, but did as he said. She gasped softly when she saw the wedding rings, staring at them with tears pooling in her eyes, before her gaze lifted to her husband.

"We've been married for a year and it's been great, Rach. So great. But, you know, I want to wear a wedding ring, I want to show off the fact that I'm married to the most incredible person that I've ever met. And you deserve a pretty ring, honestly."

"They're perfect, Finn," she whispered, his favourite smile on her face, the one she saved just for him.

He smiled back as he took Rachel's ring out of the box, chuckling happily when she saw the engraving and starting tearing up all over again, and gently slid it onto her finger. Rachel held out her left hand, admiring the wedding ring. Then, she removed Finn's from the box and placed it on his finger. He leaned towards her and kissed her, although they were both smiling way too much for him to do it properly.

Later that night, during their date at Sardi's, Finn gave Rachel part two: the necklace. She started crying all over again as he moved to behind her seat, brushed her hair out of the way and placed the delicate chain around her neck. Fastening it, he kissed her cheek and said, "Happy anniversary, baby."

Once the tears had eased, she asked, with a cute smile on her face, "do you want your present now, Finn?"

"Yeah, sure," he smiled at her as she reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope.

"This is from this morning."

He looked at her quizzically, but tore open the envelope anyway. As he removed the contents, he was pretty sure his heart stopped.

"Really?"

"Yes," she replied, her smile wide and bright. "We're having a baby, Finn!"

Finn looked down at Ava as she slept in his arms. She looked so peaceful, and it had taken her so long to fall asleep, he didn't want to move her. Besides, he liked looking at his daughter. Not in a creepy way, of course. She was just cute, with her little tufts of dark hair and chubby cheeks and tiny fingers that gripped onto his...

The doorbell rang and Finn silently cursed, hoping it wouldn't wake the baby. The doorbell rang again as he was getting off the sofa and he rolled his eyes. As Ava's godfather, Puck had insisted he be on babysitting duty tonight, while Finn and Rachel had date night. And Puck was incapable of simply ringing the doorbell once, no, he had to press it repeatedly until somebody opened the door.

Finn answered it moments later, a scowl on his face. "Ava's sleeping, idiot."

"I told him not too, but unsurprisingly, he ignored me," Kurt said in his prissy way, stepping into the apartment. When Rachel had found out that Puck was due to babysit Ava alone, she'd insisted that a "proper adult" be there. Hence, Kurt. "Where's the diva?"

"In our bedroom, getting ready," Finn replied, shutting the door behind Puck. She's already been in there for hours; please don't fuss, Kurt. She'll look amazing no matter what and I don't want to miss our reservation like last time because you didn't approve of her outfit."

"Whatever," he yelled over his shoulder, already heading in the direction of Finn and Rachel's bedroom.

Finn shook his head and turned back to his best friend. "Alright, so, what were the rules for tonight again?"

"Seriously, dude?"

"Yes. Go. What are the rules?"

"No alcohol. Don't curse around the baby. Don't break anything," Puck reluctantly recited. "Ring you or Rachel if anything happens."

"Good. Oh, and don't wake her up. Turn the TV down or whatever when she's sleeping otherwise she gets really cranky and Rachel's singing is like the only thing that calms her down."

"You are so whipped, dude," Puck laughed.

Finn shrugged, not caring. His head snapped up as he heard the bedroom door shutting, then the clicking of high heels against the wooden floor. His jaw dropped and eyes bugged comically wide when he saw his wife approach him, dressed in a fitted black dress that finished mid-thigh. "Wow."

Rachel's cheeks pinked; even after years of dating and marriage his compliments still managed to make her blush like they did when she was just a glee club nerd and he was the popular quarterback. "Thanks, Finn. You too. You make a very hot dad."

"Ew. Gross." Kurt scrunched up his face in disgust. "Get out of here, you two. It's your wedding anniversary, go have some fun together without the baby." At Puck's smirk, he quickly rectified, "not that kind of fun. I mean... Ew. Disgusting. Just go."

Finn chuckled and kissed Ava's cheek. He gently passed her to Rachel so she could say goodbye. Their daughter was three months old and this was the first night she was staying with people who weren't her grandparents. And this was the longest time they'd been away from her. Rachel was anxious, to say the least.

Hugging Ava close to her body, Rachel scattered kisses to the little girl's crown, forehead, cheeks, hands. "Mommy's going to miss you, baby," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Yes, I am, little one. I'm going to miss you so, so much."

"Rach..." Finn supportively put his hand on her back. "We really should be getting off now. Ava will be fine, ok? She's with her two favourite Uncles and most of the time she'll be sleeping, anyway. Can we go? I want to spend my anniversary with my super hot wife at a fancy restaurant without baby spit-up all over me."

"Ok. Ok, let's go." Nervously, Rachel passed the baby over to Kurt. Instead of walking away though, she paused, lightly stroking Ava's hair.

Eventually, Finn coerced her into leaving and half an hour later they were seated in the restaurant.

Rachel had calmed down considerably, enjoying her two year anniversary date, and it was actually Finn who was the most antsy about being separated from the baby.

("Do you think we should ring?" He'd asked, after they'd ordered their drinks. "You know, see how things are going?"

"No, like you said, I'm sure she's fine, Finn."

Ten minutes later. "What about now? Should we ring now?"

As the waitress served them their dinner, he wondered aloud about if Ava was hungry and maybe he should call them to check. He didn't want his baby girl to starve.

"You know, it's been over two hours. We should give 'em a call, see how it's going," he chewed on his lip anxiously. "This is Puck we're talking about."

"Finn."

"You're right, you're right," he mumbled. "I just miss her so much."

Rachel only rolled her eyes and giggled quietly at him.)

"Alright, Rachel, it's time for you to push," the doctor instructed. "You've done this before so I won't patronise you, just take a couple of deep breaths, squeeze Finn's hand and push. That's it. Good job, Rachel. You're doing great. He's almost here. Keep going. He's crowning, Rachel, you're so close to meeting your son. Just one last big push."

The cries of a baby mingled with Rachel's and the two parents smiled with joy as the doctor helped Finn cut the chord and the squirming baby was placed on Rachel's chest. Unashamed, Finn wept openly as he watched Rachel cuddle and soothe his son, his first son, before the nurses took him away to be cleaned and weighed.

The two proud parents looked at each other and smiled. It had been a long, excruciating labour and they were both just glad they had finally got to meet their son.

"So, what's his name?"

Finn glanced at Rachel. He'd chosen Ava's name and they'd agreed that this time, it was her turn to pick out a name.

"Christopher. His name is Christopher, after Finn's father. Christopher Finn Hudson," Rachel informed the nurse and, if possible, Finn cried harder.

The nurse smiled sweetly as the parents shared a kiss, their newborn between them. "He was born at 00:02, October 3rd."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," the nurse replied, confused. "We have several clocks..."

"It's just, today is our wedding anniversary."

"Well, congratulations. A baby and an anniversary. It's a special day. Make sure he gets you an amazing present, sweetheart," she teased, before leaving the family to be alone.

"Rach..."

"Yes, Finn?" She looked up from admiring Christopher, noticing he had a weird look on his face. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just. I'm so happy. And lucky. So lucky. On this day, I was fortunate enough to marry you and now on the same date, years later, I'm lucky enough to have a second child with you." A smile broke out onto his face. "I love you."

"I love you more, Finn. Happy anniversary," she grinned, looking back down at the baby. "And happy birthday to you, munchkin."

"I should go tell our parents and Ava. She's going to be so excited about being a big sister." Despite saying this, Finn moved nowhere, staring at his wife and child.

Finn. Ava?"

"Right. Yes. Of course." He scrambled out of his seat and to the door of the hospital room. "By the way, I have got you an anniversary present, but it's at home."

"Babe, it's fine, you don't have to..."

"Says you, who just gave me the best gift anybody could ask for."

They hadn't wanted to make it a Big Deal. They just wanted to spend a relaxed day with their children and grandchildren, but of course, their children had inherited Rachel's flair for the dramatics and thrown them a surprise party.

Everybody was there. Ava, Nick (Ava's husband), their two children, Chris, Michelle (Chris' wife) and a rather large baby bump, Abby, Sean, Jess and Phoebe (their significant others), Abby and Jess' adopted son Harry and Noah, with a beautiful blonde model they'd never met before, who he'd introduced as Charlotte. As well as all their friends. Puck, his wife and kids. Kurt and Blaine and their kids. Brittany and Santana with their daughter. Tina and Mike with their kids. Artie...Yeah, you get the picture. Everybody had been invited.

("You only have one fiftieth wedding anniversary, mom!" Ava argued. "It's a huge deal: you should celebrate accordingly."

"We don't need a huge fuss to celebrate, Ava. Your father and I eloped. I think that tells you how we feel about large parties."

"But mom-," she'd moaned, sounding like a teenage girl again, instead of a mother in her late twenties.)

So when Finn and Rachel had returned from a breakfast out together, just the two of them, and everybody they knew had jumped out at them, Finn nearly had another heart attack.

Rachel had fussed over him, until he assured her, repeatedly, that yes, he was perfectly fine and, of course he'd visit the doctor tomorrow. Then she'd shot her family a stern glare and went over to talk to some of her oldest friends.

All night, she'd kept a watch out for Finn, even when she was outside playing with their grandchildren and he was inside drinking beer with Puck. Finn had kept an eye on her too, not because she was ill, but that's just what he did, what he'd been doing for fifty five years. He felt more at ease knowing where she was and what she was doing. And she was so pretty. Her hair was greying and she had small wrinkles by her eyes, but she still had the same bright smile, exclusively for him and their children, and that happy sparkle in her eyes. She looked as beautiful as the day he'd married her, fifty years ago. He made a mental note to tell her that later, knowing it would earn him a kiss.

Chris and Sean had cooked a BBQ and the large family sat outside, talking and laughing loudly as they enjoyed the food. When they'd finished, Puck began to chant "speech! speech! speech!" and, not for the first time, Finn felt like punching his best friend.

"No, no, no, it's, um, fine..." He stuttered. Rachel put her hand on his back comfortingly, knowing how awkward he felt.

"Come on, dad!" Chris encouraged. "You sang in front of thousands in high school and you played football in front of millions and then you were a television pundit. Are you seriously afraid to make a little speech about your wife in front of friends and family?"

Finn looked uneasily to his wife on his left and then back to his son, who was wearing an expectant expression on his face. Finn sighed, resigned; their children were stubborn, just like their parents, and he knew they wouldn't give in about this speech, just like they wouldn't give in about the party.

Everybody cheered when he stood up, making him scowl. Why were they making him do this?

"Um, hi?" He began uncertainly. "First off, I'd like to wish a happy anniversary to my beautiful wife Rachel. I love you very much and I feel incredibly lucky to have been married to you for fifty years. It's been great, baby." He grinned at her as she looked up at him, her face full of love. "Even if we do make annoyingly stubborn children who plan stupid surprise parties we don't even want and make me give speeches."

"Secondly, I want to thank you all for coming to spend our day with us and for our cards and presents and stuff. We do appreciate it, a lot. And, uh, finally, I hope you're all here for our sixtieth anniversary together. And seventieth. And however many more years I'm fortunate enough to spend with Rachel." Now, his eyes fixed on his wife's, he said, "we sang a Journey song together a long, long time ago, baby, and those lyrics still stick. So here's to forever!"

Phew, that was a long one, haha! For some reason I really enjoy writing these 5-parter type things - hopefully you like them just as much. Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate it. :)