Unexpected Life Chapter 14: Coming Home, a glee fanfic

*Okay so this is slightly longer and I'm going to say I'm sorry now. You may cry. The song is R. Kelly's "World's Greatest" which I do not own. Enjoy*

Carole

Carole raced through the airport with Rachel at her side. Burt and Kurt followed behind a few paces. They had been waiting for two weeks to get Finn home and it was finally happening. They were escorted to a hanger and found themselves surrounded by several other military families. Like them, their eyes appeared to be red from crying.

Eventually, pine boxes began appearing from the rear of the plane. Carole's eyes went wide as the families around her stepped forward to collect their loved ones that had not made it home alive. A staircase was brought forth and placed in front of the airplane door in order to unload the few living passengers.

Rachel squeezed Carole and Kurt's hands. She was just as anxious as Carole was. There were several men in their uniforms emerging from the plane, but she had yet to see Finn. Burt placed his and on her shoulders and she leaned into him, closing her eyes. It was Rachel's gasp that caused her eyes to fly open and fix on the door to the plane.

Finn was at the top of the staircase leaning heavily on a pair of crutches. The bottom half of his right pant leg was rolled up and tied in a knot just below his knee. There was a large scar covering his left temple that was still healing. He smiled his crooked grin at them and began his decent towards them.

Rachel

She and Carole raced to the foot of the stairs and flew into Finn's arms, nearly knocking him to the ground. He held them close and Rachel could feel Finn's tears dropping onto her head just as hers were staining his shirt. Kurt and Burt joined their little family hug. Rachel would have made room for them to hug Finn, but he refused to let her go.

Eventually they broke apart and Finn removed his arm from around his mother's shoulders in order to place his hand over Rachel's stomach, "Hello little one."

Finn

He couldn't believe that he was home. For nearly two weeks, he had been forced to lie in a hospital bed, waiting for them to release him and the others to go home. It felt like forever. Holding Rachel and seeing her little baby bump made him realize that everything that he had gone through was worth it. He may not have cleared his father's name, but he had proven to himself that he was a man worthy of Rachel's love.

"Finn Hudson?" a voice called from behind him. He turned and found himself face to face with an older woman, who appeared to be in her fifties. She had kind eyes and light brown hair that flowed to her shoulders, "I'm Marlene Shaw."

"Billy's mother. It's nice to meet you. I'm so sorry about your son, Mrs. Shaw. He was a good man, and a good soldier."

Her smile was friendly, "Thank you, Finn. He told me about you, said that you reminded him of his brother Charlie. I can see why he thought that."

He blushed, "Thank you ma'am."

"Take care of yourself Finn. For Billy and all the other young men that couldn't come home. You promise me that you won't ever give up." Her eyes landed on Rachel's belly and her and reached out, "May I?" Rachel nodded, "You take care of this baby too."

His tears threatened to render him speechless, but he was able to say a soft, "I promise."

She walked away without another word, and behind her trailed the box containing her son's body. He found his voice and with more strength and determination he whispered, "I promise."

Santana

She had been pacing back and forth so long that she had created a trail in the carpet. Kurt had called about twenty minutes ago to tell her that they were on their way. She had been working with Mr. Schue and all of the New Directions members both past and present. They wanted to surprise Finn with a song and it was slow going. Puck had gotten into a fight with his clone, Mercedes' flight was late getting in, and for the first hour all they did was argue about what song to sing. It was Artie who finally chose a song that everyone could agree on, and it was about time too because she was ready to go all Lima Heights on these fools.

Sugar and Artie emerged from backstage, "Everything is set up in the choir room."

"Where's Brit?"

"Her and Mike are going through the routine again with the others. They want it to be perfect."

"Good, now all we need is for Frankenteen to show up and we're set to go."

Ms. Pillsbury came flying through the doors, "They're here!"

Mr. Schue came in through the stage doors followed by the rest of the New Directions who all got into place behind the curtain. When she saw Kurt, Santana got into place in the front of the stage. She wasn't prepared for the shock of seeing Finn. She knew that he had been injured pretty badly, but she didn't know that he was missing part of his leg.

She recovered quickly though, "Hey Finnocence, we got a little surprise for you."

The curtain raised and revealed the entire glee club. Santana went and stood next to Quinn while Mr. Schue took her place, "We wanted to show you how much we respect what you've done and since we will use any excuse to break into song, here you go." Artie replaced Mr. Schue at the front of the stage.

Yeah,Uhh...
Uhh...
Yeah..
It's the world's greatest, Yo,
It's the world's greatest, Come on,
World's Greatest, Ever

Blaine joined him and began to sing the first verse.

I am a mountain
I am a tall tree
Oh, I am a swift wind
Sweepin' the country

Blaine's voice was replaced by Puck.

I am a river
Down in the valley
Oh, I am a vision
And I can see clearly
If anybody asks u who I am
Just stand up tall look 'em in the Face and say

The voices of the glee club blended together and tears began to slide down not only Finn's face, but the faces of his family and friends.

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it
I'm the world's greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my backs against the ropes
I can feel it mmm
I'm the world's greatest

Jake's voice drifted out from the others.

I am a giant
I am an eagle
I am a lion
Down in the jungle

Sam's voice replaced Jake's for the next part.

I am a marchin' band
I am the people
I am a helpin' hand
And I am a hero
If anybody asks u who I am
Just stand up tall look 'em in the Face and say

The group was joined by Kurt who made his way to the stage to sing to his brother.

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
I made it
I'm the world's greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my backs against the ropes
I can feel it
I'm the world's greatest

Santana took the lead for the next part with Mercedes backing her up.

In the ring of life I'll reign love
(I will reign)
And the world will notice a king
(Oh Yeah)
When all is darkest, I'll shine a light
(Shine a light)
And use a success you'll find in me
(Me)

Several members were so choked up with tears that they could no longer sing. They continued to do the choreography, but words failed them.

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it
I'm the world's greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my back's against the ropes
I can feel it
I'm the world's greatest

Mercedes put her strong voice to work to belt out her part.

It's the greatest
Can you feel it
It's the greatest
Can you feel it

When it was obvious that Tina was going to have a hard time singing her section, Rachel joined her on stage and they sang together.

I saw the light
At the end of a tunnel
Believe in the pot of gold
At the end of the rainbow
And faith was right there
To pull me through, yeah

Marley took over for the sobbing girls to finish the verse.

Used to be locked doors
Now I can just walk on through
Hey, uh, hey, hey, hey
It's the greatest
I'm that star up in the sky

The glee club descended the stairs and enveloped Finn in a hug as they finished the song.

The music ended and left the entire group crying. When Finn finally found his voice all he could choke out was, "Love you guys."