Well, I'll be back from my summer job on August 13, so by then, I should be back to updating every two or three days. Thanks for putting up with the slow updates all summer and the lack of reviews on your stories. I love all of you who stuck with me. My readers are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review!
In other news – since I'll be back and able to write two stories at once, I'm thinking of doing another installment in the Emma Hudson series. This story would feature Emma's senior year as she must decide what dreams she wants to follow and tries to find the right college. Emma and Nick, as well as Ryan and Ava, prepare for life after high school and potential long distance relationships. And of course there will be lots of Finchel, and will feature a lot of their other kids, too! Let me know what you think.
Chapter 13: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Finals were finally over, and the grounds in New York were covered in snow. Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Santana had decorated their apartment with a Christmas tree, garland and lights. The city was all decked up for the holidays, and Finn found himself loving Christmas a lot more in New York than he ever had in Lima. Burt and Carole were coming to New York for Christmas, and Rachel and Kurt were already planning Christmas dinner. Blaine would be coming to visit for New Year's, and Santana was going back to Lima to spend the holidays with her family and Brittany. Exactly eight days before Christmas, Santana, Quinn and Puck would be flying to Cleveland and then taking the train to Lima. Puck and Quinn would be spending the previous night at the New York apartment.
Finn woke up that morning to the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. He walked in to see Rachel flipping blueberry pancakes. "You're up already, baby?"
"I missed you last night!" Rachel said, walking up to Finn to hug him. Finn had worked late the previous night, and by the time he got back, Rachel, Kurt, Santana, Puck and Quinn were all in bed.
"I missed you, too!" Finn said, kissing his fiancée. "I see you decided to make breakfast."
"I did," Rachel said. "To celebrate the end of our first semester. Hopefully I won't have to see Megan much next semester."
Finn gave Rachel a hug. "I hope you won't, either."
"Why are you up so early, honey?" Rachel asked. "You had to work late last night."
"I smelled your cooking, and I wanted some quality time with my fiancée," Finn said.
Rachel smiled. "I always love Christmas with you. And this year, ALL I want for Christmas is you. I didn't make a list."
"Too bad!" Finn said. "I already got you something." He'd asked Kurt and Santana for help with picking out a gift for Rachel, and he was sure he'd found the perfect gift at Tiffany's. He got her a gold necklace with a star that said "Finchel" on one side of it and had turquoise, Rachel's birthstone, on the other side. "And if I'm remembering correctly, someone has a birthday tomorrow," Finn added.
Rachel looked embarrassed. "I almost forgot because of all the school stress. I don't have anything planned."
"That's what your fiancé and your roommates are for," Finn said. "What would you like to do? Name something." If he had to, he'd go buy tickets to a Broadway show this instant.
"I'd kind of like to go skating at Central Park, and then out to lunch and then just come back to the apartment to snuggle with you," Rachel said.
"That's what we'll do then!" Finn told Rachel. He was surprised she hadn't wanted to go to a Broadway show, but she had been to so many this year. Anyway, Kurt and Santana had both gotten her tickets to Broadway shows for her birthday.
Rachel crawled on to Finn's lap. Finn smiled and kissed Rachel on the head.
"Looks like Berry made some breakfast for us," Puck said as he and Quinn walked into the kitchen holding hands. Finn looked up at them. He wasn't Kurt, but he could tell that Quinn was wearing Puck's nightshirt.
"Yes I did," Rachel said.
"I'm jealous you all live together," Quinn said. "I do all the cooking at our apartment."
"And you love cooking for me," Puck told his girlfriend.
"Of course I do," Quinn giggled as she kissed Puck.
"Hey Finn, can we talk in your room?" Puck whispered to Finn.
Finn nodded. "Of course. The girls can handle themselves."
Puck dragged Finn into Finn and Rachel's bedroom and dragged in his suitcase. He opened the pocket of it, revealing a small diamond ring. Finn didn't know what to say. He'd always felt that Quinn and Puck were meant to be, but he had no idea Puck was considering this.
"Is that Quinn's Christmas present?" Finn asked.
"If I have the nerve to give it to her," Puck said. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"She'll love it," Finn said confidently. "It was scary to ask Rachel, but it was the best choice I ever made."
"But you and Rachel had been together for a while when you asked her," Puck said. "The thing is, Quinn and I were separated for nearly two years…"
"You're meant to be," Finn told his friend. "I know it, Rachel knows it. And if Finchel approves – it's meant to be."
"Leave it to Finchel," Puck said, leaving the room. "I'll let you know what I end up doing."
Finn and Puck went back into the kitchen, where Santana and Kurt had joined Rachel and Quinn. Finn noticed that Rachel had put his bathrobe on. "Isn't that mine?" Finn asked, patting his fiancée's back.
Rachel blushed. "Sorry, Finn. I was cold."
"It looks better on you than it does on me anyway," Finn said. "Just like my letterman jacket does." Rachel often wore Finn's letterman jacket from high school around the house.
"I can't wait to see Brittany," Santana said.
"It'll only be a few hours," Quinn said back. "I just got a text from her, she's picking us up at the bus stop."
"I wish you were all going to be here for the holidays," Rachel said. "I love hanging out with all of you."
"Once spring semester starts up, we'll all be hanging out again," Kurt said. "Besides, we could use some Hudson-Hummel-Berry family bonding time.
Finn looked at the tense look on Rachel's face. He knew she still hadn't spoken to her dads and he really wished she would forgive them. He could tell that Rachel was uncomfortable when she put on a movie for them to watch after breakfast, and became especially clingy to him during a scene about family. Kurt walked Santana, Quinn and Puck to the train station and then went to do some holiday shopping, leaving Finn and Rachel alone at the apartment.
"Rachel, what are you going to do about your dads?" Finn asked softly.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.
"Maybe I'm referring to the fact that you never talk to them anymore, and that they're never even mentioned," Finn said.
Rachel gave Finn a look. "They lied to me!"
"They only wanted to protect you, for you to think the situation wasn't so complicated," Finn pointed out.
"But I deserve to know the truth!" Rachel protested.
"You know it," Finn said. "Rachel, you loved your dads."
Rachel nodded. "I did."
Finn took Rachel's hands. "Please baby, give them another chance."
Rachel sighed. "How about this, Finn: I call them."
Finn gave Rachel a kiss. "That would be a good start." He sat back as Rachel took out her phone and put it on speakerphone. Rachel gripped Finn's hand as they heard Leroy's voice on the other end. "Rachel?"
"Hey, Daddy," Rachel said quietly.
"Rachel – it's been a while," Leroy said. "Let me get Dad."
"Okay," Rachel said, crawling on to Finn's lap. Rachel gave Finn a nervous look, but Finn knew Rachel didn't need to be worried. Her dads still loved her, that much he knew. And he knew they would always love her.
"Hi, Rachel," Hiram's voice said over the phone.
"Hey, Dad," Rachel said. The phone line was quiet for a few minutes before Finn decided to speak. Someone had to break the silence.
"This is Finn, I'm here, too," Finn said. "How have you two been since we talked with you last?"
"We miss our baby, but we're doing fine," Leroy said. "We love living in New York. Every weekend we go to a musical."
"I'm sorry," Rachel finally said.
"We're sorry, baby," Hiram said. "We should have told you the truth from the beginning."
"I wouldn't have been mad at you if I'd known, and I could never love you less than my birth parents," Rachel said.
"We were going to call you, Rachel," Hiram said. "We've missed you and hoped you would forgive us."
"I forgive you," Rachel said. Finn gave Rachel a hug.
"We were going to invite you and Finn over for Christmas Eve dinner," Leroy said.
Finn nodded at Rachel, and she spoke into the phone. "We'd love to. And Finn's family is coming into New York, so you should come over to our apartment on Christmas."
"Don't try to stop us," Leroy said.
Finn stepped out of the room as Rachel chatted with her dads. When Rachel came out of the room a few minutes later, she gave Finn a kiss. "Thanks, baby."
"I couldn't let you go through the time for forgiveness without forgiving your dads," Finn said.
Rachel smirked. "You didn't forgive me during the season for forgiveness our junior year!"
Finn rolled his eyes. "I think I've more than made it up to you."
"You have," Rachel said as she kissed her fiancé.
X
As he woke up the next morning, Finn looked at Rachel in bed, relieved that she was still asleep. He was going to make her 19th birthday, her final teen birthday, extra special. He tiptoed out of the bedroom and met Kurt in the kitchen.
"Thanks for making breakfast," Finn said.
"I wouldn't trust you with breakfast," Kurt said back.
"That's probably a good idea," Finn admitted. He got the flowers he'd ordered out of Kurt's room and put them in front of her placemat, then tied balloons to the back of her chair. He put his present for her on top of her plate and surrounded her placemat with cards and small gifts from family members and friends. When Rachel came walking down the hall a few minutes later, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"Happy Birthday, baby," Finn said as he gave Rachel a hug.
"Finn, you're too much," Rachel giggled.
Finn smirked. "You deserve too much."
Rachel smiled at Finn and began opening her birthday gifts. When she opened Finn's, Finn didn't even need to ask if she liked it. She immediately threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately.
"So you like what I got?" Finn asked with a smile.
Rachel nodded. "I love it."
Finn pulled Rachel on to the couch and kissed her until they both couldn't think straight. They were eventually interrupted by Kurt, who told them to remember that someone else was there. They decided to include Kurt in their walk through New York and when they went ice skating in Central Park. When the three of them were having lunch at a small café near Central Park, Rachel noticed a familiar face in the restaurant.
"Blaine, what are you doing here?" Finn asked as Kurt jumped up and ran towards his boyfriend.
"My family's spending the holidays here in New York so I can look at colleges and hang out with the three of you," Blaine said. "I convinced them because there's no way I can't spend the holidays without the love of my life."
"OH MY GOD!" Kurt shouted. "Best Christmas present ever!"
"I also convinced them to let me stay at your apartment," Blaine told Kurt. "But they said I have to sleep in Santana's empty bedroom."
"Sleep with Kurt," Finn told Blaine. "What your parents don't know won't hurt them."
Blaine smiled at Kurt and then handed Rachel a giftwrapped box. "Happy Birthday Rachel. This is from all your friends still in New Directions. We pooled our money to get this for you."
Finn watched Rachel unwrap the gift box. In the box were four tickets to see Wicked that night on Broadway. "How did you guys afford this?" Rachel asked.
"We all put our money together," Blaine said.
"Four tickets, four of us," Rachel said. "Perfect!"
Finn knew how much Rachel loved that show, so he didn't mind joining his fiancée, brother and good friend to see the show. That evening, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine sang along to most of the songs in the theatre, and Finn admitted that the play was really good. He could see Rachel playing either of the lead roles in this play one day.
When Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine got back to the apartment, calls and texts began coming in. Mike and Tina from Chicago, as Tina's family had joined Mike's family to visit him for the holidays. Sam and Mercedes from Lima, where Mercedes was visiting and was thrilled that Sam had committed to UCLA. Quinn and Puck also called from back in Lima, and Puck texted Finn to say that the ring was still in his pocket. Sugar and Rory even called from Ireland, where they were visiting Rory's family. Artie called and also told them he had begun seeing one of the new girls in the Glee club.
The foursome also skyped with Brittany and Santana. Finn, Rachel and Kurt had noticed their apartment was different without Santana. Brittany had them watch her new installment of Fondue for Two, where she interviewed Santana about life in New York.
X
On Christmas Eve, Burt, Carole, Kurt, Blaine and Blaine's family had gotten dinner at the hotel where Blaine's family was staying, and Finn and Rachel were on a train to go see Rachel's dads. This had so far been the best holiday season of Finn's life. All of New York was in the holiday spirit and the city looked amazing. They did all the stereotypical holiday activities in New York, but Finn didn't care how stereotypical it was. The four of them had been having so much fun. Kurt and Blaine would go out and do their own thing sometimes, letting Finn and Rachel enjoy the apartment to themselves.
As the train pulled up at their stop, Rachel gulped and gripped Finn's arm. Finn looked down at Rachel and gave her a kiss. "You can do this."
Rachel nodded nervously. Finn put his arm around Rachel as they went to the building and rang the doorbell. Rachel's dads were waiting at the front door.
"Hello, Finn and Rachel," Hiram said.
"Hi," Finn said.
"We're glad you two could make it," Leroy said.
As they walked into the living room, Hiram handed an envelope to Finn. "This is for the two for your wedding."
Rachel opened the envelope and her face finally lit up. In the envelope was a check for $1,000. Finn was speechless. Luckily, Rachel spoke for him. "Thank you so much!"
"You two have been through so much. You deserve the dream wedding," Hiram said. "We're sorry we tried to trick you earlier, but you two are meant to be together."
"Thank you!" Rachel cried, hugging both her dads.
"You know, you've treated Rachel best out of any of the boys she's been with," Leroy told Finn.
"Yeah, you're definitely our favorite," Hiram added.
Finn smiled wide. Rachel put her arms around Finn and smiled. "He's the best!"
X
Christmas morning at the apartment was great. Finn and Rachel slept by the fireplace, and Kurt and Blaine slept in Finn and Rachel's queen sized bed. They lit up the tree when they woke up that morning and opened their gifts from each other by the tree, then had Christmas dinner with their families. Rachel had gotten Finn and iPad, and he was shocked that she'd gotten him something so expensive. They enjoyed the day with their families eating, opening gifts, listening to holiday music and watching holiday movies. This had to be the best Christmas yet.
Chapter 14 preview: Second semester starts and Rachel's rivalry with Megan heats up. Finn has a potentially life altering experience.