Hola! Hope this finds you guys well! This chapter literally took me forever! Worst case of writer's block ever! But I hit a breakthrough today as my Mama really helped me sort out my issues! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this! I think you're really going to like this one :)

As always, I don't own Finn, Rachel or anyone related to the glee 'verse. Just Sheridan, Autumn & any original characters that are developed just for this crazy fic!

On with the show!

Chapter 21: October 2027

As life moved steadily forward, it started to become routine for all four of the Hudson's. There were daily appointments for both Rachel and Sheridan, and in between or during those he carved out the time to go and stay with Autumn at the hospital. His parents helped out with a lot of the transportation, especially with Sheridan who didn't always want to be at the hospital. So whenever she didn't want to tag along, someone picked her up while Finn took Rachel to the hospital for one on one time with their little girl.

Autumn. She was making progress every single day, growing stronger as time passed. It had been just over two months since the accident rocked their lives and things were continuing to move steadily. Everyone involved was hopeful that all of the improvements would soon lead to Autumn's discharge from the hospital. She'd been moved from the ICU to a Children's Ward that dealt with critical head injuries and Finn took that as a positive sign in itself. Each night after they came home, both Rachel and Finn hoped and prayed that soon Autumn would be able to come home to them.

Finn placed a cup of steaming hot coffee in front Rachel and offered her a soft smile. It was early, just after 8am and they needed to be out of the house by 9. They had a day filled with appointments for both of them. Both girls needed to go back to Lima Memorial and get their casts taken off, and replaced with walking casts for the next four weeks. Because of the severity of the breaks both of them had endured the risk of re-injury was high, so as a precaution and while they were in physiotherapy they'd both have walking casts. But it was a step in the right direction as far as Finn was concerned.

"Ready for today?" He asked softly as he lifted his own cup of coffee to his lips. He smiled a little as she lifted the mug with what they had termed her 'bad hand', the one casted. She'd come a million miles in terms of recovery from the day of the accident.

She offered him a small smile back. "I'm ready to not have this thing on my arm." She sighed. "And ready to have a little bit more independence"

He nodded. "I bet it'll be good to be able to move around on your own a little more"

"I can't wait until I can stand up to take a shower." She laughed. Finn chuckled as well. "And shave my legs...God, I can only imagine..." She shook her head and closed her eyes as the image filled her head. Finn chuckled with her again.

Part of him was sad. Today marked a turn in the nature of the relationship they had sort of patched together. Since Rachel had come home, he'd been the main caretaker in the house. He helped the girls get around, made them meals and just generally made sure they were okay while taking care of household chores. A nurse came by the house twice a week to help them both with showering and personal things that a Dad shouldn't do for his teenage daughter and well, a wife he was supposed to be separated from. And now Rachel was going to be "okay on her own" after today. What did that mean for him?

They sat quietly, enjoying the silence that had enveloped them. They heard Sheridan moving around upstairs, her mobility was getting better as time went on. She could get around on one floor by herself, but still needed assistance on stairs. She would be starting school next week once she got used to her walking cast. Finn wasn't sure how he felt about that. He still felt like he needed to keep them all in the bubble he had created for them.

"What time is the first appointment today?" Rachel asked quietly, breaking him from his thoughts.
He shook his head and looked at her. "Well, your appointment with Dr. Coveno is at 9:45, and Sheridan sees Dr. Hargot at 10:15. Then you have physio at 11:15 and Sheridan at 11:45. I'm going to go see Autumn while you guys are there. Then maybe you can join us? And I can take Sheridan back if she doesn't want to stay..." He rambled off by memory.

Rachel nodded, her eyes widening when he finished. "I'm tired already thinking about all of that. Other than seeing Autumn of course. I can't wait to see her, and be able to hug her properly..."

Finn smiled in agreement. He knew how much it was killing Rachel to not be able to touch and comfort their daughter the way she wanted to.

Rachel went in to see Dr. Coveno first, leaving Finn in the waiting area with Sheridan.

"How are you today Rachel?" The older Doctor asked as a nurse helped her onto the exam table. "I'm relieved this day is finally here." She smiled softly. "I'm really ready to not have a cast on half of my limbs anymore."

Dr. Coveno smiled softly. "I can appreciate that. So what will happen is we're going to saw these casts off..." Rachel pulled a face. "Don't worry, I won't cut you. I promise. Once the casts are off, we'll send you for a final X-Ray after we fit the walking cast on your leg. You'll be able to take that one off when you shower but for the first little bit, leave it on during your day to day life. Your physiotherapist will guide you and give you exercises you can do at home with Finn to strengthen your leg, and in turn your pelvis as well. You'll want to take it easy, don't go skydiving or anything exciting. Just stay calm and build the activity up over time." She nodded.

Dr. Coveno got all set up and set about taking her arm cast off first. As soon as the plaster was removed, Rachel immediately went to squeeze her fist. She grimaced when her muscles didn't react favourably.

"You're going to be stiff of course, but keep flexing your fingers and your hands. Your strength will return on its own. You can always ask your physiotherapist for exercises if you feel you need to, otherwise the strength should return gradually." She nodded. When he went for her leg, she bit the inside of her cheek as the white plaster cast finally came off. He gently settled her leg down into a natural position and to say it felt weird to bend her knee was the understatement of the year.

"It's going to take some getting used to." He stated, gently examining her leg paying attention to the areas the pins had been placed. She nodded. "I'm going to put your walking cast on now, and then you're all set to head to x-ray." She nodded again. He brought over the cast, which didn't look much like a cast but more like a Velcro contraption.

"And how long will I have this on?" She asked softly. Work had been crossing her mind every once and awhile and she wondered if she'd be able to head back with this on. Even though with Autumn in the hospital, the last thing she wanted to do was head back to work. But she'd seen the bills that were piling up, and she wasn't even sure if any of them had been paid. But Finn had over and over told her not to worry. She was trying to learn to trust him.

"I'm recommending four weeks, but your physiotherapist may recommend more or less. The idea behind the cast is to help you regain the strength in your leg without reinjuring yourself. I'll also send you home with crutches for the first few days and another note for your employer." She nodded. Another four weeks. She could put off work for that long.

She went and got the X-rays taken of her leg, and then was brought back out to the waiting room in the wheelchair. Finn and Sheridan were gone, so Rachel could only assume that they were in her appointment. She pulled her phone out of her purse and flipped through a few messages she'd received while she was in her appointment. She responded to a couple from coworkers, and one from Quinn, who was wondering about her appointment this morning.

Sheridan walked into the waiting room and Rachel looked up at her, grinning when she saw she too was in her walking cast and only had one crutch. Finn walked closely behind her with the other one in his hand.

"This is so weird and so awesome at the same time." Sheridan grinned as she slowly made her way over to Rachel. Rachel looked up at her and grinned, tossing her phone into her purse. Finn smiled at her as well.

"Your appointment go okay?" He asked as he stood beside her. Rachel looked up at him and nodded with a smile.

"Just fine. Four weeks in a walking cast and more physio." She smiled. Finn nodded slightly and touched her shoulder.

"Me too. But Dr. Hargot says I can go back to school next week if I feel like I'm ready." Sheridan smiled. "I really want to get back to school."

Both Rachel and Finn nodded. They both knew how badly she wanted to go back to school. She'd been talking about it since school started up again in September.

Finn walked them both down to the physiotherapy clinic before heading back up the stairs to go and see Autumn. He grinned when he walked into her room and found her sitting up in her bed, a book with colourful pictures in her lap. She looked up from the page she was flipping through and smiled wide when she saw Finn.

"Daddy!" She grinned, lifting her arms to him. Finn made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Daddy look at my book!" She squealed when Finn let her go.

"Wow princess."

"It's the book Mommy brought me yesterday. It has all the princesses in it." Autumn grinned as she looked up at Finn. Finn smiled down at Autumn and kissed her head again before she launched into some story about the pictures in her book. Finn nodded along and provided comments and questions. He tried to ignore a few times when she stumbled over naming the princesses, mixing them up or forgetting their names altogether. This was something that months ago she could have done without a problem. He tried to ignore the stab this caused in his heart.
He just tried to focus on the fact that Autumn was back with them and making slight improvements every day. They finished looking at the book and Autumn let it fall off the edge of the bed. She jumped a little when the book hit the floor.

"You dropped your book Autumn!" He laughed a little bit. She giggled when she looked at him, her shock at the sound the book made forgotten.

They turned on the TV in her room and Finn found an episode of Peppa Pig that immediately had Autumn in giggles. He smiled as he watched her.
A second episode was just about to start when Autumn turned to look at Finn.

"Daddy, can you ask Mommy to bring my stuffed kitty that looks like Mowgli next time she comes?" She asked with an innocent smile on her face.

"I really want it. And white Rabbit is lonely" She held up her Bunny that she took everywhere with her.
Finn chuckled a little bit when he took in the serious expression on her face.

"I can grab it for you baby." Finn said softly.

"You can?" She blinked her eyes and looked at him.

He chuckled. "Of course I can"

"But Daddy, how would you get in? You don't live with us!" She paused, her eyes widening a bit. "Or do you? You do!" She giggled, a big smile on her face as realization dawned.

The door opened and Rachel slowly walked in, supported by her crutch in her good arm and stepping slowly on her walking cast.

"Daddy does what?" Rachel asked as she came to sit in the chair beside Finn. He took the crutch from her and leaned it against the wall behind them.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Autumn grinned when she laid eyes on Rachel.

"Well hello princess." Rachel laughed as she looked at Autumn. She heard Finn blow out a breath just as Autumn launched into a story about the Peppa Pig episode they had just watched while the other played in the background.

They stayed like this for a while, as Autumn's lunch was brought in and Finn tried to coax her to eat. When he couldn't get her to eat the grilled cheese sandwich, he switched places quickly with Rachel. Finn's phone buzzed in his back pocket. He pulled it out to see it was Sheridan, saying she was done at physio and looking for a ride home. When Finn mentioned this to Rachel, Autumn's ears perked up.

"Daddy, if you're taking Sheridan home you can grab my kitty cat!" She exclaimed with a giggle as Rachel held up her sandwich again.

Finn ran down to the physiotherapy clinic to meet up with Sheridan. He took her home where they met Carole who was going to stay with her for the afternoon. Finn grabbed Autumn's black stuffed cat before hugging his mother and Sheridan on his way out. He sat the cat in the passenger seat of his car before taking off and heading back to the hospital.

The image that met him when he walked back into Autumn's hospital room melted his heart. Rachel was sitting as close to the bed as she could get and was running her fingers through Autumn's hair gently. He could barely hear the words, but he could make out her slowly whispering to the little girl. He tried to remain quiet, and gently placed the stuffed cat beside Autumn before sitting down on the chair. Rachel finished her song before leaning back in her chair with a sigh.

"She just fall asleep?"

Rachel nodded and rubbed her eyes a little bit, showing her exhaustion herself. "Yeah. She was getting a little cranky after you left. She really didn't want to finish her lunch. I gave in after a few minutes."

Finn nodded. "It's not worth the fight sometimes. Especially now." She mumbled an agreement as she kept her gaze on Autumn who looked so peaceful.

"You hungry?" He asked after a few minutes. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock and Autumn's steady, even breathing.

She shrugged a little bit. He stood up and held his hand out to her.

"Come on." He gestured. "Let's go get something to eat."

"We should stay..." She mumbled, trying to think of a reason not to go. She didn't have one.

"She's sleeping. She's probably going to sleep for at least the next hour. Remember what Dr. Peyton said yesterday? Her napping is a good thing. Means her brain is working to heal itself." She nodded. "We can just go down to the cafeteria. Or the coffee shop. You need to eat too Rach and I could really use some of that terrible coffee they make downstairs." He smiled when he saw her chuckle a little bit.

"Oh alright." She gave up and took his hands. When she was steady on her feet he helped her onto the one crutch. They both bent to kiss Autumn's forehead before leaving the room.

They walked in silence, Finn slowed his pace immensely so he could walk with her. When they got to the cafeteria, she grabbed them a table after telling Finn what she wanted. While she waited for him, she grabbed her phone out of her bag and busied herself flipping between various apps. She put the phone away when he approached the table, a tray in his hands.

"Here we are." He smiled, placing it between them. She gave him a small smile back when he handed her the Greek salad he'd gotten her.

"Thanks" She smiled as she opened her salad.

"Not a problem."

She watched for a moment as he opened his sandwich and took a bite, before digging into her own food.

"What's on your mind?" He asked softly, putting his sandwich down and taking a sip of the coffee he'd gotten for himself.

"Pardon?" She asked as she swallowed.

"You look like you're deep in thought over there. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, stabbing a forkful of salad and bringing it to her mouth.

"C'mon Rach, I know you better than that." He sighed. "Something's bugging you."

She sighed and put her fork down. She reached for her water, uncapping it slowly as he stared at her. She swallowed. "How are we holding up financially?" She asked quietly. She heard him sigh. She wondered if she'd stepped over the line. Maybe she was being a little presumptuous with the way she asked, maybe it wasn't appropriate.

"We're fine." He answered quickly, picking his sandwich up again and taking a bite. It was her turn to stare at him. She wasn't stupid. Obviously she was off work, but she was still being paid a bit of her salary and he clearly had taken leave from his job as well, to take care of them.

"Fine?" She questioned softly, her eyes searching his.

"We're fine...I promise." He gave her a weak smile. He didn't want her to know that things were tight. He didn't want her to worry. He'd managed to pay the bills everywhere over the last two months, thanking God that the apartment he had rented was all inclusive. The only stressor at the moment was the hospital bills, but they were nothing to be terrified of - just yet. They were getting by and that's all that mattered. His parents and hers had offered to help, but he'd assured them they were fine. They'd figure it all out when everyone was well again.

She gave him an intense look for a few moments before turning back to her salad. He reached his hand out to touch hers. "I promise Rachel, I've taken care of everything. You have nothing to worry about." She sighed while attempting to stab another piece of lettuce onto her fork.

Later that evening, Finn and Rachel sat at the dining room table eating the stuffed shells that Carole had left for them. Sheridan left them alone to go and call her best friend to catch up on school gossip. They ate in silence, the comfort of the quiet lulling them into a sense of normalcy.

Rachel wiped her mouth with her napkin and then broke the silence. "When you said we're fine...at the hospital...what does fine mean? How could we be okay with me on sick leave and you on sabbatical pay?" Finn dropped his fork as the words caught up to him. He cleared his throat before answering.

"I told you not to worry about it. We're not behind on anything. We're fine" He tried to assert.

She gave him a look, not letting the topic go. "But for how long Finn? On top of everything you have your apartment to pay for..."

He paused, sighing loudly to collect his thoughts. She continued to stare at him intently. "Rachel, I've been meaning to bring this up but you know me, I'm not any good with words. So I'm just going for it and hope it makes sense. Moving out was a huge mistake. This was all a huge mistake"

Her eyes widened, his admission taking her completely by surprise. "What do you mean, a huge mistake? This is what you wanted..." She felt her heart rate speed up and she tried to catch her breath.

He blew out a breath. "It was and I was wrong. My place is with you, with our family. I guess I really needed to grow up. I can't believe how selfish I was." He stares at her, a serious expression on his face. "Rachel, there is no other world without you and the girls. You three are my world."

Rachel sat back in her chair crossing her arms across her chest. She stared at him, a quizzical look on her face. What was she supposed to say to all of this? Her mind began to race and her heart pounded quickly.

"Was it the accident?" She asked bluntly after a few minutes. She needed to know.

"The accident was like being hit by lightening." He paused. "But it was clear to me even back in June..."

"June?" She questioned.

He nodded trying to keep his gaze on her. "I know, June was a long time ago. It's taken me that long to realize what an idiot I was. What an idiot I am"

She chuckled a little bit at his admission. She paused for a moment, looking at him intently. "I don't really know what to say Finn."

"You don't need to say anything. I just really needed to get that off my chest." He paused. He stood up from his chair and walked over to her side of the table, kneeling at her side as she flinched. "I love you Rachel. I never stopped loving you." He stared at her, gazing intently. She gazed back at him, gently pulling her lip between her teeth. He reached up and gently tugged her lip out, before leaning in to place a kiss on her lips. She gasped slightly as he approached, but blew out a breath just before his lips touched hers. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers, allowing herself to give in to the feeling and let it happen. She felt her body relax as the clock ticked, Finn raising his hand to touch her cheek softly before he pulled away from her. She sighed as they separated, her eyes taking a beat to open slowly. When she did open them, she found him staring at her intently once again.

"Finn" She breathed.

"Rachel..." He leaned his head forward, resting his forehead on hers. They held a gaze for several moments, just drinking each other in. He kissed her forehead a few times before finally pulling away from her. He stood up and began to collect the plates from the table, taking them to the kitchen and setting them into the sink. It took a few trips to clear the table completely.

They settled into the living room after the dishes were cleared and put away. They found some old reruns of How I Met Your Mother, and settled in to watch a few episodes. When they gave way to the 11 o'clock news, Rachel stretched her arms over her head slowly as she yawned.

"I should head up to bed." She said quietly, her eyes moving from Finn's down to her lap. "I want to get to the hospital early tomorrow..."

"We can do that." He said softly. He scratched his head as he watched her stand up. Finn followed her lead and walked over to the corner where he'd stacked the blankets he had been using to make up his bed as she moved to leave the room.

"Finn?" He heard her soft voice call from the door way.

"Yeah Rach?" He dropped the sheet he had in his hand and looked at her. "Do you need me to help with something..."

"Why don't you come up to bed?" She cut him off softly.

His heart stopped and he was sure his jaw dropped a little bit. She looked at him intently, her gaze soft and bordering on affectionate.

"Finn?" She asked again.

He shook his head and dropped the sheet on the couch in an instant and crossed the room to join her. She smiled up at him as he placed his hand gently on the small of her back as they walked towards their bedroom.

"Good night Finn." She said softly once she had gotten ready for bed. He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before laying his head on his pillow.

"Good night Rachel." He sighed when she rolled over onto her side, facing away from him. "I love you Rach " He whispered.

Rachel's heart constricted when she heard the words leave his mouth. She wanted so badly to respond, tell him that she still loved him too. She just didn't know if she was ready. She sighed and tried to will herself to fall asleep.

Thoughts?
I don't know if you can tell but we're almost at the end :(. Three more chapters including the epilogue...