A/N: I love that you guys love this! Hope you like the next installment!
A/N2: Don't own anyone on or related to gLee. They're all property of Ryan Murphy & Co. I own Melody, Caleb and anyone not on gLee.
A/N3: REVIEW please!

Chapter 25

Finn smiled at Annie when he walked into the NICU with Melody. She immediately put down the paperwork she was looking at on her desk and walked over to the pair, a big smile on her face.
"Well, this must be the big sister!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice. Melody immediately cuddled more into Finn's leg and he laughed, his hand finding her head. It felt good to laugh a little after the 24 hours he had just had.
"This is. This is Miss Melody, Caleb's big sister" He smiled at Annie. She immediately crouched down to be at Melody's level.
"Well hello there Miss Melody. I'm Miss Annie, I'm one of the nurses who has been looking after your brother since he was born early this morning" She stuck out her hand, and Melody looked up at Finn hesitantly before sticking out her own hand and shaking Annie's slowly. Annie smiled and looked at Melody."I suppose you want to meet your little brother, right?"
"Caleb" Melody mumbled softly against Finn's leg. "I would like to meet him. Mommy and Daddy say he's really little"
"He is really little." Annie paused, looking up at Finn before addressing Melody again. "But he's also really cute. Let me show you where we wash our hands okay?" She said softly, standing up and looking down at the little girl.
Melody was taken aback, and looked up at Finn, a little unsure. He could tell she wasn't connecting washing her hands with seeing her little brother, even looking a little confused at the prospect. Finn crouched down to her level. "Remember how Mommy and Daddy said Caleb was really little, and needed to stay here to be able to grow more?" She nodded. "Well, to make sure he grows big and strong and doesn't get sick, we have to wash our hands in the special sink and wear a special gown so if we have any germs they don't get to Caleb" Melody's eyes widened but she nodded nonetheless. He hoped he hadn't scared her with his explanation. Annie smiled looking at the pair and led them over to the sink where she showed Melody how to wash her hands and got her a small child sized gown, helping her put it on while Finn got washed up as well. When they were both ready, Annie watched as Finn led Melody over to the baby's incubator and sat down on the chair, pulling Melody onto his lap before introducing her to her brother.
"Well Melody Faith, I'd like you to meet your brother, Caleb Levi" He said softly, whispering in her ear while he brought Melody closer to the incubator. He felt her tense but relax against him after a minute or two.
"He's so little" She whispered, looking at him. She kept her hands firmly clasped in her lap while staring intently at the tiny baby in front of her. That, was her brother?" Her parents were right, he was so little.
"He is little" Finn smiled. "But he sure is cute, don't you think?" Melody nodded, continuing to look at her brother intently. "He looks like Mommy" She said after a few minutes of looking at him intently. Finn looked from her to Caleb and back again. "See, he has her nose!" She smiled looking up at Finn with a grin on her face.
Finn chuckled, looking between his daughter and his son again. God, he had two kids now! Two kids! A daughter and a son. It was almost like it had just clicked. He allowed himself to smile a little bit. While the last 24ish hours had been a complete blur, Finn was no realizing the implications of the events that had taken place. Two kids, two little people who depended on him and Rachel for their every move. Both of them needed him and Rachel in such different ways.
"You want to hold his hand?" He asked softly. She looked up at him and nodded her head slightly.
Finn showed her how to put her hand through the hole after explaining to her that she had to be really gentle. When her fingers first came in contact with his small hand, Caleb jerked and Melody nearly took her hand out of the incubator. She looked at Finn with big, wide eyes.
"It's okay. He's not used to being touched, so just be gentle and he'll be okay" He smiled at his daughter. She tentatively touched his hand again and Finn smiled. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and took a picture of their first meeting to show Rachel. He stuffed the phone in his pocket after sending it off to her and leaning to kiss Melody's head as she began to talk to the baby. He had to smile as he listened to her tell him all about their apartment, the room he and Rachel had painted and decorated for him, what she had helped with and anything else should think of. Yeah, this was how life was supposed to be.
"He's so little Daddy." She smiled looking at her father with big eyes. "His hands are so little!"
"He is. You like him?"
"I love him. He's my brother and I've wanted him forever" Melody smiled. Finn felt his heart swell three sizes with just those words. He leaned down and kissed her head again.

Back in the room, Rachel was telling her father's all about their first grandson.
"He's perfect in every way" She smiled up at her father's with tears glistening in her eyes. "He's little, but he's perfect". Her phone buzzed from the side table beside her. She reached for it and gasped when she opened the picture that Finn had sent to her. Tears immediately welled in her eyes as she looked at it more closely, smiling softly seeing her daughter with her hand on her sons. God, was that really real? She wished she could have gone to the NICU with them but if she was honest, she was in a lot of pain and emotionally and almost mentally drained.
"What is it Princess?" Leroy asked, stepping closer to his daughter's bed. She showed him the picture that Finn had sent her of Melody holding Caleb's hand through the hole in the incubator. The tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to stare at it, Leroy gave her a soft hug to try and comfort her.
"You have a beautiful family Rachel. You should be so proud" Hiram said softly, speaking for the first time since seeing the picture of his two grandchildren.
"I am. Really. This was my dream" She said softly as she swallowed the lump in her throat. This is all she really wanted. She closed her eyes trying to stop the tears from falling.
"It's okay to be sad sweetheart" Hiram whispered. "It's been a long two days for you, and an even more eventful week. And this is just the beginning" He said softly. She nodded her head at his words, leaning back more onto the bed with her eyes still clutched closed.
"I know" She whispered. She really wanted to see Finn right now.
She got her wish 20 minutes later when he returned, albeit alone but he returned. Hiram and Leroy excused themselves when he walked in the room, saying they were going to go grab a coffee to give them some time alone.
"My mom and Burt should be down there with Melody, grabbing lunch if you want to join them." Finn smiled at his father's-in-law. "When you come back I can take you guys to meet him if you'd like" Both Hiram and Leroy nodded at their son-in-law, clasping him on the back before saying bye to Rachel and heading for the door.
The tears spilled from her eyes the moment the door closed and Finn raced over to Rachel's bedside, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her even the tiniest bit. She cried into his shoulder as her hands clutched at his back in a desperate attempt for him not to let her go. When he did pull away, he looked at her with a concerned look on his face. He immediately went to wiping her tears with the pad of his thumb.
"Hey, hey" He said softly, brushing her hair back from her face. "What's all this? What's wrong?"
She shook her head. She felt silly really, she didn't really know what was wrong. Well that wasn't true, she knew what was wrong but there was nothing anyone, even Finn, could do about it.
"I think last night and this morning is just catching up with me" She said softly. "And I was talking to my dad's after I got the picture you sent and I just got this overwhelming need to see you and I got so sad..." She rambled on and on for a few seconds, before looking down at her hands and whispering, "Sorry".
"No need to be sorry baby." He whispered softly. He kissed the side of her head as he held her against his chest. Her sobs quieted down after a few minutes. Finn had slid into the side of the bed with her and held her against his chest, kissing her head again.
"The picture is what set me off." She whispered.
"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have sent it if..."
"No." She stopped him. "I wanted you to send it. I wanted to see it. I just...I wish I had gone with you...and...and see her when she saw him for the first time... but everything hurts and I'm tired and..." She started to cry again and he pulled her closer to his chest again. "And I just wanted you to hug me, and hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay..." She cried.
"Shh. It's okay Rach, really it's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here, Melody's safe, Caleb is being looked after...everything is going to be okay" He tried to sooth. She calmed down and yawned against his chest. He knew she was tired, exhausted even. They hadn't got back to the room this morning until after 3am, and had woken up at just after 9 in order to see Caleb this morning before their family came. He thought that's where these emotions were coming from, that combined with the stress of being in the hospital the whole week, having a baby this morning and all the emotions that come along with that were probably doing a number on his already sensitive and emotional wife.
"I love you" He kissed her hair a few times. "I will always be here to hug you, and hold you. And of course I'm going to tell you everything's going to be okay. I don't know how this story is going to play out, because just like you I have zero experience being a parent to a preemie but we're all going to get through this, because we're Hudson's and we're strong and getting through hard times is what we do. Right?" He whispered against her ear as he held her. She sniffled a little bit and grabbed his arms that were wrapped around her and squeezed a little bit before closing her eyes.
"Yeah. We're Hudson's" She smiled a little bit before falling into a much needed nap.
"I love you Rach" He whispered against her hair. When he was sure she was asleep, he untangled himself and scribbled a note on the pad of paper on her side table before making his way out of the room. He was just closing the door behind him when his Mom, Burt and Melody came down the hallway. Melody had a huge grin on her face and ran for her dad. Finn pasted a smile on his face and crouched down to gather her in his arms.
"What did you have for lunch Mel?" He asked softly, standing up with her in his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
"I had a chicken wrap and chocolate milk" She smiled. Her eyes glanced over to Rachel's closed door. "Can I go see Mama?"
"Mommy's sleeping." He smiled a little bit at her.
"Can we wake her up?"
"Mel..." Finn blew out a breath. He looked at his Mom and Burt for some support. They both looked at him empathetically. "Mommy's had a really long few days and needs to rest. Maybe Nana and Poppy can bring you by after school tomorrow?" He looked to his parents who both nodded. "Now, why don't you go home with Nana and Poppy and maybe Daddy will come home for a bit tonight after I take Grandpa and Granddad to meet Caleb, maybe in time to watch a movie or something? Would you like that?"
Melody's eyes lit up when she looked at her dad. "Okay" She said throwing her arms around his neck in a long hug. Finn walked them down to the parking garage, and hugged them all once again before going to take his fathers-in-law to go and see his son. Then maybe he'd take a nap too.

Rachel had made him go home. As much as she wanted him to spend the night again with her, she had insisted on sending him home to spend time with Melody. Sure, she had cried when he was gathering his stuff to leave after Dr. Wilson had left but after he had hugged her and rocked her a little bit back and forth, he had left with the promise that he would call before he went to bed to make sure she was okay. And he had left. And the second he got to the car, his shoulders sunk with the gravity of the last 24 hours and he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and let out a long breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in.
But when he got home and plopped down on the couch beside Melody to watch Frozen for the millionth time, he knew why Rachel had sent him home. Because Melody needed him just as much as Caleb and her did.

When Finn left, Rachel got a nurse to escort her down to the NICU so that she could sit with Caleb. After her nap after lunch she was feeling a little rejuvenated. She was feeling better, and decided to walk down the hallway on her own. She smiled at the night nurses that had just come in after dinner and entered the NICU by herself for the first time. The two times she had visited she had been with Finn. She waved a little bit to Annie, who looked like she was giving a briefing to two of the nurses that were obviously coming on shift for the night. She walked slowly over to the sink and washed her hands and gowning up before making her way over to Caleb. She smiled when she sank down in the chair with appreciation. She may have overestimated her strength, but it felt good to sit and have Caleb in her sights. She put her hand through the holes in the incubator and allowed a smile to form when Caleb only flinched slightly at her touch.
"Hi baby" She whispered as she leaned closer to the incubator. "It's your Mommy. It's just you and me tonight kiddo. But that's okay, right?" She smiled. "You've met lots of people today, you got to meet your big sister Melody. She's amazing Caleb, she's going to be the best big sister to you. She already loves you so much, just like me and your Daddy do too. You also got to meet your Nana and Poppy. Those are Daddy's Mommy and Step-Dad. They're around as much as they can, they live in Ohio just like your Granddad and Grandpa. That's my Dad's. They're great too. Not around as much a Nana and Poppy but they're still great grandpas." She smiled as she rubbed her finger back and forth over his small hand. "I love you so much little boy. You are so wanted and so loved and I can't believe that you're here. We're going to do all we need to do to get you big and strong so you can come home with Me, Daddy and Melody. I love you so much Caleb. So much" She whispered just as the tears began to fall from her eyes. She closed them briefly, but kept the slight rubbing motion going up and down her sons hand. She bit her lip and nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Annie smiling tiredly at her.
"Sorry Mrs. Hudson, didn't mean to scare you."
"Rachel" She said softly. Annie looked at her a little confused. "Please, call me Rachel."
Annie smiled. "Sure. Rachel, I just wanted to let you know I'm on my way out for the night. But Stephanie and Isabel are over there to help you with anything you need" She smiled. "Don't be afraid to ask for anything, even if it's just help getting back to you room." She paused. "He had a good day today, you should be proud" She smiled. "I'll see you in the morning." Rachel nodded and said good bye to the helpful nurse before turning back to her son. She continued to hold his hand and talk to him, even sang to him softly.
She spent a solid hour talking and singing to him softly, as to not disturb any of the other babies and families in the NICU. When she grew tired, she kissed her fingers and placed them on Caleb's hand before saying good night and moving to stand up and take off her gown. She slowly walked away discarding the gown. She moved slowly toward the door, waving to the two night nurses. One of them, came over to her before she had a chance to leave.
"I'm Isabel. Let me help you" She smiled. Rachel smiled at her gratefully, holding the nurses arm. She didn't remember being this sore with Melody. But that been 7 years ago and it had been a normal pregnancy.
She said good night to Isabel when she arrived back at her room and got into bed slowly, laying her head down on the pillow, allowing herself to completely relax just as her phone rang. She smiled when she saw that it was Finn.
"Hey baby" She whispered into the phone. "I miss you"
"Miss you too" She smiled when she heard his voice. "How was your night?"
"I spent it with Caleb. Just got back to the room actually. Met the night nurses and sang a few songs to him. Yours?"
"Watched Frozen for the 800th time" She smiled into the phone when he said that.
"Mel's good?"
"She's great" He sighed. "Asking when you and Caleb are coming home"
"Dr. Wilson is coming in the morning. I think she said this morning that I'll be able to go home tomorrow if everything checks out. But that if I wanted I could have an extra day to stay with Caleb." She bit her lip, because she just wasn't sure what she wanted. On one hand she really wanted to sleep in her own bed, spend time with Finn and Melody, but on the other she wanted to stay by her baby's side because he needed her the most out of everyone.
Finn sighed into the phone. "We have everything under control here. I'm going to come tomorrow, Hanson is giving me tomorrow off and we'll go from there, okay? If you check out okay but you want to stay one more day we can go that route. Burt has to head home soon, but my mom is good to hang out for awhile and your dads will here until the weekend. We can figure this out, okay? We'll do what we need to do and what you want to do, okay baby?" His voice was almost a hushed whisper.
She felt the tears in her eyes well up again and swallowed the lump in her throat. She had the best husband in the world.
"I love you." She whispered. "I love you so much."
"I love you too Rach. More than you'll ever know" He smiled into the phone. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah. Good night" She smiled into the phone. She sunk down onto her pillow and closed her eyes, willing herself to get some sleep.