He walked in as she stretched to put a bowl into the cabinet. After spending the last few days plotting, he relaxed and just watched her. Every movement was so graceful; he could watch her for hours. "Hey," he said, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I thought I told you not to worry about the dishes?"
Rachel sighed and leaned back into him, closing her eyes. There were times that she felt like a rubber band, so taunt that she could snap at any moment. Resting against the solid chest of the man she loved always soothed her frayed nerves, taking the tension away. He was her sweet relief. "Kurt's been driving me crazy for the last two days," she told him. "Texting to see what my favorite color combination is, what sort of music my Dads like to dance to, how much bigger I plan on getting. It's so odd. I had to do something so I could ignore his text messages in good conscience."
Finn chuckled, the sound vibrating through her. "Go get ready," he told her. "I'll finish this."
Rachel turned around in his arms, looking up at him. "You won't give me a hint about what we're doing?" she pouted. Finn was being very hush hush about it, but she could tell it was a big deal. She felt like a little kid, so excited she was going to burst out of her skin.
Finn dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Nope," he said, grinning.
"How excited should I be?"
"How excited are you?"
"Incredibly."
Finn chuckled. "Go get ready baby. I'll put these up and change."
"Okay," Rachel said, tip toeing to press a kiss on his lips. "Love you."
"I love you too," he told her as she pulled away.
He watched her walk away, allowing himself to have a small panic attack. Everything was going to be okay, it was going to be great. He'd managed a miracle and it was going to be epic. Please, Jesus, let it be epic.
He finished putting up their few dishes and walked to the bedroom to get changed. Stepping into the room, he saw her and lost the ability to breathe. "Rachel," he croaked finally. She was beautiful; the most stunning woman he'd ever seen.
"Do you like it?" she asked, twirling around in the dress.
He loved it. He knew nothing about dresses, but the flowing thing this one did around her knees made his weak. The white sash tied under her chest displayed just how much pregnancy could change a woman; her breasts were full, her stomach rounded. He wanted to remember the way she looked right now for the rest of his life. "You're perfect," he finally managed.
Rachel grinned, blushing a little. "You said wear something nice," she said. "I figured this may be my only chance to wear this dress."
Finn walked over to her, gathering her in his arms. "Perfect," he said again, kissing her.
Rachel smiled against his lips. "I'm glad you like it," she said softly.
Finn sucked in a breath. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head and stepping away. "I'm getting dressed. We have to go."
Rachel smiled, nodding. "I'll go into the living room."
When she left, Finn let out his breath. Tonight was going to be harder than he'd thought; keeping his hands off of Rachel was going on his list as complication number one.
GLEEGLEEGLEE
He'd taken Rachel to a lovely Italian restaurant; she'd talked about it several times and he'd gotten the hint. When they finished eating and were standing back outside, Finn took her hand. "Why don't we go for a walk?"
"Okay," Rachel said, leaning her head against his arm. "Thank you for dinner," she told him. "It was amazing."
"I hoped you would like it," he told her.
"As surprises go, this was a great one."
Finn looked down at her, shocked. She thought that was the surprise? He was better at this than he'd thought! He looked at his watch nervously, hoping he was on time. Things like this didn't happen every day, and if one thing went wrong, everything could go wrong.
As they walked by a large building, a short man stopped them. "Excuse me," the man said. "I don't mean to be a bother, but I was wondering if there was any way you two could help me out for a moment."
Finn looked down at Rachel, cocking his eyebrow. "I'm not sure," he told the man. "We're just out walking…"
"It would really only take a minute," the man told him, turning his pleading gaze to Rachel. "I really need some assistance."
"Oh, Finn, we can help him," she said, smiling at the man. "Of course we'll help."
"Thank you!" the man said, smiling brightly. "Just follow me."
Finn sighed as Rachel pulled him into the building. "I hope this isn't the beginning of a horror movie," he said.
"Finn!" Rachel cried, giggling. "Behave!"
They followed the man to a large open room. Rachel gasped when she realized there was a stage. "What is this place?" she asked him.
"This is the San Antonio Playhouse," the man told her. "We're remodeling, so there's no marquee."
"It's wonderful!" Rachel told him. "Isn't it wonderful, Finn?"
"It's a stage, Rach," Finn said, smiling down at her. Her enthusiasm for everything theater always amused him.
"We're working on acoustics," the man told them, motioning for them to sit in one of the front rows. "If you could just listen and then tell me how it sounds, that would be great."
"We can do that," Rachel told him, sitting beside Finn. She looked up at him. "This is exciting!"
Finn kept smiling and held her hand. They sat and watched as a woman moved around at the back of the stage. When the woman sang her first note, Rachel froze. "No," she whispered.
"Don't Cry for me Argentina" has been sung by thousands of people around the world; Kurt and Rachel sing it daily in their showers. But there was only one person in the world that sang it the way Patti LuPone sang it, and that was Patti LuPone herself. Without realizing what she was doing, Rachel stood, walking slowly towards the stage. She couldn't breathe. Patti LuPone was singing in front of her, to her and Finn. As she finished that song and moved on to another, Rachel stood mesmerized, tears falling down her face. How had this happened? Why was this woman here, in Texas?
As she finished "At the Same Time," Rachel turned back to Finn. She found him on his knee behind her, a ring in his hand. "Oh my God," she said, feeling faint. "Am I dreaming?"
Finn shook his head, a nervous smile on his face. "I love you, Rachel. I always have and I always will. I will follow you wherever you go, and be the man you always need me to be. Will you marry me?"
Rachel nodded slowly, tears flowing more freely now. "Of course, yes," she said, smiling. "Of course."
Finn rose as she jumped into his arms, staggering a little. "Sorry!" she said as she kissed his forehead, then his cheeks, then his lips.
Finn laughed. "It's okay." He held her head in place, looking down into her eyes. "You said yes?"
Rachel grinned, nodding. "Yes!"
"Congratulations," Patti said behind them, smiling down at the couple.
Rachel couldn't believe that she'd forgotten the existence of one of her idols. After she'd turned to see Finn on one knee, everything else had ceased to exist.
As the woman began singing again, Rachel and Finn sat down in their seats, staring into each other's eyes and making plans.
It was most definitely epic.