Thanks so much for the nice reviews on the last chapter! I hope you guys like this one. I promise, the wedding isn't too far off! I'm really happy with how this one turned out and had fun writing it. Hope you enjoy. Please review if you want me to continue!

Chapter 26: Focus On Her

Rachel heard cries over the baby monitor. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 4:45 in the morning. She'd been up less than three hours ago before she put Allie back to bed. Since Finn had classes today, she decided to turn the monitor off and tiptoe into her daughter's room.

"You okay, Allie?" Rachel whispered. She picked up her daughter and went over to the chair. She didn't want to wake Finn or any of their roommates. Everyone had school. Actually, she herself was due to start back at school next week. But could she do it?

As Rachel fed Allie, she thought about how taking this semester off might be the best choice for her and for Allie. Parenting was hard work. Rachel loved being a mother, but it was more challenging than she'd ever imagined it would be. She'd done some research, and if she took a semester off, the school couldn't prevent her from returning.

It would be true that Finn would be at the apartment with Allie while Rachel was at class, but Finn would have homework to do from his classes. Since Rachel already had a year of school underway, it was only fair to let Finn go to school this semester.

Rachel noticed that Allie was falling asleep. She brought her daughter back to the crib and sat in there until she was sure she was asleep, then went back to her room and went to bed.

x

Rachel woke up at about nine in the morning. Allie was still asleep, and she walked around the apartment. Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana had already left for school.

She turned on her phone and saw a text from Finn. "Allie was up at about 7:30 this morning. I gave her a bottle before I left for school. At the library studying before classes. See you tonight! I love you!"

Rachel sighed as she read her boyfriend's text. Parenting and college were both hard work. It was only the beginning of the school year, and Finn was at the library studying. NYADA had been hard work, but Finn was at a regular academic college.

She knew if she talked to Finn, he'd want her to stick it out at NYADA. She knew that he didn't want her to hold back on her dreams. But now that she had a child, her priorities had changed. She still wanted a Broadway career, but her daughter came first. She turned on the TV and watched until Allie woke up. When Allie woke up, Rachel brought her daughter into the living room to watch with her.

"Awww, what a cute mother-daughter moment!" Rachel turned around. It had been a few hours, and Santana and Brittany were at the apartment for lunch.

"Hey guys!" Rachel said. "How's your day going?"

"It's fine," Brittany said. "I bet you're going to miss being with Allie when you go back to school."

Rachel sighed. "Can I talk to you guys about something?" The three girls had grown close since they started living together.

"If I can hold Allie," Brittany said.

Rachel smiled. "Of course you can." She handed Allie to Brittany.

"What's going on?" Santana asked.

"I really think I should take this semester off," Rachel said. "It's only the beginning of the semester, and Finn has such a heavy workload. He needs the mornings to study and do his homework. That would mean he couldn't give Allie his full attention in the mornings when I'm at class. I want to go back to school, but I think I should use this semester to focus on Allie."

"Do you think they'd take you back?" Santana asked. "I remember when you were pregnant, they didn't want you performing at the showcase."

"I did some research, they'd have to," Rachel said. "It would be like a woman going on maternity leave from her job."

"The rest of us could be home when we don't have classes," Brittany said.

Rachel shook her head. "Allie's not your daughter. I don't want to burden you guys like that. I know you love her, and you're amazing aunts and uncles. But I need to do this."

"It sounds like you want to take this semester off, Rachel," Santana concluded. "You know better than anyone what's best for you."

"You guys are really good friends," Rachel said. "I'm going to call NYADA. I guess I just needed to talk about it, and I knew Finn would try to convince me to stick it out."

"You're a really good mom, Rachel," Brittany said. "And Finn's a really good dad."

Rachel looked at her daughter, then at her friends. "Thanks."

x

Finn sat in his Study Strategies class. The professor was handing back the papers the students had written about where they wanted to be in ten years. Finn had written that he wanted to teach and direct a Glee club, and also that he wanted to see Allie grow and that he and Rachel could give her some siblings.

Finn smiled when he saw an A at the top of the paper. The girl in the desk next to him leaned over. "You have a kid?"

Finn nodded, smiling with pride. "I do."

"Oh my God," the girl said. "We're freshmen in college."

"Mr. Hudson, Miss Francisco, is something going on?" the professor asked.

"Apparently Finnegan has a daughter," the girl announced. The students turned to face Finn.

"So do I," the professor said.

"Yeah, but he just started college," the girl said. "He's not going to go anywhere in life if he has a child this young."

"That is enough!" the professor said. "Not another word out of you."

Finn clenched his fists. He'd hated it when people insulted Allie before she was born, and now that she was born, he resented it even more. He loved his daughter and his girlfriend more than anything else in the world. He barely paid attention in class. He couldn't stand being mocked for one of the two most special things in his life. At the end of class, he tried to make a quick exit, but felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see one of the boys from his class.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about what Dani said," the boy said. "She's on my floor in the dorm, and I can't stand her. She always plays loud music late at night and she talks loud enough on the phone to be heard all the way down the hall. Don't take her seriously."

Finn smiled. "Thanks."

"So you're Finnegan?" the boy asked. "I'm Blake."

"Yeah, well I go by Finn," Finn said.

"Do you live off campus?" Blake asked. "I don't really see you around."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I live in an apartment with my girlfriend and my daughter, and with my brother and some of my friends from high school. We all go to various schools here in New York."

"How old's your daughter?" Blake asked.

"She was born at the end of August," Finn said. "She's perfect. I always miss her when I'm at school."

"Then since you love her so much, it shouldn't matter what Dani says," Blake told Finn.

Finn got out his phone. "Here's a photo of my girlfriend and my daughter."

"Your daughter looks just like both of you!" Blake said. "What's her name?"

"Allie," Finn said. "Well, Alexandra, but we call her Allie."

"I like that name," Blake said. "Well, I'm meeting one of the guys from my dorm to work out, but we should hang out sometime."

Finn smiled. "Yeah, definitely." He was glad to have made a friend at NYU.

x

When Finn arrived home from school, Rachel was sleeping on the couch. He was hoping Kurt, Santana or Brittany would make dinner tonight, because Rachel seemed tired. Then again, he took naps during the day on the weekends, too.

He nudged Rachel. "Hey babe."

Rachel opened her eyes and sat up. "Hey, Finn. How was school?"

Finn sat next to Rachel on the couch. "It was good. One of the girls in one of my classes was a bitch about us having a baby, but then one of the guys in the class was nice to me after class."

"That's good," Rachel said. "It is a good thing to have friends at your school."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I know you have Katie and Anna at NYADA, and of course Kurt and Blaine too. Are you excited to go back to NYADA?"

Rachel looked down. "Finn, I'm taking this semester off. I called the school today, and they understood. They told me I could come back for spring semester."

Finn couldn't believe Rachel had made such a big decision without him. "Rach, why didn't you ask me what I thought about this?"

Rachel looked at Finn. "I knew you'd try to talk me into sticking it out. You forced me on that train when I wanted to wait for you so I didn't have to be alone in New York!"

Finn hated it when Rachel brought that up. "So you think I'm still the same idiot I was back then?"

"You're not an idiot!" Rachel said. "You never were. But college isn't what's right for me now. I need to focus on our daughter."

"I would have been home in the mornings when you were at classes," Finn said.

"All week you've been going to the library in the mornings to study before classes," Rachel said. "I understand that you have a heavy workload. You need that time to study, and if you were studying then, we wouldn't have someone to fully focus on Allie. With me taking a semester off, I won't have distractions."

Listening to Rachel, Finn began to understand. "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I usually right?" Rachel asked.

"You usually are," Finn said. "I'm sorry I got mad at you."

"It's okay," Rachel said. "We're both new at being parents, and it's had its challenges, but you're doing a great job."

"So are you," Finn said, pulling his girlfriend in for a hug. "So are you."

Chapter 27 preview: What will happen when Finn and Rachel think Allie is getting sick? Rachel deals with the effects of taking a semester off. Some familiar faces also come to visit.