Flaws & all - Will Schuester loves Emma Pillsbury, he loves her red hair, her big brown eyes, he even loves her excessive cleaning and obsessive routines, he loves every freckle on her body. To put it bluntly, he couldn't imagine living without her, which is good, because she doesn't think she'd survive without him.
Rating - T
Characters - Will and Emma
A/N -Reviews/concrit are loved, as are suggestions as to what you want to see happen. And I'm from the UK, so if anything American is not quite right, please let me know and I'll fix it.
"Coach said you want us to babysit tomorrow night." Brittany grinned up at Will as she dragged Santana down the corridor towards him.
"She kinda volunteered you" Will told the girls, "I know there's a lot of parties tomorrow so if you've got other plans it's not a problem." It was the last day of term, Will wouldn't be surprised if the popular cheerios had plans for the Saturday night.
"Nah, there's no problem" Santana told him, "we're going to a party tonight, but don't worry, we'll have sobered up by the time we come over." She laughed jokily, "Is 7 okay or do you want us to come earlier?"
Will shook his head, "7 is fine, but can you not mention it to Emma, I want to surprise her."
"Sure thing Mr S" Santana smiled as Brittany mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.
"Okay" Will smiled, "I'll see you in Glee."
The final glee practice was emotional to say the least. Rachel and Quinn had intercepted Will and Emma on their way to the choir room and kept them talking for almost ten minutes, the reason for that becoming clear when they finally entered the room. The walls were covered in a mass of balloons and streamers hung from the ceiling beside a large hand made banner that read 'thanks for everything Mr & Mrs Schue.' They were told to sit on chairs at the front of the room and no one had dry eyes by the time the kids had finished singing 'you raise me up' to the adults.
The group then broke out into what had become their signature song and by the time Figgins and Sue met in the hall outside the choir room even Will and Emma were singing 'don't stop believing.'
Sue and Figgins joined the group for cake before saying their goodbyes and leaving the room. There was more singing and more tears before the group presented Will and Emma with a large framed copy of a photo of them all taken on the stage after they'd won nationals and a cd entitled 'New Directions, the greatest hits.'. Sophie showed off her new skill before everyone got teary again and Puck called for a group hug. There was more hugging and even more tears before the group finally said goodbye after agreeing to meet up to practice their performance for graduation.
"I can't believe it's over." Will sighed, wiping at his eyes as he collapsed onto the sofa once they were home, "I mean if I'm like this with my glee kids what am I going to be like when Sophie moves out."
Emma smiled and sat beside Will after she'd checked the stair gates and emptied Sophie's toy box, "you've got a few years before that happens." The couple sat in silence for a while watching their daughter as she babbled happily bashing a green rattle against her wooden blocks. "Are you still going to be the glee coach next year?" She knew Will had been debating whether or not to continue with glee club after new directions left and she hoped the news of her pregnancy hadn't made up his mind for him.
"I don't think so" he sighed, "it wouldn't be the same, I'd constantly be looking for the next Rachel or the next Santana. When I told Figgins I wanted to start up the glee club again I didn't think I'd get so attached to the kids, and Sophie's getting older it's not fair on her, I'd rather just come home after work and relax with my wife and my children" he smiled laying a hand on Emma's flat stomach.
"So" Will smiled as he sat watching tv with Emma after they'd bathed Sophie and put her to bed, "I'm going on a date tomorrow evening."
Emma pulled away from Will, "you're what?" She felt her eyes rapidly fill with tears.
"I'm going on a date" Will repeated.
"With, with who?" Emma's voice shook as she tried not to cry.
Will tapped his chin as he thought for a moment before placing his hands on Emma's cheek, "with my wife" he said before kissing her softly.
"With me?"
Will nodded and wiped away the tears that had leaked from Emma's eyes, "you're the only wife I've got."
"But, Sophie, we..." Will laid his index finger on Emma's lips to silence her
"It's all sorted" he told her, "just trust me. We've not had a date night since before we had Sophie."
Emma nodded, "I've kinda missed us spending time alone together. Is that bad?"
"Not at all" Will reassured her, "we could try and make it a more regular thing if you like. I know we'd probably struggle to go out once a week but we could have a date night at home once a week if you like, once Sophie's in bed we could make an effort to make a nice dinner, try out a new recipe and watch a movie or something, then try and go on a real date once a month. I love Sophie more than anything but it's like we've forgotten how to just be a couple since we had her. It's like we're stuck in parent mode 24/7.."
"Yeah" Emma nodded in agreement, "I know what you mean, and I think it would be nice for us to have some time alone together, we've struggled with one child, it's going to be harder with two."
Will nodded, "maybe we should try and get a vacation with Sophie before the baby gets here. My mom and dad have a villa in Florida. I could see if it's free for a week or something over the Summer and we could go down and get some sun."
"Yeah, I'll look at flights, unless you want to drive down?" Emma asked. They'd not been on vacation since their honeymoon and Will was right, spending some time doing as little as possible before the baby arrived would be nice.
"I don't mind" Will shrugged, "flying might be easier with Sophie because it's quicker, but we could take more stuff in the car. I suppose we could always make it part of the vacation, take a couple of days to get down there and a couple of days to get back up, break things up a bit for her."
"Driving might be better, I mean we can take her high chair and if we want to go anywhere when we're there we wont have to worry about hiring a car and car seat."
"Sound's good" Will smiled, happy to see Emma happy, "I'll call my dad then start looking at routes, see if there's anything worth stopping to see on the drive down. My dad used to do it in 2 days but it was literally get up, get in the car, spend all day in the car, get out of car, sleep at a motel, get up, get in the car etc."
"Oh" Emma frowned, "I don't think Sophie would like that."
"I don't think I'd like it" Will laughed, "but we'll sort something, "maybe four days to get there, four days to get back, I don't know. I'll think about it later."
Emma nodded, "so where are you taking me on my date?"
"I'm afraid that's a secret" Will told her as she snuggled back into his side.
Thirty seven times Emma asked Will where they were going on their date, and thirty seven times she was told it was a secret. At 6pm on Saturday evening Will left his bedroom freshly showered in jeans and an old t-shirt.
"Where are you going?" Emma asked, standing from the sofa with Sophie on her hip as she saw him come downstairs.
"Well" Will smiled, "I've got a hot date later so I need to go and get ready for that" he leant over and kissed Sophie's forehead, "night baby, I'll see you tomorrow." He moved and kissed Emma's cheek, "and I'll see you at 7.30."
"Erm, bye" Emma sounded confused, waiting until Will was almost at the door before calling him back.
"Yeah?" he turned to face her, a smile on his face.
"What, where are we going?"
"It's a secret" he tapped the side of his nose.
"What should I wear?"
"Anything, you look brilliant whatever you wear. Make sure you've got comfortable shoes on though." He stepped forward and kissed her again, "now go get ready, Brittany and Santana will be here at 7." He smilled and kissed Emma again before leaving the house.
There was a knock on the door at 7.29 and Emma frowned as she moved to answer it. "Will" she laughed laughed as she found her husband stood on the doorstep in dark jeans and a white dress shirt, "what are you doing?"
"I got you these" he grinned goofily, pulling a bunch of flowers from behind his back.
"Oh Will" Emma sighed, "they're beautiful."
"Like you. Are you ready to go?"
"Sure" Emma nodded, "just let me grab my bag."
"Have her home by midnight" Santana yelled jokingly as Emma left the house, "and don't do anything we wouldn't do."
"Ignore Santana" Brittany told the adults, "just have fun."
"So where are we going?" Emma asked yet again as Will opened the car door for her.
"You've lasted since yesterday, I'm sure you can wait just fifteen minutes more." Will smiled, bending to kiss Emma's cheek and closing the car door. They drove for exactly 12 minutes before Will turned off the road, he continued to drive down what seemed to be a dirt track through a wooded area for three minutes and 24 seconds before he came to a stop in a clearing. "We're here" he turned to grin at Emma.
"Where's here?" Emma was just as puzzled as when they'd left their house.
"Just here" Will grinned, "you'll see soon, now I just need to get something from the trunk and then we have to walk for about five minutes to get to where we need to be. is that okay?"
Emma nodded, "I guess so."
Will lifted a large picnic basket from the trunk before helping Emma from the car. He locked the doors before slipping the keys into his pocket and slinging his free arm around Emma's waist, "come on then darling" he smiled, kissing her hair before leading her through the trees.
"Oh Will" Emma covered her mouth with her hands as they finally came to the end of the trees, "it's so beautiful." They were stood at the top of a hill that lead down to a river, There was nothing but the sound of the river and the odd tweeting of a bird, "I can't, Will, it's beautiful" she repeated as he lead her to the picnic blanket he'd laid out earlier, the blanket that was surrounded by candles in lanterns. It was honestly one of the most romantic sights Emma had ever seen. "How did you find this place?"
"I found it a while ago, I'd had a bad day and I needed to get away from Terri so I went for a run, I wasn't really concentrating on where I was going and I ended up on the track down there" he pointed to the river. "I came up here to see what the view was like and saw the path through the trees so I followed it. I guess it's kind of become the place I come to when I need to clear my head."
"It's a beautiful place Will."
He nodded, "it's even better in the day time, it's so peaceful, I thought we could bring Sophie here one day, the stream's really shallow and calm so she could paddle and splash as much as she liked."
"That would be nice." Emma smiled as Will opened the picnic basket, "thank you for sharing it with me."
"I promised you I'd share everything with you, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to show you this."
Emma smiled, "it's okay, I don't mind you having your own place to escape to."
"I love you" will smiled as they laid on the blanket once all the food has been eaten, "sometimes I find myself staring at you because I can't believe how beautiful you are."
"Will" Emma was glad it was dark so he couldn't see her blush.
"It's true. Some mornings I wake up alone in our bed, and although I know you're probably in the bathroom or downstairs with Sophie, part of me thinks that I've woken up from an amazing dream. I feel so lucky to have you." He spoke honestly as Emma laid against his side.
"I feel lucky to have you too." Emma told him as he began to trace patterns on her back, "you're the only person that's ever accepted me just how I am." Emma shivered slightly and Will reached out and wrapped the blanket around them. "Thanks" Emma whispered, "for everything. I can't. I can't imagine what I'd be like if I'd not met you, You never forced me to change, I know you'd have still been with me even if I still had to sanitize my hands every 10 minutes and couldn't live with anything out of place. You gave me Sophie" Emma felt tears begin to spill from her eyes. "You gave me everything I ever wanted Will, no questions asked, you just did it, Carl wanted to change me and Ken just didn't care but you, you never forced me to change but you were completely accepting when I changed myself."
"Oh darling." Will ran his fingers through Emma's hair, "all I want is for you to be happy."
"I am Will, I am. Even with all this" she gestured in the air with her hand, "baby stuff" I know that we'll be okay, I know that we'll work together, we'll, I don't know what we'll do but I know that as long as we're together we'll be okay."
"And we're always going to be together so we'll always be okay." Will said simply. Emma yawned in response and Will smiled before kissing her softly and glancing at her watch, "it's almost 11 Em, we should get home."
"Wow" Emma gasped as she sat up, "I didn't realise it was that late."
"Come on." Will helped her to her feet, smiling as she stumbled tiredly into him. He blew out the candles and placed the lanterns in the basket before folding up the blanket and placing that in the basket too. "Here" he passed the basket to Emma, "carry this."
"What happened to you being the chivalrous gentleman?" Emma raised one eyebrow and Will simply laughed and shook his head before scooping her into his arms and beginning to walk back towards the car. By the time he got back to the car Emma was already nodding off.
"You need to get in the car Em" he said softly and she nodded, passing him the picnic basket before climbing into the passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt and closing her eyes. Will sighed as he put the basket into the trunk, he remembered this all to well from when Emma was pregnant with Sophie, she was exhausted for the first couple of months, they'd get home from work and she'd fall asleep on the sofa, only to head straight to bed after eating dinner.
The drive home was silent except for Emma's gentle snores and he lifted her easily into his arms once they were home. He smiled as he walked into the house to find Brittany curled into Santana on the sofa, a pillow clutched to her chest as both girls slept soundly. An old horror movie played on the tv with the sound down low and Will could only assume that the movie had scared Brittany and she'd hid behind the pillow whilst seeking comfort from Santana.
He didn't wake the girls until he'd laid Emma in bed, he'd decided to let her sleep whilst he drove the girls home and wake her to shower once he returned. He checked on Sophie before heading back downstairs, "Brittany, Santana" Will shook their shoulders gently, "it's time to go home."
"Dad" Brittany whined, "just five more minutes please, don't let Lord Tubbington eat the cereal, he's back on atkins."
Will frowned and was glad he seemed to have woken Santana, "we're back" he told her, "do you need a ride home or do you have a car?"
Santana shook her head, "we walked over, I'm staying at Britt's tonight, her parents don't like her driving after dark, her dad will fetch us." She yawned and stretched, "wake up Britt." she nudged the blonde who'd somehow snuggled closer to her, "Britt you need to get up now."
"San, we can get our lady kisses on later."
Will laughed as Santana blushed, "come on hermosa, we're going home."
"San" Brittany rubbed at her eyes as she sat up, "what's happening?"
"Mr and Mrs Schue are home, you need to call your dad to fetch us."
"I'll take you home." It was only then Brittany noticed Will stood by the sofa.
"Did you have a good date night Mr Schue?" She asked.
"We did, thank you for looking after Sophie." He pulled his wallet from his jeans and passed them a wad of money, "here."
"Don't be stupid Mr S" Santana refused to take the money, "we don't mind watching Sophie, you don't need to to pay us."
"At least let me pay for the pizza." Will gestured to the empty box on the coffee table, "come on, twenty dollars? Please take something. If we'd have got a baby sitter from somewhere else we'd have had to pay, we shouldn't expect you to do it for free."
"You didn't expect us to do it for free, you obviously expected to pay us but we want to do it for free so put the money away." Santana said sternly.
"I just want to go home. I'm really tired." Brittany pouted, "I need to call my dad."
"I'll take you home" he said again, "It seems silly to get your father up to fetch you when I can have you home before he gets here."
"Okay" Brittany nodded, "but I need to let him know we're coming home."
Will returned from taking Santana and Brittany home to find Emma fast asleep in the middle of the bed with Sophie snuggled into her chest, the front of her top was pulled down and Will assumed that both Sophie and Emma had fallen asleep during a feed, "Em" he kissed her cheek, "Emma, do you want to get a shower?" He knew she wasn't as obsessive about showering as she used to be but she still preferred to shower before she got into bed.
"M'tired Will" she mumbled.
"Okay darling" he kissed her forehead, "you at least need to get changed, come on."
Emma slipped her arms around Will's neck and allowed him to pull her to a standing position, "can you do it?"
Will laughed, he loved how innocent sleepy Emma was, "you want me to change you?" Emma nodded, "Okay" he laughed, "arms up." Emma sighed reluctantly and took her arms from Will's neck, holding them in the air so he could slide her top over her head. He then took off her bra, replacing it with one of the bras she'd told him were specifically for sleeping in. Will remembered giving Emma a 'sleep bra' instead of a normal maternity bra one day when she was pregnant, it was a mistake he'd only made once. "Here" he spoke softly as he helped her into one of his t-shirts before removing her skirt and panties, "shorts or trousers?" he asked.
"Shorts." Emma decided quickly, "the red ones."
Will nodded and helped Emma into the little red shorts, "okay" he laid her on the bed and pulled the covers over her, noticing that she was almost back to sleep, "are we leaving Sophie here or do you want me to put her back in her room."
"She was hungry Will" Emma mumbled sleepily, "and I was so tired."
Will smiled as he changed into a clean pair of boxer shorts to sleep in, "it's okay Emma, do you want her to sleep with us?" he asked again.
"I want to snuggle with you." Will nodded and said nothing as he lifted the sleeping infant from the bed and carefully carried her from the room.
"Night Em" Will smiled as he climbed into bed a few minutes later and turned out the light, "I love you."
Emma moved to lie against her husband, "I love you too." she was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Will?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad, I'm glad that my babies are your babies."
Will smiled into the darkness, "I'm glad your babies are my babies too."