I'm back! I promise I'm finishing this I've just been busy! I don't own glee just the plot and original characters!


December:

Rachel folded last blanket from the laundry and placed it in the bassinet beside her bed. The bassinet had been stored in the basement for years, waiting for a time when they would be able to use it. She let her finger tips drag across the delicate white fabric that lined the bed, imagining a baby sleeping in it like she had so many times before. This is the closest its ever been to becoming a reality.

They had spent the majority of the last week decorating the house for Christmas. Rachel and Finn both tried to distract themselves as much as possible. They've learned by now that the foster care system isn't a reliable place, and that this baby wasn't a guarantee. All they could do was wait.

The kids were thrilled to decorate the tree and set up the lights outside. They'd been living in a hotel for who knows how long and there were definitely no Christmas decorations involved. Finn blasted Christmas music while they made the house as festive as possible.

Afterwards they drank hot cocoa and set up a fire in the fireplace. It was during those times that things felt the most normal. These times were the ones where they all forgot about how the kids ended up here, that their past wasn't something to haunt them. The kids smiled and laughed without a care in the world.

Ten days had passed since their court date and still no call about the baby. The kids behavior had spiked again after news of their mom not wanting to see them at the court appearance. Once again, the roller coaster of foster care was taking its toll. Zack got in trouble for pushing a kid on the playground last week and had been protesting going to after school tutoring. This morning he had screamed at Rachel for making him stay after today instead of picking him up on time. He told her he hated her and he hated school. He refused to say goodbye at drop off.

Zack and Lainey had also noticed the presence of baby items in the house now. Rachel and Finn still had to meet protocol and Mrs. Kent was stopping by within the next few days to do a house check. As far as the kids new, a baby might need a home and need to stay with them. Nothing further was mentioned. If it all panned out, they would sit the kids down and tell them the truth. They both had decided there was no need to rock the boat further with the information that their mom was indeed pregnant.

Finn was picking up Lainey from preschool today because he had an appointment nearby. Rachel didn't have to leave for another hour to get Zack from tutoring, so she decided to throw a load of laundry in. A snow storm was moving in and she wanted to get a lot done in case they lost power and couldn't wash for a few days. Rachel shuddered at the thought of the kids stuck inside without school for a day or two. They had been testing them so much lately, it would be difficult to keep them busy and happy. She loved them dearly, but also know they thrived off of the structure school provided for them.

A half hour later Rachel heard her cell ringing in the kitchen. Finn's name flashed across the screen so she picked up right away.

"Hi honey, did you get Lainey okay?" She could hear Lainey in the background the second she asked.

"Yes she's with me. I think you should allow yourself extra time to get Zack. I'd head there now but the roads are already bad."

Rachel glanced out the window to see the snow already falling and building up on the ground. "Thanks for the heads up Finn. I'll leave now and we will see you in a bit."

Rachel wasn't too worried. She still had thirty minutes to make a 15 minute drive to school. She'd lived in Ohio her entire life, and snow wasn't foreign to anyone. What she hadn't anticipated was the two accidents on the route to school on top of the snow.

Zack sat on a bench with the handful of other tutoring students next to the front office of the school. He hated that he had tutoring after school. He had screamed at Rachel and said some pretty mean things this morning. He knows he should have said he was sorry, but he was stubborn and left the car this morning without saying goodbye.

Zack let his feet dangle below him, hitting the backpack that was set between his legs on the floor. He heard the front door to the school open and hoped it was Rachel. He just wanted to go home.

He saw a older man with red hair walk in, and a girl seated next to him on a bench got up and ran to him. They hugged for a minute and then held hands as they walked out the door. Zack wondered what his dad was like. He'd never met him before. Was he tall like Finn? or shorter like the P.E. teacher Mr. Marshall? Did he look like his dad? His mom always told him that his dad wasn't a nice man and that's why he wasn't around. Maybe she lied.

The two boys that were left got picked up by the same woman, which left Zack sitting with the secretary of the school in a quiet lobby. Rachel had told him she would be here to pick him up. She knows he had tutoring and she needed to get him at 4. He remembers her saying that this morning when he was yelling.

"Sweetie," the secretary said to him, "who was supposed to pick you up today? Do you think there was a mix up?"

Zack hesitated for a minute, reliving the moments from this morning over in his head. "Um, my mom. I mean my foster mom. Rachel Hudson. She's coming to get me. Can you call her?"

"Sure hon, I'm sure she's on her way though. Maybe its the snow making her late."


Zack sat back down on the bench as he waited for the phone call to be made. He put on his hat and gloves, to be sure he'd be ready to go. He knows Rachel wants him to always be warm. She always makes him put a hat and gloves on before he leaves the house.

"She's not answering. Do you want me to call your dad?" she asked.

"Yeah. Finn. His name is Finn." He watched her pick up the phone again to dial the new number. Someone picked up because he heard her talking.

"Well he said she's definitely on her way but the roads are bad so she probably got stuck in traffic."

Zack grew worried upon hearing those words. What if she got in an accident? She's not answering her phone and she always answers no matter what. He felt his heart begin to race as he continued to stare at the front door of the school. Fear soon took over and he began to softly cry. He was so mean to her this morning and what if she's hurt and mad at him? What if she told Mrs. Kent they didn't want him anymore?

"Honey don't cry," the secretary said, "I'm sure she'll be here soon." She came over and sat next to him on the bench. She wrapped an arm around him, but he moved away.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Zack staring at the ground in front of him. "What happens if she never comes?" he asked.

"Well let's give her a few more minutes and then I'll call your dad back to see if he can come before the weather gets worse ok?"

Zack nodded as he adjusted his hat on his head. "Are you going to call the police? To look for her? Will they have to take me away?"

The secretary was confused. "No, they won't take you away. Your dad can come and get you. And I don't think we need to call them just yet ok?"

Just then the door to the school flew open and Rachel came running through the door.

"MOM!" he shouted as he ran to her.

Rachel saw the sadness on his face as he shouted to her. He had called her mom. She rushed towards him trying to keep her composure. "Zack why are you crying? Is everything okay? I'm so sorry I'm late!" She bent down to his level and hugged him tightly.

"I thought you weren't going to come," he said as he sniffled. "Or that you were hurt. You didn't answer your phone."

Rachel's stomach sank as she realized her phone had been on silent in her purse the entire ride.

"I'm here now. There were accidents and people were driving slow because of the snow. I see you have your hat and gloves on, so let's grab your back pack and go." Rachel turned to the secretary. "I apologize for taking so long to get here. Do I need to sign him out?"

"Don't worry Mrs. Hudson. Things happen. Just glad you made it. Drive home safely and there's no need to sign him out." The secretary retreated back behind her desk.

Rachel picked up Zack's backpack and threw it over her shoulder and grabbed his hand as they headed out the door. "Hold on tight, its getting slippery."


Once in the car, they began their slow ride home. "You okay back there?" she asked. Zack hadn't spoken a word since they began to drive.

"I didn't mean to call you mom before," Zack blurted out, breaking the silence between them.

She felt like she had been slapped. "Okay." Rachel replied trying to hide her emotions. She didn't want to bring it up or push him about it. She had learned that he talks when he's ready. The problem is she isn't ready for what he has to say.

"It just slipped out I guess. I know Lainey calls you mom and Finn dad but I don't want to. You can't make me" He glanced at Rachel's eyes in the rear view mirror.

Rachel knew he was testing her, seeing if she was upset. "You know, if you want to call me mom you can. It doesn't mean you love your mom any less. I have two dads and call them both dad and I love them both the same." She paused to see if he would answer. "But if you just want to call me Rachel that's cool too. I'll love you no matter what you call me. Finn will too."

Zack looked out the window and didn't reply. He remained silent the remainder of the drive.

Once home Zack stormed off upstairs, throwing his backpack by the front door before running off. Rachel shuffled inside behind him, leaving her wet boots on the mat.

"Mommy!" Lainey screamed as she ran to Rachel. "Mommy you took so long coming home!"

Finn poked his head out of the kitchen to make sure everything was okay. "You okay? Where's Zack?"

Rachel hugged Lainey and walked toward the kitchen to give Finn a kiss. "He's upstairs. He was pretty upset when I showed up. Long story."

"Well lucky for you we are going to be snowed in. I've got time." Finn sent Lainey up to her room to play for a while so they could talk and get dinner ready.

Rachel sat at the table, leaned back, and sighed. "He called me mom when I got to school. Apparently he thought I wasn't coming or something bad had happened to me. When I showed up he was panicked."

Finn sat down besides her, scooting his chair closer. "So when he called you mom what happened? Did he freak out?"

Rachel brought her hands up to her temples, slowly massaging the sides of her head. "Well no, not at first. He was so thankful to see me that he didn't realize it right away. Then on the way home he told me he didn't mean it." Rachel felt herself tearing up and tried to fight it. "He feels guilty. No matter how horrible his mother was to them, he still loves her. It scares him to think that he might love me too."

Finn stared back at Rachel in awe of how she was handling this. She was upset and stressed, but she was okay and only thinking of Zack's feelings.

A loud bang followed by Lainey's screams alerted the two to run upstairs.

"Zack stop it! I'm not leaving!" she cried as Rachel and Finn saw Zack dragging her by the arm across the hallway.

"Hey! Let her go Zack!" Finn shouted grabbing Zack's arm to free Lainey.

Lainey ran into Rachel's arms still screaming. "Zack said we have to leave but I'm not going!" She rubbed her eyes to clear them from her tears.

Zack ran back into his room, trying to slam the door but Finn intervened. "Go away!" he screamed in Finn's face. "You never leave me alone! I'm gong to find my mom and I'm never coming back!" Zack opened his closet doors and rummaged through the contents on the floor before coming out with a bag.

"Lainey why don't you go watch TV in my room while we talk to Zack ok?" Rachel placed her on the ground and turned her out the door. Lainey scurried across the hall, slamming her parents bedroom door behind her.

"Zack, you know you can't leave. What's going on?" Finn moved towards Zack who continued to throw the contents of his dresser in his bag. He reached out and touched Zack's shoulder which made him jump.

"Don't touch me! Just leave me alone! Call Mrs. Kent and tell her I want to leave. I know you want to! I hate you. Both of you." Zack stared back at them to see what their reaction would be. His nostrils flared as he tried to catch his breath. He was trying to make them upset, to make them hurt.

"Zack, we know you don't hate us. Tell us why you're upset. I know you don't want to leave Lainey either. Let's just sit down and talk it out." Rachel sat on the bed next to where Zack was standing, his body tensing up at her presence.

"STOP RACH-EL" he shouted, emphasizing the syllables in her name. "Why do you have to be better than her? And nicer? Why! Just stop being so NICE!"

Finn stood in the doorway to prevent Zack from running out. Rachel sat next to Zack silent, unsure of what to answer. "Zack I-"

Zack took a deep breathe before he continued. "You make me want to hate her and I don't want to. I don't want to hate my mom. Sometimes she was nice ok? She would watch movies with us and give us ice cream. You only know the bad stuff." He started pacing the room, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Sweetie no one said you have to hate your mom." Rachel patted the bed next to her for Zack to sit but he refused.

"I didn't know she was a bad mom," he said as the tears started to fall, his pacing coming to a halt. "I thought everyone's mom was like mine. I didn't know moms hug you all the time and make sure you put your jacket on to stay warm. I didn't know moms always made sure you had food to eat and didn't leave you alone by yourself." He looked over at Rachel who sat calmly, waiting for him to finish. "I'm just so mad!"

Zack screamed at the top of his lungs until he no longer had any air to release. Rachel reached out to grab him and this time he didn't resist. She pulled him into her lap as he sobbed. "I'm sorry I'm bad. Is that why my mom doesn't want me?" he cried.

Rachel rubbed his forehead as he lay in her lap. "You're not bad honey. I don't really know why your mom isn't around. I wish I knew but I don't. Sometimes moms and dads can't take care of their kids anymore so they go live with someone else. " Rachel looked across the room to Finn for guidance, but he shrugged his shoulders unsure of what to do.

"I didn't mean it when I said I hated you. I don't hate you. I just feel bad because you would never do the stuff my mom used to do but I love her. You keep me safe and she didn't. You would never do those things" He nuzzled further into Rachel's lap like he wanted to disappear. She rubbed circles on his back, noticing his body starting to relax.

"Hey buddy," Finn started as he bent down in front of Zack's face, "its okay to love anyone you want ok? You can still love your mom and be mad at her. Sometimes people don't make the best decisions. That's not your fault. We love you even if you make a bad choice or you're mad at us." Finn sat on the bed next to them, lifting Zack's feet onto his lap. "You have to tell us when you're feeling like this. You can't keep it all bottled up inside."

Zack closed his eyes tighter, not wanting to look at their faces.

"Zack," Rachel said softly, "You have to talk to us. Don't be afraid. You can't just scream at us when you're mad. We want to help you. We can't help you if you don't let us."

Zack stayed silent for a few minutes. Finn and Rachel waited patiently, knowing he usually starts talking if you give him some time.

"Do you think I'll ever see my mom again? Like ever? Can I write her a letter?" Zack rubbed his wet eyes as he turned on his back.

"We can certainly ask Mrs. Kent. She'll let us know if that's allowed. Sound good?" Rachel rubbed his hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah that sounds good."


The storm causes the power to go out around midnight. Rachel and Finn had no idea until around 3 am. Rachel heard Lainey's light footsteps on the hardwood floor before she started to speak.

"Mommy" Lainey said as she shook Rachel's arm. "Mommy I'm cold."

Rachel opened her eyes to reveal Lainey's shadowy figure standing next to the bed. She's holding her pillow and extra blanket waiting for Rachel's reply. Rachel sees her alarm clock blinking and realized the power is out.

"Climb on in honey. Put your pillow in between Finn and I ok?"

Lainey climbed up onto the king sized bed, placing her pillow next to Rachel's. Finn opened his eyes slightly, seeing Lainey jump in.

"Mommy is Daddy going to squish me if I sleep here?"

Rachel giggled softly. "No he won't."

Finn, half asleep, scooted his body over to accommodate Lainey. This wasn't an uncommon thing, and he thanked god for their king size bed when this happened.

Lainey snuggled up closer to Rachel, placing her feet on Rachel's sweat pant covered legs.

"Lainey do you have socks on? Your feet are freezing!"

"No," she whispered. "I forgot."

Rachel climbed out of bed, the cold air zipping through her clothing. She headed to Zack's room before grabbing Lainey some socks. Zack was bundled up, every inch of his body covered with his comforter except for the top of his head. He seemed warm so she left him alone. His exhaustion from the previous day should keep him asleep for a while.

She returned to the room with socks in hand, Lainey already back asleep. She placed the socks on her feet and covered her back up. Rachel slid back under the covers, curling her body up into a ball to try to warm back up.

"Rachel" she heard from the dark doorway. Zack walked over to her side of the bed. "I'm freezing."

"Want to climb in? Your sisters already asleep next to Finn. You can sleep next to me on the edge so she won't kick you if you'd like," she whispered as moved her body closer to Lainey. Zack didn't reply, just slid into the bed next to her. She smiled as he grabbed her hand as he fell asleep.

The power was restored by morning, which meant that the kids were up early and ready for a day in the snow. They had eaten breakfast and were fully dressed in their snow gear by 8 am. Finn volunteered to take them out first, knowing it was very cold and they wouldn't last long. Rachel remained inside finishing up the last remaining preparations for the baby. They had planned to go to Lima this weekend for her birthday on Saturday if they hadn't heard anything by today.

She looked out the back window towards the deck where Finn and Zack were building a snow ramp to sled down. Lainey was off to the side trying her hardest to build a small snowman. She grabbed her phone and took a quick video, none of them aware of what was going on. Rachel loved how pure these moments were. How it was such a normal thing for most families, but something so special for them.

The roads are clear by noon so Rachel asks the kids if they'd like to go to the mall and visit Santa Claus. They both look back at her with blank stares.

"Santa isn't real Rachel," Zack says. "My mom told us that's why we never got any presents for Christmas."

Once again they are both shocked at this news, even though they shouldn't be surprised.

"What about you Lainey?" Finn asks. "Do you believe in Santa?"

Lainey shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

Finn is crushed because he loves Christmas and had always wanted to share his love of the holiday with his family, Santa included.

"Well Santa will bring gifts to those who believe. If not, I'm sure Rachel and I have some special gifts for two special kids coming Christmas day too..." Finn winked at Rachel who smiled in return.

Both kids smiled back, beaming from ear to ear. "Really?" Zack asked.

"I'm pretty sure you two have been very good this year. We might have a thing or two for you. Would you like to see Santa anyways? You never know how it will be. You don't have to sit on his lap or anything if you don't want to okay? It's just something fun to do. Finn would still sit on Santa's lap if he could fit." Rachel smirked back at him.

Lainey exploded with laughter. "Daddy! You are too big to sit on Santa's lap! And he only brings presents to kids!"

"Not true. Santa puts special presents in my stocking every single year. I believe in the magic so he still delivers!" Finn looked at Zack to see if he was buying any of this. Zack just raised his eyebrows in question.

"Okay we can go. We've never been so it might be fun." Zack ran upstairs quickly followed by Lainey to change.

"So what are we getting them for Christmas? We've been so distracted that we're behind. I've grabbed a few things but nothing big. I was thinking Bikes?" Rachel whispered making sure the kids couldn't hear her.

"Perfect. I guess we can see what they ask Santa for too. This will be their first real Christmas if you think about it. I don't know what they've done in years past, but based on their mom's history it probably wasn't much. I don't want it to be over the top though."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Who are you kidding Finn! You're the king of over the top at Christmas. Do you remember the gingerbread house contest at the office last year? You spent six hours decorating yours!"

"Okay okay. I kind of do want Christmas to blow their socks off. I guess the basics will probably take care of that anyways."


The mall is crowded since school was cancelled for the snow and since the roads were clear everyone had the same idea. The line to see Santa was long, so Rachel volunteered to stand in line while Finn walked them around. 45 minutes later they returned and Rachel was almost at the front.

"We went to the pet store!" Lainey shouted as she jumped up and down in front of Rachel. "Daddy let me hold a puppy and he was SO CUTE! "

Rachel looked up and eyed Finn. "He did? Well that was nice of him!" She hoped this wasn't a way of telling her that he wanted a dog. They had enough going on. Plus, Rachel wasn't a huge animal lover.

"Yeah," Zack smiled, "it was a small white fluffy dog. You would love him."

"Well I think we are busy enough right now. Maybe we can get a dog another time." Both kids pouted at Rachel's response.

The line moved up and the kids began to stand on the tip toes to see if they could catch a glance of Santa.

"Daddy can you hold me up so I can see?" Lainey held her hands up in the air towards Finn as he picked her up. "He looks nice!"

Zack leaned against Rachel as he continued to wait. Rachel rubbed his arm and smiled at Lainey as she stared at Santa in awe.

"You don't have to sit on Santa's lap or talk to him if you don't want to. Your sister will though so just think about it. We only have a few more kids in front of us." Rachel knew Zack probably didn't believe. He had a lot of his childhood taken from him and she wasn't sure if he was buying any of this.

"I don't really see the point. Santa never came to our house before so it's not worth it." He hung his head in shame, knowing full well his mom was the one who couldn't pull Christmas off.

"I'm sorry Zack. You're right its no fun seeing Santa if he's not coming, but I know Santa visits our house every year so you might want to give it a shot." She winked at him when he looked up at her. He giggled in return.

When it was their turn, Zack walked right up to Santa and plopped down on his lap. Lainey was a little hesitant, clinging to Finn's arm a little bit before letting go. She climbed up on Santa's lap, forcing Zack to scoot over. Finn and Rachel backed up, snapping a picture before moving to the side.

Santa asked their names and they quietly replied. He asked if they had been good. Lainey answered 'yes' while Zack replied 'sort of'. Santa told them to try hard to be extra good for their mom and dad. At that comment they both looked up at Finn and Rachel and smiled. Then the big question came: What did they want for Christmas.

Lainey started chatting away first. "Well I would like an American Girl doll that looks like me, and a pink lollipop that is as big as my face."

Zack began to speak quietly. "I don't know what I really want. Could I maybe see my mom? It's like a wish not a present." Santa glanced up at Rachel. "No not that mom, my other mom. She's just my foster mom." Ouch. Rachel tried not to react upon hearing his words, knowing his little heart still ached for his mom.

"Well I'll see what I can do young man. Now you two have a Merry Christmas okay?" The kids said goodbye and skipped off, Zack less enthusiastic than Lainey. At least no one had cried, Rachel thought to herself.


Later that night, Zack and Lainey had gone up to Zack's room after dinner to work on a special project. Rachel figured it was for her birthday, and Finn kept popping in and out of the room to check on them. She wasn't allowed in.

Every time she walked down the hall she would hear a collective "SHHHHH" from behind the door that made her laugh.

Finn sat on the floor in between the two children, crayons and markers scattered the floor. The kids had wanted to make Rachel birthday cards to give her on Saturday, along with the gifts they had picked out. He'd also let them pick out some gifts at the mall while they walked around. They ran them out to the car before they met Rachel back in line for Santa. He was shocked neither of them had told her yet.

"I hope mommy likes my card AND my hat I picked out for her. She loves pink like me so I know she'll like it." Lainey carefully colored in the flowers she had drawn on the front of the card. She had picked out a hot pink beanie for Rachel and Finn loved that she chose it herself.

"I'm sure she will Lainey. How's your card coming along Zack? We have to finish up before bed so I can hide it with her gifts."

Zack glanced down at his card. It simply read "Happy Birthday Rachel" on the front in green crayon. "Yeah, I just don't know what to write inside."

"You'll think of something. Now hurry up and finish before Rachel gets suspicious." Finn laughed softly and the kids smiled.

Zack had picked out a thin gold bracelet with a tiny heart dangling from it. Finn had been surprised that he had picked out something so thoughtful. He watched as Zack wrote "love Zack" on the inside of the card before he handed it over.

"That's all you want to say?" Finn asked. Zack nodded and started to clean up the mess on the floor.

With the kids in bed, Rachel began to finish packing her bag for the weekend. The kids were packed and Finn always packs at the last minute, so she figured she could get hers out of the way before Finn would need her help.

Sure enough ten minutes later Finn shuffles into the bedroom and greets her with a loud yawn. "Both kids are out and covered," he said as he stretched his arms above his head. "I'll pack in the morning before we leave. I can't believe you're letting the kids skip school the day after a snow day."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "They love it down in Lima, and it might be the last chance we have for a while. If this baby actually ends up panning out, we'll be trapped in the house until Winter is over. I am not traveling down there with two kids and a newborn for Christmas."

Finn walked over to her, rubbing her back as she finished up. "That's true. They do love seeing everyone. I just can't imagine having a newborn in the house after having Zack and Lainey. We're finally used to them and their quirks, but we didn't have them as babies. Babies are...hard."

Rachel zipped up her bag as she laughed. "Zack ran down the street and we had to catch him the first day he was here. At least we can guarantee the baby won't run away."

Finn sat on the bed, thinking about how much their life had changed. Last year on Rachel's birthday they were gearing up for another round of fertility treatments. This year they have two kids and possibly another on the way. They'd gone from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. He never regretted any of it. It had been the hardest six months of his life, but also the most rewarding.


Rachel hadn't slept well. She had tossed and turned most of the night, thinking about the baby. She'd almost wished they'd never known about it until the baby had arrived. There was too much time to worry and wait. What if Julie changed her mind? What if she changed her mind about everything? Plus her birthday trip this weekend, and then add in Christmas...she was feeling overwhelmed.

With no signs of life in the house, she decided to shower and get a head start. Once the kids were up she knew they'd want to leave for Lima immediately. She figured there was some sort of little party in the works for her birthday tomorrow since Lainey had asked her at least ten times what her favorite kind of cake was yesterday.

She took her time in the shower, letting the hot water soak into her skin. The excitement of this weekend home and Christmas approaching has her mind racing. The kids will have so many firsts over the next few weeks. She imagined the two of them running down the stairs Christmas morning and was giddy. So imagined that this is how Finn feels all of the time about Christmas.

She turned the shower off and put on her robe before emerging back into the bedroom. Finn is still asleep, his arm thrown over his face and a light snore coming from his mouth. It was barely 7 am. The loud ringing from her cell phone broke the silence in the room causing her to jump and Finn to shoot straight up in bed.

Rachel grabbed the phone and scrambled to hit the answer button. "Hello?" she said softly trying not to wake the kids.

"Hello Rachel, this is Mrs. Kent calling. Just wanted to let you know that Julie Miller went into labor last night at 2 am. The baby should be here today!"

Rachel began to shake and sat down on Finn's side the bed. Finn tried to orient himself and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Oh my gosh! Wow! So what do we do now? Just wait for another call? How does this work?" Rachel tried to keep her hands from shaking and needed both of them to hold her phone up to her ear.

"Well actually, Ms. Miller has requested that you and your husband come to the hospital if you'd like. She's handing the baby over immediately. This could change, but if you'd like to you're welcome to come up here."

Finn's eyes grew wide as he heard Mrs. Kent's words through the phone. He jumped up to grab his phone to start calling someone to watch the kids.

"Of course we will come! Let us get a sitter for the kids and we will be right up." Rachel hung up and threw herself into Finn's arms, knocking his cell phone out of his hand.

Finn hugged her tightly, her wet hair soaking his shirt. "Rachel, today's the day. I guess you're getting a baby for your birthday instead of the pink cake Lainey had planned."

Her birthday. The trip to Lima would have to be postponed. "The kids are going to be so upset. Let's call my dad's and get them to drive up right now and stay with the kids. We can drop them off at school and head out. I don't want to miss it!"

From this point on things were hectic. Finn jumped in the shower while Rachel coordinated her dads driving up to watch the kids. Then she called Carole to cancel the weekend and arrange for them to drive up tomorrow instead. Lainey and Zack both threw fits when they found out the trip had been cancelled. They didn't want to tell the kids why, so they just said that Burt wasn't feeling well and the party could be moved to their own house instead.

"Burt would want to see us even if he's sick!" Zack yelled. "It's not fair!"

Finn knew this wasn't going to go well. "Zack, things happen. You can be mad, but we aren't going. Now go get your backpack and get in the car."

They both were in bad moods when Finn gathered them up to get in the car for school. Finn dropped the kids at school which also wasn't a great experience but he successfully got them off and when he returned Rachel was ready to go. He honked his horn to let Rachel know he was back.

She stood at the door with the car seat in her hand and a diaper bag in the other. It was a moment she had envisioned so many times, but never actually thought it would come true. She always imagined her going into labor and Finn being scattered as they got ready to leave the house. This of course, is different, but the end result will hopefully be the same.

Finn helped her clip the carseat into the car and they both settled into their respective seats.

"You ready to go get our third child?" he asked as he laughed.

"More than anything."


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