Chapter 15

March – Junior Year – Age 17

Charlotte's first birthday!

Charlotte's first birthday turned out quite well. They had the party at the house, naturally. Carol cooked a whole bunch of food. Charlotte was pretty excited or so it seemed. Finn got her a balloon that kept her fascinated for quite a while. Kurt decorated their house with pink and zebra (which Kurt would later explain would be called chevron). Nearly everyone who had come to Charlotte's baptism was invited to the party. Charlotte was toddling around not really having to be on her feet for long if she wished.

Charlotte, on her first birthday, had light skin and light brown hair. Her eyes were brown like her father as well. She was starting to walk and talk and it was a joy to watch her grow up. Finn cried the day she called him 'da-da'. It had been a rollercoaster for the first year but he survived this, he would be able to continue on.

Finn was keeping up with his grades, all A's so far. It took Dave's help to keep him going through both classes. It also helped that the Church dropped his hours to two days a week, so he could spend more time with Charlotte. Burt, Carl, and Kurt all had permission to pick up or drop off Charlotte so she used less of the day care. Carol's late shift allowed her to have the morning with Charlotte before dropping her off for a few hours. Occasionally Burt would do paperwork from home, so he would pick Charlotte up at noon or so and have her for the afternoon.

"So Burt," Finn approached the man during the course of the party. "My mom has decided on Nana for Char to call her. What do you want her to call you?"

"I get a name?" Burt said, surprised.

"Well, my Dad's dead, and you're really her only male grandparent, especially since you're marrying mom. Of course you get a name."

"I never really thought about that before," Burt scratched at his head. "I think I'd like Poppop."

"Alright, Nana and Poppop," Finn said with a smile. "I'll definitely work on that with her." This made both men very happy.

Charlotte was very excited to open her presents. The first one nearly her last because she was so enthralled by the stuffed unicorn that Brittany gave her. This made the blond cheerleader so happy but sad at the same time. "Britt brat, what's wrong?" Artie asked. Brittany lowered herself to sit in Artie's lap. He began to stroke her hair and waited for her to talk.

"I'm really happy Charlotte is around but I'm really sad because I feel like Quinn is so messed up. They are missing out on these time together," Brittany explained softly. "Finn is an amazing Dad, but I feel bad that Charlotte had to grow up without a mom – not because she's dead, but because she chose to give up her daughter."

"You are incredibly insightful," Artie said in amazement. "But I guess you're right. Quinn gave her up for selfish reasons, not because she couldn't care for her. Finn shows us all that it can be done."

"You're really nice," Brittany pointed out. "And you don't yell at me for being dumb."

Finn looked over at Artie and Brittany. He smiled. When he turned to Santana to gauge her reaction about her best friend, he saw that she had a soft smile on her face. This could be an interesting development. Tina had broken up from Artie for Mike this past summer – a talk which Finn gave to Tina about her actions wasn't all that pleasant. Artie needed a bit of companionship, aside from Puck. That whole relationship seemed to come out of the blue. But it worked for them.

Charlotte sat there oblivious to her extended family's relationship developments. She was tearing through paper and Finn was on card duty. Santana offered to write down the list of gifts, so he could write out the appropriate thank you cards. They were sitting rather close together, their legs touching. Once all the gifts and cards were opened, Charlotte sat in the middle and played with everything.

"I think I'm gonna try to get her a swing set this summer," Finn said. "Not that we won't go to the park but it'd be nice to have one in our back yard."

"That'd be nice, especially when she gets to be a bit older," Santana agreed. Finn laid his hand flat out between them, allowing Santana to make the next move. More she did. She laid her hand lightly on his and laced her fingers through his.

"I can't believe my baby is one," Finn mused. "I feel like it was just yesterday I found out she even existed."

"It's been quite a journey," she agreed. "I was worried about you at first."

"Why?"

"Well, Q, once the news got out, told us all she was going to give up the baby," Santana explained. "And every time she said it around you, you looked like she was ripping your heart out."

"She was. From the second she told me that she was pregnant, I was hooked," Finn said. "But as soon as she told me she was giving the baby up, and that I had no choice in the matter, I went to see how I could go get custody. Charlotte was end game for me."

"And look how far you two've come."

"Yeah, we've come pretty darn far."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A while later Carol whisked Charlotte away to put her into a baby poncho. It was time for the cake. Kurt had a half a sheet cake made. Half chocolate, half vanilla. The base icing was white, hot pink piping around the border, chevron pattern around the sugar picture on the cake. The picture was Finn holding a swaddled Charlotte for the first time in the hospital. "Dude, this cake is amazing! Finn said, holding his fist out for Kurt to bump.

"I'm glad you like it," Kurt chuckled. Finn lit the number 1 candle and Burt hit the lights.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Charlotte! Happy Birthday to you!" everyone sang to the little girl. She clapped her hands together. Finn 'helped' blow out the candle. Kurt was already on cake duty. He got a piece sliced out and put it in front of Charlotte on her high chair. In typical one year old fashion, she smashed the cake to bits and shoved it in his mouth. Everyone laughed. Finn made sure to get lots of pictures. He wanted Charlotte to enjoy these moments again when she was older.

Everyone enjoyed their cake. They got pictures with the birthday girl as well. Once she began to nod off the party cleared out when Finn went to put her down for a nap. When he returned, Santana was busy cleaning up the living room. It was half done when he joined up.

"You don't have to help clean up you know," Finn said simply.

"Well, I didn't want it all on you," she reasoned. "Burt, Carol, and Kurt are working on the kitchen. I told them we'd get out here."

Finn acted upon instinct. He strode over to the Latina and planted a kiss right on her lips. Once their lips made contact, Finn froze. He couldn't believe how bold he was acting. No one moved for a second or two, but then Santana began to kiss back. Feeling her movements, Finn continued to kiss her, wrapping one arm around her waist and one pressed lightly to her cheek. She in return put both her hands on his chest. Unbeknownst to the lip locked couple, all three of the kitchen clean-up crew peered out and saw them. Kurt kept them quiet and they went back to their duties. A few moments longer, they broke apart, looking at each other.

"Wow," Finn breathed.

"You got that right," she giggled.

"I don't know what came over me," Finn said. "I saw you helping and had an overwhelming urge to kiss you."

"I'm glad you did," she admitted. "I'm really starting to like you, Hudson."

"Likewise, Lopez."