A Tempo

Chapter Nine: A Promise

And then it ended as quickly as it began.

Okay, so maybe she was being a little dramatic. Or very dramatic. Either way, the gloomy weather was not helping Rachel's mood as she walked back to her apartment after her shift on Saturday night. She looked at the time on her phone. Never mind, Sunday morning. Her week with Finn was officially over.

If only she had just gone with the flow the previous Sunday, then maybe she would have him out of her system by now. But no, after that glorious day on Thursday, she was left only wanting more. And then he just had to make things more wonderful by taking her out on Friday night. She hadn't been to a Broadway show since… well she couldn't really remember. A few months before David died, she supposed. It had been an amazing show too; he'd been able to get tickets through Kurt for this new Baz Lurhmann-esque musical that she'd been dying to see.

It had been absolutely spectacular, albeit a little bittersweet. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling of longing as she watched the performers onstage. It should have been her up there; she was sure she could have out sung the lead in a heartbeat. But when Finn took her hand in his and brushed a light kiss across her knuckle, all thoughts of ambushing the actress in a back alley and bludgeoning the poor girl with her Louis Vuitton dissipated into nothingness and for a moment it was only she and Finn sitting in the theater.

He took her to a very fancy restaurant and they spent hours just talking and laughing about everything important and nothing in particular. Sure, he'd ordered the wrong wine to go with their meal, but she hadn't been catered to like that in a long, long time. And then they'd hurried back to his apartment where he showed her that remaining vertical was just as fun as getting horizontal.

Of course, he totally overlooked the fact that she had worn her fanciest lingerie for him, but he'd fairly gone down on her in the elevator so by the time they had gotten to his eleventh-floor abode, she was beyond caring. They didn't even make it to the bedroom their first go-round. He just hiked her dress up, unzipped his pants and they went at it right there in his front foyer, much to the confusion of Tank and probably to the consternation of any of his neighbors that may have walked by. Needless to say, she'd been walking around pretty stiffly the past few days.

She'd spent way too much time with him in the shower that morning and then said her goodbyes. He'd laughed at her sullen expression, saying it was only for the rest of the day and then he would see her and the boys on Sunday, but he just didn't understand. Now she was walking back to her empty apartment, a light rain steadily hitting her umbrella and soaking her work shoes.

She squished her way slowly up the stairs and propped her umbrella by her door in order to dig her keys out of her purse. She put the key in the lock and panicked slightly when the knob turned easily. She never forgot to lock up behind her. She picked up her umbrella to use as a weapon in case there was an intruder inside and pushed the door open.

At first she thought her apartment was on fire until she realized that someone had lit at least a dozen tea candles and placed them around her living room. She poked her head inside just as Finn stepped out of her kitchen, a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Rach," he laughed. "Are you going to beat me with your umbrella?"

"H-how did you get in?" she stammered, incredibly relieved to see him standing there.

"You gave me an extra key, remember? When I took the boys to the baseball game? I just forgot to give it back." He planted a kiss on her forehead and took her umbrella and purse from her.

"But why?"

He led her to the sofa and began taking her soggy shoes off. "You seemed pretty bummed this morning, so I figured I'd come make sure you're okay."

"What's up with the candles? And what's that smell?"

"Can't a guy do something nice for his…" he paused and shrugged, "well, you know. I just thought since the boys are coming home tomorrow, we wouldn't have as much time for just the two of us, so we should take advantage of the quiet while we could." He stood and pulled her up into his arms. "I made some pancakes if you're hungry. They're not perfectly round or anything, but they should taste pretty good. Or if you're really tired and want to get off your feet, I stole this lavender bath stuff from Kurt."

Before he could say anything else that would just make her love him more, she pulled his face down to hers and silenced him with a kiss. "Thank you," she whispered when they pulled apart.

He buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. "Anything to see you happy, Rach."

"So what were you saying about pancakes?"

"In the kitchen." After brushing his lips across her brow, her let her go and headed to the bathroom. "Help yourself while I let the water run."

"Oh, Finn Hudson," she called after him, "you sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet!" She spotted the pile of asymmetrical pancakes next to her stove and helped herself.

"What's up with your shower handle?" he yelled from the bathroom.

"Don't even get me started. I've asked my super to fix it a million times but he still hasn't been up," she replied as she smeared her pancakes with peanut butter, opting to leave off the bananas since it was late. She had enough to worry about without having weird dreams all night. Finn shuffled in a few minutes later and grabbed the remaining pancakes. He took the seat across from her and smothered them in syrup, hiding a yawn behind his hand when he was through.

"It's very late," Rachel commented. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"No trouble." He smiled crookedly at her. "I'm a nice guy, I like doing nice things."

They laughed quietly and ate the rest of their meal in companionable silence. "Oh, what did you do with Tank?" she asked as she stood to gather their dishes. "He can't like being alone this late."

He stood with her, grabbing the dinnerware from her and taking them to the sink. "I left him with Kurt and Jer for the night."

"Mm," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his back as he rinsed the dishes. She was just thinking that she could stay like that all night when Finn shut off the water and turned in her arms.

"You're not going to hop in the bath?" he asked. "The water's probably nice and hot by now."

"I was hoping you'd join me."

He looked doubtful. "I'd love to Rach, but I doubt I'll fit in your tub."

She stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his mouth. "Where there's a will, there's a way, right?" Without waiting for his reply, she took his hand and led him to the bathroom. She stripped down to her undergarments and pulled her hair up into a messy bun while he readied the bath.

"Here goes nothing," she heard him mutter as he removed his clothing and stepped into the tub. She giggled and ran into the living room while he was getting situated to grab a few tea candles and arranged them around her small vanity. Then, for good measure, she ran to her room and grabbed her old clock radio, setting it to a soft rock station. She turned off the light, finished undressing, and walked over to the bathtub.

"That bubble bath really does smell good," she observed, taking his hand as she stepped carefully between his legs. "Don't let me slip."

"Just don't step on anything I may need later, and we'll be good."

It took a few minutes of squirming around to get comfortable, but it was all worth it in the end as she lay back against Finn's chest, his arms around her. She sighed in contentment and ran her fingers up and down his arm. "This is nice."

He murmured his approval and kissed her temple. She closed her eyes and savored being in his arms. Maybe this thing between them could work. She had promised herself not to expect too much, but didn't his actions over the last few days prove that this was more than just sex? It would be difficult, obviously, to maintain a relationship under the circumstances, but they'd done it before. They'd been the jock and the freak and they'd made it work, and that was high school. They were adults now. Besides, she was the one who had screwed it up the first time.

"What time do the boys get back tomorrow?" he asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"Probably sometime after lunch. Maura said she'd call before she drops them off."

"We should do a welcome back dinner or something with them. They'll probably be tired, but we can order some pizzas and have a nice night in."

"Yeah," she said, uncertainty lacing her voice. "Finn, when the boys get back it probably wouldn't be wise for us to… for you to…"

"I know, Rach. I won't stay over when they're around. We'll keep it PG in front of them."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Well, you know, as long as we can keep it PG-13 behind their backs," he joked. She giggled, relief rushing over her. They were talking, albeit tentatively, about a future. She was starting to feel better and better about their being a them. "What kind of things did you and David do?"

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. This was the first time he had ever asked her anything upfront about David and she wasn't quite sure exactly what he was asking, especially considering the context of their previous conversation.

"With the boys, I mean, not in… you know."

"Oh! Well, you know," she shrugged and sat up, "the usual kind of things. Museums… the park… things we could do when David had some time off. He worked a lot, so it was usually just us and the nanny."

"A nanny?" Finn scoffed incredulously. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly. "You really had a nanny?"

"Yup. A Swedish nanny. With jugs out to here," she laughed, motioning with her hands and Finn chuckled appreciatively.

"Really though, David was a good dad… a good person. He just had expensive tastes. I'm making it now, barely, but I am. And it will be better when school starts." She was mostly speaking to herself now, but the feel of his hands rubbing her back gave her the confidence to continue. "Once school starts and I'm teaching again, things won't be so hectic. I don't have as many debts to pay off this year and I'll be able to put more money away, so hopefully I won't have to work at the restaurant anymore after next summer."

"If you need any help, Rach, you just have to ask me."

"No," she said quickly. "I'm doing this on my own. Not that I don't appreciate the offer."

He pulled her back so that she was reclining against him again and hugged her tightly. "You're tough. If anyone can do this, it's you, Rachel."

Letting her eyes drift closed, she rested her head back against chest. "Thank you, Finn," she murmured as they lapsed into silence again. She must have been dozed off because when she came to, she could hear Finn softly singing along to the radio.

"…sailed on together,
We drifted apart,
And here you are by my side

"So now I come to you, with open arms,
Nothing to hide…"

"I think Journey is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives," she said.

She felt him laugh and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, Journey's an amazing group. Besides, they kind of brought us together, huh?"

"Hm, I suppose they did."

"Are you ready to get out?"

She lifted a hand out of the water. "My fingers are suitably wrinkled."

She levered herself up carefully with Finn's help and reached for her towel. She turned to look down at him when she heard him snicker and he met her eye with a sly grin. No wonder, she'd been waving her bottom in his face for the past minute and he'd always been a little bit of a butt and leg man. She sniffed primly and wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out of the tub.

She hurried to her room, sure he would be right on her heels, dropped her towel and flopped down on the bed. She could hear him shuffling about, blowing out candles in the living room, and she fully expected him to pounce on her once he got to the bedroom, but instead he lay down and pulled her into his arms.

"This isn't exactly what I was expecting," she murmured into his neck.

"You're tired, Rach," he said quietly. "And I'm not a total horn dog."

"Oh really?" she asked, her hand sliding down his abdomen, her hand finding and gripping him firmly in the dark. He hadn't exactly stopped to put on any clothes on his way to the bedroom. "So what's this? A tire iron?"

He shrugged and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I said not a total horn dog, but you better knock it off before I stop being such a nice guy."

She pressed her lips to his and stroked him wantonly. "Maybe I don't want a nice guy right now."

He laughed out loud, but it was strained. "Alright, but you asked for it."

Rachel hummed to herself as she worked quickly over the stove. She and Finn had slept in and he had just jumped in the shower while she made them breakfast. She was slicing some oranges when there was a sharp knock on the door. She glanced at the clock; it was only ten thirty and Maura hadn't called yet, so she assumed it was Mrs. Nedry looking for one of her cats again.

"Mama!" two voices called out when she pulled the door open, and she was nearly thrown back by the force of her sons throwing themselves around her legs.

"Hey guys!" she laughed, leaning down to hug and kiss her sons profusely. She almost cried in her happiness to see them. "You're home early!"

"Yes," Maura said, pushing her way into the apartment. "Benjamin's sisters decided to have it out last night, so we opted to leave early. Have you made any coffee?"

"Um… yeah, I've got some on in the kitchen." She threw a worried glance at the bathroom door; she could still hear the shower running and she hoped that Finn would hear them and not come out until Maura left.

"Really, Rachel," Maura said, a look of distaste on her face, "I cannot believe you're still lazing about in your robe. Were you planning on changing today?"

She was about to reply, but Andrew ran up and began jumping around excitedly. "Look, look Mama! We got you presents!"

"You did?" She gasped in exaggerated delight as he handed her a perfect little conch shell.

"And I found you these," Michael said, placing a few sand dollars in her hand.

"Oh! Thank you, they're beautiful! I'm going to put them right in here on the shelf," she said, placing them next to a picture of David and Michael at the ice rink. "So, did you have fun? Did you behave yourselves?"

"Yup!" Andrew said, before going into a play-by-play of what they did the entire week. She threw periodic glances at the bathroom door, willing Finn to read her thoughts.

"What's up with all the candles?" Michael cut in. "And who's in the bathroom?"

"Um, just a friend."

"Are we interrupting something, Rachel?" Maura asked over her cup of coffee. Seriously, what was she still doing here? Couldn't she stop at Starbucks or something?

She shook her head emphatically and pulled her most innocent expression. "No, not at all. Where's Benjamin?"

"He's down in the car. I told him I would be a few minutes."

"Well, if you have anywhere to be, you're more than welcome to take your coffee with you. I'll just get the cup back from you another time."

Maura squinted at her suspiciously. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I just don't want Benjamin to become impatient."

"I can handle Ben."

Then, her worst fear came to life as she heard the bathroom door click and her mother-in-law raised an eyebrow archly. It was even worse when she turned around; Finn was standing just outside the bathroom door, frozen in place, clad only in a towel. He met her gaze with a panicked one of his own and she could feel the heat in her cheeks. She would have facepalmed herself if Maura wasn't watching her so closely.

"Finn!" Andrew screamed, flinging himself at Finn's legs.

Michael actually looked up at him jovially and smiled. "Hey Finn."

"Uh, hey guys." He clutched frantically at the towel to hold it in place and patted Andrew's head awkwardly.

"Michael, Andrew, how about you guys take your stuff into your room and I'll be in there to help you pack shortly," she suggested. They both groaned, but did as they were told and she shut their door quickly behind them.

"So you're the famous Finn," Maura said, stepping forward. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm Maura Kutner, Rachel's mother-in-law."

Finn laughed nervously and glanced at Rachel, but she couldn't quite meet his eyes at the moment. "It's… um… very nice to meet you." He tightened his grip on the towel and held out his hand to Maura, but she merely looked him up and down. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I left my bag…" He motioned to Rachel's bedroom with his head.

"Of course," Maura said.

"It was very nice to meet you," he said and Rachel almost screamed in humiliation when he turned to go into her room, displaying the red scratch marks down his back to Maura.

"The pleasure was all mine."

They stood in silence for a moment, Maura sipping her coffee and observing Rachel critically. When she was finished, she walked into the kitchen and left the mug in the sink.

"Well, this is very disconcerting," she said when she came back. Rachel didn't respond and just stared at her in consternation. "I really think we should reevaluate our agreement after this little debacle."

"What do you mean, Maura?" Rachel asked, a feeling of dread washing over her.

"I no longer believe that this is a suitable environment for my grandsons to be raised in."

It was all Rachel could do to keep herself from flinging herself at the older woman and scratching her eyes out. And she wasn't even a violent person! "Are you threatening me?"

"Are you denying that this is an appropriate scene for Michael and Andrew to be witnessing?"

"Not at all, but if you had called –"

"I shouldn't need to call ahead of time just for you to shuffle your lovers out the door before I bring your children home," Maura snapped, her normally cool demeanor slipping.

"How dare you?" Rachel hissed as she fought to keep her voice down. "You make it sound as if I have men in here all the time. There is no revolving door to this apartment, I can assure you. And Finn is a good man. He's good to me and the boys."

"Oh, what business is he in? Can he support you? Can he pay their tuition?"

"He's in television. He's a producer for Sam in the City. They'll be taking it national in a few months," she said proudly.

"A menial program," Maura countered.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't approve of the company I keep, Maura, but this is my life and I can see whomever I want whenever I like!"

"I'm just telling you to consider your options," Maura said. She turned and headed to the door. "I'd hate for this to become a legal matter." At that, she opened the door and left.

Rachel stared after her in shock before blindly heading to the kitchen. She began throwing away the breakfast she had been preparing, banging pots and pans furiously in the sink.

"Rachel, Rachel," Finn said, coming up behind her, fully dressed, thank God, and forced her to turn around. "I am so sorry."

He continued talking, but her eyes fell on Michael and Andrew peeping out worriedly from their room. "It's okay, boys," she called, cutting Finn off. "I'll be there to help you unpack in a minute."

Deep down, she knew that she was irrationally blaming Finn; this wasn't his fault, but he was still the last person she wanted to see at the moment. She knew, she just knew, that something like this was going to happen. This was her reality, this was what she had been hoping to avoid.

"Rachel, those were empty threats. I can tell you right now that no judge in his right mind would take those kids away from you. You're crazy about them and –"

"Please leave."

He looked at her dubiously, caught off guard. "Huh?"

"I need you to go now, Finn."

"Um… okay." He ran his hand down his face and looked back to where Michael and Andrew were still staring at them from their bedroom. "I'll go, but can I come back later? Can I call you? I don't want to leave it like this, Rach."

"It doesn't matter," she said hollowly. "I just need to think."

He nodded his head slowly and turned away from her. He walked over to her bedroom and grabbed his duffle bag before heading to the entry. "Please call me, Rachel," he said. "If you need anything –"

She shook her head dismissively. "Thank you, Finn."

He gave her one last pleading glance before walking out, shutting the door gently behind him. She sat down desolately on the couch and tried her best to stave off the sobs she felt bubbling in her throat.

"Is Finn coming back, Mama?" Andrew asked from the doorway.

"Probably not, baby," she whispered achingly.

"You look like crap," Jer said in lieu of a traditional hello upon opening the door.

"Thanks," Finn said mechanically. His head was still spinning from what had happened at Rachel's apartment and, in all honesty, he couldn't recall the trip from her place to Kurt and Jer's.

He dropped his bag to the floor and followed Jer to the living room, completely walking past his excited dog.

"Dude are you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"Can I have a beer?"

Jer glanced worriedly at the clock and shook his head. "It's not even noon, Finn. Do you want to go out? Since the weather's cleared up, I was thinking about taking Tank and Sir Humps-a-lot to the dog park –"

"Jeremy!" Kurt yelled from the bedroom. "Have you seen my lavender-scented bubble bath?"

Jer groaned. "No! Maybe you used it all."

"It was a brand new bottle!"

"Well, I don't know! You know I don't use that crap!" He looked at Finn. "Have you seen his lilac body wash?"

"It's lavender bubble bath, Jer," Kurt said huffily as he flounced out of the bedroom in his robe, a white mask on his face. "And why would Finn know where it is? He wouldn't know the difference between a moisturizer and an exfoliating face mask."

Finn wisely didn't say anything. He had enough going on with just the one drama queen; he didn't need Kurt digging into him too. He'd buy him a new bottle later.

Jer pretended he didn't hear Kurt and turned back to him. "So, as I was saying, the dog park?"

"The dog park sounds great," Finn agreed without much feeling.

They quickly gathered up their stuff and walked in silence to the dog park a couple blocks away from the apartment, which was just fine with him. He wasn't in much of a talking mood.

"So…" Jer drawled once they were settled. They watched as Tank and a Dalmatian started playing tug-of-war with a stick and Pablo ran up to the first Yorkie he could find and began humping away. "What's up?"

"What's up with what?"

"With bi-polar Finn. Seriously dude, one day you're all emo, the next you're on Cloud Nine, and then today you're all depressed alcoholic. It's getting a little exhausting."

"Rachel and I – well, we didn't have a fight, but something weird happened and I don't know what to do about it."

"Please don't tell me you had drunk sex with a widowed mother!"

"What? No, we didn't have sex…"

Jer looked at him skeptically. "Okay, maybe we had sex, but it wasn't drunk sex." Jer continued to stare at him without saying anything. "It was more like hangover sex… and then really great date night sex… and then last night it was just kinda lazy, tired sex."

"You are a moron," Jer said, leaning forward. "So, what happened to make it awkward? Did the kids walk in on you or something?"

"Worse. Her mother-in-law."

"Shit."

"No kidding. I was coming out of the shower and I was in my towel, but she got all rude with Rachel and threatened to take her kids away and then Rachel asked me to leave. I mean, I know I screwed up, I should have realized that someone was in the other room with her, but I don't know what she wants me to do about it. I said I was sorry."

Jer nodded his head in understanding. "So you think sorry's going to cut it?"

"Well… no, but I don't know what to do."

"Okay, I'm no psychoanalyst or anything, but here's what I think. Those kids are the only thing she's got. She's going to be putting her relationship with them and the in-laws on the line by being with you. She's going to need something a little more substantial than 'I'm sorry'."

Finn rubbed his temples and tried to soak in what Jer was saying. Sure, he caught onto things a lot more quickly now as an adult, but sometimes he still had to take a minute and process. "Yeah, okay."

"Do you want to be in a relationship with her?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, I care about her a lot. I always have."

"Alright then, I'm going to ask you this point blank: do you want to be a dad?"

That caught him off guard. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"

Jer scoffed and leaned back in the bench, his hands behind his head. "In case you haven't noticed, she's got two little kids that probably need a father figure in their lives. But you just can't be all buddy-buddy with them. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, can you do the tough stuff like, I don't know, making sure they grow up to be stellar human beings?"

Finn sighed. Sure, he wanted kids… his own kids even. But he liked Michael and Andrew; he liked having them around and being in their lives.

"I don't know, man," Jer said, snapping him out of his reverie. "I don't know what you're waiting for. It's like you're doing all this other stuff so you can avoid having to focus on your life. I mean, I don't know Rachel that well, but I know Audra. If you're looking for perfect, then you already found it and lost it. But from what I hear from Kurt and what I've seen over the past few weeks, you're really into Rachel. So, you're going to have to take a little bit of responsibility and do what you gotta do in order to make it work."

He nodded his head slowly. Jer was right, of course. Rachel needed more than a couple nice dates to prove to her that he was serious about this. That he was worth the trouble he'd put her through. He was going to have to keep trying, no matter how hard Rachel tried to push him away.

Because she was worth it. Michael and Andrew were worth it. They all were.

She was still feeling awful as she sorted the boys' clothes later that evening. They were watching TV, exhausted from their trip and she kept doing double takes at them. They were so tan compared to when they left; they looked like two different little children.

"What's for dinner?" Michael grumbled from his spot on the couch.

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"Is Finn coming back, Mama?" Andrew asked for the millionth time that day.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Andy, you've asked that a million times already! She said no."

"He said he was coming back though."

"Well, he lied."

"Guys," Rachel sighed, tired of the bickering, "he didn't lie."

"Can we have pizza for dinner?" Andrew asked, changing the subject.

She opened her mouth to answer, only to be cut off by a knock on the door. "Pizza delivery!" someone called from the other side.

"Wow!" Michael laughed, sitting up.

Andrew jumped up and hurdled to the door. "No, Andrew!" Rachel called, dropping the clothes to the floor and running after him. "I didn't order a pizza."

She grabbed him around the waist and lifted him up before opening the door a crack. "Finn's got pizza!" Andrew yelled, squirming in her arms. "I told you, Michael, I told you."

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, squatting down so that he was eye level with her. "Can I come in?"

"I don't know, Finn..."

"Come on, I've got pizza. I even got a Vegan Veggie Lover's Delight… or something like that." He placed a foot in the way so she couldn't close the door. "I can wait out here all night, I don't mind."

"Come on, Mama," Michael said, weaseling his way between her and the door. "I'm hungry!"

She stepped back and let him pry the door the rest of the way open. "Thank you," he said, plucking the pizzas out of Finn's hands and taking them to the kitchen.

"What kind did he get?" Andrew shouted after his brother and Rachel put him back down so he could follow.

She bit her lip and looked down at her feet as they stood in silence in the entryway. "Rach," Finn said quietly, and before she knew it was pulled into his tight embrace. "I'm sorry about this morning."

"No, I'm sorry," she whispered into his chest. "I overreacted. It wasn't your fault. Neither one of us could have known Maura was going to surprise us like that."

"We'll get better at this."

She nodded and looked up into his face. He leaned down and placed a tentative kiss on her mouth. She placed her hand at the back of his neck so that he wouldn't stop, and pecked him lightly on the lips a few times before finally pulling away.

"Mo-om!" Michael called. "Are you going to eat?"

Hand-in-hand they walked into the kitchen.

"Watch it bud," Finn said, grabbing the plates from Michael, who was balancing them precariously them in his arms. Just as they had planned previously, they had a quiet dinner, watching cartoons with the boys in front of TV. Rachel was surprised that when it came to be bath and bedtime, Finn actually volunteered to help while she ran down to the basement to get some of the laundry she had been doing.

He did fairly well, even if it was a little discomforting for them both when Andrew walked out of his bedroom stark naked and ready for his bath. Finn's face turned bright red and she had to laugh at his expression as he followed Andrew into the bathroom.

When she came back up, he was already putting Andrew in bed and she could hear Michael in the shower. They shared a small smile as he tucked her son in and she returned to the living room to continue folding. She stood upon finishing and walked to the boys' room, laundry basket in hand, but stopped when she heard Michael and Finn talking quietly as not to wake Andrew.

"You've really never been to Disney World before?" Michael asked incredulously.

"Nope," Finn said. "Me and my mom never really had the money."

"Oh." Michael was quiet for a moment and Rachel, intrigued by what they might have to talk about, sat down just beside the doorway and listened. "My dad took us before he died. Andrew doesn't remember though."

"No?"

"He doesn't really remember our dad."

Finn made a thoughtful noise in his throat. "I don't remember my dad either."

"What happened to him?"

"He was in the Army. There was a war and he died," Finn said softly. "I was just a baby. I couldn't even walk or talk yet."

"So you don't even remember him at all?"

"Nope. But that's okay because I had a mom like yours. She was tough and made sure I didn't come out too badly. You want to know something though?"

"Hm?"

"Well, you're really lucky because you can remember him and all the special times you guys had. And Andy's even luckier."

"Why's that?" Michael whispered.

"Because he's got a great brother like you to tell him how great your dad was. I would have killed for a brother like you when I was growing up," said Finn, leaning over to ruffle Michael's hair.

Rachel drew in a shaky breath and tried in vain to keep from crying. She'd never heard Michael talk so openly about David to anyone like that since his death. And Finn was saying all the right things.

"Time for bed now, bud."

"'kay. Are you going to come get us after work tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, we'll grab dinner and hang out until your mom gets home."

She heard Finn moving to the door. "Hey, Finn," Michael called.

"What's up?"

"Remember what we talked about… at the baseball game?"

Finn hesitated a moment before replying. "Yup."

"Well, I was thinking and..." Michael paused a second before continuing, "…if you want to be my mom's boyfriend, that's okay with me."

Finn laughed softly. "Thanks, Michael. I really appreciate that."

"Good night, Finn."

"Night," he called back, shutting off the light and softly closing the door behind him. He stopped short upon seeing her sitting on the floor crying.

"Thank you," she sniffled. "I think he really needed to hear that."

"Hey, don't cry," he murmured sitting down in front of her and taking her into his arms.

"It's just so hard sometimes," she sobbed, "and I never know what to say."

"You're doing a great job, Rach," he insisted. He rocked her back and forth and stroked her hair until she calmed down.

She tried to laugh it off as she pulled away, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. "I'm sorry. I know I'm a mess. I really don't know why you put up with me."

"You know why. Because I love you, Rach." She looked up at him in shock, but he just shrugged and smiled at her. "I don't know where this is going. I don't know where we'll be next year or even next month. But I know I love you and I promise that I will never do anything to hurt you or your boys."

Slowly she smiled up at him and suddenly everything was better. Everything from this morning was just a triviality and, no matter what, she had Finn and this moment. She couldn't say where they were going with their relationship either, but she had his promise, and for now that was all she needed.

She fell back into his arms and hugged him tightly, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. They stayed like that for a while, not moving or saying anything, just sitting on the floor outside of her sons' room and holding each other like they would never let go.

"Finn?" she finally said after a few minutes. His hold on her strengthened and he placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "I love you too."

"Open Arms" originally appeared on Journey's 1981 release, Escape. Song written by and copyrighted to Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain.

Author's Note: And I love all of you… On that note, I hope you all enjoyed the fluff because from here on out, it's gonna be duh-RAMA!

Disclaimer: Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes.