Author's Note: I would just like to thank everyone for their awesome reviews and alerts! It really means a lot! It's good to know that someone is enjoying this other than me.

This chapter is kind of long. One Finchel starts, you can't get them to stop. Enjoy!

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Rachel stared wide eyed at her counterpart and gulped. "I was-um-I was-"

"She was searching for something for one of beloved high school friends who is going to be birthing a child soon. We were just shopping for some gifts." Kurt interjected.

"Y-yes. That's exactly what we were doing." Rachel plastered on her showface.

"Right." Gabby looked over the two in front of her, skeptical. "I'll see you at rehearsal Rachel."

Rachel nodded her head. "I look forward to it Gabrielle." Gabby huffed and made her way into the store.

Rachel let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Thank you Kurt. I had no idea what I was going to say."

"Yeah. That's why you keep me around." He shrugged his shoulder and smirked at her. She nudged him in the side with her elbow and they both laughed. "Come on, now that shopping for you is done, let's go have some fun for me!" His eyes lit up as he squealed and she couldn't help but laugh hysterically. He draped an arm around her as they walked toward Fred Segal.

He looked down at her and smiled "You know? I could get used to this."

She met his gaze and smiled herself. "Me too."

Three Months Later

"Rachel, you're going to have to tell them sometime. You're starting to show." Kurt placed a glass of water in front of her on the island in the kitchen.

She looked at him over the rim of her glass, "I know Kurt, but I'm stalling as long as I have to. Gabrielle is starting to get suspicious and I don't think Lacey will keep my secret much longer or she's going to burst." She took a long gulp of water as Kurt looked at her.

"Have you talked to Finn?" He asked her, lifting an eyebrow.

She froze mid gulp. She placed the glass back down and didn't look at him as she spoke, "N-no I haven't." She said quietly.

He held out her phone and tapped his foot, thrusting it in her face.

She stared at his outstretched hand. He shook the phone in her face as she sighed and snatched it from his grasp.

"You can't ignore this forever. You've got to go home sometime, and soon. Because I don't know if I can take anymore of your pregnancy hormones. They're worse than your attitude in high school." She scoffed and stood up and walked towards the balcony.

She opened the sliding glass door that opened out into beautiful Manhattan and leaned on the railing. She sighed as she stared at the phone. What was she going to say? Finn, I'm sorry for leaving you but I'm scared? I can't risk everything I've ever worked towards to be a mother right now? She shook the thoughts from her head and dialed the familiar number as she sat in the chair, curling her legs up. He picked up on the third ring.

"Rachel." He said, breathlessly.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Hi Finn."

"Are you okay? Is something wrong with the babies?" He panicked.

"No Finn. Everything's fine."

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence.

"H-how have you been?" He asked in a small voice.

"I've been well. The play is coming together nicely." She said awkwardly, unsure what to say.

He cleared his throat. "That-that's good."

"Finn-"

He cut her off, "Rachel, I miss you."

She closed her eyes slowly and fought back tears.

"I-I have to go Finn."

"Rachel, no, wait."

"I can't do this Finn." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Do what Rachel? God!" His voice was angry and it startled her.

He continued. "I've waited for three fucking months for you to come to your senses about all this and I'm tired of waiting!" He screamed into the phone as she bit back tears.

"Your being selfish Finn." Her tone growing irritated.

"I'm being selfish Rachel?" He scoffed "I wasn't the one who bailed when things got hard."

"Don't" She threatened.

"Don't what? Don't make you realize how stupid your being about this? That's hardly fair Rachel."

"Do you not see how hard this is on me Finn? I'm working hard to keep this a secret, lying to my friends and my family, keeping up false pretenses at work and the worst part of all? I'm away from you." Tears were falling freely down her cheeks.

"Then just come home." He whispered.

"I wish I could." She whispered back.

"Why can't you?" He said, irritated.

"Because I need to find out who I am Finn and who I want to be. I've wanted the same thing for so long, I don't even recognize me anymore." She said as she stood up and leaned against the balcony.

"I know who you are. Your Rachel Berry. The beautiful, talented girl I fell in love with all those years ago." His voice cracked.

"Finn, please-"She begged.

"No Rachel. I can't-I need you, so bad that it hurts. Do you know what my life has been like the last three months without you here? I feel like some kind of robot. Eat, sleep, shower, go to work, and come home. I do it every day. I can't take it anymore."

"Do you know what this has been like for me? All I want to do when I come home is curl up in your arms and pretend like everything is perfect."

"So do it." He said matter-of-factly.

"I can't. I wish you could understand." She trailed off as she looked out at the city.

"Then help me understand Rachel." He pleaded. He'd do anything to get her to come home.

"I'll talk to you soon Finn. Kurt's calling me for dinner." She said in a small voice.

"No, wait, Rachel."

"Bye Finn." She hit the end button and held it up to her lips as she cried. "I love you."

She walked in as Kurt turned around from his spot by the stove. "So, how did it go?" He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

She wiped her tears with her free hand and gave him a sad, unconvincing smile. "Well."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You know, for an actress, you're a pretty terrible liar."

She laughed humorlessly. "Thanks for the support Kurt."

He lifted his shoulder. "What is it your doing exactly Rachel? I get the whole 'finding yourself' thing, because believe me; I've done it once or twice. I solved my problem with some Ben and Jerry's, a Top Model Marathon, and a new outfit from Steve McQueen."

"I'm scared Kurt." She said, weakly. Feel exhausted and defeated. Kurt dropped his arms and walked to where she was to wrap her in a hug.

"Everyone gets scared Rachel, it's a human emotion. You're not bad because you feel that way; it's something that just happens. Something we're born with." She sniffed as she lifted her head.

"What if I'm a bad mother Kurt?" She asked, searching his face.

"If you put as much drive and ambition into motherhood that you do your talent, there's no way on earth you could be a bad mother." His lips turned into a smile.

She returned the gesture. "Thank you Kurt. For everything."

"It's really no problem. Although I think Tyler is getting a little sick of you using his razor to shave your legs." They both giggled at his statement.

"Now, you know what you need to do first on your path to self discovery?" He told her seriously after their laughter had died down.

She looked at him questionably. "No. What's that?"

"You need to tell Howard today at rehearsal."

She inhaled deeply "Yes, I suppose I should."

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She took a deep breath as she knocked on Howard's office.

"Come in!" said the shrill voice of her director from behind the door.

"Hello Howard." She gave him her best show face.

"Why hello Rachel! How are you? Please sit!" He gestured to the chair that sat in front of his desk.

She nodded and smoothed out her dress as she sat down. She folded her hands into her lap and looked at him.

"There's something that I need to tell you." She looked at him seriously. Afraid of what she was about to say.

He eyed her. "Okay."

"I'm pregnant." She said quietly.

He stared at her and blinked. After a beat, he spoke, "Well, my, that's quite the news isn't it. How far along are you?"

"Three months."

His eyes went wide and he sucked in a breath. She closed her eyes and waited for the news that she dreaded to hear.

"Congratulations."

Her eyes flew open and shock registered on her face. "Wh-what?" She asked in disbelief.

He chuckled as he took in her appearance. "I said congratulations. What did you think? I was going to have my biggest and brightest star banished from my existence?"

"Well, not in those words, but yes." She stated.

"Why would I want to do that? Why would I risk someone else discovering your talent and them having the hottest Broadway up and comer in their midst? No way."

She felt like she was going to burst. This certainly wasn't the way she would have imagined things would have turned out.

"So, you're not angry?" She asked him.

"Angry? No. Disappointed? A little. But I look at this as an advantage. Now you don't have to wear the pregnant body suit." They both erupted into a fit laughter.

As their laughter subsided, she spoke "How will this affect the show and my role?"

"Well, once you're far enough along, we'll have Gabby take over until you come back." He leaned forward on his elbows, "There will always be a place for you here Rachel. You're my star and nothing is going to change that." A smile lit up her face at his words.

She stood up and shook his hand repeatedly. "Thank you so much Howard, I can't even put into words how you just made me feel."

He laughed. "It's no problem Rachel. Now, get changed so we can rehearse! Off with you!" He tried to sound stern, but it fell flat.

"Yes sir!"

She walked out of his office feeling as light as a feather, except for the dull ache in her chest.

Finn. Her eyes closed as she gripped her necklace with his name on it, the one she'd kept since High School. She had a few more issues to deal with before she could finally go home to him.

"Kurt? Can you do me a favor?" She asked as she walked out of the shower into the living room, in nothing but a towel. It's not like it mattered. It was Kurt.

"Hmmm?" He said. Not looking up from his recent issue of Cosmo.

"Can you come to Lamaze with me?" She asked sweetly.

His head darted up to meet her face. "Wh-what?" He sputtered. "Why can't Finn do it? He's the father!"

She sighed. "Because I'm not ready to see him yet."

"Oh come on Rachel! Get off your high horse and go see the poor boy! I'm surprised we haven't seen him on the news attempting suicide from the Empire State Building!" He thrusted himself off the couch and threw his hands in the air as he spoke.

She glared at him and balled her fists at her side and spoke through clenched teeth "Kurt! You are being utterly impossible! I have a few more things to figure out before I can be with him completely!"

"What do you need to figure out? How not to irritate people?" He said, annoyed.

She scoffed. "Whatever! And you are going with me!" She yelled over her shoulder as she walked into the bedroom.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "And what if I don't?"

"Then I'll tell Tyler some embarrassingly horrible things about you." He walked into the bedroom where she was putting her pants on over her now round belly.

"He already knows everything." He said confidently.

She gave him a sly smile. "Not everything."

His eyes widened in horror. "When do we leave?"

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Kurt and Rachel walked into class and took in their surroundings.

"This place is nice." She said looking at the spacious area around her.

"Yes, this would be a nice place to redecorate. The color is just all wrong." She shook her head as she laughed and grabbed his hand. "Come on." She said as she led them toward the back.

"Hi there! How nice of you to join us!" A lady, who looked to be in her mid forties, greeted them from the front of the room.

Everyone turned to look at them. "Hello. I'm Rachel Berry, and this is Kurt Hummel." She introduced them to everyone in the class.

"Hi Rachel and Kurt." They all said in unison.

"I feel like I'm in The Stepford Wives." Kurt whispered in her ear. She elbowed him in the gut.

"Shush. Let's go have a seat."

She guided them to an empty seat on the floor and sat down.

"Now then, now that everyone is here, I can begin." She clasped her hands in front of her and moved to the center of the room. "I'm Marcy and I will be with you throughout this class. Is there anything anyone wants to ask before I begin the film?"

A hand rose from the couple next to them "Yes Jake?"

"Um, is it true that women get super strength during birth?" Rachel and Kurt both giggled, but stopped abruptly when everyone noticed they were looking at them. "Sorry." They mumbled.

"Yes, Jake. It is true, contrary to popular belief. Now are there anymore questions?"

Marcy looked around and nodded. "Okay then! Let's get started!" She pressed play on the DVD player and took a seat at the far end of the room.

Kurt looked around at all the people attending the class. "Let's make up stories about everyone." Her head snapped to his direction. "Kurt! I'm supposed to be paying attention! This is very important in the birthing process!" She whispered harshly. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen. Unfortunately for him, he was face to face with a not so pleasant picture: the birthing scene.

"Oh my god!" He screeched, shielding his eyes from the scene in front of him.

"Shhh!" The class whispered harshly at him as Rachel glared at him.

"I'm sorry Rachel. I may love fashion, and I can hit a note Britney Spears can be jealous of, I am so glad that I have male parts."

She rolled her eyes and smirked at his statement as she turned her head back the screen.

His eyes widened in horror as he pointed to the screen, "You are pushing something the size of a watermelon out of your hoo-hah?" He said in a loud voice.

Rachel's eyes widened in embarrassment at Kurt's statement. He stood up as Rachel tugged at his pant leg. "Kurt, what are you doing? Sit back down and quite being ridiculous!" She hissed.

"No Rachel. I cannot deal. I need to leave." He turned to walk out as she scrambled after him.

"Kurt! You can't just leave me here!" He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"I think it's time you called Finn. He should be here for this. Not me." He smiled and walked out the door, leaving her.

She sighed and pulled out her phone. I guess it's time.

"Hello?"

"Finn? I need your help."