A/N: This is it. The final chapter! Thanks to all of you who've stuck with this story from the beginning, this chapter is for you.

RPOV:

"Where is she?" Kurt burst through the door excitedly. I held a finger to my lips as he was followed in by Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Mike, Matt, Santana, Brittany, and Mr. and Mrs. Schuester. Quinn brought up the rear, laughing as she caught sight of Kurt who was now bouncing up and down excitedly. I pointed over in the corner, where Finn was asleep with little Eliza on his chest. I'd woken up late last night to be informed by Finn that I'd slept the entire day and I'd better be awake tomorrow because the rest of the glee club was eager to meet my daughter. So I'd asked a nurse to wake me up early this morning so I'd be ready for their arrival. I'd spent the last hour watching Finn and Eliza sleeping.

"Awww." Mercedes cooed as she tiptoed towards Finn. "She's so tiny." The rest of the group let out a chorus of agreement, waking Finn up. Startled he sat up quickly; I squealed as he almost lost his hold on Eliza. He cradled her to him securely, glaring at the group by the door.

"Can I hold her?" Kurt directed his question to me as he walked over to Finn.

"Of course!" Finn gently handed her to his step-brother. Kurt stared down at her with an undefinable expression on his face for a few minutes before finally saying excitedly,

"Hey baby! I'm your Uncle Kurt!" I laughed at his self given title.

"Her name's Eliza. Eliza Noelle Berry."

"That's a beautiful name Rachel." Miss Pillsbury, no Mrs. Schuester, told me. The rest of the group murmured their agreements as they carefully took turns holding her.

"While you're both here, Kurt I was wondering if you'd like to be her godfather. Quinn, you're the only possible choice for her godmother."

"Really? I'd love to!" Kurt said excitedly. Quinn nodded, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. I reached for her hand, smiling at her.

After a while they all trickled out, promising to come back later. I sank back into the pillows as Finn pulled his chair up next to me. Quinn was holding Eliza on the other side of the bed, murmuring softly to her.

Dad walked into the room, closely followed by Shelby and Beth who made a beeline for Quinn and Eliza, chattering a mile a minute.

"Where's Noah at?" I asked Dad, "I thought he was coming back here with you." He looked at me with a sad expression on his face. "What? Dad tell me!"

"Honey, I went to get Noah and Hannah to come back up here and their rooms were empty."

"Like empty, empty?" I asked my voice cracking. He nodded sadly. "No, no. He wouldn't have just left like that. He didn't even say goodbye!" My voice was rising of its own accord. I couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be my best friend! Finn stood up quickly, tipping his chair over.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked him nervously, clearly recognizing the fury building on Finn's face.

"Going to call the fucking asshole and tell him to get his ass back here!" He stormed out of the room. We all waited in uneasy silence. I could feel tears flowing from my eyes. Within five minutes, Finn stalked back into the room, still looking furious.

"This number is no longer in service. Please check the number you dialed and try again." He spat out.

"Maybe you dialed the wrong number." Shelby suggested tentatively. Quinn, Finn and I all shook our heads.

"He's had the same cell number since fifth grade. Finn knows it backwards and forwards." Quinn explained. Finn nodded in agreement, slamming his hand down on the table.

"I'm going to murder him." He said forcefully, finally looking at me. The tears were still flowing freely. Quinn got up and gently set Eliza in my arms. I held her like a lifeline, looking down at her perfect features which I could already tell were going to look exactly like her now absent biological father.

After sitting in silence for a while, Quinn, Dad, Shelby and Beth slipped out, leaving me and Finn alone.

"He's not coming back, is he?" I asked softly, scared to hear the answer.

"I hate to have to tell you this Rach, but I don't think so." He sighed. He wrapped an arm around me, holding me tight and reached out a finger to stroke Eliza's tiny hand. Her little fingers gripped his large one tightly.

"Can we do this Finn? I don't think I fully realized how tiny she would be."

"Rach, everything is going to be perfectly fine. She's going to grow up to be as beautiful and amazing as her wonderful mother." I smiled at him, the sharp pang of Noah's desertion fading a bit as I looked into Finn's eyes. He kissed me tenderly then bent down and started mumbling baby talk to Eliza. I looked at them, the loves of my life. Maybe we could do this.

L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L

It wasn't easy but we did it. The first few months after we moved to New York were tough. Finn and I were both trying to juggle full class schedules, he at NYU and me at Juilliard, with raising a baby who had yet to sleep through the night. Eventually we settled into a pattern and it got easier and easier as time went on.

Eliza grew and thrived, loved by our crazy "family." Kurt and Mercedes were both in New York as well and Eliza spent countless hours with "Uncle Kurt and Auntie Cedes." Quinn visited frequently as did Eliza's Grandpa and Nana Shelby. And of course, all of New Directions had an annual reunion where Eliza was the center of attention.

There was always the missing person that I could never forget though. When Eliza was a month old, I called OSU, to get the email address for a certain student of theirs who was there on a football scholarship. I sent pictures and reports of Eliza often. The emails were never replied to but I knew he read them. Every time an OSU game was on the TV, Finn would sit beside me, gently hugging me, as I watched. He started playing in the starting line-up his sophomore year.

My junior year, Eliza and I took a trip home for the weekend to see my dad. Finn had to stay in the city. Saturday morning I heard a knock on my door and opened it to find a small envelope on the ground. I picked up the envelope, finding two tickets to the afternoon OSU game, Dad's car keys, and gas money. I stared at them for a long time before bringing Eliza downstairs, strapping her car seat in and taking off for Columbus. He scored his record number of points that game. I stood and cheered along with the rest of the fans every time. After the game, I carried Eliza down the bleachers, half intending to go and say hello. As I reached the ground level, my eyes found him, kissing one of the cheerleaders passionately. I stood frozen and listened to him invite her to 'his place.' I turned quickly and walked out of the stadium. How could I have forgotten? I knew what he was. Noah "Puck" Puckerman, as the football announcers said, had been WHMS's resident man-whore and badass; it shouldn't have surprised me that he retained the title at OSU. Gosh I felt so stupid.

I stopped sending the emails after that. I figured, he'd never shown interest in them, and he knew my email if he decided he wanted to get in touch. That hadn't changed since fifth grade either. When we got back after the game, Dad saw my face and didn't ask any questions, instead swinging Eliza around and asking what she wanted for dinner. When we got back to New York Finn was waiting anxiously. Eliza ran to him yelling,

"DADDY!" He picked her up and swung her around before coming to greet me with a kiss.

"I'm so glad to have my girls home!" He said, smiling brightly.

The next year, I sat on our couch, watching OSU's championship game. I hadn't been able to resist the pull. Finn sat next to me with Eliza on his lap as we watched him streak up the field. In the middle of the fourth quarter, he went down and didn't get up. I sat there in horror, waiting for someone, anyone to tell why they'd just carried my best friend, motionless off the field on a stretcher. Finn fed Eliza dinner and put her in bed that night as I sat frozen on the couch, watching the sports news, waiting anxiously for the college update every hour. By the time they finally told us that Puck Puckerman would never play football again, maybe would never walk again, at 11:00, Finn had returned to sit next to me and he was there to hold me close as I sobbed.

When I graduated from Juilliard already having been offered a supporting role in a Broadway show, they were all there. Kurt held Eliza on his lap, Quinn held Beth, Shelby, Dad, Mercedes, Alex and Sarah with their newborn son who they'd named Noah, Mr. and Mrs. Schuester and Finn all stretched out in a row cheering when my name was called.

Opening night I looked out in the crowd after the curtain call. Maybe I couldn't see them but I knew they were all there. Finn, Eliza, Kurt, Quinn, Shelby, Beth, Dad, Alex, Sarah, baby Noah, Mr. and Mrs. Schuester, Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Britt, Santana, Mike, and Matt. I'd gotten a bouquet in the dressing room with a card that said 'You've always been our star- New Directions.' But that night, as with graduation, Finn and I's wedding, and every birthday Eliza celebrated, it was the one who wasn't there who almost mattered more than the ones who were.

FIN

A/N: And that's the end!

I'm sorry it turned out so depressingly: (but I have a sequel in mind+ another one after if you guys keep liking it, this was just where this story needed to end.

I didn't write the Finchel wedding mostly bc I can't stop the fluff for that and I was already breaking the Puckleberrry shippers hearts enough…if you're interested in my idea of the perfect finchel wedding go to 'Don't Stop Believing' Chapter 9 and remove the Puck parts ;\

FTR- Noah didn't like die or anything, I just didn't feel like trying to come up with a realistic medical ailment…He's fine!

A few requests:

1: Sequel: Title ideas? Pairings you would like to see? (It will be finchel+Wemma as per this story and 1sided puckleberry again but any other pairings are open) Plot points you'd like? It'll start when Eliza is 10….Any other suggestions? I'll put up a note on the end of this story when I post it.

2. REVIEWS! Please review- I'd love to know, what your favorite characters, quotes, scenes, chapters of this story were

Once again. Thank y'all for reading this and please review!

Lots of Love,

Lily