The smell of pancakes tickled Finn's nose. He stretched and sat up to see two pairs of expectant chocolate colored eyes staring at him. He was a little shocked; he forgot Rachel and Puck had twins and it was eerie how much they looked like mini versions of their parents. The little boy spoke first, "Who are you?"
Before Finn could answer his sister interjected, "Yeah, mister. Who are you? We've never seen you before."
"I'm Finn. I'm a friend of mommy and daddy. What should I call you guys?" Finn answered.
"I'm Jack and this is my sister Liana." Jack replied.
"You can call me Li Li Finn. You're cute." Liana blushed a little.
"Liana! Don't say such things." Her mother scolded from the kitchen.
Finn looked over at Rachel and smiled. She had never looked more beautiful in his eyes. He wanted this life – Rachel in the kitchen cooking pancakes on a Saturday morning and their kids surrounding him. He knew it was unfair to wish that because he could never have her. But he could damn sure try.
"Morning Rach. You look great. You have really sweet kids." Finn said.
"Thank you Finn. They get their personalities from Noah." Rachel joked.
"I bet they do." Finn laughed.
"Mommy are the pancakes ready?" Jack whined.
"Yeah mommy we're hungry!" Liana shouted, echoing her brother.
"Soon, they'll be ready soon. Can you help set the table?" Rachel asked.
As the kids set the table, Finn cleaned himself up and changed into some fresh clothes. The four sat down at the table and made idle chatter. Rachel finally spoke up, "Kids why don't you go upstairs and get ready. We're going to go visit daddy soon." Jack and Liana squealed in delight and rushed upstairs.
"So we're all gonna go see Puck huh?" Finn asked.
"Yes we're going to visit Noah. He wanted us to come by for lunch." Rachel replied tartly.
"Even me too? Did you know he hit me with a pillow this morning?" Finn noted light heartedly.
Rachel chuckled as she responded, "Sorry Finn that was my idea. I figured Noah needed a way to get out some of his aggression. Hitting you with a pillow was the least dangerous method I could think of on short notice."
"Well Rach I really appreciate it. It's good to know you still care about me." Finn barely whispered.
Rachel shifted uncomfortably before replying, "Yes Finn I care about you, as a friend. It's been a long time and I thought it would be nice to catch up before Noah beat you to a bloody pulp."
Finn chuckled at this as he replied, "Either way you saved my life so I'm pretty grateful, anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Rachel thought for a minute before replying, "You can explain to me what you thought you were doing at the wedding? You could also tell me what Noah said to you and why you showed up out of the blue? And if you even got my letter…"
She was silenced by the look on Finn's face. It was a mixture of pain, sadness, fear and relief. He took a deep breath before replying, "Wow. You can still talk up a storm. It's nice to see that things haven't changed that much."
"Thank you Finn but that doesn't answer any of my questions. Please, you owe me at least this much," Rachel intoned.
"Alright Rach here it goes… At the wedding I thought I was going to magically steal you away from Puck. He told me to 'Leave you two the hell alone or he'd rip my throat out' and I showed up because I missed you guys and I thought enough time had passed so maybe I'd be forgiven. And yeah I got your letter but I was too embarrassed and heartbroken to respond. I'm still in love with you but looking at you and your family, I could never destroy that." When Finn was done he looked down at the table and fidgeted with his hands. It was a nervous trait he'd always possessed.
Rachel was astounded. He seemed so honest but she just couldn't be sure. "Finn…" She took a deep breath and the silence was interrupted by the sound of feet tramping down the stairs. Jack and Liana entered the kitchen then, effectively ending any hope of further conversation.
"Mommy let's go! I want to go see Daddy!" Liana shouted.
"Yeah mom let's go already!" Jack echoed the shout of his sister.
"Sure kids I'll grab my keys. You ready Finn?" Rachel asked with a question in her eyes, praying he'd agree.
Finn nodded his assent as he said, "Yeah I'm ready. Come on kids."