Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
"Stop moving, Rachel, or you're going to get married with an eye-patch," Quinn admonishes, pulling the mascara wand away to avoid jabbing Rachel in the eye. "Is everything okay?"
Rachel runs her hands nervously over her hair, making sure that it was still perfect. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just—"
"Nervous, I get it," Quinn chuckles. She moves in quickly to finish Rachel's lashes before she can move again. "But please, sit still. I don't want to blind you."
Rachel forces herself to sit stock as the other woman finishes her makeup. She couldn't help that she was excited. She was getting married after all, married to the man that she loved more than anything—well, almost anything.
"Where's David?" Rachel asks. Her son—who was almost a year old now—was going to be one of Blaine's groomsmen, sort of a co-best man with Kurt. Rachel and Quinn had almost had a fit fitting the little boy in his tuxedo. The shoes alone had almost killed Rachel with how cute they were.
Quinn sets the mascara down. "Finn and the boys are distracting him. He'll be ready for the ceremony, don't worry."
There is a knock on the door and one of Rachel's dads pokes his head in. "It's almost show time, ladies. Are we ready?"
Quinn does one more once-over on her makeup and hair before declaring that it is perfect. She hands the bridal bouquet to Rachel before taking up her own and disappears through the door to line up with the other bridesmaids. Rachel's father offers his elbow and she slips her arm into it, letting him guider her into the foyer of the chapel. There, her other father takes her other arm.
"We know you're excited," her dad says, patting her hand. "But please remember to take your time walking down the aisle. You don't have to run."
"I know, Daddy," Rachel laughs, her voice a little shaky.
"There's no need to be scared," her papa adds. "Once those doors open, you'll see Blaine standing there—David, too—and you're going to be just fine, Rachel."
She nods and suddenly she can hear the organ begin to play on the other side of the heavy oak doors. Her fathers squeeze her hands, and Rachel holds her head up high and takes a deep breath to settle the butterflies caught in a hurricane inside her stomach.
The bridesmaids start to move, first Tina, and then Mercedes. After Quinn disappears through the door Rachel knows it's her turn.
Left foot, right foot, left again.
She moves slowly, dividing her focus between staying upright and trying to calm her nerves. She's nauseous, and for a moment Rachel feels as though she's going to be sick from the nerves.
But then she sees him, standing at the altar with his hands crossed in front of him. He's standing there, beaming at her, looking twelve feet tall he's so happy. And as suddenly the nerves appeared they've gone, and Rachel understands why her fathers warned her against running down the aisle. She walks now with bold assurance, each step firmly in front of the other. Past friends and family. Mr. Shue with Emma, his wife. Members of the Glee club and friends from college. And in the front row next to her fathers' empty seats sits her mother who is crying as she watches Rachel walk down the aisle.
And after what seems like an eternity and yet no time at all Rachel is there, standing beside Blaine in front of the rabbi who is about to join them forever in holy matrimony. Her two fathers let go, but she doesn't need them anymore. She's with Blaine, and that's all the strength she needs. Beside him, Kurt has David in his arms, and Rachel beams at her son before looking back at Blaine.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asks, his hand snaking down to wrap itself around hers. She squeezes his fingers, bumping his shoulder with hers.
"You bet your dapper ass."