This chapter was so much fun to write! I think I'm going to really enjoy writing this part of Melody's life. Grandparent Finchel might be fun to play with :)

I don't own Finn or Rachel or anything related to glee. Just Riley, Melody and Caleb.

Chapter 6: Hey Baby, I Think I Wanna Marry You

Riley Schuster's hand shook as he raised his hand to knock on the door he had come to know as his second home. He raised his hand twice, lowering it in between as his nerves got the best of him.

Finn watched from the window behind the guise of the window treatments. He chuckled as he watched the young man try and decide to go through with whatever brought him to the door.

"What are we watching?" Caleb asked as he came into the living room, seeing his father standing by the front window.

Finn turned to his son and gestured to him to come over. "Riley, trying to get the courage to knock on the door." Caleb tucked his hands in his jeans and looked over his father's shoulder. At 18 years old, he was taking after his natural paternal grandfather and stood tall at 6'5 and towered over his already tall father.

"He looks like he's talking to himself." Caleb observed, chuckling a little bit.
"Poor guy looks scared shitless if you ask me." Finn laughed, letting the curtain drop as they finally heard the knock. "He better not have knocked up your sister, that's all I have to say."
"Dad. Ewe." Caleb shook his head. "I really don't need to think of anyone being 'knocked up' let alone my big sister. Ewe."
"It is possible Caleb...it just better not be happening" Finn groaned.
"DAD!" Caleb called after him as Finn went to answer the door. "Don't you think Melody would be WITH him if that's what he's here for?"
Finn shrugged. He walked to the door and answered it just as Riley was getting ready to knock again.
"Mr. Hudson..." The younger man stumbled out. Damn it, he had been hoping someone else would answer the door. Riley saw Caleb standing a few paces down the hallway. "Caleb..."
"Riley, you can call me Finn. We've been over this." He nodded as Finn moved out of the way and let the younger man step into the house. The younger man twitched in his place as they stood there almost facing off.
Finn attempted to break the uncomfortable silence. "Come on in, let's get a drink. Then you can tell me what brings you here cause I know you know Melody isn't here. Since, you know, you've shacked up with my baby girl" Riley swallowed hard as he followed Finn more into the house.
"Where's Mrs. Hud..."
"My mom is out at the grocery store. Probably looking for some new form of tofu to torture us all with" Caleb made his presence known in the kitchen. He wasn't about to miss whatever was going to go down between Riley and his dad. He had a feeling it was going to be good.
Riley looked at Caleb as they settled at the table while Finn reached into the fridge and grabbed out two beers.
"What, I don't get one?" Finn stared down at his son. Caleb chuckled. Finn placed the beer in front of Riley and took a seat across from the boyfriend of his little girl. He stared at him for a few solid minutes.
"So..." Finn pulled the top off and took a swig of the beer he'd gotten for himself as Caleb made himself comfortable in the other chair.
"I guess...you'd like to know why I'm here..." Riley twitched.
"You could say that." He paused, taking a swig of his beer. " You about to have a seizure or something? You're twitching like a madman." Finn raised an eyebrow at the young man.
"I'm fine. Just nervous." He shook his head.
"Ha. Nervous around my dad. That's a first." Caleb laughed, crossing his arms. It was a well known fact that Finn Hudson scared the living crap out of Riley Schuster, even after knowing the family for almost ten years.
"Caleb, do shut up. Please." Finn exasperated. Riley actually cracked a small smile. "Riley, what can I do for you? Need money? Something wrong with my baby?"
"No Sir. I'm good. Mel's good." He shook his head. "I do have...I do have a question to ask you..." He played with the label on his beer. He caught sight of the clock behind them on the stove. 4:45. Melody would be finishing up at work soon. He wanted to be home before she got there. Make her none the wiser.
"Well out with it son" Finn looked at Riley, narrowing his eyes.
"Finn. Caleb" He side eyed to look at Caleb. He wasn't expecting to have to win him over too. He should have expected it though. Caleb was fiercely protective of his older sister. "As you know, I love Melody very much. More than anything in this world." Finn nodded. "And I know we've had a little bit of a rough ride with breaking up years ago but I feel like we're in a solid place, a good place. Where we're meant to be. " Finn nodded, swallowing hard.
He felt like he knew where this was going. He'd given a speech similar to this one so many years ago. He'd been in Riley's place, and Hiram and Leroy had scared the ever living shit out of him. Still did, even now that Leroy had sadly passed away. "I...I guess what I'm trying to say... is that I'd...I'd really like your permission to ask Melody to marry me." He dug into the pocket of the sports coat he was wearing and pulled out a velvet box. He opened the box and showed the two men the ring inside, just as the garage door rumbled to life. Riley stiffened.
"Relax. It's just Rachel." Finn said softly, not taking his eyes off the ring. "That's a gorgeous ring."
"Thanks." Riley said softly. "Took me forever to find it. Almost had to call in the cavalry for help" He chuckled a little bit, referring to Kurt. Riley had gotten close to the entire family in the ten years he had been intimately involved with them.

Finn turned his attention back to Riley for a moment after being drawn in by the sparkly diamond. "What makes you think you're good enough for my daughter?" Finn leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest. The door to the garage opened and Riley scrambled to shove the ring back in his pocket. It was one thing for Rachel to be home while he pleaded his case, another for her to see the ring before he was ready for her to see it.
"Sir." He said softly. "I love your daughter. I've loved her since I first laid eyes on her in the hallway at McKinley when I was 18. She's my world. I would jump in front of a bullet for her if it would mean saving her life. She is my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. When she's gone, when she's at work all I can think about is how to make the day go by faster so that I can get home to her and see her again. She's my everything, sir"

They heard a gasp and Riley froze to see Rachel standing in the doorway to the kitchen, grocery bags in hand. Caleb stood up from the table to grab the bags from his mom.

"Mrs. Hudson." Riley nodded. "How much..."
"Is this what I think it is?" She grinned at Finn with tears in her eyes after Caleb took the bags from her.
"Rach..." Finn groaned. His wife was so dramatic and emotional.
"It is!" She clasped her hands over her mouth as the tears began to spill. Finn grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her into his lap. Riley looked at the two of them.
"I love your daughter. I know we broke up way back when she went to Chicago but...that time away from her made me realize how much I love her and things have just been...the best since we've been back together and I just...I cannot picture my life without her. So please, can I marry your daughter?" He asked, looking at the two of them. He hated how pleading his voice sounded. He'd told himself he'd be a man about this. Clearly his emotions were getting the best of him. He just...he needed them to know how he felt about their little girl.
"Well..." Finn paused. He looked down at Rachel. "I couldn't imagine anyone better for my daughter." He grinned. A look of relief flooded Riley's features.
"Oh Mr...Finn..." He sighed, leaning back in his chair, slumping down.
"How are you going to do it? When? Can I do anything to help?" Rachel squealed. Her baby was going to get engaged!

It was Rachel this time who was waiting by the window. Her eyes were trained on the driveway, waiting for Riley's Kia Soul to pull into the space.
"They'll get here when they get here you know." Finn walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He laid his chin on her shoulder.
"And you're sure he's going to do it this weekend?" She asked softly, tilting her head up to face her husband.
"No. I'm not sure of anything. You were the one who told me he was going to."
"It's just a hunch" She said softly. "I mean, why else would they go to New York for an extended weekend?"
"I don't know, to you know, visit" Finn laughed. Before he could say anything else, the black Kia Soul they had been waiting for pulled into the driveway. Rachel immediately dropped the curtain and turned to Finn. This was it. Or so they thought it was it.
The clock in the room ticked by as they waited to see what was going on. Whether they'd be gaining a son-in-law.

They heard footsteps coming up the driveway. Quick ones. They ran over to the couch and Finn flung his arm around his wife's shoulders as their front door banged open and their 26 year old daughter ran into the house.
"Mom? Dad?" She shrieked when she found them in the living room and she ran to them, much like she had when she was younger.
"Mel, you're home!" Rachel exclaimed, unwrapping herself from her husband and standing up to hug her daughter. "How was your trip?" She asked as Riley came into the room as well. He nodded at Finn as he came into the room.

"It was amazing. We saw a few shows, Funny Girl and Rent and then went for a walk through Central Park and had dinner at the little diner we used to go to when we lived there..." She flung her hand out for her mother to inspect. " and he proposed!" She squealed as she shook, her excitement barely containable.
"How? When? Where? What did he say?" Rachel squealed as she inspected the ring on her daughter's finger. It was a simple silver band with a square cut diamond in the middle.
"Balcony of our hotel room at night, after we saw Funny Girl." Finn saw his daughter's eyes glaze over as she thought about the moment. "We were sitting on the balcony, sharing a chair and a glass of wine looking out at the skyline. And then he started talking about where we were going and what we wanted out of life and...then he said that he didn't want to waste anymore time not being committed to me in every way possible...And then he asked me to marry him! And I said yes!" Rachel and Melody continued to squeal over the details while Finn walked over to Riley and clapped him on the back.
"I knew she would say yes." Finn grinned at the young man. "Welcome to the family, son." Riley looked up at his son.
"Thank you Sir." Riley sighed.
"Just promise me something?"
"Anything" Riley looked up at him.
"That you're going to love her forever. And you'll take care of her."
"Always" Riley smiled, staring at his fiancée as she walked away into the kitchen arm in arm with her mother. "She makes it pretty easy to make that promise. I guess I have you and Rachel to thank for that."
Finn smiled. Yeah, his baby girl had picked the right one.