Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry it took so long to post, I've been busy! Also thanks to whoever suggested the spacing thing, I was worried about it being difficult to read. Hope you guys enjoy =)
"He's been in there for seven straight hours." Kurt said monotonously as he stared intently into Rachel's hospital room window.
Burt rested a strong hand on his son's shoulder. "It's different ya know, when you... when you're… when two people are having a baby."
Kurt cocked his eye brow suspiciously towards his father, "No, I guess I would know nothing about that would I…"
Burt frowned sympathetically, "You know what I mean, Kurt. " He watched as Finn rubbed his thumb up and down Rachel's limp hand, "It's just that, you're connected and it's not just a metaphorical thing anymore, it's a real, physical thing. It's the most intense bond you will ever feel with anyone other than your child. You have this overwhelming need to protect."
Kurt wanted to tell his father how impressed he was at the use of the word "metaphorical" but instead he wrapped his arm around his father's waist. "This is going to crush him, Dad. If something happens to her, he's not going to come back from it. I'm worried."
Burt sighed with a heavy heart, "I just don't want to be the one to tell him about the baby."
Kurt shot him a look of disbelief, "Dad. You have to tell him. Carole is already so upset about everything; don't make her have to tell her son that his baby is dead."
Burt took a moment to massage the stress out of his temples, "I don't want to hurt him any more than he's already been hurt." Burt motioned towards the window and Kurt's eye panned to Finn's hand tracing the contours of Rachel's stomach. He gulped. Maybe they could wait to relay the news.
Coughing. It was the first noise he had heard escape her lips in nearly three days and it was beautiful.
"Rach." He lifted his hands to graze her cheek. She flinched at his touch and her eyes fluttered open. She groggily searched the room with her eyes, hopelessly confused.
She tried to speak but the only thing she could manage from her impossibly dry throat was, "Fi—" He began to cry as a huge smile escaped his lips, "Shhh. Don't talk. I am just so happy that you woke up." His big hands were cupping her smooth face and she reached up and placed her hand over his.
"Wh—happ—ed?" She managed to hack up.
He sat back down and clutched her hand in his, "There was a horrible fire, it burned down like 75% of your building." She shot him one of those wide eyed crazy stares he hadn't seen since 2010.
"Everyone's ok, if that's what you want to know." He had gotten so much better at reading her over the years. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in relief. It was just as she instinctively ran a hand over her lower abdomen that she felt the fear strike her heart. She looked up slowly as Finn followed her gaze from her stomach to his eyes.
"Rachel…" She shook her head furiously, tears streaming down freely.
"No!" The first full word that was able to make it past her quivering lips. She clutched at her stomach, "Finn, no!"
He engulfed her in his big bear hug as she pounded on his back. She couldn't see that he was crying just as hard as she was.
"It's what I deserve." She said coolly as she looked out of the window onto the bustling street below.
His face contorted, "What are you talking about Rachel. Nobody deserves this."
She shook her head in disagreement, "No. I do. My first thought when I read that positive result was—horrible, Finn. I'm so sorry. I'm just a selfish person and its better off I didn't ruin an innocent baby's life. Especially not one with your kind soul." She saw his eyes glaze over, clearly imagining little feet pitter pattering across the hardwood floor. Or maybe that's just what she was imagining.
"Finn, go home. I'll be okay." She bossed.
"If you think I'm going back to Ohio and leave you in this hospital alone, you must really not know me at all." He shot back.
"I didn't appreciating being pitied when I was pregnant, and I resent it even more so right now." She folded her arms against her body and refused to look at him.
"Ya know Rachel, you are really DENSE sometimes." He yelled, getting up from his seat.
She quickly beamed her hateful stare towards him, her mouth wide open in shock, "GET OUT!"
"NO! YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE, BERRY." And for the first time in Rachel's life, she shut up and listened.
"You can't honestly believe that I was only here because I felt an obligation to the baby. Rach, I flew to New York to kick your plastic boyfriend's ass before I even knew there was a baby. Which brings me to my next point: the baby. This isn't something I'm letting you sweep under the rug, Rachel. This was real, it happened and you have to deal with it. And, as the baby's father I'm entitled to help you through this."
She had to admit, she really liked his assertiveness. It was so mature. He seemed so sure of himself, so unlike the indecisive boy she knew. As she was about to admit defeat, the doctor rolled in with the sonogram machine. Great, Finn thought. Just pour a little more salt into the wound.
"Hi Rachel. I'm Dr. Wexler. Unfortunately in cases like yours, I have to run an extra sonogram to make sure things have… progressed as they should or if we need to take extra measures." Finn watched the color drain from her face as she looked at the doctor with all of the bravery she could muster. "Go ahead." And she lay back, with that Rachel Berry resolve as the doctor poured the cold, blue goo over her flat stomach. Finn leaned over and grasped her hand, she squeezed it tightly. The doctor moved the wand around as Finn and Rachel soaked in the overwhelming silence. Rachel turned away from the screen, praying for it to be over until she heard the doctor shriek.
"Well, I'll be damned. I- I…" The doctor continued the motion and was yielding the same noisy result, "I found a heartbeat." Rachel's head whipped around to the screen searching, hoping for her baby. Finn at this point had his arms wrapped around Rachel's entire upper body and he was crying into the crook of her neck.
"I am humbled. I don't know what to say other than I am very sorry for any pain I've caused you. I assure you the last sonogram there was no heartbeat. This—this is something I have never encountered in my 23 years as a practicing physician." Rachel didn't hear the doctors' pleas. Her eyes were transfixed to the screen, only the swooshing sound of the baby's heart had penetrated her daze. It was only Finn who brought her back into focus.
Wiping tears from his eyes, he was beaming. He was so in awe of the baby they had made together, their little fighter. He swore he never loved Rachel more than he did in this moment. He leaned down and kissed her hard and desperately, searching for the Rachel he had let go last May; The Rachel who agreed to share her life with him, no matter how difficult or unconventional.
As if she were wearing penny loafers and knee socks, Rachel pulled Finn's head closer to hers, and she was vulnerable again. She felt light, she felt as if the electricity had returned after a particularly hot summer blackout, she felt free.
True to form, Rachel pulled away from their kiss so that they had to face their sobering reality. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes and whispered, "Finn, what are we going to do with a baby?!"
He smiled his best crooked smile at her and pushed a wisp of hair behind her ear, "We're going to raise it." His face grew more serious, "Together."
Rachel shifted her eyes nervously, wanting so badly to surrender herself to Finn again, but she had to be realistic. Now she wasn't only thinking of herself, she had to start planning for the baby as well. "Finn, I'm in school. You don't have a steady job. How can we possibly raise this baby together?"
"Because you're looking at a future Pace University BFA student." He grinned mischeviously.
Rachel couldnn't believe her ears, "What?!"
Finn looked at her pointedly, "You know when I told you I wanted to go to the Inside the Actor's Studio school, and then I didn't get in and I was totally bummed. Well it turns out, I did get in. I was just deferred! And I didn't know what deferred meant until my mom was fishing around my room about a week ago and found my letter. I start in September!"
Rachel's insides churned, "I think I'm going to be sick." She took five quick breaths and leaned over the bed to empty out anything she had left in her stomach. Finn stood back, shocked.
"That wasn't exactly the reaction I was expecting…" Maybe she really didn't want to be with him.
She lifted herself up and tied her hair back, "No, Finn. I'm so, I'm so… this is everything I wanted and I'm getting it and I'm just in an emotional overload and I don't know how to process it besides my morning sickness is making a real and poignant return, I'm just so happy!" She squealed and this recharged Finn's batteries. He ran over to her and took his place next to her on the bed so that now she was half laying on him. He was brushing her hair with his fingers as he told her his plans, "You go to class in the morning, I'll go to class at night." She looked at him skeptically, "I know what you're thinking how are we going to get money. When I found out I got into the BFA program my mom was upset because she didn't think I'd be able to go because she couldn't afford to send me. Turns out, financial aid feels bad that my mom raised me alone so I'm getting tons of money for school and Mrs. Pillsbury has a cousin in New York who's a middle school teacher and she got me a job as a paraprofessional." She was speechless, who was this man that planned ahead and thought things through?! For the first time since they found out that their baby was alive, he reached down and placed a loving a protective hand on Rachel's stomach. "We're going to be alright, Rach. It's gunna work this time."