Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song "Smile" by Uncle Kracker. If you haven't heard the song, give it a listen-I promise it's worth it.
A/N1: There are two scenarios that I'm dedicating to some friends since one hinted for one and the other requested one. If YOU have something you'd like to see-let me know :)
Finn and Rachel stepped off the plane with Finn holding a sleepy Riley and Rachel holding their carry-on bags. Riley's head was pressed firmly into Finn's shoulder as she woke, blinking in confusion before whipping her head up and searching around.
"Did you have a good nap baby?" Finn asked quietly as he ran his hand over her back.
"Yes Daddy! I dreamed of Flynquel!" Her eyes continued to scan the airport. "Where's Grandma?"
"She's right over there," Finn replied as he set her down. "Go get her," he said as he turned to Rachel. "Did you hear that? She said Flynquel."
"I know. Super cute." Rachel smiled as she responded and they made their way to Carole. It wasn't until they reached her that a small man popped out from behind her yelling, "Surprise!"
"Kurt!" Rachel squealed, thrusting the bags into Finn's arms so she could hug him. "I didn't know you were coming in this weekend!"
"I wasn't sure until yesterday and I wanted to surprise you. I know it's your month to stay with Mom and Dad so I decided to come visit you and Riley."
Finn gave Kurt a one armed hug as Riley chattered away with Carole."Did Blaine make it out too?"
"No. He had some trial prep he had to get done for one of his cases. I however, took a break from designing the wardrobe for a new TV show to visit you. Did I just hear Riley say Flynquel? Did she mean Finchel?" He asked as he stared between the two.
Finn grinned, "Nope, you heard right. Rachel and I have been telling her a new bedtime story."
Rolling his eyes Kurt carried on, "But Flynquel? You couldn't have been more original?" Riley chose that moment to come pull on his sweater." Hi Riley! Let's try and remember we don't pull on Uncle Kurt's clothes ok? What did you need?"
"I like Flynquel. If you're good I'll tell YOU the story when I tell Grandma." Riley said, batting her eyes at him.
He was a bit intrigued as to what exactly they would have told her, so he said, "I'd love to hear it. Maybe I even know some of the story."
"You know about Flynn and Raquel too?" She asked with eyes as big as saucers.
He picked her up and began walking with her and Rachel towards the car. None of them paid attention to the fact that Finn and Carole were whispering behind them.
"I just want to take her on a nice date mom ok? Don't make a big thing about it." he muttered as they walked.
"I'm sorry honey; I just think it's sweet that after all these years you're still trying to woo her."
"I'm not wooing her-I just, well I'm just trying to fix something." He hugged her to him. "Come on. Let's drop it and talk about what you really want to talk about: my awesome kid."
"She's the light of our lives Finn. Burt just adores her. He's so excited to watch her tomorrow." Carole said as they approached the group.
"Excited to watch who?" Rachel asked.
"Riley." Finn said. "I kinda made some plans for us with Artie tomorrow night." It wasn't all a lie, he DID need to use Artie tomorrow but they wouldn't be hanging out.
"Oh! Fun!" Rachel exclaimed climbing in the backseat and waiting for Finn to close the door. He heaved a sigh of relief and climbed into the front seat.
The drive to the Hummel household was quick and entertaining as Riley chatted away about everything from Emma's haircut to Flynquel and her sing a longs. Kurt made sure she was still listening to The Sound of Music, causing her to break into Do-Re-Mi causing everyone but Finn to smile. They pulled into the driveway and Burt walked out the door anxious to get his hands on Riley.
"Grandpa!" she yelled breaking out into a run.
He swung her up in the air before cuddling her close. "Hi my Princess! I'm glad you're here."
"Me too Grandpa. Did you know you and Grandma get to watch on me while Mommy and Daddy go see Uncle Artie?"
"I did know that." He made a show of looking around before stage whispering, "I'll even let you stay up past your bedtime."
With a twinkle in her eye Riley leaned her forehead onto Burt's, "I love you grandpa."
His heart melted every time."I love you too Princess. "Finally deciding to acknowledge Finn and Rachel he said, "hey guys" before carrying Riley into the house.
Chuckling they responded "hey" as they followed him in. While Riley chatted away with her family, Finn announced he was going to take a nap and Rachel said she needed a shower after being on the gross plane. The rest of the family just shooed them away, perfectly fine for a little Riley time without her parents there to censor her.
Finn followed Rachel up the stairs, noticing her ass move in front of him. Maybe he wasn't so tired after all. "Hey baby?" He asked, his voice already husky with lust.
Knowing exactly what that voice meant, Rachel put an extra big sway in her hips as she continued walking, "Yes Finny?"
"You want some company on the shower?" He asked, pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck as he dropped their bags into their room.
She turned in his arms, placing her mouth over his as she jumped into his arms. "Thought you'd never ask." She said before she took his mouth in a searing kiss. Keeping their mouths connected, she felt him move towards the door, locking it, before carrying her to the connecting bathroom.
They helped each other undress as the water warmed, continuing to caress and kiss. Finally when they were naked, she pulled back the shower curtain and stepped inside. In his haste to join her, Finn knocked his shin into the shower ledge. Rachel helped him forget all about it as she kissed it, and several other things, all better. He had the best wife ever.
After the shower, they fell into bed to cuddle for a few before glancing at the clock. He groaned when he noticed the time. "C'mon. Mom probably has dinner ready and we should rescue them from Riley."
"You know they love it...but you're right," Rachel said with a sigh as she got dressed. "Wonder if she'll want us to tuck her in or your Mom."
"We'll see." He replied enjoying the view of her getting dressed until she tossed his shirt in his face, prompting him to get up and get ready as well.
When they went back down, everyone was at the table ready to eat. Dinner passed easily, everyone just taking time to catch up with each other. Retiring to the living room, Kurt and Rachel sat together and chatted while Riley played with Burt and Carole. Finn just flopped on the couch, thinking about his plans for tomorrow night until he heard Rachel say it was bedtime.
"Come on baby girl" Rachel said as she began to rise from the loveseat. "Time for bed."
"Can Grandma and Grandpa do it?" Riley asked.
"If they want to," Rachel replied with a smirk. She knew Burt and Carole would jump at the opportunity.
"Sure we do," Burt said swinging Riley up into his arms. "I want to hear more of her Flynquel story," he teased as he carried her up the stairs. Finn and Rachel just smiled at each other. It was good to be home.
The next day passed swiftly for all of them. They took Riley to the park and to Brittany's dance studio to let her fool around. They stopped for lunch at Rachel's dads and hung out there for a few hours. At dinner time, they headed back to Burt and Carole's to drop Riley off. Rachel still thought they were meeting Artie, Finn hoped she liked the surprise she was getting instead.
After kissing Riley goodnight and telling Carole to call if there were any problems, Finn led Rachel to the car again. He was excited and nervous all at once.
"So where are we meeting Artie? The school? I'm excited to see him." Rachel said as Finn backed out of the driveway. "Funny, Brittany didn't know we were seeing him tonight."
Finn cursed under his breath, trying to think of a quick lie. "Well you know, she seemed a little distracted today. Prepping for her recital and all. Probably just slipped her mind-you know how she is." He rambled on and stopped only when Rachel placed a hand on his arm.
"I know baby. It was just weird. You feeling ok? You're acting all funny-it's just Artie." She squeezed his hand as she spoke, trying to figure out what had him all worked up.
"I'm fine. Just excited to see Artie. He said he had a really cool presentation for us. I can't believe he's in charge of the AV club now." It was good in for Finn that Artie was head of that department, it meant Finn could get in without calling in a favor from Principal Schuester. Sure, he could have asked but it would have been awkward to explain he was taking his wife on a date back at the school.
Rachel smiled and turned on the radio, smiling when "Faithfully" came on. "Ironic huh?"
Finn just returned her smile and began to sing along. By the time the song ended they were in the parking lot of the school. Rachel didn't think much of it, after all Artie couldn't drive himself. He probably was just going to have them take him home after they watched his presentation. She took Finn's hand, swinging it with hers as they walked to the auditorium door. What did surprise her was that Finn had a key instead of knocking on the door.
"Finn? Where did you get that key?" She questioned him, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at him.
"Kurt picked it up, just in case Artie wasn't at the door for us." That part was true. Kurt had picked up the key and actually had taken the picnic basket, cd player and blanket Finn requested to the stage already. Kurt was so excited by this idea he had even suggested an embellishment with lights and flowers. Finn just hoped everything looked ok.
"Oh, ok. I wonder what he wants us to see so badly. Maybe he put together a video of all our old performances. Wouldn't that be fun?" Rachel said as Finn pulled her through the door, carefully locking it behind her.
"Sure that'd be great." He said as he walked her to the stage. "But I hope you like this even more." said He held his breath as he flipped a switch, illuminating the stage with the tiny Christmas lights Kurt had arranged.
Rachel put a hand to her mouth as the tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn't believe that he was recreating this moment. "Finny," she said with a watery sigh. "Why did you do this?"
"I just wanted to remind you how much I love you and always have. Plus, this part of the story has been bugging me since we told Riley." he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "So I just, well I just wanted to do this."
"It's beautiful Finn." she spoke softly with wonder as she crossed to the blanket. Noticing the basket she smiled. "Fruit and cheese and virgin cosmos?"
He came up behind her to rub her shoulders. "Well yeah, but the cosmos aren't virgin this time. I did find the cool airplane cups though."
She just laughed at the memory. Through her chuckle she looked at him and said, "You know, you can kiss me if you want to."
He leaned over, his mouth a whisper from hers as he replied, "I want to," and captured her smile with one of his own. He pulled back after a moment, "Care to dance?"
"Dance?" she was puzzled. They didn't dance their first time here, what exactly was he up to.
Sensing her thoughts he looked at her and smiled. "We never got to dance at that junior prom either…so I thought we could now." He crossed to the cd player and hit play. Coming back to her, he took her in his arms, holding her close as he sang the words to the song.
You're better than the best
I'm lucky just to linger in your light
Cooler than the flip-side of my pillow (that's right)
Completely unaware
Nothing can compare to where you send me
Let's me know that it's okay (yea, it's okay)
And the moments when my good times start to fade
You make me smile like the sun, fall outta bed
Sing like a bird,
Dizzy in my head
Spin like a record,
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like fool,
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold,
Buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
Rachel turned her cheek into his chest as he sang, allowing the tears to flow freely from her eyes. How did she get so lucky she wondered as he continued singing softly to her as they swayed.
Even when you're gone
Somehow you come along just like a flower pokin through the sidewalk crack
And just like that
You steal away the rain
And just like that
You make me smile like the sun, fall outta bed
Sing like a bird,
Dizzy in my head
Spin like a record,
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like fool,
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold,
Buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
He stopped their movements, tilting her face up to look at him as he sang the next lines. She always understood him better through song, and quite frankly he didn't know how he had never thought to sing this to her. It summed everything up just perfectly.
Don't know how I lived without you
'Cuz everytime that I get around you
I see the best of me inside your eyes
You make me smile
You make me dance like fool, Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, Buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
Smiling at her, he took her hand and spun her away from him before pulling her back in close, placing her head back on his chest near his heart as he finished murmuring the last lines into her hair.
You make me smile like the sun, fall outta bed
Sing like a bird,
Dizzy in my head
Spin like a record,
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like fool,
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold,
Buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
(Oh, you make me smile)
He lowered his lips to her as the song ended. Hopefully she understood what he was trying to say. Pulling back, he wiped the tears from her cheeks and forced her to look him in the eye.
"Rachel, I just, I just need you to know that from the first moment I saw your face I knew there would be brighter days ahead. I promise faithfully to never let our memories we share turn to dust. I just love you so much."
She cut off his rambling with a kiss as she pulled him down to the blanket on the floor. Dinner would wait.
Later, as she they fed each other fruit and drank their cosmos, she asked, "What brought all this on baby?"
Shrugging, he said, "I guess telling Riley you know? I'm finding out there were definitely parts of our story I didn't know. Like, where did Quinn slap you?"
"In the bathroom," Rachel said, placing her hand on her left cheek as if she still felt the impact.
He gently moved her hand and leaned over to kiss the spot as if he could make it better all these years later.
She closed her eyes to keep from crying again and said, "Thanks. I still can't believe you did all this for me."
"Rachel, look at me."He waited until she opened those beautiful eyes and focused on him. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you or for Riley. You're the best part of me."
She smiled, "I can't wait to tell her how we lived happily ever after."
"Me either. Wonder if she's driving Mom nuts with this story."
"I bet she's enjoying it. I know I do." She placed a kiss on his cheek before biting into anther berry. This was the best date ever.
Meanwhile, Carole was wiping tears of her own away listening to her little granddaughter talk about her parents so sweetly. She had just gotten to the part of Rachel writing a song for Finn before her voice became heavy with sleep.
"Grandma, do you know the story?" Riley questioned as she burrowed deep into her pillow.
"I do baby, but we'll let Mommy and Daddy finish it ok? It's time to sleep." She kissed Riley's forehead. "Night Princess."
"Night Grandma." She replied, closing her eyes and immediately dreaming of Flynn and Raquel and hoping for their happy ever after.
A/N: So again, I LOVE that song "Smile" by Uncle Kracker and would love to hear Finn sing it to her on the show. Hope the two scenes put in at the request of two very special people were enjoyed ;) There's still more Riley to come as we find out how Finn and Rachel wound up where they are today. Thanks so much for reading-and please feel free to review! :)