Time for the epilogue! A short, sweet ending to this fic :)
Thank you to Gillian Deverone for beta'ing
Enjoy!
"Guys, come on!" he hollers through the seemingly empty house, taking long strides down the hallway while he checks his watch, then groans, "We need to go." Just as he's nearing the door for his and Rachel's room, a hyper three year old bounces out, running straight into him. He smiles at the sight of his youngest in a little suit, his bow tie not yet tied and hanging from his neck. He clutches the soft blue baby blanket in his hands, refusing to give it to Finn when tries to gently pry take it from him. When he doesn't, Finn then focuses on the bow tie again. "Caleb," he bends down on one knee, beginning to tie it gently. "You can't keep untying this." When the boy frowns, he gives him a knowing look. "Anyway, what were you running from?"
As Caleb begins to speak, Finn hoists him up and onto his side with ease. "Scary Mama," Caleb whispers in his ear, eyes slightly wide.
Finn pulls a face. "Oh great, Scary Mama is back, huh?"
"I heard that!"
"Scary Mama indeed," he mumbles to himself as he carries Caleb into the master bedroom, the boy squirming in his grasp to get away from Rachel, who is struggling to get Oliver into his own suit. For some reason their four year old has a huge aversion to wearing clothes, but you can't be naked at a wedding, so he's going to have to deal with it for the night.
At the sight of him, Rachel pulls a face, almost glaring his way. Finn rolls his eyes, before slipping Caleb down onto the bed and switching to Oliver, so that Rachel can have the less strenuous job of putting Caleb's shoes on and, being eight months pregnant, it comes as a relief.
He manages to get one of Oliver's arms through the sleeves, saying to Rachel, "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."
"No, we're not," she counters testily – she'd been in a bad mood ever since she woke up, despite it being a pretty huge day for Kurt and Blaine. But between swollen feet, backache and a constant need to pee, he supposes she has a reason to not be her chipper self.
Still, that doesn't stop him from making things worse, "Rach, it'll take us ages to get the kids in the car, and then you're gonna want to go to the bathroom every five minut – "
"It's not my fault that I'm pregnant, is it?" She glares at him, pushing a little too hard as she places the last shoe on Caleb, and softly apologizing to her son.
"Well, it takes two to tango, Rach."
If looks could kill…
Once setting Caleb on his feet and telling him to join Jon in the living room, she manages to get herself up off the bed and storms to the bathroom. Finn, leaving Oliver half dressed, rushes after her. "It's not like I don't have a point Rachel," he says, "you wanted a girl, so we tried for another baby, and..."
"And now I'm carrying two of your giant babies around." She doesn't even look him in the eye, instead starts to add the finishing touches to her makeup.
His hand gently rests on her large baby bump, hopefully trying, "At least they're both girls."
"Finn, do me a favor and stop talking."
He is so thankful that this is the last time she's ever going to be pregnant. Don't get him wrong, he totally loves seeing her with her cute bump and feeling the babies kick is most definitely the coolest thing ever, but her mood can do a full turn in a matter of seconds and she'll be shouting at him for the most pointless of things. Like, last week she started crying because he put the couch cushions in the wrong order, and then the other week someone had eaten all the peanut butter and she threw the empty jar at him. Pregnant women are scary, especially with twins. It's twice as bad.
But like he'd said, she wanted this baby, too. Though he'd be happy and content with their three boys, they both decided that they'd try one more time for a girl, seeing as Rachel so desperately wanted one – and he really liked the idea of a little girl to call his own. So when the doctor had told them that they were expecting a girl – two of them- they were over the moon. That is until Rachel realized that carrying twins was going to be much harder work than with the boys, especially on her tiny body.
Still, in spite of how much she complains and shouts at him, saying that "he did this to her", he knows that she's happy to be having their two little girls.
Two little girls. The thought makes him smile. They'll complete their family, a family that he's so thankful to have.
Without Rachel, he could still be stuck in his old ways, the very ways that make him feel awful as he remembers them and the lows he's been to. She just makes everything better, a little brighter.
So, in spite of her pretty crappy mood, he swoops down and kisses her cheek, mumbling, "I love you," against her skin.
"Finn, my makeup! Now I'm going to have to start all over again," she announces, a soft groan of annoyance escaping her lips. Then she notices the look on his face, and immediately stops in her actions. Unable to stop the smile from growing on her lips, she stands on tiptoes and presses her lips against his sweetly. "I love you too." Finn tries to deepen the kiss, hands gently cradling her baby bump, when he feels flutters of movement beneath his fingertips.
She shifts uncomfortably at the feel of the babies' movement, while he stares down in awe.
Rachel places a finger beneath his chin, lifting his gaze up to meet hers. "Go and get the boys ready before we're late." She smiles as he kisses her, then her bump, and rushes out to gather up his sons.
He finds them all on the couch, transfixed by the TV, and rolls his eyes at Oliver who is doing so though still half dressed. Once he forces the boy into some suitable clothes, that Kurt had preapproved for him, he does the usual bathroom run and makes them all comb their hair so their appearance is smartened.
"Well, don't I have a group of handsome boys?" he hears Rachel's voice behind him, turning to her.
His smile grows, and he kisses her before he even thinks about it. "You look beautiful."
She blushes, instinctively moving to straighten his tie, then she moves along to the boys. Jonathan frowns when she insists upon combing his hair again for him, as he'd done it wrong, but the eight year old grits his teeth and puts up with it, glad when she focuses her attention to his younger brothers.
Soon they're packed up in the car and on their way to the Hummel-Anderson wedding.
"I still can't believe it took you ten years to finally get married," Rachel says to Kurt, shaking her head in disbelief.
He rolls his eyes, having heard this line over and over again. "Sorry that we don't rush into things like a certain couple I know."
She gasps, looking to Finn for backup. "We do not rush into things, do we Finn?"
Finn shifts uncomfortably when all eyes are on him, hoisting a sleeping Caleb up further against his chest, "Well, we were together for only a few months before we were gonna get married the first time, and then it only took one month after that to be married for real..."
He knows he's said wrong when she lets out a little hmmf and moves back to their table, where she drops herself on the seat. "Good luck," Kurt chuckles when Finn starts to go after her.
"Yeah," he replies, feeling like he's gonna need it, "congrats by the way, I'm happy for you both. " They smile in return, Blaine clamping a hand on his back, and he can hear Kurt saying to Blaine that he's glad neither of them have to be pregnant when they have a baby, and that the hormones are making Rachel crazier than usual. He'd disagree, but it's kind of true, not that he'd ever tell her that.
He finds her miserably drinking at her ice water, before he sits in the seat beside her. Caleb is easily slipped into the chair by him, and Finn relaxes, long legs stretching out by hers.
She huffs, "Get your legs off my side of the table."
Rather than say anything, he chuckles and lifts her feet into his lap, before slipping off her shoes and starting to give her a foot rub. The look of pleasure that passes across her face makes him laugh. "That good?"
Rachel closes her eyes, nodding. "Thanks baby."
Everything seems calm until they hear the running of small feet, and suddenly Oliver and Jon are beside them, squirming to get behind Finn and hide. They're hiding their hands behind their backs, a mischievous glint in their eyes.
"What're you two doing?" Finn frowns at them.
"Nothing, dad," they chant in unison.
The parents each glance at each other, knowing that their tone only means trouble. "Boys," Rachel begins sternly, and the pair look at their feet, guilty expression sewn on their faces. As usual, their defences seem to crack under her intense gaze, and Oliver is the first to snitch.
"It was Jon's idea."
His older brother glares, "No, it wasn't. It was yours, stupid."
"Hey," Finn interjects, "don't call your brother stupid. Now, what are you talking about?"
But neither get a chance to answer as a fuming Kurt appears, pointing at Finn. "Your sons have ruined everything!" Behind him, the two shrink further down, using Finn's height to their advantage as he ultimately becomes their hiding place. Finn frowns, staring around at the room, where the celebration goes on uninterrupted. Kurt rolls his eyes at the gormless look on his face.
He asks carefully, "What have they done?"
"What have they done?" he screeches, "they took a huge handful of the cake, each, and starting eating it, and then when I caught them, they put it back and ran off to you." His narrow gaze meets the two boys once more, "and now there's no wedding cake, because it's covered in their Hudson germs!"
"What's wrong with Hudson germs?" Finn asks defensively, while Rachel sits and sniggers at how ridiculous the whole situation is.
Kurt shakes his head, eyes ablaze. "That doesn't matter. What does matter is that I now have no cake to cut with Blaine, and I very well might be responsible for the murder of two children." Oliver and Jon cower further, as though that will save them from Kurt's wrath.
Thankfully, Blaine appears to calm Kurt down and Burt goes to find a small, replacement cake for the half eaten one, which Rachel can't stop herself laughing at once she sees, much to Kurt's annoyance. "You can tell that they're your kids, can't you?" She looks up to Finn, who chuckles too and nods proudly.
By the time the night is drawing to an end, they sneak in one last dance while their two youngest are sitting with Carole, and Jon has somehow managed to snag a dance with one of Blaine's cousin's, and he's staring up at the fourteen year old in awe.
When he points it out to Rachel, she lets out a small chuckle, resting her head against his chest. "We make cute kids, huh?"
"Cute? Rach, they're adorable!"
Her smile grows, even more so when he litters her hairline with a series of sweet kisses. "You know," she says, eyes on Kurt and Blaine who are dancing in a similar way to them, "we sort of have Kurt to thank for a lot, and Quinn too."
Finn peers down at her. "Is that so?"
"Yes," she begins, "without them, we never would have met properly, and I would have spent all my life thinking that you were some useless, selfish star, like so many others."
"Gee, thanks," he pretends to be offended.
Laughing, she smacks at his chest. "But, because of them, we met, and I realized that you're this amazing, talented person, and someone that I love so, so much." Finn smiles, his arms tightening around her, and pushing her further into him, his hands sliding down to her butt. "Finn, the babies." She says when he puts more pressure to her stomach.
"They're not even born yet and they're already cockblocking," he mumbles.
She shakes her head at him, and it's not long before she's complaining that her feet hurt. While she gets the boys ready to go, he mulls over her words, thinking if they would have ever ended up together if they hadn't fake dated first. It's all so strange, trying to imagine his life without Rachel, but she's been such a permanent fixture that losing her would be like losing an arm or something.
He shakes his head, joining her and the boys. On the way out, he spies Kurt again, just about to go up to his suite with Blaine, but he manages to stop him, pulling his brother in for a hug and mumbling a, "thank you," into his ear. Mildly drunk and eager to leave, Kurt brushes it off, while Finn stands there, gaze moving down to meet Rachel's. She smiles as if knowing exactly what he's thanking him for.
THE END
So thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read this story, and I hope you've enjoyed it :)
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