July

Finn walked through the park with one hand around Mercedes' shoulders and the other pulling the cooler behind them. His parents and the rest of New Directions followed with blankets, guitars, and Frisbees as they looked for a good spot to watch the fireworks later that evening. They settled on spot not far from where Finn and Mercedes had flown the kite that day a few months earlier and he thought it was a nice coincidence.

They began to spread out their blankets in a group, letting Kurt and Blaine and Brittany and Santana take the middle of the pack so they would be more comfortable in the crowd. Honestly, when Santana had come out he'd felt relieved, maybe their lack of a good time hadn't been all his fault. He was kind of hoping to test that theory out with Mercedes someday, but neither one of them was ready for that anytime soon. Still, just because they were taking things slow didn't mean they'd stopped moving forward all together. The feeling of her hands on his skin was one of his new favorite things, and he was starting to feel much more comfortable with his body's reactions.

The group of soon-to-be-seniors passed the day playing football and having an impromptu jam session before their picnic dinner. It hardly felt like the whole day had gone by when it was time for the fireworks to start. Finn sat up on their blanket and Mercedes sat between his legs, leaning back against his chest with his arms looped around her shoulders. They watched the night light up in comfortable silence, impressed that Lima had actually managed to put on a pretty good show. When the grand finale began and the entire sky above them was filled with color Finn leaned forward and laced his fingers into hers, "Mercedes, I love you." He watched, his nervousness fading when her face lit up and she moved so her cheek was pressed against his, "I love you too."

September

Finn had figured that the start of a new school year would bring a lot of changes and he wasn't wrong. With input from Coach Bieste and recommendations from Shelby Corcoran the school had hired a woman named Ally Riordan to coach New Directions. She had previously coached the Portland Scale Blazers, one of the teams that had also qualified for the showcase round at Nationals. She was stricter than what they were used to, but now that they had seen what the kind of hardcore preparation they had done for Nationals would get them they were more than happy to do the work. They still found time for their spur of the moment song and dance numbers.

Ms. Riordan was a firm believer in auditions for solo spots and everybody but Rachel was totally on board with that. Finn had found himself with a lot less time in the spotlight, especially since Blaine had transferred to McKinley, but he wasn't complaining. He'd had an extra session with Doctor McKenna when he'd gotten a little freaked out about why he'd gotten so many solos before, but they'd talked through it and he went back to only seeing her every month or so.

Finn also started taking Spanish again, Senora Phillips was a pretty good teacher and she had no problem helping Finn catch up on the little bit he'd missed at the end of last year. The classroom had been swapped with the freshman English teacher's so Finn didn't have to go in Schue's old room.

It was midway through the month, a couple months before Finn's 18th birthday when he came home for Friday night dinner to find the good dishes and a real table cloth on the table. He tried for a minute to remember if it was a special occasion, it wasn't his birthday or Kurt's, and he knew his parents' anniversary was closer to Sectionals than this. He found his mom in the kitchen stirring something on the stove.

"What's going on mom?" He tried to stick his finger in the white sauce she was cooking so he could taste it, but got whacked with the spoon instead.

"Hands to yourself, Finn. We'll be eating soon enough. Burt and I wanted to have a special family dinner. There's something we want to talk to you boys about," she said.

Finn was a little worried about what could be such a big deal they had to talk about it like this, and he'd never been too good at hiding his feelings. His mom could tell he was upset.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It's a good thing, or Burt and I think so anyway."

Oh, well, it was a family thing that she and Burt were happy about then it was probably something cool like a new car, or a vacation, or …. oh, god. Finn very nervously looked at his mom, trying to tell if she looked any different. He didn't think so, but he wasn't always too quick to notice stuff, still he didn't think she'd been sick like Quinn had. Finn knew his mom though, and if she said they would tell them at dinner than there was no point asking before that. He'd just have to wait it out.

Finn headed out to the couch and flipped on ESPN, he wondered if he should text Kurt and give him a heads up, but decided they could wait until after their parents told them what was going on.

Before long Burt and Kurt got home and they finally went in the dining room to eat. Finn was kind of happy that Kurt looked just as surprised at the fancy table and everything as he had. They didn't talk about anything other than their days while they ate, but once his mom had cleared the dessert plates she sat down again and reached over to hold Burt's hand.

"Boys, I know you've been wondering what we wanted to talk to you about tonight. It's something Burt and I have talked about since we started getting serious, but it never seemed like the right time to talk to you about it. I know it might seem a little unusual since you both are nearly adults, but we it just feels right."

Finn is pretty sure he has it figured out at this point. He's not quite sure how he feels about it, but he figures whatever makes his mom happy is pretty cool by him. He tunes back in quickly when Burt picks up where his mom left off.

"I think we are all agreed by now that this family is together for good. Sometimes things can get complicated though, and we don't want to worry about how things would go if something happened to me or Carole. So, what we are trying to say is that if it's okay with you two Carole would like to legally adopt Kurt and I would like to legally adopt Finn."

Finn just sat there, he wasn't sure what all this actually meant. His mom was talking again though, "You don't have to decide tonight, and you don't both have to make the same decision. We just wanted to put it out there and see if it was something you boys would want, " she said.

"Wait, so Burt didn't knock you up?" Finn was pretty sure this was one of those times when his mouth worked faster than his brain.

As soon as the words left his mouth there was a second of silence before Burt sprayed a mouthful of coffee across his plate in shock and Kurt dropped his fork right in the middle of his pasta and stared at his father with a horrified expression.

His mom on the other hand was shaking her head, and he could tell she was trying not to laugh, "No honey, is that what you thought we were going to tell you boys tonight?"

Finn shrugged, ever since the whole Quinn thing his brain tended to go there first. Hell, as a straight teenage boy it's always lurking in the back of his mind, even if he's not actually having sex at the moment.

"It's not like you're that old mom, you just turned forty," he said, feeling like he needed to prove it wasn't such a stupid idea.

"Oh, good grief. Finn, I'm going to have nightmares about spit up and diapers now, " Kurt said before turning to his father, "do we need to have a talk? I can get some pamphlets."

"Yeah," Finn adds, "Maybe they have something about how to forget that your parents have sex. Now I need that one pretty bad."

Burt looks more amused than anything, "I think we're getting off topic, but for the record your mother and I decided that we are perfectly willing to wait for grandchildren before we're back on diaper duty. Notice we said wait."

Finn puts his hands up, it's not like he's in a rush. Kurt just snorts and Finn watches his mom turn on him with her sweetest smile, "Don't think we're letting you off the hook. That ex-girlfriend of Finn's has two dads and I expect grand-babies from both my sons."

Kurt might pretend he doesn't like children, but Blaine was more that happy to tell Finn how Kurt spent an entire afternoon playing tea-party and dress up with his four-year-old niece. He figures Kurt would probably be a pretty good dad since he got to learn from Burt and all.

Finn figured it was probably a good time to get back to the original thing they were talking about so he asked the first question, "If Burt adopts me do I have to change my name?"

"No kiddo, not unless you want to. You should be proud of having your dad's name. I would be honored though if you'd like to add Hummel as a middle name, " Burt explained.

He thought about that for a minute, Finn Christopher Hummel Hudson. Actually that was pretty cool. "Yeah, I'd like that. I mean, what you said before is true. This is already a done deal, you being my dad and all. This is just the legal crap."
His mom smiled at him from across the table, "Kurt, do you have any questions? You can take some time to think about it if you want."

"Finn is right, we've been a family for a while. This is just paperwork. You'll excuse me if don't add a name, I will likely end up hyphenating one day and Kurt Elizabeth .."

"Ethan, " Burt says under his breath.

"Hummel- Ander... er, whatever, is already a mouthful. There is something I've been thinking about and now seems like a good time to bring it up. You know I just don't feel right calling Carole "mom"," Kurt said.

His mom nodded, "Yes, sweetie. I understand, I really do."

Kurt smiled at her, "I was wondering though, if you were okay with me calling you mere?"

Finn was pretty sure his mom was going to be really happy about this no matter what language Kurt wanted to use. He was right, she'd already picked up her napkin and was dabbing at her eyes. Everyone at the table was looking about as emotional as Finn felt.

"Oh, Kurt. I'm so much more than okay with it," she said and got up and went over to Kurt's chair to give him a hug. Finn nodded to his dad and they both got up and joined in the hug, feeling more like a family than ever.

Later, after they'd finished dessert and made an appointment with a lawyer to take care of the paperwork Finn took out his phone and texted Mercedes.

Finn:
Hey beautiful. Sorry we couldn't do something tonight. Family dinner.

Mercedes:
No problem. I have that English essay anyhow. What's up?

Finn:
Our parents want to adopt us legally.

Finn:
That sounded weird. Burt wants to adopt me and mom wants to adopt Kurt.

Mercedes:
Oh, are you happy?

Finn:
It's just paperwork, he's already my dad in every way that matters. So yeah, :-D.

Mercedes:
Is Kurt okay? I know it's different for him.

Finn:
He's good, he's decided he wants to call her mere. I think he's her favorite now.

Mercedes:
Oh, sweetie. I hate to break it to you. He's been her favorite for a long time. ;-)

Finn:
Luckily I have my wonderful girlfriend to help me get through it. Are we still on for apple picking with Mike and Tina and Kurt and Blaine tomorrow?

Mercedes:
You better believe it. I can't wait to see your brother's idea of farm clothes.

Finn:
I miss you. I'm hoping we all have the same idea about splitting up for a little couples' time.

Mercedes:
I'd like that. A lot.

Finn:
I didn't mean that we had to do anything. I don't know. Damn.

Mercedes:
None of that. When we are both ready to do more we will. Hopefully Mike and Tina won't get caught doing anything that gets us thrown out from yet another date place.

Finn:
No kidding. The planetarium incident was kind of embarrassing. We'll have to keep an eye on them until after the cider and donuts at least. Kurt promised me cider and donuts.

Mercedes:
I'll help. I'm a pretty big fan of donuts myself.

Finn:
Just one of the many reasons I love you.

Mercedes:
I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow.

Finn:
Sweet dreams.