Chapter 6: Never Letting You Go
For the rest of the day Rachel has told the guys all about Ashley. She's thrown them her baby sonograms pictures, blanket, birth certificate, and so on. She's shown them a dozen albums of Ashley growing up. Finn was surprised that Rachel didn't push her on acting, singing, and dancing classes.
He laughs. "She is nothing like you."
"She's nothing like you either." Rachel says.
"Are you sure she's our child?" Finn asks laughing. Kurt laughs as well. "She is so definitely your child."
"Thank you Kurt." Rachel smiles at Kurt but smirks at Finn.
"I'm kidding. She's lovely. I'm growing to love her already." Finn says.
"Would you like to keep a picture of her? This is her from last year's Hanukah.." Rachel says giving Finn a picture of their daughter.
"She's so beautiful. I'm proud." Finn smiles.
"I'd like you to meet her. You too, Kurt." Rachel finally suggested.
"We'd love to meet her." Finn smiles. He hugs Rachel. "When can we?"
"How about this weekend? You can call me or text me but I don't want her to see you yet."
Finn and Kurt nod. "Sure."
Rachel smiles. "How can you not be so angry with me?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Finn asked.
"I kept our daughter away from you. You should hate me." Rachel says quietly.
Kurt stood up. "I'm going to leave to do some stuff. See you guys." He rushes out of the house so Finn and Rachel can talk. Finn tells her to come closer and sits her down on his lap.
"I could never hate you. You mean the world to me." Finn says. He strokes Rachel's long brunette curls. "I will always be here for you and our daughter." He wants to press his lips against her but he could tell that she isn't comfortable. "I can't wait to meet her. I want to get to know her."
"You have to promise me that you won't tell her who you are. Please, Finn?"
"Of course." Finn sighs. He hated this. He wants his little girl to know who he is. He knows they had this conversation before but Rachel never gave them a full answer with specific details "Has she ever asked about her daddy?"
Rachel shook her head. "Never.' she whispers. "Finn? I'm so sorry." She apologizes for what seems to be the millionth time.
"Don't apologize." Finn says. He rubs her back. "Could you tell me more about her?"
She smiles. "She's very intelligent. She loves whenever I sing.. She sings but hums most of the time. She'll only sing around me and her granddaddies. I already mentioned that to Kurt. I wish you could hear her voice. She's the sweetest."
"Does she wear animal print sweaters?" Finn laughs.
She playfully hits him. "Finn!" She cries.
"Does she put gold stars by her name?" Finn asked.
He saw Rachel pouting. "Why are you being so mean?" She asked seriously.
"Rachel, I'm joking! I didn't mean to make you upset." He continues rubbing her back. "You know I can't take jokes seriously."
"I know, I'm sorry if I offended you. That's not going to happen anymore." Finn says. He stares at Rachel. Rachel stares back. She knows that stare. It was the kind of stare they shared before pressing their lips against each other. Finn tried making the move so his lips pressed against her's. Rachel continues to stare at him. "Finn?" She says but he kisses him back. Their kisses became passionate but then Rachel felt her body shaking. "Did I do something?" Finn asked.
"I, uh-would you like some tea?" Rachel asked. She quickly makes her way to the kitchen. Finn stood up. He knew why she rushed off like that after the kiss they shared.
It was a long awaiting kiss.
Finn sighs. "Rachel? We have to talk about this. What did you feel when you kissed me?" He asked.
She stood still and stood quietly. She wasn't sure what she felt when Finn rubbed her back or when they shared their kiss or kisses.
"Talk to me, Rachel." Finn says. "I need to know."
"I never kissed anyone when you set me free. You are the father of my daughter and it always felt wrong when any college guy tried to approach me. I couldn't say that I had a daughter..." She began. She pauses while looking down on the ground. "I felt love when I kissed you. I felt that I could be happy again; I would no longer let out loud sobs. I'm just afraid, so very afraid if things don't turn out well, you'll leave. You'll leave me..." She was not going to cry.
Not now. She couldn't. Things were slowly working out well for them. Finn walks towards his way to Rachel. "I'm going to make a promise to you." He began. He places a hand on her chin making sure she was looking at him. "I'm happy we told each other everything. Like I said, I'm happy that you're back. You gave me a beautiful daughter and I could never turn my back on you or her. I said we are starting over for good...I mean it." He puts his hands around her waist. "I love you. I've never stopped loving you."
Great! I'm crying again! These tears never stop. I have snot running down my nose. How could he love me like this? Now it's my turn. You know what he wants to hear from you!
"I love you so much." She said the exact same way she told him nine-years ago. She was in tears but they were happy tears. Finn hugs her and she cries onto his chest.
They stayed like that for a while both thinking the same thing.
They were never letting go of each other.
Ever.