Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys! I really can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all your support. There are so many amazing Finchel fics out there, and the fact that you guys like mine means a lot to me. My other fic should be started soon. And for those of you who want drama, there will be some in upcoming chapters! I hope you enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue.
Chapter 33: Summer Fun
When Rachel had first found out that she was pregnant, she was naturally excited, but at the same time, she was nervous. The last time she was pregnant, they'd gotten excited, but they'd lost their baby.
Luckily this time around, the baby seemed to be developing properly. The doctor's appointments so far had gone well, and Rachel's casting directors had been very flexible. However, in mid June, about halfway through her pregnancy, Rachel did step down from her role, simply because she was starting to show, and her character was not supposed to be pregnant. She would miss being on that stage, but at the same time, she was glad to get more time with Finn and Allie.
Quinn and Brittany were both doing well with their pregnancies as well. When Rachel, Quinn and Brittany got together, they exchanged stories about their cravings and morning sickness. Santana took notes on what they said, since she would be the birth mother for the next baby for her, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine. They'd all admitted that they hoped the babies would all be the same gender. The biggest surprise, which they found out after Brittany's first doctor's appointment, was that Brittany would be having twins.
Rachel, Finn and Allie would be going to DC this summer. However, the day before the family left for vacation, Rachel had one more doctor's appointment - and this would be the one where she found out the gender.
"Hi Finn, hi Rachel," the doctor said as the couple came in.
"Hi," Finn said.
"This baby's still been doing better than the last one?" the doctor asked as Rachel got on the examination table.
Rachel nodded, feeling so thankful that this pregnancy had been working out. "Two of my best friends are pregnant, too, and I haven't had any experiences too different from theirs."
"Okay," the doctor said, applying gel on Rachel's stomach. "Are you two interested in finding out the gender today?"
"We are!" Finn said.
The doctor scanned Rachel's stomach before taking a closer look. "Does Allie have a preference?"
"She would like a sister, but she's really excited about just getting a sibling," Finn said.
The doctor looked at them. "Well, she'll be happy. You're getting another girl!"
"I'm going to be really outnumbered!" Finn laughed.
"Our dog is a boy!" Rachel laughed. "And I have a feeling our third child will be a boy."
"You haven't even given birth to her and you're already making plans for our next one?" Finn asked.
Rachel looked embarrassed. "Yeah." She was hoping she and Finn would have a bigger than average family.
"Well, I do want to have three or four kids, too," Finn said.
"Would you two like pictures of your daughter?" the doctor asked.
"I'd love that," Rachel said.
x
Finn and Rachel had the photos of their next daughter in hand, and now they were headed to Kurt and Blaine's apartment, ready to show Allie the photos of her little sister. Blaine let them in, and Rachel saw Allie giving Bryan a bottle on the couch as Kurt looked on.
"Where are Santana and Brittany?" Rachel asked.
"Brittany wanted some fries, so they went to McDonald's," Kurt said.
"Too bad they aren't here to see the photo of our daughter," Finn smirked.
Allie jumped up. "I'm getting a sister?"
"Yes you are!" Finn said, hugging his daughter.
"Yay!" Allie said.
"I want to see the pictures of my goddaughter!" Blaine said.
"Of course you can," Rachel said, reaching into her purse. She handed the photos to Blaine as Kurt looked on.
"I can't believe we're all really getting more kids!" Kurt said.
"It's so exciting!" Rachel said. "May I hold my godson?"
"Of course you can!" Blaine said, handing his son to Rachel. "I bet he's excited to be a big brother. Well, as excited as you can be when you're ten months old."
"Have the four of you picked out godparents for the twins yet?" Finn asked. "Well, you can't get any better than who you picked for Bryan, but..."
"We have," Kurt said. "Puck and Quinn for one, Sam and Mercedes for the other."
"They'll be great godparents," Rachel said. "Just like Blaine and Santana will be for this little girl."
"I'm so excited for all these babies!" Allie said.
x
The day after the scan, Finn, Rachel and Allie left for DC. They decided to take their vacation earlier in the summer this year since it might be too hard for Rachel to travel when she got further into her pregnancy. When the family got on the train, Allie immediately turned to her parents. "Mommy, Daddy?"
"What is it, princess?" Finn asked.
"What's my sister's name going to be?"
Finn was stumped. Even though he and Rachel had begun looking at baby clothes, toys and furniture, they hadn't started talking about names yet. "You know, we should talk about that," Finn said.
"Can I help?" Allie asked.
Rachel smiled at her daughter. "Of course you can."
"You remember the no Broadway names rule, right?" Finn asked his wife.
"Of course I do," Rachel said. "And I hope you remember the no Drizzle type names rule."
"Yes, I do," Finn said. Rachel just wouldn't let him forget about Drizzle. "So, any names you like?"
"We should name her Mia!" Allie said.
"Wouldn't that get a little too confusing?" Finn asked. "With your friend Mia?"
"I guess so," Allie admitted. "I like the name Haley, too."
"That is a pretty name, but then her first and last name would both start with H and that would be a little weird," Rachel said. "Any other ideas?"
"I do have the baby name book," Finn said.
"Okay, let's look at it," Rachel said as she and Finn scanned the pages, looking for names. Several names were rejected by one person or another.
"Well - what about Caylie?" Rachel suggested.
"Caylie, yeah, I like that," Finn said.
"So do I," Allie said.
"You named our daughter!" Finn said to Rachel.
x
The train ride to DC wasn't bad. The family had made it before, since Burt was in the Senate now, but up until now, they didn't think Allie would be old enough to really appreciate the historical significance of the city. She had learned some basics of the states this year in school and that DC was the capital, so Finn and Rachel thought it would be fun to take her to see some of the historical buildings.
As the family got off the train, Allie pointed at a white building they saw. "Is that the White House?"
"No, Allie, that's the treasury building," Finn said.
"I want to see the White House!" Allie protested.
"We'll be going to see it later!" Rachel said. Little did Allie know, they'd gotten tickets for a White House tour through Burt. Tours were VERY restricted these days, but Burt had managed to get them one.
The family went to their hotel, the Hyatt near Capitol Hill. Rachel was tired from the train ride, so she wanted to rest before they went sight seeing. As Rachel lay down on the bed, Allie came over. "Mommy, is Caylie asleep right now?"
"She's moving around a little," Rachel said.
Allie's face lit up. "Can I feel?"
"Of course you can," Rachel said.
Allie put her hand on her mom's baby bump. "Hi Caylie. I'm Allie. I'm your big sister."
Rachel smiled at Finn. They knew Allie would be such a great big sister.
x
After resting at the hotel for a little, Finn and Rachel decided to take Allie for a tour of the monuments. She could see the Washington Monument from their window ("it's so tall!") but they wanted her to get to see it close up.
As the family approached the monument, Allie's jaw immediately dropped. "It's even bigger in person!"
"It is!" Finn said. "Would you like to go on top of it?"
"I can?" Allie asked excitedly.
"You can!" Finn told his daughter.
"Let's do it!" Allie said.
"You two can go," Rachel said. "I don't think walking up all those steps would be good for me."
"I want you to come with us, Mommy!" Allie protested.
"Yeah, Mommy should come with us!" Finn said.
"I'm sure you two will have fun without me," Rachel said.
"Okay," Allie pouted. Rachel would have liked to have gone with her husband and daughter, but she thought that it might be too hard on her and her unborn daughter. The wait for Finn and Allie was pretty long though. Shortly after they left, she felt Caylie moving around in her stomach, and she smiled at the reminder that she wasn't alone.
Finally, Finn and Allie came up to her. "Mommy, we could see all of DC from the top!" Allie said excitedly. "I think I could even see New York!"
Rachel and Finn exchanged a smile. "That's great, honey!" Rachel said. "Let's go to another one now."
"Okay!" Allie said.
The next monument for them was the Jefferson Memorial. Allie's first observation was that it was smaller than the Washington one, but when they went inside, she recognized Jefferson as "the guy from the nickel."
After the Jefferson Memorial, the family went to the Lincoln Memorial. Allie proudly showed Finn and Rachel what a good reader she'd become by reading the Gettysburg Address to them.
The last place on their tour was the World War II Memorial. When they arrived, Allie immediately said it was her favorite so far. Finn and Rachel challenged Allie to find the New York pillar, and Allie found it without much trouble, so they took a picture of her by it. But Allie wanted the whole family in the photo of them in front of the pillar for their home state, so Finn asked another tourist to take one.
x
The next day would be the tour Finn and Rachel were most excited to take Allie on - the White House. They hadn't told her that they were going to be going inside the White House, she thought that they were just going to see it.
"This is the White House?" Allie asked excitedly when they stopped in front of it.
"This is it," Finn said.
"Wow!" Allie said. "It's even prettier than in the photos."
"It is, isn't it?" Rachel said. "Come on, Allie. We don't want to be late for our tour."
"We're getting a tour of the White House?" Allie asked with excitement.
"We are!" Finn said.
"That's so cool!" Allie said as the family got in line. Luckily, Allie was not difficult about going through the security checks. When their tour guide came to meet them, Finn, Rachel, Allie and the rest of the group were led to the East Room. "This reminds me of the rooms my aunts and uncles have their weddings in," Allie whispered to Finn.
"There have been weddings here!" Finn whispered back.
"Wow!" Allie said as the tour guide led them to three parlors: the Blue Room, the Green Room and the Red Room. Allie commented on how pretty all the furniture in those was, and how she wished they could have furniture like that in their apartment.
Finn and Rachel were both under the impression that the last room on their tour would be the State Dining Room (Allie tried to count how many people that table sat) but the tour guide took them through some halls, pointing out some libraries.
"Where are we going?" Finn whispered to Rachel.
"No idea," Rachel whispered back.
Finally, the tour guide stopped. "This is the Oval Office that we're about to come into, it's where the president works."
Allie looked at her parents. "Wow!"
"We didn't know we were going to see it," Finn said.
"Really?" Allie asked.
"Yes really!" Finn said.
The tour guide opened the door to the Oval Office and led the group in. Finn's jaw practically dropped when he saw who was in there.
"The president's having a slow day at work, so he wanted to meet you guys," the tour guide said.
"I'm going to meet the president?" Allie asked.
"Looks like you are!" Rachel said. She and Finn couldn't believe this amazing opportunity their daughter was having.
The president moved up and down the line, signing tour books and taking photos with the other people on the tour. Finally, he stopped at Finn, Rachel and Allie. "Hello!" he said. "What's your name?"
"I'm Allie," Allie said. "I'm five and this is my mommy and daddy!"
"Were you surprised when you found out that you were coming to the White House?" the president asked Allie.
"Oh, yes!" Allie said. "My teacher said you're the boss of the whole country!"
"You could say that," the president said. "Where are you from, Allie?"
"I live in New York," Allie said.
"New York's really nice," the president said.
"Yeah, we love it there," Rachel said.
"My wife's been on Broadway!" Finn said, not resisting the urge to squeeze in a brag about Rachel.
"Really?" the president asked. "What show?"
"Phantom of the Opera," Rachel said. "Before that I was in Annie."
"My wife took the kids to see Annie about a year ago," the president said. "Were you in it back then?"
"Yes she was!" Finn said. He couldn't believe that the First Lady had seen Rachel on Broadway.
"They loved the show," the president said. "Now, would you guys like me to sign your programs and take a picture?"
"We'd love that," Rachel said.
x
"I can't believe we met the president!" Allie said as the family ate dinner at the National Zoo later that day.
"We weren't expecting that at all!" Finn said.
"Are you sure?" Allie asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," Finn said.
"I'm going to show the photos and our signed program to my teacher and my friends when I go back to school!" Allie said.
"Oh, we'll be showing our friends too, trust me," Rachel said.
"I like DC," Allie said. "Not as much as New York, of course, but they have lots of cool buildings here."
"They do, don't they?" Finn asked.
"Yeah!" Allie said. Vacations with their daughter were always fun.
Chapter 34 preview: Rachel and Allie have an upsetting experience right before Ryder and Marley's wedding. Will they be able to tell Finn about it?