Baby Doll

I.

The first time she mentions children, they're at a wedding. He has his hands around her waist, hugging her tiny body from behind, and he's muttering things in her ear. She looks so gorgeous he suddenly forgot whose wedding it is.

Rachel tells him how much it reminds her the day they got married, when she became Ms. Hudson, he became complete and they became Finn and Rachel against the world. But it's always been Finn and Rachel, though: he met her when he was sixteen and his existence pretty much started revolving around her.

He comes back from his deep thoughts when she puts her hand on top of his and interlaces their fingers, gently rubbing their palms in her belly; she smiles up at him, blinking a couple of times.

"Thank you" She says, smiling sweetly. He can't help but frown.

"For what?" He asks, confused.

"For giving me everything." As soon as she replies, still giving him his favorite smile, he crouches to kiss her tenderly, holding her closer, if that's even possible.

They watch other couples on the dance floor, but they only have eyes for each other, so they don't even bother moving. Just staying there, in their little bubble, they were happy, their hands still coiled up together.

"Finn, dear?" Rachel asks, smiling up at him again, a slight of embarrassment on her face, her cheeks more rosy than ever. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything" Finn replies, faithful, without hesitating.

She bites her lip. "I want a baby." Her confession is quick, but it doesn't fail on making him skipping a heartbeat. "I really want one."

Finn's pretty sure his legs were pure goo right now, but he manages to half-smile and kisses her again before holding her chin up. "I love you" He tells her, because it's always good to let his beautiful wife know, and also, because he knows she's going to be a wonderful mom. "I want to have children with you, Rachel."

"You do?" She squeals a little bit, giggling. Her eyes are like sparkling and melted chocolate when she looks at him and she blushes. "Oh! This is such a joy! Oh my God, Finn, we should really… just…" She hesitates a little bit, turning around and tightening his tie. "I love you too. Let's just go home. I'll be right back." Before she leaves to say goodbye to their friends, she kisses him quickly, and he's sure he never loved anything like he loves her in his life.

He can't help but start thinking about their baby while he observes the love of his live talking to Kurt. Would it look like her? Would it have her eyes? Would it have her smile? He sincerely hopes it has her everything.

II.

It's actually ironic how it's hard getting pregnant. They do a lot of practicing – gladly so – and it's not like they have sex just because they want a baby. They love each other, so much, and it's getting frustrating listening to Rachel's cries on the bathroom every now and then, when she wakes up full of hope to take another pregnancy test and it always ends the same way: Rachel's body curled in his embrace, crying on his shoulder.

He knows they have time, though: they're both only twenty five.

But he doesn't like seeing his Rachel crying over anything, at all. When it's almost been a year since they talked about it, he thinks about suggesting going to a ladies doctor to try and figure it out what's her problem, but he hits himself mentally.

There's nothing wrong with her. She's Rachel. His Rachel. She's perfect.

He knows it's just a matter of time.

III.

When Rachel performs My Man at Funny Girl that night, she couldn't help but approaching the side of the stage which was closer to her husband on the audience; it was her last time on that stage and probably on that play. She'd miss it, for sure, which is why tears are streaming down her face: also, because she means every word of it.

Out of breath, she sings the last note, immediately being cheered by the audience, standing up and clapping hysterically. For two years exactly, she happily did that every single night, but that night it was even more special.

She accepts the microphone given to her by the rest of the cast and she starts speaking, not sure of what she's going to say.

"Oh, wow." Rachel says, feeling her hands shaking while tears kept falling from her eyes. "Standing here, two years after my audition, it's surreal." She breathes out. "I had my very first Broadway experience, and I loved every minute of it. The moments I shared with my colleagues, now my friends, will never be forgotten. I hope you're getting out of here tonight pleased, and I hope I entertained you. I have to thank you all."

Finn's holding a bouquet full of flowers for her behind his back so she wouldn't see it. She looked so beautiful, dressed in black and saying those brave words: but he isn't surprised at all. He always knew she would get this far.

"Also, I'd like to thank the production and all my friends from Glee club. Kurt, Santana, Mercedes… I'll never forget you, without you, I wouldn't be here today. Thank you for making me socially acceptable." Rachel held the microphone closer and the audience laughed. "And a special thanks to my man, my husband, my everything. I love you, Finn. I hope you know how much you mean to me."

She leaves the stage, still crying and he claps even stronger because she mentioned him and of course she would, but he's so proud of her he almost forgot to hurry to the back stages to give her the flowers.

Finn knocks on the door a couple of times and she shouts for him to get in. Hesitantly, he opens the door, seeing her bare foot, taking off her earrings and dropping the pigtail she'd done on her hair, he pretty and dark locks now falling on her shoulders. He closes the door and it all comes down to Nationals again: he's on a fancy tux, giving her flowers, and she's beautiful as always.

"These are for you" He smiles shyly and shows her the bouquet.

A huge grin spreads through her face and he doesn't have time to breathe, because Rachel throws herself at him, kneading the bouquet between them and putting her legs around his waist. She starts spreading kisses all over his face, stopping to kiss his lips deeply.

"I love you, I love you, I love you" Rachel whispered between kisses and took a deep breath.

"Well, I love you too" Finn wrapped his arms around her, gently tugging her hair. "You did so good, babe. Broadway won't be the same without you."

"Stop it, you" She giggles while he carries her over to the couch and sits, her legs still around his waist, head leaning on his chest.

Rachel looks up at him, her lips turning into the tiniest smile.

"What?" He chuckles, tugging her hair again.

"I…" She blushed, biting her lower lip. Her eyes get watery and she can't really say anything.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He frowns, cleaning the tears falling from her eyes, trying to take off the bouquet between them so he could hug her tighter. "You're sad because your leaving, Rach? Don't worry, you'll be back, and…"

"I'm not sad, silly." Rachel giggles, kissing the tip of his nose. "It's not about Broadway anymore. It's about you and me. That's way more important, and it's always been."

Though he knew he loved him more than Broadway, he couldn't help but half-smile.

"I've been thinking about this since two weeks ago." She tells him. "And I figured it would be better if I told you now. About a month ago I went to the doctor and just to be sure everything was okay with me, he asked for a blood test, the results came out and –

"Baby, are you sick?" The worst came to his mind, but it seems unlikely because she's smiling and she doesn't seem sick at all –

"No! Of course not!" Rachel exclaims. "I'm healthy as a horse, love. But the doctor also found out I'm pregnant, Finn."

She's knitting her eyebrows together and her face is all rosy but he can't really say anything. It's just been a year since they mentioned a baby and he kept himself quiet during this whole time just because he didn't want to hurt her again and now it's real and he's really going to be a father, his head is spinning and – whoa – he remembers she asked him to lock the car and he forgot but really? They're having a child together and it feels like it's been forever since he felt this kind of joy.

"I love you, Rachel." He tells her, hugging her tightly and tries to control his own tears. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." She replies and he feels her crying on his shoulder. "We're gonna be a family, Finn."

He nods, his heart beating faster as each second passes, because yeah they're going to be a real family and he knows he'll never get over it.

IV.

"The book says we should start talking or singing for her, Rach." Finn tells her, re-reading the phrases from the fifth pregnancy book he's reading that week. She's five months pregnant and it's been only a couple of hours since they got back from the doctor and he told them they were going to have a baby girl.

Now, they were surrounded by useless baby stuff he insisted they bought, including tons of baby clothes.

"And it also says her lungs are in development and –

Rachel cuts him off with a kiss, giggling when she pulls away. "You're so good to us, Finn." She petted his cheek with her thumb and he blushed. "And you can talk to her, if you want to."

That said, Rachel pulled up her blouse, revealing her swollen belly. Finn smiled, running a hand through it and gently leaning his ear in it, looking up at his wife.

"I don't know what to say." He whispered.

"I'll help you out, then." Rachel replied, taking his hand and placing on her baby bump next to hers. "Tell her about what you feel for her. You're her Daddy, after all."

Finn grinned, satisfied. He was really a father, even though their baby was still inside the womb. "Hey, baby girl." He spoke, hesitant. His fingers interlaced with Rachel's. "I want you to know I promise me and Mommy will find a beautiful name for you, and I'll never let her call you Barbra or Fanny –

Rachel frowned, but he saw she held back a laugh.

"Also, be good to Mommy, okay? She's amazing and I'm sure you'll love her just as much as I do."

They stood in silence for a few minutes, his head still leaning on Rachel's belly. Trying not to tear up, she turned off the lights and ran her hand through his hair countless times, snuggling into the pillows, wondering how come they got so lucky.

V.

"I can't believe she'll be here with us in a week." Rachel looks up at him, his hands caressing her baby bump. "Something we both created will be sleeping on the room just next to ours."

Right after Rachel completed her seventh month of pregnancy, they decided to buy a three-room house to raise their future family; Rachel and Kurt happily did the decoration and also, their baby girl's room.

Finn felt his heart beating faster. "Yeah" He muttered. "It's kind of surreal. But it's good, too. I can't wait to see her for the first time, and to bring her home –

Rachel giggles. "If she hears you talking this way, she'll be a Daddy's girl, for sure."

He grinned and they looked around the room: the baby's things were all over it, as for the crib, the white armchair they bought for Rachel to breastfeed more comfortably and the exchanger. The walls were painted in a tone of lilac, because they both agreed pink was too common.

For weeks straight, they tried to decide a proper name for their child, but they couldn't. Rachel and Kurt suggested tons of Broadway names but even his wife agreed none of them sounded right. When Rachel completed eight months of pregnancy, they finally came to the realization it'd be better if they waited until the birth day: 'When we see her' Rachel told him. 'We'll know which name defines her best.'

"Our life's changing for good now, isn't it?" She asked him, biting her lower lip.

"Yes" Finn replied, kissing the top of her head. "It's changing for good, and for the better."

Rachel nodded. "I know. I've always wanted to do this with you, you know." She blushed. "When Mercedes, Kurt, Brittany and Santana used to come for our sleepovers I always told them I wanted to marry you, and have kids with you. We would spend the night talking about how cute Finchel babies would be."

"I've always wanted this too." Finn replied, smiling at the sudden memories. "I used to think about our life here in New York and how would it be, so, our Finchel babies were always included on my plans." He tickled her neck gently and she giggled. "Who would've thought we would come this far, huh?"

"True" Rachel frowned, and the baby kicked a couple of times.

"Oops" Finn laughed. "I think we're boring her with our talk."

"Really?" Rachel's eyebrows rose. "Because I think she's just happy to have you as a father."

"Don't forget her awesome Mommy, though" He said and Rachel blushed as their baby girl kicked one more time.

VI.

As Kurt and Blaine suggested, Finn and Rachel decided throwing a New Year's Eve party at their new house. They didn't invite many guests, though: only Kurt and Blaine themselves, Brittany, Santana and Mercedes and Sam, who were still together.

It wasn't exactly a party, though. It was more of a dinner. Sitting at the dining room table, Santana and Brittany talked happily about their in vitro fertilization process and how it was effective: Brittany had just got pregnant and they were expecting their child for September.

Kurt and Blaine adopted a British baby boy two years before Rachel got pregnant: Ian Anderson looked strangely like Blaine, with his black curls and light brown eyes. Blaine and Kurt discussed about their son's talents in front of everybody: apparently, Ian didn't like the ballet classes at all.

Mercedes and Sam got married on the spring and Mercedes was graduating on Law while Sam tried to write a book.

Finn squeezed Rachel's hand under the table. It was good having their friends over, but he knew how tired his wife was: on her final week of pregnancy, her back hurt and she had heartburns every now and then; he was actually admired with Rachel's strength.

"So, I obviously told Ian he could play football, if he wanted to!" Blaine shrugged, exclaiming, as Kurt rolled his eyes. "I love football myself and –

"But ballet is cuter!" Kurt exclaimed and Santana burst into laughter, obviously enjoying the gay couple arguing. It was always like that, though. Blaine and Kurt were the soul of the parties and dinners. "And he's too young for football! He's only two!"

"Well, I think he could do both, unless he hates ballet –

Rachel couldn't finish her sentence. She felt her pants getting wet – really soaked – and she opened her mouth in surprise, a hand on her belly.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Finn looked at her with concern and nobody said a word.

"My water just broke."

VII.

There are tears streaming down her face and she's holding his hand but he still feels useless. The doctor tells her to keep pushing but when she turns her head to face him, her eyes are begging for a second to rest. It's still New Year's Eve and he sees how upset she is.

"That was good, Rachel" The doctor said and Finn kissed her hand. "I can see her head now. When I count to tree, push one last time."

"I can't" She cried. "I'm tired and I feel like I'm going to pass, so – I just – I just can't."

In a rush of adrenaline, Finn cups her face with his hands, quickly cleaning her tears with his thumb. "Rach, you're going to do this. You're Rachel Hudson. I believe in you. I'm here, right here, and I'm not going anywhere. I know you want to meet our baby girl, and so do I. Push one last time to get her out of there and I promise you can rest, okay? I love you." He kissed her forehead and looked deep into her eyes as she reluctantly nodded, taking a deep breath and pushing again.

"Please" She yelled, pushing hard as she opened her eyes again and the room were filled with a sweet – and yet, loud – cry.

Finn felt his legs turning into jelly while the nurses helped the doctor cleaning their daughter and cutting the umbilical cord. Man up, Hudson, he said to himself when the nurse handed him their baby, wrapped up in a pink blanket, her cries now lower.

He rocks her body gently and he can proudly say he's crying: she's the tiniest and most gorgeous thing he had ever seen in his entire life and he was already so in love with her. She has his hair, her mom's mouth and eyes and gosh, she's really beautiful.

"There you go, baby girl." He muttered between tears and handed her over to Rachel carefully.

Rachel sniffed. "She's so beautiful" With a shaking hand, she caressed the baby's cheek, using the back of her fingers. "We should name her Eve."

"Eve?" Finn asked, looking down at the baby, who only had eyes for her mother. "She looks like an Eve."

"She does" Rachel shook the baby's body gently. "Eve means life and I know how you wanted it to be a Jewish name. And also, she was born on New Year's Eve, after all."

He held back a chuckle; he wanted it to be a Jewish name after Rachel.

"You can choose her middle name" Rachel said, petting the baby's head, which was full of his dark hair. "I remember you said you wanted it to be Carole after your mom."

"Yeah" Finn nodded to himself, pressing a kiss on Rachel's temple.

Rachel smiled at him. "You were right, Finn." She said, nuzzling the baby's nose with hers. "Our life has changed for the better, certainly."

A few minutes later, they were forced to give little Eve to the nurse so they could weigh her and do the newborn exams.

"I'm so proud of you, Rachel" Finn leaned Rachel's head on his chest so she would finally rest and she hugged him tightly.

"Stay with me?" She looked up at him.

"Always" He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, so much."

"I love you, too."

VIII.

The next morning – January 1st – Rachel woke up to find herself lying on her hospital bed. She looked around the room, which was full of balloons and flowers: finally, she saw her baby girl sleeping in her hospital crib beside her bed.

Stretching her arms, Rachel felt a trace of pain in her lower abdomen, but the doctor had told her it would be normal after three long hours of labor. Falling into temptation, she put her hands gently under Eve's body and pulled her up to rest next to her chest and get her comfy within her arms. The baby kept sleeping peacefully. Rachel hesitantly caressed her cheek with the back of her fingers, gently rocking her body again as for her surprise, Eve yawned, slowly opening her eyes.

"I'm such a terrible Mommy already" Rachel whispered, biting her lower lip. "I woke you up, didn't I, baby girl?"

As if she was answering, Eve fixed her eyes on Rachel and did a happy baby noise, yawning again.

"Aren't you the cutest?" Rachel giggled, holding back the tears. It was only the second time she was holding baby Eve and she was completely attached to her, like she wouldn't let her daughter go for the world. "I love you" She caressed Eve's hair, admiring her beauty and behavior. Even though she hadn't spent even an hour with her daughter, Rachel could already tell she was calm. "Yes, you are." Rachel kissed Eve's tiny hand, which was holding her index finger. "You're the most precious thing and –

"Hey, good morning!" Rachel heard Finn's voice coming from the door. He closed it behind him, Eve's purple bag hanging on his shoulder and a change of clothes in his hands with his car keys. Rachel opened a huge smile, seeing the worry beneath his face. And how cute did he looked carrying their daughter's bag? He put the things he was carrying on the bedroom's counter and quickly approached Rachel's bed. "How do you feel, babe?"

"I feel amazing" She smiled sincerely at him. "Just a little sore, but she cancels everything out."

Rachel glanced at Eve and Finn nodded, half-smiling down at his daughter. "I stood up all night watching her sleep. I couldn't take my eyes off her." He petted Eve's tiny head with his hand and suddenly felt a giant.

"She's perfect" Rachel beamed. "She's everything I thought she would be and much more." She smiled, rocking Eve's body calmly. "And I couldn't have done this without you, Finn. Right now, I don't want Broadway or anything else. I just need you and our baby girl."

"You have us, Rachel." Finn gently crouched to place a long kiss on Rachel's lips. She welcomed his tongue, gladly so. After soaking in everything she could from him – after all, she hated sleeping without him by her side – Finn looked down at Eve again. "She looks like you. A lot."

"Yes" Rachel chuckled. "But little Eve certainly has your hair, and maybe your dimples, who knows?"

He wrapped one of his arms around Rachel and sited on the bed beside her slowly. He gently traced Eve's rosy lips with his fingertips. "Look, she has your mouth. It's like, identical to yours." Finn kissed Rachel's lips again. "And now, her eyes. They're a copy of yours. It's the same chocolate color from your gorgeous eyes which always drive me insane and make me love you even more." He kissed Rachel's closed eyes and she giggled, blushing.

"You're going to make me cry." She said, leaning her head on his chest. "Always in a good way, though. Do you want to hold her?"

"S-sure" He stammered while Rachel gently nestled Eve in his arms. The baby turned her head around, looking at Rachel again, her eyes fixed on her mom. "I think she prefers you, though."

"No, Finn. I'm her mom, but she loves you as well. Take your index finger like this" Rachel took his finger and put it gently on Eve's soft and tiny hand. "Now wait."

After a few seconds, Eve looked up at him, holding his finger tightly and doing a happy baby noise again.

"See?" Rachel asked, kissing his cheek. "She loves you."

He feels his heart beating really strong again and when he less expects it, a single tear rolls down his cheek, because yeah, Rachel is totally right. Her daughter did love him. He knows because Eve's staring at him with her chocolate eyes just the way Rachel did. And when Rachel looked at him, he'd always know she loved him.

"Are you ready to take her home?" Finn asked.

"Can we?" Rachel squealed.

"Of course we can." He replied, rocking Eve's body up and down slowly. "The nurse will be here soon to help you breastfeed her for the first time, they'll do a check up on you, I'll fill some paper work and then we can go. I brought Eve's bag and Kurt picked some comfortable clothes for you to wear. Her room's clean and ready."

Rachel let out a content sigh. "I'm glad. Let's prepare ourselves for longs sleepless nights, love." She laughed, kissing Finn's shoulder and looking at Eve.

"We'll survive" He winks for her and she nods, because yeah, they're Finn and Rachel. They've survived everything.

IX.

Almost everything, though.

"Is she crying again?" Rachel moaned, turning on the lights and glancing at the baby monitor.

"I'll get her" Finn replied, placing a lazy kiss on his wife's forehead before leaving their room towards Eve's.

He walked to the crib, smiling when he saw his daughter holding her white blanket, her cries beginning to end.

"What's wrong, Evie?" He asked, picking her up gently and nestling her in his arms, sitting on the white armchair and fighting the urge to close his eyes. It was the third time she woke up and it was only 2 a.m. "There's no need to cry. Daddy's here with you."

Eve soon stopped crying and her eyes began to close slowly. Finn yawned.

A couple of hours later, missing her husband, Rachel woke up to find Finn sleeping on the armchair, their tiny Hudson in his arms.

X.

"Can you say 'Mommy'?" Rachel asked Eve slowly.

The baby shook her head and Finn laughed, kissing the top of Rachel's head.

"Babe, let her play." He said. "You've been asking her the same question for about two hours."

"I know!" Rachel whined. "It's getting frustrating."

She got up from the TV room's floor, looking at Eve and pointing Finn at the same time. "Look, Evie. That handsome man over there is Daddy."

The baby giggled, clutching Finn's shirt as he picked her up, nuzzling his nose with hers.

"Daddy!" Eve squealed and Rachel opened her mouth in surprise as Finn gave his daughter a big kiss on the cheek.

"This is not fair!" Rachel crossed her arms, chuckling. "I told you she'd be a Daddy's girl." She smiled.

Finn just holds little Eve tighter, because he's pretty sure she loves him just as much as he does.

XI.

The first time she mentions a second round, they had just picked up a five-year old Eve from school. Their daughter had fallen asleep on the couch watching Tangled and he carried her up to bed; now he had his hands around Rachel's waist, hugging her tiny body from behind.

It's amazing how Eve turned out to look exactly like her mom; she was still a Daddy's girl, for sure, because she was one since inside the womb, but when it came to her looks, she was almost identical to Rachel. Her curled and dark brown hair was spread on her pillow, her tiny and skinny body dressed in a pink pajama and her chocolate eyes were still the same, which were closed.

"Can you believe it's been already five years, Finn?" Rachel looks up at him and he notices her eyes are watery. "It seems like it was yesterday when she measured the size of your hands!"

"It's true" He kissed her neck, feeling his heart twitch: it hurt seeing his baby girl growing up and he wasn't even going to think about the day he would have to let her go.

"I want another one" Rachel quickly confessed. "I really want another one."

He chuckled, feeling his legs turning to jelly all over again. "I love you, babe." He whispered, taking her mouth in a deep kiss. "And you know I want another baby, too."

"You do?" Rachel whispered, careful not to wake her daughter. "Oh! This is such a joy! Oh my God, Finn… We should really, just…" She kissed his chest. "Carry me to bed?"

She's biting her lip and she has her yoga pants on so he can't resist.

Actually, who said he could ever resist his Rachel?

a/n: This is my first Finchel fanfic! What do you think? Leave me your comments!