Hi all!

I know I recently started a new story, but I hit a major block with it and thought I would try a different idea for the time being. I'll probably make an attempt at the other story later on, but for now, I thought I would try my hand at a lighter story than the last one (especially considering the last story I completed!). This story is loosely based off of the movie Friends with Kids – which, if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do!

As always, feedback is much appreciated!

Rachel's never had much luck with neighbors in her building.

Sure, there had been that one time when she met the one blonde guy with the huge lips that helped her put her bed together (and then proceeded to come up with an extremely crude pick-up line regarding her and the need to 'break in' her new mattress), but other than that, she's always drawn the short stick and ended up with someone crazy.

And she's been called crazy before by other people she's shared apartment floors with, so she knows what the actual definition of the word is.

So when Finn had moved in, she was weary of getting to know him. There had been a part of her that was afraid of him being a serial killer or an avid collector of something crazy or a stalker of some random C-list celebrity, so on her walk to his apartment with her freshly-baked banana bread in tow, she went through a mental list of all of the great things that meeting a new person could entail. Besides, it couldn't have been that bad if he wasn't already blaring music she could hear through the floor.

Finn wasn't crazy, clearly. She thought he was hilarious and he thought that she was pretty and that her banana bread was delicious. They ended up bonding over the fact that they had both had nightmares for neighbors in buildings before and their love for Adam Sandler movies (even though Rachel had denied it at first).

She had finally gotten someone to live underneath her who was normal, the friendship just thrown in as an added bonus. She really couldn't have asked for more.

:.:.:

"Eaten alive by spiders or rats?"

Rachel looks at him with a scowl. "That's disgusting." She starts to laugh. "You're disgusting. You can't even be eaten alive by spiders."

"How do you even know that's true?" He looks at her and folds his arms over his chest, leaning back in the large booth in the back of the restaurant. "Anyway, answer. Spiders or rats?"

She contemplates the idea for a moment, fingers drumming against her wine glass. They've gone through difficult ones before, but this one's hard. Not the most disgusting one he's come up with, but if it could go on a shelf of 'worst would you rathers,' she would put it closer to the top.

"Are the spiders poisonous?"

"Yes."

She furrows her brow. "Do the rats have the plague?"

Finn looks at her, confused. "Wait, the plague – no, Rachel. They don't have the plague. What difference does it make?"

"Well, if the rats have the plague, it means that when they eat me, they'll leave the disease in my body. So if I'm living with someone, chances are that they'll get sick and die too."

Finn laughs. "You're not living with anyone, though."

"Alright, so I don't want my cat to get sick." Finn laughs. "Spiders, then, I guess."

She makes a face and Finn looks at her, a stupid smile stuck to his face. "Really?" He takes a sip from his beer. "Because spiders are disgusting, Rachel. Think of all of the little legs and pinchers all over your body…" He makes a face and tries to frighten her; waving his fingers at her across the booth. "At least rats are furry."

"That makes it worse!" She shrieks, lowering her voice down to a whisper. "Spiders. Just drop it. We're about to eat, Finn."

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, starting to dig into his pockets for his phone. "Kurt texted me ten minutes ago and said that they were on their way. I guess traffic's a bitch."

"Yeah," she says, staring down at her phone. She's reading the same message Kurt's sent Finn, a frown growing onto her face. She looks up at him; her stomach feeling like it's tying itself into a knot. "We should just start ordering. At least an appetizer or something. I'm starving."

The two of them look down at their menus and contemplate them for a while, Finn nudging her underneath the table.

"You're still going through that vegan phase, aren't you?" She rolls her eyes and puts the menu down.

"I don't think a phase is something you've been practicing for twelve years, but you can believe what you want to believe." She looks at him and laughs, taking a sip of her wine. "Oh, hey," she starts, setting her glass back down on the table. "Wasn't Sugar supposed to come with you tonight?" She crosses her legs underneath the table. "I mean, that's what Quinn told me over the phone."

She watches as Finn blushes and starts playing nervously with his beer. "Yeah, well, she was supposed to come, but, you know, she just didn't… it's not really…"

"You broke up with her, didn't you?" She scoffs and starts to laugh. "Finn, that's what, the third girl in the past three months?" She shakes her head. "That's crazy."

"Yeah, but you met this one, Rachel. She wasn't what I was looking for."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "None of them are ever what you're looking for." She looks up from her wine glass for a moment and sees Kurt and Blaine walking through the crowds of people and rows of tables in front of them, offering them a wave from their booth.

Kurt smiles and they both sit down in the long, wraparound booth that Finn and Rachel have saved for them, scooting in on Finn's side.

"Hi," Kurt says, panting heavily. "Sorry we're late. Traffic was ridiculous."

"Oh, it's nothing," Rachel tells him, reaching for his hands across the table. "We're just glad you guys showed up."

"Yeah, really. Rachel was pretty hungry though. She'd eat the table if it were 'vegan friendly' enough." Finn looks at her, adding in air quotes where necessary. Kurt and Blaine start to laugh and she rolls her eyes, kicking him across the table.

"Whatever," she says, picking up her menu again. "We're all here for the most part, so why don't we just order?" She flubs her lips as her eyes scan over the menu. "I mean, who knows if Puck and Quinn are even going to show up-"

"Oh, they're already here." Blaine starts to laugh, unfolding his napkin in his lap. "They've been here for the past twenty minutes."

Finn looks at Kurt and they both start laughing while Rachel shoots each of them a confused look. "Wait, what do you-"

"Are they doing that again?" Kurt leans across the table and grabs Finn's beer, taking a sip. "Oh, my God, I can't believe either of them."

Rachel's still confused. "What?"

Finn starts laughing as he looks at her. "Rachel, they're in the bathroom and they've been-"

He's cut off by Puck and Quinn walking out to their booth, holding hands and looking more like they're stumbling over than walking in a straight path. Rachel looks at Finn and he makes an obscene hand gesture, causing her to kick him underneath the table.

"Hi!" Quinn beams, fixing her hair that's mussed in the back. "Sorry we're late." Rachel smiles and wraps an arm around Quinn as she slides into the booth next to her, Puck flanking her on the opposite side. She looks at Puck and puts a hand on his shoulder, scrunching her nose as she gives him a smile. Rachel's always been fascinated by the dynamics of Puck and Quinn's relationship. "Traffic, right?" The blonde leans in to Rachel and gives her a peck on the cheek. "Great to see you!"

Finn continues to give Rachel the same glare and she rolls her eyes at him before giving Quinn the same smile she had given her earlier. They all exchange pleasantries and waiter passes by them, Kurt flagging him down to order drinks for the rest of the table.

"I see you've already gotten started," Puck notes, looking at Finn and Rachel. "Is your job stressing you out that much, Rach?" She sighs and takes another sip of wine.

"No," she says, sticking her tongue out at him slightly. "At least I'm not going to have a beer gut by the time I'm thirty."

They all laugh at the table and Kurt and Blaine light up, looking across the table at Rachel with big, bright smiles. "How's everything going with work anyway, Rachel?" Blaine folds his hands together on the table and leans over towards her, Kurt grabbing onto his arm. "I saw you guys on the Today show the other morning, and it was amazing."

"Things are going great," she says, taking another sip of wine. "The show's doing great, and I've lost five pounds, too, so there's that." Quinn laughs and pokes her in the side.

"You don't even need to lose five pounds, Rachel. You look great." They laugh and their waiter comes back with their drink orders. "Speaking of looking great, Kurt, Blaine, you two are simply glowing." Quinn takes a sip of her drink and giggles slightly. "Have you said anything yet?"

Rachel and Finn exchange glances and laugh for a moment, looking over at Kurt and Blaine. They're both smiling; looking like they're hiding a secret that neither of them can bother hiding anymore.

"Our adoption papers went through," Kurt exclaims, bursting with excitement. "We're going to have a baby by the end of the summer."

Finn watches Rachel as her eyes go wide, but his do the exact same. "Oh, my God, Kurt, that's great!" She grabs him by the hand and squeezes it from across the table, Quinn looking over to Puck and exchanging a smile with him. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Oh, we just wanted it to be a surprise," Blaine says, looking at Kurt.

"We knew," Quinn says. "And we were going to tell you guys, Rach, but we just figured that it would be smarter for Kurt and Blaine to do it themselves, and-"

"No, that's great! I mean, I don't know who else I would rather hear it from, so that's great. Just great." Rachel raises her wine glass above them and smiles. "To Kurt and Blaine, the best future parents ever!" The rest of them at the table raise their glasses and toast the two of them, Finn taking a longer sip from his beer than anyone else at the table.

Rachel looks at him for a moment, giving him a knowing glance.

"So, who's hungry?"

:.:.:

Two years later

Finn expects phone calls past ten at night. There's always the occasional one from his mom or Kurt's dad from time to time, but by the time the hands on the clock reached ten and twelve, he knows that it's safe to say that his phone won't be ringing at all until the morning.

That is, of course, with the exception of Rachel.

His phone lights up on his nightstand and buzzes at a volume that he's sure isn't hardly as loud as he truly thinks it would be if he felt like he was fully conscious.

The picture on the caller ID says it all, he thinks.

"What?"

"I totally forgot that it's your birthday tomorrow," she says, voice sounding frantic. He can hear background noise behind her; deciding that she's out shopping. "What was it that you wanted?"

He sits up in bed and rubs his eyes, yawning. "You know, I've heard – and it's just a theory, but I've heard that birthday presents are supposed to be surprises."

"I know, I know," she says. She's standing in the middle of a Target, hands trying to find a way to manage her phone, purse and bag all at the same time. "It's just that we didn't have to go out after the show tonight, and I got to Target right before they closed, so I'm not going to waste a trip. That, and it's too late to be creative." A woman in a red polo and khakis walks past the aisle she's standing in and shoots her a look, causing Rachel to start giggling into the phone. "And now the woman who let me in is stalking me like she's going to kill me Buffalo Bill style, so I'd appreciate it if you'd just tell me what it was you wanted."

Finn laughs and sits upright in his bed, sighing. "A blonde, big boobs, long legs, and single. Bonus points if she's French."

Rachel laughs dryly. "Yeah, I was shooting for something I could buy without being arrested for soliciting a prostitute, but you know, you were creative, so I have to give you props for that one."

"No one's given anyone 'props' since the late nineties."

They both laugh and Finn groans. "A toaster oven."

She smiles and peels out of the aisle she's standing in. "Done."

:.:.:

They've all changed a lot in two years. And not just in a normal way that you would expect someone in their twenties to change in that they've thinned out a bit and have become more established at their job and start making more money. They've all changed.

Blaine and Kurt's adoption pulls through and they have a beautiful little girl from England, which Finn's expressed his feelings about Rachel on multiple occasions. He claims that when you adopt a kid that they're supposed to come from China, because that's where everyone's adopted kid comes from, but Rachel tells him that he should just shut up and not say anything about it. At least he's not asking why the baby isn't born addicted to tea and crumpets and has a British accent even though she's three.

Puck and Quinn got pregnant a year ago, and have a beautiful baby girl. All anyone talks about anymore are their kids, and how they need to schedule their lives around their kids and how 'Finn and Rachel don't get it because they're just successful and haven't gotten married and had kids yet.'

And part of it is true, anyway. Finn and Rachel don't have kids and they've both worked on their jobs for the past two years.

"I just think that we should call them first," Rachel says, holding Finn's unwrapped gift in her lap. "I mean, last time we went over, they were busy with Charlotte, and I just don't want to run into that whole problem again."

Finn laughs and looks back at Rachel after looking out the window of the subway. "Yeah, but we're already showing up twenty minutes late. It's not like they have ten kids or anything. We'll be fine."

"I know, I just… I worry about it sometimes. Like, last time, when Kurt got upset, I just…" She sighs and drums her fingers against the toaster oven box in her lap. "It totally sucks."

They sit there for a while without saying anything, Rachel kicking her feet against the floor. "I mean, you know, look at it this way: we don't have kids, and we turned out perfectly fine." Rachel turns her head to look at Finn and nods along slowly. "Sure, we don't have kids to look after and raise, or whatever, but we can go out for drinks whenever we want, and you can do your eight shows a week, and I get to date whoever I want."

Rachel reasons with him in her head for a moment, contemplating the idea. "It's just… I want a kid, eventually. They seem so happy with their kids, and I want that. It's just the whole dating thing that I have to get over first."

Finn looks down at her. "What about that guy on your floor? The blonde one?" Rachel starts laughing at him.

"No," she says plainly. "He's a womanizer, Finn. I'm not about to go into that kind of relationship with someone."

They look at one another and she sighs, fingers still drumming against the box that holds his birthday present. Finn waits for a moment before saying anything and turns away from her, sighing.

"When was the last time you went out on a date, Rachel?"

She lets the question roll around in her head for a moment before answering him. She tips her head up and looks at him meekly. "A month ago."

He looks back at her knowingly. "But when was the last time you had sex?"

Her mouth falls open and she swats him on the arm. "We're on a subway, Finn."

"When was the last time?"

She knows that he thinks this is just a big game, and she doesn't appreciate how he thinks that this is funny and entertaining to embarrass her like this. By now, she thinks that she would be accustomed to handling situations like this with him, but she hasn't. Every time Finn brings up something regarding her sex life or how her life in the dating world is extremely lacking (more than she'd like, if she's being completely honest with herself), her face turns bright red and she starts giggling like she's gone crazy.

She sighs and her eyes fall shut, knowing that she has to tell him. If she doesn't, he'll just keep on badgering her all night until she does.

"Six months."

"Wow," he says, giving her mock applause. She pushes at his hands and makes a face. "Congrats, Rachel."

She hates him. She doesn't know why they're best friends.

:.:.:

By the time that they show up at the door of Kurt and Blaine's apartment, they realize that walking around the building one more time or taking the longer subway route would have been a better idea that what they're doing.

Kurt answers the door frantically, offering both Finn and Rachel a strained smile as he lets them in. "Hi," he says, panting and catching his breath. "We're… we're almost ready."

Rachel looks over Kurt's shoulder and notices a worn-down Blaine with Charlotte in his arms, seeming to be making a fuss about something that she can't see.

"Shit, Kurt, are we too early, or-"

"No, we're fine," Kurt says, letting Finn and Rachel inside. "Charlotte's just having an episode that she thought would be perfect to have right before you guys came over." Rachel smiles and places the box down by the doorway to free her arms so she can wrap Kurt in a hug. He slowly softens up and smiles, hugging her back. "Great to see you, though. You got out of your show tonight?" Rachel nods.

"Well, it's Monday, so I didn't have one, and I figured that I would come anyway." She smiles and turns to face Finn, grabbing the bottle of wine from his hands. "We brought this for you," she says, presenting Kurt with it. "It's not the best, but it's something, and we-"

"Oh, you didn't have to," Kurt says, taking the wine and walking into the kitchen with them following behind. "Happy birthday, by the way, Finn."

"Yeah, thanks," Finn says, eyes following Blaine around the living room as he tries to silence Charlotte. "Hey, um, do you need any help with her, man?"

"No, I think she's fine, she just needs to be put down for bed." Kurt looks over his shoulder at Blaine for a moment, looking at him with an upset expression on his face. "Why isn't she in bed yet?"

"She won't settle down," Blaine says, his voice strained. "I've tried everything, Kurt, and she won't fall asleep."

Finn and Rachel walk further into the kitchen as Kurt walks back over to Blaine, laughing slightly. "Why don't you sing to her?" Finn asks, elbowing Rachel in the side. She rolls her eyes and laughs slightly, opening up the door to the refrigerator.

"I don't think they'd be happy if I stepped in and tried to become the mom to their kid, Finn." They stand next to one another, the comically tall next to the impossibly small, eyeing the freshly prepared salad and burgers ready to be put on the grill (Rachel's veggie burger sitting on its own plate, of course), along with the coveted raspberry cheesecake waiting to be cut into sitting on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, a collection of candles sticking out of it. "Besides, I'm not a mom. I'd probably make an excellent one, but I'm not a mom. For now, I'm really good at taking Charlotte to the zoo and giving her tours around backstage when shows are over. If they handed her to me with a dirty diaper, I wouldn't know what to do."

Finn laughs and looks down at her before pulling the bowl of fruit salad out of the fridge, removing the plastic wrap that covers it neatly. "Geez, it was just a suggestion. Who are you, the parent police?"

Before she can respond, Kurt's rushing back towards them in the kitchen, waving his hands all over the place and insisting that they stop doing what they're doing because 'they're fine, and they don't need any help.'

"Nonsense," Rachel tell him, reaching in for the platter of hamburgers and setting it on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "We're happy to help, Kurt. Promise."

The next twenty minutes are a jumble of Kurt and Rachel working in the kitchen to make sure that everything looks as perfect as it can be (they're all just friends, after all) while Finn sits on the couch and pages through the channels on the TV, claiming that he doesn't need to help because he doesn't get cable on his own TV and that it's his birthday, to which Kurt and Rachel roll their eyes and ignore. Blaine eventually comes around the corner of the apartment, treading lightly as he looks at the group in the kitchen.

"She's asleep," he says, his voice caught in a whisper and a look of confidence on his face. "We should be able to talk at a regular volume in about twenty minutes, but she's asleep." Kurt smiles and Rachel follows suit, Blaine turning to face Finn on the couch.

"Oh, and, um, happy birthday, man. How old are you turning again?"

Finn cranes his neck up to look back at Blaine from the couch. "Twenty eight," he says, the words looking like they strike a chord with him. Kurt and Rachel share a glance and start laughing at his expense.

"It's not like we're turning thirty," Kurt reminds him. "Well, I mean, you only have two years left, but at least Rachel and I aren't turning thirty any time soon." Rachel smiles and picks up the bowl of fruit salad and brings it to the table. She sets it down and pops a strawberry into her mouth before looking at Finn on the couch.

"Just think, you've already passed the halfway mark until you turn fifty. You still have a lot of years left."

"So have you!" Finn retorts, standing up and turning the TV off before walking into the kitchen. "What did you do with the wine you brought?" Kurt gestures towards the refrigerator and Finn makes his way towards it. Before he can make it to the kitchen, however, the doorbell rings.

And it rings again.

And again.

"Puck and Quinn are here," Blaine says matter-of-factly, walking towards the door. Kurt makes a face and looks at Blaine quickly before he turns the corner to the door, putting on a smile before he turns the corner.

Rachel looks over at Kurt, her voice low. "What's up with that?"

"Oh, they've just been… different lately, that's all." She tips her head to the side. "And not in a completely horrible way, they're just not… they're not really the same anymore. It's not the end of the world, really. It just gets frustrating after a while."

He looks like he's about to fume when the sound of a crying baby enters the room.

"Sorry," Quinn says, carrying the baby carrier in her hands, a screaming red baby inside, neatly wrapped in a pink blanket. "Our sitter flaked out on us."

"Oh, it's nothing," Blaine assures them, ushering them inside and closing the door behind them. "Believe me, we've had nights where we don't have anyone to watch Charlotte, and it's horrible." They walk inside and Puck walks in behind her, a tired look on his face.

"Yeah, we would normally ask Finn or Rachel, but, you know." He walks over to Finn and wraps his arm around him, bringing him close. "Happy birthday, man."

Finn thanks him and they all try to talk over the sound of the screaming baby, Puck eventually stopping everyone by raising his voice over the crowd.

"Quinn, why don't you take care of the baby, hmm?" Finn and Rachel watch as Quinn looks up at Puck from the baby's face, glaring at him angrily.

"She's hungry."

"Well, would it kill you to feed her?"

"Maybe you should feed her."

The room falls silent as the tension in the room builds and Puck takes the baby from Quinn's arms, making his way through the apartment towards a spare room, door shutting behind it. Kurt and Rachel look at Quinn, who just shakes her head, putting on a forced smile.

"It's fine," she assures them, pushing her hair back into the messy bun it's in at the nape of her neck. "We're just tired, that's all." She starts to laugh. "She's been like that all night."

Rachel smiles and walks over to Quinn to wrap her in an embrace. "Well, dinner's almost ready," she says sweetly. "I can get the wine out, and-"

"Oh, it's fine," she says, shaking her head. "I said that I wasn't going to drink tonight, just because… well, just because." The blonde turns over her shoulder and looks at Finn with a tight smile on her face. "Happy birthday, Finn!"

Finn smiles and walks into Quinn for an embrace, hugging her tightly. "Yeah, thanks."

"Hey, weren't you supposed to bring a girl tonight?" She pauses for a moment, racking her brain for the correct name. "Chelsea, or Chandler, or something…"

"No," he says, voice curt. "I mean, I was, I just-"

"He broke up with another girl before their six week anniversary again," Rachel pipes from the kitchen.

Quinn puts her hands on her hips and makes a face. "You're a catch, Finn. And, I mean, I know that sounds cheesy, but there are lots of girls who I'm sure would love to date you. We live in New York. Isn't that like, the single capital of America?"

"I think she's making that up," Kurt tells Rachel under his breath. She giggles.

"Anyway, I have this friend from work, and she's just perfect for you, and I can give her your number if you'd like. I think you'd really like her."

Finn just shakes his head and smiles.

He doesn't need another reminder about how he's still single. He's already at a birthday party with his four best married friends, anyway.

:.:.:

The night wears on and it starts out really, really well – the wine that Rachel's brought is actually really good despite the price she's paid for it, and the food is delicious and the company is fine for the most part. Around an hour and a half into everything, Beth starts to cry again and Puck and Quinn decide to leave, already in an argument before they're out the door.

And then, Kurt falls asleep on the couch before they can even light the candles on Finn's cake, leaving just Blaine and Rachel to sing for him, and it turns into a really bleak and depressing affair.

At least he's not thirty yet, Finn thinks.

"I still can't believe you've never seen Driving Miss Daisy," Rachel says, walking back into the living room of her apartment with a bowl of popcorn and the beers she'd promised. "I mean, it's a classic, Finn. Jessica Tandy, Patti LuPone…"

"I forgot that the guy that plays the driver is Morgan Freeman," he says, setting the case of the VHS back down on Rachel's coffee table. "That's pretty awesome."

Rachel smiles and finds her place on the couch next to him. They decided after leaving Blaine and Kurt's around nine-thirty that they would retreat back to her apartment for a beer (and a movie after Rachel had discovered on the subway that Finn had never seen Driving Miss Daisy). She laughs and pops a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"God, did you see Puck and Quinn tonight?"

"I thought we were going to watch a movie?"

Finn gives her a knowing look. "You know that whenever we start to watch a movie, we just end up talking through the entire thing." Rachel scowls. "Just think of it like a commentary."

"A commentary pertains to the film in question, Finn. Not our friends."

He gives her a look before reaching for the remote on the coffee table. "There. The volume's down. We can talk."

"But you haven't even seen-"

"I can watch it on Netflix," he says. "You can't tell me that you didn't think that Puck and Quinn were acting weird tonight.

Rachel sighs and tucks her feet underneath her. "Their babysitter crapped out on them, Finn. You can't be mad at them for something like that."

"I'm not mad; I'm just saying that they were on edge the entire night. That's all." He laughs. "I mean, I love both of them, but every time I see them, it just makes me glad that I don't have kids."

Rachel looks down into her lap and starts to play with the hem of her shorts. "I don't see what's so bad about kids," she says, her voice soft.

"I thought you didn't want kids."

"I didn't," she says. "I mean, I didn't at first, just because I wanted my career to take off. I have a career now." Finn laughs. "And, I wouldn't mind if I could have a baby."

"This sounds like a confession," Finn says excitedly. "Go on, Rach. This is fun."

Rachel rolls her eyes and laughs bitterly. "I wouldn't mind being a mom," she says. "I mean, I told you tonight, I think I would make a good one if I had to be. I just don't have… the mean to have a kid."

Finn sighs and looks at Rachel, a half smile on his face. "Well, I mean, it's not like you were crazy and just chose to get pregnant from the last guy you dated." She smiles and looks up at him. "Because, you know, some girls do that." He takes a swig of his beer. "Can't you just adopt a kid?"

She shakes her head. "Adoption is nearly impossible when you're a single woman in her twenties with a job that keeps you busy every night except for Mondays."

"Well, look at it this way," he says, taking a sip of beer. "If you have a kid, it means that nine times out of ten, you're married or you have a life partner or whatever. Chances are that relationship was awesome before the kid, right? Like, sex every night, no going in the shower together just because it's 'convenient,' being able to shave your legs because you don't have to worry about going to PTA meetings, okay? Well, once you have a kid, that entire thing you've got going with another person goes to shit." Rachel nearly chokes on her beer and shoots him a look.

"That is not true."

"Oh yeah? Look at Puck and Quinn, Rach. They used to fuck-"

"Don't call it that."

"Okay, they used to have sex in the bathrooms of airplanes, Rachel. Fucking airplanes. You don't get to do that once you're married with a kid."

Rachel turns to face him, a confused look on her face. "So, you're saying that it would be easier to just have a kid, without being married or anything?"

"Yeah," he says, the idea stirring in his head. "That way, you can have the kid, and you can spend the rest of your life trying to find the right person you want to spend the rest of your life with."

Rachel looks at him laughing, mouth agape. "You can do that, you know. It's called having a bastard."

"Okay, why don't you get out of your time machine from 1902, okay?" She laughs and looks at the TV. "Just hear me out on this. You find someone smart, almost like a surrogate type thing, to have your kid, because that way you know that they're the perfect person to have a kid with. Then, you both have a happy kid, and you're free to go find someone else to spend the rest of your life with."

"Okay," she says, getting up on her knees and turning to face him. "So that would make us ideal candidates to have a kid together, then." She watches his face as she surprises him. "If I use your logic, anyway."

"Fine," he says, setting his beer down on the coffee table. "Let's have a kid together."

Rachel looks at him suspiciously, furrowing her brow.

"I'm totally kidding."

She swats at his chest and leans back down on the couch, taking a sip of her beer. "Just watch the movie," she says, rolling her eyes.

:.:.:

Rachel gets woken up by her phone buzzing on her nightstand around midnight, rattling her awake and causing her hand to absently grab for it in the dark.

It's Finn, naturally.

"Hello?"

She can hear him sigh on the other end, building to up to what he's about to say.

"What if I wasn't kidding?"