And so we come to the conclusion of Teacher's Pet. I can't believe it is over now! Thank you everyone for reading and all your kind reviews, favorites, alerts, etc. on this story. It's been a joy to write, most of the time, and I'm thrilled by the response to it. Again, thank you so much! Enjoy!

"I can't believe Miss Michaels is in rehab. I mean, yeah, everyone made fun of her horrible jokes, but that's no reason to go to insane and try to throw a kid out a third story window," Santana commented as she and Rachel walked down the hall to their English class. There were only a few months left before junior year would end and their teacher couldn't seem to handle the pressure.

"It could have something to do with the fact she is bipolar and was self-medicating with hard drugs and alcohol instead of real medicine. The woman needs help and I'm glad she's finally getting it. It does suck about the timing though." Rachel shook her head in pity for the woman. "I wonder who they're going to get to fill in for her…" Her query was answered as soon as she walked into the classroom.

Sitting at Miss Michaels' desk was a younger man staring at the computer screen as he pursed his lips, eyebrows dipped in thought. There was no way he was older than 24 or 25 and honestly, he was the hottest man Rachel had ever seen…besides Jesse of course because he was her boyfriend and she shouldn't be thinking that way about men who weren't her boyfriend and were her teacher.

Rachel couldn't stop herself from staring however. He was very cute with his messy hair and freckles. When the bell rang and he finally tore his eyes from the computer screen, he looked around the room for a moment before standing. Rachel's eyes widened when she saw how tall he was. The man was huge.

He cleared his throat. "Uh…good morning class," he greeted. The class didn't respond. "Good morning class!" he said again with more enthusiasm this time. Everyone said hello half-heartedly then he continued speaking. "As you know, Miss Michaels has unfortunately been forced to leave due to health reasons so at least until the end of the school year, I will be her replacement. My name is Finn Hudson. You all can call me Mr. Hudson. According to the most recent lesson plans of Miss Michaels' that I could find you were working on Macbeth is that correct?" He got a few confirming nods. "Well, we'll continue with that, but for today we'll just get to know each other. So I'm going to take attendance and when I call your name, just tell me a little about yourself. We'll go with three facts. I'll start. Like I said, my name's Finn Hudson. I'm a percussionist, I played quarterback for both my high school and college football teams, and I love Journey."

Rachel was hanging on his every word as he spoke. His voice was beautiful and she loved the way his mouth moved and his smile and dimples and his eyes were doing things to her she had never experienced before.

"…Berry, Rachel," he called, looking around the room. Had he already called Artie?

"Here!" she announced loudly, raising her hand to draw attention to herself. When Finn looked at her their eyes met and she could swear she saw his pupils dilate before they flickered back down to the attendance sheet.

He looked back up at her with his gorgeous amber eyes and smiled. She melted inside. "So, Rachel, what are three things you can tell us about you?"

She sat up straighter and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well, I am a future Broadway star – you'll be seeing me in Funny Girl, Evita and Oklahoma! – and Barbra Streisand is my idol. I also always put a gold star after I sign my name because it's a metaphor and metaphors are important and my gold stars are a metaphor for me being a star." She earned a few snickers from others in the class at her enthusiasm about her love for gold stars but thoroughly ignored them. The majority of students at McKinley were beneath her and she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her.

Finn's eyes were wide as he just stared at her, something she couldn't place in them. "O…kay…then. I guess I'll always know which papers are yours." He grinned uneasily before moving on to Mike Chang.

As the rest of the class period progressed and she learned more about Finn, she had a feeling in her gut that he was easily going to become her favorite teacher. As for Rachel, she was going to do whatever she could to make sure she became his favorite student.

"Hey, you okay?" Finn asked pulling Rachel from her thoughts. She lifted her head to look at him as they swayed slowly on the dance floor in each other's arms and smiled brightly before wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and giving her husband – her husband! – a wanton kiss.

"I've never been better," she cooed before resting her head against Finn's chest again. She closed her eyes as she listened to the song that had provoked the memory of the first time she had met Finn. It was Celine Dion's version of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' and it was making her quite nostalgic. Their wedding song had actually been Journey's 'Faithfully', but this had been a close second. "Finn?"

"Hmm," he sighed looking down at his wife as she looked back up at him.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

Finn smirked and nodded his head. "You gave a speech about metaphors."

"Metaphors are important, Finn."

He chuckled at her. "Yes, dear."

"What did you think the first time you saw me?"

Finn contemplated her question. "Honestly, I thought you were very pretty." Rachel smiled and bit her bottom lip. He had felt something for her immediately too. "But then you started talking really fast and a lot and your intensity kinda intimidated me." Rachel's face fell.

"Oh."

"But then I got to know you better and I realized I liked your intensity," he explained making Rachel's smile reappear. "You wouldn't be Mrs. Hudson without it."

Rachel shivered in his arms a little at the sound of her new name. "Say it again," she said with a smile.

"Mrs. Hudson." He grinned and pressed his lips to hers. "Mrs. Rachel Hudson."

"I really love how that sounds."

"Me too…but I am surprised you changed your mind about the hyphen."

"I don't need the hyphen. I'm always going to be yours and you'll always be mine and I want everyone to know it." She gave Finn another gentle kiss and both fell back into silence as they continued to dance surrounded by the rest of their guests.

As Rachel watched her friends and family, new and old, she thought back on the whirlwind her day had been. When she had woken up in her hotel room that morning she had been beyond giddy at her day's plans. It started with breakfast with Kurt and Santana, her Man and Maid of Honor because she couldn't very well pick one over the other, then it was off to the salon to get her hair and make-up professionally done. She looked like old Hollywood with her wavy hair swept up into a large bun low on the back of her head where her veil would rest later, and with her dark cat's eye shadow and liner and deep red lipstick. Though her dress was fairly modern, she wanted to emulate the glamour of past iconic beauties, a somewhat similar look to Barbra in Funny Girl yet uniquely her own.

When her head was taken care of, she was treated to a mani-pedi and her hands and feet had never looked better. Then it was time for the dress.

The dress had taken nearly the entire time she had been planning the wedding to find and honestly the whole process had been disheartening. Rachel had always imagined wedding dress shopping would be a joy. Women on Say Yes to the Dress always seemed to have a blast and easily found their perfect matches but Rachel was not having the same luck. Although her dads were paying for most of the wedding, as a show of support despite disagreeing with her marriage at such a young age, she didn't want to break the bank on a dress. She and Kurt had searched tirelessly at multiple stores, big and well known stores and small lesser known boutiques. A gem could have been hiding anywhere.

Finally about two and half months before their wedding date, just as Rachel was about to give up on finding her perfect dress and settle on a lovely form fitting lace gown that she liked but hadn't wanted so bad she was willing to do anything to have it, she found the perfect dress at a shop that was literally only a few blocks away from school. The shop wasn't expressly only wedding gowns which was why it hadn't made the list of Kurt's suitable places to find a dress. In fact, the style of dress itself hadn't been on Kurt's list of suitable dresses for Rachel to wear. She of course trusted his fashion guidance and had allowed him to help her find a gown, and all the gowns he had picked were lovely, but they hadn't screamed at her to buy them.

She had only entered the shop to get out of the cold for a minute when she received a call from Finn asking if they needed anything from the grocery store. Absent-mindedly she had begun browsing as she tried to think of anything when a dress form with a spotlight on it toward the back of the little shop caught her eye.

On the stand was a tea-length dress with a strapless sweetheart neck line and ruched satin bodice complete with flower beading at the side waist. As for the bottom, it was a beautiful flowered lace and Point d'Esprit skirt with a scalloped hem. It was the dress she never knew she was looking for. When Rachel pictured her wedding she had always imagined herself in a giant ball gown with ruffles and lots of tulle and lace but when she had finally seen the real picture, it didn't look right. She was too short for so much material. But this dress, it seemed perfect.

She told Finn she needed to go and hung up on him mid-sentence and immediately sought out a saleswoman who took it off the stand and allowed Rachel to try it on. It fit like a glove, as if it had been waiting for her. Rachel beamed as she stared at herself in the mirror wearing the dress, admiring how it flattered her figure and showed off her deceivingly long legs. She knew Finn would appreciate the dress for that. Plus, her wedding was to be in Central Park in June. A shorter dress would be perfect.

After months of fruitless searching, Rachel finally had her dress.

Earlier that day as she got ready, Kurt helped her into her perfect dress and as she viewed herself for the first time with her hair and make-up done, her satin white pumps, and the finishing touch of the short veil, held in by the beautiful antique barrette provided by her Grandma for her something old, Rachel had to force herself to keep from crying. It was happening six years earlier than she had planned for herself but that just made it even better. She didn't have to wait to find her soulmate or to start her life with him. She was doing it today.

The intimate ceremony was held at the Wisteria Pergola at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park surrounded by their closest friends and family. It hadn't taken long but it had been beautiful and when Finn had begun to read his vows, she had lost it. Her nose was a little red and her mascara was running when she said 'I do' but after she kissed Finn hard on the mouth then turned back to look at their guests who were all clapping happily for them, she found that her Daddy looked worse than she did as he removed his glasses and dabbed at his eyes.

Things moved quickly from there as they rushed to take some pictures of the wedding party which consisted of Kurt and Santana as Man/Maid of Honor, Brittany and Georgia as bridesmaids, and Sam as Best Man and Alex and Eric as groomsmen, as well as their parents.

Both Finn and Rachel had been surprised with how okay their families had been with their decision to wed when they had told them they were going to at Thanksgiving the fall prior. They had both protested but for reasons that neither expected.

"Rachel, you're only 18 years old. Don't you think that's just a little young? What happened to being 25 and all your Tony Awards?" Hiram asked as they sat at the dinner table the night before Thanksgiving.

Rachel looked at Finn and smiled, feeling his support in his gaze and the squeeze he gave her hand. "I still plan on winning my Tonys, Daddy. I never had any intention of changing my career path or goals for myself in regards to my career. I love Finn and whether we marry now or ten years from now, I know we're going to build our life together, so why wait?"

Leroy looked to his partner then back at his daughter who was beaming at Finn who beamed right back. They were very clearly in love and nothing he or Hiram said would deter them. "Rachel, we aren't telling you, you can't, because we know you're going to do what you're going to do. After last time we've learned our lesson, we don't want to lose you again, but we do want to be sure you know what you're getting into. Marriage should not be taken lightly."

"I know that, Dad. Finn and I have discussed this at length. We're prepared."

And they were, even against Finn's family's louder opposition to their pending nuptials.

"Are you fucking kidding, Finn?" Trisha yelled at Finn in the living room when he and Rachel broke the news to his family all gathered for Thanksgiving. When he had called his mother to tell her where exactly he had been the past seven months and to explain that he had reunited with Rachel, she had been upset but said they would talk about it more when they next saw each other. Apparently she had broken the news about Rachel to everyone else before he could though. "After everything that happened because of her, you're going to marry her?"

"Rachel isn't the reason everything happened, okay? I am. Now you all can either accept that Rachel is going to be my wife or you can forget about being invited to the wedding. I love Rachel and we are going to be together no matter what any of you say or do."

"How can you trust her? She lied to all of us!" Tara added, defending her sister and earning a few nods in agreement.

"We both lied to you because we knew what would happen if everyone found out the truth. She never lied to me about anything. It's all pointless now though because Rachel isn't in high school anymore. I'm not a ruined man or anything. Do you even care about the fact that I'm happy because of Rachel? Do you remember how miserable I was without her?"

His family all looked mildly ashamed with themselves until Sam stepped forward. No one knew yet that he had helped Rachel find Finn. "Finn's right. He and Rachel love each other and they're good for each other. They're gonna get married whether you approve or not and I dunno about you guys, but I'm looking forward to attending a bachelor party," he said before high fiving Finn who gave him an appreciative smile. "Congratulations guys." He hugged them both and Tara rolled her eyes.

It had taken a while to sink in, but eventually Finn's family accepted their relationship and wished them luck. Rachel secretly believed that Trisha was wishing their marriage would fail, but Rachel ignored her. She honestly didn't know why the girl disliked her so much.

Before dinner at the reception on the yacht they had for the evening on the Hudson, Carole, who had been fairly quiet regarding her feelings on the wedding, had even warmed up to Rachel. She gave a lovely toast and wished them all the happiness and luck in their marriage and made Rachel promise to give her some grandkids one day.

On the flipside, when her dads gave their toasts they both made Finn promise not to give them any grandkids until after Rachel had won at least her first Tony. Then her Daddy threatened to hunt him down with a shotgun if he found out Finn had broken that promise. Honestly, the way he said the words, Rachel wasn't entirely sure he was joking.

After all the toasts had been given, dinner progressed smoothly into the cutting of the cake. Rachel had sworn to deprive Finn of honeymoon sex if he so much as even thought about shoving the cake in her face and when he placed it delicately in her mouth she was quite pleased. But then she tricked him and smushed the cake all over his mouth. He chased her around the table with his cakey mouth to give her a big kiss, earning a lot of laughter and a squeal and calls of 'no!' as he caught Rachel and pressed a large kiss to her cheek. She gave him a stern disapproving look before breaking into laughter and wiping the frosting and cake off her face. She couldn't stay mad at him.

Finally, they found themselves alone on the dance floor to share in their first dance as husband and wife. Finn had been so worried about making a fool of himself he had even enlisted the help of Kurt to learn some moves to keep from stepping on Rachel's feet and scuffing up her expensive heels. He had done a brilliant job until the fast songs began. He was just lucky he hit Cousin Leon instead of Nana as he fell over when he attempted to do the sprinkler. She'd have gone into stereotypical angry black woman mode and tore him a new one.

Then they found themselves back in each other's arms for Rachel's second choice for a wedding song.

A throat clearing caught their attention. "Would you mind terribly if we cut in?" her Dad asked, Carole standing next to him smiling. Finn looked down at Rachel before handing her off to her father and taking his mother's hand to dance with her. "I still can't believe you're married. Just yesterday the nurse was putting your little, yet loud, body in our arms." He was starting to get choked up which was making Rachel's eyes prickle with tears. "He better be good to you, Rachel. If he's not…I don't think your father was kidding about that shotgun."

Rachel chuckled despite herself. "Finn has never been anything but good to me. He's a great man, was a great boyfriend, an even better fiancé and I'm sure he'll be the best husband."

"Can I cut in?" Hiram's voice said from their other side abruptly.

"I just got her, Hiram."

"And that's longer than I've gotten her tonight. That husband of hers has been monopolizing all of our little girl's time."

Rachel and Leroy opened their stance a little and pulled Hiram in. The three of them danced awkwardly, laughing as they met eyes with other couples. Their relationship was much better than it had been only a year ago and they had passed the true test of whether or not they could be trusted. They had never once tried to talk her out of marrying Finn, they had offered to help pay for the wedding, and had given their full support to both of them. Rachel was so glad that all her relationships in her life had finally mended.

Even her acquaintanceship with Quinn had blossomed into a friendship. They weren't close, but they kept in touch after they ran into each other back in Lima during winter break and now Quinn was quite enjoying herself as she danced with Eric who was seemingly whispering sweet nothings into her ear. She blushed a deep red before smacking him across the face and walking off. Rachel chortled lowly then scoffed and rolled her eyes when Eric moved on to her friend Annette quickly. Some things just never changed.

Soon Rachel and Finn found their way back to each other and decided to take a seat and rest their feet. Though Rachel adored her satin white peep-toe pumps with the sparkly five inch heels and tiny bow on the backs, they were killing her feet.

"Is that Burt Hummel my mom is dancing with?" Finn asked as he plopped himself in a chair next to his bride. He took a flute of champagne and took a sip before looking to Rachel for an answer.

"It certainly looks like it. He was the only bald one in attendance." She smiled at how into each other they seemed as they danced and laughed. "Who knows, maybe soon we'll be attending their wedding. I still have yet to throw my bouquet after all."

"You realize if my mom and Burt Hummel got married, Kurt would be my step-brother right?"

"And what's so bad about that?"

"It's not bad. It's just weird. He was my student."

Rachel looked at him in a little disbelief. "Marrying the student you had a sexual affair with is totally normal but being step-brothers with a student is weird?"

Finn just shrugged. It still seemed weird to him.

"Rachel!" Santana cried, a little wobbly on her heels as she dragged Brittany behind her with one hand and held a glass of champagne in the other. "Rachel! When you gonna throw the garter and bouquet? I wants that bouquet. Brits and I can actually get married in this state." She downed the last of her champagne in one pull then slammed the glass down on the table. "Finn, you should totally take her garter off with your teeth! That would be so hot!"

"Santana, how much have you had to drink?" Rachel inquired.

"Only one bottle of champagne…I think. I dun 'member. I lost count." She stood up straight then and adjusted the thin strap of her pale pink chiffon bridesmaid's dress that fell down. "I gotta piss. Where's the bathroom on this Love Boat?" She meandered away with Brittany following behind, leaving Rachel and Finn chuckling to themselves.

"She does have a point about the teeth."

"Don't you dare, Finn Hudson! Our parents are here!" she scolded when he got that look in his eye. "If you want to see my something new later, you better be good."

"Hmm, what's this something new look like?"

"You'll see." She stood up sans shoes and pulled Finn to his feet. "I want to dance some more. Let's go!" Just as they got out to the dance floor, the karaoke portion of the evening began with Blaine and Kurt singing 'Love Shack'.

A few songs in Rachel decided to serenade her man with 'Without You'. He looked so overwhelmingly in love as he sat in his chair and Rachel walked toward him before sitting in his lap. When they song ended they about mauled each other to Santana and Kurt's utter disgust.

"Get a room!" a highly inebriated Santana yelled at them before planting her own kiss on Brittany.

Rachel handed the microphone over to Quinn who was going to sing them some Madonna. She kissed him again as he slid his hand along her thigh under her dress before whispering against his lips. "Santana makes a valid point. Are you ready to go to our sure to be fabulous honeymoon suit?"

"I've been ready all night. We just need to get back to shore."

"I think it's time to do the garter and bouquet tosses," Rachel informed him.

"I think you're right."

Finn and Rachel got up and Finn informed the staff they were ready to go. Technically they had the boat for a few more hours, which their guests could enjoy, but Finn and Rachel really wanted to consummate their marriage.

They informed their emcee for the night, Sam, that they were ready for the garter and bouquet tosses and all the unwed girls on the boat went nuts when he made the announcement. They pulled out a chair for Rachel to sit down on and all the guys lined up behind Finn to attempt to catch the garter. Still not wearing her shoes, Rachel lifted her right leg and placed her foot on Finn's shoulder to help him gain access to under her dress. She giggled when he tickled her leg as he ran his hands over her skin to find the light blue and white garter wrapped around her upper thigh. They stared at each other intently as he pulled it down her leg and slipped it off. He didn't even remove his gaze from hers as he tossed the object behind him.

Rachel started giggling though when she saw who caught the garter. It was Burt. "Looks like he's going to have a good year."

Finn finally tore his eyes from his gorgeous wife and picked her up from the chair. Rachel grabbed her bouquet from the head table and made sure all the girls were lined up and ready before she turned away from them. She counted to three and lightly tossed it behind her. Then she heard a loud commotion and a crashing sound. When she turned to see what was going on, Santana was fighting Kurt for the bouquet and had knocked over a couple of other girls into some tables.

"It's mine, Kurt! You and Blaine aren't even ready to get married yet!" Santana screeched at him.

"You and Brittany don't even live in the same state!"

"Neither do you and Blaine!"

"But he's moving here in the fall! Now gimme!"

Everyone watched in stitches as they rolled around and clawed at each other to win the flowers. They were so concerned with stomping on the other they hadn't even noticed that the bouquet had flown out of their grasps and onto the floor a few feet away. Carole happened to be standing closest to it and picked it up without fuss.

Burt finally intervened and pulled his son off his other best friend. "If you two knuckle heads would have been paying attention you would have noticed Carole has the bouquet!" he supplied as he straightened Kurt out. He smiled at Carole and Rachel could swear she was blushing.

"I think this is a real sign, Finn. Maybe we won't be the only ones getting a room tonight," Rachel mumbled to him at her side. Finn just exhaled not wanting to think about his mom doing it with Kurt's dad and looked out the window of the boat. They were getting closer to the pier.

As Rachel and Finn got ready to depart the yacht, everyone stopped their partying to say their goodbyes. Rachel hugged and kissed basically everyone and really made her dads cry when she mentioned their flight to Honolulu for their honeymoon in the morning. She really was leaving the nest for good and was now truly a wife.

When they docked and stepped off the boat, Rachel and Finn waved goodbye and blew kisses to everyone as they made their way to their waiting limo. As soon as they climbed inside the already partitioned back seat of the stretch limo, Finn attacked Rachel's lips with his.

"You're so amazing," he breathed into her mouth, pressing his forehead against hers.

"You're amazing too. This has been the most magical day of my life, Finn."

"Mine too. I can't believe it actually happened. After everything, we're married now."

Rachel bit her lip and smiled at him as she moved to straddle his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he slid his hands up her thighs to her ass under her dress. "I guess it really pays to be teacher's pet."

"I guess it does."

"I'm just glad I'll always get to be your naughty schoolgirl now."

"Babe, you already always were."

"I love you, Mr. Hudson."

"I love you too, Mrs. Hudson."

As Rachel kissed her husband, she came back to her initial conclusion about Finn…Mr. Hudson really was the best teacher ever.