Hello!
So the reviews on my other St. Berry one-shots have put me in a really good mood!
So I have written another one! Haha
I just really really love this pairing!
:P
Things to keep in mind:
This one-shot really doesn't really connect to the other ones.
Unless you want to make Ready it's prequel instead of a prequel to Closing.
So just to be clear this story and Closing do not go together.
Unless you want to pretend like Finn has short-term memory loss...
Disclaimer: If I owned Glee I would've made sure that Jesse and Rachel had more than a cameo appearance in "Home."
Finn Hudson made his way across central park and glanced with envy at the happy families enjoying an afternoon of picnics and duck-feeding. He was only in this park to meet with Puck before they went out for a boys night in the city. He wasn't sure what possessed him to pay Noah Puckerson a visit knowing that he lived in the same city as her. He was practically setting himself up to run into her. This was her territory now. His territory was still in Lima, but New York City belonged to Rachel Berry.
He automatically stopped walking when he felt a pull on his leg. He looked down into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that were strikingly familiar. Said eyes belonged to a girl who seemed to be around four or five years in age.
"Have you seen my daddy?" she asked innocently while keeping her hold on the material of his pants.
"I'm not sure," he answered politely. "What does he look like?"
"Well," her toddler talk stretched out the word, "my, my mommy says that I have her eyes but my daddy's hair!" Finn glanced at the girl's golden curls and looked around for a man with similar hair.
"I'm afraid I don't see him." Finn crouched down to meet her eye level. "What's your name?"
"Ryden. Ryden St. James," she recited.
"Well, Ryden, is your mommy here with you today too?" Finn asked. Her father's name sounded so familiar that he thought he might know her mother.
"Rachel St. James. Rachel Berry when she's on stage though! She's on Broadway! Just like my daddy!"
Finn froze. No way. This had to be some kind of joke. Rachel was married? Rachel was married with a kid? This had to be wrong.
"Ryden!" Finn heard a man exclaim and suddenly the little girl was running to a blonde haired, blue eyed man.
"Daddy!"
"Ry, what did I tell you to do?" Jesse asked as he picked up his daughter.
"To stay put and not wander off," she answered confidently.
"And what did you do?"
"I wandered."
Finn watched as the man hugged Ryden tightly to him. Suddenly it occurred to him where he had heard the name St. James before. This was Jesse St. James. The man who had been the lead in the musical Quinn had taken Puck and him to see the night before. Why hadn't they told him that he was Rachel's husband? They'd have to had known!
"Thank you so much," Finn felt a hand shake his. "My wife is about to murder me, so you're a life saver."
"It was no trouble, really. She's a sweet girl," Finn replied awkwardly.
"That she is," Jesse smiled fondly at his daughter. "Ryden, tell the nice man thank you for finding you."
"But Daddy, I wasn't lost! You were!" Ryden poked her father's chest and Jesse laughed. She took after her mother and himself. She liked to be right.
"Then thank him for keeping you company."
"Thank you Mister," she paused.
"Hudson. Finn Hudson," he supplied without thinking.
"Thank you, Mr. Finn!" Ryden finished. Finn noticed how Jesse suddenly became stiff after Finn had told his name.
"Well, thank you again. I have to get Ryden back to her mom before she calls the police. You of all people know how Rachel can be. Right?" Jesse said cooly.
Finn, not sure how to respond, just nodded and watched as Jesse carried Ryden off towards the other side of the park.
"Daddy, does Mr. Finn know Mommy?" Ryden asked innocently.
"Yes, he does. Him and Mommy knew each other when they were in school," Jesse answered while setting her back on the ground so that she could walk while he held her hand.
"Were they friends?"
"You could say that," Jesse frowned. He didn't like the stories Rachel told of the time that she spent dating Finn. He seemed to have been a really crappy boyfriend who had upset Rachel more times than he would like to count.
"Ryden!"
Ryden let go of her father's hand and ran to the women who had called her. Jesse grinned as Rachel picked up their daughter and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Did Daddy find you?" Rachel asked her only child.
"No, silly, I found Daddy!" Ryden laughed.
"Oh of course, silly me," Rachel couldn't help but smile at Ryden's perspective.
"Yeah she found me alright," Jesse joined his family as they began to walk to exit the park. He walked in the middle of his two favorite girls with an arm thrown over his wife's shoulder and his other hand in his daughter's. Jesse spotted Finn talking to a man in a mohawk and saw Finn stop talking and stare at Rachel. Jesse leaned over and kissed Rachel's cheek.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
She grinned and he saw Finn flinch and look away.
"Don't think that you're off the hook," Rachel teased, "you still lost our only child in Central Park. You, sir have some major groveling to do if you don't want to be sleeping on the couch."
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely then leaned to whisper in her ear again. "I was thinking about that only child thing. What do you say that starting tonight, we try for a boy?"
"Really?" Rachel asked excitedly. She had been planning to ask to try for another child soon since Ryden had now turned four.
"Really."
Finn looked at the retreating family that was obviously very happy. His envy from earlier had increased tenfold. He was trying desperately to remember why he had let her go.
So that's it for now:)
Thanks for reading!
Reviews make my day:)