Finn was a bit taken aback as they pulled into the Chilton parking lot for the dance. He'd taken some pointers from Steph over what to expect, and he was quite happy that he'd heeded her advice. It appears that the fathers of Chilton, as well as the people who planned the event, approached father-daughter dances with the same attitude that they approached the rest of life - go big, be seen, make an impression.
He'd elected to take the car service in order to allow Emma a chance to ride in a limo, and she'd squealed and bounced from foot to foot when she'd seen her chariot for the night. The driver pulled up in front of the red carpet that had been rolled out for the night and someone opened the door to the limo to allow Finn to exit. He buttoned up his suit coat and reached in to help Emma out of the car. She exited as gracefully as an excited four-year old girl could and held Finn's hand as they walked down the carpet and got the first of many pictures taken at the event. Just inside the door Finn bought Emma a handmade corsage that had pink and purple hand-sewn flowers on it, and Emma giggled as he slid it on her wrist. Once they arrived at the actual dance, Emma happily led Finn over and introduced him to a couple of her classmates.
"Olivia and Hailey, this is my Finn," she proclaimed happily as she introduced him, putting an emphasis on the word "my", and Finn's heart melted at hearing her refer to him as "her Finn". It struck him just how much Rory and her family must work to impart good manners to Emma, because he'd never heard a four-year old who had mastered the art of formal introductions as well either.
"It's nice to meet you lovely ladies," Finn greeted in reply, chuckling to himself as he watched the girls devolve into more age-appropriate conversation. They were happily exclaiming over how pretty the decorations were and their dresses while Finn introduced himself to Olivia's and Hailey's fathers.
"Finn Morgan, it's nice to meet you gentlemen," Finn greeted.
"I'm Alex Worthington, Olivia's father," a tall blonde-haired man returned.
"And I'm Matt Wadsworth," a shorter brunette added. "I'm Hailey's father. I guess our daughters are friends," he said, motioning to the girls who were now twirling like ballerinas.
"Emma is my girlfriend's daughter, but it does appear that they're great friends," Finn told the two men he'd just met.
"How'd the girlfriend rope you into tonight?" Matt asked.
"I tried everything I could to get out of this," Alex lamented.
"It was actually my idea. I wanted to be able to do this for Emma," Finn replied. "She deserves to feel like a princess tonight." It shouldn't surprise him that these fathers didn't want to be there, after all, he knew how society worked, but that didn't make it any less shocking. He couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be than right here with Emma tonight. Anticipating the questions that would surely be coming about who and where Emma's father was, he took Emma's hand to get her attention.
"Hey, Em," he began as he knelt next to her, "may I have this dance?"
"Sure, Finny," Emma giggled.
As he was walking away, he couldn't help but hear the two men he'd just been talking to.
"Suck up. I don't know who he thinks he is," came one voice.
"I bet he's just trying to get in good with his girlfriend," came the other.
"What does that mean, Finn?" Emma asked, motioning back to the men they'd just left.
"It just means that they're jealous that I have the prettiest princess at the whole dance, little love," Finn replied with a wink, sending Emma into fits of giggles.
He lead her over to the dance floor that was peppered with dancing fathers and daughters. Seeing that most of the fathers of younger girls were being held by their fathers, he picked Emma up and spun and swayed with her as she chattered away about how excited she was about the night, and he couldn't help but get even more excited as he saw the night through her eyes. He dipped her and kissed her cheek as their first dance ended and then followed her to the refreshments to get some punch at her request. After punch and cookies they took their turn in the photo booth, taking a strip of serious photos including Finn kissing her cheek and her kissing his cheek, and then a strip of silly photos with the props that were set out to choose from. Emma outfitted Finn with a feather boa and tiara, and Finn put Emma in the top hat and an oversized pair of pink sunglasses. When the photos came out of the machine Finn laughed at their strip of silly photos - they were something that Rory would absolutely love. He quickly purchased a second set of the photos so that he and Rory could each have a set before being led off by Emma to where they were now doing the Cha-Cha Slide. Finn danced right alongside Emma, much to her delight.
"You're so fun, Finn! None of the other dads dance as good as you do!" she giggled, and Finn's heart caught in his throat. Sure, she hadn't called her his dad, and frankly none of them were ready for that, but she lumped him in with a group of dads. He quickly pulled himself from his thoughts and continued dancing alongside Emma, them both laughing as he hammed it up.
Winded from the Cha-Cha slide, Finn took Emma to the professional photo backdrop that they had set up and they had a series of pictures taken there. He purchased prints of those photos, to be delivered to Rory when they were ready, along with a copy of the video that the professional videographer was filming.
At this point, Finn heard the beginning of "When You Need Me" by Bruce Springsteen and asked Emma to dance again. He loved this song; his parents had played it at the party they threw for his high school graduation, and he and his mom had danced to it then. Since then, she would sometimes include snippets of the lyrics in letters that she sent him or in their conversations. He picked her up, holding her close to him and sang softly in her ear as they danced.
When you need me call my name
'Cause without you my life just wouldn't be the same
If you want me come sunny skies or rain
When you need me just call my name
If you miss me, I'll be there
To brush the sunlight from your hair
I'll be there to guide you when trouble walks beside you
If you need me I'll be there
And when this dirty world has been cold to you
I got two strong arms waitin' to hold you
And when those mean days come along
We'll stand together and we'll take 'em on
So if you need me just call my name
When you need me call my name
'Cause without you my life just isn't the same
'Cause when this world kicked me around
Baby, you picked me up off the ground
So if you need me I'll be there
Finn was so caught up in the moment that he didn't notice the photographer and videographer with their lenses trained on him, nor the woman across the room who was taking video with her cell phone as he danced with Emma. By this point, Emma was yawning and had snuggled into Finn and laid her head on his chest.
"Are you ready to go home, sweet girl?" Finn asked her tenderly as he saw her eyes bobbing closed.
"Uh-huh," she murmured sleepily. Finn carried Emma to the waiting limo and settled her next to him in the back. She promptly wriggled out of her shoes and curled up in a ball, snuggling close to Finn. Finn stroked her hair as she drifted off to sleep, and before he knew it the car was pulling up in front of Rory's house. He gathered Emma into his arms, taking care to pick up her shoes as well, and walked in the front door.
"Cinderella didn't quite make it to midnight, but the handsome prince did manage to find her shoes," he told Rory as she walked over to meet them.
"It's lucky that she has such an amazing Prince Charming," Rory replied with a sweet smile. "Let's get the princess to bed."
YOU ARE READING
Missing Pieces
FanfictionRory Gilmore has a beautiful four-year old daughter who has never met her father. When Finn and Rory run into each other at the zoo, he quickly puts the pieces together and realizes that life has taken crazy turns that no one could have predicted...
