Ready for Anything?

Chapter 28

Finn's POV

I ran my hand through my hair out of frustration and stood up from the table quickly. The only thing that mattered was getting to Rory and making certain that she was okay. I walked over to the restroom and knocked on the door, hoping to catch Rory's attention. There was no answer for a full minute, so I finally cracked the door open just a bit.

"Rory, are you in there? Come on out, Love" I coaxed gently. I could still hear Steph babbling away in there. I finally decided that I needed to get in there so I could physically be with her. I opened the door a bit further and spoke again.

"I'm about to walk into the restroom, so any ladies might want to come out now" I warned. I counted to ten in order to give anyone who might be in there a chance to clear out and then walked in. I immediately spotted Stephanie standing outside a stall and could hear Rory crying. I walked over to Stephanie and turned her toward the door and gave her a gentle nudge to get her out of there. I needed to keep her away from Rory at all costs for the time being.

"You've done enough damage, Steph. Out," I demanded sternly.

She gave me one last look and then held up her hands in surrender and walked out the door. I sighed in relief and walked over to the only locked stall.

"Rory? It's just you and me in here now, so you can come out."

I heard the stall door unlock and I quickly opened it and walked in. My heart immediately broke when I saw her - her eyes were red and teary and she was sniffling. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I crossed the small stall and wrapped her up in my arms.

"I'm so sorry, Love" I whispered. "Please don't pay any attention to her. What you and I decide is really none of her concern, and I'll make damn sure that she never puts you in that situation again."

She looked up at me and clung to me for dear life.

"I'm sorry, Finn. I just...she was asking me all these questions, and I felt like everyone thought I was so stupid for not just jumping into a relationship with you simply because we're going to be parents. It's not that easy - we have to think about our babies, and we really don't even know one another well enough to make that kind of commitment. It's not like we can just decide it isn't working and go our separate ways; we're going to be in each other's lives forever," she sobbed.

I ran my hands through her hair and continued to hold her.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Kitten. She was out of line. Let's get out of here, okay?"

She nodded her head in agreement but didn't let go. I held her for a few more minutes and then stepped back, reaching out my hand to lead her out of the bathroom. She looked at me for a moment and then took my hand. I led her out of the bathroom and back to the table, where we grabbed her purse and said a very quick goodbye to the gang, and then left.

* * *

The gang watched after Finn and a very upset Rory as they made their quick escape.

"What the hell did you do that for, Steph?" Colin demanded, turning to her the second the others were out of earshot.

She shrugged with an innocent look on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Colin, I was just trying to help. You know how much he wants to be with her! I'm just mad it took me this long to figure out who "Her" was!" She defended.

"I'm pretty sure there would've been more subtle ways to go about it, though, Steph.... what if you made it worse?" Rosemary asked.

"How would that have made things worse? They're not together now, maybe this is the push they needed in the right direction" Stephanie said.

"Or you just pushed her further away than she already was from him..." Juliet offered.

"Nonsense. Finn will win her over" Stephanie said.

"I think you need to stay out of it from now on, though, Steph. She definitely didn't look like she was swooning for him or anything" Colin told her.

"So what did he say when she left the table? He came to her rescue pretty quickly" she said.

"Basically that your husband needed to keep you on a tight leash" Robert chimed with with a smile, and Steph rolled her eyes.

"So nevermind the Stephanie situation, can you believe Finn is going to be a father!? And not to one, but to two children!?" Juliet exclaimed.

"It's definitely something difficult to wrap my head around, that's for sure! Who knew the first of us to have kids would be Finn!?" Seth exclaimed.

"I know, I thought for sure it would be these two over here" Robert teased Colin and Stephanie.

"Oh please, just because we're married doesn't mean we're ready for kids yet!" Colin said in shock.

"Especially since I'm still in the process of raising this one!" Stephanie chuckled, pointing a finger at her husband.

"Yeah, but think about it, if you wait til you're ready, you'll never do it. In omnia paratus, people. Never forget" Seth said with a laugh.

"Itching for kiddos, are we Seth?" Juliet noticed.

His face turned red and all the attention was put on Rosemary - she was the one who wouldn't commit to Seth and wanted to keep up the casual relationship. "Not my circus, not my monkeys" she said, putting her hands up in the air, dismissing herself from the conversation.

"How long are you going to let this girl give you the run around anyway, friend? It's about time you all settled down like a nice couple, isn't it? You're not getting any younger, Rose" Robert teased her.

"Ha ha ha, you're just soooo funny now that you've gone and gotten yourself a girlfriend" Rose muttered, crossing her arms across her chest in a pout.

"Why yes, yes I am" he teased, taking a drink from his glass.