House Finches Nesting--Where's the Dad?

Birds copulate several times during breeding season, and particularly the house finch will have several broods in a year. They are monogamous breeders, so they stay with one mate. Yes, the eggs will grow inside of her after being fertilized, similar to humans, but instead of growing into a live born young, it is pushed out. Eggs are layed usually hours to days apart, but yes, she may be new at this and will produce a small number, although there are other reasons she may not be laying more than one, such as lack of nutrition or stress. The male should be defending the female, so he may have died if he's not hanging around the nest.