AN: This was something I had played around with for a while. Writing certain parts was hard since I love Rachel.
A brown haired woman smiled at the older gentleman on her arm. They were in a large hall familiar to them both. Walking down an aisle, the woman looked for their seats.
"Lots of memories here," commented the brunette, her New York accent apparent.
"Many, many memories," said the man, a light wheeze to his voice. It was light, airy and made the woman smile. He was wearing a crisp silver and grey thin pinstripe suit, looking classic and refined. Although the thicker for warmth compared to the tuxedos and dresses many of the others who had begun to file into the room.
"You going to be alright Grandpa?" asked the woman, rubbing his arm.
"You may have to keep me awake," he said with a light chuckle.
"Like you'll be asleep with all the people coming up and shaking your hand and saying it's such an honor to meet you."
"When you get to my age Clarissa, all you want to do is sleep," said the older man. He reached up and adjusted his grey bangs. "Although half the time, I wanted to do that backstage during rehearsals."
"Me too," admitted the young woman. "I definitely do not get enough sleep going between auditions and working in the bookstore."
"Neither did your grandmother," said the man with a smile. "We both would just collapse on the couch when we'd get out of practice."
"You don't have to do this," said Clarissa gently, turning to face him. "I still do have my speech prepared."
"So does your mother," said the older man. "But I need to do this. To honor her."
They found their seats, which Clarissa was grateful for her grandfather was on the front row. While he was in great shape, the past year or so had taken a toll on him and it seemed like he had aged 20 years in the span of one. The whole family had been glad that great-aunt Mercedes had come and stayed with him to cope.
"I hate cameras," muttered Clarissa as she watched the men in black next to her adjusting their setups.
"It's best to ignore them," said her grandfather. He crossed his legs stiffly, placing his hands at his side. He looked at the part of the stage they were nearest, trying to remember how many of these shows he had been to. Twenty-five at least. Most of time, they had never been nominated. They had just sent out invitations for people to fill the seats. And he had spent most of the time watching his wife staring the stage in awe with every song and nominee. He had thought by the time they had each won a Tony award, the newness and excitement would have worn off, but no, the joy in her eyes was mesmerizing even in the end when they had watched it from the comfort of their home.
"Did you know the first time we attended the Tony Awards," said the older man, smiling as he thought about it. "We barely had the money to afford rent, much less afford the really nice clothes we needed. Your great grand-dads had to help us. It took us a while to pay off that expense."
Clarissa smiled at that. For a second, her grandfather was reminded of his wife, and he squeezed Clarissa's hand.
"While you, my dear, get to wear gorgeous vintage that would make any woman jealous."
The younger woman laughed. "Only because you can pull strings, Grandpa. Although I don't know how."
"Please, you forget who you are," said the older man with a smirk. If there was one thing the younger woman always loved about her grandfather, he still had the sass and sarcasm of a teenager when he wanted.
Clarissa rolled her eyes. "I can't actually. It's a plague," she teased, patting his hand.
It wasn't long till the Gershwin Theater filled up, and the house lights went down as the show started. The opening number was a colorful spectacle, and Clarissa was almost jealous as she counted some of her fellow actors in the background. But she had to remind herself why she was not up there and how important it was to her family. She looked over to her grandfather, whose eyes seemed nostalgic.
"I was in the dance troupe a couple of times," he said softly. "Got to dance back up to Neil Patrick Harris. Although I know your mother probably showed you that way too many times."
Clarissa nodded. Her mother had always been in love with theatre and kept many things from the work her parents had done. The young woman was fairly certain her mother had most of their memoirs and souvenirs were in glass cases in her own home. Clarissa didn't remember that many memoirs in her grandparent's place. She ran a hand through her brown hair, which was down, save for a few clips which had pulled her bangs back. The MC came out and started the show with a cheerfulness that didn't reach their ears. Clarissa settled back into her seat and waited. While she loved theatre and had been attending the Tony Awards with her mother since she was ten, this was not a night she would enjoy.
An assistant producer came and whispered in Clarissa's ear an hour or so later. She nudged her grandfather, who while he seemed stiff and proper, was probably on the edge of tiredness. He had been that way a lot lately.
"Ten minutes," she said softly.
"Thank you," he stated with a grimace.
The minutes ticked by too slowly in Clarissa's opinion. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when the lights went down, and a video started to play. A sad smile started to cross her face as personal images from her family showed on the screen. Photographs from her grandmother's and grandfather's time on stage appeared with soft music in the background, and then moved onto images from when her grandmother and her mother had worked together. Next was the image of her grandmother and grandfather looking on fondly as her mother had won her first Tony Award. She barely even noticed a voice narrating the clips as she steadied herself for what was next. She knew her family history well. Her grandfather's hand was strong around her own as they called her name. Clarissa kissed his cheek and stood quickly, ignoring the cameras as she went onstage. The MC greeted her with a smile and led her over to the stand.
"Hi," she said softly, which earned her a few chuckles from the audience. She took a moment and looked at her grandfather, whose steel grey eyes showed sadness, but pride at the same time. She gave him a quick smile before beginning to speak. "Many of you, actually I'm pretty sure all of you have seen my baby pictures at some point when working with both my grandparents and my mother. Which still to this day is an embarrassment when I go to auditions, but it highlights to me how tight knit the community is and how we come together when it is necessary. And it is the reason why am I so proud today to talk about my family. Many people here are starting to call us a legacy. While there are other families who deserve that title much more than us, I am happy that my family has garnered such an honor. Although I don't know what the future holds for me completely just yet, I want to honor the tradition of the Hummel family, which has just been seen on screen by everyone, by upholding that legacy. But for right now, I would like to introduce Kurt Hummel, an esteemed member of the Broadway community, and the wonderful person I call my grandfather."
The somber applause was almost a relief to Clarissa's ears as she went down the stairs and offered her arm to her grandfather. He gave a soft, breathy laugh and walked with her. The MC nodded to Clarissa and they both walked off the stage. She bit her lip and watched from the side as her grandfather started to speak, every face turned towards his.
"We are here tonight to honor a brilliant actress whose long career of acting, singing, and theatre work has inspired many to pursue their dreams of stage work and beyond. I know everyone knew her as Rachel Berry… but she was more than the name, the fame, and the image. She once was a teenager who worshiped Barbra Streisand, wore her hair in god awful pig tails, sang in her high school show choir, and loved with a heart bigger than the universe itself. I mean, if she could love me of all things…" The audience laughed politely and Clarissa saw a wistful smile on her grandfather's face.
"But that was the point, I think, in the end. She loved it all. She loved singing. She loved theatre. She loved Broadway. She loved acting. She loved applause. She wanted to showcase the talents she had been blessed with by her own mother, who was a theatre veteran of her own making. Rachel Berry wanted to play Fanny Brice, Evita, Dorothy, Elphaba, Maria… and she did. She had the determination of a bull and would wear someone down till she got what she wanted. Which she did… repeatedly. She went after the roles and got them no matter what it took."
Kurt paused, looking off into the distance.
"But she was also Rachel Hummel, my wife. She was a mother to two beautiful girls; one which would follow us into the business of theatre, the other who would go on to Hollywood. Both of them would bless us with grandchildren who didn't at first understand what a Tony or an Emmy was, and tried to eat the awards on our shelves."
Clarissa really hoped she hadn't been one of those as she listened to the audience laugh at the imagery. She noticed her grandfather looking around the theatre.
"It is ironic that this year's award show are taking place here in the Gershwin Theater while the Radio City Music Hall is being renovated. This is where the legacy started. It was 2011 when a boy and a girl snuck away from a high school glee club competition and broke their way onto this very stage. Two scared little teenagers scampering around New York City without a care in the world, hoping for a dream come true. We sang "For Good" onstage that day. Little did we realize that we would change each other for the better. We started our lives on this stage, becoming the actors and singers we wanted to be. We would have to wait a little while before the rest of the world caught up with us. And it is here on this stage that I want to honor her with the world who loved her, who loved us. Whether you are family or a friend, or just someone who loved seeing her on stage, we lost her too early. Rachel fought her cancer with the fierceness of a tiger, but in the end, the cruel disease won and we lost the most beautiful person in my life." Kurt went quiet for a moment, gathering his strength.
"She always joked that she would the Betty White of Broadway and that I would have to force her into retirement. I am grateful that I never had to do such, because even into her 40th year of entertaining audiences, she still shone like a star. I know wherever you are Rachel, you are still shining honey. I am grateful for the memories and the music we got to share for so many years even though it will never feel like enough. For any of us."
Kurt stopped speaking, and the audience got to their feet, clapping. Clarissa wanted to rush out to her grandfather, but she waited impatiently as the MC started out onstage during the applause. He shook Kurt's hand and Kurt stepped off to the side. The MC started to speak out to the audience and to the cameras.
"And tonight, the Broadway community would like to recognize that shine as they honor Rachel Berry with the special Tony award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre."
An attendant in long gold gown brought out the award and presented it to Kurt. The audience was still on their feet as the attendant gestured for Kurt to follow her off stage. Music had started to play already, beginning the change to the next part of the ceremony. Clarissa waited with open arms, giving her grandfather a hug when he approached.
"You did amazing," she said softly.
"Thank you," he said with a sigh. He looked at the award with a small glare.
"You would win out in the end. You always had to one up me, didn't you? 4-3."
The young woman laughed, remembering fondly how much her grandmother and grandfather were always teasing one another lovingly.
"You'll have one of your own soon enough," said Clarissa. "You've still got a few years to go. Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones were still working up into their 80's. And I want to do a play with you some day."
Kurt raised an eyebrow at that.
"Well, mom did," said Clarissa sheepishly. "And you and grandma did a lot together. I want my turn."
Kurt handed the award to Clarissa to hold.
"Then hold this for your poor grandfather while he does the hated photo-ops."
Clarissa wanted to glare at the award in her hands like her grandfather had. It felt like a consolation prize next to the loss of her grandmother Rachel. And it felt like at times that she was losing her grandfather too because he grew quieter with every day. Even great-aunt Mercedes, who herself was getting older, commented softly to Clarissa's mother and aunt that he was retreating into himself. But then, it had been a long fight with the cancer that had taken a toll on everyone. And Kurt had sat by Rachel's bedside every day for hours upon end.
He had earned the right to be quiet.
Kurt looked back at his grand daughter, giving her an appraising look.
"Come on kid, you're going to have to earn your way to the top." Clarissa laughed and followed her grandfather.