Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!

"Chance Reunion"
(Older) Rachel, Sophie (OC), Chloe (OC)
Red series
(no listing yet; sequel to 'A Little Secret')

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Chloe Clarke had become part of their lives, in a much bigger way than the girl herself had even come to realize, and now there was this, with her father. Rachel had known she wouldn't be able to stay out of it and, as much as she'd tried, there she was at three in the morning, going through photo albums.

She had always taken great care of organizing these, all labelled with places, and dates… She knew there would have to be something there, telling her she wasn't crazy.

Peter Stenger had always been very good with Sophie, at the time they had known him. She would bet all her Tonys that there would be at least one photo with the both of them on it.

Seeing the pictures was as good as coffee to wake up her memories. She could feel herself back there in that studio, and she knew when she would turn that page…

There he was. Peter Stenger, with his daughter's red curls, even her eyes. Had this been what had drawn her to Chloe? Like she recognized her deep down, recognized Peter? There was little Sophie, as predicted, eleven years old, sat on his knee and smiling.

She'd never known him as well as she'd thought she did. That was the man from Chloe's pictures, without a doubt, but she never would have pegged him for walking out on his family, his child…

Maybe she could find out. Maybe she could find him, for Chloe.

She wished she hadn't thought about it almost as soon as she'd thought it. As crazy ideas went, this one made her feel certifiable. It would be meddling, bringing up issues she knew nothing about.

But she'd known the man all those years ago, and now she had his daughter living with her. This might have been Chloe's one shot at knowing her father. Maybe it wouldn't end well, maybe it would. Chloe deserved to know, one way or the other.

The next morning, she had been up, earlier than both girls. She had started with an internet search. Chloe would have gone by this route as well, and she hadn't found him, so the obvious options would not get her anywhere. Was he even listed in the phone book?

She would need to reach out to contacts, those she'd worked with at the time, others who would work in the same field… There was this other guy who'd been his friend, they would always talk… What was his name…

"Morning…" She knew it was Chloe; she still sounded shocked that she was talking to 'her idol Rachel Berry.' She closed the computer and smiled up to her.

"Good morning, Chloe. Sit, breakfast is coming," she stood.

"A-alright… Thank you."

She couldn't stop seeing it now, seeing him… She looked exactly like Peter, how had she not seen it before?

She was sliding toast on to the plate when she heard the door; Sophie always thought she couldn't hear it.

"Morning, Soph!" she called out and, after a beat…

"Morning, Ma!" Sophie called back, over cheerful.

"Come in here so I can see you?" Rachel smirked, anticipating the 'busted' smile. Sophie had perfected that one years ago. She was twenty-two now, it wasn't like she had to 'report' anything.

She walked in, same clothes as she'd had the night before. Chloe was looking down, for fear of intruding.

"Hello…" Sophie nodded, voice rising with innocence. Chloe snorted; her head lowered further still.

"Good date with, uh, Julian?" Rachel asked, playing along.

"Yes, it was great," Sophie slowly nodded. "We went to dinner, then he took me to a show. Oh, I saw Winston, at the theater," she pointed to her mother.

"How's he doing?" Rachel smiled.

"He's great, he's thinking of retiring though… It'll be weird, he's been there since I was a kid…" She was granted her mother's 'get to the point' look, so she sighed. "Okay, we went dancing after, had… a little to drink, his place was closer, so… Seriously, are you going to make me say it?" she frowned, and Rachel laughed. "That's low, that is low, mother."

"Coffee?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Sophie grumbled, moving to sit.

"He made you breakfast, I hope?" she threw in, and Chloe lost it, laughing in her hand.

"Mom!" Sophie sat back up. Rachel brought her coffee.

"I'm going to work up in my room, you two going to be alright?" she took the computer from the table.

"It'll give me a break, so yeah," Sophie gave a pointed look and a smirk. Rachel tapped her head with a smile.

"Funny goose," she moved off, knowing the nickname would give her a good chuckle.

"Next time, you and me need to discuss some kind of distraction," Sophie told Chloe, whose face was still bright red from laughing.

Up in her room, Rachel had taken her phone and started making calls, working through her contacts, taking down numbers when she got them. It was a long search, going from one person to the next.

She wanted to find the man, for Chloe. That girl in her kitchen had a lot in common with her, she'd always said so. She had drive, passion, talent… She also had a hole that needed filling. For Rachel, it had been her mother, for Chloe, it was her father. Her own reunion with her mother hadn't been ideal in the beginning, but they were specific circumstances. She still needed to see how it would go for Chloe.

She would have a better idea of that once she managed to speak with Peter.

She had tracked down Peter's old friend. Noel Wiley had not spoken to him in over five years, though already this was helpful. According to Noel, Peter had lived in Florida for a while, but then returned to New York. They'd lost track after Noel and his wife had their son.

The track had led her to another studio, which had then taken her to a theater, a club, and then a recording company. No one had an actual working address or number to give her, but every time she got closer and closer to the present.

Then she had spoken to a waitress at a club, and she'd barely mentioned Peter's name that she could hear the waitress call out for him: he was there, at the club. Rachel stood, moving to make sure the door was good and closed, and that there was no one on the other side.

"Hello?" a man spoke on the phone.

"This is Rachel Berry. Peter, is that you?"

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!