Raising Lexi: Rachel Berry is living her dream. At twenty-seven she is where she wants to be. A graduate from NYADA, a Broadway Star with already two Tony's, an apartment of her own, and her fiancé a man she met in college. She'd describe her life as perfect that is until a little girl shows up at her apartment.

Chapter 1

Summer, June 2021

Rachel Berry soon to be Rachel Berry James ended the last night of her show as she played the role of Maria from The West Side Story for over a year now. Her last performance was full of emotion, and love that came from the heart. She loves her fans, family, and friends who have been by her side.

And she wanted to have a small dinner with her cast-mates. They had tons of fun, laughter, and drinks. Rachel said her goodbyes and called a taxi home. Her fiancé Joshua James sent out a text he couldn't wait to have her home for some movies, and chocolate covered strawberries. Rachel will never say no to that.

"Hello Gorgeous." Joshua says as Rachel came home. "You were fantastic!" He wraps his arms around Rachel.

"Hi handsome. Thank you for being there for me. When I got to my last number, I got really emotional and you helped me get through it. You always do." She snuggles onto his chest and he walks her to the couch.

Josh is a tall six-five foot man, brown spiky hair, and blue eyes. He studied script writing at NYADA and has met Rachel during their second year of college. They fell in love ever since. He also promised he'd write an own show just for Rachel.

He takes a chocolate covered Strawberry and fed one to Rachel. "My favorite." She smiled.

"And that's why I got it." Josh giggled. "Are you going to miss performing?"

Rachel nods. She makes herself comfortable and again lays her head on his chest. "I am. I'm going to miss the stage because it's my life. Don't get me wrong, I just want a break for a while. I'm young...and I want to do other things." Rachel had her whole life planned out. She wants to take a long break and travel the world.

"I will support you one-hundred percent." Josh said, stroking Rachel's rosy cheeks. "I got a title for the play. It's called The Star. It's about a beautiful young woman who dreamt of being on Broadway ever since she was a little girl. She never gave up on her dream..."

Rachel looks into his eyes. "That's me, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. Who would it be?" Josh asked. Rachel's smile faded. "I don't know...I'm sorry for asking a stupid question. I love your idea." Rachel said. She closes her eyes. Josh grabs the white cozy blanket around them.

He figured why she asked such a thing. He noticed she'd get so insecure and concern whenever she was tired or upset. They never got into a huge fight.

"I love you my star." He said breathing into her Vanilla-Hazelnut scent. He blew the candles, turned off the music, and gently carries Rachel into his arms.

He wanted her to be more cozy so he figured it was time to get up to their room. "Noo..." Rachel mumbled in her sleep.

"Ssh..I've got you." Josh responds sweetly, knowing how Rachel hates being woken up.

He heads to their room and tucks Rachel in bed. He softly laughs as he can hear Rachel snore. He gets washes up for bed, takes his shirt, and clothes up before laying down himself. He closed the light and walks to his side but stops at everything when the doorbell rang. He grew curious at why someone would ring the doorbell at ten-thirty p.m.

He decided to let it go but didn't want Rachel to wake up from the ringing so he rushed down to the door. He forgot he had a no shirt on and a young girl with brunette curls and brown eyes stared widely at him.

Josh stared at the young girl curiously. He looked around to see if there were signs of a parent with her but there was nothing. "May I help you?" Josh asked with all of his concerned.

"You know it isn't polite to have no shirt on in front of a little girl like me." Josh took a step back. This little girl in front of him was full of sass. Who is she? What does she want? Is she a fan of Rachel? He needs answer, and needs them now.

"Do you realize what time is it little girl? Where are your parents? And what do you want?" He didn't mean to snap so quickly. "Just tell me your name please." He sighs when he sees a few suitcases near the girl.

The little girl rolled her eyes. "I need a place to stay. I'm tired, okay." Without hesitating, she walks into the apartment as she pushes Josh out of her way. "Nice place." She nods. "Could be better."

Josh continues to stare at her. "Just tell me your name." He repeated demanding.

"You won't give up." She laughs. "I'm Alexis. Lexi for short. Are you happy now?" She smiles evilly. "So, do I crash there?" She points to the couch.

"You can't crash anywhere! I don't know who you are!" Josh was getting impatient and aggravated.

"I just told you my name. Isn't that enough for you?" Lexi sat down on the couch. She opens her luggage to find her blue blanket. "Thanks for this, really." She said. She lays down to feel comfortable. Josh scratches his head, confused more as ever.

"I'm calling the poli-" He grabbed his phone. Lexi jumped. "No please! Don't! There's no need for that..." She slowly takes out a letter and hands it over to Josh. "Please? Please don't open this without Rachel." She pleaded and looked down on the ground. Josh carefully looked at every word on the letter.

And what he saw shocked him completely.

When he began to speak, he looked up to only see Lexi sound asleep.