A/N ~ This story is very loosely based on A Christmas Carol (so loosely in fact that Charles Dickens is spinning in his grave right about now).
I also stole a little from the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.
If the writing seems a little stilted I was trying to write in an olde English like manner, forgive me if I fail miserably.
I am not Jewish so forgive any Hanukkah celebration mistakes…
I hope you have as much fun reading it as I am writing it!
A/N 2 ~ I will be posting a chapter a day until it is finished, which will either be Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
PS – I fudged dates to make it work, don't mind those pesky details LOL!
Preface
A Gleeful Christmas Carol
This story is a morality tale of a selfish self-centered diva, Rachel Berry,
who having alienated everyone she loves undergoes a dramatic change
of heart after an experience of redemption over the course of a Christmas Eve night
PREFACE
I attempt in this Ghastly little story to not raise the Ghost of Charles Dickens in
vengeful ire to haunt me for eternity, but to endeavour the Ghost of an Idea that
will raise my readers spirits, fill them with good humour and cheer, and hopefully
make them chuckle just a bit. May it haunt their computers, smart phones and iPads
pleasantly, and no one wish to flame it!
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or whatever else you are celebrating.
I hope the New Year brings peace, love, joy, friendship, happiness, good luck, and good health to all of you!
Chapter 1: Ho, Ho, Ho and Oy Vey!
Miss Rachel Barbara Berry loved December for as long as she could remember. She was the only child of two very overindulgent gay men. They loved her dearly, and longed only to see her happy and fulfilled.
December, being her birthday month, was usually a time of happiness and joy for Rachel and her family. All her life they had celebrated Christmakkah, a combination of her Dad's Jewish heritage, and her Daddy's Christian background.
Naturally, all three of them being drama queens (no pun intended) they never did anything half-way. They dove into the season whole heartedly. They hung lights and spun the dreidel. They made cookies and latkes. They sang carols, and they celebrated and ate and sang some more. The house was filled with love, joy, and the spirit of the season.
Rachel looked forward to Christmakkah more than she did her own birthday on December 18th. Despite the fact the Berry men celebrated that day as a national holiday.
Her birth, through a surrogate, Shelby Corcoran, was viewed a miracle just short of the virgin birth of Jesus by her Daddy or the Parting of the Red Sea by her Dad. She was raised to believe in her own destiny.
To say Rachel Berry was a spoiled, coddled, entitled diva would merely be an oversimplification of her as a person. She also possessed a kind, forgiving nature, a passion for life and music, and a generosity in spirit. Unfortunately her good side was often hidden by her selfish drive for fame and fortune.
This year, her senior year, was supposed to be the best December of her life. It was supposed to be epic. The culmination of the first 18 years of her life; this would be the last holiday and birthday living in the comfort of her childhood home.
Rachel had everything her heart had ever desired, and was having an unparalleled year.
Quinn Fabray, the blonde goddess she had always worshipped from afar, was her girlfriend and Rachel had never been happier. Every second she spent with the blonde made her shake her head in wonder as to how she had ever deluded herself into believing Finn Hudson could ever have made her happy. She knew her and Quinn were soulmates.
She had an important role in the Lima Community Theater stage presentation of White Christmas, not the starring role but an important role. She had two solos singing Irving Berlin's wonderful music; songs that perfectly suited her vocal style and range.
This play was the perfect vehicle to showcase her talent to the small town of Lima, Ohio, the narrow-minded town folks that had always judged her, and her family. Most of the town had shunned the Berry's simply for being different.
The play was a one night engagement to be performed on December 23rd for the entire community, and she was extremely excited. Rachel dreamed of winning over the town with her talent, and finally being loved and accepted by her neighbors.
Her surrogate mother Shelby, and Rachel had been able to work out some of their differences. They had made a start in rebuilding a relationship that filled the empty space in the petite diva that yearned for a mother figure.
She was about to turn 18 years old, and she was eagerly anticipating her move to New York. She was destined to be an important stage actress. Her dreams included the love of her life at her side. Having been accepted at NYADA, she would be honing her skills in college, of course.
Rachel's dreams of late showcased a beautiful home, beautiful blonde wife, little hazel-eyed, blonde goyim babies, and even a golden retriever. She never doubted her destiny or her future happiness.
Just as importantly, New Directions was on its way to a spectacular winning season that Rachel was sure would end with a National Championship for her little Glee club family. They had survived a tough year, but had come together stronger than ever.
The Nationals title and her first role in the Christmas play would be the cherry on top of her dreams. Rachel was sure of it.
Yes, this was supposed to be the best December ever! Everything would just fall into place like an old-time Hollywood movie.
The only thing that seemed to keep getting in the way of the "perfect December" was Rachel herself.
You see, Rachel Barbra Berry had only two speeds; hyper and manic. She ran at life full tilt and expected her family, girlfriend, and friends to embrace life with equal passion and dedication. Most times, while slightly annoying, it was inspirational and a joy to behold. Sometimes it just caused problems for Rachel, and those around her.
The first chink in the armor of the "perfect December" came during Christmas break at school.
Rachel had planned daily rehearsals for New Directions. Her play rehearsals took up her evenings; she adjusted by setting the show choir rehearsals for 6 am every day.
The first day no one but Quinn showed up, and on the second day not even Quinn showed up. The beautiful blonde had awoke to 15 text messages from her beloved that second morning, one sent every other minute for 30 minutes. They ranged from concern, to worry, to irritation, to just plain pissed off. Quinn rolled her eyes and went back to sleep.
If Rachel's loyal lapdog Finn didn't show up, and her BFF Kurt and his boyfriend Blaine didn't show, Quinn knew no one was ever going to.
The diva was beyond irritated, and bemoaned loudly and to anyone who would listen that she was truly the only dedicated member of New Directions. Her friends started to avoid her in order to escape being berated by the tiny diva.
After the fifth day of hearing about it Quinn put her foot down and threatened to withhold kinky birthday sex if Rachel brought up the subject again. Rachel reluctantly dropped the subject, and bit her tongue. After all, she had been dreaming of kinky birthday sex for the last 3 months.
The second blow to the "perfect December" came when Rachel called her mother to inquire how many tickets to her play Shelby wanted reserved. Shelby casually informed Rachel that she and Beth would be present for Rachel's 18th birthday party on Sunday, but she would be unable to attend the play.
Hanukkah began on Tuesday and the play was on a Friday which was Shabbat. It was tradition for her to spend Hanukkah with her family. She didn't want Beth to miss it.
Shelby assured Rachel had the play not been on Friday not only would she have been there, but she would have invited Rachel to spend Hanukkah with the family. She was sorry, but there was no way around it.
Shelby told Rachel that she would make sure her the Berry's taped it for her to view, and they would all watch it together as a special treat.
Rachel of course, was devastated. Her link to Shelby was tenuous at best, and she already felt unloved by her family of origin and replaced by Beth. Her fathers' were coming to the play, why couldn't Shelby?
The rejection was a deep wound for Rachel who covered it up with false bravado when Shelby seemed surprised by Rachel's shock. It triggered all of the tiny brunette's insecurities regarding her mother, and her mother's previous abandonments.
Shelby for her part, a little selfish as well, found herself feeling guilty. Her guilt usually manifested in her avoiding her oldest daughter, and not acknowledging her feelings. They really loved each other, but they both had much work to do on the relationship.
Rachel spent the evening she found out crying in the arms of Quinn who was masking her own pain since Shelby and Beth had come back into town. Out of love for Rachel, the blonde put aside her own pain and comforted Rachel as best she could.
The play rehearsals were daily, and the local director was a bit of a perfectionistic diva himself as well as a tyrant. Rehearsals ran long and scenes performed over and over again until just right.
The little brunette was used to show choir rehearsals, and her first real acting experience in this play was eye opening. She loved every minute, but it was very time consuming. She found herself missing out on all the holiday preparations she loved doing with her fathers, and her stress came out as irritation.
She kept trying to force her fathers' to withhold holiday preparations until she came home in the evening after rehearsal, but her fathers' still had to work early in the morning and were not able to comply with their diva's demands.
Rachel's attempts at coercion resulted in much stamping of the feet, eye rolling, diva storm outs and tears, but her fathers' were simply unable to bake cookies at midnight and get up for work by 6am no matter how many tantrums she threw. It was to be Rachel's last holiday living at home and she could not understand why no one but herself appreciated that fact!
Finally her Daddy, a tall calm man of great humor, having had enough of the dramatics, snapped at his daughter and raising his voice for one of only a handful of times in Rachel's life threatened to call off Christmakkah if Rachel didn't stop thinking only of herself.
Rachel was shocked that her Daddy had raised his voice and threatened to call off the holiday. She wondered to Quinn that evening before play practice if a brain tumor would cause those symptoms.
Quinn was slowly getting fed up with Rachel's selfish behavior herself, but knew life would go back to normal by December 26th. She just rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's brain tumor concerns and tried to be supportive.
This holiday season Rachel had clearly gone into overdrive or as their friend Santana put it so delicately, "she had taken the crazy up a few notches, skipped manic, and went right into fucking insane."
The blonde had been struggling with stress herself this holiday season. She had been struggling with depression since Shelby had brought Beth back into town.
Quinn loved seeing the gorgeous little blonde she had given birth to, but every time Beth would reach for Shelby from Quinn's arms, and say "mama" it would shatter the blonde.
She would go home and leave her daughter at Shelby's. It just broke her heart. She would find herself crying all night, and in a black funk for days after each visit.
Quinn really wanted to share this pain with Rachel, but she knew her girlfriend struggled regarding Shelby and Beth as well. She kept it bottled up inside, and tried to protect Rachel's feelings instead.
She knew it was wrong to still think of Beth as her daughter. She had no clue how to recover from this pain, and no one to share it with.
Her mother Judy was lonely, overworked, and absent much of the time. When she was around she was moody and irritable with Quinn.
With her two best friends, Santana and Brittany, keeping each other occupied, Quinn felt like a third wheel whenever she spent time with them. Plus if truth be told, the two cheerleaders were shameless when it came to making out in front of their friend, and Quinn was still too shy to feel comfortable around it.
Rachel had been trying to cram 60 days of holiday excitement into 14 days so she was busy from morning to night and mostly unavailable to Quinn as well.
Quinn found herself feeling very sad and lonely and felt cast aside by everyone but especially her girlfriend. Rachel's demands were starting to wear a little thin.
The brunette demanded they have a meal together daily in order to "stay apprised of each other's schedules and situations" and Quinn had acquiesced to eating dinner at 2 pm every day so Rachel could have a proper meal and rest before rehearsals.
Rachel demanded a specific number of texts per day as well as a mandatory good morning and good night text every day.
As a matter of fact, the blonde was starting to feel a little unappreciated by her girlfriend, and more than a little hurt by Rachel's self-absorption and inability to talk about anything but her "perfect December".
Finally, December 18th, Rachel's long anticipated birthday arrived.
Quinn had planned a series of wonderful romantic surprises for Rachel to be unveiled on her 18th birthday. A classy hotel room with a hot tub had been arranged by Quinn and already decorated by Brittany and a grumbling Santana.
Champagne was chilling, and a mouth-watering selection of vegan and non-vegan hors d'oevre's were meticulously and lovingly prepared by the blonde. There room had flowers and presents and blue streamers and silver candles and it was a wonder to behold.
Everything was set for a perfect evening followed by kinky birthday sex. Quinn had done all the planning, and both girls were eagerly anticipating an epic evening of love and romance.
Her fathers' had planned a party at the house earlier in the day for friends and family and cast members, and Rachel was beside herself with excitement and proud to be the hostess for the afternoon.
It was supposed to have been the perfect birthday, the one that would eclipse all the birthdays that had come before it.
Unfortunately, the play rehearsals had been hampered all week by lighting problems, so the director called an emergency rehearsal for that evening. After all it was only 4 days until dress rehearsal, and 5 days until showtime.
Promising Quinn she would not be too late and assuring her she could not wait for all her birthday surprises, Rachel ran out the door. She felt a little guilty at the sad and slightly irritated look in her girlfriend's stunning hazel eyes, but fame and fortune waited for no man (or gorgeous girlfriend). The road to stardom would be paved with all kinds of sacrifices, and maybe Quinn would just have to start getting used to it now as the future wife of a celebrity.
Rachel promised herself to make it up to Quinn as soon as Christmakkah was over. She had a slight feeling of unease at the distance she was feeling from her blonde girlfriend, but shrugged it off as nerves and quickly forgot about it.
It was very late when Rachel arrived at the hotel room. Letting herself in she found a room in disarray. Empty champagne bottles littered the room, the candles had long since burned down, the flowers had wilted, and the hors d'oevre's were mostly eaten.
Santana, Brittany, and Quinn were all tangled up in the bed together passed out, but in Rachel's eyes at least they were above covers and still mostly dressed.
Rachel tried gently and then not so gently to wake her sleeping girlfriend, but finally gave up, wrote Quinn a sarcastic note, and went home to sleep in her own comfortable bed.
To say Quinn was not amused come morning upon finding the note would be a gross understatement. Her hangover only made her irritation worse.
She thought it best if she tried to avoid Rachel until both of them calmed down. Although, what Rachel should be upset over, Quinn was clueless. It had been all her carefully made romantic plans that were ruined, not the other way around.
Quinn texted Rachel her apologies for having to miss Monday's early dinner with her girlfriend claiming family commitments. She assured Rachel of her love, and her intention to be at the Berry home for the first day of Hanukkah on Tuesday evening.
Rachel's righteous indignation at clearly having been blown off burned white hot, and she replied to Quinn's text tersely that she would see her Tuesday evening with hopes that Quinn's attitude had improved by then.
Quinn read the message and growled fiercely as she tried to control her anger by breathing deep calming breaths. She slammed her phone on her nightstand, and tried to go back to sleep for a little while and forget about a certain little brunette diva that was driving her batty.
Tuesday, the first day of Hanukkah dawned, clear and cold with the promise of snow in the air. The play was in 3 days, and everyone was excited.
Quinn was especially excited to experience an authentic Jewish holiday, it was her first. She knew Beth was being raised Jewish, and the girl she loved was Jewish, and Quinn wanted to know everything about it. She was thrilled to be included by the Berry's.
Rachel and Quinn were still clearly irritated with each other, but both did their best to put it aside and have a pleasant evening. An intense play rehearsal was scheduled, so Rachel rushed everyone through prayers, candle lighting, and dinner and rushed off leaving everyone feeling unsettled instead of festive.
The big blowup finally occurred on Wednesday, December 21st.
Quinn woke up and went downstairs to find her mother home sipping coffee in the kitchen. Immediately she knew something was up, and it would have to be something big for Judy to not be at work.
Judy informed her daughter that she had given in to her father Russell's demands to spend Christmas Day with "his family". Quinn was beyond hurt. One of the solemn promises her mother had made when she moved back home was that Russell was forever out of their lives, and would not be allowed to ever hurt his daughter again.
The younger blonde knew once Russell got his foot in the door he would eventually worm his way back into the house and Judy's bed. Quinn would never live with that man again.
He disowned her when she was pregnant. That she could maybe forgive. She had received many ugly phone messages this year about the sin of being gay. How she had thrown away salvation for a lesbian Jew, and disappointed him yet again.
There was no way Quinn would sit down to Christmas Day dinner with that bigot. The Berry men had been better fathers' to her than Russell ever had been.
She and Judy had a bitter argument filled with past hurts and bitter recriminations. Quinn stormed out of the house feeling more betrayed than she did the night they threw her out when she was pregnant. That night she had been young and filled with guilt and shame, but now she was just hurt and betrayed.
Quinn instinctively headed to the comfort of the Berry's. She longed for the warmth and understanding of a slight brunette with milk chocolate loving eyes, strong arms and a soft lap. She longed to be comforted and assured of her worth. She was desperate to feel loved and valued by someone.
Unfortunately for both of them, Rachel's rehearsal last night had gone dismally. The lighting issues were not resolved, and Rachel was overtired, emotional and on edge.
The moment the door opened revealing her blonde lover, Rachel had launched herself into Quinn crying and moaning about how awful the play was going to be, how amateurish it was going to look with lighting problems, how her career was going to be ruined before it started.
Quinn stood there listening to Rachel and holding her, trying to interject her need to speak but Rachel did not notice the blonde's distress.
The ex-head cheerleader and former HBIC had a very short temper when distressed and Rachel had no filter, so despite their love for each other they exploded in anger. They wounded each other with words that both would regret and neither could take back.
Insecurities held by both girls were given voice, and Rachel accused Quinn of being unable to handle her fame and unwilling to live the life of sacrifice that would be required by the wife of a famous actress. She vented her aggravation at Quinn's obvious lack of support during the most difficult time of her life. She was wounded by the lack of attention she was getting from her lover.
Quinn was stunned and furious. She had done nothing BUT sacrifice for Rachel. She called her a selfish, self-centered child, and an uncaring and unfeeling bitch. The blonde was better at inflicting pain. Still stung by what she considered betrayal by everyone she loved, she delivered the killing blow.
She yelled to Rachel it was no wonder Shelby didn't want her and had replaced her with an infant who was clearly less needy and lower maintenance than Rachel could ever be.
The minute the words left Quinn's lips she regretted them. She stood there with her chest heaving trying not to notice the instant look of pain and betrayal in Rachel's eyes.
Rachel stood in shock, and quickly tried to recover. Her heart felt like she had been stabbed by the remorseful blonde in front of her.
Rachel ordered the blonde from her house stating that clearly this would never work. Quinn stated if she left she was never coming back, and they were over for good.
Rachel stormed up the stairs to her bedroom, and slammed her door after throwing her promise ring in Quinn's face. Quinn stormed out of the house, and slammed the front door after throwing her promise ring at Rachel's back.
Rachel spent the day in her room hysterical and unable to leave her bed. Her Daddy held her and rocked her like he had when she was a child after a nightmare. Leroy murmured words of comfort and assurance that couples fought but it would blow over. The brunette cried until she had to get up and drag herself to rehearsal.
Quinn spent the day at Santana's house crying and being held in the strong arms of a loving Brittany. Santana paced around her bedroom cursing the stupidity of both Rachel and Quinn in loud angry Spanish.
Thursday was dress rehearsal all day and night. Both girls were still extremely angry and tremendously hurt, so neither phoned nor texted the other. Rachel kept busy by the play, but missing Quinn terribly decided to give the love of her life space to calm down. Rachel decided if she didn't hear from Quinn by Saturday she would go to the Fabray's and mend their relationship by whatever means necessary.
Quinn knew that any attempt on her part to contact the brunette would only distract her from the upcoming performance. As angry as Quinn was, she loved Rachel with all her heart and truly wanted her to shine on Friday evening. She would do her best to fix things on Christmas Eve if she didn't hear from Rachel by Saturday.
The evening of the play arrived, and Quinn knew she could not stay away. She was afraid to sit in the seat reserved for her. The blonde didn't want Rachel to keep seeing her, and get upset. It was a dilemma though, as she didn't want the singer to stare at an empty seat either for the night. Quinn chose the lesser of two evils.
Quinn sent Brittany to sit with the Berry men, knowing how much B and Rach loved each other, and calmed each other in a way no one else seemed to be able.
She and Santana hung out secretly in the back of the auditorium, extremely nervous for Rachel and anxious for this night to be over so they could go back to the way things were before the "perfect December" screwed up their happy lives.
The play went by without a hitch. Rachel was radiant in her role, and her crystal clear pure voice sang the incredible melodies of the Irving Berlin songs with a professionalism that belied her lack of professional experience. She was the perfect ingénue, wide eyed and innocent. Her large doe eyes glimmered with wonder as her voice filled the sold out auditorium.
Quinn's heart nearly exploded with love and joy.
Everyone cheered loudly, and Rachel received a standing ovation. Quinn cheered loudest and cried almost as hard as the two Berry men. The blonde pounded Santana on the back. She forgot all the weeks of loneliness and her recent hurt, finding herself filled with a fierce pride for her beautiful girlfriend.
Rachel's cast mates pushed her forward to the front of the stage, and flowers were handed up to her. She looked shy, demure, and wildly happy. Just as she curtsied, a weird loud cracking noise was heard in the theater.
One of the pesky lights that had been causing problems all week came loose from its anchor in the ceiling and crashed to the stage striking Rachel in the side of the head.
Still tethered, the light mercifully didn't hit Rachel with a direct blow, but still the force was hard enough to render her unconscious.
Quinn rushed for the stage as did Rachel's fathers', while chaos erupted in the theater. An ambulance was called, and Rachel's friends stood by helpless.
Although she had been the farthest away from her girlfriend; she was the first to vault the stage. Quinn was terrified to move Rachel's head or neck, so she took the girl's hand and spoke soft words of love, and forgiveness, and encouragement as tears poured down her face.
Her thumb gently rubbed circles on the back of her diva's hand in a manner she knew was calming to Rachel.
"It can't end like this Rachel. We haven't apologized yet. Please wake up, baby. We have our whole lives to live!"
Quinn kept begging Rachel over and over as the curtain fell on Rachel Barbra Berry's first professional performance and her "perfect December".
To be continued, next up Rachel has a very weird visitor… drop me a line and let me know what you think!