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 64th cycle. Now cycle 66!

"Oh So Strange"
Rachel/Sam, (Nell (OC))
Sam & Nell/Samchel series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Her day had been odd from the moment she woke up. She was in the middle of her morning routine when there was a ring at the door. Toothbrush stuck between her teeth, she had gone to answer, only to find the ringer had gone, leaving behind a small envelope. There was no stamp, no address, only her name, printed, and the words 'open me.' She looked around, wondering if she had gone and gotten herself a stalker. Having gone back into her apartment, she debated opening the small red envelope for a minute or so before curiosity got the best of her. Inside, what she found was a stack of three pictures of Sam. On each one he stood there, smiling and holding a sign.

'Good morning!' the sign on the first picture said, and she gasped with surprise. She flipped to the second picture. 'I know being apart has been hard, so I hope this makes you smile.' It did. 'Have a nice day!' said the third picture, and Rachel let out a breath, wondering how he had gone and pulled this off. Nonetheless, she took the pictures and stuck them on the wall by her bed. Now every morning when she'd wake up, he would be the first thing she saw.

After she'd finished getting ready, Rachel left her apartment. She had no classes today at NYADA, and as much as she'd been trying to resist this, she wanted to stop by the shop to see her new friend Allison and maybe try a dress or two. She had stopped by the shop two more times since the first, and after she'd run into the salesgirl at a coffee shop one day, they had started hanging out.

Down the street from where she lived, there was a newsstand, and she would stop to pick something up to read on the bus or the subway every so often. It was run by a sweet old man named John, and she would at least smile and wave at him if she passed his stand without buying anything. Only today, as she passed and raised her hand to wave, the man waved her over.

"Sorry, I was just…"

"I have something for you," he held up his finger and reached on a shelf. When she saw the small red envelope, she blinked. "Here you go," he handed it over, and she stared at it for a moment before looking up at him again.

"Where did you get this?"

"All I know is that you're not supposed to open it yet," he told her with a shrug. "Also, you have to go to the place that's written there," he pointed, and she saw there was the name of a coffee shop stamped on the envelope.

"Thanks… I think," she went on her way.

When she arrived at the shop, which was also on her way to NYADA, the girl at the counter had another envelope, with the same instructions: don't open it, just take it and go to the address on it. She knew this was Sam's doing, from the first envelope, but what it was all supposed to mean, she had no clue.

But she did as she was instructed. She went from one place to another, this shop here, this restaurant there, a library, a store, even all the way to NYADA. Her last destination – it said so on the NYADA envelope – was a park, and when she arrived, she was given another envelope and shown to a round table with a chair. The final envelope said 'open me,' so she did. Again, Sam appeared on a photo that said 'open the rest of the envelopes, in the order you received them. With each envelope she opened, it would slowly dawn on her that the background for these photos looked an awful lot like this park. With each photo revealed, this was the message she assembled.

'Dear Rachel… hello again. We said this year would be hell, and it has been, because we've had to be apart. But it wasn't all bad. I got to find just how much I love you, how much I want to spend my life with you. You've been a great mother to Nell, and I know she can't wait to have you back all to herself. I'll try not to take that one too personal. We're almost there now, almost through this long year, and then we can start our lives together. The last time, I didn't have time to prepare. It was out of the blue, because I couldn't help myself. But this time, I was ready. This time, it's going to be something you'll remember. So why don't you turn around?'

Her heart was going mad by the end of it, and at the last picture, she turned around, and there he was, just a few steps away. When he saw her face, he smirked, taking the last few steps toward her and getting down on one knee next to the table.

"Hi," he told her.

"Hi," she laughed.

"So, there's all that, and I already know the answer, but…" he reached in his pocket, in the same clothes she'd seen in the pictures, and pulled out a small box, which he opened and presented to her. "Will you marry me… still?" he asked. Her laugh was strangled in happy tears, but she managed a warbled 'yes.' He took the ring from the box, slipping it on her finger, and she leaned in to kiss him.

They'd gathered a small audience in the midst of it all, and as he had his arms around her, they could hear applause, which made her laugh.

"Did I get you good?" he asked. She pulled back to look at his face, beaming.

"Don't think it could have been better."

"Wait for it," he raised a finger, pointing behind himself. She'd been too caught up to see them amongst their onlookers, but then there was her Dad, and her Pop, and there was…

"Mommy!" Nell came dashing out like a golden arrow, and Rachel gasped, crouching to scoop her into her arms as soon as she reached her. Sam had been right, it could get better. And this odd little day would be all she needed to get her through the rest of this crazy year. They could make it, would make it, and then they'd be a family.

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!