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 68th cycle. Now cycle 69!

"Open the Doors"
Sam/Rachel, Nell (OC)
Sam & Nell-Samchel series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

They'd had weeks to themselves, to enjoy summer, and it had been great, truly. Nell was adjusting so well to New York, they might have thought this was where she'd been meant to be all her life. And there was just something about the melding of their belongings that had filled Sam and Rachel with the sense that this was their home, as a family. Of course they also had wedding plans to see to, and now that she had Sam there with her, there was no more holding Rachel back. She'd been resisting it in any way she could, but all it had really done was to stock up idea upon idea in her head, and now here they were, breaking the dam. They came flowing out in a flurry which might have been unsettling to most, but to Sam it was something he was already familiar with, one of the many reasons for which he had fallen in love with her. Before they knew it, their upcoming wedding was shaping up, with great thanks to Rachel's fathers, who insisted on footing the bill.

Before long, Sam had needed to really start looking after what he would do with himself. The first few weeks, it had been fine to take things easy, but now they had to think about how they were going to keep living as they were. Their neighbor would gladly watch Nell, and Rachel promised Sam she'd been getting to know the woman for a year, almost as a way to ease in the possibility that she might be in their trust. Eventually, Rachel would be starting her second year at NYADA, and Sam… well, that was the question.

There would be a time where he would see explore the possibility of college, but for the immediate future, making some money was more of a priority. So he started looking for a job. He didn't see him making any headway as a store clerk or a waiter. Eventually, it had come to Allison, their ever connected and helpful bridal shop clerk, who had heard of something he might be interested in. Her ex ran a messenger service, and they needed someone. He had applied, and within days he was cycling through the streets of New York, doing pick-ups and drop-offs. He was still getting familiar with the area, but he was a surprisingly fast learner.

It was in getting to know other messengers that he'd found a second opportunity. He still had his guitar, and this one played this instrument, and that one played that instrument, and if they got together they might be able to perform here, there… By the end of the summer, the band was on its feet, and they were making some headway.

The more time went by, the more he saw what it took for him to earn up what he did get, the less likely it felt that he would ever get around to go to college. He knew that going to college would give him the ability to earn more money, but that was for the future, and the present was already demanding that he pay up. This was nothing new to him. He'd had to start thinking about Nell, about providing for her, from even before she was born. The older she got, the more he needed to provide for her, and now they weren't back in Lima anymore, where he had his mother to help him, and that was right, but he did worry. If it weren't for Rachel's fathers paying for it all, they might have needed to postpone the wedding. And even if he could entertain the thought of college, he could never afford it.

So he'd gotten a second job, as a bus boy in a restaurant. That might have been the best decision he'd made since he'd arrived in New York.

The owner and head chef was a cheerful woman about his mother's age, and from the first day he'd started at the restaurant, she'd been kind to him. She had no attitude about her, and she knew everyone who worked in her restaurant within a week as though she'd known them for months, years even. She soon got to meet Rachel, and Nell, and she also got to know Sam a little better.

One day, she'd asked if he could step in and help with prep, as they were short staffed for the day. He didn't know what he was doing, but she would show him, and like with his messenger job, he was a fast learner. Before long, she wanted to promote him up into the kitchen staff proper. She showed him more and more, and he wasn't sure when she'd figured it out, but eventually he realized what the chef already had realized. He loved working in that kitchen, and he was actually starting to understand some things, discovering passion he didn't know he had.

Eventually he'd quit his messenger job, working the kitchen full time. In the morning, before the restaurant opened, the chef would have him replicate some of the dishes he'd seen made over and over. It came to him so easily he was amazed at what he could do.

"Keep going the way you're going, one day you could have your own restaurant," the chef had told him, and he knew, without a doubt, that was going to be his goal.

Soon he would be enrolled in culinary school, and with the chef sending such a glowing letter of recommendation, there was no keeping him out. She had even helped with his tuition.

There were no two prouder people than Rachel and Nell. His daughter could not wait to help him in the kitchen, and any task he knew she could do without getting hurt he would let her do. As for Rachel, who had been right there, seeing his struggles and his worries, this turn of events had both left her relieved and excited for him, for his future.

"You know if it had been me in there that kitchen would have probably burned down on the first day," she'd joke.

"I don't know about that… Second day at least," he'd joke right back.

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!