a/n: Thank you for the reviews.

Rachel stepped out from behind Shelby and stared up at the man in front of her. This was her biological father, the man who had provided half of her DNA. Shelby only had the one photo of him, back from when she was born. He looked slightly different now, older of course, hair line having receeded slightly, and face having filled out from the skinny 16 year old at her birth. His eyes were brown, and Rachel felt the first spark of curiosity ignite, as she wondered whether her own brown eyes came from him, or as a throw back from Hiram, as she had been lead to believe.

Brett for his part was staring at Rachel, unable to take his eyes off her. This pretty young woman was his daughter? What happened to the gawky little girl in a tutu? It suddenly hit him: he had a daughter, a nearly fully grown one.

"Brett, it's nice to see you" Shelby said, stepping forward and extending a hand, bangles jingling.

"Yes" Brett replied in a daze, moving in to give her a quick hug.

"This is Rachel, Rachel, this is Brett" she motioned between the two of them.

"Hi" Rachel replied, suddenly at a loss for words.

"Hello" Brett said "I'm sorry for staring at you like some kind of pedophile, but, i just can't believe how beautiful you are"

Rachel blushed, usually she would be all over that kind of comment, but it was different this time.

"I mean," Brett blustered "I knew you would be beautiful, because your mother was, I mean, is, very pretty, and you look just like her so..."

"Shall we go find our table?" Shelby said, trying rescue Brett from his nerves.

"Good idea" Brett agreed.

The hostess showed them to their seats, and the next few moments were spent on easy topics of drinks ordering and menu reading.

"Can I have the large house salad without the cheese?" Rachel requested.

"Do you have a dairy intolerance?" Brett asked upon hearing this, trying to remember if Shelby had ever told him about any medical conditions

"No, I'm a Vegan" Rachel replied.

"Vegan? Really?" Brett continued

"Since she was 12" Shelby interjected.

"Thats quite young to make such an important choice" Brett questioned

"I knew what I wanted, and everyone respected my decision" Rachel said

Brett looked at Shelby for a further explanation "Daddy thought it was a good idea. He thought she should be allowed to make up her own mind"

"Wait - do you mean to say you were against me becoming Vegan?" Rachel responded picking up on the subtext.

Shelby examined her napkin " I wanted you to try becoming vegetarian first for a few years, see how your body adjusted. But my opinion didn't matter "

"But why-"

"Baby" Shelby interrupted "Now is not the time to be having these kinds of discussions."

"So Rachel, Shelby tells me you like to perform" Brett tried to steer the conversation into a better direction.

"She does, she's a brilliant performer" Shelby added

"I plan to have a Tony by the time I'm 25" Rachel confirmed "I'll pick up the grammy at the same time for best new musical soundtrack, otherwise, I'll probably pick up the grammy either for my first solo album, released due to popular fan demand, or, for the new original song that will be added to the Wicked Soundtrack when I star as Elphaba in the film adaptation. That will be the role which will also win me the Oscar and the Emmy. All being well I should have the EGOT by the age of 30, perhaps 35 if the current climate of recession continues and I have to put my album on hold."

Brett simply stared at his daughter. Was she testing him?

"She's serious" Shelby whispered to him.

"Well, I'm glad you have a well thought out career plan" Brett concluded.

The conversation moved on to other topics, and while Shelby was filling Brett in on her own job, Rachel zoned out and got lost in her own thoughts.

It was odd to think that Brett was her father, biologically speaking. He was too young, she had male cousins older than him. She realised, that logically, it made no sense, as she had no issues with thinking of Shelby as her mother despite her equally young age. She figured it was because Shelby had, the more Rachel reflected on it, always filled that role, just that Rachel was unaware of it at the time. Even before she knew the truth, her mother was a blank canvas, she had no experience of any other female role model other than Shelby or Nanny. Male parental figures though, she already had two, and in her mind, Dads should be middle aged, with speckles of grey in their hair and that air of wordly wisdom that comes with having been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt.

She looked at Shelby and Brett now, deep in conversation, laughing over an anecdote Shelby had just said. If life had taken a different course, these would be 'mom' and 'dad', taking her out to lunch while Grandad and Grandpa were back at home. Would Shelby and Brett have married? Would they still be together? Would she, Rachel, have encountered any less bullying and discrimination growing up for being the child of 2 teen parents, as opposed to being the child of 2 gay men?

Did the people at the restaurant realise that this was a lunch between parent and child, or did they think it was 3 siblings?


While Rachel was being reflective, back in Ohio, Hiram Berry was going through the mail. Having dealt with the bills, he got to the last one in the pile, and sighed. It was another one addressed to Shelby Corcoran. He had managed to intercept the first one and throw it in the bin.

He decided to open this one. He ripped the envelope, no point in steaming it open, its not as if he was ever going to let Shelby see it.

He found himself looking at letter headed paper from a Private Detective Company.

Dear Ms Corcoran,

We at Davis, Roberts & Co, specialise in tracking down and reuniting children with their birth parents or estranged relatives. We are acting on behalf of your mother..

Hiram crumpled the letter up and reached for his laptop, which was where Leroy found him 20 minutes later.

"What are you up to?" Leroy asked, seeing his husband with a grim look on his face, typing furiously.

"Correspondence" Hiram replied as he continued to type.

Seeing no further explanation was forth coming , Leroy leaned over to try and read what Hiram was writing.

"Hiram!" he admonished "You can't just impersonate Shelby and tell them she doesn't want to hear anything from her mother"

"Yes I can" Hiram huffed

" We need to talk to Shelby about this" Leroy reasoned

"No we don't." Hiram insisted

"But-" Leroy tried

"Has Shelby ever asked about her mother?" Hiram began

"No"

"has she ever expressed an interest in meeting the woman?"

"No"

"Have we not raised a wonderful, hard working, and lovely young woman?"

"Yes-but"

"Haven't my mother and your sister always provided any womanly advice or perspective needed?"

"Yes"

"Well, then, she does NOT need to have any contact with this woman"

"I really don't think-"

"I'm pulling rank here Leroy, I am puting an end to this before it starts, and Shelby need not be any the wiser"

"Goddammit Hiram, she is just as much my daughter as yours, so do not pull the biology card, it won't wash with me."

Hirams face softened as he got up and approached his husband.

"I didn't mean it like that" he said, placing his arms around Leroy. "But I am the only one who has met Maria, I knew her, or I thought I did. I don't want Shelby getting involved with her. Not at the moment, not with all the upheaval with Rachel and everything. When it's all a bit more stable, we'll sit her down, and ask her what she wants to do."

"I still don't like this" Leroy said

"Duly noted" Hiram replied, kissing him on the nose. "You get a free pass next time you do something I don't agree with"


Back in Chicago, lunch had been followed by a walk around millennium park, and now the trio had ended up back at Brett's house.

A bottle of wine between them and Shelby and Brett were taking a walk down memory lane, re-living their teen years. Rachel was listening with rapt attention, she couldn't help but wish she'd had a New York childhood too.

By 10 pm, Shelby was on glass number 3 of wine, and was relating embarassing stories from Rachels infancy. Rachel took this as her cue to go to bed.

"I'll be through when I've finished my drink" Shelby told her, as Rachel said her goodnights.

She showered quickly and then settled into the double bed in Brett's spare room, and soon fell asleep. She woke with a start a few hours later, and sat up confused, disorientated as to where she was. The clock on the nightstand told her it was 2am. Turning to her side she noticed that she was alone, Shelbys half of the bed hadn't been slept in.

Where was Shelby? She was half tempted to get out of bed and go search for her, and went to turn back the duvet cover and paused. There could be a very innocent explanation, Brett and Shelby could still be on the sofa shooting the breeze, or they could have both fallen alseep on the sofa. Or there could be a less innocent explanation, about what Shelby and Brett were currently doing, and if that were the case, that was something Rachel really did not want to see or hear.

Forcing her mind to think of something else, she lay back down in bed and tried to go back to sleep.


a/n: Please review if you have time, it would be really appreciated.