I hate the lack of internet access, really I do. I'm so sorry my updates have been so spaced apart. Internet still isn't working at work :( I have less than four weeks until I get home, so by then, updates will be quicker. I promise I'm still reading your stories, and those of you who haven't given up on me, you're awesome. Please review if you want me to continue. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Untold Secrets
Opening night of Funny Girl was fast approaching. Megan and Jesse had continued to be difficult at rehearsal, but it would still be the first musical Rachel performed in at NYADA. She and Kurt had gone to several Broadway musicals together and had a great time. Her dads would be coming to see her perform, and so would Finn, Kurt and Santana. Rachel had kept up pretty well with her friends from New Directions. Mercedes was having a great time inLos Angeles, and Mike was already going to perform in a dance performance inChicago. Tina would be going toChicagoto see Mike perform. Brittanywas enjoying her second senior year, and was a second term senior class president. Rachel had talked withErina few more times, and according to Blaine and Sam, she had the potential to be a great female lead.
As Rachel left rehearsal, her phone went off with a text fromShelby. "Rachel, please meet me at the Starbucks near NYADA?"
Rachel practically dropped the phone. How didShelbyknow where she was? However, she remembered that even thoughShelbydidn't want to be, she was her mother, and that if they were anything alike,Shelbywould fight to meet with Rachel. Rachel sighed and typed a reply. "Sure, I'll be right there." She began walking to Starbucks, while texting Finn that she'd be home a little late. She walked into the Starbucks to seeShelbywith the man she'd seen her with a few weeks earlier.
"Is this her?" the man askedShelby.
"Yes,"Shelbysaid. She turned to Rachel. "Hi sweetheart. How are you?"
Rachel already felt uncomfortable. "I'm doing fine,Shelby. When did you come back toNew York?"
"Last spring,"Shelbysaid.
Why wasn'tShelbytelling Rachel who this man was? And why was he here? Rachel was feeling more and more uneasy. She looked at the man, hoping he'd fill in the blanks. "Hi. I'm Rachel. I'm a friend… of a friend ofShelby's."
"He knows who you are,"Shelbytold Rachel.
"Rachel, my name is John Edwards," the man said. "I'm your father."
Rachel nearly lost her breath. What was this? She felt like she could barely breathe. "You're lying!" Rachel said, not knowing what else to say. Who was this man, and why was he lying to her? Her dads had told her since she was little that they had mixed their sperms in a turkey baster and used that to impregnateShelby. That she answered an ad they'd put in the paper.
"It's true,"Shelbysaid. "Rachel, you were conceived shortly after I realized I'd fail on Broadway, and John failed out ofHarvardMedicalSchool. We both returned to our home state ofOhioand met at a party. Then we got drunk and…"
"Oh my God," Rachel managed to breathe. How could her dads have kept this a secret from her all these years? She realized she looked more like both Shelby and John than she looked like either of her dads. There was a possibility that this was true.
"Now that we've met up again inNew York, we wanted to tell our daughter, together, what the truth is," John said. "We put an ad in the paper, since we were both young, and we weren't in love, so we didn't think we could raise a child. But now, we've fallen in love again… and we want you to be part of our family."
Shelbyheld out her finger and showed Rachel. "John and I are engaged."
"WHAT?" Rachel shouted. "Shelby, you said it was too late for me and you!"
"Now that I have a daughter, I don't want to miss anything else,"Shelbysaid.
"We told your dads to tell you that you were the product of a surrogate pregnancy," John said. "But you deserve the truth, Rachel. You deserve your real parents."
"You gave me up!" Rachel shouted. "You had a chance to let me be part of your family almost nineteen years ago! You didn't want me!"
"Rachel, you need to listen," John said. "Shelby and I have both spent our entire lives thinking about you for the past nineteen years. When she and I reconnected, she told me that she met you and how wonderful you are. Now that we're in love, our family needs to be together."
Rachel shook her head. "I have my own family. I have my dads and my fiancé and my friends! You have a daughter now, Shelby. And I'm sure you two will have children together. You don't need me, and since I was tricked for nineteen years…"
"Rachel, please,"Shelbysaid.
"I need to go," Rachel said. She couldn't face these people. She wanted to go home to Finn, Kurt and Santana. But before she got home, she had to confront her dads.
As she bolted out of Starbucks, Rachel heard Shelby and John calling after her, but she didn't turn back. She now knew exactly how Finn felt when he found out the truth about his father. She had an untold secret about her past, too. Had Shelby and John told Rachel's dads that they were telling her the truth, or even that they were inNew York? Shelbytold Rachel that she had signed a contract saying she couldn't contact Rachel until she was eighteen, but now Rachel WAS eighteen, she'd be nineteen in December. She got off the train near her dads' apartment building and bolted in. When she knocked on her dads' apartment door, she looked them in the eye. "WHY?"
"What's going on, baby?" Hiram asked.
Rachel didn't know what to say. She felt sick to her stomach. "You could have told me."
"Told you what?" Leroy asked, looking confused.
Rachel groaned. Did her dads really think she'd never find out? "Do you know who John Edwards is?"
Hiram and Leroy exchanged a glance. "Yeah, he ran for president…" Hiram began.
"Not that John Edwards!" Rachel shouted, feeling ready to break down. "MY FATHER!"
"Oh, him…" Leroy said. "How did you find out?"
"He's inNew York!" Rachel thundered. "He and Shelby are engaged… and they met me at Starbucks today!"
"We didn't think they'd ever tell you… we thoughtShelbyhad lost contact with him," Leroy said.
"Why didn't you tell me when I metShelby?" Rachel said, beginning to cry. These men who she'd loved for nearly nineteen years had been deceiving her. They had legal rights to her, but there was no biological connection. And they lied and said there was.
"We wanted you to think we were your real parents," Hiram began. "We were worried if you found out, you'd want to leave us for your real parents."
Rachel reached a realization, and spoke out loud. "I guess I have no real parents. My biological parents gave me up, and my legal ones lied to me." She stormed out of the apartment, still crying.
When Rachel arrived at her apartment, it was empty. Then she remembered, Finn, Kurt and Santana were all working tonight. She went into her and Finn's room and collapsed on the bed. She kept her face buried in her pillow until she felt nudging on her back. She rolled over to see Finn standing there and hugged him as tight as she could.
"What's wrong, baby?" Finn asked softly. "I know you, and I know something's up."
"Finn…" Rachel began. "Hiram and Leroy Berry are not my fathers."
Finn gave Rachel a shocked look. "What?"
"I met my real father today," Rachel said, still flashing back to the memory. She didn't expect it to be this traumatizing. She wasn't expecting this at all. "Turns out I'm the product of a drunk evening. Shelbytexted me and introduced me to him at Starbucks… I can't believe my dads would lie to me for nineteen years. I feel like I have nothing, Finn. My real parents didn't want me, and the parents who raised me lied to me. And they're engaged and they have Beth…"
Finn held Rachel close. "There's no way to get this news easily. I remember how shocked I was when my mom told me the truth about my dad." He kissed Rachel's head. "And anyway, baby, don't ever think you have nothing. You have me and you always will."
"You won't force me on any more trains by myself again?" Rachel asked, wiping her tears.
Finn picked up a tissue and did the wiping. "Rachel, that was stupid of me. I'm right here. If there's anything you need to say, just say it. I'm going to listen."
"I HATE THEM!" Rachel said. She didn't know who she hated more at this moment, Hiram and Leroy, orShelbyand John. She was just so angry.
"Of course you do," Finn said. "I hated my mom when she told me the truth."
"What got you to stop hating her?" Rachel asked.
Finn gave Rachel a kiss. "Time."
"I could never hate you though," Rachel told Finn. "Not even when you went back to Quinn or slept with Santana."
"And I could never hate you," Finn said. "Not even when you dated Jesse or made out with Puck."
"At least I have you," Rachel sighed.
"And you have Kurt and Santana and Puck and Quinn and Blaine and all our other friends from Glee," Finn said.
"Thank you, Finn," Rachel said. "I'm feeling really thirsty right now…" She began to think of her dads' old routine from when she was little.
"I'll get you something to drink," Finn said. He came back into the bedroom with a glass of ice water. "Here you go, babe."
"Thanks," Rachel said, kissing her fiancé.
Finn pulled Rachel on to his lap as she sipped the water. A few minutes later, they heard the door to the apartment open. Santana came into Finn and Rachel's bedroom.
"Rachel, someone at work said that tickets to NYADA's production of Funny Girl on opening night in three days are sold out, and three of their other productions, too!" Santana said.
Rachel tried to smile. She'd forgotten all about the play. It was her first production inNew York, and with everything that had gone on, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do it anymore. It wasn't like the production would be empty without her. She was just a background extra.
"I don't know if I'll do it," Rachel said.
Santana gave Rachel a look. "Rachel Berry, not wanting to perform?"
Finn looked at Santana. "Rachel got some shocking news today."
"What?" Santana asked.
Rachel tried to control her emotions as Finn told Santana about the afternoon's events.
"I never trustedShelby," Santana said.
"Neither did I," Finn said.
"I don't want to perform," Rachel said. "Besides,Shelby's probably going to be there."
"You have to," Santana said. "The three of us all took the night off work."
"It's a stage inNew York," Finn said. "It's been your dream to perform inNew York."
Rachel looked from her fiancé to her friend. She knew she had to do this. "Okay, but please don't bail."
"Are you crazy?" Finn asked. "I wouldn't miss this for anything."
X
A few days later, Rachel was on stage as the opening night performance of Funny Girl finished up. Megan and Jesse had gotten a lot of applause, but Rachel admitted that they were talented, as much as she disliked them. Jesse cast flirty glances at Rachel during the curtain call, but Rachel ignored him. It HAD been fun to perform on that stage. She felt special, even if she was just part of the chorus. She still had three years left, she could be front and center in the future.
When the curtains closed, Rachel made a quick exit and ran to the stands before Megan could criticize her or Jesse could attempt to make a move. She found Finn, Kurt and Santana almost right away. Finn gave Rachel a huge bouquet of flowers. Rachel looked at them. "Thank you. And thank you for coming tonight."
"You were great," Kurt said, hugging Rachel.
"Next year, I hope you and Blaine are at NYADA so you can be on this stage too!" Rachel said.
"They will," Santana said. "Nice job,Berry."
"I'm so proud of you," Finn said, kissing Rachel.
Rachel smiled at them. In the distance, she saw Shelby and John, and felt knots in her stomach again, knowing that she hadn't seen the last of them. If her parents were anything like her, they wouldn't give up on anything.
"Should we go for a celebratory dinner?" Finn asked.
Rachel smiled and nodded. She wasn't going to tell Finn, Kurt and Santana that she saw Shelby and John. She was going to enjoy tonight with her fiancé and her friends.
Chapter 11 preview: Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Santana go back to Lima for Will and Emma's wedding. We will get to see all the S3 Glee club members and meet the new members and find out about how everyone's doing. Updates on the New Directions. Finchel, Quick, Klaine, Brittana and Samcedes perform duets at the wedding.
