"Hey! How was your flight?" 24-year-old Jesse St. James asked his 21-year-old sister Annie as he greeted her with a hug.
"It was fine - I took a nap so if anything terrible happened I was none the wiser," Annie said, as she entered her big brother's apartment.
"Make yourself comfortable - can I get you something to drink?" Jesse asked.
"Water would be great, thanks," Annie smiled.
"Ice?" Jesse offered.
"Yes please!" Annie replied.
Jesse handed her the water and sat down.
"How's school?" Jesse asked, taking a sip of his own water.
"Hectic," Annie laughed. "But I'm so glad I'm finally there," she said. Annie had been saving up since her part-time barista days in high school. Of course, after graduation she still didn't have near enough for tuition at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon university, so she got a full-time job in the box office of a local theatre and continued to save up for a year and a half. Between working in the college bookstore, the occasional short film gig, and a small scholarship she had managed to get - she was doing okay. Much to her surprise, her estranged parents had also put a decent amount towards her education.
"I'm proud of you," Jesse said. Annie couldn't help but tear up a little bit at hearing him say that. Having a good relationship with her brother was still a pretty new concept to her.
Jesse and Annie were the youngest two children of Ed and Margaret St. James. Their older siblings, Eddie and Maggie, had spent time in mental health facilities for addiction and eating disorders respectively. Jesse was supposed to be the final St. James child, but just as Margaret was looking into getting a hysterectomy she found out she was pregnant a fourth time.
Eddie, Maggie, and especially Annie, had grown up in Jesse's shadow. He had been the obvious favorite - which he knew, too. Ed and Margaret spent most of the time traveling, and left their children in the care of Ed's brother Rick, and his wife Beth, who died in a car accident when Annie was in middle school. Rick and Beth became more like parents than uncle and aunt to their nieces and nephews. When Ed and Margaret were around however, they only seemed to have time to attend Jesse's extracurriculars.
Both Jesse and Annie shared a love of singing and acting and throughout her entire childhood, all Annie wanted, since she had long given up on her parents giving a damn about her, was Jesse's approval. Instead, she was met with constant criticism, and often found herself reduced to tears after conversations with Jesse.
When Jesse was back in Ohio one summer (at this point he had moved to New York) to help his friend direct a musical, Annie decided to audition. As pathetic as it was, she was hoping to prove to him once and for all her worth as a performer - and his sister. When she didn't make the callback list, Jesse informed her that not only did he and Tyler (the aforementioned friend) think Annie was too good to be in the musical and wanted her to stage manage/assist Jesse with directing vocals and choreography, but also that he had always admired Annie's talents, and even envied them at times.
Ever since then, the two were getting closer - Jesse had gone to some of Annie's therapy sessions as they worked on the musical with Tyler, and their sister Maggie, who at the time was still undergoing treatment for bulimia but was currently in remission, had attended a session as well. Jesse wasn't sure if he would ever be able to repair his relationships with his older siblings, but things between him and Annie could not have been better.
"I'm sure you're relieved to be on a break," Jesse said.
"Tell me about it," Annie sighed. Jesse laughed.
"So…" Annie began.
"So…" Jesse said.
"Why did you…ask me over?" Annie asked.
"I mean, I haven't seen you in a while," Jesse chuckled.
"Oh, I know - and it's good that we can see each other again…it's just…your text did say you had something you wanted to talk to me about."
"Yes," Jesse said. "Umm…Annie. You remember Rachel Berry, right?"
"Your girlfriend? Of course!" Annie raised an eyebrow and then laughed. Where in the world was he going with this?
"Uh…well I went to the jewelry store the other day," Jesse said.
"For what? Oh my God…are you gonna ask her…you're getting married?!" Annie was talking a mile a minute.
"I hope so," Jesse laughed. "But I wanted to ask you how you thought I should pop the question."
"You want my advice on how to propose?" Annie asked softly. She was flattered and overwhelmed and…wow, this was a lot to take in.
"Yes," Jesse said.
"Well…did you want to do it publicly? Do you think she'd want to be the center of attention?" Annie asked. "Wait - this is Rachel Berry we're talking about. Of course she would," Annie said.
Jesse laughed. "I'm not opposed to a public proposal and I know she wouldn't be either. I want to ask her on her birthday, ideally."
"Okay," Annie said, starting to get excited. "What's going to be playing at the St. James theatre on December 18th?"
On December 18, Jesse picked Rachel up at her apartment. The couple went out to dinner, and then they were going to see a production of "Something Rotten" at the St. James theatre.
Jesse had gotten everything worked out, all thanks to Annie. He had told her he never would've thought to incorporate the St. James theatre into the plan.
"Of course you wouldn't have! Thank God for me, right?" Annie teased.
"I've never seen this show before!" Rachel said on the way to the theatre.
"Me neither," Jesse replied. "But it's got some rave reviews."
"I haven't been to this theatre in a while but if I remember correctly - you got us some good seats!" Rachel said as the pair made their way out of the taxi and into the theatre.
Rachel and Jesse enjoyed the show. They joined the rest of the audience in a standing ovation. When the applause had concluded, Adam, the actor portraying William Shakespeare, stepped forward.
"Is there a Rachel Berry in the audience?" Adam asked.
Rachel turned to Jesse.
"That's me!" She said.
"It is," Jesse laughed.
"Rachel Berry?" Adam asked again.
"That's me!" Rachel called out.
"Hi, Rachel! Come on up!" Adam said. "Let's give her a round of applause, everybody!" The crowd clapped as Rachel made her way up to the stage. She had no idea what was going on, but she was about to find out.
"Hi, Rachel - how are you?" Adam asked. Autumn, the actress who portrayed Portia, brought a chair over and gestured for Rachel to sit. Confused, Rachel did so.
"I'm fine…a little confused," she admitted. The audience laughed.
"I heard it's a special day today for you, Rachel. Is that right?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Rachel blushed. "It's my 23rd birthday."
"Well happy birthday!" Adam exclaimed as the audience applauded again.
"Thank you," Rachel smiled.
"Who are you with tonight, Rachel?" Adam asked.
"My boyfriend, Jesse," Rachel replied.
"What'd he get you for your birthday?" Adam asked.
"He took me to dinner and then to see the show," Rachel replied.
"Hm…well that was nice of him. I think he might have one more gift for you - isn't that right, Jesse?" Adam asked.
"Yep!" Jesse said, getting out of his seat and making his way up to the stage.
Rachel was now even more confused but smiled at her boyfriend as he made his way over.
"I've gotta ask her a question, first," Jesse explained to Adam and everybody watching.
"Rachel Barbra Berry," Jesse took Rachel's hand in his. "I know it took a long and…interesting and at times hard road to get to this point, but I am so glad you are my final destination. I can't imagine my life without you in it - your talent, your humor, your beauty. There's just one thing I would want to change, though," he started.
"What's that?" Rachel asked.
"Your last name. So I was wondering if you would be willing to change your last name to match the name of this beautiful theatre," Jesse said.
"The name of the theatre is St. James," Rachel said. "And that's…your last name. And if you want me to change my last name to your last name then that means that you're asking me to…" Rachel paused, as Jesse knelt down and pulled out the ring.
"Rachel Barbra Berry - will you marry me?"
Meanwhile back in Ohio, Annie was at her Uncle Rick's house. Her sister Maggie was also visiting and would be staying through Christmas. Annie had filled Maggie in on the proposal.
"God, I hope he doesn't screw this up," Annie was pacing the floor of her bedroom while Maggie sat on her bed.
Maggie laughed. "What's her name again?" Maggie asked.
"Rachel," Annie replied.
"What's she like?" Maggie asked.
Annie paused. "She's kind of someone you gotta meet to really…know what she's like," Annie explained.
Initially, Annie hadn't liked Rachel. For starters, at the time, Annie still didn't like Jesse and so any girlfriend of his was no friend to her. But on top of that, based on what Annie had heard, personality-wise, Rachel sounded quite a bit like him as well.
When the two of them had interacted, Rachel had seemed nice enough, at least on the surface - she'd never joined in with Jesse's bullying towards her, but Annie had still tried to avoid Rachel whenever possible. But as Annie got closer with Jesse, she got to know Rachel better, too. They had a fair amount in common.
Suddenly, Annie got a FaceTime call.
"Who is it?" Maggie asked.
"It's Jesse," Annie said. She quickly answered.
Jesse and Rachel appeared on the screen. Rachel seemed to have been crying.
This was either a very good sign or a very bad sign.
"Hey, Jesse!" Annie greeted. "Happy birthday, Rachel!"
"Thank you," Rachel smiled bigger than Annie had ever seen her smile before.
"I'm here with Maggie," Annie told Jesse.
"Oh she's in town already?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah!" Annie sat on the bed next to Maggie so Jesse could see her too.
"Hi Jesse," Maggie said with a slight smile.
"Hey, Maggie! Rachel, this is our older sister, Maggie. Maggie, this is Rachel - your sister-in-law coming summer 2018."
Annie and Maggie looked at each other.
"Congratulations!" They both shrieked at the same time.
Rachel and Jesse laughed.
"Thank you," Jesse replied. "You're both invited to the wedding, of course."
"Annie, Jesse said the proposal was your idea," Rachel said.
Annie couldn't help but blush a little bit.
"Yes."
"Well, thank you - it was an incredible evening!" Rachel exclaimed genuinely.
"You're welcome," Annie said.
"And as an only child I'm so excited to gain three new siblings in the process," Rachel said. "I just hope I can meet Eddie soon."
Maggie, Annie, and Jesse exchanged glances. Their big brother's road to recovery was much harder than Maggie's had been, and it had been a while since any of them had seen him in person.
"We'll see what we can do," Jesse smiled and squeezed his fiancée on the shoulder.
"Well, we gotta get going - I'll be in Ohio for Christmas - Rachel too, so she can spend time with the family and have a belated Hanukkah with her dads," Jesse said. "See you soon!"
"Bye Jesse, bye Rachel!" Annie said.
"Goodbye Annie!" Rachel said. "It was nice meeting you, Maggie," Rachel said to Maggie.
"You too. Goodbye," Maggie smiled shyly.
Annie hung up.
"Jesse's getting married," she said, smiling at Maggie.
There was a brief pause, and then she looked back at Maggie.
"Oh my God - Jesse's getting married!"