Peeling Back The Layers
Chapter 8
After her confession to the glee club, Rachel went outside to wait on the steps for Jesse. She was trying to process how the glee club reacted to her head, but she just couldn't. She thought they were her friends, but how wrong she was. They treated her as if she were pond scum for getting pregnant. If they had known the truth about how the baby inside her was conceived, would they have treated her any differently? Probably, and they would be pittying her and trying to comfort her.
But instead of telling the truth, she went with a lie, and they had all shown their true colors. They were unsupportive and judgmental. She realized though, that she did have one true friend. Quinn. She loved Jesse too, and it was all she really needed to get through the next five months. Finally, Jesse arrived in his black Range Rover and Rachel hopped in quickly and off they went.
They'd been discussing adoption and were on their way to meet their first potential family. Rachel wasn't sure that this was what she wanted to be doing at this point, but understanding that it needed to be done, she went with it. They drove up in front of a giant white house-the red shingles contrasting with the pristine white paint. They walked up the stone path, and went to knock on the door. A young woman answered the door.
"You must be Rachel and Jesse! Come in, I'm Rebecca Lydell."
"Hi Mrs. Lydell. Yes, I'm Rachel and this is Jesse."
They sat down on a white suede couch, facing Rebecca and a giant window, looking into a giant yard, and a small lake, that looked almost gray on the cloudy day.
"As you know," Began Rachel. "I did not have sex consensually, but rather on my past trip to New York, I was raped. I have no clue who the father is, or who the father could be, which is why I've opted this route. I want the baby to have parents who love him or her, and I don't wish for them to grow up with so much hate in their heart."
Mrs. Lydell looked up at Rachel with her sea-foam green eyes. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a white button-down shirt, with almost black jeans. She was wearing nude pumps, and she was rolling her ankle back and forth.
"Rachel, my husband and I have been trying for 5 years to have a child. 5 long years. Our doctor kept telling us that we're most likely never going to be able to conceive a child. We've accepted that. We're turning 30 this year. That's still young, but we'd rather not wait any longer, because it could take years for people to adopt! We want to provide a better life for your child-not that you wouldn't be an amazing mother, but for the reasons that you just mentioned. We've always been very adamant about adopting from rape victims...don't ask why, because I don't know, but we have."
"Thank you, Mrs. Lydell, really."
Jesse was rubbing Rachel's back in slow circles, listening attentively to everything that she was saying. He even let a few stray tears run down subtly from his eyes.
The door slammed.
"You get to meet my husband!" Said Rebecca, jumping up to introduce the attractive man that entered the beautiful living room.
His defined chin was bare, with just a hint of 5:00 shadow, he was loosening his purple tie as he shook hands with Rachel and Jesse before sitting down next to his wife.
Rebecca filled Jack Lydell in on what they were talking about.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lydell," she began, ready to get down to business. "I want to ask you if you'd like this to be a closed adoption."
"Well, we haven't really thought about it." Said Jack.
"Well, I have." She continued. "I have two fathers, I was conceived via surrogate, and I didn't meet my mother until I was 16, when she illegally reached out to me with the help of my boyfriend. I don't want to have to go out of my way, and against your will if I want to see the progression of my child."
"We were thinking more on the lines of a closed adoption...but we can make a deal. We can send you a picture once a month then when the child is old enough, a monthly video, and when the child is ready, we will allow them to come to you, not the other way around." Said Rebecca.
Rachel nodded. It was better-much better-than the situation with her own mother.
"Another thing...promise to enroll my child in singing and dance lessons the second that they can walk and talk."