This is not the dream I dreamed - Rachel faces up to the fact that her Broadway career could be over before it had chance to begin.

Rating - T

Character - Rachel [and her fathers]

A/N - This idea just wouldn't leave me alone! Reviews/concrit are loved, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen the let me know and I'll try my best to work it in somehow.I'm from the UK, so if anything American is not quite right, please let me know and I'll fix it.

[Lyrics from - This is me by 'Demi Lovato' I think her acoustic version is amazing!]

"Rachel" her dad spoke, "it doesn't have to be like this, you could. . ."

"Leroy" her Daddy scolded his husband, "that is not our decision to make"

"She's our daughter Hiram. We need to make sure she's aware of the options."

"She's 19 years old Leroy, she's a clever girl, of course she's aware of her options."

"I am sitting here you know" Rachel stood from the sofa, running to her bedroom and slamming the door shut.

"Oh Ray-ray" Her daddy flopped onto the bed where Rachel had her head buried in the pillows to hide her sobs.

"I'm sorry Sunshine" her dad sat on the other side of her, "I know this isn't easy for you,, I just want you to know that there are options, this doesn't have to be the end. But Rachel, you know that whatever you choose to do, we'll be right beside you. Don't you ever feel like you're on your own Rachel, 'cos you're not, you never will be."

"Have you thought about telling your mo- Shelby, have you thought about telling Shelby?" Leroy glanced at Hiram as they felt Rachel freeze beneath them.

"No" she mumbled into the pillows. "She's nothing to do with me, I don't want her to know." She looked from her dad to her daddy, "I don't want her to know" she repeated sternly.

Both her fathers nodded, "we won't tell her" Hiram promised.

Rachel spent the weekend curled into bed between her fathers, they watched cheesy movies with her, ordered takeaways and almost forced her to eat, but what Rachel valued most was the fact they were there. She hadn't asked them to come, but they knew she needed them and they'd turned up at her door. They hugged her, kissed her and wiped away her tears, they listened when she wanted to talk, but they didn't force her, and they were happy if she just wanted to lie in silence. When the time came for her fathers to leave, Rachel was tempted to go with them.

"You know you're welcome to come home Sunshine" Leroy told her calmly, "but we're not going to force you."

Rachel nodded, "I think I'll come back to Ohio eventually" she said softly, "but I like it here, I think I want to stay here for as long as I can"

Her father's nodded, "Whenever you want Ray-ray, you just let us know" Hiram gushed.

"If you want to stay here, in New York I mean" Leroy thought carefully about the words he used, he knew Hiram would want Rachel back at home, but she was an adult now, she should make her own decisions, "I'd support you." He held his hands up to stop his husband from speaking, "and I don't want you to think that I'm trying to stop you coming home, because you're always welcome, I just don't want you to make a decision you'll regret."

Rachel nodded "thank you dad" she whispered.

Leroy nodded and hugged his daughter, "you've got a lot of decisions to make Rachel. I trust you'll make the right ones"

Rachel spent the next week in bed, she didn't leave her apartment and she refused to answer her phone. She'd spoken to her dads just after they'd landed back in Ohio and told him that she needed time to get her head around things. Leroy had agreed to give her the space she needed, trusting that she'd ring him or Hiram if or when she a ready to talk. Hiram on the other hand was understandably worried about his little girl, and had to be talked out of calling her almost every night.

"She's my daughter Leroy, she's hurting and she's all alone."

Leroy sighed, they'd had this conversation far too many times for his liking. "She'll be fine Hiram, you know she's a strong girl, she just needs time to think things through, she knows where we are, if she needs us she'll call."

"What if she thinks we don't want her anymore?"

"And what would give her that idea, considering the fact that she rang you on Thursday and by lunch time on Friday we were in her apartment. She's 19 Hiram, as much as we love her we need to respect that she has to make her own mind up about things, we can't pressurise her into doing what we think is right."

"When did she grow up?" Hiram sighed, tears filling his eyes, "I wish she was still that little girl with the huge voice. Back when a cuddle and a glass of water made everything better."

"I know" Leroy sighed, moving to sit next to his husband, pulling him into a hug, "but we both knew she had to grow up sometime"

"I know. I just didn't expect it to be like this."

"I don't think any of us did" Leroy said truthfully.

Rachel sighed as she laid on top of the covers on her bed, cream with a pattern of gold stars embroidered on the sheets. She was exhausted, she'd barely eaten since her father's had left and she felt like she'd not stopped crying in almost a week. She hoped time alone would give her time to think, time to get her thoughts in order, and although she felt like she'd made a decision about what she wanted to do, she was still confused, upset, and if she was honest she was more than a little bit angry with herself. She began to run her fingers over the silk edge of the comforter she'd had since she was a child she did the only thing she'd ever done when she was upset, the only way she knew how to express emotion. She began to sing, however her voice lacked it's usual confidence and power. 'Do you know what it's like to feel so in the dark? To dream about a life where you're the shining star, even though it seems like it's too far away, I have to believe in myself, it's the only way. This is real, this is me, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. . .' She began to sob again as she realised that she was no longer where she wanted to be. Sure she wanted to be in New York, but she wanted to be famous, her whole life she'd dreamt of being a star. Never did it cross her mind that she'd find herself 19 years old and pregnant before she had the chance to shine.