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.
"Rachel" Leroy smiled, "How are you?"
"I'm okay I think" She thought for a moment. "I've been sick a lot though."
Leroy sighed, "Morning sickness?"
"Yeah, only it's Morning, afternoon, evening and middle of the night sickness"
"It should start to wear off towards the end of the first trimester. Do you know how far along you are? Have you been to see a doctor?" Rachel's silence told him everything. "Have you even got a doctor in New York Rach?"
"No" she whispered. She knew she should have been to see a doctor as soon as she saw the plus sign on the white stick, but she'd been too ashamed, she felt like having her pregnancy confirmed by a doctor would make it all real, and she was content to convince herself the test had been wrong, that she wasn't pregnant.
"Okay, would you like me to ask Doctor Cator if she can recommend someone for you?"
Rachel nodded before realising her father couldn't see her, "Yes please."
"I'll ring her in the morning."
"Thank you dad." There was an unusual silence, Usually if Rachel had gone even a day without speaking to her fathers they struggled to get a word in edgeways, but now she'd gone almost two weeks without speaking to them and she had nothing to say. "I, I erm I think I want to keep it" she said eventually, "I mean I don't think I could have it grow inside me for 9 months and then give it away like an unwanted birthday present. And I did some research on, on the other thing, they, they. . ."
"Rachel" Leroy interrupted her. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. I said I'd support you regardless of what you chose to do. I still will."
"You're going to be a granddad" She whispered tearfully.
Leroy laughed, "I know. I'll have to buy a pipe and some carpet slippers."
"Thanks Dad"
"What for sunshine?"
"Being normal. I mean I love Daddy, but sometime's he's a little bit. . ." she searched for the right word, "suffocating. I'm not 5 years old anymore"
"I know. It's just hard for him to adapt to the fact that you're not his little girl anymore. You'll understand one day" he smiled knowingly.
"I think I'm going to stay in New York for a while." Rachel spoke again, "I mean I don't know if I'll be able to do this on my own, but I like New York, and I don't particularly want to have to explain why I'm back in Ohio every time I meet someone I know. I don't want them to know how much of a failure I am"
"You are not a failure" Leroy tried to reassure his daughter. "Life just had different plans than you did. Have the baby Rachel, then see how you feel, if you still want to try and crack on to Broadway then we'll sort something, I don't know, me and your daddy could come with you to look after the little one. You're not necessarily changing direction, just making a little detour."
Rachel nodded, she knew her father was right. "Thanks dad. I'm going to have to go, I'm feeling a little bit nauseous again, but I'll ring you and Daddy tomorrow night."
"Okay sunshine. I'll speak to you soon. Love you."
"Love you too. Tell Daddy I love him too."
"I will do. Take care of yourself."
"I will. Bye Dad."
"Bye Rach"
The week after her phone call with her father Rachel attended her first doctor's appointment. Alone. She couldn't help but smile as she saw the tiny image of her baby fluttering on the screen. She sent a dvd and of her ultrasound to her fathers, and wasn't surprised when her Daddy rang her in tears to tell her he'd just watched it.
Rachel spent many hours thinking about her future, discussing her future with her fathers and the friends she'd made just a few short weeks ago. Friends she felt like she'd known all her life. She dropped out of college and found herself a job, the pay wasn't great, but it was money Rachel could save to buy all the things her child would need. She laid in bed at night, her arms wrapped around her ever growing stomach she'd talk to her child until she fell asleep. One thing she didn't talk about however, was her baby's father. She'd told her parents that she'd met up with someone she knew from summer school a few days after she moved to New York, and that had been when her child had been conceived. She'd told her friends in New York that she was already pregnant when she left Ohio. Only she knew the truth.
"So?" Hiram answered after the first ring, putting the call onto speaker so Leroy could hear what Rachel had to say.
Rachel smiled and leant against the wall of her doctor's office "It's a she" she said eventually.
Hiram's scream was almost deafening, "Rachel, that's amazing, now we can start shopping."
"Daddy, please don't buy too much. I'm going to order some things for the nursery tonight if that's okay?"
"Of course it is Rachel." Leroy spoke, "Use our credit card, buy whatever you need"
"No Dad, I can afford it, I've been saving my wages, she's my daughter, you shouldn't have to provide for her."
"Okay" Leroy knew better than to argue with his daughter, "you order what you need, get it delivered here and we'll have it all set up for when you come home."
Rachel smiled, she was just over 20 weeks pregnant, and she'd decided she would move back to Ohio once her maternity leave started.
"Does she have a name?" Hiram asked, breaking Rachel from her thoughts.
Rachel shrugged, "I've not really thought about it to be honest, I mean I only found out she was a she 10 minutes ago. There's plenty of time"
"Don't listen to him Rachel." Leroy interrupted. "I suggested Rachel as soon as we found out you were a girl. He said no, suggested name after name, then he laid eyes on you in the hospital and decided that you were most definitely a Rachel."
Rachel laughed and her stomach growled loudly. She made her excuses and said goodbye to her fathers, promising to send them a dvd copy of the ultrasound before heading back to her apartment, stopping at subway on her way, treating herself to a foot long veggie sub.
She sighed and began to pick at the olives in her sandwich as she cured her feet underneath her. Even her, with her unconventional parentage had two parents arguing over her names, she had no one. Half of her wanted to ring her baby's father, but the other half knew that he had his own life, one she didn't want to ruin by announcing that their one night together had changed her entire life. She could only hope that things would seem better when she was back in Lima with her family.