Come on, pick up, she pleads silently into the phone. After school the next day, Rachel had gotten back to the apartment and dialed Shelby's number right away. They aren't close, at all, but she figures that if anyone else should find out, it might as well be her own mother. Besides, she needs to talk to somebody who won't shun her. Or at least she hopes. There's a click and some rustling. "Rachel..." Shelby says, uncomfortable-sounding. "Um, hi." "Hi," she answers. There's an awkward pause. "What do you n-" "I-" They start to speak at the same time. After another pause, Rachel speaks. "Look, I know that you hardly want anything to do with me, but something happened and I-" "Rachel, what happened?" asks Shelby, cutting her off. "I-I, I'm sorry, I-" Rachel starts, choking up. "I know that I'm not really your daughter, but I-I still-" "Rachel!" says Shelby, cutting her off once more. "Shelby, I'm pregnant, and I'm so sorry, I'm such a, a disappointment!" Rachel whispers chokingly. Another long pause. "Oh my god, Rachel, I-" starts a bewildered Shelby. "Have you told Finn?" Rachel sucks in her breath. "Finn isn't the father," she says. "What? Who's the father?" Shelby asks with a surprised tone. "I can't say," says Rachel. "What? Wh-never mind. You have told your dads, right? What did they say?" "They kicked me out. Wi-Mr. Schue is letting me stay at his apartment until they let me come back," she says embarrassedly. Shelby was shocked. "Rachel, I don't know what to say. What's your plan? Are you keeping the baby?" "Yes. All I know right now is that I'm going to have to get an after-school job," Rachel mutters. Shelby sighs. "Rachel, you're going to have to set up doctor's appointments, find a day care, buy all sorts of things- I don't know how you'll be able to afford everything on a waitress's salary." "I'll manage." Rachel says quietly. "No, you won't. Rachel, I'm going to give you some money-" "Shelby, no, I didn't call to ask for money!" she says. "Rachel," Shelby continues, "Your dads aren't supporting you, and I'm your mother, so this is the right thing to do. You need this Rachel, oh my god, especially since there's the whole twin thing!" Rachel's eyes widen. "Wh-what?" "Oh, I completely forgot!" Shelby says softly. "Well the uh, higher-ovulation gene or whatever it's called; it's very strong in our family, it was practically a miracle that you weren't a duplicate. Rachel, you have to find out as soon as you can!" Rachel has no words. "Rachel? Are you still there?" Rachel hangs up the phone. She sinks into the couch and begins to cry. 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 "Rachel? It's Will, can you let me in?" Rachel had drifted off to sleep on the couch, crying. Since she had Will's key, that means that he depended on her to let him in, as he had stayed after school. She rises drowsily and goes to the door, feeling guilty as she wonders how long he'd been out there. "Hey Rach, how you been doing?" he asks kindly, setting his books on the counter. When she doesn't answer, he turns around and sees her tear-stained face. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asks softly, leading her to sit down on the couch. "I talked to Shelby on the phone earlier," she tells him. "Oh," he returns glumly, "how did she take it?" Rachel shakes her head slowly. "No, she wasn't mad or anything, it's-she, she told me about my genealogy." He is solemn. "Like, a disorder or something?" She shakes her head again. "No, nothing like that. It's just- I have a high chance of having more than one baby," she says, "Like twins. She said that gene is so strong in our family that it was a miracle that I wasn't a twin." She starts to choke up. "Oh my god." Will whispers. "Will, I don't know if I can handle more than one baby!" she gasps out, crying into her hands. "It's gonna be okay, Rachel, I promise." He holds her close and kisses her hair. One part of Rachel wants to push him away and scream at him for getting her into this whole mess, but she remembers that he was taking care of her, and her baby, and he loved her like she loved him. She nestles farther into his embrace. "It's gonna be okay," he whispers, although unsure. 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 The next day at school, Rachel is abruptly welcomed by a red slushie to the face. Laughter follows. "What's the matter, mama?" shouts a football player. "Don't the baby like grape?" Before she can react, a booming voice echoes down the hall. "Hey! HEY! You stop right where you are, mister! Yes you, gorilla-boy! Who do you think you are?" The football players stop and turn around. "Excuse me?" The source of the voice was a girl Rachel's age whom she had never seen before. She had beautiful light-golden-blonde hair that fell in sharp waves to the bottom of her back. Her skin was tanned and her light blue eyes were piercing and wide set. As she approaches the husky football player, her cowboy boots clicking on the marble floor, you can see that she was actually a little bit taller than him. When she gets to him, she narrows her round eyes and pokes him in the chest with one finger. "What the hell you doin' picking on a girl, ya wuss. You think it's funny? Tell me, gorilla-boy," she said crossing her skinny arms, "How, in any way, is her situation, funny." He didn't say anything. "C'mon, tell me." "'Cause she's a slut!" he hollers suddenly. The other jocks laugh, but they are cut short when she smacks him square across the face. He stands there, stunned. "How do you know that, smart-ass? She sure as hell don't look like no slut to me!" she says, gesturing to Rachel. Before he can speak again, she leans into his face and says this quietly: "You can't judge a person before you walked a mile in their shoes. If that was you in her situation, you would probably just up'n die. So, pick on her again, and I'll beat your ass, gorilla-boy." She promptly turns to Rachel. "Come on, I'll help you wash up," she says to her sweetly. In the bathroom, the girl hands her wet paper towels and helps wash the slushie out of her hair. Rachel is to embarrassed to say anything, so the girl speaks. "Well, I guess I haven't really introduced myself," she says. "My name's Loretta, and I'm helping you because I hate how the dickheads here treat pregnant gals. Ain't none of their business." She continues. "Now I ain't been knocked up myself, but my twin sister Lurleen has two babies already and nobody ever said nothing back in Tennessee. Ain't a big deal back up in the mountains. My mama had four 'us kids fore she was nineteen. There's twelve back at home, not counting the grand-babies, the ones that grown up, or the ones that run away." Rachel is astonished. "Woah," she says, "how do you support all those kids?" "Food stamps," answers Loretta. "My daddy works all day on the railroad, and mama just stays home taking care of all the babies." "Wow." "I know," she returns. "So what do ya'll do for fun 'round here?" "Well," Rachel starts, "If you like singing and dancing, there's the glee club, and we could always use another member." "I think I would like that," said Loretta with a grin. 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 "Guys, this is Loretta, and she wants to join," says Rachel as they both walk into the choir room. Will's face lights up. "Hey, that's great! I'm Mr. Schuester," he says, introducing himself. Loretta smiles and shakes his hand. "Loretta Benton," she returns. "Hey," Puck says, "It's the one chick who about beat Karfosky's ass!" The glee club murmurs in agreement. Loretta shyly looks down and sits in a chair. "Well Rachel," says Will, "would you like to show Loretta what we do here in glee club?" Rachel immediately stands and strides to the front. "When you first join glee," she starts brightly, "you have to sing a solo so we know what talents you have. You have all week to come up with a song to sing and perform. I'll sing one right now so you can see how to coordinate with the band and acoustics." Mostly everyone rolls their eyes, and Rachel starts the song. When she finishes, Loretta claps her hands energetically. "Goodness Rachel, that was amazing!" she exclaims. "You have such a pretty voice!" Rachel smiles and thanks her. "Now you have the rest of the week to select a song to perform," she tells her. "Actually Rachel," Loretta says, "I'm ready to sing one right now if that's okay. Course it ain't gonna be as good as you." "Go ahead, Loretta," Will tells her. She walks to the front, whispers to the band, and turns toward the club. "Well, I'll be singin' Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette. Hope ya'll like it." She picks up a guitar and starts to sing. Sometimes it's hard to be a woman Giving all your love to just one man You'll have bad times, and he'll have good times Doin' things that you don't understand But if you love him, you'll forgive him Even though he's hard to understand And if you love him, oh be proud of him 'Cause after all, he's just a man Stand by your man, give him two arms to cling to And something warm to come to When nights are cold and lonely Stand by your man, and show the world you love him Keep giving all the love you can Stand by your man Stand by your man, and show the world you love him Keep giving all the love you can Stand by your man Rachel doesn't know what to think. This girl's voice was crisp and sweet and pretty much immaculate. She had sang the song perfectly with a southern twang and Rachel's never heard anything like it. She hates it.
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