Look at Me

"Rachel, what's the matter? You sounded serious and urgent on the phone." Cheryl Harper said as she ushered her daughter inside their house along with their grand kids. "How are my little angels?" she turned to Oscar and Alice.

"We're fine, grandma.." they said as they flashed their toothy grin.

Cheryl turned on the tv and changed the channel to the kids' favourite tv show. "Your Mom and I are just going to the kitchen, alright? Come up there if you need us." Cheryl said as she ruffled Oscar's hair. "Let's go Rachel."

The two headed to the kitchen, away from the kids' ear shot. "Shouldn't Dad be here?"

"Oh right. I almost forgot. He's at the back yard fixing something. Do you want to talk to him too?" asked Rachel's mother.

"Yes. I want to talk to both of you, Mom."

"Let me call him, honey." Cheryl went to the back door and hollered "Glenn! Rachel's here!" Glenn Harper did not notice her youngest daughter arrived. He quickly went inside and hugged his daughter.

"Hi Dad." Rachel said as she hugged him back.

"Hey, Rachel. How are you doing? What brought you here so sudden?"

"Actually dear, she wanted to say something important to tell us." interjected Cheryl.

"Should we be scared or happy with your news for us?"

"I actually don't know how would you react... Mom, Dad,"

"Go on, honey, tell us." Cheryl urged her.

Rachel did not know where to start. Her parents knew that Viktor had found out about the kids. They had been supportive to her and will do anything they could to gain full custody of the kids. They were not fond of Viktor four years ago and for sure, thy were not fond of him right now either. Things will about to get worse for her and Viktor.

"I have something to tell you..."

"I'm sure w've already established that, dear."

"First of all... I am.. uhh... pregnant." Rachel let out a breathe she'd been holding while her parents did the opposite, they inhaled loudly. When they did not respond, Rachel continued. "I am pregnant. Again." She was looking down. She definitely disappointed her parents for the second time.

"Rachel, you're unmarried and pregnant? Again?!" Rachel knew her parents were conservatives.

"I'm sorry Mom and Dad. I really am. Please, don't. I need your support right now." She was doing pretty well in holding back her tears.

"Rachel, we could not get mad at you. Your Mom and I are just... really ... upset." her father said.

"I thought you would have learned your lessons the first time you got pregnant. Apparently not." Cheryl said with sadness in her voice.

"I thought so, too, Mom. I thought I learned my lesson too." Rachel was now sobbing as she could not contain her emotions.

"Who's the father?"

Rachel did not respond so her mother continued. "Is he a co-worker? A friend? Do you even know who the father is?!"

"Yes Mom, I do!"

"Who is he, then?"

"The same father of Oscar and Alice." was all she could muster. She was sure she saw her parent's eyebrows come closer to each other. They shot daggers at her. They were not happy with it.

"What!?"

"The father of my new baby is Viktor."

"Are you using your brain, Rachel? He knocked you up again! You don't think the first time os bad enough and you let him use you again?"

"I'm sorry, Mom. But please, let me continue..."

"There's more?! I don't think I can take any more news today, honey."

"But this is important. When Viktor found out that I'm pregnant again, he asked me to marry him."

"So... you said yes?"

"Yes. I said yes but only because that's the best for the kids. They wanted to be with both of us so we're going to have to live together. Besides, marrying him is the only way I can be with my children because let's be real, I'm not going to win against him." She was crying now.

"Oh honey, don't cry. Your Dad and I are not mad at you..." Cheryl went to Rachel and hugged her while patting her back.

"I'm really sorry, Mom."

"Rachel, it's ok. We are just... really upset but we'll support you no matter what. We'll always stand by our little girl's side."

"Do you approve of Viktor being my husband? Do you like him?"

"Well, from four years ago, we really did not appreciate what he has done to you. I don't appreciate that he did not take you seriously. What is good about him though is he had some dignity. Instead of running away after finding about his children he actually stayed and get to know the kids. Then now, he's going to marry you because you're pregnant. He's taking responsibility of it. That's some dignified act." it was Glenn who said that. Being a Dad himself, he knew what it takes to be a good husband and a great father.

"So he's okay for you?"

"He might be a responsible person but it does not justify all the other bad things that he's done to you. I still don't approve but as you mother said, we'll support you and your decisions."

"Thanks Dad."

"Rachel, are you aware that if you marry him, your marriage will be nothing more than a marriage of convenience. He's doing it for the kids. It's not a real marriage unless you love each other... do you love him?"

"Mom, I don't really know."

"Well, you should figure that out. I want the best for you, Rachel. I want you to be happy. If your marriage is just for convenience, I just want you to know you'll never be happy. Can you settle for that?"

"I don't have a clue."

"Mom! Dad! She said yes!" screamed Viktor. Viktor felt really stupid. When his parents introduced the idea of him marrying Rachel, he went crazy and heavily opposed the idea. Now that he had finally asked her and she actually said yes, it felt good. Just knowing that Rachel would be his wife soon made him extremely... happy.

"Calm down, Viktor. Who say yes to what?" Nikolas asked.

"Rachel."

"Go on."

"I asked her to marry me. She said yes."

"You proposed to Rachel!?" Cheryl was shocked and happy.

Viktor thought about it. He really did not propose. He asked her hand for marriage, yes, but he did not even had a ring on the spot and it was not even romantic. Not one bit. He definitely did not propose, just asked for marriage. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he actually forced Rachel in to it. It does not matter now, though. "Well, sort."

"What do you mean by that? It's either you proposed to her or you didn't."

"I did not have a ring when that happened. We're actually having a bit of an argument when I aqsked her to marry me, but at least I asked her."

"Viktor, my son, I really love you very much, you know that, but I've really got to say this. You are an idiot. You decided to pop the question in the middle of an argument?" Anette may have been a bit disappointed, she was still happy and hopeful for her son.

"Yeah, I know, it was kind of stupid."

"And you did not even have a ring? What kind of proposal does not have a ring?"

"I was fired up. I know it was not the best circumstance but I asked her, she said yes, that will do for now. It just came up to me, you know."

"We're happy for you. I'm sure the kids will benefit from that so much. So how are you feeling about it?"

"The kids were excited. For me, I'm glad. I somehow, felt relieve, I don't know why. But I'm glad she said yes to me because I love her." He did not realize what he had just said. He just admitted to himself and to his parents that he was falling for Rachel. He did not even realize it. He was happy that Rachel would be his wife although he was well aware that their marriage will be nothing more than a sham. Their "marriage" would not have strong foundations.

His parents were just as shocked as he was. Well, the first thing to a good marriage is admitting your love. You are definitely on the right track, son." said his Dad.

"Thanks."

"So when's the wedding?"

"That is something that Rachel and I had not planned yet. But I'm certain that we are both going to agree that the wedding should be sooner rather than later, you know, before her tummy shows up And so that we could move in together with the kids sooner as well."

"One more question... do you think she love you? Maybe she just agreed to marry you because you did not give her much choice."

"I can promise you, Dad, I gave her the option of saying no..." Although with saying no, he would get the kids way from her. He realized he was a total jerk. Oh well.

"That's good to know. Tell you what, you might be my son, but once you hurt her, your Mom and I will be on her side. She's a sweet and nice lady. Don't you ever hurt her. Treat her like a princess just like how I treat your Mom, understand me?" Nikolas said firmly.

"Yes, Dad."

In the next couple of day, Rachel and Viktor had talked about the wedding plans. They both agreed on most important details of the wedding. True to their words, the wedding would take place sooner rather than later. The wedding would take place next weekend, so that'll Rachel and Viktor about a week to plan. A week is enough for their planning since there is nothing the Spielbergs' money can't do. They had agreed on inviting small amount of people. They did not agree with small details but those did not really matter, so resolutions were quick.

Rachel had started asking friends and family to be her bridesmaids. The fist one she asked was Ashley, who took it well.

"Hey, Ash."

"Hey, Rach. What's up?"

"How would you like to be one of my bridesmaid?"

"You're getting married!? Oh my God! Yes! I'll be your bridesmaid!"

Rachel's older sister, Stefanie, who had been a big help to her, had different ideas in mind. She saw Rachel suffer and go through pregnancy and parenthood alone, so she was not excited about the idea of Rachel being a Spielberg.

"You're what?!"

"I'm getting married, Stefanie. I would love for you to be my bridesmaid."

"I'm glad you're getting married, but to whom!? Did I hear it right?"

"Yes, I'm marrying Viktor."

"The same Viktor that made you move here? That Viktor? Oscar and Alice's father?"

"Yes."

"So you're telling me a lot of things had happened between you two and you did not bother telling you sister?" Rachel totally forgot about her. Rachel had not even told Stefanie that the kids met their father and that she was pregnant again. Basically, Stefanie knew nothing.

"I'm really sorry. I forgot to tell you. I have to make more phone calls so if you really want to know every thing right now, you can call Mom, I told her everything. She'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Ok, I'll do that."

"But seriously, will you be my bridesmaid? I really want to be there as well as Steve and the kids. I really miss Kirk and Brock. I'll fly you here. Viktor wanted to pay for the airfare of anyone out of town who would be invited, so please?" Rachel was missing Stefanie's family. Stefanie's husband, Steve, was nice and supportive of her just like Stefanie. She also missed her cute nephews, Kirk and Brock, who were close with Oscar and Alice.

"Fine. You know I can't so no to my dear sister."

"Thank you! I'll email you all the details."

Sherry had a different reaction all together. "Sherry, are you there? Can you hear me?" There was still no answer. "Sherry, did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes. I knew it! I was speechless for a moment, sorry. I called it right from the beginning and I guess I was right. I should have made bets."

"Yeah so... will you be my bridesmaid?"

"I would love to."

Finally, Rachel called Emma. "Hi Emma, I'm getting married and I want to know if you would like to - "

"Rachel, I know everything. Viktor told me. Yes, I'll be your bridesmaid."

"Thank you."

"Don't you ever hurt my brother, ok?"

"Uhmm... I won't?"

"I'm sorry. I think that sounded so mean. That was meant to be a joke but whatever..." Emma ended off with a laugh.

On the men's side, however, things were a little more simple. Viktor asked Robin to be his best man, there was no surprise there. Since Robin knew about Viktor's plan on asking Rachel, he was not surprised at all when he found out Viktor was getting married so definitely less drama. Viktor had asked some of his buddies from college who he still hang out with to be his groomsmen.

The wedding was shaping up to be a perfect one. Rachel and Viktor just hoped their marriage would work out fine or else all this preparation would be nothing.