Nine months. The length of the typical school year, the time it took to bring Jane Austen Sings! to Broadway, the time it took for Jesse to propose to her after they got back together and the age of the precious Eliza(beth) Hummel-Anderson whom Rachel absolutely adored doting on. As much as she loved being an Aunt, getting to spend time with the baby whom she'd had a bond with after carrying her for her best friends, Rachel was ready to have her own little one. Though she and Jesse hadn't necessarily been trying, as Rachel was focused on another show as was Jesse with his directing career, they both knew that it was something that would happen at some point. After all, Jesse had mentioned having 'a co-production of their own' more than once lately.

After winning her Tony, birthing her niece, and taking a month or so to bounce back from pregnancy, Rachel was once again taking the stage by storm as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. It was one of the roles that Jesse had always described as an inevitability for her and she absolutely loved the depth of character that she could take with putting her own twist on such a classic musical.

Now they were 3 months into their run with her as lead and every night they were still performing to a packed crowd. The stage door was always surrounded by cheering fans after and Rachel could honestly say that nothing had ever felt better than finally having all of her dreams.

It was a Saturday night, performance two of the day almost halfway done when Rachel felt her stomach twist and it took everything in her power to not go bolting from stage sick. She was sure that it was probably the food they'd had between shows but as soon as the curtain dropped she'd made her way to the bathroom and started to puke, instantly feeling fatigued. Still, she didn't want to alarm anyone and so once her stomach settled, she quickly popped a few mints, before heading to change for the next scene.

When the show was over, Rachel slipped back to her dressing room and plopped onto her couch, still feeling quite ill, especially with the stage lights and the strain that a performance always put on your body. After a short rest, she changed into normal clothes, took her stage makeup off, and then headed to sign some autographs before heading home and crawling into bed beside her husband who was already asleep.

The next few days, Rachel seemed to experience the same thing, by the end of the first half she was sick to her stomach and she spent most of intermissions puking and doing her best to put on a false front for her castmates and director. This was her job and it was likely just stress or something taking it's toll because she had done every show for the past three months, not one to let her understudy step in.

It was the next morning when Kurt came over with little Eliza and upon having the infant cuddle against her and kiss her, Rachel promptly burst into tears for no known reason. It caused her best friend to look at her with alarm though Rachel insisted through her tears that she was fine and had just missed the angel that had been a gift to everyone in their group of friends. Tasked with watching the little girl since it was her day off, the two headed into the bedroom and just cuddled together. It was probably the best afternoon Rachel had had in quite awhile and she couldn't help but enjoy it.

It took another week and a visit from Quinn before Rachel finally started to wonder what was going on with her body because something just didn't seem right. Calling off for a day, she headed to her doctor's hoping that she could find out what was wrong. The possibility of stress, a hormone imbalance, lack of specific nutrients all dawned on her but as the doctor went over her test results, Rachel couldn't help but cry.

Nine Months. It was strange how such a seemingly random period of time could be so significant.

Now that she knew what was going on, Rachel stopped by the theater to speak with her director. It was only proper to keep him in the loop because things were going to be changing and she wouldn't be able to headline every show like she had been. Those two errands alone had her exhausted and she couldn't believe that she hadn't realized what was going on before. She'd been through this, it wasn't like it was new, but at the same time, this time it seemed so very different in so many ways.

Rachel awoke from her nap when the bed shifted and she felt her husband kissing her forehead. Yawning, she looked up at him sleepily and frowned slightly at the worried look on his face.

"You didn't pick up your phone," He murmured to her causing her to rub her eyes.

"Sorry. I fell asleep." She whispered back, thankful that upon sitting up she didn't feel sick to her stomach. He looked at her like he knew that something was going on, that it probably had been for awhile and he was just waiting for her to speak up and talk to him. "Hold me?" She requested. It wasn't often enough that they really got to spend proper time together and right now she was really missing him and needing to know that things would be okay even if she was fairly sure that he was going to be thrilled with her news.

Once they were settled with her resting between his legs, her back to his chest, she laid her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. "I have something to tell you." She whispered. Getting his nod of approval to continue, she bit her lip and quickly tried to process the huge stream of thoughts that were passing through her mind. "I need you to have a talk with someone…" He seemed to be confused and she was still trying to formulate the exact sentence she wanted so it was taking her a little longer, the pause pregnant, just like she was. "Apparently our co-production isn't quite as keen on being as well behaved as Eliza was with Aunt Rachel."

She could see the wheels turning in his head and after a moment his jaw dropped and he raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she was serious. "Yes daddy, our little one has been making mommy quite sick and emotional lately." The joy in his eyes made her start crying again but at the same time she couldn't help but laugh as he kissed her and moved his hands to her flat stomach.

"You're really pregnant?" He murmured and she nodded, just running her fingers through his hair and staring at him to memorize his reaction.

"Yes. You finally succeeded and putting our own baby in my belly. In just under nine months, we'll be able to love and cuddle our own little star. Eliza is going to be so jealous but happy to have a playmate."

Appropriately enough, the moment was dampened slightly when Rachel felt the nausea creep up again and she had to bolt for the bathroom to puke. It was still early on, but Rachel could already tell that this was going to be a far different and more interesting pregnancy. "I'm blaming the morning sickness on you because it's certainly not my genes that cause them!" She hollered, only to feel his hands wrap around her waist as she finished brushing her teeth.

"I'm sorry beautiful." He stated lovingly, and the heart thumping feeling that her heart seemed to do with him returned as he turned her around and then knelt down to talk to their child.

There was just something about nine months that seemed to fit with Rachel by giving her everything she had ever wanted.