This takes place during Funk in the first season. Rachel and Jesse never met or dated. Shelby attended ND's sectionals competition but was not aware Rachel was her daughter.
Rachel walked down the hall of McKinley High, knowing the emergency and mandatory glee meeting was not good. Especially when it was coming just a day after the visit she had paid to Carmel High School with a few of the members of glee club. It hadn't been Rachel's idea and she didn't want to engage in the funking revenge of their rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline, but she was easily talked into it. Santana, Quinn, and Brittany had come to her yesterday after glee rehearsal had ended, asking her if she'd like to tag along. Rachel graciously declined, fearing getting caught and having her perfect record tainted. However, knowing the girl was desperate for friends and to not have to suffer through another daily slushy attack, Santana hinted at promises to have the attacks stopped and to be Rachel's friend. Rachel, willing to do anything to have a friend and to not have to carry around an extra set of clothing, agreed to help out her fellow glee club members. And after wasting the entire glee class hour cleaning up the toilet paper, wet wads of paper towel thrown on the ceiling and wall, along with having to reorganize the bins of sheet music that had been poured out onto the floor, Rachel was looking for a little revenge, though she'd never admit it out loud.
Her fears were right. Along with Will, Principal Figgins and an unknown woman were waiting for the last four students to arrive. Rachel put her best show face on to mask the fear and worry and waved to the three adults. "Hello Mr. Shuester, Principal Figgins." She nodded her head in their direction, then held out her hand to the woman dressed in a form fitting blazer, purple blouse and black pencil skirt. "Hello, my name is Rachel."
"Hello Rachel." The woman smiled, holding out her hand to the well mannered girl. "My name is Shelby, it's nice to meet you. I saw you perform at your sectional's competition. You were extraordinary."
"Thank you." Rachel shyly blushed.
"Take your seat." Will slightly bit.
He was in not very pleased at the moment and Rachel quickly found a spot in the front row. When everyone had finally arrived, Will stepped forward and demanded everyone's attention.
"I have called you all here as it has been brought to my attention that one or more of you went to Akron yesterday and released hundreds of crickets in their choir room. They were discovered by Vocal Adrenaline's coach, Miss Corcoran." Will said. "Her office and choir room were filled with them."
"How do you know it's one of us?" Puck asked.
"I'm sure we don't need to go over that." Will narrowed his eyes. "I know each and everyone of you was pissed at what Vocal Adrenaline pulled yesterday morning in this very room and were plotting ways to get back at them. Plus the insects were planted after I had released you from our practice. Now, I demand to know who did this?"
Rachel glanced at her peers that sat on each side of her, then behind her to Santana. The Latina shook her head very carefully and Rachel turned back to look at her teacher. His arms were crossed and he glared at each of the students, trying to scare them into confessing. Going for round two, Will's eyes landed on Santana, who had raised her long arm.
"Santana?" Will called on her.
"I saw Berry with several empty boxes from the pet store in her car this morning."
Rachel's eyes widened and her head snapped back to look at the cheerleader. "What? No, Mr. Shuester, I didn't do it." Rachel said, looking back at the adults.
"I saw it too." Quinn piped up.
"Yeah, it was RuPaul." Kurt added.
"Who helped you?" Will asked, stepping closer to the girl and hovered over her.
"No one." Rachel answered and shook her head. "I mean, I didn't do it."
"The rest of you are dismissed." Will said, his eyes never leaving Rachel.
Tears formed in her eyes as her so-called friends hurried off back to their classes.
"I am so disappointed in you." Will narrowed his eyes.
"Mr. Shuester, I didn't-" Rachel tried to explain but Will didn't want to hear it.
"-Enough Rachel, you've been caught and now you need to own up to it."
Shelby saw how upset the girl was and was taken back by the complete shock written all over Rachel's face when Santana had singled her out as the prankster. She had worked with teenagers long enough to know, Rachel wasn't the only one involved in this. In her eyes it wasn't fair for Rachel to be the only one to take the heat and it was wrong of Will to not give the girl a chance to explain.
"Will, I'd like to hear Rachel's side of things. For all you know some of your other students were involved, which is what I believe. There's no way Rachel could have done this all by herself." Shelby stepped up to the man.
"Of course she did this all by herself. Look Shelby, you don't know Rachel like I do. She's done plenty of underhanded things since joining the club." Will said and looked at Rachel. "You're banned from glee for two weeks."
"Mr. Shuester, you can't! Regionals are in three weeks!" Rachel exclaimed.
"On top of that, you'll serve a weeks detention." Figgins said. "Everyday next week you'll be here either before school or after school."
"And." Will said, ready to put the icing on the cake. "Your solo is going to Santana."
"No!" Rachel gasped, her tears finally spilling over. She couldn't lose her solo! "Please, don't take it away."
"Don't you think taking away her solo is a bit much? You've already banned her for two weeks and Mr. Figgins gave her a weeks detention." Shelby quietly said to Will.
"No. I'm tired of her storm outs and diva attitude. It's about time she be punished." Will said, writing a pass out for Rachel to return to her class. "You'll serve your first detention today after school, seeing as you won't be in glee."
Rachel accepted the pass and left the room, unable to plaster a show face on to say goodbye to Shelby or either man. Shelby internally sighed, wishing their was something to do for the talented girl. Saying goodbye to Will and Figgins, Shelby collected her purse from on top of the piano and headed out. It was almost 3 hours back to Akron and she was already going to be nearly 20 minutes late to her rehearsal. After that, she'd return to Lima where she lived. As she made her way to the exit nearest her car, Shelby noticed Rachel slipping into the auditorium. Curious as to why the girl when there as she was suppose to go back to her science class, Shelby followed Rachel but stayed out of sight.
Rachel sat on the edge of the stage, her tear filled eyes blurring her sight and cried some more as she buried her head into her hands. Shelby carefully made her way down to the stage, placing her bag on one of the seats in the second row. Clearing her throat, Shelby got Rachel's attention and the girl looked up with red, swollen eyes.
"I'm sorry about you losing your solo. I never intended for punishments to go that far." Shelby apologized. "I'll try to talk to Mr. Shuester again."
"Don't worry about it." Rachel shrugged her shoulders, wiping her face and hopping off the stage.
Truth of it all is, Rachel wasn't surprised as she was use to losing things that were important to her. It's just her life. She folded her arms from the sudden chill of the auditorium and turned her back from Shelby.
"I know it wasn't just you." Shelby said. "I can tell when someone is lying or pretending to be shocked."
"I was there but I was just the look out." Rachel tried to clear up now that she was being given the chance. "It was all some trick. Them talking me into going? It was some ploy to get me to go so they could pin it all on me. You know, they think they're all getting me down but one day, I'm going to make it on Broadway." Rachel turned and looked at Shelby. "I'll have everything and they'll regret ever being mean to me."
The hope in Rachel's eyes faded and the girl sighed, dropping her arms. Broadway wasn't going to happen. It's a lost dream and she was never going to make it further than Lima's city lines. She's a Lima Loser and that's all she's destined to be.
"I just need to accept it." Rachel said out loud.
"Accept what?" Shelby asked confused about what had just taken place. One minute the girl was beaming with confidence about getting away from Lima and the next, she was down on herself.
"That I'm just another Lima Loser." Rachel said. "The only marquee that'll say 'Rachel Berry' is the marquee outside the Lima Community Theater center. I'll be doing plays at night that no one goes too and be doing some office job during the day."
Berry? Shelby choked on her gum. Did this girl just say her name was Rachel Berry? She couldn't be? Could she?
"Your last name is Berry?" Shelby shakily asked. "Are your fathers Hiram and Leroy Berry?"
"Yeah, why? Do you know them?" Rachel asked, furrowing her brows.
"Um, yeah." Shelby replied. "I did some business with them years ago, before you were born."
"Oh." Rachel said. "That's cool, I guess."
"Yeah." Was all Shelby could say. "But, I need to get out of here."
"Oh, okay." Rachel said, unsure of why she was so upset on the inside about Shelby leaving her.
Shelby ran out of the auditorium, without so much as saying goodbye. More tears flowed down Rachel's face and she slumped her tiny body against the stage. It was just another person walking out when Rachel needed them. Shelby seemed to be different than everyone else. But she was just like the rest. No, it wasn't Shelby, it was Rachel. It was Rachel's fault that her dads didn't care. It was Rachel's fault that Finn was still chasing after Quinn, even though the blonde had cheated on him. Everyone hates her. She was unlovable.
Shelby came to a screeching halt as the auditorium doors closed. She had just come face to face with the daughter she had been missing and thinking about for the last fifteen years and yet her she was running away from Rachel. Why? Shelby didn't need to convince herself to turn around and go back to Rachel. She pulled a business card from her purse and held it tightly as she made her way down the aisle. Rachel heard the now familiar heels in the room and looked up to see Shelby just feet in front of her.
"I can't stay." Shelby said and Rachel wondered why the woman was crying but accepted the card Shelby handed to her. "Please call me, Rachel. I think the two of us should talk."
Rachel nodded and Shelby left once more, leaving Rachel to read over the small card in her hand. Putting the card in her skirt pocket, Rachel went back to her science classroom to get her things since class had ended moments before. Next hour, and her last class before lunch, Rachel shared this class with Santana and she was not looking forward to it.
Santana picked the desk next to Rachel, knowing the girl wasn't going to say a thing to her about what happened just fifteen minutes ago. Rachel never said anything. Rachel learned that lesson the very first time she had been slushied and had marched right down to Figgins' office and told the man which jocks were responsible for her blue raspberry facial. The days following were the worst of Rachel's life.
"Hey, midget." Santana leaned over to Rachel.
"What do you want?" Rachel grumbled, figuring Santana was about to gloat for having Rachel's solo.
"Thanks for covering for us." Santana said, causing Rachel to look at her funny. "It's what friends do, they cover for each other."
"Right." Rachel replied, not believing Santana.
During class, Santana noticed the card sticking out of Rachel's pocket And could see part of Shelby's name. It didn't take a genius to figure out why the disliked girl would have the nation's three time consecutive show choir champion coach's card. Rachel was jumping ship to Vocal Adrenaline. Sending a mass text to everyone in glee besides Rachel and Will, Santana ran out of class the moment the bell rang.
Right after school, Rachel stopped at her locker to grab the books she had placed in there before lunch and headed to the detention room. Normally she did her homework throughout school but since she had detention and no glee, she decided to do it during detention.
"Hi Rachel." Santana sweetly said, walking up to Rachel with Quinn and Brittany at her side.
Rachel knew they were up to no good. First they had used Rachel's actual name and not some hurtful nickname and second, they were surrounding her like hungry sharks swimming around their prey.
"I have to go." Rachel said, shutting her locker and headed in the direction of the detention room.
"We can talk to you while we walk." Quinn said as the three caught up to her.
"Okay." Rachel answered.
"We're going to dinner at Breadstix at seven and wanted to see if you'd like to join us." Quinn asked.
"Me? Why would you want me there?" Rachel asked, coming to a stop.
"Because it's what friends do. We go to dinner together, especially when one friend covers for the others." Quinn said. "So what do you say?"
"Alright. I suppose I can." Rachel nodded.
"Great. See you there." Santana smiled.
Four hours later, Rachel's car pulled up to the restaurant and Rachel walked in, knowing exactly where the girls would be. Since Brittany's dad co-owned the diner, the girls had their own special table. Decorative plants lined the half circle booth but the three matching ponytails told her she was the last to arrive.
"How long do we have to be here for?" Quinn asked.
Rachel stopped in her tracks, listening to the conversation.
"Just long enough to make the freak think we actually like her. I'll give her back her solo and all will be good and we will have a better chance at winning regionals." Santana said.
Rachel's heart broke in two. She was hurt that she had been played once again but mostly she was mad at herself for falling for the 'we're best friends' scheme. Before she was spotted, Rachel turned around and ran out the door and got into her car. She only made it halfway down the block when she burst into tears. Unable to see, Rachel had to pull into the parking lot of a city park to finish crying. Once her sobs had subsided to hiccups, Rachel called Shelby. She knew Vocal Adrenaline was in rehearsals and would be for another hour, but she hoped Shelby would answer her phone. And she did after three rings.
"Hello?" Shelby answered. She recognized the Lima area code and hoped it was Rachel.
"I wanna take you up on your offer to join Vocal adrenaline." Rachel immediately said.
"Rachel?" Shelby asked. Joining Vocal Adrenaline was not the reason Shelby wanted to speak to Rachel and avoided answering Rachel's statement. "Are you okay?"
"Sorta." She replied. "I'd be much better though if you'd let me in your glee club."
Shelby could sense the distress in Rachel's voice. "Where are you?"
"A park near Lima Heights." Rachel answered. And suddenly she got embarrassed that she had called Shelby. "I am so sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll let you go."
"No. No. No. Wait." Shelby said much to quickly and Shelby smacked her head. "Okay, um. Would you be able to meet me at the Lima Bean?" Shelby asked. Her daughter needed someone to talk to and Shelby was going to be that person. "Are you okay to drive?"
Shelby knew that park wasn't very safe, especially now when it was dark. Rachel wiped away her tears and gave Shelby a sniffled yes.
"Okay, I'm not gonna be there for at least two hours. Will you be okay until then?" Shelby asked.
"Yeah." Rachel replied.
"Good. I'll see you at the coffee shop around nine."
The pair hung up the phone and Shelby scrambled to get her things together. She yelled at her star and lead male, Jesse to take over for her for the rest of the hour as she had an emergency. He agreed and Shelby rushed out the door and to her car.
It was 9:30 when Shelby reached Lima. She had messaged Rachel fifteen minutes ago to tell her she was running late. Needing to stop home first to get something, Shelby didn't get to the coffee shop until a quarter to ten. She apologized to Rachel profusely as she sat down with a warm cup of tea in her hands.
"It's okay." Rachel brushed it off.
"How are you feeling? You sounded really upset on the phone."
"New Directions is using me for my talent. They all hate me until they realize that they need my voice, then they act like I'm the greatest person in the world to my face. You seem like a decent coach and person, I think we'd work well together."
"Rachel, you really don't want to join Vocal Adrenaline, trust me. They're ten times worse than New Directions and it would kill me to see them turn such a sweet girl into one of them."
"I have yet to change who I am in order to make others happy." Rachel said but maybe she should give it a try once. "I really want to work with you and build the stepping stones to the career I have picked. With your pedigree in the show choir world, I am sure to get in to NYADA following High School."
"That's very flattering, Rachel but I'm leaving Vocal Adrenaline after Regionals. My co-coach, who's been working with me the last two months, is taking over the Monday following the competition." Using her resignation, Shelby jumped into talking to Rachel about their connection. "You see, Rachel, I have this dream. I want a big house with a garden, and a dog- a family. Mostly I want a family."
"That's great Shelby but what does this have to do with me?" Rachel wondered.
"Because you, Rachel Berry." Shelby said, taking the contract from her purse and place it in front of Rachel. "You are my daughter. You're my family and my dream, it doesn't work without you."
Rachel picked up the contract from the table and read it over. She was reading so fast and had a lot going through her mind, that she hardly could digest what any of it meant or specifically what it said. Thankfully at the bottom of the fifth page, Shelby's signature was scribbled next to her fathers' and under the signature, in bold letters the word Mother was clearly printed. Shelby watched as Rachel's face changed as she went through the different motions but didn't say anything to let Rachel have her time.
The contract was suddenly dropped on the table and Rachel bolted out the door. Shelby called out her daughter's name loudly, getting looks from other customers. She grabbed her purse and Rachel's purse as she ran out a distance behind Rachel. She scanned the parking lot, unsure of which car was Rachel's or which direction the girl had taken off in.
Rachel, realizing she had left her purse in the coffee shop and didn't have her keys, crumbled to the ground, sobs rattling her tiny frame. A short time later she heard the heels and then felt Shelby trying to pull her into a hug. A little harder than she planned, Rachel pushed Shelby away and the woman couldn't find balance and fell to her skirt covered bottom.
Shelby quickly got to her knees on the hard, gravel covered concrete and tried to console Rachel again. This time she only placed a hand on Rachel's knee and the other began stroking Rachel's hair. "Rachel, Honey, please talk to me."
"I can't be your daughter." Rachel cried out, shaking her head and refusing to look up at Shelby. "You don't want me to be your daughter, trust me, I'll ruin your dream."
"I don't believe that for a second." Shelby whispered out.
"You gave me up to my dads to fulfill their dream of being parents and look what happened. I'll ruin your dreams just like I did theirs." Rachel sobbed, using the sleeve of her sweater to wipe her nose.
Shelby grimaced and shooed Rachel's hand away, getting a tissue from her purse. She tried to figure out what Rachel meant, using the tissue to remove the tears and snot from Rachel's face to buy her sometime to come to a conclusion. When she couldn't quite understand it, she slipped the used tissue in her blazer pocket and used her thumb to brush away the stray fresh tears from Rachel's cheeks.
"Rach, what do you mean you ruined their dreams?" Shelby calmly asked.
"They're gone. They're never around. In the last three months, I've seen them a total of ten days. Non-consecutively." Rachel said, new tears forming. Shelby let those be as she was sure she heard Rachel wrong. The Hiram and Leroy Berry Shelby knew over 15 years ago would never leave their daughter by herself at all. "It started when I was eight with late nights at the office, dinner parties on weekends they needed to attend. By eleven, they were going away for a night or two but shortly before I turned twelve, I was being left alone for days at a time. Over the last couple years their trips got longer and I saw less and less of them." Rachel's voice began to stagger and she burst into another round of tears.
This time Rachel allowed Shelby to hold her and Shelby just let Rachel cry. It was clear she had never told a single person about this and was scared of the consequences of doing so. After thirty seconds or so, Shelby asked Rachel if her dads were home now. Rachel sobbed out and no and tried to explain where they were but all Shelby could understand was that they had been gone for three days after a night home between their trips.
Rachel got her crying under control and sat up away from Shelby. "I'm sorry." She ducked her head. Her crying had left several wet spots on Shelby's top.
"Shhh, don't worry."
"What happens now?" Rachel quietly asked.
"Will you be alright to drive?" Shelby asked, fetching another tissue from her purse and dried Rachel's face once more.
"I think so."
"Okay, then I'll follow you to your house to get some clothes and we'll take it from there." Shelby said. She stood up and helped Rachel to her feet, dusting off the girl's skirt and legs. "All good?"
"All good." Rachel repeated. "We should probably go, it's getting late and don't worry, I have some money saved up. You can have it for gas money, it's not much but it should make up for having to drive to and from Akron a million times."
"You'll do nothing with that money besides saving it or spending it on yourself." Shelby shook her head and passed Rachel's purse to the girl.
"But-"
"-Rachel, I live here in Lima. I stopped by McKinley today before I had to teach my afternoon classes at Carmel. So you see, you didn't cause any extra problems in my day. I'd have to make those trips anyway." Shelby said. "And you're right, it is getting late so we best be going. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." Rachel nodded.
Rachel got into her car and waited for Shelby to pull up beside her, ready to follow Rachel to the Berry house. Shelby made sure to stay close to Rachel and kept her phone at hand, in case she needed to tell Rachel to pull over. Shelby was glad that they were able to get to the Berry house without incident and she was even more glad that Rachel hadn't cried on the way home either.
Shelby rolled down the driver's side window as Rachel stepped over to the Range Rover. "Do you want my help?"
"I won't be long, if you could just wait here for me?"
"Take your time." Shelby replied.
Rachel unlocked the front door and closed it behind her, going straight up to her bedroom. She went into her large walk in closet, stacking four hot pink suitcases on her bed. Rachel sighed, she wasn't going to need that much stuff. She wouldn't be staying with Shelby for very long. Chucking three of the bags into the closet, Rachel packed enough clothes to last her until Monday, which was only four days away. Leaving the closet once more, Rachel came out with a few outfits, neatly folding them into the suitcase. Standing at her dresser, Rachel gathered some underwear, bras, and knee socks and dumped the armful into the suitcase as well. She didn't want to keep Shelby waiting much longer and finished up her packing with shoving four different colored headbands into one of the pockets of the suitcase. She pulled up the handle of the suitcase and flung her backpack over her shoulder.
Shelby got out of the car to help Rachel. She popped open the trunk, lifting the pink suitcase into the back and was surprised by the light weight. "Rachel, this seems kinda light."
"I've packed plenty." Rachel stated and placed her book bag next to the suitcase. "It'll get me through the weekend."
"Honey, I don't want you just for the weekend." Shelby said, cupping Rachel's cheek. "When I said we'd come here to get some clothes, I meant that you should pack enough clothing until we could get the rest of your things."
"What?" Rachel softly asked.
"I want you to move in with me for good."
"You do?"
"Of course I do." Shelby responded and pulled Rachel into their first real hug.
"If I say yes and it doesn't work out the way you thought it would-"
"Stop, Rachel." Shelby said, placing her hands on Rachel's cheeks to tip the girl's head back. "You're not going to ruin anything and I am not going to change my mind." Rachel leaned back into Shelby and gave a little smile as Shelby rubbed comforting circles on her back. Shelby felt and heard Rachel's belly rumble and stopped rubbing her back. "When did you have dinner?"
"I didn't." Rachel realized.
"You haven't eaten? What did you have for lunch?" Shelby asked, stepping back from Rachel.
"Nothing." Rachel answered, bowing her head. "I spent my lunch like I normally do, in the auditorium and I was suppose to have dinner with my frie-" Rachel closed her mouth and began to wring her hands. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad." Shelby said as Rachel bowed her head. She reached out and lifted Rachel's chin, forcing the girl to look at her. "I'm not mad, okay?" Rachel nodded into her mom's hand.
"Good." She softly said, kissing Rachel's forehead. "How about you go inside and pack some more things, at least two weeks worth, while I run down the street and get you something to eat. I'll come back and then we'll go to my place so you can eat."
"Alright." Rachel agreed and explained to her mom that she had a very strict vegan diet.
Shelby got Rachel settled in the kitchen of her three story home and then went back out to the SUV to unload the car. On her last trip, Shelby locked her car doors and checked to make sure Rachel had locked hers as well. Rachel's bags had been stacked in the front hallway until after Rachel was finished eating and when she did, Shelby took her on a small tour of the house. It was already close to 11:30 and Rachel had school in the morning. Shelby showed her around the main level of the house, pointing out the livingroom, formal diningroom, bathroom, and office. Leaving the livingroom, walking through the diningroom, and into the kitchen, Shelby pointed out a set of stairs, telling Rachel it led to the semi-sound proofed studio. Rachel's eyes bulged out of her head.
"You have a studio?" Rachel gasped.
"Yeah, I gave lessons before I worked at Carmel, then I used it for weekend rehearsals with my VA students. Now, it'll be used for lessons again." Shelby explained.
"I bet you'll have full days of lessons." Rachel sadly assumed but that didn't stop her from starting to walk to the stairs.
Shelby grabbed the back of the girl's sweater, pulling her back into the main part of the kitchen, telling her she could go down there later. "I will not have any lessons after six pm during the school year and while you have summer break, I will come up with some sort of schedule to make sure we have plenty of time together."
"Really?" Rachel asked.
"Really." Shelby said. "Let's get your luggage and I will show you to your room."
On the next floor up, Shelby pointed out a small bathroom with only a toilet and a sink and a linen closet right next door. a few feet down the hall, Shelby opened up the first bedroom door.
"I turned this one into a music room of sorts. It's more of a private room for me, aside from the studio, where I can keep my personal music collection and use the piano I've had since my sixteenth birthday." Shelby said. "You can use this room too, whenever you want."
"Wow." Rachel breathed out, scanning the four floor to ceiling bookshelves that held probably every piece of sheet music known to man. "And I thought my collection was huge."
"It has taken me forever." Shelby laughed and walked Rachel into the room to look at a framed piece of sheet music. "This was the very first piece I bought when I was twelve."
"Les Mis." Rachel said. "It's my second favorite musical."
"Mine too. My first is Funny Girl."
Rachel stared up at her mother in awe. "Mine too."
"I guess sometime this weekend, we will have to have a movie night and watch Funny Girl." Shelby said and Rachel nodded with excitement.
Shelby gently pushed Rachel to the door and walked her out into the hallway, turning off the music room light. Across the hall, Shelby opened another door and announced that it was the master bedroom and directly across from her, was Rachel's new room.
"That door over there leads to your closet, it's a small walk in but there's plenty of storage space. And that door over there is the door to your bathroom."
"I have my own bathroom?" Rachel asked. She was use to having her own bathroom at her dads' but wasn't expecting that at Shelby's too.
"You for now, unless you give me reason to take away the privilege." Shelby replied, which reminded her about the keys. "And if for some reason you feel the need to lock me out of your room, please keep in mind that I have keys to every single room in this house."
"I wouldn't." Rachel promised.
"We'll see." Shelby chuckled and placed the two suitcases in her hand against the wall on the floor by the door. "I'll give you a few minutes to get settled in and to find some pajamas. You can unpack your belongings tomorrow after school. I need to make a quick phone call and when I am finished, I will come and say goodnight."
"Yes Ma'am." Rachel said. She wanted to complain that she didn't want to go to bed yet but she was tired and didn't want to anger Shelby.
Shelby went into her room and changed into something to sleep in and ten minutes later, Shelby hung up the phone with her co-coach, Dustin Goolsby. He was going to be taking over her team in just three weeks and Shelby felt it was important for her to be home the following day when Rachel got off of school. Normally she wasn't getting home until eleven with VA rehearsals and driving time. She couldn't leave Rachel home alone for that long. Dustin agreed to cover for her the next evening and they both agreed that starting Monday, Shelby would coach until 5:30 and leave him to take care of the rest of rehearsals. It was great practice to see if she had made the right choice for who would be taking over for her. It would get her home at 8:30, later than she wanted but it was only for three weeks.
Shelby was digging in her briefcase for her phone charger and jumped when she heard Rachel screaming from upstairs. Dropping everything, Shelby ran up the stairs two at a time. Rachel came out into the hallway, coming out of Shelby's bedroom.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Shelby asked, looking Rachel over for any injuries.
Rachel's skin was pale and her eyes were wide. "You met Barbra?" She asked, her voice was soft and slightly shaky.
Shelby sighed and then let out a little laugh. "You scared the hell out of me, Rachel." Shelby said, walking the girl into the master bedroom. She picked up the photo frame that contained the picture of her and Barbra Streisand. "I was twenty two, which would have made you about three, almost four. It was during my eighteen performance run as Maria in West Side Story. Barbra had come down to the theater to meet us and what not."
"That's amazing." Rachel quietly gasped.
"Yeah, it was pretty amazing meeting Barbra."
"That's cool too but I was talking about you." Rachel said, looking up at Shelby. "My mom was on Broadway."
"Off-Broadway." Shelby corrected. "I left after eighteen performances and three months later, it moved to on Broadway."
"Why did you leave?" Rachel asked.
"Another story, a different day." Shelby said, telling Rachel she'd have to wait to hear the reason.
"But-"
"Sorry, kid but it's late." Shelby cut Rachel's whine off. She placed the picture back on the nightstand and turned Rachel to her room, noticing Rachel had yet to change into her pajamas. Keeping one hand on Rachel's shoulder, Shelby placed a quick and nearly painless swat to Rachel's skirt covered bottom. "I'm sure I said you needed to get ready for bed."
"You did." Rachel said, covering her backside with her hands as she led Shelby into her bedroom. Once she was in the room, Rachel turned to look at her mom and dropped her hands at her sides. "I just got- I wanted a better look at your room. I'm sorry, I should have asked first before going in there."
"You're welcome in there anytime, unless the door is shut, then you'll have to knock first." Shelby said.
"I will. Thank you, for everything. I really appreciate it." Rachel said, opening her arms for a hug and Shelby quickly granted Rachel's request.
Shelby patted Rachel's backside lovingly and Rachel smiled into Shelby's shoulder at the action. A kiss was placed to the top of the head and Shelby told Rachel to get the shorts and tee shirt that were sitting on the bed and go into the bathroom. Rachel grabbed her makeup bag that she had tossed her toothbrush and toothpaste in, along with her change of clothes and went into the bathroom.
Shelby left the bedroom and returned minutes later with an empty white laundry basket, after locking up the house and plugging in her phone, and placed it on the floor for Rachel to put in the bathroom. Rachel exited the bathroom as Shelby was turning down the comforter of Rachel's bed and Rachel got in, slipping her chilled feet under the thick blanket. She laid back on the bed and Shelby covered her up, then flipped off the light switch and returned to the bed, sitting on the edge.
"I love you, Rachel." Shelby kissed Rachel's cheek. "I am so glad you told me about your dads and even happier that you're letting me help you. I'm gonna take care of you like a parent should and be there when you need me."
"I love you too, Mom." Rachel said, a few tears sliding down her cheeks.
Shelby wiped them away and gave her one last kiss before changing her position on the bed so she was sitting with her back against the headboard.
"You don't have to stay here with me." Rachel said but didn't stop herself from snuggling into Shelby. "I'm sure you have work you need to do."
"I can do it in the morning before I go to work. Right now, I'm not letting you fall asleep alone." Shelby gently said, playing with Rachel's hair.
The next morning Shelby found Rachel in the kitchen, clad in her pajamas and her hair a mess. Her eyes were still trying to get use to the morning light and Shelby figured she hadn't been up for very long but she needed to get a move on that way they weren't late getting Rachel to school. Rachel rinsed out the bowl she used for her fruit salad and Shelby took over for her, sending the girl up to her room to shower.
Shelby had put on a sweatshirt, zipping the front up halfway and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and was now waiting for Rachel to return from running upstairs to get her backpack. Even though Rachel had her own car and didn't need Shelby to drive her to school but the mom wanted to speak to the principal about their new situation. She couldn't exactly tell Figgins the truth but instead told him that Hiram and Leroy were on vacation and left Rachel in their care, so any phone calls and letters needed to be directed to her until further notice.
"I'm ready." Rachel said, coming down the stairs.
"Okay." Shelby said and the pair walked out the front door. Shelby parked in one of the visitor parking spaces and got out with Rachel. "Remember, I'll be picking you up after school, following your detention."
They quickly hugged and walked side by side as they walked into the building. Rachel parted ways with Shelby as the woman went into the office and Rachel headed for her locker. After a second thought, she turned around and went into the office and sat down in one of the waiting chairs. She was aware that Shelby wanted to talk to Mr. Figgins but she wasn't entirely sure what was all going to be said. Shelby came out a few minutes later, surprised to find Rachel walking up to her.
"What are you doing here?"
"Class doesn't start for ten more minutes." Rachel threw up her hands in defense. "And I just wanted to know how the talk went."
"Rachel, I was only telling him to contact me in case something happens." Shelby smiled.
"Oh, okay." Rachel said, feeling foolish for being so worried. "I guess I should go to class now."
"I guess you should." Shelby agreed, walking Rachel out of the office. "I will see you later, sweetheart."
"Bye, mom." Rachel said, giving Shelby a wave as she turned the corner.
Will was coming out of the teacher's lounge when he spotted Shelby Corcoran talking with not just any student, but his star student and he knew these wasn't good. Not one bit. The two parted, Rachel going to class and Shelby leaving the building. He dropped his cup of coffee and bagel into the trashcan and ran after Shelby but it was too late, she was backing out of the parking space and Will couldn't get her attention.
Will stormed to his office and slammed the door shut. Through out the morning and early afternoon, Will called Shelby's office at Carmel several times but got no answers. When Shelby did finally get to her office later in the afternoon, her voice flashed that she had seven missed calls. She was about to check who it was from but got distracted with some emails she needed to take care of, one of which held the security videos from two days before when the cricket infestation happened. She watched the videos and shook her head. There wasn't much she could do in the moment because she had to get to her first of three classes of the day.
When she returned to her office two hours later, Shelby took note that the missed call count had gone from seven to thirteen. Before she could press any buttons on the phone to see who was leaving all the messages, the phone rang. Sitting on her office chair, Shelby picked up the phone and answered.
"Shelby Corcoran." She answered.
"What you're scared of losing your status as top show choir coach in the nation next year because your best students are graduating, so you have to come steal mine?" Will barked into the phone. What a lovely greeting.
"Excuse me? Will, I haven't stolen any of your students."
"The hell you haven't?!" Will bellowed. "You're going after Rachel, telling her she would be better off at Carmel, taking advantage of her anger with me because she didn't get her way for a change and actually had to take some responsibility for her actions."
"First of all, Rachel has every right to be angry. You didn't give her half a chance to even explain herself." Shelby began. "Had you taken the time, you would have learned that it wasn't Rachel who had set the crickets free in my choir room." Shelby paused to lean past her desk and look out at the attached choir room. Even though the insect problem had been taken care of, Shelby could have sworn she heard chirping. "Three cheerleaders and to two boys, one with a mohawk, were captured on security cameras breaking into my choir room and office. Rachel was no where in sight."
Although in the second set of videos, Rachel had been spotted in the parking lot, Shelby figured Will didn't need to know that. "If you don't believe me I can forward you a copy of the video." Shelby smugly offered, imagining the look on the man's face. "You know, you don't have to worry about me stealing your best student, Will. You've isolated her all on your own. But you might want to keep an extra eye out at the PTA next month. It's about damn time someone starts sticking up for my daughter."
Will's mouth fell open as the phone loudly slammed on the other end.
A/N: So what did you guys think?