"I don't want to do this," Rachel complained as Shelby pushed her up the steps to her front door.
"Rach, sweetie, I know that you are scared, but your dads need to know that we want to establish a mother-daughter relationship. It can't happen if they don't approve of it," Shelby said.
"But what if they say no?" Rachel asked, tears coming to her eyes.
Shelby smiled and wiped her tears away softly," We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she said, turning and knocking on the door. Rachel leaned onto Shelby's shoulder as the door opened.
Hiram Berry answered the door, his eyes widening at what he saw," Shelby? Rachel? What?" he said, clearly in shock.
"Hiram, I think we need to talk," Shelby said.
Hiram stood there, frozen, for a moment before grabbing his daughter's arm and pulling her inside," You signed a contract Shelby! How dare you break it! Rachel is our daughter, not yours!" he said, slamming the door in her face. Shelby stood there, shocked at what had just transpired. He hadn't even let her explain anything. If he would have he would have known that Rachel came to her, not the other way around. She shook her head and turned back, heading for her Range Rover to go home.
Back in the Berry household Rachel was in just as much shock as Shelby," Daddy," she said as Hiram slammed the door.
"I'm so sorry, Rachel. She signed a contract. She wasn't supposed to contact you until you were 18. That was wrong. Don't worry, she will never talk to you again. I promise. I'm sorry," he repeated, turning to look at her.
Rachel shook her head," No, no, no. She didn't seek me out, I sought her out. I wanted to find her. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to have a relationship with her. And you, you just ruined that," she said, breezing past her and heading out the door. She got to her driveway just in time to see Shelby pulling away, a few tears streaking down her face. " Shelby! Mom!" she yelled, but it was no use, Shelby was gone. She turned back to see Leroy had now joined Hiram and they were both standing on the porch.
"Rachel, why don't you come in here, and we can talk about this," Leroy suggested calmly.
Rachel glared at them as she passed them," No," she said, heading up the stairs and to her bedroom. She slammed the door and locked it, turning to her computer.
Meanwhile, Shelby had quickly drove home. She trudged up the stairs to her apartment and unlocked the door, stepping inside and locking it behind her. She headed to her bedroom and changed into yoga pants and a tank top before crawling under her sheets. She laid her head down on the pillow and, finally, let the tears, that had been begging to fall, finally fall.
Rachel quickly found Shelby's address on the Vocal Adrenaline website and grabbed her car keys along with her phone. She walked down the stairs, passing her dads without saying a word. " Where are you going, sweetie?" Hiram asked, noticing the keys in her hands as she passed them.
Rachel turned around at the door to look at them," None of your damn business, Hiram," she spat, whipping around and slamming the door behind her. She quickly drove to her mother's apartment building and walked to the 3rd floor. She knocked and waited impatiently as she heard footsteps walking towards the door.
Shelby opened the door, tear streaks and mascara running down her face," Rachel," she said, clearly taken back by her daughter standing at her door.
"Mom,um, i'm sorry to drop in on you like this, I just, um, I found your address on the Vocal Adrenaline website, and I just, I wanted to talk to you. I'm really sorry about the way my dad acted back there. He was way out of line and he shouldn't have said what he did. I'm really mad at them, and i'm just, i'm really sorry. You didn't deserve any of that," Rachel rambled.
Shelby stepped aside," Come on in, sweetie," she said quietly.
Rachel stepped inside and slipped her shoes off at the door," I like your apartment," Rachel said, smiling at her mother.
A small smiled broke out on Shelby's face," Thankyou, sweetie," she said, looking at the floor.
Rachel shook her head, seeing how uncomfortable Shelby was," I shouldn't have come here, i'm sorry," she said.
Shelby shook her head and gently grabbed her wrist," No sweetie, i'm sorry. I'm just still in a little bit of shock. I didn't expect to find you standing there when I opened the door," she said.
Rachel nodded," I don't know why I came, I, I just wanted to talk to you," she admitted, looking down at the floor.
Shelby squeezed her hand gently," Well, i'm glad you came. Do you want something to drink, mabye?" she asked.
Rachel shook her head," No, i'm ok. Can we just, maybe, sit down on the couch and watch a movie?" she asked.
Shelby smiled at her and wiped away the new tears that were forming in her eyes," Of course, sweetie," she said.
Rachel saw the tears and her face fell," I"m sorry, did I say something?" she asked.
Shelby smiled reassuringly," No, no, not at all, sweetie. I'm just really happy," she said, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and headed back into her room. Rachel made her way over to the couch and plopped down, pulling her feet up underneath her.
Shelby came back into the room holding Funny Girl," I thought we could watch this," she said, smiling as she put the DVD in the player and grabbed the remotes, sitting down next to Rachel on the couch.
Rachel beamed," It's my favorite," she said.
Shelby smiled at her as she hit play on the remote," Me too," she said as Rachel laid her head on her shoulder. Shelby smiled and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.
They sat in silence, enjoying their favorite movie for a while, until Rachel lifted her head from Shelby's shoulder. Shelby looked over at her questioningly," What's wrong?" she asked.
"Are you still going to be in my life? I mean, I know the reaction we got from my dads is clearly not the one we expected, but I don't really care what they think anymore. You're my mom and you have a right to be in my life. If you want to," Rachel trailed off.
Shelby smiled at her reassurinlgy," Sweetie, do you want me to be in your life?" she asked.
Rachel gave her a small nod," A lot," she said.
"Well, then, I don't care what your dads say either. If you want me in your life, that's all that matters to me," she said. Rachel wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"I love you, mom," Rachel said into Shelby's shoulder.
Shelby smiled," I love you too, Rach," she replied.