AN: (I'm revising this story but I'm keeping the original AN's because they make me smile. If you read this ages after I wrote it, still feel free to review!) This is my first story ever so I hope you like it. I decided to write it because I love Idina and I feel like there's a lot more to Shelby than we get to see in the show.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee; if I did Idina would sing in every episode.
The first time she saw her it was only for a second. She'd been in the hospital for almost 8 hours pushing and sweating. It had been the worst 8 hours of her life, or so she thought then. The worst part actually, was the hours following those. She had seen her daughter, her gorgeous brown eyes and her rosy chicks. She didn't know her name, she didn't want to. But those first hours trying to come to terms with what she had done were horrible. She thought of going back to the Berrys and asking them to give her back. After a while she realized she couldn't do that. She had a contract and besides, without the money they gave her for the baby, she had nothing. So she decided it was for the best. The Berrys could give her the life she couldn't give her, not right now anyway. So she went to New York and tried to make it in Broadway.
She tried her best, she really did. She had the talent, the looks, the voice, but it wasn't enough. They said she lacked passion, fire, theatricality. She knew that wasn't it, she knew what she was missing but she couldn't get it back now. So she went back to Ohio, with her dreams crushed, and started working at Carmel High as the Glee coach. It wasn't her dream job, of course, but she got to do what she loved and being an inspiration for a bunch of teenagers wasn't that bad.
The second time she saw her, she wasn't prepared. It was their fall invitational and she was greeting some of the guests at the reception when she saw wavy brown hair and those beautiful brown eyes. She knew it was her, who else could she be? She was talking to some dorky looking kid who didn't really seem interested in what she was saying. They came with a larger group of kids and two adults who looked more interested in sharing a sandwich than actually looking after the kids.
They started to walk into the auditorium and she heard a girl call "Rachel, hurry up!" and saw the girl turn and disappear.
Rachel. That was her name. Rachel Berry, her daughter. She managed to slip away from the person she was talking to and walked to the registration table. "Who were those kids who just walked in?" she asked the student behind the desk. The girl gave her a look but complied since everyone knew you don't mess with Ms. Corcoran, especially not before a show.
"The McKinley High Glee club" the girl said. She walked away without saying anything. McKinley High Glee club, of course, her girl was a singer. She went into the auditorium as they were dimming the lights and stood in a corner. She couldn't see Rachel from where she was standing and the lack of light didn't help, but she knew she was there. It was nice to finally put a name to the face, and a new face now. Over the years, she'd only refer to her as "the baby", only to herself of course, she didn't go around sharing her problems with everyone. But a few years ago, after her fertility problems, she started calling her "my baby". And her baby was sitting somewhere in her auditorium. Granted, she wasn't a baby anymore, but she was still as beautiful as the first time she saw her.
When a loud cheering brought her back from her reverie, she saw the McKinley students get up from the last few rows and exit the auditorium. She couldn't leave now; she had duties as the Glee coach. But every single cell in her body was screaming for her to run after the girl. She controlled her urges and stayed where she was. She'd waited 16 years for this; she could wait a bit longer, at least until she had a plan.
What am I even going to say to her? Hi, I'm your mom, I'm sorry you've never met me but I was too busy following hopeless dreams? Something simpler came to mind. I signed a contract; I couldn't contact you until you were 18. But still that wasn't enough because she would have to wait 2 years to tell her that and she couldn't take that. She had to find a way to see her, to explain, maybe even get the chance to be part of her life.
Would she even want me to be a part of her life? She had parents already. She'd lived 16 years of her life without me, why would she want to meet the woman who practically sold her? This thought crushed her and so she decided to wait.
When it was time for sectionals, she had to see her perform. Luckily, Vocal Adrenaline's match wasn't on the same day, and she sneaked in with some of her kids. She kept telling herself, and her students, that they were just there to check out their future competition. She wasn't fooling anyone, everyone new Shelby Corcoran didn't worry about competition. But she needed some excuse to see her little girl in action.
When she came down from behind the audience belting out "Don't Rain on my Parade" with that magnificent voice of hers she almost cried. One of her kids, Jesse, whispered to her "She's good" and of course she was. She was amazing. She was her. At the end of the song she started clapping but stopped herself before she showed too much enthusiasm. Jesse and the others still gave her odd looks, but she didn't care, she was watching her baby sing.
At the end of their performance she almost gave a standing ovation with the rest of the audience. Of course, it was kind of weak and looked a little improvised, but Rachel had been great and it broke her heart not being able to tell her that. She stood up and walked out before they announced the winner, her students following her looking confused.
"That was a waste of our time" she said as soon as they were out in the parking lot. "Whoever wins is not going to be a problem for us at regionals". Everyone agreed and started to walk to their respective cars, including her. When she was opening the door she heard a voice behind her.
"Ms. Corcoran, why did you make us come today? You've never worried about other teams before and you seemed kind of nauseous back there. Is there something you're not telling us?" Jesse said. Shelby looked at the boy. Should I tell him? Maybe he can help. And so she told him, everything.
At first Jesse didn't know what to say. I have to help her. He looked up to her and seeing her so sad made him want to do anything he could to make it stop. He knew anyone in Vocal Adrenaline would do anything for her. Yes, they kind of feared her but they also loved her. She was strict but understanding and without her they were nothing. He had to do something so he said the only thing that he thought of. "I can befriend her and try to find out if she wants to meet you".
Shelby thought about this. It seems too easy although it wouldn't be so bad; Jesse can just talk to her and ask her if she wants to meet me. If she doesn't then I don't disrupt her life and I'll try to move on with mine. If she does then I can find a way to get her to contact me so I don't breach my contract. "OK" she said.
AN: I'd love to hear your comments. It will probably have more chapters but I want to see what you think about this one first.
