Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 51st cycle. Now cycle 52!

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Steps 44-53, Breathe & Push, chapter 2.

"Something Old, Something New"
Shelby & Beth, Emmett & Joanie, Shelby/Emmett, Rachel
Shelby & Beth series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

She would remember the whole day for all her life, but in all that had been part of her wedding day, her best memory would not even be the wedding itself. It would be the limo ride from home to the airport, after leaving the hotel to fly out on their honeymoon. She would remember sitting contently and tiredly to Emmett's shoulder, feeling his heart drumming under her ear, and thinking of how her life had changed in just over a year. Yes, she was now married, with two beautiful girls she was proud to call her daughters, but what this amounted to was that she was happy… and she wasn't happy before, she knew. She'd search for a way to convince herself that she was there, but she was fooling no one, least of all herself. And this day, this beautiful day, it was the proof captured of her true and undeniable happiness.

It had started at the crack of dawn, with maid of honor Rachel officially back on the clock. Everyone was up and getting ready to head out to their first stop, down at the salon. With hair and makeup taken care of they could then head out to the church, where they would get dressed. Rachel was the first one ready, along with Joanie, who she took on as her assistant. She tasked her with keeping the other bridesmaids in line, while she took care of the ushers and the guests. Joanie's job wasn't the most demanding and eventually the girl had snuck off back to find Shelby. She knocked at the door.

"Hey, it's me," she announced herself. "Can I come in?"

"Your dad's not with you?" Shelby asked.

"No," she promised, so she came in. She stopped, stunned, as she took in the full image of Shelby in her dress… she was ready. "You're perfect," Joanie beamed. "If I'm careful, is it okay if I hug you?" Shelby held out her hand and Joanie came up to her, wrapping her arms around her mother as he was enveloped as well.

"You never have to ask to hug me, got it?" Shelby smiled, and Joanie did, too.

"Got it."

"And I hope it goes both ways. I promise I won't embarrass you in front of your friends," she whispered, and Joanie laughed.

"If they can't handle it, then they're not really my friends," she declared, and Shelby leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"You need to go before my makeup starts to run and Rachel goes to defcon one," she breathed to keep from crying and Joanie pulled back.

"Got it," she headed out for the door. "One more, I promise?" she stopped and turned back with a smile. "Love you, Mom." Shelby gave her a smirk, then pointed to the door. "Going, bye!" she dashed out.

"Love you, too!" Shelby called after her.

"I know!" she could hear from out in the hall.

Her makeup had survived Joanie's visit, and before she knew it the time had come for her to take her place and take her march down the aisle. She would say if the limo ride was her top memory, seeing the look in Emmett's eyes when he saw her coming was number two, that and his reaching up to brush a tear off her cheek when they were finally side by side. He looked so happy, too, and when they had been declared husband and wife, he had needed little prompt to take her in his arms and kiss her.

It didn't seem too long before he was holding her again, this time on the dance floor, their first dance… "I think I owe someone a dance," he told her when the song ended. She smiled and watched him go. He bypassed Joanie, discreetly expanding the space between her and boyfriend Alex before going off to get Beth from his mother's lap. He took her off to the dance floor, and Shelby could hear her giggles from across the way. She smirked before moving off to find Rachel, who was sitting at her place.

"What are you doing up here? Come dance," Shelby nodded to the crowded floor.

"Oh, it's okay," Rachel insisted.

"You did a great job," Shelby told her, and the girl smiled. "But I knew you would," she shrugged confidently.

"Thanks," Rachel smiled.

"Now get up, you're dancing with me. You're still on the clock, and I think you're supposed to do as I say," she teased. Rachel bowed her head, standing.

"Fair enough," she followed, laughing to herself.

The evening was all she could have hoped for, all the people she loved having a good time, being just as happy as she was, or… maybe not just happy, not like her and like Emmett, but… everyone was happy, and that was all she wanted.

But finally the night was done. Joanie and Beth both were to stay at the Fabrays' while Shelby and Emmett were off on their honeymoon. Saying their goodbyes was easier on the girls than it was on her. Joanie would be happy, of course, while Beth wouldn't understand they were leaving for a while, not yet… Now they were gone though, and they could get in the limo. Emmett had pulled her to lean against him, which she did instantly.

"Today happened, right?" she hummed. As a response, he lifted up her hand for her to see the ring on her finger and she smiled. "Okay, it did… good." She took a breath, thinking. "What would you think about us looking into adoption?" she asked calmly, feeling his lips at the top of her head.

"I'd say I can't wait," he told her.

"Boy?" she smiled, and he laughed.

"Would be nice, though I'd be just as happy with more girls… A gaggle of daughters…" She smirked up at him, and he kissed her. "A son…" he thought, and she nodded.

"Maybe not right away, although it can take a while… I got lucky with Beth… so lucky," she reflected.

"We've got all the time in the world," he promised, and she agreed, letting the warmth of him just take her in.

If someone had told her this would be her life, she wouldn't have believed them. For so long she had thought she'd missed out on this, and then it had all started to come… It had started with Rachel, with seeking her out. It had led her to Quinn and Puck, which had led her to Beth, and then to Emmett and Joanie. She owed these kids her happiness, and she wasn't going to forget it.

She looked forward to everything that would come next, to years with Emmett, watching their girls grow, getting that little boy on their minds… maybe more, who knew? Everything was possible, she believed it now…

THE END

(A/N: This is technically the final installment in this series. However, they will continue pop up in its sister series (Sam & Nell/Samchel) from time to time so... :))

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!