"You can't talk me out of this. You have no authority or control of me, my dads do but they support this desision." Rachel said, then turned to face the mirror and tucked a chunk of hair behind her ears.
"No they don't." Shelby said, shutting the door as Rachel's friends left. Rachel scoffed then looked at Shelby. "How do you think I knew you were here?"
"Well I did put announcements in 17 papers state wide and another 4 in several newspapers in New York." Rachel said, figuring that maybe a director of some big musical would see it and read that she had dreams of being on Broadway and that she had recently been accepted into the final stages of being accepted into NYADA.
"I typically don't read those sections of the paper and I honestly wasn't expecting I needed too. I didn't think my daughter would be getting married while still in high school." Shelby gently chuckled as she sat down on a chair.
"I'm not your daughter." Rachel snapped at Shelby, then turned to face away from her after seeing the hurt that was slapped across the older woman's face. She bit her lip and softened her voice just a little. "And I am 18. Neither you or my dads can stop me."
"I know you love Finn."
"You don't know anything about me."
"I know that you want to have 3 Tony Awards before you are 25, that you once concidered getting a nose job after Finn broke your nose, and that you sent a girl to a crack house because you felt threatened by her talent."
"I didn't feel threatened by her." Rachel tried to say but the two knew she was lying.
"I also know that you were the one who talked Quinn out of telling Figgins about Puck and I."
"I did it for Beth." Rachel said. "Quinn thought she would get custody of Beth if you went to jail or whatever but what she didn't understand is that the baby would have gone to foster care or one of your realatives before she ever went to Quinn."
"Why else did you do it?"
"Look, Quinn wanted to say that you were a horrible mom for sleeping with one of your students, regardless of him being Beth's father but what Quinn failed to see is she was being a worse mother than you. Quinn was going to do anything to destroy the perfect life you have given Beth. She almost ruined Beth's life and yours by planting that stuff in your house and calling CPS on you." Rachel said, sitting down across from Shelby. "It actually helped me understand why you walked away. You didn't want to ruin the perfect life my dads gave me but that doesn't excuse you for the way you treated me. You didn't need to leave or tell me that I wasn't what you wanted."
"I'm sorry, honey. I really I am. I wanted so badly to talk to and apologize for everything I did but there never seemed to be a time that I could talk to you. You were busy with the musical, the NYADA app, New Directions, Finn. I couldn't get you alone."
"What about when I asked for the letter of recommendation? You could have talked to me then."
"I tried but after I brought up how extensive your resume was and that others would kill for what you had listed, you took off without another word." Shelby said. "I thought maybe I had said the wrong thing and you didn't want to talk to me. After that you barely acknowledged my existence."
"Well you were too busy with your little boy toy." Rachel said, standing up from her seat. The conversation was becoming too emotional for her. She brushed away the stray tears that were forming in her eyes. She cleared her throat and turned back to Shelby. "Like I said, I plan to marry Finn today and nothing anyone says will change that."
"Rachel, I know I haven't been married before but I have been close. When I was your age, I thought I was ready to marry my high school sweetheart but my mother helped me see that I was too young. There was so much more to life at that moment than getting tied into a marriage."
"We want to get married before we go to New York."
"Why? What difference does that make? Whether you get married now or in 4 years when you are through with college, what difference does it make that you need to be married before you leave Ohio?"
"I-I-I don't know but I know that I love Finn."
"Of course you do but that doesn't mean that you need to get married. You don't need a piece of paper or a Justice of the Peace to tell you that you two love each other and are committed." Shelby said, going over to Rachel and picking up the black eyeliner that sat near by on the vanity. "Close your eyes."
"What?" Rachel asked, taken back by her action.
"Close your eyes, your makeup is smudged." Shelby said and Rachel closed her eyes so Shelby could fix her makeup. "I just want you to think this through before you realize you have made a mistake and it is too late."
"Marrying Finn is not a mistake."
"Finn is a great guy, I am not disputing that. I am saying that you might regret the timing." Shelby said, as she finished up the eye makeup. She noticed Rachel's lips color had faded and reached for one of the tubes of lip gloss. After she was done, she inspected her work. "There you go."
"Thanks." Rachel quietly said.
"You're welcome."
"I know you don't approve of the wedding." Rachel started. "But since you are already here, if you want to stay you can."
"I'd love that." Shelby smiled.
"Rachel?" Kurt said poking his head in. "We need to get going."
"Alright." Rachel nodded.
"Well, I guess I will see you in there." Shelby said, trying to sound happy for Rachel and she turned around to leave.
"Shelby?" Rachel said, stopping the woman. Rachel walked up to her. "Thank you."
Shelby smiled, nodded and touched Rachel's shoulder before she walked out of the room. Shelby and Rachel's father quietly walked down to the judge's office and waited for the teens to make their appearance. Shelby noted that Finn's parents seemed equally unhappy about this but her main concern was Quinn and Puck. They were shooting her hard glares and whispering between each other. Thankfully, the doors opened and all attention turned to Finn, Artie, Kurt and Sam as they walked into the room.
Tina, Sugar, and Mercedes all walked in shortly after. It was several moments later that Rachel come in and a crowd of awe's released into the room. Shelby felt the tears springing to her eyes as she watched Rachel walk past her to stand next to Finn. As much as this wasn't something Shelby was happy with, she couldn't help but cry over how gorgeous Rachel looked. Shelby hadn't paid much attention to the ensemble in the dressing room but now she couldn't take her eyes off of it.
"Who gives this girl away?" The judge asked.
"Her fathers and mother." Hiram answered and Shelby's head whipped to face the dads. Both men gave her a sincere smile, which she returned back. Even Rachel had a small look of approval on her face.
Everyone listened as the judge continued talking. When he asked for any objections, the five parents looked to one another but no one raised their hands as they knew that Rachel and Finn wanted to do this and if it didn't happen today, they were just going to elope without telling anyone.
"Do you have the rings?" The judge asked and Rachel turned to get hers from Mercedes and Finn got his from Kurt.
"Do you Finn take Rachel to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do." Finn smiled and slipped the ring over Rachel's finger.
"And do you Rachel take Finn to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
Rachel held the ring in one hand and Finn's hand in the other. She bit her lip and glanced around the room, her eyes landing on Shelby. Daughter stared at mother for several moments before Finn broke the trance.
"Rach?"
"I can't." Rachel whispered.
"What?" Finn asked, not quite hearing what Rachel said.
"I can't." She said, louder and everyone gasped.
