A/N: Thank you for the reviews and also the follow and faves on the first chapter of this.
One thing I will definitely reassure you all of, that this will be nothing like Shelby within the actual Glee canon; that just got so stupid and ridiculous that I can't even begin to fathom writing something like that!
One thing you will see from this chapter, is just how close Shelby and Rachel have been to one another for many years; and neither of them realized it, and also in the chapter to follow there will also be another little twist where you will just think 'oh my', when there could have been so many times that they have come to being connected in a way.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this next chapter, and the next one should be up shortly.
Love to you all,
KJ xoxoxoxoxo
A few days later, Jayden had finished his family tree; and taken it to school, where the teacher was impressed that he had taken initiative to include all his family, and not that of just his biological parents, but that also of his other parental figures as well.
Over the course of those few days, Rachel had also been thinking a lot more about that of her birth mother; and wondering if it had been hard for her to never be the one to hold her child in her arms, and be there for all the important milestones; that she knew as a mother herself she treasured so much.
Saturday afternoon, whilst Puck was outside playing a game of football with Jayden, Elisabeth and Aaron; and Sophia was down for an afternoon nap; Rachel decided to give her dad's a call and ask them just a few questions as to her mother.
Dialling the number for her father's in Ohio, the phone was picked up on the fifth ring.
"Hello my angel" said Leroy, when he answered the phone.
"Hi Dad" replied Rachel. "Do you have time to talk?"
"Of course" said Leroy. "I always have time for my special girl"
Rachel laughed at the name that her Dad, had always called her.
"Okay good" replied Rachel. "Because I actually have a few questions, and I really hope you don't mind me asking them"
"You can ask me anything you know that" said Leroy.
"Okay" replied Rachel, and took a deep breath; preparing herself for what she was going to say next. "I was actually wondering about my Mom"
"Your Mom?" asked Leroy.
"Yes" replied Rachel. "Jay's just done this family tree for school, and he asked about her; and I couldn't tell him anything other than I don't know who she is"
"And you think you'll have the same conversation with the others when they're older enough to want to know as well" said Leroy.
"Exactly" replied Rachel. "And I maybe want to tell them a little bit more about the person, who is essentially their grandmother"
"Okay" said Leroy.
"I don't mean to upset you Dad" said Rachel. "I love you and Daddy so much. I just guess there is this part of my history, that I know nothing about"
"Sweetheart" said Leroy. "Neither your Daddy or I could ever be upset, about you wanting to know who she is"
"You're not?" asked Rachel.
"No of course not" replied Leroy. "We were actually prepared to tell you years ago, but you never asked; and we figured if you'd want to know you would tell us when the time was right for you"
"Wow" said Rachel. "So what can you tell me?"
"A lot actually" replied Leroy. "But it would be something better done in person. So I will talk with your Daddy, and see if we can take a trip out to you next weekend, and we will bring what we have about your mother and also anything you want to ask us you can"
"That would be great" said Rachel. "Thank you so much, for being understanding about this"
"Of course my princess" said Leroy. "I'll talk with Daddy tonight, and let you know"
"Sure" replied Rachel. "We'll talk soon. I love you"
"Love you too angel" replied Leroy. "Bye"
"Bye Dad" said Rachel, and ended the phone call, and let out a long breath that she didn't really know she had been holding in; for she was about to find out about her birth mother, and she didn't know whether to be excited or scared at that, or both.
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The next weekend, as he had promised to Rachel; Leroy had organised with Hiram for the two of them to go and see her and discuss what they knew about her birth mother with her, and the two of them arrived from New York mid Saturday morning, having caught an early flight.
Puck had made plans, with Blaine, Mikki, Sam and Brittany; to take all of their kids to Chuck E. Cheese, for lunch, so that Rachel could talk with her dad's; and the three of them were sitting at the kitchen table, with the cups of coffee that Rachel had made for all of them.
"So what do you want to know princess?" asked Hiram, as took a sip of his coffee.
"Whatever you can tell me about her" replied Rachel, as she took a sip of her own coffee. "I just want to make sure first that you're both okay with this"
"Angel, of course we are" replied Leroy. "We've been prepared for you to ask for years, so whatever you want to know you can ask"
Rachel nodded and looked at Hiram. "Well I know that your my biological father, Daddy"
"That's right princess" replied Hiram, with a nod. "My sperm was used, yes"
"Can I ask why you and Dad chose you?" asked Rachel.
"You may, yes" replied Leroy, with a nod. "And the reason was because I have a low sperm count, so the chances of ever being able to have a child would have been low"
"I however was perfectly able to conceive a baby" said Hiram. "Which is why we chose to use mine"
"Okay" replied Rachel, with a nod. "That makes sense, I know Noah was tested for that also when we were trying for Sophia"
"Yes" replied Leroy, with a nod.
"So my Mom then" said Rachel. "Was she someone you knew? A friend maybe?"
"No, she wasn't someone either of us knew" said Hiram. "We thought about asking one of them, but we felt it would have been too difficult for them to still see you; and not have been a part of your life on a full time basis"
"And we know it could have worked" said Leroy. "We've seen that it does, and your friend Cynthia with Kurt and Dave; the three of them have managed to make it work, and her husband is also fine with it as well. We just felt for us, it wasn't something that we thought we could have made work"
"Yes" said Hiram. "So your Dad and I, we went through a surrogacy agency; who lined up I think it was potentially five women who were willing to be our surrogate"
"And you chose one of them then?" asked Rachel.
"Yes, in the end it was our decision" said Leroy. "On who we would like to be your mother"
Rachel looked at him and nodded.
"Did you want to know her name, princess?" asked Hiram. "I have it right here with me"
"I think so" replied Rachel, with a nod. "Yes"
"Okay" said Hiram, and picked up the large envelope that he had on the table that they had bought with them. "This is everything we came to agreement with her, the contract that was drawn up for entering into the surrogacy, her relinquishing any right to you after birth, and also of course her name"
Rachel looked at him and just nodded, not saying anything.
Hiram looked at Leroy and gave him a quick smile and then took the papers out of the envelope and placed them in front of Rachel, who looked over them and quietly read.
"Shelby" said Rachel. "Shelby Corcoran"
"Yes" replied Hiram, with a nod. "She was very lovely, and a very stunning beauty as well"
"Do I look like her?" asked Rachel.
"Very much so" said Leroy, with a nod. "Your hair is almost the same colour, and she was also Jewish. Which for us was a reason why we chose her"
"You don't have a photo of her?" asked Rachel.
"Unfortunately no" replied Hiram. "I wish now that we maybe had taken one, or even asked her for one in case you ever asked; but we never did"
"That's okay" said Rachel, with a nod. "So was she from Ohio?"
"Yes, she was at the time" said Leroy. "Lived in Columbus, and was in her final year of college"
"Doing what?" asked Rachel.
"I honestly don't remember" said Hiram. "Leroy, do you recall?"
"Business, maybe" said Leroy.
"Could have been" said Hiram. "We're sorry princess, it was so long ago now"
"No, that's okay" replied Rachel. "You've told me lots already, like even just knowing her name. That's something"
"Yes, I guess so" said Hiram.
"Can I ask are you going to try and find her?" asked Leroy.
"I want to" replied Rachel, with a nod. "But I'm scared that she might not want to know me"
"Well princess that could be a possibility" said Hiram. "But she might also love to get to know you as well, and just never had the courage to reach out to you either"
"Yes" replied Rachel, and picked up her cell phone; and logged on to Facebook. "She might have a profile on here, it's worth a look"
"You know I never thought to even look on there" said Hiram, with a laugh; as Rachel typed in the name Shelby Corcoran into the search bar.
"Okay, so it's bought up two profiles with that name" said Rachel. "One lives in Louisville, and she's a blonde. The other is a brunette and she lives here in New York"
"The brunette" said Leroy. "What does she look like?"
"Umm" replied Rachel and tapped on the name of that one, and went to her profile page; and showed her fathers the picture. "Like that"
"Oh my" said Hiram.
"Is that her?" asked Rachel, looking at him.
"I'm almost ninety percent certain that it is, yes" replied Hiram.
Rachel looked at him, and then looked at the phone herself. "She's gorgeous"
"Yes" replied Leroy. "And as you can see you and her do share a striking resemblance"
"Yeah we do" replied Rachel, with a nod. "I can't believe though that she's in New York. I could have passed her on the street, and never even knew it was her"
"It may have so been possible" said Hiram.
"So are you going to reach out to her?" asked Leroy.
"Umm" said Rachel, as she looked over Shelby's profile and saw a post, that was obviously a work one; stating another gorgeous wedding dress for a lovely bride. "She's a wedding dress designer, or at least owns a shop that sells them"
"She could have been a fashion major" said Hiram. "It was so long ago now"
"Oh my god" said Rachel. "This shop, it's where Mikki got her wedding dress from. We went there and tried on bridesmaid dresses"
"Really?" asked Leroy. "So you've met her and never knew it was your mother"
"No" replied Rachel, shaking her head, and clicked on a name that was also in the post where it stated where Shelby worked. "The day we went there was a blonde woman"
"She did have a best friend, who came with her to all her ultrasound appointments" said Hiram.
"Yes" replied Rachel, with a nod. "And this is her April Rhodes, she was the one we saw that day went with Mikki. I remember her saying that the other person who worked with her was out"
"What could have been" said Hiram.
"So you never went back there?" asked Leroy.
Rachel shook her head. "No, Mikki picked up my dress once it had been altered"
"I can't believe she has been this close to you for so many years, and you have never crossed paths" said Hiram.
"Almost have" said Rachel. "But I can't believe that either"
"So you're going to get in contact with her you think?" asked Leroy.
Rachel looked at her father's and nodded. "Yes, I think so. I might also ask Mikki a little bit about her before I do though, since she may possibly know what she is like now"
"That may be a wise thing" said Leroy.
"And when and if you do get in contact with her" said Hiram. "And make hopefully a connection with her, we would also love to see her again"
"Yes" said Leroy. "And once again thank her for giving us our most precious gift"
Rachel looked at her father's with a smile, and then the three of them talked some more before Puck came home with their children.
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The next day, Rachel had spoken with Puck the night before; and told him everything she knew about her birth mother now; and after her dad's had headed back to New York to catch a plane back to Ohio; she went around to Mikki and Blaine's house to talk with her friend about who her mother was.
Blaine was outside playing with their three children, and Mikki was in the kitchen, where she was making cookies.
"So Jay's questions made you want to find out?" asked Mikki after Rachel had told her what had been happening; as she placed some dough into the cookie extruder machine and then placing the end part back on the bottom.
"Yes" replied Rachel, with a nod. "And I think you may know her"
"Me?" asked Mikki, looking at her friend. "Why would I know her?"
"Her name is Shelby" said Rachel. "And she is one of the owners of the shop where you got your wedding dress"
"Shelby" said Mikki, as she went about pushing out cookies from the extruder on to a cookie sheet. "She's your mom?"
"Yes" replied Rachel, with a nod. "Do you remember her?"
"I do" replied Mikki, with a nod. "She was the one who would have hemmed up your dress as well. She's lovely"
"I just can't believe, that I could of run into her years ago possibly; even though I never saw her when we went there; and would have never realized that she was my mother" said Rachel.
"Yeah it's kind of crazy when you think about the irony of it" said Mikki. "Are you going to get in contact with her?"
"I was thinking about it" replied Rachel. "And I was hoping that you would maybe come with me, since you do already know her in a way"
"I could do that" said Mikki, with a nod, as she placed the cookie extruder on to the bench and went over to oven with the cookie sheet so that they were able to cook.
"Thank you" replied Rachel. "I was thinking maybe next weekend we could go and see if she was there"
"Sure" said Mikki. "And whilst we are in the city, we can do a bit of shopping as well. It's been way too long"
"It has" replied Rachel, with a laugh; and the two women continued to talk with one another before Rachel headed back to her own home.
End Note: So there you have chapter 2 - all these years Shelby and Rachel have been that of so close to one another, neither of them ever realizing it.
Next chapter Rachel and Shelby, will finally meet and there will be a few more surprises there as well as I said, when it does happen.
Until next time,
Love always,
KJ xoxoxo