Never be alone again - Shelby finds out she'll never have to go through anything alone again. Originally a oneshot inspired by THAT kiss!
Rating - T
Characters - Shelby, Puck, Beth, Mrs Puckerman (Sarah), Puck's sister (Hannah) and in this part Rachel and Shelby's parents.
A/N - A couple of you wanted to see how Shelby's family reacted to her relationship with Noah and someone else said they would like to see some of Noah's friends find out so here you have it, Shelby's parents and Rachel's reactions to Shelby and Noah
Ideas are VERY welcome.
Reviews/concrit are loved.
"Happy Birthday" Noah grinned, rolling onto his side and brushing Shelby's hair out of her face before kissing her softly.
"Thank you" she smiled back, content to lay in silence with him for a while.
They'd been taking things slowly, Sarah had reminded Noah that Shelby's last relationship left her with a black eye and several cracked ribs and he'd been happy to let Shelby set the pace. They'd been together since he graduated, she'd sat with Sarah and Hannah as he crossed the stage and he'd found her almost as soon as the ceremony ended, "are you doing anything tonight?" He'd asked after she congratulated him and she shook her head, "can I come over?"
Shelby shook her head, "you only graduate high school once Noah, go to a party, spend some time with your friends, Beth and I will still be here in the morning, we'll still be here when your friends have left the college, make the most of tonight and come over tomorrow."
He'd taken her advice and partied with the glee club until almost three am when he'd got home to find a note from his mom on the refrigerator. 10 minutes later he'd been knocking on Shelby's door. "I thought we could start tomorrow by waking up together" he'd grinned goofily. They'd rarely spent a night apart since.
"We should get up" Shelby told him a while later, "whilst I'd love to spend my birthday laying here with you, we have a 2 year old who probably has other ideas" she kissed him again before standing from the bed, yawning and stretching before shaking her head and grabbing her robe from the bottom of the bed when she realised Noah was staring. "Can you get Beth up while I shower?"
"Sure" Noah smiled before pulling himself from the bed and making his way to Beth's room where the young girl was sat in her cot playing with several of her stuffed animals.
"Dadda" Beth's toys were discarded the second she saw Noah and she stood in her cot holding out her arms for him to pick her up.
"Morning Princess" he smiled lifting her onto his hip, "it's Momma's birthday so how about we go surprise her?" He stripped off Beth's pyjamas and diaper before undressing himself and walking through to the ensuite. "Shh" he put his finger on his lips and Beth giggled before copying his action as he slowly pushed open the door.
"Momma" Beth grinned as Noah stepped into the shower cubicle with her on his hip. She smiled at her mother before closing her eyes and tilting her head so the shower spray rained down onto her face.
"How have you managed to get her to do that? Shelby asked Noah. She'd tried to give Beth a shower several times but she'd cried and screamed but now, if she was given the choice between a bath and a shower with Daddy the shower won every time.
"I dunno" Noah shrugged, "I just showed her there was nothing to be scared of and if she wanted to get out I let her get out. We usually bring a couple of her bath toys in here and she likes to sit in the corner and play while I wash."
"She's growing up too quickly." Shelby sighed as she watched Beth trying to catch the water from the shower in her hands, "she's not my baby any more."
Noah didn't know what to say so he kissed Shelby softly before handing Beth over, reaching for the sponge and beginning to wash Shelby's back. "I'm going to get Beth dressed and make some breakfast" he told Shelby once the trio were clean, "you take your time, I'll call you when breakfast's ready."
Noah left Shelby in the shower as he dried himself and Beth. He pulled a pair of sweatpants on over his boxers and put Beth's pyjama top back on, "I'll dress you after breakfast" he told her as he taped her diaper closed, "what do you want to wear?" he asked as he moved to stand in front of the wardrobe. "How about this?" he pulled out a ruffled denim skirt and a Minnie Mouse t-shirt before turning to Beth, "can you get some socks Bee?"
Beth grinned and nodded, "tocks, tocks, tocks" she chanted happily as she walked across the room and took a pair of frilly white ankle socks from the basket by the window, "deese tocks Dadda?"
He nodded and scooped her into his arms, "those socks are perfect."
He carried Beth to the top of the stairs before allowing her to shuffle down on her bottom and as soon as she reached the last step she ran into the living room and stood by the tv, "Dadda" she smiled sweetly.
Puck laughed as he laid the clothes on the back of the sofa, Beth didn't need to ask, she had him wrapped around her little finger, "only til breakfast is ready okay?"
Beth climbed into the armchair and nodded, "just a lil bit."
"That's right baby, just a little bit." Noah turned on the tv and found the cartoons, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me" he told Beth before heading to make breakfast. He had bacon and eggs in the pan and pancakes keeping warm in the oven when there was a knock on the door and Beth came scurrying into the kitchen, "it's okay Bee" he told her, picking her up and carrying her to the door. "Yeah" he found an old couple on the doorstep, "can I help you?"
"Oh" The man looked puzzled, "we must have got the wrong house, we're looking for Shelby Corcoran."
"You've got the right house" Noah told them, "come in, she's upstairs, I'm just making breakfast can I get you anything?"
"No, no" the man still looked puzzled as he followed his wife into the house, "we're okay." Neither of them could understand why there was a half naked teenager acting like Shelby's house was his own.
"I need to check on the food" he passed the remote to the couple, "you can change the channel if you want." He made his way back to the kitchen pausing only to call up the stairs, "there's someone here to see you Shel and breakfast's nearly ready."
Shelby came downstairs a few minutes later to find Beth colouring at the kitchen table and Noah putting food onto plates, "crayons away please Bee" he told the young girl before turning to face Shelby, "they didn't say who they were, they're through there."
Shelby nodded and walked into the living room, "Mom, Dad" she gasped, "what are you doing here?"
"We're here to see our daughter on her birthday" her mother told her, "now would you care to explain why there is a half naked boy strutting around your house with my grandchild?"
"That's Noah" she told them, "he's Beth's father."
"Breakfast's ready" Noah called from the kitchen, "if you want pancakes be quick before Beth eats them all."
"Why is he making you breakfast without his shirt on?" Shelby's father asked before looking at his watch, "and isn't it a bit early for him to be here?"
"He's my partner" she admitted, "he's been here all night."
"He's your what?" he father exploded, "what is he, 16? What have his parents said? I can't believe you'd be so stupid Shelby."
"He's almost 19 dad and not that it's any of your business but his mother fully supports our relationship."
"19?" Her father was red in the face, "you're almost 40 for god's sake. He's probably only with you for your money."
"I am 37" Shelby argued "and he is not with me for my money."
"I can't believe you'd be so stupid Shelby, you are a teacher, you've put your own career at risk for a boy."
Noah heard the arguing in the kitchen and quickly pulled his phone from his pocket, sending a quick text to Sarah, 'Shelby's folks are here, she told them we're together and it's not going well. Can you come over?'
Shelby meanwhile was trying not to cry, "Noah and I only got together after he graduated and I never taught him. We've done nothing wrong."
"He's 18 years old Shelby" her mother spoke for the first time, "you've got to be able to see that this won't work, eventually he's going to want things you can't give him."
"You might be okay for him right now, I mean he's already had one baby he didn't want, at least he won't have to deal with another unplanned pregnancy while he's with you but he'll trade you in for a younger model sooner or later Shelby."
"I know" Shelby sat in the armchair and began to sob, "do you think I don't know that?"
"I think you need to leave now." Noah walked into the room without Beth.
"No son" Shelby's father squared up to the younger man, "I think you need to leave."
Noah ignored Shelby's father and crouched down in front of Shelby, "for what it's worth" he told her as he tucked her hair behind her ears, "I don't want a 'younger model' I want you." Shelby sniffed slightly, her hands covering her face to hide her tears, "you know as well as I do Shelby that if I did want someone my own age I wouldn't be here right now, I wouldn't have waited for you as long as I did."
At that moment there was a knock on the door and without waiting for anyone to answer Sarah walked into the room closely followed by Hannah. "Bubbe" Beth grinned as she walked into the room from the kitchen.
"Hey Bee" she scooped the girl into her arms, "why aren't you dressed yet? Hannah wants to take you to the park."
"Down" Beth wriggled in Sarah's arms until she was put down and quickly toddled over to the sofa, collecting the clothes her father had picked out and handing them to Sarah, "clothes on Bubbe."
"How about?" Sarah crouched down to Beth's height, "you go upstairs with Hannah, she can help you get dressed and you can show her where your shoes and jacket are."
"Okay Bubbe" Beth smiled, completely oblivious to the tension in the room.
Sarah waited until Beth and Hannah were upstairs before speaking again, "Shelby, go wait for me upstairs, Noah, kitchen now."
"And who may I ask are you?" Shelby's father spat.
"I'm Noah's mother" Sarah spat back just as fiercely, "and you two can either leave or you can wait here and not say another word." She didn't give them chance to respond before pulling Noah from the floor and pushing him towards the kitchen before and Shelby to her feet and guiding her towards the stairs, "I'll be up in five minutes." Sarah walked into the kitchen just in time to see her son punch the wall, she heard his knuckles crack but it didn't stop him and he pulled his fist back for a second hit, "hey" she gasped, quickly taking his hand in hers, leading him over to the table and beginning to examine his fist, "I don't think it's broken but I'll bandage it up for you" she told him, standing and getting the first aid kit she knew Shelby kept under the sink. "Noah" she sighed as she took in the young man before her, "what happened?" she asked before apologising as she wiped his cuts with an antiseptic wipe.
"I was making breakfast with Beth" he told her, "we'd just had a shower and I told Shelby to take her time getting ready, we were having such a good morning Mom. I was almost done with breakfast when they knocked on the door, I didn't know who they were but they said they were looking for Shelby so I let them in and called her down. She came downstairs and they started yelling at her. I've spent so long convincing her that I want to be with her and they've just undone all of that in fifteen minutes. I don't know what to do mom."
Sarah sighed as she finished bandaging Noah's fist, "let me talk to Shelby, don't you worry Nono, mommy will fix it" she smiled before kissing the bandage, "you wait here and please try not to cause any more damage to yourself or Shelby's house" he opened his mouth to reply but Sarah didn't give him chance, "and don't do anything to anyone else."
Sarah found Shelby curled into a ball on her bed as she sobbed quietly, "They're never happy for me" she whispered as Sarah sat beside her, "I know that there's going to come a day when Noah decides he wants more than I can give him, they don't need to remind me."
Whilst Sarah was trying to rid Shelby of her doubts, Shelby's father approached Noah in the kitchen, "what do you want?" Noah growled as he continued to pace the room.
"I want to make a proposition."
"Yeah? Well you can stick it where the sun doesn't shine."
"Look" the elder man sat at the table, "we both know that this thing you've got with my daughter won't last, she'll soon realise she can do so much better than you and you'll loose interest the second someone younger and better looking comes along, so I'm offering you an incentive to walk away now before things get messy, $10,000 and I'll get a lawyer friend of mine to make sure you and your family get regular access visits with Beth."
Noah stopped pacing and for a moment the man thought he was going to accept, "get the FUCK out of this house" he roared before he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him to his feet, "go, now. And I swear if you even so much as look at Shelby or Beth while I'm around you'll be fucking sorry." Shelby's father froze in the hallway, "move now!" he yelled. The woman grabbed her bag and ran from the house, closely followed by her husband who had never seen another man so angry. He slammed the door shut and, remembering his promise to his mom, threw himself onto the sofa, taking his anger out on the cushions.
"Noah." Shelby and Sarah had both ran downstairs when they'd heard the shouting and it was Shelby who approached him, laying her hand between his shoulder blades as he finally ran out of steam and his punches turned into sobs. "Noah" she repeated as Sarah moved into the kitchen to give the couple space, "please talk to me Noah."
He sat up and pulled her into his arms, holding her so tightly she couldn't breathe. "He told me to leave you, he said if I walked away now before things get messy he'd give me $10,000 and make sure me and my ma still got to see Beth."
Shelby stiffened in his arms, "what, what did you say?" she asked shakily.
"I told him to get the fuck out. I'm sorry Shelby, I know they're your parents but he just made me so angry, I mean he couldn't even let it go just for your birthday and spoken about it with you tomorrow." Shelby just sighed into Noah's chest and they held each other until they'd both calmed down.
"Noah" Shelby took his bandaged fist into her hand, "what happened."
Noah shrugged, "I got angry, I tried to fight your kitchen wall, I think it won."
"Oh Noah" Shelby sighed and gently kissed the bandage, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be" he said firmly before wiping at Shelby's tears, "seeing as Beth was the only one that had any of the awesome breakfast I made" Noah tried to cheer Shelby up, "how about we get my ma to call Hannah, find out where she's got to with Beth, I'll get dressed and take all my girls out to Breadsticks for brunch or whatever it's called, see if we can't get a smile on the birthday girl's face."
Shelby smiled slightly and nodded, "that sounds good."
It was almost an hour later when they finally arrived at Breadsticks. Shelby hadn't noticed Noah make a phone call whilst he was getting ready and she was surprised when her own phone began to ring. "Hello" she answered it without looking at the display.
"Happy Birthday!"
"Rachel" Shelby couldn't help but smile, with Noah's help she'd managed to start building a relationship with Rachel, things weren't perfect but they were better than they'd ever been, "how are you, what are you doing?"
"I'm good thanks, glad to have the day off from rehearsals and I'm just window shopping, thought I'd get out of the apartment for a while, what are you doing?"
"I'm at Breadsticks with Beth, Noah and his mom and sister, we're just getting something to eat."
"Oh, I'll let you eat, I'll call you later and you can tell me about your day."
"Okay Rach I'll talk you you later." The two said their goodbyes and Shelby hung up her phone just as the waiter came to take their order. They group were chatting amongst themselves a while later when Shelby felt someone cover her eyes with their hands, "what the?"
"Guess who" a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
"Rachel!" Shelby jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around her eldest daughter, "what are you doing here?"
"I had the weekend off" she explained, "it was your birthday, I called Noah and said I was going to surprise you. He called me about an hour ago to say you'd be here."
"But the phone call?" Shelby sat back down and Sarah moved up a seat so Rachel could sit beside Shelby.
"I'm an actress darling" Rachel laughed as she slipped into the vacant seat.
"Rach" Noah broke her from her daydream a while later, "you're staring." He knew Rachel knew about him and Shelby but she'd never actually seen them together before, and while she'd given them their blessing both Noah and Shelby needed to know she was comfortable with them being affectionate in front of her. Had it been anyone else Noah wouldn't have cared what they thought but Rachel mattered to Shelby and if it made her uncomfortable he'd save his kisses for private.
"It's weird" she told them, "I mean I thought it would be weird seeing you two together but it's not. It's weird that it's not weird. Does that make sense? I mean you both seem so happy and, I don't know, you just seem right for each other."
"You've not walked in on them eating each other's faces" Hannah piped up, "that's gross."
"Shouldn't have been spying on us then" Noah replied.
"I wasn't spying" Hannah protested, "Mom told me to tell you dinner was ready, I called you but you didn't answer, she probably had her tongue in your ear or something.
Shelby blushed and Rachel held her hand up, "enough" she laughed, "we're about to eat and I've just had a visual that will probably take years of expensive therapy to recover from! I thought maybe you'd make him more mature" she told Shelby, "but it seems it's been the other way round and he's turned you into a horny teenager."
The unconventional family enjoyed a leisurely meal before returning to Shelby's house where she was given her presents, "this is from Beth" Noah told her passing her a small parcel. Inside was a card that Beth had made herself, the young girl informed her mother the scribbles on the front were flowers, an empty wooden photo frame and a voucher for a 'mommy and me' photo shoot by a local photographer.
"Thank you" she smiled at Noah.
"It wasn't me" he shrugged, "Beth got it you."
"Yeah right" Shelby laughed before pulling Beth onto her lap, "thank you for my present baby."
"'s okay mama" Beth kissed Shelby before beginning to wriggle in her arms, "play now" she said as she finally wriggled free.
"Here, this is from me." Rachel passed Shelby a card and a gift bag.
"Oh, Rachel, no it's too much" Shelby recognised the distinctive blue Tiffany's gift box as soon as she opened the gift bag, "I can't accept this, you have to take it back."
"You don't even know what it is yet" Rachel opened her eyes, "and anyway I've missed the past 18 of your birthdays, consider this one present to make up for all the ones I didn't get you anything."
"Rachel. . ." Shelby started to protest again but Rachel wouldn't let her.
"I'm not taking it back so you might at least open it." Shelby's expression was unreadable as she opened the box, "I thought you'd like them, you know because they're kind of our thing." Rachel began to ramble, "if you don't like them I can take them back and get you something else.
"Rachel" Shelby felt her eyes fill with tears as she looked at the gold star pendant and matching earrings, "I can't accept these, they must have cost you a fortune."
"I got them for you" Rachel insisted, "if I couldn't afford them I wouldn't have got them."
Shelby finally gave in, "thank you Rachel" she pulled her eldest daughter into a hug, "I love them, thank you."
"Wow" Sarah laughed as she glanced at the jewellery, "kinda puts our gift to shame." She handed Shelby a large gift bag, "but it's the thought that counts" she reminded her. Shelby laughed and opened the gift bag to find a bottle of wine, a large bottle of bubble bath and several other pamper products, "I thought Hannah and I could watch Beth for you one day so you and Noah could relax a little, or I could take Noah and Beth off your hands" she joked, "I know how much of a handful he can be. Just because you're a mommy doesn't mean you can't ever have any time to yourself"
Shelby smiled, "thank you" she smiled sincerely, "It's a lovely idea, and you're right, sometimes I don't know who gets into more trouble Noah or Beth" she chuckled.
"So what did Noah get you?" Rachel asked as she sat on the sofa with Shelby.
"He hasn't got me a gift as such" she explained, "but he's got Sarah to watch Beth next weekend and he's taking me away somewhere but he won't tell me where."
Rachel shook her head, "please don't call me and tell me about what happens on that trip" she laughed, "somehow I don't think I'll want to hear about it and I doubt I could afford that much therapy!"
Shelby didn't realise at the time but even with the morning's drama this was one of the best birthdays she'd ever had, last year she'd spent the day with Beth at a local aquarium and for several years before that she'd spent her birthday's alone. She took a look around the room and smiled, Beth was sat on Hannah's lap, desperately trying to keep her eyes open as Hannah chatted to Rachel, Noah stood by the kitchen talking with Sarah and there were several discarded pizza boxes on the coffee table to make room for the twister mat Hannah had bought over, a game which Shelby had won but Rachel insisted she had let her mother win because it was her birthday and had demanded a replay but Shelby refused.
She saw Sarah point at Beth but couldn't hear what she said to Noah. "Mom's going to get off" Noah told her as he walked over and sat on the arm of the chair Shelby was sat in, "she's on an early shift tomorrow but she wondered if we wanted her to take Beth tonight and have Hannah bring her over in the morning."
"I'll ask her" Shelby smiled, pecking Noah's lips before moving from the chair, "hey sleepy girl" Shelby cooed as she scooped Beth into her arms, "are you tired?" Beth nodded, "do you want to sleep at Bubbe's house tonight?"
Beth shook her head, "Dadda 'ower"
"You want to shower with Daddy before bed?"
Beth nodded and began to suck on her fingers, "an Momma read."
"Okay baby" Shelby kissed Beth's hair before removing the girl's fingers from her mouth, "let's say bye to Bubbe and Hannah and then we'll ask Daddy if he'll take a shower with you."
"Okay Momma" Beth smiled as she laid her head on Shelby's shoulder, she'd not had a nap that day and was obviously exhausted.
They said goodbye to Sarah and Hannah and Rachel too made her excuses and left, "Beth wants to have a shower with Daddy before bed" Shelby told Noah as he wrapped his arms around her waist, Beth still sat on Shelby's hip.
Noah nodded, "Okay, but just a quick one yeah cos someone needs to be in bed."
Beth nodded, "just a lil one."
"C'mon then" he took Beth from Shelby, "do you wanna have a bath when she's asleep?" he asked Shelby, "you can use some of that stuff my ma got you and I might even give you a back rub afterwards" he grinned cheekily.
Shelby smiled, "sounds good, I'm gonna clean up a bit down here then I'll come up and read her a story."
"Okay" Noah smiled and kissed Shelby, "we won't be long, I'm not going to wash her hair or anything, I might see if I can just get away with standing under the water for a couple of minutes cos she had a shower this morning and she's not filthy."
"Yeah" Shelby nodded, "that's fine, just call me when you're ready for me to come tuck her in."
Shelby and Noah hadn't even finished the first page of Cinderella when Beth's eyes fluttered closed. It was almost 9pm and Beth was usually in bed by 7.30, Shelby only hoped she'd sleep late or they'd have one grumpy girl on her hands come morning.
As promised Noah ran Shelby a warm bubble bath after Beth was asleep, he'd planned on letting her relax while he tidied up downstairs but she'd asked him to stay. He slipped in behind her and Shelby savoured the feeling of being able to share this level of intimacy with someone, knowing that if all she wanted to do after the bath was crawl into bed and snuggle then nothing else would be expected of her.
He had her lay on her stomach after the bath and used some of the body butter his mother had bought her to massage her shoulders and back. Shelby too was fighting sleep once he'd finished and he left the room to allow her to change into her pyjamas.
"Thank you Noah" Shelby whispered as she laid curled into him once he too had changed, "for sorting out my parents, for arranging Rachel's visit. I thought the day was going to be completely ruined after my parent's showed up and started yelling, but I had a great day Noah, I guess that quote's really true y'know, 'those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.' I see my parents twice a year if that, I realise now that I don't care if Beth and I see them or not, but the people that matter, your mom and Hannah, Rachel, they're happy for us, I'd rather have a few people close to us that are happy for us, than have a wide circle of people who hate the fact that we're together."
"Shelby" Noah smiled sleepily, "if you and Beth are happy I don't care about anyone else, and I'm not going to stand by and watch while someone else takes that happiness away okay. You're a big girl now and I trust you to tell me if something's not right, we'll deal with the haters don't worry about it."
There was silence for a moment before Shelby whispered, "I love you Noah."
He grinned into the darkness, "I love you too, oh and Shelby?"
"Yeah?"
"Happy Birthday."