Thank you so much for all the reviews, favs and follows once again. You have no idea how much every review means to me. I am so happy you are enjoying this story. I know everyone is looking forward to Rachel calling Shelby mom, and I promise that will happen pretty soon.
To those who have sent PMs with questions, I hope I have been able to answer them all. If I didn't answer one of your questions, please let me know.
Thank you for all the suggestions, I have taken them all into account and you will see them making an appearance throughout the story.
THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN! I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
...
The next few days were very busy for both Shelby and Rachel. Between classes in NYADA and rehearsals for Funny Girl, Rachel didn't have much time to spend with her mother, just as Shelby didn't have much time to spend with the eldest daughter. She worked at Broadway daycare from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday, so when she got home, the rest of the afternoon was spent looking after Beth, who was growing more restless every day. And even though they were now living under the same roof, they only saw each other very early in the morning or very late in the evening. Fortunately, that day was Friday and they'd have the whole weekend to be together.
"Rachel, you're home early" Shelby said as she saw her daughter walk into the apartment on Friday afternoon. She wasn't expecting her until late that evening after rehearsal was finished.
"Rehearsal was cut short today" Rachel replied, walking into the kitchen. "I simply suggested that Santana rehearse during the morning while I am in classes, so she wouldn't disrupt my own rehearsal time and Rupert started lecturing me on professionalism!"
"So he cut the rehearsal short?" Shelby asked.
"I wasn't going to let him put all the blame on me" Rachel said with a hint of indignation in her voice.
"So rehearsal wasn't cut short, you just stormed out?" Shelby asked, wanting to understand what was going. She was starting to get very upset.
"I am the star of the show. There is no reason for Santana to be there while I am rehearsing. She is never going to play that role. She might be planning to push me down the stairs, but even if I have a broken leg or arm, I am going to be on stage!" Rachel said, leaving the kitchen with a bottle of water in her hand.
"Rachel, you cannot storm out when you don't get your way. Every lead actress needs an understudy." Shelby said, trying to remain calm, as she followed her daughter into the living room.
"I don't! I never get sick!" Rachel replied, raising her voice.
"Then, why do you care so much about Santana being there if she is never going to be on stage?" Shelby asked.
"She doesn't care about Broadway! I've told you that already!" Rachel yelled as she rolled her eyes. She thought that had been clear the first night she had spoken with her mother.
"Okay, don't yell at me. We can talk about this, but not when you are yelling" Shelby told her daughter as calmly as she could. She had been raised in a strict household where certain things, such as raising your voice, were not allowed, so she found it unacceptable to be yelled at.
"You don't understand. Nobody understands!" Rachel replied, not lowering her tone. "I'll be in my room. I need to rehearse."
"No, you are not going anywhere. You have been here for a week now, and I love having you around, but I think we need to talk about rules" Shelby said, leading her daughter to the couch.
"I'm 18" Rachel huffed.
"I know, and I am not going to set a curfew, you can come and go as you please, as long as you call and tell me you are going to be late, just so I don't wait up for you and I can go to sleep," Shelby said. "I won't ask you to clean your room; it's your own choice if you want to sleep in a messy or in a clean room. And I have been a bit more lenient about meals. I trust you, so I know you eat well. However, there is one thing I won't tolerate and that is disrespect. We can talk about anything you want for as long as you want, but you will not raise your voice or roll your eyes."
"Because you are my mother?" Rachel asked, sarcastically.
"No, not because I am your mother. Every person deserves to be respected. Not only me. But you are now living under my roof, so you will show me some respect, just as you will show Beth some respect." Shelby said firmly.
"Can I go to my room now?" Rachel asked. She liked living with Shelby and getting to know her mom, but she didn't like being treated like a kid.
"Not yet" Shelby answered.
"I need to rehearse" Rachel said with an urge in her voice.
"You could be rehearsing right now in the theater, but you chose to disrespect the director by storming out, so now we will both talk about it." Shelby said, still with a motherly tone of voice.
"I don't want to talk about it, Shelby" Rachel said, emphasizing her mother's name, as to let her know that she wasn't the boss of her.
"You don't have to talk. I'll do the talking, then. This is not a High School play, Rachel, this is the real world. You have been given the chance to star on Broadway, and you will have to behave like a professional actress. You cannot throw a tantrum when the director casts a person as your understudy and you don't like that person, just like you cannot storm out while the director is talking to you. That proves you are still a child, Rachel, and I know that you think being eighteen means you are an adult, but you are not. You won't be seen as an adult until you stop throwing a fit when you don't get your way. That is what Beth does, but she is three years old."
"I don't throw tantrums" Rachel mumbled.
"Rachel, I love you. I love that you so impulsive and so ambitious. I love how you work towards your dreams and you never let anyone stand in your way. But if you want to make it as an actress, you will have to start behaving like an adult." Shelby said, taking Rachel's hands into her hands.
"I …"
"Tell me something, do you think the director is proud of your reaction?" Shelby asked.
Rachel slowly shook her head. "But Santana …"
"Rach, honey, forget it is Santana, just think of her as your understudy. If you really never get sick, then she will never have to replace you."
Rachel nodded and sighed.
"I think you owe that director an apology, huh?" Shelby said, half smiling. She was getting more comfortable with being Rachel's mother.
"I'll send him a text" Rachel said, getting her phone out of her purse and starting to text. "Uh, do you want to help me rehearse?"
"I'd love to" Shelby replied, giving Rachel a kiss on the forehead. "Beth is taking a nap, so it's just you and me. I am Nick, right?"
"Yes, let's start here …" Rachel said, pointing at a scene on the script. "I'm sorry for having yelled at you."
…
The next day, Shelby woke up at the crack of dawn startled by the sound of rain falling. "Oh no, I hope it stops raining soon," she thought as she went into the shower. She had promised Beth she would take her to the pond to feed the ducks again, and the little girl was looking forward to sharing that experience with Rachel. She didn't want to see the look of disappointment on her baby's face if they weren't allowed to go.
Beth woke up just as the older brunette had finished getting ready and had cooked breakfast. "Mommy!" Beth yelled from her room.
"Oh, look who's awake" Shelby said, smiling at her baby girl. "Are you hungry, Beth?"
Beth nodded enthusiastically, "Yummy pancakes, mommy?"
"Not today. I made something even better" Shelby said, lifting Beth from the crib and putting her on the floor.
"Chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup?" Beth asked, jumping up and down.
Shelby chuckled and shook her head, "Waffles!"
"I love waffles, mommy!" Beth said, giving Shelby her biggest and brightest smile. "I'll tell Wachel!"
"Hold on. Rachel is still sleeping"
"But mommy, you made waffles! And we have to eat fast, because we have to go and feed the duckies" Beth said.
Shelby glanced at the window and saw that it was still raining. "The duckies are not up yet, Beth."
Even though Shelby was doing her best to distract Beth, the little girl couldn't wait to wake her friend up, so she ran into Rachel's room and shook the bed as hard as she could, "Wachel, wake up, wake up! Mommy made waffles!"
Rachel stirred but didn't open her eyes.
"WACHEL!" Beth yelled.
"Okay, I'm up. Let's go have some waffles"
…
Later, as Shelby waited for Rachel to be ready and she got Beth dressed, she glanced at the window every five seconds, hoping it would stop raining, but it seemed like the weather forecast had been correct the night before and they were expecting cloudy skies and rain during the day.
"We are feeding the duckies" Beth told Rachel, as the young brunette walked out of her room wearing a sweater and leggings.
"I don't think we are, Beth, it's raining" Rachel replied.
"Mommy?" Beth said, as she turned to look at Shelby.
"I'm sorry, baby, but we can't go to the pond today" Shelby said with a sad look.
"But the duckies need food, mommy" Beth insisted.
"I'm afraid somebody else will have to feed them today." Shelby replied, "But we can have fun inside! We can watch movies!"
"Tangled!" Beth said, clapping her hands and forgetting about not being able to feed the ducks.
"Have you ever watched Tangled, Rach?" Shelby asked, wanting her eldest daughter to feel included.
Rachel nodded, "I love it" she said, smiling.
The small family watched the movie and sang along happily. Shelby was sitting between Rachel and Beth and she had an arm around each one of her girls. She loved how much Beth enjoyed the movie and how enthralled she was in the story, but the thing she was enjoying the most was watching Rachel, who was just as happy as her little sister, pointing out interesting facts about the movie. If Shelby were asked to describe a perfect moment, she would choose that particular one.
As soon as the movie was over, they all stretched as Beth announced she was going to play in her room. Shelby was a bit surprised, since Beth didn't want to leave Rachel's side whenever she was around, but she didn't question it. Beth did like to play with her dolls in her room sometimes, so she let the blond girl go.
"Do you want to watch another movie?" Shelby asked, "I think you can find one you like in my collection over on that shelf"
Rachel stood up and walked to the shelf. She couldn't contain her excitement when she saw all the DVDs. "Shelby, you have every movie Barbra has made! Can we watch them all!?"
"Today? I don't think so, Rach" Shelby replied with a subtle laugh. "We can watch one"
"I haven't seen A Star is Born in so long! But I don't know if we should see that one or Yentl! Oh, I love The Way We Were. And of course, if we see Funny Girl, I could study her movements and acting further … Are you sure we can't watch them all?" Rachel asked again.
"I'm afraid not"
"Okay, we can watch A Star is Born" Rachel declared, taking the DVD from the shelf.
Rachel and Shelby sat down, as Rachel put her feet on the couch and her head on Shelby's shoulder. Her mom didn't know it, but this was one of her dreams. She'd always wanted to watch a Barbra movie with her.
"Did you know that Barbra Streisand wanted the part of John Norman Howard to be played by Elvis Presley?" Rachel asked.
"I've also heard that her second option was Marlon Brando." Shelby added. She found it interesting how genetics worked. Even though she hadn't raised Rachel, the young woman was a lot like her. They had the same passion towards Broadway and they both loved to sing. In many ways, Rachel was a carbon copy of herself, not only physically.
Rachel and Shelby watched the movie in silence for twenty minutes, but that peace and quietness was interrupted by Beth running into the living room, wearing a hat and a pair of shoes that belonged to Rachel.
"Hey, those are mine!" Rachel said, looking at Beth.
"Beth, why are you wearing that?" Shelby asked. She thought it was adorable that Beth was wearing Rachel's items, but she couldn't let her little girl know that.
"I look like Wachel, mommy!" Beth said, smiling.
"I thought you were playing in your room. You cannot take someone else's things without their permission." Shelby explained.
"But I look like Wachel!" Beth insisted.
"Are you wearing my necklace around your wrist?" Rachel asked, standing up and grabbing Beth's wrist.
Beth was wearing the star necklace Finn had given Rachel for Christmas. It was one of the things Rachel cherished the most and she took very good care of it. She hardly ever wore it, because she was afraid of it getting lost, so seeing Beth wearing it was making her very upset.
"Ow" Beth said, as Rachel held on her wrist. "I like it"
"Take it off!" Rachel said in a loud voice.
"Rachel, you are hurting her. She'll take it off in a second" Shelby said.
Beth tried to remove it from her wrist, but it was all tangled. Since it was a necklace, she had tried to put it as a bracelet and had tangled the chain around her little hand. "Can't, mommy"
"Let me see" Shelby said, trying to take the 'bracelet' off.
Since Rachel was an only child, she had never had to deal with a sibling taking things from her room, so she didn't know how to react.
Shelby found it endearing that Beth had gone into the room and taken Rachel's things. She had done that as a kid as well, she was always taking clothes and jewelry from her sister's room and in way, the mere thought of Beth and Rachel going through that was warming her heart.
"Let me do it!" Rachel said, getting desperate and trying to grab Beth's wrist again. "Why would you take that necklace? It is mine and you cannot borrow it!"
"Rachel, let me handle it …" Shelby said.
Rachel sighed and shook her head. "You should teach your daughter not to take what doesn't belong to her." She took the hat from the little girl's head in a rough move and glared at her.
Beth started to cry, as she looked down "I'm sowwy, mommy. I wanted to look like Wachel"
"I know, Beth. But if you want to borrow something, you need to ask for permission," Shelby said to Beth, "I am sure that if you had asked, Rachel would've lent it to you. Right?" Shelby asked, turning to Rachel.
"No" Rachel simply said.
"Rachel …" Shelby said in a threatening tone.
"That necklace means a lot to me and she cannot borrow it!" Rachel replied, getting worked up.
Shelby finally managed to untangle the necklace and handed it to Rachel. "See? Nothing happened to it."
Rachel took it and examined it before putting it around her neck.
"Beth, apologize to Rachel for taking her things" Shelby said in a firm yet calm tone.
Beth sniffed and looked at Rachel, "I'm sowwy, Wachel"
"Good. You'll spend three minutes in the corner for what you did and then you can play" Shelby said, wiping Beth's tears with her thumb. "And Rachel, please apologize to Beth for hurting her."
"What? She took my things! Why should I apologize?" Rachel said, rolling her eyes.
"She is a little girl, she didn't know that she was doing something wrong, and she is being punished for it. Please, apologize to her for hurting her wrist."
Rachel glared at Beth and then at Shelby.
"Rachel, she is your little sister and this is what sisters do, I'm afraid. She was wrong, but you were wrong too. You should have let me handle it. So, Rachel, unless you want to spend some time in the corner as well, you will apologize to her" Shelby ordered. She knew that sending Rachel to the corner was an empty threat, because she was too old for that punishment, but she was hoping that the mere thought of Shelby being serious would make Rachel apologize.
Rachel stared at Shelby in shock, and as hundreds of thoughts were running through her mind, she looked at Beth and spoke, "I'm sorry"
Shelby smiled proudly and led Beth to the corner, "Three minutes, Beth."
Rachel looked at Beth and then at Shelby. She realized that what Shelby had told her the night before was true. In that moment, she hadn't behaved like an adult either, and she was very confused about what her role in that small family was.
"Finn gave me this necklace" Rachel said, softly.
Shelby hugged Rachel, as she didn't know what to say. She had heard about Finn's passing, and she wanted to let her daughter know she was very sorry about it, but she didn't have the right words to say. They hugged for three minutes and then Shelby let Rachel go with a soft kiss on her hair.
"Beth, you can come here now. What did you learn?" Shelby asked.
"I have to ask my sister if I can take her things" Beth said, sweetly, shocking both Shelby and Rachel. They hadn't fully explained why Rachel was her sister, but the little girl had accepted it without a question and she was letting them know that she was okay with it.
"Yes … That's right." Shelby said, not knowing what else to say.
Shelby knew Beth would be asking some questions later, but she was happy that at least one of her daughters had fully embraced her new role. That is what she admired about children; they opened their heart and mind to new experiences without giving them much thought. Now, she hoped, her eldest daughter would soon embrace her new role as well.
