Chapter 9
A/N- So I hope you guys like this chapter, I just found out I'm having a baby so I've been in shock for a fair few weeks and haven't really given my stories much thought lol. I'm gonna start working on my other Fanfic again soon. Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter :) Thanks N.x
Rachel had been settling in to motherhood quite well, she missed her friends at school and missed going to Glee practice but she loved looking after her baby girl. Aria was now a month old and Rachel was hoping to go back to school as soon as she had a plan for Aria's care during the day when Shelby would be at work and she and Finn would be at school.
It was 10am and Rachel was on her own in the house with a sleeping Aria and was becoming quite bored. She had already done the washing and cleaned up and made Aria's bottles for later. After much thought she decided she would go shopping for tonights dinner for herself, Shelby and Finn.
She got the baby ready to go out and then made her way to Wal-Mart. As she browsed the fresh fruit and veg she decided to make spaghetti bolognese for dinner tonight and began gathering ingredients as well as a few bits she knew they were running out of.
Aria began to get fussy in her pram so Rachel stopped shopping for a second and took the baby out of her pram and began to comfort her, she walked down the aisle and started singing softly to the baby in an attempt to get her back to sleep.
As she went to walk back up the aisle and place her daughter back in her pram she could feel someone staring at her, once she placed Aria back in her pram and covered her with a blanket she turned around to see who it was and got the shock of her life when she saw her dad, Leroy, watching her.
For several seconds they just stared at each other, Rachel didn't know what to say and to be honest she wasn't sure she wanted anything to do with her dads anyway. Leroy started walking towards her and Rachel began to panic slightly.
"Hello, Rachel" Leroy said to his daughter in a tone that Rachel had never heard come from him before, he sounded distant and disappointed.
"Hello" Rachel replied, she hoped this conversation wouldn't last long.
"How are you doing?" the lawyer asked, even though he sounded like he couldn't care less.
"Fine, thanks" the singer answered, she didn't ask how he was because she wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"Good, I see you had the baby" Leroy said whilst taking a glance at Aria asleep in her pram.
"Yes I did, I had a daughter" the diva began pushing the pram for something to do with her hands.
"That's nice, where have you been living with her?" the lawyer raised an eyebrow at his daughter and ran a hand through his hair.
"Shelby's… I've been there since you and daddy kicked me out" Rachel said with a slight attitude and watched as Leroy's face changed as soon as she said her mothers name.
"Well, that's nice that she actually stepped up and became a parent after rejecting you and breaking your heart only a few months before you disappointed your daddy and I" Leroy said with venom in his voice and a slight smirk on his face.
"She's made mistakes and she's owned up and apologised for them, at least when I really needed her she was there for me and helped in a way you and daddy never have, I actually feel loved with her in a way I never felt with you and daddy, she was there when I gave birth and when I doubted myself as a mother, she's done more for me these last 10 months than you have in my 16 years, now if you'll excuse me my daughter will need feeding soon and I need to get her home" Rachel was close to shouting but managed to keep her cool, she wasn't going to stand there and let her dad say anything about Shelby, her mom had been amazing these last few months.
Leroy watched as his daughter gathered her shopping and began to push her baby towards the cashier, suddenly Rachel turned around and faced her father again and she had a smirk on her face.
"By the way, just in case you were wondering, your granddaughters name is Aria, Aria Shelby Hudson, how does it feel to know that your daughter named her baby girl after someone she's known a little over a year and not the people that raised her?" Rachel didn't stick around for an answer to her question and just smirked and walked away with her daughter and her groceries, leaving Leroy to stand and watch with an open mouth as she sashayed out of his sight.
Rachel couldn't wait to get home, she knew she would bump in to one of them eventually, Lima was a small town, but she had hoped it would be at least a little pleasant and she also hoped that she wouldn't have Aria with her when she did. Rachel was proud of herself for saying what she did though and smiled to herself slightly as she made her way home.
"So what he just approached you in Wal-mart and thought it was a good idea to start making comments about the past, who the hell does he think he is? I have the sudden urge to go to their house and give them both a piece of my mind" Shelby was raging at what Rachel had just told her about her dad, how dare Leroy approach her daughter in the store and think it's okay to make nasty comments and start slagging her off about her past mistakes.
"Mom, seriously, calm down, I dealt with it and I'm pretty sure I shocked him with my comments" Rachel said with a sly smirk on her face.
"I just don't like that they think its okay to talk to you like that, especially when you've not long had a baby and said baby is with you, it's not right" Shelby fumed.
"Mom, honestly I'm fine and so is Ari, you've gotta chill" Rachel said with a slight roll of the eyes at her mothers dramatics.
"Fine i'll chill out, but mark my words if they come anywhere near you again I will not let it go so easy" Shelby said pointing a firm finger at her daughter and looking her right in the eye.
Rachel just nodded her head and continued to feed the baby that was currently in her arms. She decided to change the subject on to something more upbeat and cheerful.
"So, how's things going with Cassandra?" Rachel asked her mom with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Stop looking at me like that Rachel, its creepy, and things are going okay I guess" Shelby answered and then took a sip of the coffee she had recently made.
"Just okay? not mind blowing or absolutely fantastic?" Rachel wondered aloud and watched Shelby's face for any signs of pain or happiness, all she saw was her mom in deep thought.
"I need to ask you something, I've been putting it off for a while because I didn't want to overwhelmed you as you was just about to give birth and everything with your dads and then you were doubting yourself and your abilities to be a mother" Shelby rambled.
"Okay…" Rachel spoke in an attempted to persuade her mother to get to the point.
"Well… me and Cassie were talking a few weeks ago and she wants to meet you… if you don't wanna meet her that's fine, i'll let her know you aren't ready and you just tell me when you think you're up to it and we'll sort it out then… honestly there's no pressure, Cassie just mentioned that she wanted to finally meet the girl that i'd been talking about for so many years" Shelby had continued with her rambling and Rachel just rolled her eyes at how nervous her mom seemed right now.
"Mom…i'd love to meet Cassandra" Rachel smiled and glanced at her mom before turning her attention back to the baby that currently needed winding.
"You're sure?" Shelby said in a more relaxed tone of voice.
"I'm positive, I wanna meet the woman that makes you smile like you've just won the lottery every time you text her, sure it's a little creepy to watch your mom constantly make sex eyes at her phone but I'm just glad your happy, you deserve it" the diva reassured the Glee coach.
"I do not make sex eyes at my phone" the older brunette gasped and glared at her daughter.
"Yes, yes you do" Rachel chuckled and then stood up with the baby and passed her to her Nan.
"Now, I'm going to take a quick shower, Finn will be here for dinner soon, don't make sex eyes at your phone in front of my child please, I don't need her being traumatised this early on in life" Rachel teased her mom as she walked out of the kitchen and made her way up the stairs. She didn't see the intense glare she was getting from Shelby as she walked away.
"Ignore your mommy, she doesn't know what she's talking about, all those hormones have sent her a little insane" Shelby cooed to her Grandbaby and kissed the girl on top of her head before standing up and making her way in to the living room to get her phone.
She sent a quick text to Cassie after placing Aria in her bouncy chair.
"So, I just spoke to Rachel she said she wants to meet you. Shelb x"
"FINALLY! When? Cass x"
"Saturday? we're both free then. Shelb.x"
"Me too, i'll be at yours for 7? Cass x"
"Sounds good, i'll tell Rach, See you then. Shelb.x"
"See you then hot stuff ;) Cass x"
Shelby smiled at the last message and placed her phone down on the table, she then turned her attention to the little girl in front of her and began playing with several toys in an attempt to entertain the child. Aria just stared at the older woman like she had lost the plot and then began to fall asleep. Eventually Shelby put the toys down and just started watching a random TV show whilst the baby slept.
Shelby, Rachel and Finn were sat at the dining table having dinner, Aria was fast asleep in her bouncy chair next to Finn. They were having a conversation about Glee club when they suddenly heard the front door open and close. Shelby frowned in the direction of the door and then rolled her eyes when she seen who it was walk in to her dining room.
"Sure Santana just walk in to my house like you live here" Shelby said whilst shaking her head at the cheerleader.
"You wouldn't have me any other way, Miss C" Santana smiled sweetly at the older brunette and went to hug her best friend before grabbing a plate out the cupboard and helping herself to the food that was laid out on the table. Shelby raised an eyebrow at the boldness of the girl and watched as the Latina sat at her table, she rolled her eyes again then went back to her own food.
"So, hows my niece been today?" Santana asked her friend with a mouth full of food.
"Manners Santana" Shelby said with an exasperated sigh.
"Sorry Miss C" Santana replied with sincerity, the last thing she wanted to do was piss off her best friends mother.
"She's been good San, Slept most of the day" the short brunette finally answered.
"I cannot wait for you to come back to Glee, it's so not right without you there, Mercedes thinks she's queen bee now and I really need you to put her back in her place" the Latina told the diva.
"She's not wrong Rach, I think Mercedes is even starting to annoy Kurt" Finn declared after taking a sip of his drink.
"Well I should be back soon, hopefully I won't be too far behind with everything" Rachel sighed.
"You'll be fine Rach, don't even worry about it" Shelby insisted with a sympathetic smile, she knew Rachel was worrying about not being able to catch up with all her school work when she returns to school but she also knew that her daughter was smart, she'd catch up in no time.
"I hope so" the singer mumbled.
After dinner was over Rachel, Santana and Finn watched a movie in the living room whilst Shelby put Aria in her cot. Rachel had insisted on doing it but the Glee coach wanted to spend some time with her Granddaughter and she also wanted Rachel to spend some time with her friend and boyfriend.
It was around 9pm when Santana and Finn finally went home, Finn went upstairs and gave his daughter a kiss on her head before placing a soft kiss on Rachel's lips. He hated leaving at the end of the night, he always missed his daughter whilst he was at home and school, a part of him really wanted to move in with Rachel but he knew both Rachel and Shelby wouldn't agree to that.
After saying goodnight to Santana and Finn, Rachel took herself to her moms room and said good night to her before going to bed, she knew Ari would be awake soon for a feed so she wanted to try and get some sleep.
It was Saturday and Rachel was packing a bag for Aria, she was going to spend a few hours at Finn's with Finn, Carole, Burt and Kurt. She hated sending so many hours away from her daughter but she also enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with having Aria out the house.
Shelby was in her room looking through her wardrobe for an outfit for tonight, unfortunately Santana wasn't here to pick one out for her.
Rachel walked in to her moms room with the baby in her arms wide awake. Shelby looked over at them and smiled, she left her outfit decision for later and took the little girl from her daughter.
"Hello princess, you come to see nanny Shelby for a bit?" the Glee coach cooed to her grand baby.
"She's actually come to say goodbye, I'm about to go drop her off at Finn's for the afternoon" Rachel answered for the baby.
"Oh, you're going to see Daddy and Grandma Carole" Shelby said placing a kiss to the baby's head.
"What time is Cassie coming?" Rachel asked.
"7pm, so we've got some time before she gets here" Shelby said bouncing Aria in her arms.
"Okay, I'll drop Ari off and come back and get ready, I cannot wait to meet this mysterious woman of yours" Rachel smirked at her mom and Shelby rolled her eyes.
"I'm glad you're so excited" the older brunette said with a raised eyebrow.
Rachel took Aria off her mom and grabbed her bag that she had placed in the door way. Shelby gave the baby girl a kiss and then placed a kiss to Rachel's head.
"I'll see you later baby, remember Nanny Shel will miss you and loves you lots" Shelby cooed to the baby.
"Goodbye Nanny, I love you too" Rachel said in a baby voice and moved the little girls hand to make it look like she was waving as she left the room and made her way downstairs.
Shelby laughed at her daughters antics and went back to looking for an outfit for tonight.
Rachel got back home around 45 minutes later, she liked to make sure Finn knew everything about Aria's feeding times and spent about 15 minutes saying goodbye before leaving the house. The short brunette went straight upstairs to her mom and discovered that Shelby had finally decided on what to wear.
Rachel went to her room and quickly got changed in to something with less baby vomit and formula on it, her choices were very limited though, eventually she settled on her white dress with red hearts and a red belt with white flats. She brushed her hair and applied a small amount of make-up before making her way back towards her moms room.
The Glee coach was wearing her a purple blouse with a black skirt and black heels, she had made her hair wavy and applied some make-up.
"You look beautiful mom" Rachel said as she walked in to the room.
"Thank you baby, so do you" Shelby smiled at her daughter and ran her hands over skirt to smooth it down.
"Is Cassie known for turning up on time because it's 6:50" the diva asked.
"Depends what mood she's in, I reckon she'll be here soon though, she's been waiting for this meeting for ages" Shelby laughed.
"Lets go downstairs and wait then" Rachel smiled, she could tell how nervous her mom was and she found it so cute.
Both girls made their way down the stairs and as Shelby was about to make her way in to the kitchen to grab a glass of wine to help steady her nerves the doorbell rang. Her heart sped up slightly at the arrival of her girlfriend. She steadied herself and made her way towards the door.
Opening the door she saw Cassie in a little black dress and red heels, her blonde hair was down and straight, how does she always look so gorgeous? Shelby thought to herself.
"Hello Shelly, you look hot" Cassandra said when she saw her girlfriend and smirked.
"Thank you Cass, you don't look too bad yourself" Shelby replied as she looked the blonde up and down.
"Thank you my love" Cass said with a wink.
"Come in" the singer moved out the way so the woman could enter her house.
"So Shel, wheres this daughter I hear about none stop" the dancer said looking around the room. Shelby looked around as well and couldn't see Rachel.
"I don't know, she was here a minute a go, she probably wants to make an entrance" Shelby teased with a slight smile on her face.
Shelby showed Cassie in to the living room and discovered Rachel sitting on the sofa watching the latest episode of Criminal Minds.
"Rach, Cassandra's here" Shelby announced as she walked in to the room and approached the sofa.
Rachel turned around in her seat and smiled at the blonde woman in front of her, geez her mom had great taste in women, Rachel thought to herself.
"Hello, I'm Rachel Berry, Shelby's daughter" Rachel introduced herself formally and stood from the sofa with her hand held out which Cassie took politely. Shelby gave her daughter a look of confusion at her formality.
"I'm Cassandra July, Shelby's girlfriend, it's nice to meet you Rachel" Cassie smiled at the short brunette in front of her. Shelby rolled her eyes at the pair of them and just left them to it.
"I'm going to get wine, you want some Cass?" the Glee coach asked.
"I'm always down for a glass of wine Shelly" Cassandra answered.
Shelby groaned at the name and went to get the drinks before Rachel could comment.
"Shelly?" Rachel laughed.
"It annoys her so it has to be said every now and then" Cassie smirked.
"Noted" Rachel chuckled.
"Well you can un-note it, thank you" Shelby said as she walked back in to the living room with 2 glasses of wine and a raised eyebrow.
Cassandra took her glass and a seat on the sofa next to Shelby with Rachel sitting in the love seat on the other side of the table.
"So where's this grandchild of yours Shelb?" Cassie asked out of curiosity.
"At her dads for a couple hours, she'll probably be home before you leave" Shelby said with a massive smile on her face.
"Finn's dropping her off in about 45 minutes" The younger brunette told the women in front of her.
"So what's this little girls name?" Cassie asked suddenly very interested in the baby.
"Aria, Aria Shelby Hudson" Rachel answered before her mom could.
"Aww, Shel, your granddaughters named after you" the dancer admired and looked at her girlfriend with so much happiness because she knew how much that would mean to Shelby.
"Yeah, it shocked me as well but I literally could not be happier with it" the Glee coach gushed.
Rachel blushed slightly as Cassandra and her mom spoke about her daughters name, she knew her mom was happy with the name but seeing the way that Cass was looking at her mother now she could see just how much it truly meant to her.
"So, how about we order dinner? I was going to cook but then I decided it would be much easier and cleaner if we just got a take away" Shelby announced to the room with her phone in her hand.
"Sure, I'm down for anything" Cassandra answered with a smile on her face.
"Me too" Rachel agreed.
"Pizza it is then" Shelby declared as she stood from the sofa and walked out the room leaving Rachel and Cassie alone.
"So, Rachel, how's it been living with your mom for the first time in your life?" Cassie wondered and looked at the short brunette in front of her.
"To be honest… at first I thought it would be awful and we'd argue all the time but its actually been really nice and I feel like I've known her my entire life, I just have these niggling thoughts in my head that maybe something's gonna go wrong" Rachel confessed, she didn't know why she was telling her mothers girlfriend that, she'd known her less than an hour.
"You know when I used to live with your mom in New York you were all she would talk about some days, especially on December 18th or Christmas. Even though she had me I could always tell that something was missing, I knew that something was you but there was never anything I could do about it because of the contract. Since being back in your moms life I have never seen her so happy, she's like a whole different person and you and your daughter are the reason for that" Cassie tried to reassure the girl that nothing would go wrong because Shelby was too happy and too in love to let anything go wrong.
"Food is on the way" Shelby announced as she reentered the room, she noticed the atmosphere between Cassie and Rachel but said nothing, it wasn't a bad atmosphere but it was different from before she left.
Cassandra smiled at her girlfriend as she sat back down next to her and played with the ends of her soft wavy brown hair. Rachel grinned at the interaction between her mom and Cassie, she hadn't seen her mom with her guard down around many people, basically just herself really. She always had her walls up around people but she could tell that Cassandra had broken through those walls a very long time ago because her mom was so comfortable and relaxed around her.
There was a knock at the door and Rachel knew that it was too soon for it to be their food so she got up to get the door knowing it was her daughter and boyfriend.
"How has she been?" the singer asked the tall boy on the other side of the door.
"She's been fine, threw up on my mom which was amusing, other than that no problems" Finn said bending down to give the short girl a kiss.
"Wanna stay for dinner? Mom ordered Pizza and Cassandra's here" Rachel smirked.
"I would but I've got loads of homework to finish and the last thing I need right now is another lecture from Mr Hart about the effects of not completing work on time" Finn said with a roll of his eyes.
Rachel laughed at her boyfriends annoyance with their History teacher and took the bag off his shoulder and placed it on the floor and then took her baby girl out of her car seat and placed a kiss to her head.
"Hello Princess, say goodbye to Daddy" Rachel made the baby's hand move in a waving motion at her dad and Finn bent down to give the little girl a quick kiss.
"Goodbye Angel, i'll see you tomorrow" the quarterback cooed and then placed another kiss on her head before turning to Rachel and placing another kiss on her lips.
"I love you both, i'll see you tomorrow" he said before turning to leave.
"We love you too" Rachel smiled and waved the tall boy off before turning around and closing the door behind her and heading back towards the living room. As she walked in the room she found her mom and Cassie lip locked and could tell it was close to getting quite heated.
"Ari, tell nanny it's inappropriate to be making out with her girlfriend in front of you" Shelby jumped away from Cass as she heard Rachel start to speak and turned a deep shade of red. Cassie didn't seem to mind that she'd been caught and smiled at the baby in Rachel's arms.
"Shut up and give me the child" Shelby said to a smirking Rachel.
The diva passed the baby over to her mom and went to get a drink from the kitchen.
"Damn Shel, she looks just like you and Rachel" Cassie commented as she got a closer look at the baby.
"I know right, she's got some good genes" Shelby smiled up at the blonde.
"You can say that again" the dancer said with a raised eyebrow and a wink, Shelby rolled her eyes at her girlfriends constant need make everything sexual.
"You wanna hold her?" the brunette asked.
"Maybe when she's older and she can hold her own head up properly, I don't wanna be the reason the kids got a snapped neck" Cassie fretted as she looked at how tiny and fragile the baby was.
"Don't be so ridiculous Cass" Shelby chuckled as she stood up with Aria in her arms. The brunette bent down and placed the baby in the dancers arms showing her how to support her head and smiled at how cute the blonde looked.
"It suits you Cass" Shelby informed the timid girl in front of her that was sitting as stiff as a board with Aria in her arms.
Cassie looked up at the brunette threw her eyelashes and glared at her. Rachel walked back in the room and laughed at how petrified the dancer looked with her daughter on her lap.
"Aww, Cassandra…that's so cute" the short brunette teased, Shelby gave her a glare and decided to take the baby off the blonde as she was becoming a little fussy and she knew Cassie wouldn't have a clue what to do if she started crying.
"Didn't you ever consider having kids?" Rachel deadpanned the question to her mom and Cassie once Shelby was sat down bouncing Aria on her knee slightly.
"Rachel!" Shelby snapped once she heard the question and gave her daughter a shocked look.
"What? it was a valid question, didn't you ever think about it? either with each other or on your own maybe?" Rachel was intrigued to find out if her mom ever considered more kids after giving her away to her dads.
"I guess you could say I considered it once or twice, whenever I thought about it though I always felt like I was replacing you and I didn't wanna do that" Shelby confessed and looked at her daughter who looked as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
"What about you Cassie?" Rachel said turning towards the blonde who was looking at her mom with so much love.
"I've never been very good with kids and my career was always a priority to me, I thought about it once but I knew it would never happen and I was okay with that" Cassie grinned at the short girl in front of her and then turned her head to look Shelby in the eye, they smiled at each other and looked down at the child on the brunettes lap.
Rachel couldn't help but notice how good they both looked with a baby, she also couldn't help but feel a little guilty about her mom never having anymore kids because of her. She knew logically it wasn't her fault but she couldn't help but think that maybe her mom would've been happier if she wasn't alone all those years and had made a family for herself.
Eventually the pizza arrived and they all sat around the living room table eating and making small talk before Rachel took herself and Aria to bed leaving Cassie and Shelby alone downstairs.
"So I should get going, it's getting late and I don't want to overstay my welcome" Cassie said with a grin and looked at the singer in front of her.
"You could never overstay your welcome here Cass" Shelby informed the dancer.
"That's good to know Shel, but I really should get going, I've gotta go see my sister tomorrow morning and her pregnancy has made her slightly insane, so if I'm even slightly late I'm in for a real earful" Cassie laughed and ran a hand through dark brown hair.
"Okay, well come see me again soon okay" Shelby blushed as Cassie got closer to her.
"I will, don't worry about that" Cassie eventually closed the gap between them and captured Shelby's lips with her own in a passionate and love filled kiss.
The kiss was getting heated and neither woman cared, Shelby deepened the kiss and pushed herself up on to her knees and then straddled the blonde. Cassie placed her hands on the brunettes hips and felt hands run through her long blonde hair. Eventually they both needed to come up for air and broke apart but remained in the same position with their foreheads pressed together.
"I thought you was leaving" Shelby smirked.
"It's hard to leave when there's someone on top of you" Cassie laughed and Shelby removed herself from her girlfriends lap.
"Come on, you better go before I don't let you leave at all" the brunette giggled and pulled Cassie to her feet.
Cassandra followed Shelby to the front door, Shelby opened it and motioned for Cassie to leave with her hand. The dancer pulled the brunette towards her and kissed her hard on the lips, her hands ran down her back and towards her ass. Shelby shivered slightly when the blonde placed both her hands on her ass, it had been a while since anyone had made her feel this way.
Again air was quickly needed and Shelby pulled away from the dancer.
"Leave, now, before this goes too far" Shelby laughed and began to jokingly push Cassie out the door.
"Okay, I'm going, i'll see you soon though right?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes, you will, I promise" Shelby answered. With one last peck on the lips Cassie made her way towards her car and waved at the brunette still standing in the doorway as she drove off.
Shelby closed the front door and smiled to herself before turning off the lights downstairs and heading off to bed. She was very happy with how this evening had turned out and was sure there'd be more nights like this in her future, although she did need to talk to Rachel about asking invasive questions.
