a/n: With thanks for all the reviews. Oh and the dress Rachel is wearing is the one she has on at the end of ' Yes/No' when Finn is a tool and proposes. #Rachelsayno
When Shelby had first told Brett she was pregnant, his first thoughts were 'oh crap my life is ruined', followed by 'Is it too late for an abortion?' followed by 'Oh god her dads are going to kill me if my own parents don't get to me first.' He was a fifteen year old boy after all.
But then, looking into Shelby's petrified eyes, he realised the die had been cast, and whatever happened, he would, as he later said, stand by her. He did love after all, even if he did secretly hope that adoption would be way forward.
Consequently, when Shelby's dads told him and his parents about their offer to raise the baby, he was relieved. Very relieved.
He remembers getting the phone call in the middle of the night from Hiram, telling him that Shelby was in labour, that her grandmother was with her, and that they would call again when the baby was born.
He got showered, dressed, and then waited by the phone. Three hours later he got the phone call, and three hours and 15 minutes later he was on the way to the hospital.
He would never forget Shelby's face when he entered the room. He had never seen her look so happy. She was holding the baby in her arms, and her smile was so wide he thought her cheek muscles must ache. "Do you want to hold her?" she had asked him, even though the way she clutched at the baby it seemed as if she the last thing she wanted to do was pass the baby to him.
"No, you keep her" he said, as he settled on the bed beside her, offering out a finger instead, which baby Rachel gripped in her own tiny hand, as he stared down at her.
It was odd. He never really cared for babies, and he couldn't truthfully say he immediately felt this overwhelming sense of love for baby Rachel, certainly not in the way it was evident that Shelby did. But then, he didn't just feel blank either. He felt this strange kind of tug of curiosity, of misplaced paternal pride, knowing that this baby held half of his DNA.
The second time he saw Rachel, it was five months later, when he going over to the Berry's apartment to say goodbye, as he was moving.
The door was opened by Leroy, who pointed him to the direction of the living room, and then retreated, clearly having been banished by Shelby. He found Shelby changing Rachel's diaper as she lay on the rug in front of the sofa.
"-because you need to be nice and clean to see Brett, don't you sweetie" Shelby was sing-songing to the baby, as she fasten the diaper into place. "Yes you do, beautiful girl, yes you do" she continued, nuzzling the now changed baby and lifting her into her arms.
Brett felt bad for interrupting them.
"Hi" he said, awkwardly from the door.
"Hi" Shelby jumped slightly, "come in" she motioned for him to close the door.
"She's grown" he said, gesturing to the baby, now being bounced in Shelby's arms.
"Every day" Shelby replied, and Brett couldn't help but notice the sadness that seemed ever present in Shelby's eyes these past few months.
"I think we should try and keep in touch" he said "I could write you every once in a while, see how Rachel is doing?" He didn't mention that this had been largely his mother's idea. Not because he didn't want to, simply because he hadn't really thought about it.
"Yes, I'd like that" Shelby agreed.
"Do you want to hold her?" this time Shelby offered the baby out to him, and he took her.
He studied her, she was bigger than in the hospital, sturdier, and could now hold her own head up. A smattering of chocolate coloured tufts of hair were starting to form on her head and her eyes were a murky colour, turning from baby blue to chocolate brown. Again, Brett felt this strange tug, at the sight of this little human in his arms.
Baby Rachel complied for about 30 seconds, before she realised she was in a strange persons arms, and then immediately began to cry.
"Uh-oh" Brett said, and attempted to bounce her "don't cry – please?"
Rachel cried harder
"Let me take her" Shelby reached across and took the crying child "Come on baa-boo, sush, no need to cry" she rocked Rachel gently, who, at least to Brett's ears, did seem to be quietening down
It was too late. The door to the living room opened and Leroy ran in, he plucked Rachel out of Shelby's arms in an instant. "I think someone has had a bit too much excitement for today" he said, "Shelby I did warn you about upsetting her routine" he added before whisking the baby away.
"Dadd-" Shelby's words died on her lips, as her arms dropped down to her sides
She turned the sad eyes on Brett once again, "so, when do you leave?".
That was the last image Brett had of Shelby, a skinny young thing, curled in a little ball on the living room carpet, wearing an old pair of sweatpants, a Madonna tour t-shirt with big permed hair, tied back in a scrunchy, and looking empty and defeated.
As per his suggestion, and as Shelby had told Rachel, they wrote each other once a year, letters at first, then emails.
As per the Berry Family plan, Rachel would be told the truth when she turned 18. Which is why, he was a little shocked when one ordinary day, and he opened his email to find an out of season email from Shelby asking to meet him. His curiosity about Rachel had grown over the years, so for him, there was only one real answer.
"I still don't understand why you have to go to Chicago" Hiram complained as he watched Shelby throw stuff in an overnight bag.
"Because that's where he lives" Shelby said, trying to keep her cool.
In the three weeks that had passed between Brett emailing Shelby back to invite her and Rachel to Chicago for the weekend, Shelby had had the same conversation with her parents over and over again.
"I know that, I mean why can't he come here?" Hiram said, passing her the hairdryer that was beside him on the bed.
"You mean so you and Daddy can spy on us all?" Shelby gave him the eyebrow.
"I just worry that something might happen. I'd rather you let me and Daddy go with you"
"Dad, I am perfectly capable of looking after my own child for 48 hours"
" But who's going to look after my child?" Hiram said, pointing at Shelby.
Shelby sighed " Dad, I don't need looking after. We will be fine."
"I know, I just can't help wanting to protected you" Hiram fretted. Shelby paused in her packing, and crossed over to Hiram, wrapping her arms around him. "Dad, we will be ok, you have to let me and Rachel do this by ourselves."
Hiram kissed the top of her head "Ok – but if there are any problems, and I mean any problems, you are to call me. Daddy and I can be there as soon as we can."
The following morning Rachel and Shelby were up early. The plan was to drive to Chicago, go buy tickets for a matinee show for Sunday, then meet Brett for lunch, before heading back to his place to spend the evening.
After saying goodbye to Hiram and Leroy, Rachel hopped into the front seat, as Shelby loaded their bags before taking her place behind the wheel.
"Are you nervous?" Shelby asked. Rachel was sitting pretty in a grey pattern dress and cardigan. Shelby thought she looked adorable, though that probably wasn't the look her daughter was aiming for.
"No not really" Rachel replied.
"Are you sure?" Shelby asked
"Positive" Rachel responded. "Like I said, I'm curious about him and all, but that's it. I 've lived 16 years without him, I don't need his opinion to validate my life, and the way Dad and Daddy have been acting the past few days I think I have more than enough fathers to go around at the moment. If Brett doesn't like me, then it's no loss to me."
"Sure ok" Shelby replied
Rachel turned to face her mother. "Are you nervous?" She asked.
"No" Shelby answered a little too quickly.
Rachel took in Shelby's appearance. She was wearing skinny jeans, tucked into black leather knee high boots, a smart purple silk top and a black blazer, with lots of chunky bangles and necklaces, her hair loose and curled, and her make up more Smokey eyed than usual. She looked like a cross between work Shelby and casual Shelby, a step up from Shelby's usual Saturday chill out clothes of loose jeans and a Ramones t-shirt.
"It's ok to be nervous you know" Rachel said, staring at the road. "I mean, I would be, if I was seeing Finn again after 20 years."
Shelby said nothing
"I'd be wondering if he still thought I was attractive, whether I'd aged badly or not. I'd probably want to look the best I could, I-"
"Rachel!"
"What?"
"Nothing. Can we just change the subject please."
The rest of the drive passed in relative peace. Upon driving into the city, Shelby left the car in the suburbs and they caught the train the rest of the way in. They quickly made their way downtown to the theatre where the touring production of Avenue Q had set-up for the next few weeks.
"You go get us the tickets" Shelby told Rachel, handing her the money "I'll phone Daddy and tell them we've arrived."
Her phone call to her parents was short, which was just as well as Rachel soon came storming out of the theatre box office. "They won't sell me the tickets" she fumed.
"Why not?" Shelby asked
"Because they think I am too young!"
Taking Rachel's hand, Shelby led her back to the box-office.
"Is there a problem here?" Shelby enquired
"Yes" the man replied. " Avenue Q is a parental advisory show, we don't allow those under 14 to see the show without an accompanying adult, and we do not allow those under 16 to purchase tickets without an accompanying adult."
"I'm sixteen" Rachel stomped her foot.
"So you keep saying" the box office man told her
"We'll I'm the accompanying adult, and I will buy the tickets, so problem solved, " Shelby said, taking out her credit card
"Do you have proof of the young lady's age?" the jobs worth behind the counter asked.
"I'm her mother" Shelby said, pausing, to admire how good that sounded. "I can vouch for the fact she is 16."
"We need more conclusive ID" the man said
"Where's your driving licence?" Shelby asked
"In my other purse" Rachel replied
"Wait a minute" Shelby began fishing around in her wallet. She pulled out Rachel's medical insurance card, "Will this do?" she asked the man.
"I guess so" he replied, and began processing the tickets.
"You brought our insurance cards?" Rachel asked.
"Dad gave it to me as we left the house" Shelby said "he wanted us to be prepared for every eventuality."
"Here, enjoy the show" the man said, handing the tickets over.
Shelby glanced at her watch "We had better hurry" if we are going to make it in time for lunch"
Brett arrived at the restaurant 15 minutes early, he took a seat in the bar area, keeping his eye trained on the door.
The last photo he had of Rachel, was taken was she was 12. It had been taken after her ballet recital, and she was dressed in a tutu, grinning from ear to ear. The resemblance to Shelby had been strong, even at that age. She had been in that kind of slightly gawky 'in-between' phase, having left the cute little girl stage behind, but not having quite yet blossomed into the beauty of woman hood. Her teeth were slightly crooked awaiting braces. Even though he knew she was 16 now, the image of her that he carried round in his head was of the 12-year old ballerina.
The door to the restaurant opened and he saw a flash of two brunette heads through the crowd of people leaving. Shelby stepped in first.
His father had once told him that the women to look out for are not necessarily the ones that were the most attractive in high school. "Some women," his father had said, "Are like a good wine, they get more stunning as they grow older." Shelby, it turned out, was the personification of that. She looked more beautiful now than she did at 16, Brett found himself wondering how it was possible to look younger as you got older? She looked up, caught his eye, and began walking toward him
But before Brett could process anything else, Rachel stepped out from behind her mother, and his world stopped as he saw his daughter for the first time in 16 years.
A/n:
Caveat 1 - I'm from the UK, we don't have health insurance, so I have no idea what is on an actual health insurance card, so took liberties here for the purposes of story telling.
Caveat 2 - Again in the UK, Avenue Q (West End Version) used to be parental advisory if you were under 12. I don't know if that is the same in the states, I simpy added that and enhanced in my fic for the purposes of story telling.
Please review if you have time.