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), Noah's sister (Hannah) & Bruno the dog.
A/N -Woah this website (that won't let mecall it by it's name!) has changed! Anyway I'm steaming along with this fic but I'm probably only going to aim for weekly udates so I can be writing ahead of what I'm posting if that makes sense? Someone (can't remember who & I've deleted the message sorry!) sent me a pm and asked if I could write another Shelby/Rachel scene so here you are!
As usual, ideas are VERY welcome and reviews/concrit are loved.
Noah and Shelby made their way to the ward where Sarah was working and another nurse pointed them in the direction of the staff room after telling them Sarah had just gone on her break, "Noah" Sarah gasped and jumped to her feet as Noah walked into the room, "Shelby, is everything okay?" She noticed that both Noah and Shelby had been crying and her heart sank, "what did they say?"
"Sit down Mom."
Sarah shook her head, "please Noah, just tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong" Shelby said calmly, "you just might want to sit down."
Only once Sarah was sat in the chair did Shelby pass Noah the envelope the doctor had given them, "this is your grandbaby" he passed Sarah one of the ultrasound pictures and she smiled as she looked at the fuzzy image, "and this is your grandbaby's brother or sister."
Sarah's face fell and she looked up at her son before laughing slightly, "good one Noah, you had me going for a minute then."
"Sarah"
Sarah looked at Shelby and saw the look on the younger woman's face, "oh my god" Sarah looked from Noah to Shelby, "you're serious aren't you, you're having twins."
"Yeah" Shelby nodded, "we're having twins."
"Oh my God" Sarah laid her head in her hands for a moment before looking at Shelby, "is everything okay?"
Noah nodded, "Yeah, I think so, they're both a little small and the doctor said the second baby is smaller than the first but he wasn't really too worried, he said the first baby's grown quite a lot since last time."
"He wants me to try and make it to 33 weeks" Shelby told Sarah, "he said if I go into labour after 33 weeks he'll not stop it but he won't start me off until 35 weeks."
Sarah nodded, "I, I guess I should say congratulations."
"Are you, Mom, I" Sarah seemed almost disappointed and Noah didn't know how to deal with that. She'd seemed so excited when she thought they were having one baby, he couldn't help that the doctor had just found a second baby so he couldn't understand why she'd changed her mind.
"Oh Nono" Sarah saw the tears in Noah's eyes and she quickly stood from the chair and pulled him into her arms, "I'm really happy for you both" she told him, "I'm just a little shocked. I can't believe you were having one baby, I just need to get my head around the fact that you're having two. I really am happy for you Noah." She pulled away from Noah and held out her arms towards Shelby, "I'm delighted for you both." She smiled as Shelby accepted the hug she was offering, "anything you need" she whispered in her ear, "Bubbe wants to be the first person you come to."
Shelby and Noah got home to find Hannah playing with Beth and Bruno in the back yard. "Han" Noah called his sister over as Shelby went to tell Beth they were home, "can you come over a bit later? Shelby and I have got some news but we want to talk to Bee first."
She noticed the serious look on her brother's face, "is everything okay Noah? Is it the baby?"
Noah nodded, "it's nothing bad" he rubbed her arm reassuringly, "don't worry Han everything's okay."
"Promise?"
Noah nodded, "I promise"
"Can you come inside" Shelby asked Beth once Hannah had left, "Daddy and I want to talk to you about something."
"Have I done something wrong?"
Shelby shook her head and tucked a strand of hair behind Beth's ear, "No sweetheart, daddy and I need to talk to you about the baby."
"Is the baby sick?"
Shelby shook her head again, "come sit inside and we'll tell you."
"Is the baby sick?" Beth asked again once the trio were settled on the sofa with Bruno by their feet, "has it got to stay in the hospital for a long time?"
"The baby is still in my tummy" Shelby told her, "it will only need to stay in the hospital if it comes out too soon."
Beth nodded, "so what is it Mommy?"
Noah smiled and nodded, encouraging Shelby to continue, "you know how you can feel my baby right here?" Shelby took Beth's hand and pushed it firmly against her stomach.
"Yeah."
"Well when we went to the doctor today he used a special machine to take pictures of the baby in my tummy and he noticed something else." She moved Beth's hand to the top of her bump where the doctor had found the second baby, "feel that?" she asked as she pushed Beth's hand against the firmness that she knew to be the second baby's back.
Beth nodded, "what is it Mommy?"
"That my beautiful girl" Noah kissed her hair, "is another baby."
Beth looked puzzled for a moment, "so there are two babies inside your tummy?"
"Yeah" Shelby nodded, "they call two babies twins."
Beth frowned, "two babies?"
Shelby struggled to hold back a laugh, Beth's reaction was exactly the same as Noah's, "Yeah" she smiled, "two babies. But just because we're having two babies instead of one, it doesn't change anything. We'll still love you Bee, you'll still be our special little girl."
"Unless one of the babies is a girl" Beth corrected her mother.
"What do you mean Princess?" Noah asked, "even if both the babies are girls we'll still love you, we will always love you."
Beth shook her head at her father's stupidity "if the baby is a girl I won't be your special little girl" she told them, "I'll be your special big girl."
"Nuh uh" Noah shook his head and pulled Beth into his arms, cradling her like a baby, "you will always always always be my baby Bee."
Beth giggled as Noah began tickling her, "No daddy, I'm a big girl and I'm nearly a grown up."
"One day you'll be a grown up but not for a long time, do you remember what I've told you about boys?"
Beth nodded, "boy are icky and I'm not allowed to kiss a boy until I'm 45."
"That's right" Noah nodded proudly as Shelby rolled her eyes.
"But you kiss Momma daddy, you kiss her all the time."
"Yeah" Noah whispered into his daughter's ear, "But your Momma is real old."
"Hey" Shelby slapped his arm as Beth laughed loudly, "I heard that."
"Quick Beth" Noah lifted her from his lap, "run!"
Shelby left Noah to tell Hannah their news that night as she called Rachel, not wanting her to feel like she was the last to know the news. Rachel, like everyone else was shocked but delighted at the news and caused Shelby to burst into tears when she told her Mom that she couldn't think of two people better suited to parenthood. "How did she take it?" Shelby asked as she walked back into the living room after Hannah had left.
"She was shocked. Pointed out that her offer to babysit only applied to one baby at a time, she was just 'Hannah' about it" he laughed, "how was Rachel?"
"Yeah, she was shocked too, really happy for us though. She said she sends her love."
A couple of days later Shelby was surprised to answer the door to Rachel, "Rach" She wrapped her daughter in her hug, "why didn't you say you were coming over?" The two had last spoken when Shelby had called her to tell her she was actually going to get two younger siblings instead of the one she was expecting and Rachel had said nothing about visiting Lima.
"Can I come in?" Rachel asked.
"Of course you can, sorry, I'm just" Shelby shook her head, "baby brain" she smiled before stepping back and allowing Rachel into the house, "come in." They walked into the living room in silence, "Rachel's here" she told Noah.
He turned and smiled, "Hey. Shelby didn't say you were coming over."
"I, I didn't tell her I was, I was home for the weekend and I thought I'd pop in and see you all."
Both Noah and Shelby knew something wasn't right with Rachel, "is everything okay?" Shelby asked as she sat beside Rachel on the sofa.
Rachel shook her head slightly, "not really" she whispered quietly before looking at Noah, "can we talk please Mom" Rachel looked towards Noah, "privately."
"I'll be upstairs then." Noah rolled his eyes and left the room muttering something about knowing when he wasn't wanted in his own home.
Shelby looked at Rachel for a minute and she could tell something was amiss with her daughter, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. "What's wrong Rach?"
"In late" Rachel blurted out, "I've been thinking about breaking up with him and now my period's late."
Shelby was shocked, she'd dreamed of bonding with Rachel for years, but she never imagined they'd bond over being pregnant at the same time. "How late?" she finally asked.
"About six weeks" Rachel admitted.
"Six weeks! Have you done a test, have you got any other symptoms?"
Rachel shook her head, "I'm tired a lot, I read online that could be a symptom. I, I didn't want to do the test on my own. I lied about visiting my fathers, they're on a cruise this weekend, that's why I came here, I knew there was no chance in me running into them."
"Okay okay" tears were running down Rachel's cheeks and Shelby did her best to comfort her and cursed her pregnancy hormones as she found herself on the edge of tears too, "I think there might be a pregnancy test in the bathroom, there was a time after I found out that I couldn't really believe I was pregnant so Noah bought a bunch of them." She smiled at the memory, "I'm sure there's one left somewhere." Shelby left the room and returned a few short minutes later with a blue box in her hand, "here" she smiled sadly at Rachel, "I don't think I need to tell you what to do."
Three minutes later the timer on Rachel's phone beeped, "can you go?" Rachel asked nervously, "I don't think I can look."
"Sure" Shelby smiled, "I'll be right back."
Rachel couldn't read Shelby's expression, "Mom?"
"It's okay" Shelby smiled as she sat down beside Rachel, "it was negative, you're not pregnant."
Shelby saw a weight lift from Rachel's shoulders, "I'm not?"
"You're not pregnant Rachel." Rachel burst into tears, "you're okay" Shelby began to rock her slowly, "it's okay, you're okay."
"I'm going to break up with him." Rachel whispered into Shelby's shoulder, "I, as much as I'd like to have children at some point in the future, I'm glad I don't feel like I have to stay with him because we're having a child together."
"I'll be honest, I'm glad you wont be having my grandchild a couple of months after I have my own children." Rachel laughed slightly and Shelby smiled, "why do you want to break up with him?" Shelby had only met Rachel's current boyfriend twice, but there was something about the man she didn't like.
Rachel shrugged, "I guess we've just grown apart, we hardly ever see each other and when I thought I was pregnant, the thought of spending the rest of my life with him terrified me more than the thought of being a mother, I need to get out, before, well before I end up pregnant for real."
Shelby nodded, "as long as you're happy."
"What would you have done if the test had been positive?
Shelby took a deep breath, "honestly?" Rachel nodded, "I'd probably freaked out a little bit but I'd have supported you, whatever decision you made I'd have made sure I was there for you. Even if your fathers disapproved and Adam didn't want to know I'd have made sure you knew I was here for you."
Rachel sighed and leant into Shelby's side, "Beth and the babies are lucky to have you for a Mom".
Shelby smiled sadly, "you've got me Rach, I'm your Mom too."
"I just thought..."
"You thought wrong" Shelby interrupted, "I don't care how old you are or how long it took us to build a relationship you're my daughter, you've got me and I've got you, I hope today showed you that. I'll never turn you away."
"Thanks" Rachel smiled as she curled into Shelby's side.
"You don't have to thank me Rach, I'm your mom, being here for you is what I do. If anything I should be thanking you for giving me another chance."
Rachel smiled, "let's just both be grateful for each other from not so far."
Shelby laughed and blinked back tears, "that sounds like a great idea."
"Is Rachel pregnant?" Noah asked later that night as he and Shelby laid together in bed.
Shelby looked up from the book she was reading, "Wha, I mea, how..."
"There was an instruction leaflet for a pregnancy test in the downstairs bathroom, I know it doesn't belong to me, I doubt Beth did it and I thought since you had this now" he ran his hand gently over Shelby's bump, "you didn't need to pee on a stick convince yourself that you really are pregnant any more."
"Oh right."
"So is she?"
Shelby shook her head, "No, no she's not. She thought she might be but the test was negative."
Noah nodded and kissed Shelby's temple, "good cos as much as I love you and Rach I really don't think I'm ready to be a grandad yet" he smiled as he flicked off his light and shuffled under the covers.
Shelby sighed, her family really was complicated!