Rachel's POV:

I'm dying, I am seriously dying. I've barely made it three days and I want to kill myself. This whole silence thing is not for me. I was not made to be quiet and rehearsals, don't even get me started.

Shelby was still making me go to rehearsals and while everyone else was running through the vocals to Bad Romance I was forced to just wear the costume and dance in the background. I was the female lead, this was degrading!

I mean like Shelby would know if I was actually singing, then again she probably would knowing her. For all I know she has video cameras inside these ridiculous costumes and she can see what each and everyone is doing.

"Stop, stop, just stop!" Shelby yells and everything comes to a halt. At this point we aren't even singing, we were just running through the counts of the dance and apparently we can't even do that right.

"You guys are letting the costumes do all the work, it's not enough to douce yourselves in gasoline you have to light yourselves on fire!" Shelby exclaimed and I have to give her credit, she knew what she was talking about. "Everyone go take a seat, let me show you what I am talking about." Shelby said and we didn't hesitate as we all exited the stage and took a seat in the audience.

Shelby of course chose to sing Funny Girl but the entire time she was singing I couldn't focus. Where I was sitting I was directly under the second level and I swore that I heard people up there. Of course being as I couldn't talk there was no way that I could tell anyone so I was just going to have to wait to confirm my suspicions on the next break whenever that may be.

To my surprise as soon as Shelby was done singing she gave us all a ten minute break and I took to the stairs to go and see who was spying or to see if all this silence had officially driven me mad.

When I reached the top of the stairs I was in complete shock as to what I found. Hiding there behind the upper railing was Quinn, Santana, and two other people who I had only seen a few times before at McKinley.

"Rachel?" Quinn gasped and I crossed my arms and smirked.

"Come on, do us a solid and don't rat on us." Santana said as I heard someone coming up the stairs behind me and I quickly motioned for them to find a better hiding place.

"Rachel are you okay?" Shelby asked as she neared the top of the stage and I spun to face her and nodded giving her a thumbs up to seal the deal.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked and I gave her a look being as there was no way that I could have answered her with this stupid vocal rest that I was on. "Stupid question, I got it. Come on Rachel I was thinking that we have five more runs in and then I am going to call rehearsal and you and I are going indulge in pizza and ice cream and you can't say no, both literally and figuratively." Shelby said with a smirk and I briefly thought about flicking her off for a second before I thought better of it.

"Come on." Shelby said as she held her hand out to me and I went with her just so that I gave my friends a chance to escape but not without casting a glance over my shoulder to let Quinn and them know that they owed me.

Shelby was true to her word and we only ran through the number a few more times before she called it a day and then we were all on our way home. She seemed really excited about us hanging out tonight which was nothing new being as she had smothered me all week with her attention and making sure that I wasn't doing anything to strain my voice. There was a part of me that wondered if she was doing this because she was my vocal coach or if she was doing this because she was my mother. Either way it was proving to be annoying.

As Shelby started rambling on about nothing for the thousandth time I quickly grabbed the white board that I had stashed in the car and I wrote a message to Shelby that I was planning on showing her at the stop light but apparently she was reading over my shoulder as I wrote.

"If that note is directed to me I highly suggest you erase it and not let me see something like that again. That actually reminds me that we do need to go over my rules that I have for you." Shelby said and let out a small growl to show my dissatisfaction to Shelby.

"Stop that, you knew that this was happening whether you liked it or not. Anyway who was spying on our rehearsal today?" Shelby asked and I turned to her in complete shock.

"Oh come on, I know you didn't just go up to the second story for fun and I saw someone's head pop up while I was performing, who was it?" She asked as I tried to find a way to not rat my friends out.

I mean was I suppose to be loyal to my team? They were spying on our rehearsal and if the rumors are true we are going up against their glee club at regionals, they were the enemy. But at the same time they were my friends and Quinn and Santana helped me through one of the hardest times of my life. On the other hand though my mother was asking me this question, not only my mother but my vocal coach. And yet she wasn't really my mother was she? At least not yet, I just felt so conflicted.

"Rachel?" Shelby asked again clearly wanting and answer and I just sighed knowing what I had to do.

I took my marker and scribbled down an answer and then showed the board to Shelby as we pulled into the condo parking lot.

"McKinley kids? Did you know any of them?" She asked and I shook my head and scribbled on the board.

None by name, but I have seen them before.

As soon as Shelby read that she nodded and then we both headed up to the condo.

I couldn't tell if Shelby knew that I was lying but why would she think that I was. Plus I was telling a half truth, there were a few kids that I didn't know. I think one was named after a car, Chrysler I think, and then Kirk? In all honesty it wasn't a complete lie that I told Shelby. Then again it wasn't the whole truth either, but I couldn't rat on my friends completely.

As soon as we got inside Shelby headed to her room and I grabbed a change of clothes and headed off into the bathroom to freshen up and then change. This was a routine that Shelby and I were quickly falling into. It seemed like as soon as we both got home we wanted to get some alone time in before we had to awkwardly sit together and socialize. We weren't strangers anymore, which was good, but on the same token we weren't completely comfortable with each other either.

We had pretty much run out of topics to talk about within the first five minutes of us talking and since then it's been the generic question that exchange between us. We never talked about anything too personal or too deep, we were acquaintances at best.

Shelby still wasn't out of her room by the time I made it into the living room so I went ahead and turned on the television and waited for her to come and join me like normal. I was in the middle of some bridal show when Shelby came out and sat next to me but unlike the routine we had set up she reached out and turned the television off and faced me.

"So lets go over the rules." Shelby said when I gave her a disapproving look for turning off my show.

"First off I need to see your homework before you can watch TV. It's not that I don't trust you to get your homework done I just don't want to hear excuses, especially with the way your math grade was a few weeks ago. Then you have your standard no drinking, no drugs policy that every sane parent has in place with their kids."

Curfew? I wrote on the board knowing that we had a huge blow up over this last time.

"Yes you have a curfew. For weekdays it is set at 10 and for the weekends we can negotiate what time you have to be home. I just want to make sure that I know where you are. I don't want you getting hurt or something and me not know because I have no idea what time you should be back in the house. I mean if I tell you to be home by eleven and you aren't then at least I know at that point that I can worry. If there is no curfew then I would be a mess." Shelby said and I had to give it to her she had a point, not a point that I liked but I at least respected it enough to give in to the whole curfew thing for the moment.

"I also will not tolerate back talking and cursing, those are huge pet peeves that I have. Also no sneaking out, I will find out about it and I will make your life hell. I would also appreciate you not inviting random kids over without checking with me first. Most of the time I won't have a problem with it but I would like to know who to expect when I get home. Lets see what else, oh you will have chores and I expect you to keep your living area, eventually your room, clean. I think that about covers it."

What about punishments? I quickly scribbled dreading what she might say next.

"Honestly I think those will depend on what the infraction is. I'm not unreasonable and I'm not going to spank you or something like that if you accidentally curse. I do get that accidents happen. At the same time I'm not going to let you off with a warning if you sneak out of the house. I will tell you this, I am fair in the way that I punish and any punishment that I give out will be justified. Does that calm your nerves?" Shelby asked and I nodded.

In all honesty this whole rule thing was not so bad. I mean Shelby was telling me her limits and what she expected and then she told me what would happen if I didn't meet her expectations, it was really nice. I never really had anything like that before.

With my dads they were more accepting of whatever I did, they just called it me being a kid. They kind of went with the whole philosophy that kids will be kids and they get in trouble from time to time, but I was never punished more then getting a stern talking to or something like that.

With my aunt on the other hand she had rules that I only found out about when I broke them. I guess some things she just sort of expected me to know but we got into a lot of fights when she went to punish me for something that my dads were fine with me doing. I at least had to respect the fact that Shelby was giving me a list of rules so that I knew what she wanted from me and I knew what would happen if I choose not to follow what she had set up.

"So now that we have the rules all settled I have something exciting to tell you." Shelby said and I turned my attention to her wondering is this news she had would be exciting to me or if this was one of those old people things.

"So after we go and look at houses tomorrow we are going back to Dr. Thomas and he is going to see how you are doing." She said and I quickly wrote on the board.

What does that mean?

"Well I am going to ask and see if we can take you off of total vocal rest and just keep your vocalization to a minimum, but we have to wait and see what he thinks." Shelby said and I just grinned from ear to ear.

Just being able to hear the sound of my own voice again would be glorious. I just missed being able to talk, singing was another story, but talking again, that would be great!

"So what kind of pizza?" Shelby asked and I took my board and scribbled a note.

How about I go to the store and get ingredients to make pizza?

"You know how to do that?" Shelby asked and I nodded as I wrote another note.

My dads taught me, it taste really good and its not that hard to make. Can I make it?

"If you really want to make it then I guess that would work. I have to run an errand of my own so let me give you some money and then you can head to the store and I can do what I have to do, and maybe pick up a new movie for us to watch." Shelby said and I bit my lip for a second before picking up my board one more time.

Maybe we could watch Funny Girl

Shelby's POV:

After I gave Rachel money to go to the store I went ahead and let Mia know that I was coming over with the proper documents for her to sign. I ended up calling my dad the same night Rachel got Laryngitis and he got me the paper work I needed to gain custody of Rachel. After I had the papers I told Mia and she agreed to meet when I was available to sign the papers so that Rachel and I could move forward.

Mia seemed sad about the whole thing but she also knew that she screwed up with Rachel when she threw her out of the house. I think she was also starting to realize that I wasn't trying to take Rachel away but I was rather trying to gain something I never should have lost.

When I got to Mia's I parked my car and then made my way to the front door. I rang the doorbell and then waited a few seconds before Mia answered the door and let me inside.

"Sorry the house is a mess, Blaine got home thirty minutes ago and I didn't have time to clean up before him and his dad left-"

"It's okay." I said with a smile that she returned before she led me into the dining room where we both took a seat at the table.

"So these papers?" Mia asked and I nodded as I pulled them out and handed them to her.

I sat there while Mia skimmed the papers and then she took a pen and went like she was signing them before she hesitated and put the pen down.

"Before I sign these can I ask you a few questions?" Mia asked and I nodded knowing that I wasn't going any where until she signed those papers and I was willing to do anything at this point.

"Of course."

"How is Rachel?" She asked and I smirked.

"She's been better, she has laryngitis at the moment but we are going to the doctors again tomorrow to see if she can get off vocal rest. Honestly I don't think she minds being sick as much as she hates being silent."

"Laryngitis? That sounds bad." Mia said and I sighed.

"Well the only thing that you can really do about it is being silent, staying hydrated, and using a humidifier, all of which I've made sure she is doing. She got it by over using her voice which I blame myself for-"

"Don't, it's Rachel we are talking about. I'm sure that no matter what you have been making her sing in VA and her lessons she has been pushing herself twice as hard. So does she seem to be settling in?" Mia asked and I shrugged.

"My condo is really small but we're going to look for houses tomorrow so hopefully we can find something."

"Is she taking to you well? I know that under the circumstances you got Rachel she wasn't really happy."

"She seems more settled but she's hard to read." I said and Mia nodded.

"Since her father's deaths she has been really closed off to everyone. I think the last time I saw her open up, even a little was when she joined your glee club. You really have done a lot for her Shelby, more than I ever imagined you could."

"Why wasn't I granted custody of her when her father's passed? I know that before I gave birth to Rachel her fathers and I talked about it anything were to ever happen to them they wanted me to raise her."

"When my brother's husband died I talked to my brother about changing his will-"

"Why?" I asked not sure how I was suppose to feel but I was trying to keep my anger at bay being as I still needed Mia to sign the papers.

"I don't know why. Probably for the same reasons that I had them draw up that stupid contract. Looking back at my decisions now I can see how selfish they were."

"You're a mom Mia, imagine what it would feel like to never have been able to even hold your children when they were born. Imagine the desperation you would feel while trying to get them back. That is what all of this is about Mia, this isn't about me or you this is about Rachel, my daughter. This is about Rachel and I trying to regain something that we lost because of contracts and selfishness." I said and Mia wiped away a tear from her eye.

"I'm sorry for the part that I had in this whole thing Shelby, I really am. If I could take it all back I would you have to understand that. I mean if someone did that to me with Cooper and Blaine I would have died, even if I did start out with the notion of giving them up fully."

"I was just a kid when I signed the contract, I didn't understand what I was doing with bringing a child into this world and I really didn't understand the unconditional love that I would feel as soon as I heard that heart beat."

"It would be as if Rachel did it." Mia said and I nodded.

"Look I know that we have our differences Mia but Rachel does love you and your boys and I don't want our issues to come between that. I know that you said Rachel was welcome in your home anytime I think that it would be good if we set a day that Rachel can come and eat dinner with you guys-"

"I think that is a great idea, and I think that maybe you should join us." Mia said as she picked up her pen and signed the papers that needed to be signed and then passed them to me.

"Thank you." I said as I got up and Mia smiled.

"Take care of her." She said and I nodded.

"I will, always." I said as she started to walk me out.

"Any plans for tonight?" Mia asked and I nodded.

"Rachel is making pizza for us, her choice, I offered to buy stuff and then we are going to watch Funny Girl." I said and Mia smirked.

"Well if your plans for tonight are any indication I think that Rachel is taking to you just fine." Mia said and I gave her a confused look.

"It's just pizza and a movie-"

"No it was their pizza and their movie. She hasn't indulged in either of those since my brother-in-law passed." Mia said and suddenly I really wanted to get back to the condo.

"Thank you Mia, for everything but I need to be going." I said and she nodded.

"Have a good night Shelby." Mia said and I quickly made my way to my car.

When I got back to the condo Rachel's car was parked outside and I quickly put the papers away and then headed up to see what she was doing.

Rachel was in the kitchen rolling out the dough as I walked in and I quickly washed my hands and then went to see if I could help her out.

"Can I assist?" I asked and she shook her head. "And why not?" I asked and she sighed as she wiped her hands and then scribbled something down on a piece of paper.

Because as bad as a cook as I am I've heard horror stories about you from Jennifer. So I would like to make this without setting the condo on fire!

"It was one time." I complained and Rachel just smiled and pointed to the living room.

"Fine but I'm getting a glass of wine first." I said and she just shrugged.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Rachel came over and sat next to me on the couch.

"Done already?" I asked and she shook her head and pointed to the oven.

"Okay well do you want to start the movie now or do you want to wait for the pizza?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Not sure what that means but I am going to put the movie on and I hope to God you put a timer on or something because that was the mistake that I made when the fire happened." I said and I watched as Rachel rolled her eyes with a huge smile on her face.

As soon as I put the movie on I went back over to the couch and I sat down a little aways from Rachel. It was about ten minutes later that the timer went off and Rachel jumped up and ran to go get the pizza. It was a few minutes later that Rachel returned with two plates and some napkins and handed one to me.

I gave the pizza a minute to cool off but once it was cooled and I took a bite I could honestly say that this was the best pizza I had ever tasted.

"This is really good." I said and Rachel gave me a thumbs up and then we both turned our attention back to the movie.

It was after the pizza and about halfway through the movie that Rachel fell asleep while lying her head in my lap. We never got to the ice cream and there were no real words that passed between Rachel and I tonight that were worth while but there was no one on this earth that I loved more than Rachel at this moment.

I had made a lot of mistakes in my life and most of them had to do with Rachel but if she was into this then so was I. We were going to find the perfect home for us to start over in and we were going to mold a mother daughter relationship that worked for us. It might not be the traditional relationship and to some people it could even look like it was dysfunctional but it was going to be ours and we were going to find that perfect place.

As Rachel slept I gently took my hand and brushed her hair out of her face before I bent down and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Things were finally looking up.

So this is just a sweet little chapter before things start to get more intense in the next few chapters. I'm trying to get these chapters out sooner than I have been and I think that I am doing a pretty good job! Anyways let me know what you think, what you want to see, anything at all, who knows maybe a suggestion left may turn into a great idea that flourishes into this story...

-Katie