A/N – Thank you so much for reading and for all of the reviews and messages I received. You guys are really amazing. Thank you for sticking with me. I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer – I don't own Glee. Yet. Muahahaha! Kidding.

The formal dining room in Shelby's house was filled in a way Rachel had never seen it before. They usually only ate at the kitchen in the table, but with two extra people there, Shelby had set places in the bigger room so that they would all be comfortable. Rachel and Quinn had offered to help make dinner but had been shooed away by Rebecca, giving the woman a chance to speak with Shelby on her own. Shelby had taken the lead earlier on explaining to her parents what had happened, but it had been abridged version and Rebecca felt as if Shelby was leaving things out.

"I just didn't want to rehash everything with Rachel sitting right there," Shelby said as she mashed up the potatoes she was preparing. "It's going to take a while, but I know that she's going to truly understand one day."

"Of course she will," Rebecca agreed. "And we didn't mean to just barge in on you guys, but your father and I wanted to make sure that everything was ok. After we didn't hear back from you and you didn't answer our calls, we decided to just pack a couple of bags and get in the car and go." Rebecca put an arm around Shelby's waist and gave her daughter a squeeze and Shelby gave her a grateful smile.

"Speaking on packing a bag and going, I've got a question for you," Shelby said.

"What's that?"

"Having you guys here has presented an opportunity that wouldn't have come up otherwise," Shelby said. "But that's only if you and Dad agree to it. Well you two and Judy Fabray and Quinn. And it would only be for a little while."

"Is there a question in there somewhere?" Rebecca teased.

Shelby rolled her eyes, in the same way Rachel always did, and said, "Yes, Mother. I think it could be good for Rachel and me to spend a day or two where it's just us. We've never been able to do that. And with you and Dad here it seems like a perfect time. That is, if you two don't mind staying and watching Quinn and Beth."

"Of course we don't," Rebecca said.

"Thank you," Shelby smiled. "I've got to talk to Quinn's mom first to make sure she's ok with it and I want to talk to Quinn and make sure she is comfortable with it too."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine," Rebecca said. "They'll both probably agree that it's a great chance for you and Rachel."

"I hope so," Shelby said. "I think Rachel desperately needs a little bit of one-on-one time. But don't tell her about it, ok? I want to surprise her."

"My lips are sealed," Rebecca said. "Where do you plan on taking her?"

"To your house, actually," Shelby said. "In Columbus. I thought I would take her back to where I grew up and let her see some of those places first hand. I'm hoping it'll help her feel more connected, like we share certain things. I think she'll find out that she's a lot like I was when I was a kid."

"I think that's a great idea, honey," Rebecca said. "Make sure you tell her what a nerd you were."

Shelby gasped, scandalized. "I was not a nerd!"

"Shelby, you got detention for arguing with your teacher about whether or not memorizing Hamlet's soliloquy and presenting it to the class or writing a paper about the speech's importance to the play was the most advantageous way to learn Shakespeare."

"She wouldn't let me do both!"

The dinner was a jubilant affair and by the time it was over everyone sat contented and happy as Shelby poured her parents and herself some coffee while Rachel and Quinn ate some ice cream. Paul didn't quite know what to think of Vegan friendly ice cream and he stuck with having a couple of cookies. Rachel shared her ice cream with Beth who did not care about the Vegan label and happily enjoyed the cold treat. At one point Rachel was able to take Shelby's coffee unnoticed and drank most of the mug before Shelby realized and took it back. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was closer to nine than it was to eight and the last thing she needed was for Rachel to get worked up on the caffeine.

"Where should we put our bags?" Paul asked over dessert. "We can make due on the couch up on the third story."

"I'll take the couch," Quinn said. "You guys should stay in the bedroom."

"Nonsense," Rebecca said. "We'll only be here a couple of days and we're not going to put you out of a bed while we're here."

"It's perfectly fine," Quinn said. "There's no reason you two should sleep on couches. You probably need a bed at your-" Quinn's brain caught up with her mouth and she stopped herself from saying what she had been thinking. "I mean," she blushed furiously as she stammered over her explanation while all three adults stared at her. "You're a more important guest than I am and I can sleep anywhere. I just want you to be comfortable."

"I don't think Quinn was meaning to call you old," Rachel said bluntly and Quinn shot her a look. "I think she was just trying to be polite. But there's no need because you guys can have my room. I can sleep on the couch."

"No," Paul said.

"Yes," Shelby said. "Rachel can stay with me," she said before her parents' protests could be fully formed. "That way we all get a bed."

"Oh, I don't want to inconvenience you, Mom," Rachel said sincerely. "I can sleep on the couch."

"You will not be an inconvenience, honey," Shelby assured her. "I'd rather we all got a good night's sleep." An ulterior motive for Shelby was that it also gave her the chance to keep an eye on Rachel during the night. She still didn't know how the day's events were going to affect the girl's sleeping and she wanted to be able to prevent, or at least be close by, if Rachel had another nightmare.

Rachel was about to question her mother again to see if she was sure, but she consciously stopped herself and thought back to her mother's words during the day. She promised that she was going to try and she really thought she was recognizing this moment of insecurity for what it was. So instead of campaigning for the couch again, she simply nodded at her mom. She fed the last bite of ice cream to Beth and then quickly reached out and snagged her mother's coffee again and finished off the mug.

"Thanks, Mom!" she smiled brightly as she handed Shelby the empty mug. Shelby shook her head at the girl, but returned the smile.

"Good," Paul said. "I'm glad we got that all settled."

Rebecca started to gather some plates together, but Shelby stopped her. "We'll take care of it."

"Yes dear," Paul said. "Let them take care of it. We could help with the dishes, but I'm afraid we might be too old."

Everyone laughed except Quinn who turned a bright shade of red again.

It turned out that when Shelby told her mother that "we" would take care of it, she only meant Quinn and Rachel. Quinn was loading the dishwasher while Rachel prepared a pot to soak when Shelby walked into the kitchen carrying some more plates from the table.

"That's the last of it," she told them as she set them down in the sink. "And Rachel? No more coffee."

"Don't worry, Mom. I only like it when you make it."

That was a point Shelby was going to have to keep in mind. She exited the kitchen and found her parents playing with Beth in the living room. Well playing with Beth and checking the highlights on ESPN. Shelby told them she was going to run upstairs for a few minutes and they waved her off.

Taking a seat in the chair in her bedroom, Shelby placed a call to Judy Fabray. After an exchange of greetings and pleasantries, Shelby got down to the point of her call.

"I wanted to talk to you about Quinn."

"Oh no. What has she done now?" Judy asked causing Shelby to laugh.

"It's nothing like that," Shelby assured her. "Rachel, Quinn and I had a pretty rough day today, so much so that Rachel took off on us."

"What? Where is she? Did you find her? Is she ok?" Judy started a rapid-fire question session. "How was Quinn involved? Did they have another fight? I'm so sorry, Shelby."

"Whoa, whoa," Shelby said trying to get the woman's attention so she would stop talking. "It wasn't Quinn's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, really. There were a lot of misunderstandings and Rachel's fears got the better of her."

Shelby took her time and told Judy the whole story so that she would understand just what it was Rachel was feeling. Judy kept her comments to a minimum and let Shelby talk, expressing her support and gratitude for her new friend.

"I'm sorry that you've had another kid to watch over while everything has been going on with Rachel," Judy said.

"Don't say that," Shelby said. "Quinn has been wonderful and we both love having her here. She's doing more to help than you could realize. But it's about her that I'm calling. I want to take Rachel out of town for the weekend since my parents are here. It's never been just Rachel and I since she moved in. I think a couple days of just her and me could help both of us. But I'm not going to just up and leave Quinn with my parents if you're not ok with that."

"Of course it's ok," Judy said. "This will do you and Rachel a world of good."

"Thank you. And I haven't talked to Quinn about it yet, but I'm going to make sure she's comfortable as well. And if she's not, we won't go. We'll plan another weekend," Shelby said.

"If she has any issues give me a call back and I will talk to her," Judy said. "You and Rachel deserve this. Besides, she's grounded. She's just going to sulk around all weekend anyway."

"I haven't really seen any sulking yet," Shelby said.

"Trust me, there will be sulking," Judy told her. Shelby laughed at the woman's knowing claim and they said their goodbyes.

Shelby made her way down the stairs and saw the girls sitting with her parents in the living room, Beth in Rebecca's arms. She rolled her eyes as the girls groaned good naturedly at one her dad's old and tired jokes. She could only imagine how happy he must be to have a new audience for them. She stopped about half down the steps and waited for a moment she could interrupt. As she waited for the next terrible punch line she glanced at her watch and saw that was after ten now. God, she was tried. It had been an exhausting day.

The tiny lull finally came and Shelby took the opportunity to speak up. "Quinn? Can you come up here please?" Everyone turned and looked at Shelby, Rachel and Quinn both giving her questioning glances.

Quinn got to her feet and followed Shelby up the stairs. Shelby waited in the hall for Quinn to go first into the guest bedroom and as Quinn did so she could feel her anxiousness rise. She wracked her brain trying to come up with what she had done wrong and then she remembered.

"Shelby, I'm so sorry I accidentally called your parents old. I didn't mean that they were old old, just that they are older than me and deserve a bed. Plus they're your parents so they should get to stay in the guest bedroom. Because they're guests. But not old guests," Quinn rattled that off as quickly as she could and Shelby simply let talk for as long as she wanted.

"Finished?" Shelby asked when Quinn stopped rambling. The blonde girl just nodded. "Good because that's not what I want to talk about."

"Oh. I can't think of anything else I've done wrong."

"Why do you automatically assume you've done something wrong?"

"Because you pulled me away like I'm in trouble," Quinn answered.

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to give that impression," Shelby told her. It's a good tactic though, Shelby thought to herself. She wondered what other confessions she would hear if she simply waited long enough. "I need to talk to you about this weekend."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was wondering how you would feel about Rachel and I going out of town tomorrow and coming back Sunday evening."

"Oh."

"I certainly wasn't expecting my parents to show up out of the blue like that, but it has presented an opportunity for me," Shelby said. "Rachel and I have never had a time since she moved in that it's been just the two of us. And after everything that happened today I think it could be good for both of us to have a day or two alone."

Quinn hung her head slightly and nodded, averting her eyes from Shelby. "Yeah, that's probably a really good idea." She waited a beat or two as if deciding on how she felt about it, biting her bottom lip in her nervousness. "I'm sorry if I've been in the way while I've been here."

Shelby shook her head at the girl and stooped down at bit to make Quinn focus on her. "You haven't been in the way, Quinn. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's been wonderful having you here. But with everything that happened today I need to take any opportunity I can to get through to Rachel. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, of course," Quinn said, letting her nervousness go. When she had moved back in with her mom it was just the two of them and they had plenty of opportunities to work things out. Circumstances were different with Shelby, of course, because Quinn had not had a younger sibling, much less a baby, vying for her mother's time. And Quinn had been more angry than afraid, or at least that's what she liked to tell herself, and so her situation was vastly different from Rachel's.

"So how do you feel about staying here with my parents and Beth?" Shelby asked her. "If you're uncomfortable, we won't go."

"No, it's fine," Quinn assured her. "I don't really know them all that well, but your parents seem really great. And I know Rachel will be excited to get you to herself."

"Thank you, Quinn." Shelby place a kiss on her forehead in gratitude before she said, "But don't tell Rachel. I want to surprise her with it."

"I won't tell her," Quinn said.

"Thanks, honey."

Quinn smiled and started to move past Shelby to leave the room and go back to the group, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"And where are you going?" Shelby asked.

"Back downstairs with everyone else," Quinn answered.

"I don't think so. You're going to bed. You're grounded, remember?"

Quinn opened her eyes wide with shock and then pouted. "But Shelby," she whined. "That's not fair."

"If my parents weren't here and I hadn't had to take care of some other things, you would have already been in bed by now, young lady," Shelby told her. "And why is it unfair?"

"Because there's all these people in the house and-"

"And it doesn't change the fact that you're being punished," Shelby said.

"But Shelby," Quinn tried again, crossing her arms across her chest.

Ahh, there was the sulking. "Into bed, Quinn," Shelby told her. Shelby turned to leave the petulant girl, but was stopped when Quinn softly called out to her. "What is it, honey?"

"Can I call my mom? I haven't talked to her since yesterday afternoon."

Shelby debated for a moment or two about whether she should agree, but in the end gave in and handed her phone to Quinn. "Not too long, ok? And then I want you to get to bed."

Quinn nodded her agreement and took the device and waited until Shelby was out of the room before dialing her mother's number.

Shelby made her way back downstairs and found her family sitting in the living room and quietly talking about Glee with Rachel. Beth was asleep in Rachel's arms, having retreated to the person in the room she knew the best, when she had grown tired. Rachel was talking to her grandparents about New Directions upcoming Sectionals competition and Rebecca told her that they would be there to see it. No one missed Rachel's smile at the thought of having her family in the audience watching her.

Shelby sat down next to Rachel, causing Beth to stir when she did. The infant opened her eyes and spotted Shelby and immediately started to fuss. Shelby took her and Beth settled contentedly in her arms and fell back asleep. Shelby smiled down at her sleeping daughter and sighed, relaxing for the first time in what felt like weeks. This had been an exceptionally long day.

The conversation returned to Glee and for the next few minutes all three adults simply listened to Rachel talk about her favorite subject. It was only when Beth started to stir again that Shelby got up and told them she was going to put Beth back to sleep and get her settled in her crib for the night. Shelby's soft lullaby could be heard until she disappeared into her room.

Quinn poked her head out of her room a few minutes later and looked into the hallway. Not seeing anyone, she left the room and made her way downstairs. That is where Shelby found her when she returned from laying Beth down. Quinn was sitting on the couch with her back to the stairs joining in the conversation about Glee. Shelby narrowed her eyes at the girl though she couldn't see it and then made her way across the room and tapped Quinn on the shoulder. Quinn stopped talking about Mr. Schue's vests and closed her eyes, knowing she'd been caught. She slowly turned her head and looked up and over her shoulder at Shelby, doing her best to appear innocent. Shelby raised an eyebrow, waiting on an explanation.

"There you are, Shelby," Quinn enthused. "I was looking for you to give you your phone back." Quinn quickly leaned forward and picked up Shelby's phone from the coffee table and handed it to the woman. Shelby took the phone but kept her glare trained on Quinn. Rachel looked away and pretended to be interested in something else even though she was definitely keeping a close eye on the entire exchange. Paul and Rebecca looked at each other and both answered the other's amused grin with one of their own. They both knew of Quinn's predicament from when Shelby had explained the day to them earlier.

"But I think I'm going to go to bed now," Quinn said. "I'm pretty tired." The girl got to her feet and headed for the stairs and, to her dismay, realized that Shelby was following close behind.

"I'm going," Quinn said when they got to the top of the stairs.

"I wouldn't want you to get lost," Shelby said sarcastically.

When Quinn got to her door and she turned around and looked earnestly at Shelby. "I really do hope you and Rachel have a good weekend."

"Thank you," Shelby answered.

"I know how hard it was when I moved back in with my mom and it'll be great for you guys to get some time with just the two of you," Quinn continued. "It'll mean so much to Rachel."

"I hope so," Shelby said as she motioned towards the room that she wanted Quinn to enter.

"I'm actually really anxious for her to get back so she can tell me all about it. Where do you think you guys will end up going?"

"Quinn?"

"Yes?"

"You're stalling."

"I'm not. I just-"

Shelby pointed to the room and gave Quinn a look. "Go."

"Fine," Quinn sulked.

"Goodnight," Shelby said and only got a muttered grunt in response as the bedroom door closed behind Quinn.

Rachel scooted closer to Paul on the couch and leaned her head on his shoulder and yawned. The day had been an exhausting one for her and the late hour was starting to catch up with her. Paul moved his arm so he could wrap it around her and he pulled her close, her head still on his shoulder.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

Shelby stopped at the bottom of the stairs behind the pair and listened. Rebecca glanced her way before looking back at her husband and granddaughter.

"You and Nana didn't have to drive all that way this afternoon," Rachel said. "I shouldn't have worried everyone. I'm sorry."

"We're glad to be here with you, Rachel," Paul told her. "I want you to understand that you have a family now that will do anything for you, including dropping everything and driving for hours to make sure you're ok. We all love you Rachel and none of us are going anywhere. Not me or your Nana or your mother. Or your aunt and uncle for that matter. They were really concerned when we told them what happened. They send their love to you, Rachel."

Shelby's eyes filled with tears as she listened to her father speaking. She hoped the words were truly getting through to Rachel.

"You told them about me?" Rachel asked, embarrassed. "I bet they think I'm crazy."

"They do not think you're crazy," Paul said firmly. "They wanted you to know how much they love you. Maggie said that Michael has been asking about you," he said, referring to her youngest cousin. "He wants to know when he's going to see you again. He liked your singing because he said it reminded him of his Aunt Shelby."

All three women in the room smiled and Rebecca and Shelby shared a look. Paul rubbed Rachel's arm comfortingly when her smiled turned into a yawn.

"Really?" Rachel asked, sleepily.

"Yes, really," Paul said.

"I'd like to see them again too. I didn't think the boys really liked me at first."

"They were just shy," Rebecca said. "They talked about you the whole ride home."

"Wow…" Rachel said before a comfortable silence set over the room. Paul could tell that Rachel was drifting off so he adjusted a bit to make sure he and Rachel were comfortable. Shelby motioned for Rebecca to join her and the two left Paul and Rachel to the quiet and made their way up the stairs.

"I've got to pack a bag for Rachel," Shelby told her as they entered Rachel's bedroom. "I want to have everything ready for the morning so we can just get on the road."

Shelby set out a small overnight bag and made quick work of picking out a few outfits and other necessities for Rachel. Rebecca gathered up some toiletries that would be needed for that night as well as for the trip. Lastly, Shelby pulled out a set of pajamas for Rachel to wear that night and then took Rachel's quilt from her bed.

"She'll want it," Shelby said when Rebecca questioned her. "She's had it since she was a baby. I'll grab you guys another blanket."

Rebecca went for the blanket and Shelby dropped Rachel's things off in her room before heading back downstairs to tell Rachel it was time for her to get to bed. She smiled when she found that Rachel had succumbed to the slumber while Paul read the paper with one hand because his other arm was wrapped around Rachel. Shelby grabbed her ever-present camera and snapped a couple of pictures of them, her father never looking up.

"Thank you, Daddy," Shelby said softly.

"Anytime, darling."

Shelby gently shook Rachel awake and told her it was time to go up and go to sleep. Rachel sat up from her spot on Paul's shoulder and gave Shelby a confused look.

"But I'm not tired. Grandpa and I are reading the paper," Rachel said with a look over at him.

"Sure you are. Come on, sweetie." Shelby snaked an arm around Rachel's back and helped her get to her feet.

It didn't take Rachel very long to get changed and ready for bed. She was looking down at Beth when Shelby joined her in the room after saying goodnight to her parents and double checking the lock on the front door.

"I thought you'd be in bed already," Shelby said. It was close to midnight and Shelby knew that Beth would be up in a few hours for a bottle and she was ready to get to sleep.

"She looks so peaceful when she sleeps," Rachel said.

Shelby came up beside her wrapped an arm around Rachel. "So do you, most of the time. And let's put that to the test by you getting into bed and going back to sleep."

"Thanks for letting me stay with you, Mom."

"Of course," Shelby said. She leaned over and placed a kiss to Rachel's temple and then led her over to the bed and pulled the blankets back for Rachel. "In you go."

Rachel complied and Shelby tucked the blankets snuggly around her. Shelby watched for a few moments as Rachel settled into her pillows and then made her way to the bathroom so she could get ready for bed as well. When she emerged ten minutes later, Shelby smiled at the sight of her sleeping daughters.

"Mom," Rachel said, half asleep, as Shelby got in on the other side of the bed.

"Yeah, Rach?"

"Thanks for getting my blanket for me."

"You're welcome, honey," Shelby said. "Ok, quiet now. Go to sleep."

Shelby turned off the lamp on her bedside table and relaxed into her pillow in the quiet darkness. Her eyes had just fluttered closed when Rachel spoke again.

"Mom."

Shelby sighed and rolled over on her side to look at her daughter. "What is it?"

"Are you going to teach Beth to sing?"

"Not tonight."

"Maybe one day Michael will say that Beth sounds like both you and me when she's singing."

Shelby studied her daughter and knew that Rachel was more asleep than awake and she wished she could figure out how to get her all the way there.

"Maybe," Shelby said softly. "Hush now. It's bedtime."

As if on cue, Beth started to stir in her crib and began to babble a bit as if she were talking in her sleep as well. Shelby closed her eyes and prayed that Beth did not wake up fully.

"I can't sing right now," Rachel mumbled.

Shelby couldn't help but smile at Rachel as she leaned down closer to Rachel and placed another kiss on her head, whispering 'shhh' as she did. Beth's babblings were increasing as well and Shelby did the only thing she could think of to try and quiet both girls at once. She sang to them. Softly and gently in hopes that they would be lulled back to sleep.

Hush now, my baby

Be still love, don't cry

Sleep like you're rocked by the stream

Sleep and remember

My lullaby

And I'll be with you when you dream

When Rachel woke up she realized that she was alone in the bed and the room. It took her a minute to get her bearings in the dark of the room she was not used to sleeping in, but she was soon able to make out the clock and could see that it was only 2:12 in the morning. Rachel's eyelids were heavy and she found herself lying back down to go back to sleep, but fought the urge in favor of finding her mom and Beth. They were sitting on the couch as predicted. Shelby had her head leaned back against the couch while Beth lounged in her arms drinking a bottle. Rachel yawned as she sat down beside her.

"What are you doing up?" Shelby whispered.

"I'm going to take Beth so you can get back to sleep," Rachel told her. "I told myself before I fell asleep that I would get up with Beth so you could sleep all the way through the night. I didn't even hear her crying." Even as she said this her eyes were fluttering closed.

Shelby looked on in amusement at her daughter. "That's ok, Rachel, I've got her. Why don't you go on up and get back to sleep."

"No. I can take her," Rachel said. "You must be tired." Rachel held her arms up in an attempt to get Shelby to hand Beth over, but Shelby made no move to do so. Probably because Rachel had given up on sitting up on her own and was now leaning her head against Shelby's shoulder. "Don't worry about a thing, Mom. I can handle it."

Rachel drifted back to sleep and Shelby shook her head at her. Beth finished up her bottle and Shelby put it on the table next to her. She lifted Beth to burp her and when that was done and Beth was sleeping once again, Shelby settled her back into one arm while wrapping the other tightly around Rachel.

"Rachel. We need to go back to bed. You've got to get up now."

"Ok, Mom," Rachel mumbled, but never moved. Shelby gave up for a second and rested her cheek to the top of Rachel's head and closed her eyes.

That was how Rebecca found them a few minutes later when she came downstairs in search of the three people who were supposed to be occupying Shelby's room. She was a light sleeper and had heard Beth crying and Shelby getting up with her. She also heard when Rachel left a few minutes after that. She had been waiting to hear them come back upstairs and decided to check on them when she didn't hear anything. She knew of some of Rachel's nightmares and hoped that hadn't been the case this time, but she wanted to check. The scene of Shelby holding Beth in one arm and the other holding onto Rachel while all of them slept was a far better scenario as far as she was concerned. Like Shelby had done earlier, Rebecca grabbed the camera and captured a few pictures of mother and daughters. It was the clicking of the camera that brought Shelby back to life.

"Mom? What are you doing down here? Oh, I hope I haven't been asleep very long." A glance at the cable box on the TV told her that it was only 2:34 and not that much time had passed.

"We're fine. And sometime before the night is over I may be able to keep Rachel in one place so she can get a decent amount of sleep. Will you take Beth?"

Rebecca returned the camera to its proper location and then took Beth from her daughter. Shelby then sat Rachel up and woke her up enough to stand so she could guide her to her bedroom. Shelby got Rachel back in bed and tucked in while Rebecca placed Beth in her crib and made sure the pacifier was securely in place.

"Thanks, Mom," Shelby said not even attempting to hide her exhaustion.

"My pleasure. Get some sleep, honey."

Rebecca placed a kiss on Shelby's cheek and left the room. Shelby took a last glance at Beth and then climbed into bed and looked over at Rachel and was glad when the girl stayed asleep this time and didn't start talking again. As Shelby settled into her pillow, her eyes closed on thoughts of the weekend she had planned for Rachel.

A/N – Thanks for reading, guys! I hope you liked this one. Please leave me a review if you can.

The song Shelby sings is called River Lullaby from The Prince of Egypt.