Chapter Thirty-Five: Chicago
Shelby had never been so thankful to be at a hotel before.
She had reserved a suite for them, one room had a king size bed in it for her and the other room had two double beds for the kids.
Shelby knew that Rachel would end up sleeping with her, leaving Santana and Quinn with one bed and Kurt with the other.
Right now, though, all she was worried about was making the kids nap. Hell, even she wanted a nap. She needed a nap. She had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, but dealing with four, whiny teenagers had worn her out. Breakfast had been another nightmare. They had accidently put eggs on Rachel's plate and she had refused to eat anything on the plate because it had all been touching.
Shelby had had to take the plate up to the waitress and explain to her why Rachel was spazzing out.
There had even been more tears. Shelby had hoped that Rachel would fall asleep in the car, but she knew that she probably wouldn't happen because Rachel would be afraid that she would miss something.
Then Kurt had spilled his orange juice and, trying to get out of the way before the juice got on him, pushed Santana off of her seat and onto the floor. Santana had gotten mad and had started to say something to Kurt until Shelby had tapped her thigh and told her to sit back down.
Quinn's food had come out later than anyone else's, much to Shelby's displeasure, since it took Quinn nearly as long to eat as it took Rachel.
Then she had to tell Santana to slow down. She had never seen a child literally inhale her food as the girl had done.
Then there was a fight over seating in the car, despite Shelby being the one to tell them where to sit.
Now, though, they were fixing to take a nap.
"Okay guys, I want everyone to get ready for a nap." Shelby said, ushering the kids into the room.
"I don't want to sleep. I want to take a shower." Santana said sulking. She was tired, but she had also stepped into a filthy toilet that morning and she wanted to take a shower.
"Santana, you can take a quick shower, but then you are lying down for a nap. Get your things and go on. Make it quick though."
Santana nodded and quickly grabbed her bag and rolled it in the bathroom and shut the door.
She was thankful that she was getting a shower.
Kurt didn't want a nap. He was too excited about being in Chicago.
He looked over at his Auntie Shel and was just about to open his mouth to ask a question when she said, "Do not even think about it, Kurt. You are taking a nap. End of discussion."
He sighed and nodded, then went over to his bag to grab a pair of pajama pants so that he would be comfortable when he laid down.
Quinn wasn't even going to attempt to not take a nap. She wanted to sleep.
Rachel walked over to her mother and leaned against her, her head lying against Shelby's chest.
"Mama, come lay down with me." Rachel said.
Shelby wrapped her arm around Rachel and kissed her head.
"I will in just a moment. Go ahead and climb into the bed." Shelby whispered. Rachel nodded and then walked through the connecting door, shed her pants, and climbed into the bed.
Santana was out of the shower and lying down beside Quinn, nearly asleep before Shelby walked into the opposite room, changed quickly in the bathroom, and then climbed in beside Rachel who was still awake, but only just. Rachel moved over towards her mother.
Shelby opened her arms and Rachel snuggled into them, clutching her mother's shirt. She hadn't slept beside her mother since before her birthday, and she had missed it. She didn't always want to sleep with her mother, but she did sometimes.
And now she knew that it was okay, that just because she was fifteen didn't matter.
"Love you, Mama." Rachel whispered just as she finally dozed off.
Shelby smiled, and then dozed off as well.
~OneStepAtATime~
Three hours later, all of the kids were up, dressed, and ready to go. They were going to an early showing of Wicked, and then they were going to dinner and to look at shops. Shelby had already given them all snacks that she had packed so that they would make it until after the show.
She also had a bag packed with snacks, water, hand sanitizer, wipes, pads, tampons, bandaids, and Tylenol. It struck her as quite funny that she had to pack just as much for the four fifteen year olds as she had to for Rachel and Beth when they were babies.
But, she knew, if she was not prepared then something would come up and she would have to take all of the kids to search for whatever it was that they needed. She would rather just be prepared.
Now they were dressed and ready to head over to the theater, which was about four blocks from their hotel.
"Okay, guys, make sure that you have your jackets, phones, and at least twenty dollars on you. Leave your iPods here." Shelby said. All she needed was a lost iPod. These kids thought the world was ending when they couldn't find their iPods. It was not something that she was going to go through, so it was better if their iPods simply stayed in the hotel room.
There were a few groans, but four iPods were placed on the table that sat near the door. Shelby had known the little monsters would try and take the electronics along with them.
"Okay, let's go." Shelby said with a smile. Inside, though, she was really wondering what she had gotten herself into.
~OneStepAtATime~
Several hours later, as they walked out of the theater, Shelby smiled as she listened to the four kids talk excitedly about the production of Wicked that they had just seen. She had never seen the four children as silent and enthralled in something before, and she knew that she had made the right decision when picking that particular show to see. They had literally loved it.
"Mom! Can we get shirts?" Rachel asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down beside her mother, even going as far as to pull on Shelby's arm, something Rachel had done as a toddler when she was trying to get her mother's attention.
"Rachel, honey, I know that you are excited, but you have to calm down." Shelby told her lightly, gently unlatching her arm from Rachel.
"Yea, Rachel! Calm down and stop acting like a toddler." Kurt teased with a laugh.
Rachel turned and glared at him.
"Screw you, Kurt." Rachel growled. Shelby sighed. Those two fought like siblings at times, and she had really hoped that this trip would not be one of those times. Since they had grown up together, though, it was often inevitable that they would get into a few spats here and there.
"Both of you stop before I cart you off into the bathroom. You are both fifteen! Act like it." Shelby told them. She could see a nearby woman stifling a laugh. Shelby shook her head. Once upon a time she thought it was funny to hear people getting onto their kids too.
Before she had kids, that is.
Rachel scowled at Kurt as they walked to one of the areas where t-shirts were sold.
The group quickly picked out their t-shirts and then handed them over to Shelby, who simply sighed when she saw how long the line was.
"You guys stay in the vicinity. I want to be able to see all of you at all times. This is not Lima, and I do not want any of you getting lost. Understood?" Shelby said sternly.
All four nodded, and then Shelby watched as they all went into various directions to look around, and then she turned to face the line she was standing in so that she could pay attention as it moved forward.
Over to one side, Santana and Rachel were looking at a rotating rack that was loaded with all sorts of post cards.
"There was a store across the way, do you want to go check it out?" Santana asked, pointing out the nearby front entrance to the store that was across the road.
Rachel looked up at it and smiled. She had wanted to go look in that store. It was a music store, and their collection, from the outside looking in, looked fabulous.
"Yes! Let me go ask Quinn if she wants to go." Rachel said. She was not going to ask Kurt because he had ticked her off earlier.
Rachel walked over to where Quinn was standing and grabbed her arm.
"San and I are going to a store that way," Rachel pointed at the store across the road, "do you want to go?"
Quinn looked first at Santana, who was waiting where Rachel had left her, and then she looked at Rachel, who was looking at her expectantly.
She then turned to look at Kurt, who was oogling some random guy that sent her gaydar, and obviously Kurt's, off. Quinn shook her head. If Aunt Shel saw the way that Kurt was practically stalking that guy….
Quinn then looked over at Aunt Shel, who was talking to the woman in front of her in the cashier's line, her arms laden down with all of the shirts that had been picked out and handed over.
"I don't think so, Rach. Aunt Shel won't like it if we disappear." Quinn said, knowing good and well that neither Rachel nor Santana were going to ask permission to go anywhere. Rachel always let her excitement get ahead of her and did whatever she wanted to do without thinking about it. Quinn actually liked to think things through.
Rachel shrugged. It was fine with her. She just wanted to ask Quinn before they left. She had suspected that the other girl would not want to go, and she was okay with that.
Rachel grabbed Santana's forearm and then pulled the girl to the front door, where they both disappeared from Quinn's view. Quinn shook her head. Rachel just never seemed to know when to…not. She just always did.
Quinn wasn't going to rat on her though. Quinn never did, else Rachel would always be in trouble, and Rachel and Quinn would fight all the time.
Plus, most of the time, Rachel was able to pull Quinn into her schemes. Had Santana not been with them today, Quinn would have been pulled into it as well. It was the way things worked with them and had since they had been nine and ten years old.
"Where are Santana and Rachel?" Kurt asked from behind Quinn. Quinn turned and stared at Kurt.
"You know you are going to have to stop teasing Rachel. You know how she gets when she is excited better than anyone Kurt." Quinn chastised her friend. Kurt scowled.
"She knows that I was just teasing her. Even if she was acting like a toddler."
"Kurt. Grow up. You act just like her when you are excited, and you know it. Plus, Aunt Shel made her take a nap, and Rachel already has more energy than most people. Plus, don't think I didn't see you pulling that candy out of your bag when Aunt Shel was in the bathroom and giving it to Rachel. You do that shit on purpose, and you know that it makes Aunt Shel mad. But, even though she gets mad at Rach, she is also going to get mad at you for giving it to her."
"Oh stuff it, Quinn!" Kurt hissed, crossed his arms over his chest, and then stared off to the side.
"Screw you, Kurt! I hope this comes to bite you in the ass!" Quinn hissed back.
She then pushed past Kurt to walk to Shelby, but Kurt spun and pushed her back. This caused Quinn to turn and glare at him, and raise her hand. She hit his arm and then he raised a hand as well.
"I dare you to hit me, you pansy ass!"
"Oh so high and mighty, Quinn fucking Fabray! I don't care who you are!" Kurt said.
Both froze, though, when they felt a hand wrap around each of their raised hands.
Both slowly looked up and swallowed.
A very angry Shelby Corcoran was standing over them, a shopping bag hanging off of one side and her oversized purse off the other.
"What in the world is wrong with the two of you? I could hear both of you at the counter!" Shelby said, shaking them both slightly to make sure that she had their attention.
Both teens glared up at her.
"Kurt is being a douche!" Quinn hissed.
"You are the one who is being a bi…"
Shelby shaking them both again gently was what caused Kurt to realize exactly who he was standing in front of and that it would not be wise to curse in front of the woman. He had done it before, and he did not want to be punished for it again.
"I want both of you to watch your mouths. You are both fifteen years old, too old to be fighting and carrying on in public. Now, we will talk about this later. Where are Rachel and Santana?" Shelby asked, suddenly realizing that she had seen neither girl for quite some time.
"Where are Santana and Rachel?" Shelby suddenly asked, scanning the crowded lobby. Suddenly, the lobby seemed even more crowded than it actually was. People were buying Wicked paraphernalia, kids were running around, people were in groups talking.
But there was no Santana or Rachel in sight.
Maybe they had gone to the bathroom?
Maybe they were looking at the postcards still?
No. They were not over there. She felt Kurt move and looked down at him. He was sticking his tongue out at Quinn.
Shelby let go of Quinn, turned Kurt, and swatted him. She didn't care where they were, the two were acting ridiculous.
"Auntie Shel!" Kurt whined, trying to cover his backside.
"No. Stop. I want you to act like you are fifteen, not five. Now, have either of you seen Rachel or Santana?" Shelby asked, looking up again and trying to find the other two heathens who she had insisted on bringing to Chicago for some reason that was suddenly not coming to Shelby.
Why had she brought all four of them at one time?
"Have either of you seen Rachel or Santana?" Shelby asked again, this time looking first at Kurt, who shook his head no, and then at Quinn who did the same.
Shelby sighed.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit Rachel's number. It rang twice before her bag started vibrating.
"Shit." Shelby muttered. She had forgotten that she had taken all of the kids' cell phones from them before the show started so that they would not be tempted to use them. It had been unnecessary, as each one of them had been completely sucked into the show.
She guided the other two teens over to a set of chairs and pointed. They both sat and she looked down at them.
"I am going to look for the other two," she began digging in her bag, "Neither of you are to move from this spot," she handed first Quinn her phone, and then Kurt his, "and if you get into a fight again, tonight is going to be a very sad night for both of your behinds." Shelby said, sending them both a glare. They both shrunk back, and Shelby nodded.
She turned and started scanning the crowd. She looked down at her watch.
She realized that she had not seen either of the girls in nearly twenty minutes. She took a deep breath. She was so not going to freak out. They were fifteen. They were around here somewhere. Besides, how much trouble could they truly get into?
Shelby sighed. It was Rachel and Santana. They could get into all kinds of trouble. A lot.
Another five minutes passed with Shelby scanning the large crowd as she made her way through the lobby and outside to scan the crowd there. She had checked the bathrooms, and there had been no sign of them there. She had called their names. She had not seen them. She was really starting to freak out a little.
Her baby was lost in Chicago. What the hell had she been thinking by bringing the kids to Chicago? The crime rate alone…Shelby shook her head. She did not need to think about that!
She scanned the crowded sidewalks outside once more before her eyes settled on police officer near the front entrance to the theater. Her kids had been missing long enough. She wanted them found, and she wanted them found now.
She did not want them found in twenty-four hours. She didn't want them found in twenty-four minutes! She wanted them both in front of her right this minute.
"Excuse me, sir?" Shelby asked, hurriedly walking up to the officer.
The officer looked up at her and smiled.
"Yes, may I help you?"
Shelby looked at him for a second. Obviously she needed help! Her kids were missing!
"My daughter and her friend have gone missing and I cannot find them. I am really worried about the both of them. We are here on vacation and I took them to see Wicked and when…"
"Mom?"
Shelby froze. She dropped both her purse and her shopping bag as she turned around and stared at her daughter and Santana. She didn't even pay attention to the things that were on the ground. Instead, she rushed towards the two girls and wrapped an arm around them both and help them to her as she took a deep breath.
A minute later, a minute that she had to take in order to calm her nerves and her rising temper, she let go of the girls. She grabbed Santana's arm, Rachel would know better than to back away from her in this moment, and then swatted Santana's backside, hard. She then grabbed Rachel and did the same.
"You two scared me to death! I have been looking for the both of you for nearly thirty minutes! Anything could have happened! This is not Lima, Ohio, girls! This is Chicago!" Shelby fussed at the two of them.
Both girls shrunk back and looked passed Shelby. The police officer that Shelby had been talking to had picked up Shelby's bag and purse and were holding them for her until she was done chastising the two girls. Behind him, Kurt and Quinn were standing. They had seen Rachel and Santana walk up to Shelby from a window, and figured that it might be safe to join the group.
Shelby's eyes were simply blazing. She sighed deeply and looked up at the sky for a minute.
"We will talk about this at the hotel room." She then walked turned around to grab her things and stared at Quinn and Kurt.
"I thought that I told you two to stay in the sitting area? It seems that none of you are listening to me today. But, that is okay. We will take care of it back at the hotel." Shelby stated simply.
"What? Why are we in trouble?" Rachel asked suddenly, stopping to look up at her mother. She knew that Shelby was mad that they had gone off, but was this much anger totally was not necessary.
Shelby turned to glare at her.
"Because I had no idea where you were at."
"Then why didn't Quinn just tell you where we were at? She knew!"
Quinn shot daggers at Rachel and Shelby turned to glare daggers at Quinn.
"We will all discuss this back at the hotel." Shelby said in a voice that was deadly.
All four of the kids swallowed nervously as they watched Shelby walk up to the police officer who was still holding her bags.
"Thank you, and I am so sorry for bothering you. I had no idea and…"
The officer held up his hand and chuckled.
"It is alright. I can tell you have your hands full." He said as he handed the bags back to Shelby.
Shelby sighed and smiled.
"You have no idea. Thank you for your patience. I was just really starting to worry. Who knows how much trouble they can get into in Chicago without a chaperone?"
The police officer chuckled again.
"You are more than welcome, ma'am." He said. They exchanged a few more niceties, and then the officer walked away as Shelby turned back to her troublesome quartet.
She didn't say anything, merely beckoned for them to follow her and hailed down a taxi.
She pointed, they obliged and climbed in, and then they were headed back to the hotel.
She could tell that they were all nervous.
Good, she thought. She was positive that she had lost ten years off of her life because of that little scare.
For now, though, she was going to use the time she had to calm down and think about how she was going to handle this little situation.
~OneStepAtATime~
While Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt knew very well what was fixing to happen to them when they got back to the hotel, Santana was utterly clueless. Sure she had run off without permission, so what?
It wasn't like it had been that big of a deal. Nothing had happened, and they were all safe and stuff.
But, the moment that they entered their hotel rooms, Santana knew that something was up.
Shelby entered first, and then, suddenly, Santana felt herself being pushed forward, everyone else hiding behind her, when, initially, she had been behind everyone else.
"What the crap guys?" She hissed, turning her head to glare at them.
Then she looked up at Shelby Corcoran.
Santana froze. She had never seen the look on Ms. Corcoran's face that was there now. It was…furious. Even the blackmailing had not made the woman look at her like that.
"Oh good, Santana Lopez, you can be first." Shelby said, pointing towards the room where she and Rachel had slept the night before.
Santana looked up at her, confused. What the hell was going on?
"Go wait on the bed in there, Santana, I will be in there shortly." Shelby said.
Santana's eyes grew wide. She nodded, but she didn't say anything as she walked into the opposite room and then sat down on the bed there.
In the other room, Shelby glared at the other three.
"I want you each in a corner until I call you into that room. Today was not okay. Each of you know that. Fighting, running off, disobeying me. None of that was okay. Corner. Now." Shelby said in a deadly tone. Each of the kids quickly ran to a corner.
Shelby was slightly amused that they all actually ran to different corners and didn't try to run to the same one. It was like they had each known where the others were going to go.
Shelby sighed. She had to talk to Santana. She knew that Santana was going to take the longest, which was why she chose her first despite the other three pushing her ahead of them because they knew what to expect.
She walked into the opposite room and shut the door behind her. She turned and looked at Santana. She instantly felt sorry for the girl. She was unprepared for anything that was about to happen because this was really the first time that she had ever been with Shelby for an extended period of time.
Shelby had talked to Maribel before they left though, and told her how she handled things with the other three. It had been a random conversation, not one where Shelby was trying to ask Maribel if she could discipline Santana the same way. Quite the contrary, Shelby had merely been talking about things that Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt had gotten into while together, and how she and Judy had handled the situations.
Maribel had instantly told her to handle Santana exactly the same way that she handled the other three when Santana was with her.
That was exactly what Shelby planned on doing, but only after she talked to Santana about it. She was not going to spank Santana for running off and disobeying her without Santana understanding why.
"You don't have to be so nervous, Santana. I want to talk to you before we do anything else."
Santana looked at her nervously. Santana Lopez did not do nervous. She did calm and collected. She was a badass after all.
Only, in front of Ms. Corcoran, she was so not a badass. The woman sent fear down her spine 0
"You are upset, obviously that is plenty reason to be nervous." Santana said, eyeing the woman carefully.
Shelby smiled as she sat down beside Santana. She did not miss the girl go completely still.
"I really do just want to talk to you right now, Santana. You are in trouble, but you know that, don't you?"
Santana nodded.
"Can you tell me what you did wrong?" Shelby encouraged.
Santana swallowed.
"I went off with Rachel without asking. You told us to stay in the lobby of the theater, and we didn't listen. We thought that we would be back before you noticed that we were gone." Santana said quietly.
"You realize that I was worried, don't you? That when I looked up and could not find you and Rachel, I was terrified. Not only for Rachel, Santana, I was also very worried about you. We are not in Lima, Ohio. We are in Chicago. Anything could happen in a split second. I lost you and Rachel for over half an hour. That cannot happen. Do you understand?" Shelby lectured softly.
Santana looked into Shelby's eyes. She could tell that the woman had been nervous. That she had been worried out of her mind. She could see it in her eyes.
"Yes ma'am. I understand." Santana whispered.
Shelby nodded.
"I need to know whether or not you are okay with how I plan to punish you, Santana. I was worried, you and Rachel both knew that I wanted you to stay in the theater, and you both broke the rules. If we were at home, I might do something else, but we are not…"
"What are you going to do?" Santana asked quietly and quickly, interrupting Shelby's speech.
"I plan on spanking you, Santana, but I am not going to do that if it makes you uncomfortable. I have permission do to so from your mother…"
"You swatted me earlier." Santana stated, confused.
"Yes, I did. But a spanking and a few swats are not the same thing exactly. I want to make sure that you are okay with me being the one who is spanking you."
"You are going to spank the others." Santana stated, this time with clarity.
"Yes I am."
"Are you going to ask them if they are okay with it?"
"No. I am going to spank each of them for the things they did this afternoon, and then I am going to order room service. We will not be going back out tonight. I think that you are all still tired from the drive up, and I also do not think that any of you deserve to go out tonight after being punished."
"Then don't ask me if I am okay with it. I want to be like everyone else." Santana said quietly, looking down at the floor. Shelby leaned over and put her fingers under Santana's chin and lifted up so that Santana would be forced to look her in the eyes.
"Are you okay with it though?" Shelby asked. She had never asked the other three. Rachel was her daughter, Kurt had been around her since he was a toddler, and Quinn just…Quinn just happened. She had been young, and had needed a spanking the first Halloween they had spent together. Santana was fifteen though, and mature enough to have this conversation.
"What else would you do?" Santana suddenly asked.
"Probably make you write an essay tonight.
Santana's eyes widened.
"Um, no! I will take the spanking!" Santana said quickly. She had written one of Ms. Corcoran's infamous essays, and she never wanted to do so again. Shelby chuckled.
"Okay, Santana. Fifteen swats. Each of you will get the same. One for each year of your life. I will hold you afterwards if you like. But after I am finished, we have a clean slate, clear of all misdeeds. Understand?"
Santana nodded. That sounded fair. Her mother probably would have given her more for disappearing like that. But, her mother would also hold her afterwards as well, so Santana was glad that Ms. Corcoran had brought that up because she would have been too shy to ask.
Before Santana even realized what was happening, Shelby had her pulled over her lap and started raining down smacks. It was the ninth that Santana started to cry softly. More from remorse than anything else. Though, she had to admit, Ms. Corcoran's hand was a lot heavier than her own mother's and she was thankful that there would only be fifteen smacks.
Then Santana was sat up, her slightly sore backside on the bed, and Shelby's arms wrapped around her hr shoulders.
For ten minutes, they sat like that, Shelby rubbing Santana's back.
"Thank you." Santana whispered.
Shelby looked down at her. That was a first. She had never been thanked after giving a spanking.
"For what, honey?"
"For treating me like the rest of them. For not treating me differently."
Shelby smiled and wrapped her arms around Santana tightly once more before she let go, knowing that she had made the others wait long enough.
She still had three more spankings to give.
~OneStepAtATime~
Three more spankings and four contrite children later, Shelby had them all looking over the room service menu so that she could order dinner. She was amused because Quinn, Kurt, and Rachel kept shooting her glances. Nervous glances. Santana, however, was as cool as a cucumber.
Shelby wondered silently what was going on, but ignored it as she took the piece of paper that the kids had written their orders on so that she could call down and order it.
As she spoke to the kitchen over the phone, she heard Santana:
"I am telling you guys, she is probably going to make us leave in the morning. She hinted it when she took me in there and spanked me…"
Shelby barely held her laughter. She had done no such thing, and she could hear the playfulness in Santana's voice. The other kids, however, believed Santana. Shelby thought that she might just play along with Santana's little game. Just for a little while…
…Especially if it made the kids behave the rest of their trip….
AN: Yea, it has been a while. I have been sick and all that jazz. I will hopefully not get sick again because I am pretty sure I have had more than my fair share of sickness since I was sick all of December…hopefully the next update will not take as long.