Hello Friends!

First, I hope you are all well. I would like to remind everyone that while I am currently off of hiatus I may need to go on another hiatus, but it is still a time away though. Luckily life has permitted me to write a little bit at work and inspiration has been kind. In the mean time, enjoy the updates.

As always - MAJOR THANKS TO MY GIRL TINA! Thank you friend! XOXOX

Now we move into the standard section. If you know this well, then please move on to the warnings and need to know sections below!

~ THIS STORY IS NOT SEXUAL AGE PLAY! The girls are NOT little girls. They are NOT little girls. You can act young without being a little one. I work with twenty seven year old women who have three year old tantrums, on a regular daily basis, because they didn't get their way. They whine and complain and literally throw a tantrum. The girls in this story DO NOT go into a different mind set, they just act like younger girls and in this case, it's only when they need comfort. So let's go with the statement that sex or sexual games will not be used for comfort. I know this isn't making sense, but I don't know how to phrase it any other way.

~ NONE of the girls will have sex with Will or Shelby. The training they have, may result in them having orgasm, but they are NOT HAVING SEX with their Master or Mistress, BECAUSE they call them Mama and Daddy at times. Again, NO SEX between, the pets and the Master/Mistress. Any sex the pets have will be with each other or other members of the circle. Any sex Will and Shelby have, for this story, will be with each other only. For this story, Sex is defined as Consensual meeting of genitalia between two people.

~ THIS STORY IS A/U. Rachel is NOT Shelby's daughter. Again, Rachel is NOT Shelby's child. I WILL put this up in the warnings when the two of them start interacting more. She WILL eventually call her Mama, as the other girls do now, but it's a term of endearment/safety, NOT BECAUSE it's her true mother. Rachel is NOT Shelby's biological child.

~ The four girls did NOT go to school together. Quinn, Brittany, and Santana came to know each other and form a tight trio approximately a year ago. Rachel will be added to their little trio as the story goes on.

~ For this story, sexual orientation doesn't matter. Sex is just sex, the story is more about the lifestyle and the relations between the Masters/Mistresses and their pets, and not at all about who they're having sex with.

Need to Know:

~ This story started on a Thursday evening. It is currently Sunday. Two weeks and three days later! As a general reminder to everyone it took me 16 chapters to write one full week, and I did say the story would be 6 - 8 weeks long. In simple terms it's slow!

~ Flashbacks are in italics

~ Rachel is definitely still on Parent Time. The other girls are nearly off of it.

~ Rachel has been conditioned for bell tones. All bell tones. This has not and will not change for quite a few chapters.

~ Rachel's stutter is GONE! She has reverted to younger speech and sometimes baby talk. She's working to communicate as much as she can with very little words.

~ Rachel's previous Sirs were put in prison for a very short time and then released - making them angry and annoyed.

Warnings:

~ In General - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING!

Again, if you have any questions at all, please PM me so I can explain anything you don't understand. I hope you all read and enjoy.

Thanks for reading the story I want to tell.

Be well friends

"Alright my lovely girls, the first stop is a furniture store," Will said.

"Daddy," Rachel said softly and he turned to smile at her. "Up?" she asked quietly, blushing a bit and he nodded.

"Okay sweetheart, are you sure though?" he asked her and she nodded. He stooped down a little bit and she held on to Quinn with one arm to steady herself while carefully reaching her other arm up to wrap around his neck.

"Hey," Quinn said softly rubbing Rachel's arm to get her full attention. "Maybe you think about getting a stroller like Kenzie and Corey have but only for when you have to walk in big places or long distances, just until you get better," Quinn suggested kindly.

"Maybe," Rachel agreed as Will lifted her up all the way, and the six of them, walked into the store to pick out a bed for Rachel.

It was a relatively short walk to the furniture store and once there, Will carefully set Rachel down, so she could walk into the store and still be surrounded by her family. "Okay my big girl," Shelby said kindly to Rachel, speaking very quietly. "You pick out any bed that holds your interest. You know the bed your sisters have, so if you want that, you can get that one, but there are many beds to choose from, so we'll just go from one bed to the next and you tell me which ones you like," Shelby told her and Rachel nodded. It seemed like a simple task, but one look around the store and she suddenly felt completely overwhelmed. It didn't help that the sales person also approached them, in long quick strides and Rachel let out a squeak of fear. The other girls moved in front of her quickly, protectively, and Will was fairly certain, he heard Santana growl.

He leaned forward and whispered quietly in her ear. "You are not a bear or a dog, you are a beautiful young woman. No growling," he said

She turned to look at him and while she tried to put pleading in her voice, to make him understand, it only came out as a protective growl. "I'm protecting my sister," she said.

He nodded and spoke very seriously, "And now you can sit on that bed over there on time out," he told her and she looked at him with wide eyes and confusion. He lowered his voice even more and moved with her over to the bunk beds in the far corner of the show room. "Sanny, we had this conversation a long time ago, do you remember?" he asked her kindly, pulling her into his lap and wrapping her in a very tight and loving hug. She felt protected and in no danger of getting spanked at all. This was her Daddy and he wouldn't embarrass her in public. That lesson she'd learned very quickly and never forgot. "We did. When you and your sisters first came to stay with me and Mama, we made sure that you were all able to protect each other, and that it was okay to do that, but do you remember what we said was not okay?" he asked.

"Fighting?" she asked, working hard to try and remember a lesson from a minimum of three months ago.

"Well yes, that's one thing, but in the very beginning, when you permanently moved in with us, we explained to you, that we are Miss and Sir, we are Mama and Daddy, and we are the ones who will fight so hard for you, the other people won't know what hit them," he said and she smiled, snuggling into him. "Listen, my Sanny, my very good, amazing daughter, protects her sisters fiercely, and that is to be commended. She also comes out with guns blazing, and sometimes, you don't need to do that. You don't need to show all your cards right away. I know why you think that everyone is intent on hurting you baby, and I'm so proud of you for wanting to fight for them and for yourself, and yet the truth is, that no one is trying to hurt anyone right now. Right now, we're in a store, that sells beds, so we can get your sister her own room, and that man, the most likely very gay guy who is pestering the hell out of your mother, he just wants a high commission," Will said.

"What if he wants to hurt Rae?" she asked softly and genuinely. It wasn't a completely invalid concern, as it was hard for any of them to trust strangers, but it was hard to hear that even surrounded by her Miss and Sir, Santana still didn't feel quite safe.

"Sanny, the only thing that man wants to hurt, is my credit card," Will said and he nuzzled Santana gently until he felt her relax and she snuggled into him. "I'm so proud of you for protecting your sisters and I also want you to remember that I do not want you growling at anyone while we shop. Do you understand?" he asked. Santana smiled and gently bumped her forehead to Will's, closed her eyes and smiled.

"Grrrr," she said and he laughed happily.

"Get it out now baby girl, because this is your last warning. The next time you growl at a sales person, you and I will be find a very private space and your bottom will be paying the price for your actions okay?" he asked her kindly, although she knew he was dead seriously.

"I'll try Sir," she said automatically and he grinned. Santana was ready to come off of parent time.

He kissed her forehead, told her he loved her, and then the two went back to join the other four. "And this is your gorgeous husband?" the salesman asked a little too excitedly and Shelby simply smirked and nodded. "Mmm, too bad," he said eyeing Will up and down. "Alright then young lady, what type of bed are you looking for?" he asked, looking directly at Rachel and she pushed herself into Shelby and pulled Quinn a little bit more in front of her, effectively trying to hide. He looked at her for a moment and tried to think. "How old are you sweetheart?" he asked.

"How old do you think she is?" Brittany said quickly, and Santana moved forward to help guard Rachel from this very aggressive salesman.

"Hmmm, if I guess right, do I get a prize?" he asked and he reached out to touch Brittany's blonde hair, that was falling down her shoulders.

"You get to make a commission today," Will said strongly, his hand coming seemingly out of nowhere and stopping the salesman from touching his daughter and Santana beamed. Her Sir, the protector.

"Guess," Brittany told the man, steering conversation back to what it had been.

"Hmmm, well I'd guess, that she is probably a very tall seven, and the rest of you are between twelve and fourteen," he said.

"Nice guesses, now if you'll let us look around your store, we'll let you know if anything interests us," Shelby said herding her girls to one corner of the store looking at Will.

"Go on then, we'll call you if we need anything," Will said seriously and he waited for the guy to leave, before joining his ladies at the first bed.

"Mama," Rachel said softly after a moment and Shelby looked at her, seeing her completely overwhelmed. There was too much choice, and Shelby noticed she was eying price tags.

"Come here sweetheart," Shelby said and she lifted her into her arms and rubbed her back, kissed her temple, and sat down with her, speaking very quietly, while playing with her hair. "I know this is a bit overwhelming for you, but we are right here and there is nothing you have to worry about. You just have to look at all these beds and tell Mama what you are most interested in," she said and Rachel nodded, but leaned into Shelby for further comfort.

"Where's our beds Mama?" Brittany asked softly taking a seat next to her and then offering Rachel her hand. Rachel took it and smiled gratefully.

Shelby leaned over and gave Brittany a kiss. "Your beds are right over there," she said pointing to the bed, laid out three beds away.

"I see?" Rachel asked.

"Sure baby, go on, you can all go look at it," Shelby said and Rachel didn't move. She gave a soft whimper and hung on tighter to Shelby instead. "Oh my baby girl," Shelby sighed and she rocked her a little bit. "You can go look, it's okay," she said and Rachel shook her head no. Shelby sighed and spoke gently. "Listen to me baby, do you remember when you first came to our community? Do you remember how we talked about two things being very important?" she asked and Rachel nodded. "Will you tell Mama what those two things are?"

"Manners, an' Com-i-cation," she mumbled into Shelby's shoulder, and Shelby didn't press her for more clarity. Rachel said the right answer, that had to be rewarded. Right now she wasn't particularly focused on how she said it.

"Very good baby girl," Shelby praised. "So you need to use your communication now, to tell me what you want. You asked to go see the bed and I said you could. Now you have to go do so," she said.

"Carry Mama?" she asked.

"Manners my darling," Shelby said gently, being patient so she could help Rachel remember properly. Rachel was about ten minutes away from a complete melt down. Shelby could see it in her eyes. The only saving grace was that when Shelby helped her remember it was okay to be so young it seemed to calm her.

"Please carry Mama," she whimpered.

"Yes, baby, I will carry you, that was excellent manners and communication, I am so proud of you," Shelby said and she stood up and carried Rachel over to the bed. She set her down on it and Rachel rolled onto her tummy, curling up a bit and her sisters started to panic.

Shelby quickly sat down on the bed and pulled Rachel into her lap. "Listen Rae," she said softly into her ear. "This is your warning. Mama told you before we left the house that you were not to present, and I don't know for sure that you were going to do that just now, so this is just a warning. There will be no presenting. The moment you present yourself to anyone, when we get home, you will sit in time out for two minutes. You'll be near someone and never left alone, and you will still sit in time out. There will be no presenting, do you understand?" she asked and Rachel nodded. "Good girl, say it back to me please," she said and very softly Rachel spoke.

"No p'ah'senting," she whispered.

"Very good, and what happens if you do?" Shelby pressed gently. Rachel was acting very young, and Shelby was going to treat her the way she wanted, to keep her calm and relaxed. She also knew she said a lot to Rachel, so she figured breaking it down in repetition would be less stressful.

"Time out," she said.

"Good girl, for how long?"

"Two," she said holding up two of her fingers.

Shelby smiled and kissed her temple. "I love you very much and I'm very proud of you," Shelby told her. "Now, are you sure this is the bed you want? You don't have to have the same one as your sisters," she said.

"Like it," Rachel said softly, curling into her Mama and Shelby smiled, rocking Rachel gently in her arms.

"Then this is the bed we get," Shelby smiled and she snuggled with her girls for a moment before signaling to Will. "We have found a bed," she smiled.

"Really? That's wonderful. You're sure this is the one Rae?" he asked kindly and she nodded at him. "Okay, then it's time to find the salesman and tell him this is what Rae wants," he said and very quickly, Santana and Quinn moved closer to Shelby, Brittany, and Rachel.

"We'll protect you," Santana told Rachel and she smiled gratefully. It was nice to know that these people were still protecting her, even though she was costing them a lot of money.

Will flagged down the sales man down and he sort of sauntered over to them, reminding Quinn of a man who used to come around to Kate's house. "We'd like to purchase this bed please," Will explained. The man smiled and knelt down and tried to speak directly to Rachel.

"This is a very big bed for such a beautiful young lady, are you sure this is the one you want?" he asked her.

"Excuse me," Shelby said quickly and she spoke with such command in her voice that the man stood up, took a step back, and looked directly at Shelby, looking like a scolded child. "You are here to do a job. You asked us if we wanted help, and we said we would let you know when we were ready. We are ready. This is the bed my daughter chose. So you will kindly order this bed, because that is what she wants. You will not pressure her, or any of us, into purchasing anything else. This bed is the bed my daughter chose; end of discussion. Now kindly go with my husband to the counter and ring it up," she said.

"Yes Ma'am," he said and he and Will walked over to the counter.

"See Rae? She's a Mama Bear," Quinn smiled brightly, wrapping herself over Shelby's back, effectively surrounding Shelby with all four of her girls.

"I will always protect my cubs," Shelby grinned and she gave each of them a kiss and continued to snuggle with them until Will returned. "And since we are all paid and ordered, it is time to move on to the next store. If we have a bed, what do we need to go onto the bed?" she asked.

"Mattresses," Brittany smiled. "I love that store. You get to lay down on all the different ones and see which one feels the best. It's the only time you can really jump on the bed and not get in trouble," she grinned.

"You're a crazy little monkey," Shelby laughed and she leaned over and gave her a noisy kiss, making her squeal excitedly. "Come on girls, up we get, off to the next place," she said and Rachel reached up for her Daddy, wanting him to carry her more. "Manners please my darling," Shelby reminded her kindly. She knew it was going to have to be a continual thing, so she kept her voice calm and patient.

"Please Daddy," she said keeping her arms lifted up to him.

He smiled and lifted her into his arms and the six of them moved into the mattress store. It was hard to miss the smile on Rachel's face as she and her sisters moved through the store, carefully rolling over mattresses and moving from one to the next. Rachel was very carefully hobbling from one place to the next and when she struggled, her sisters would help her. It took only fifteen minutes to find the right mattress and once it was paid for, they moved on to the rest of their shopping. They went to several clothing stores, to select clothes and pajamas for not only Rachel, but all the girls, and then Shelby noticed that the girls were starting to get a little bit too antsy and anxious about even the smallest of details, so she decided enough was enough for today and she and Will brought the girls home in order to give everyone a break from the overwhelmed feelings they all had while being out and about. The fact that Rachel's Sirs were out there, was a fact that still hung over their heads.

They began driving home and Shelby and Will were slightly annoyed at having hit some traffic. It wasn't so much that there was traffic to deal with, it was more the fact that they had four hungry girls, who were possibly hungry and could very well turn hangry at any moment. "Mama, when is Rae's bed coming?" Brittany asked.

"It's being delivered tomorrow my love," Shelby said kindly.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Santana asked, specifically speaking about herself, Quinn, and Rachel.

"When we get home, we'll have a talk about it," Shelby said kindly and at that moment, Will's cell phone rang. Shelby turned to look at her girls, immediately checking in on Rachel. Rachel and Quinn were seated next to each other and Rachel dropped her head onto Quinn's shoulder and started to cry.

She turned back around when Quinn wrapped a protective arm around Rachel and kissed the top of her head. "We'll be home soon and no one is mad at you for what you can't control, I promise," Quinn said softly.

As soon as they got home, Shelby took Rachel into the bathroom and helped her to change. She sat her on the sink in the bathroom. It was the easiest way to change her and for some reason, Rachel started to fight her, not wanting to lay down, so Shelby slowed her pace and waited. "I am so proud of you my sweet girl. You are being very brave today and I can only imagine how scared you are," she told her and Rachel fell into Shelby, needing the love and reassurance. Shelby cuddled her close and let her rest for a little while, before she spoke. "Come on sweetheart, lay down for me, so we can get you changed and feeling better okay?" she asked.

It took ten minutes to get Rachel changed and in a clean diaper. The changing part took all of two minutes, but with all of Rachel's crying; that was what took them longer. "So not that you're calm, shall we have a quick talk?" Shelby asked kindly and Rachel looked panicked again. "It's just a run down of the rest of the day baby, that's all," Shelby said kindly and after a moment Rachel agreed. "Alright, well we have to have a family meeting now and then I think Mama needs to make dinner," she said. "We have to talk to your sisters about their jobs, do you want to be with us, or do you want to rest in Mama's room?" she asked.

"My job?" Rachel asked.

"You my darling girl, don't have a job at the moment, at least not that I'm aware of, and you are certainly not going to it any time soon if you do have one. We need to make sure you are fully recovered before we send you off to work, if you even want to go to work," Shelby said kindly and Rachel fell quiet. Shelby waited for Rachel to say something, but when she said nothing, Shelby took that as her cue to continue. "So, would you like to be around for our little meeting?" she asked and Rachel nodded. She pushed herself into her Mama and waited to be guided around. "I love you my sweet girl," she told her gently and she guided her into the living room, wanting her to practice walking, since she'd asked Will to carry her most of the day.

"Where's Sanny?" Shelby asked.

"She went to set the alarm," Will said and Shelby nodded. "Rae baby, join the girls on the couch please," he said kindly and she did as asked and when Santana returned she was asked to sit on the couch too. She carefully wedged herself on the end and Shelby and Will sat across from them.

"No, this looks too much like an inquisition, everyone up," she said gently and she walked over to them. She sat down on the couch and pulled Brittany to her one side, and Rachel to her other. Santana and Quinn happily fell to the ground at Shelby's feet and cuddled into her legs, perfectly happy to be with their Mama in a more submissive position. It was a stance that felt totally natural to them.

"Well now that we're all settled, we're going to talk about Parent Time. We think you're ready to come off of it, which means, you do not have to call us Mama and Daddy, but you still may do so if you want to in the moment. The four of you are my daughters, now and forever. The only time we are never to be called Mama or Daddy is during training times, do we all understand that?" he asked. They nodded and he smiled his approval. Rachel decided she was never coming off of parent time. "Very good, that's the first thing. Secondly, if the three of you would like to return to your jobs you may," Will said.

Brittany raised her hand and Will nodded at her. "What about Rae-rae?" she asked.

"That is a very good question baby. Sweetheart, did you have a job before you came to be with us?" he asked her kindly and she nodded.

"It helps if you say the name of the job," Brittany offered.

"Stop that," Quinn scolded softly.

"Well we can't help her keep it if she doesn't tell us what she did and where she worked," Brittany reason.

"Every one quiet down," Will announced sternly. It was all he had to say and he took a beat to gather his words. "That is very good logic baby, but she may not want to return to her job, and we have to respect that," Will said kindly. "Rae-rae you can let us know later what you'd like. For right now, you don't have to worry about working. If you want to get a job, when therapy is complete we can talk about it then, but know that you don't have to, okay?" he asked and she simply nodded at him and stayed quiet.

"Now, we have a few things to talk about. Sanny, you're first. Do you want to go back to work?" Shelby asked her, gently playing with her hair, knowing Santana liked that.

"Yes Miss," she said.

"To your regular schedule or should we ask to have it modified?" she asked.

"How would we modify it Miss?" Santana asked.

"We'd ask to start you back at just a few hours in the morning or in the evening, whatever you think you can handle best," she said and Santana nodded her agreement.

"Yes please," Santana said.

"Alright, you and I will call your manager and talk to him. However, we need to remind you of something. You work at a diner Sanny, and there are a lot of bell tones in the diner, are you sure you want to go back?" Shelby pressed.

"I want to at least try please," she said and for a moment Will searched her eyes and body language for truth, and he definitely found it.

"Fair enough. We will call work when we're done here," Will said. "Bree, same question baby. Do you want to go back to work?" he asked.

"I think so, but I want to like, give it a test run. I don't know that the bad men, haven't figured out who we are, or who you are, and so I just want to be sure that they won't show up and try to take me," she said. Rachel's ears perked up and she wasn't truly sure that she knew who the bad men were, but she had a vague idea.

"That sounds fair baby, you had a short shift on Mondays, do you want to try that tomorrow?" he asked her and she nodded. "That's good. We will call the manager and talk to him and set it all up and lastly we move to Quinnie."

"Don't know why, they fired me," she said bitterly.

"Come here please," he said opening his arms up to her, and she went to him and sat in his lap. "You need to know that while they may have let you go, I can still help you. There are positions open on campus where professors can use assistants. I happen to be one such professor, so if you think you can spend some extra time with me, and you'd like to get paid and can handle being asked to do small tasks, you can work. You don't have to work for me, if you will feel uncomfortable," Will explained.

"Do you need me really? You're just so organized, I can't imagine you need my help," Quinn said softly.

"I leave it up to you baby. You can make the choice, and I will not be offended if you want to be an assistant to someone else. It's not a problem at all," he told her and she nodded.

"I'll go with you tomorrow Daddy," she said.

"We will use tomorrow as a test run then my love," he said and she nodded. "Now, someone tell me what happened before we got home. There was something that happened on the car ride home," he said. "Can someone tell me what it was?" he asked.

Quinn raised her hand immediately and then spoke softly when Will kissed her temple. "Your cell phone rang and it made Rachel have an accident," she said.

"Very good. The phone call is something very important, and we all need to talk about it, as a group. Before we continue, Rachel sweetheart, it has to do with the safety of everyone in our community," he said.

Rachel raised her hand and just spoke. "They found me, they know," she said immediately having tears well up in her eyes. It amazed everyone how fast she'd gone from such young language to adult speech. Santana looked up at Shelby with such concern, that all Shelby could do was pet her face gently. She understood why her girls were concerned and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Shhh, it's okay sweetheart, let me explain what happened. Your previous Sirs went to the club," Will started.

"No! Bad men, Daddy, they are not her Sirs. They tortured her, they are just bad men!" Brittany said interrupting Will.

"Excuse me little girl," Shelby said helping her to her feet and giving her a solid smack. It didn't hurt, and she simply flinched. "You tell me what rules you just broke," Shelby ordered her.

"I interrupted Daddy, didn't raise my hand, and didn't wait to be acknowledged," she said.

"Very good, apologize," she said and Brittany did as told.

"Thank you baby. Now, I want you all to remember that we are safe, in our house, in our circle, and I want you to listen to the entire story before saying anything, does everyone understand?" he asked and then watched all the girls nod along. "Good, now, the phone call was from Mr Bruce. He told me that Rachel's previous Sirs had a meeting with him. They are trying to get Rachel back to them," he said and he saw Santana open her mouth and felt Quinn start to say something. "Wait girls, wait, let me finish," he said. "Rae, you are not, under any circumstances, going back to them. Not now, not ever. They are very bad men who hurt you and we will never let you go through anything that terrible ever again. What I need to impress upon you all, is that the bad men didn't like that Mr. Bruce wouldn't help them. They didn't like that he protected Rachel as fiercely as we protect Rachel and so when they left the meeting, your previous Sirs started slashing tires and bashing in car windows. The police were called, and the men have been taken off to jail again," he said.

Rachel immediately raised her hand and tired to not cry as she spoke. "Money, ex-in-sive, can't pay," she said, and she started to wiggled around a bit.

Will carefully lifted Quinn and brought her over to the couch, kneeling in front her, with Quinn and Santana on either side of him, and Shelby very gently pulled her into her lap and Brittany scooted even closer. "Rae, we do not present. You do not present. There is no money that we need to worry about. All insurances are going to cover it. Neither you, nor anyone in this community, did anything wrong," he explained.

"Rae do you understand everything Daddy said?" Shelby asked her and Rachel nodded her understanding.

"Good, I'm very glad," Will said kindly. "It's something I want you all to pay very close attention to, so I'm going to say it again and then we're going to have a listening test. Rachel's previous Sirs went to the club to do try and find a way to talk to Rachel. Mr. Bruce told them they could not do that. They did not like it, and in retaliation, the men damaged all the cars in the parking lot. Now, this club is wired for sight and sound, so the police have been called, and monitors caught everything, therefore, both men have been arrested and put in jail," Will explained. "Did every one hear me?" he asked kindly and they all nodded. "Good, then later we will have a listening test," he said kindly.

"Alright then, so since we're all set, Mama and Sanny are going to call her manager and then I'm going to start dinner," Shelby said and the girls knew that meant they were released. They could go off and do as they pleased, but Rachel didn't understand, so she very carefully pushed herself to standing and turned to look at Shelby, waiting for further instructions. "Are you going to join me sweetheart?" she asked and Rachel nodded. It sounded as good a plan as any other. Shelby nodded and carefully guided Rachel into the kitchen with her and had her sit at the island. "Here sweetheart. Will you color me a picture while I make the phone call for Sanny? When I'm ready to have you help, you absolutely can," she said and Rachel nodded.

"Me too Miss?" Santana asked.

"You can sweetheart. Why don't you choose your picture today," Shelby suggested.

"Can you please choose for me Miss?" Santana asked. She had missed this very simple act of control. It was so innocent and so gentle and gave Santana a great deal of reassurance that her Miss now, was here to love her and protect her, even while still making decisions for her.

"Alright loves, let's see. For Sanny, you can color Mickey and Donald," she said tearing out a picture, "and what about you Rae, do you want to choose your picture or should I?" she asked.

"Mama, please," Rachel pushed out carefully, proud of herself for not stuttering.

"Alright, Rae can have...," she said flipping through. "Oh, this is one of Daddy's favorites. Why don't you color Prince Philip and his horse," she said and Rachel nodded, waiting until the box of crayons were placed in front of her, and she chose a brown one, to start on the tree.

Shelby made the call she needed, set up the ingredients for dinner, and boiled the water for the pasta noodles. As soon as everything was ready, Shelby grabbed a glass dish and then smiled at the girls. "Girls are you ready to help Mama?" she asked kindly and they both nodded their agreement. "Okay sweethearts, come on, we'll build a lasagna," she said and she helped Rachel to the counter. "You can layer the noodles baby," she said kindly and placed a bowl of cool water with hot noodles in front of her. "I need you to be very careful baby, it shouldn't be too hot, but if it's too much for your hands, you need to let me know, okay?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. She carefully put her hands in the bowl and Shelby studied her face; it was one of uncertainty. Shelby smiled and put her hands in as well, carefully pulling out a noodle. "Okay love, let's try this," she said and she was relieved that the water was simply warm and Rachel seemed to be calming down, focusing more on the task she'd been given. "You're just going to put in a layer of noodles, Sanny is going put in the sauce and Mama will add the cheese mixture," she explained. Rachel nodded and several layers into it, everything was going well, until one of the noodles slipped out of Rachel's hand on to the floor. She immediately dropped to her knees and turned to present herself, her entire body screaming in pain, her calf cramping and she wobbled furiously, trying to stay in position.

"Rae-rae, we don't do that, we talked about this," Shelby said kindly and she helped Rachel up to her feet and Rachel struggled to get back down to the floor. "No sweetheart, stand up," Shelby said helping her to her feet and Rachel cried and tried to sink back down as Shelby guided her to her little step stool.

Will came into the kitchen at the noise and sighed. Shelby seemed to have it under control, so he moved in and began to help Santana continue building the lasagna. She looked like she wanted to tell him everything that was going on, so he smiled and lowered his voice, "Talk softly baby," he whispered to her as he kissed her cheek.

"She dropped a noodle on the floor and did her presentation thing," Santana said softly, her voice full of sadness. She hated that Rachel was still so conditioned and she hated that it reminded her, how conditioned she and the other girls were as well.

"No, no, no," Rachel cried, and she struggled to get down to present and be good, so she wouldn't be sent away.

Shelby stopped her and spoke very gently, helping Rachel to sit down and be still. "No, my love, look at Mama," she said gently taking her chin gently in her hand. "Listen to Mama, what did we talk about in the store, do you remember?" she asked her and Rachel struggled to stop crying. "Shhh, it's okay, breathe sweetheart, just listen to Mama. We talked about this very moment in the store today. We talked about how if you did this, there would be a consequence. We said that Rae-rae would have to sit in time out for two minutes and for every time you tried again, it would be an additional two minutes," Shelby said kindly. "You've tried three times now, which means you are going to be sitting here for six minutes," Shelby explained. "Do you understand?" she asked her and Rachel didn't respond. "You don't have to say anything sweetheart, just nod, so I know you understand. You simply have to acknowledge that you understand," Shelby said and very slowly and weakly Rachel nodded and by looking in her eyes, Shelby knew she didn't know what she was nodding to, but she wasn't going to talk about that right now, it was too much. "Good girl. I love you," Shelby told her and she kissed her forehead gently and then stood up. "Six minutes baby," she said softly and she moved away. She could still be seen, but she wanted to give Rachel her space at the same time. This was a modified time out and while she'd been calm about it early in the day, she was not calm about it now.

"Do you two have this for me? Shall I try making the salad?" she asked and there was a little noise behind them. When Shelby turned around to see Rachel slipping off the stool. "Rachel Barbara, sit back down like a good girl," she told her and Rachel didn't listen. "Up on the stool little girl," Shelby said strongly and still Rachel didn't listen.

"You can't spank her Mama, it's too soon," Quinn said from the doorway and Rachel cried harder, sobbing and gasping for breath, and Shelby sighed

"No one is getting spanked Quinnie, please come help Daddy and Sanny with dinner," she said and she moved over to Rachel. "Up baby girl," she said helping her to her feet. "Sit down. On your stool. This is time out for presenting yourself. You do not present yourself to anyone ever again, and every time you do, you must sit in time out for two minutes. We're up to eight minutes now," Shelby said and Rachel simply gasped and tried to present herself again. "Rachel, Mama said stop," Shelby said and both Quinn and Santana jumped slightly, that was Shelby's Mistress voice.

"It's alright girls," Will said kindly sensing that they were now nervous for their sister.

Shelby made sure she was kneeling down in front of Rachel and placed a hand on the side of her face to keep her attention. "Listen to Mama, Rachel is a very good girl, and she needs to follow directions. She broke the rule. Rachel's rule is that there is absolutely no presenting and if she does, there is a consequence for it. Rae-rae needs to sit in time out for two minutes, every time she tries to present, that's ten minutes now my love. Rae-rae is going to sit, on her stool, on her bottom, for ten minutes, and after that, Mama will come get you and Rae-rae and Mama will go sit and cuddle in the other room until dinner is ready. Rae-rae needs to sit on her stool on her bottom, like a good girl," Shelby lectured her.

Shelby kissed her forehead, stood up and moved over to her other girls and gave them both a kiss as well. "Where is Bree?" she asked.

"She's watching a movie," Quinn said softly and Shelby nodded.

Will turned to see Rachel gasping for breath and spoke softly to Shelby. "I'm standing in front of her, she needs help and I don't like her breathing," he said.

She gave him a kiss and nodded her agreement. "Nine more minutes, do not let her get to you," Shelby warned him and he gave a look. "You are wrapped around the tiny little pinky fingers of four beautiful baby girls," she whispered so she wasn't heard by Quinn or Santana.

Will rolled his eyes and move over to Rachel and she took a gasping breath and slipped off the stool to turn and present herself. "No baby girl, that is not allowed," Will said and Shelby turned to see what she was doing.

"Twelve minutes," Shelby said.

"She's going to be up to an hour at this rate," Santana told Quinn softly.

"Don't," Quinn hissed and then she giggled because Santana was speaking from experience.

"Santana Aurora one more negative word out of your mouth and you will not be allowed to speak for the next five minutes," Shelby scolded.

"But it's all true!" she cried.

"No my darling girl. It is not true. You are a beautiful, talented, smart, young lady and I am proud to be your Miss. You deserve the best, because you are one of the best girls I have ever come across," she told her.

"No one will ever love me, because I'm not worth it," she cried, tears slipping down her face.

"Look at me Santana," Shelby said kindly. "Look at me and listen very carefully. I know you hurt, and I know you're scared, but you do not get to say mean things about my pet, about my treasured love. No one has the right to do that and you and I are going to go up to your room and sit in your chair, and you are going to remain quiet and write for me, ten good things about my Santana Aurora Lopez Corcoran Schuester," she told her, being sure to use all five names.

Santana let the tears fall and shook her head no. There were no good words to describe herself. They simply didn't exist, because she was never a good thing to any person, in her entire life. Her parents didn't really care, and in college, she was on her own. Answering the ad in the paper had given her a brief moment of hope, in the knowledge that she would be taken care of, sexually at least, in return for being submissive to another person and that sounded good to her for some reason. Now she had been asked to clean and she broke the glass vase that was sitting on the side table. It was an accident and Shelby knew it, but Santana couldn't wrap her head around it and was now blaming herself for a simple accident and saying horrible things about herself.

"Yes my love, that is what we're going to do, come on," she said, very gently took hold of Santana's hand and guided her upstairs, where Quinn and Brittany already were, the two of them working on some dolphin puzzle that Brittany had asked for a few days prior when they'd gone out shopping. "Come on baby," she said and she pulled Santana into her lap once she'd sat down in the chair and Santana struggled for a moment.

"Please Miss, I can't," she cried.

"Shhh, no talking. Only writing and you can my love. You're just scared and I'm prepared to stay with you for as long as it takes until you are not scared anymore, and you write ten good things about yourself for me," she said.

"They don't exist," Santana cried.

"Shhh, no more talking Santana. Only writing. We are going to stay quiet for ten minutes and if you continue talking, I'm going to add time to our quiet time. You may take your time, but we are staying quiet, and we're not leaving here until you do, and I don't have anywhere to be for the next two days, so you can take all the time you need," Shelby told her.

"How long did it take you anyway? I just remember you weren't at dinner that night because you fell asleep on Mama's lap," Quinn said.

"Two hours," Santana said and they heard Rachel sob and turned to look, seeing her shift, uncomfortably and then they turned back around. They didn't want her to feel as though she was being watched intently.

"Alright stand up for a second, get comfortable," Will tried and he helped her to her feet and she wiggled around. She wiggled around and pressed her body into him, and then carefully turned so she was facing the stool. She then tried to bend over, effectively pushing her hips back into the tops of his thighs and Shelby turned around in time to see it.

"Will!" she said scolding him.

"Alright, calm down," he said, having already taken a step backward. He carefully took Rachel into his arms, turned her around and helped her to sit on her little stool. "Fourteen minutes young lady," he said sternly.

"Mama," she wailed.

"Mama is right there," Will said kindly and he pet her face gently. "Rae-rae is here because she has to learn. There is no presenting in this house," he tried, and she fell forward and cried into his shoulder, but didn't move off the stool. He hugged her to him and Shelby gave him a look of annoyance. "Don't you look at me like that I've seen you do the same thing," he said and she rolled her eyes, handed him a few tissues and then put the lasagna in the oven, before guiding the girls out of the kitchen so Will and Rachel could spend some time together.

"Fourteen minutes," she said to Will sternly.

He waved her off and pet Rachel's face gently. "Shhh, you're doing very well baby, we're just sitting here. Do you remember why? Do you remember what Mama said the reason was?" he asked her gently and she nodded. "That's good baby girl, I'm very proud of you. I would like you to take a few breaths and calm down, and then you can tell me why Mama wants you to sit down on this stool for," he said pausing for a moment to look at the clock, "only thirteen more minutes. You're doing very well sweetheart," he said and she nodded and tried to speak, but all that came out were gasping breaths. "Shhh, take your time sweetheart. There is no rush my darling girl," he told her.

She was quiet for two whole minutes and then looked at Will cautiously. "No, presenting," she pushed out.

"Very good my darling girl. That is wonderful and also correct. No one wants you to present yourself to anyone at all. You should have never been taught to do that in the first place. You are an amazing, beautiful, talented, and wonderful person. You are not an object that should be used whenever someone wants to. That is not how a pet should be treated, ever, my darling girl," he told her.

"Have to," she pushed out.

"No you don't baby. You do not have to present yourself to anyone ever," he said.

"Yes, stay here, yes, present," she said getting worked up again and gasping for breath.

"Shhh, alright, let's calm down a bit. You're doing well and we're almost done," Will said kindly and in the other room Shelby sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to spank him?" Quinn asked curiously with a glint of playfulness in her eyes and voice.

"I"m going to make sure that your sister does as she is told and Daddy doesn't stop her early," Shelby said and she gave Quinn and Santana a quick kiss and went into the kitchen. "Seven minutes left," she said kindly and Will gave her a pleading look, but she simply shook her head. "You are doing very well Rae-rae, Mama is very proud of you, and you're half way done now," Shelby told her and she knelt down next to Will, both of them in front of Rachel and Rachel didn't know what to do with herself. Here were two people sitting in front of her, praising her for doing as she was told, telling her how proud of her they were, and they weren't using her. They weren't laying out what was going to be done to her after the seven minutes were up. They were being gentle and acting concerned, and all she could do about it was cry.

"Mama," she wailed.

"I'll leave my girls to each other," he said kindly and Shelby waited, as patiently as she could for Rachel to finish her seven minutes, and once she did, Shelby lavished her with praise and released her from her stood and took her into the bathroom to help clean her face. "My big girl, I am so proud of you. You did so well. You sat on your stool for fourteen minutes, and Mama is very proud of you for following directions so well," Shelby praised her and then she very calmly did as she said she was going to do. She carried Rachel into the family room and held her tight in her lap. She applied gentle words and a very firm pressure, to help establish some kind of calm in Rachel's body.

Shelby was able to hold Rachel and she stayed very still with her, not talking to her, just being gentle and reassuring with her, which was about the time Quinn came over. "I don't mean it this way, but it's going to sound like I'm talking about you as if you're not here. May I continue?" she asked and Rachel simply nodded. "Mama is going to sound like she's talking about you as if you're not here too, are you sure you're okay with it?" Quinn pressed gently and Rachel nodded again. She didn't care what happened right now. "Mama, I want to talk about what happened please," Quinn said.

"That's good baby, what do you want to know?" she asked her.

"Why did she have to stay so long?" she asked.

"Rae has a rule. When she presents herself, she now has to sit in time out for two whole minutes. I want her to understand that presenting is wrong," she said.

"Why is it wrong Mama?" Quinn asked honestly. "Don't we present ourselves when we go to parties?" she asked.

"Your version of presenting and Rae's version are two very different things. When we go to parties, how do you present yourself? What does it mean to you?" Shelby asked her. Quinn was her most inquisitive young lady and Shelby never wanted to discourage that.

"We ask a Master or Miss if we can play with them, or if they would play with us, and we show them our wrists, so that they can take hold of us and lead us to play, or to check with you and Daddy," she said.

"That is correct and when someone says that playing will happen, what is the first thing the pet in question is asked to say and required to answer correctly?"

"Our safe words," Quinn said thoughtfully, still not quite connecting the dots for herself.

Shelby nodded and smiled. "That is correct, very good, now, when Rae presents, what does she do?" Shelby asked.

"She gets down on her knees and shows us her bottom," Quinn said.

"Indeed she does, and I don't think it's because she's offering up a delicate part of her body to show trust," Shelby said.

"Is that why we do it?" Quinn asked.

"May I see your wrist?" Shelby asked and Quinn gave it over willingly. She trusted her Miss. "This is a very delicate area baby, and because of that, we ask you, or anyone, to show that part. That is presenting a delicate part of your body to someone you know because you trust them to treat it and you, gently and with respect," she said and Quinn nodded.

"Rae's bottom is super delicate," Quinn reasoned.

"Yes it is. Now when you present your wrists, you go off to play and you establish a safe word before you go. When your sister presents, it's because she expects to be used, violently, and she doesn't have a say in what does and does happen to her," Shelby said and she dropped her chin for a moment and looked down at Rachel. "Does that sound right baby?" she asked knowing that Rachel was listening very intently. Rachel simply nodded her agreement.

"Now, because you haven't listened to directions and broken the rules, you need to be punished. You are going to be punished where you feel it the most. Anytime you make a mess, you are going to feel the mess in your area, where you make your mess," Vincent said sternly and he grabbed her pony tail and very forcefully put her down on the floor. He shoved her shoulders down until they were on the floor and then he reached under her belly and pulled her up, so that her ass was high in the air. "This, belongs to me! I get to use it when I want, how I want, end of discussion," he barked at her.

Rachel shivered and snuggled closer to Shelby. "Is it cold Mama? Is she okay? Does she need more blankets?" Quinn asked with concern. She hated when anyone shivered.

"Shhh, wait Quinnie," Shelby said kindly, although she was very stern at the same time and she looked down to see Rachel's eyes clouded over. She was off reliving a memory of some kind and apparently it was not a happy one. She let her have her memory and waited for the memory to stop and Rachel to come back to her. However, that wasn't the exact scenario. It was the oven timer going off, that snapped Rachel out of her head. A bell tone sounded, her body opened up, her bladder released, and she curled tighter into Shelby, just crying. Everything this afternoon, at home, had sucked. "Oh my baby," Shelby sighed and she lifted Rachel fully into her arms and rocked her gently in her lap.

"Mama, I want to help you," Quinn said.

"I would like that very much baby girl, thank you," Shelby said. "Come. You and Mama and Rae-rae are going to go upstairs. First we are going to get Rachel changed, and then we are going to sit in the special chair in Mama's room, and simply cuddle, because I think my darling baby girl is very stressed and needs a proper rest," Shelby told her, feeling as though she was dealing with a true toddler. Rachel was out of her mind with fear and frustration.

"Sanny's right, she really does have good lungs," Quinn said kindly as they climbed the stairs to the bedroom. She finally got Rachel settled and Quinn spoke gently. "Mama, I remember going to Miss Alli's house and I saw her holding Kenzie, and Kenzie had a pacifier, and she was drinking from a bottle. Does Rae have to do those things?" she asked.

"No my darling. She's not a baby. She's shown no desire to do that. The only desire she shows is needing love and affection, so that is what Daddy and I are honoring. We will give her as much love and affection as she needs," Shelby said and Quinn nodded.

She took a seat on the little foot stool in front of them and spoke softly. "Mama and Daddy are really good at that Rae. They help us all the time when we need it," she explained. "Do you think it would be okay if I stayed and we just talked a bit?" Quinn asked and Rachel nodded her agreement. "Well I know your favorite color is purple. I'm green, Bree is blue, and Sanny is red," she said kindly, starting out with as easy a topic as she could think of.

"Eyes," Rachel hiccuped.

"You can close your eyes if they hurt," Quinn offered kindly. "Mama is good at singing, maybe she can sing to you.

"No, Quinnie, eyes, green," Rachel said, her words coming out in short stutters, indicating she was still extremely stressed out.

"Yes, maybe that's why I like green," Quinn smiled. "Maybe I can tell you a story?" she offered and Rachel agreed. "This story will make you show you how wonderful Mama and Daddy are okay?" she offered and Rachel didn't respond. Shelby gave a slight nod and Quinn continued. "When we first got here, we were a mess. A complete and total mess. All three of us. We were afraid of doorknobs and the freezer, and we didn't like anything cold. We still don't. So one day, maybe within the first two weeks, Bree got very sick and she had a really high fever. Aunt Terri came over and told us she was going to take her temperature. I'm fairly sure Sanny had a heart attack when she heard that. We were not treated well by our previous Miss, and she would often take our temperature for no reason, and it wasn't a very pleasant feeling. When Sanny screamed, Bree and I started to cry, because we were so scared. So Mama saw everything that was going on and decided she and Daddy were going to fix it, and we were going to do everything very slowly, as a family," Quinn explained.

"Sanny, gave an epic fight about the entire situation and finally we ended up here, in this room. Mama was sitting right there and she had Bree on her lap, like you are now. Aunt Terri was sitting here where I am, and Daddy, Sanny, and I were on the bed. Aunt Terri had brought a bag and in it was a simple ear thermometer. She showed it to us first, let us hold it, touch it, and then to prove it was okay, she took Mama's temperature, then Daddy's. Once she did that, she asked Brittany permission to take hers and Bree gave it. She saw it was safe, because Mama and Daddy had done it, and there was no yelling involved. Everyone was so calm and so supportive, it just made everything easy," Quinn explained.

"B-ee sick?" Rachel asked tiredly, her eyes swollen from crying, and her speech incredibly young.

"She had a bad cold and an almost high fever, so Aunt Terri said she had to have a cold bath to calm her down and when she said that Brittany started crying and screaming and fighting to get away. We don't like cold. You know how bad things happened to you? One of the bad things that happened to us, was ice, and a lot of it. We would have to suck on it, and nothing else, or Miss Kate would put it on different parts of our body, sometimes in our body, and so we don't like being cold. It brings back terrible memories, and Bree was scared we'd have to deal with ice again," Quinn explained.

"That is right," Shelby said kindly when she realized Rachel didn't seem to believe Quinn's story. "It wasn't easy, but it had to be done to reduce her fever. Bree needed help to have her body cool down," Shelby said.

"How Mama?" Rachel asked tiredly, curling tighter into Shelby, but keeping her eyes trained on Quinn, even though they were fighting sleep.

"I'll hold your hand, so you know I'm still here, but you look very sleepy. Why don't you close your eyes?" Quinn suggested. Rachel nodded and took Quinn's hand and then closed her eyes.

"Well the first thing we did, was get Bree to stop crying and we got Quinnie and Sanny to breathe. Everyone did breathing lessons for twenty minutes, including Daddy, Mama, and Aunt Terri," she explained. "Once we were all calm, we all took a journey into the bathroom and Mama showed Bree, that the way to cool down her body was with a cold cloth. All Bree had to do was let Mama sit next to her and put the cold cloth on her forehead. She learned that we were trying to help her and the thermometer we used was for her ear and no one else. We very slowly and gently built trust with your sisters, and we know it's going to take time to build that trust with you," she explained.

"Rae-rae, Mama and Daddy, and us girls, we love you. I know it's hard and scary, but we do love you, and I know it's hard, but I want you to remember that if you want to be young and a really little girl, then it's okay. No matter what, we want you to just feel safe okay?" she asked but it was too late, Rachel had closed her eyes and was now sleeping.

"Quinnie, you my darling are an amazing girl, and I am so proud to call you my daughter," Shelby told her.

"Mama, no one gets Rae, but us, okay please?" she asked.

"I promise baby, only we get Rae," Shelby told her.