I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.

Thanks for the great feedback for the last chapter!

In case any of you missed it, I posted a Family Portrait one-shot a little while ago. It's called "Fighting sleep and kicking Batman's butt"

R&R please.

Chapter 37

"Hi, Shelby." Shelby pauses in the middle of the staircase and looks down at the grinning Santana that's waiting for her at the bottom. Santana giggles, beaming up at her. "Hurry up, Shelby!" Santana exclaims, giggling again and rushing away from the bottom of the stairs. Shelby raises a brow. What on earth? Did she just call her Shelby? No, that's not happening. That is definitely not happening. "Come find me, Shelby!" Shelby sets her jaw and continues walking down the stairs, following the sound of Santana's voice to the kitchen. She finds Santana crouching underneath the table, her hands firmly pressed against her eyes.

"Come out from underneath the table please, Santana," Shelby requests, a slight frown on her features.

"I'm not underneath the table, Shelby," Santana retorts, stifling yet another giggle. Shelby sighs,

"yes you are. I can see you," Shelby tells her, "and stop calling me Shelby."

"Nuh uh," Santana fires back. "I can't see you, so you can't see me," Santana explains. "It's commoners sense, Shelby," Santana adds seriously.

"It's common sense," Shelby automatically corrects the girl. "Stop calling me Shelby," she repeats, firmer this time.

"But that's your name, Shelby," Santana argues, still covering her eyes. "The man on the phone said that was your name. Don't lie, Shelby, it's naughty." Shelby takes a deep breath, calming herself. She frowns,

"wait, what man on the phone?" Shelby looks around the room, spotting her cell phone on the kitchen counter. That's not where she left it. "Santana," Shelby groans. She picks up her cell phone and looks through her recent calls, seeing her mother's doctor at the top of the list. "Santana, how many times have I told you not to play with mama's phone," Shelby questions seriously, crouching down to look at Santana. Shelby gently pulls Santana's hands away from her eyes, "Santana?" she urges.

"Shelby?" Santana mimics her mama's tone of voice.

"Stop it," Shelby scolds. "It is rude and disrespectful to call mama by her name. To you, my name is mama," Shelby sternly explains. Santana doesn't even blink, she just continues to stare at Shelby with a sly smirk on her lips.

"You're being mean, Shelby," Santana states smartly, looking extremely proud of herself. Shelby glares at the girl, her patience wearing extremely thin.

"Don't be so rude, Santana!" Santana's gaze whips up, and she stares in surprise at her aunt Cassandra. Where did she come from?! "I've been trying to get in touch with you for most of the morning, dad's outside in the car," Cassandra directs to Shelby. "Mom's awake," she adds seriously.

"She is? When did she wake up?" Shelby questions, standing back up to her full height.

"A couple hours ago, I've been calling you since then and even her doctor tried you," Cassandra explains. "I told dad to wait outside because I didn't want to freak the girls out," she adds, glancing at Santana. "What's going on?"

"Santana was screwing around with my cell phone and pretty much being a terror this morning," Shelby sighs as Brittany and Quinn rush into the kitchen. She smiles slightly as she watches them throw themselves at Cassandra, bombarding her with excited questions.

"Hide!" Brittany suddenly yells, spotting Santana underneath the table and scrambling to join her.

"Nooo," Santana whines, "I'm hiding here," Santana scolds her younger sister, attempting to push Brittany back out from under the table. "Go find your own hiding place," Santana states grumpily.

"Alright, that's it," Shelby says loudly. "Santana, come out from underneath the table right now," she demands. Santana doesn't move. "Santana," Shelby warns. "I'm gonna count to three, and if you are not in that corner," she points to the nearest empty corner, "I will drag you out of there myself and you will not like what will happen next." Shelby locks eyes with Santana, staring the girl down. "One!" Santana scowls, "two," Santana shuffles out from underneath the table, scowling at her mama as she slopes to the corner. "Quinn, make sure your sister stays there," Shelby states, "Brittany, stay with your sisters," she adds, motioning for Cassandra to follow her out of the kitchen.

"Are you gonna bring the girls, or are you gonna ask Holly to look after them?" Cassandra asks as she older sister leads her into the living room.

"I er.." Shelby hesitates, "I'm gonna stay here with them," she says softly. Cassandra frowns,

"but...mom's awake," she murmurs. "You've been sitting at her bedside since you found out she was in there," Cassandra says, confused. "Why don't you want to go and see her?"

"Because she's awake," Shelby replies gently. "I love her, and I'm glad she woke up, but I don't want to pretend that we have a relationship when we don't. She's still mom, still the same person who is against my lifestyle and, more importantly, still against my girls. I'm relieved that she's okay, but I'm not going there," Shelby softly explains. Cassandra looks like she wants to argue, but she falters. She can understand that.

"She knows you've been there," Cassandra carefully states. "She knows you were visiting her all the time."

"It wasn't a secret," Shelby shrugs.

"You know that I love the girls more than anything, right?" Cassandra murmurs. Shelby sighs softly and soothingly rubs her sister's arm,

"I know," Shelby states with a small smile. "Don't feel guilty about going to see mom, I know it doesn't mean anything against us," Shelby promises her. "Maybe one day she'll want to reach out like dad did, but until then...I need to put my girls first."

"I get that," Cassandra smiles. "Are you going to talk to them about New York?"

"Not yet," Shelby shakes her head. "I need to talk to their adult selves first, and they're happy as their little selves right now. Maybe tomorrow, before they go to school," Shelby states. "Tell dad I said hi." Cassandra studies Shelby for a moment before nodding.

"You want me to call you later? Fill you in on her condition?"

"Sure," Shelby smiles, "I'd like that."

0-00-0

"Tell her you're an astronaut!" Santana giggles behind her hand, leaning back against Quinn as they sit in front of the computer, Santana on Quinn's knee.

"I don't know how to spell that," Quinn murmurs to her younger sister, grimacing as Santana wriggles around. "You've got a bony butt," she grumbles. Santana, just to be annoying, wriggles a little more. "What about a vet? I could tell her I'm a vet," Quinn whispers.

"Yes!" Santana agrees, "do it. do it." She struggles to stifle her giggles as she watches her sister send another instant message. "What did she say, Quinn?" she eagerly asks, leaning forward. "What did she say?!" she impatiently asks again, not giving Quinn a chance to answer.

"She's still typing," Quinn quietly replies, glancing behind her to make sure they're still alone. "You gotta be quiet, you're speaking too loud," she softly reprimands Santana. Santana huffs,

"mama's putting Brittany to bed, she's gonna be ages yet!" Santana stares at the screen, her eyes lighting up when she hears the little beep that signals a new message. "Read it, Quinn!" she hisses, trying to keep her voice down.

"She's asking how old we are," Quinn mumbles, peering over Santana's shoulder to get a proper look at the screen.

"Tell her we're super old!" Santana excitedly states. "Like, twenty!" Quinn rolls her eyes,

"twenty isn't old, Santana," she responds, her tone of voice clearly saying 'duh'. "I'll tell her we're thirty."

"That's, like, super old," Santana gasps, "do it!" she giggles. Quinn stretches her arms forward and types out a response, the task getting more difficult as Santana's body shakes with the force of her giggles.

"She won't say how old she is," Quinn frowns, causing Santana to pout. She thinks for a moment, "that must mean she's older than thirty," she gleefully states.

"How do you know?" Santana demands, looking thoroughly confused.

"Because old ladies don't like to say what age they are," Quinn explains wisely. "That's why mama doesn't like us asking people how old they are," she adds. Santana twists around and gazes at Quinn in awe,

"you're so smart," Santana breathes out. Quinn beams, nodding in agreement.

"What are you ladies up to?" Both girls stiffen when they hear Shelby's voice, Quinn scrambling to minimise the page on the screen. Shelby frowns. She can tell by their sudden panic that her girls are up to no good. Narrowing her eyes, Shelby steps forward just as Santana jumps off of Quinn's lap and sprints from the room. Shelby almost laughs out loud. It takes her a moment to pull herself together and control her amusement, but she finally does. "What's going on in here?" Shelby questions, looking around the kitchen. "You know you're only supposed to use my laptop if I'm supervising," she gently chastises.

"Sorry, mama," Quinn states, trying to be as adorable as can. "We won't do it again," she adds, attempting to run past her mama. Shelby firmly, but gently, grabs Quinn's upper arm and stops the girl from running out. She gazes at her suspiciously, her eyes narrowing at the angelic expression on Quinn's face.

"What were you two up to?" she questions.

"Mama, I really need to pee," Quinn whines and Shelby sighs. She's pretty sure Quinn is just saying that so she can leave, but Shelby can't risk not letting her go.

"Alright, go." Quinn grins at her mama and rushes after Santana. Shelby narrows her eyes again and walks across to the kitchen table. She sits down in front of her laptop and looks at the open pages, rolling her eyes. In Quinn's haste to hide whatever is it they were doing, she hadn't completely closed the page...only minimised it. She pulls up the page and scans the conversation in front of her. Shelby's eyes widen. Not only were her girls talking to a complete stranger on the internet, but they're also pretending to be a completely different person. Shelby doesn't think she has ever been more furious with her girls. Stalking out of the kitchen, Shelby quickly makes her way upstairs and briskly walks towards Quinn's bedroom. She finds both girls on Quinn's bed.

"Hi, mama!" Santana chirps, blissfully unaware of her mama's anger.

"Downstairs," Shelby grinds out, "now." Quinn and Santana both sit up a little straighter, their eyes wide. Shelby is seething, and it takes every ounce of her self control to stop herself from spanking them both right here, right now. "Downstairs!" she repeats, her anger flaring. Neither Quinn nor Santana question her, and Shelby watches as they scramble to get off of the bed. They rush past her, Santana already on the verge of tears. Shelby takes a deep breath, counting to ten in her head. She knows she can't deal with them while she is so angry, she needs to calm down. She just can't believe that her girls would do this. Shelby remembers seeing a television show called 'catfish' and her blood boils.

Nobody ever truly knows who they're talking to on the internet, and knowing her girls had lied to someone, who could have easily been vulnerable, knowing they were saved by their anonymity pisses her off. It also scares her. It completely terrifies her to know that her girls could have been talking to some old creep. She walks further into Quinn's bedroom and slumps down onto her bed. There is just so much going on. First, the job offer and her mom's medical issues and now her girls are messing with people on the internet. No matter how hard she tries, Shelby just can't calm herself down. Shelby can't decide which emotion is stronger, the anger or the fear, and she has no idea how to deal with this. One part of her wants to punish Quinn and Santana, and another part just wants to hug them. One thing that she is completely sure of is that she needs to ensure that her girls understand that talking to strangers online is a bad idea.

0-00-0

Quinn glances sideways at Santana as they wait on the sofa for their mama to come back downstairs. She hadn't seen her mama look so mad since she and Santana had pulled those pranks on Dave on vacation. She's worried, and Santana looks downright terrified. Quinn wraps an arm around Santana and Santana lays her head on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn can feel her shaking and she feels bad. This had been her idea. Santana, as impressionable as she is, had instantly agreed to messing with all those people online. She didn't want her big sister to think she wasn't cool, and she didn't want her to think she was a wimp.

"Mama looked really mad," Santana whimpers into Quinn's neck, sniffling loudly.

"I know," Quinn murmurs. She wants to comfort her little sister, but she doesn't know how to. She knows that there is nothing she can say to calm her sister down without lying to her. She can't say that mama would be okay about it, because that isn't true. Quinn doesn't want to get Santana's hopes up. Her heart thumps wildly in her chest when she hears one of the stairs creak, their mama is coming downstairs.

"Quinn, she's coming," Santana cries out, gripping onto Quinn as tightly as she can. Quinn hushes her softly and rubs her back, feeling extremely guilty for getting Santana involved in this. It was just supposed to be a little bit of fun, but her mama's reaction had told her that she didn't view it like that. Quinn hears Shelby walk into the kitchen, and is devastated to see her mama walk into the living room a moment later, the laptop in her arms.

"Mama..."

"No," Shelby cuts Quinn off, holding up her hand. "Don't speak. I want both of you to sit there quietly until I speak to you," Shelby tells her firmly. Quinn nods, watching as Shelby sits down on the armchair and opens the laptop. She keeps her gaze on her as Shelby starts looking through all the past messages that the girls had sent, her expression growing more and more grim the further back she goes. Quinn can tell that her mama knows that they've been doing this for a while, and she knows that she's in even bigger trouble now.

"Mama, I have to go potty," Santana mumbles, her brows knitting together. Shelby sighs and gazes at Santana over the top of the screen, trying to work out if Santana is telling the truth.

"Go to the bathroom, and come straight down when you're finished," Shelby tells her. "I mean it, Santana. Straight back down. You won't like what will happen if I have to come up there and get you," she threatens. Santana nods frantically and rushes from the room, she doesn't want her mama to be even madder at her. Quinn chews on her bottom lip, wishing she wasn't on her own with her mama. She may be the older sister, and the one to comfort Santana, but she feels a little braver when her sister is sitting next to her. Shelby glances at Quinn for a fleeting moment before going back to looking through the laptop. She's still reading through everything when Santana rushes back into the living room. Finally, she closes the lid and places the laptop onto the coffee table. Shelby sighs softly and crosses one leg over the other as she studies her girls. She notices Quinn's stubborn attempt to look like she isn't worried, and she certainly notices the scared tears on Santana's cheeks. She hates that. As furious as Santana can make her at times, she never wants the girl to be scared of her.

"Santana, why are you crying?" Shelby questions, though not unkindly. Santana sniffles loudly and wipes her nose on her sleeve, causing Shelby to grimace, and stares at her mama.

"I'm scared, mama," Santana whimpers.

"Of me?" Shelby pushes, never removing her eyes from Santana.

"No, mama," Santana murmurs, frowning. "I'm scared of getting my butt spanked." Shelby is relieved. Santana isn't scared of her, just the punishment for her behaviour. That's normal. Shelby falls silent again for a few moments, choosing to watch her fidgeting girls instead. She's not at all sure of how to deal with this tonight.

"Why did you do it?" Shelby questions simply, her voice void of any emotion. Santana glances at Quinn, her chin quivering. She doesn't know why she did it. She just did. Shelby doesn't need Santana to voice this for her, she can easily read it on her face. She sighs. Santana, as much as she can be a little troublemaker, sometimes just goes along with things for the sake of it...to impress her older sister.

"It was just supposed to be fun, mama," Quinn timidly replies. "I just...I thought it was fun," she lamely adds.

"I will be taking the laptop away, and none of you will be using it for a long time," Shelby tells them. "Tomorrow, we're going to have long chat about what you did wrong and I will be messaging all of these people and telling them that they have been lied to. We're not going to deal with this tonight because I'm too angry," Shelby states honestly. "I want both of you to go upstairs and start getting ready for bed, I will come up in a few minutes to tuck you. Santana, I will help you if you need me to. Go now," she strictly instructs.

"Yes, mama," Quinn mumbles, pulling Santana with her. Shelby watches them leave and sighs softly. She has so much to deal with. She still has to have a proper chat with Santana about her behaviour this morning, and now she has to deal with their behaviour from this evening. She knows she can't just punish them and move on from this. They need to be properly educated about the dangers of the online world, and also taught that they can't just trick people in the way that they have. She stands up and carries the laptop back into the kitchen, switching the coffee machine on as she passes. She knows she's going to have a long night. Shelby makes her way upstairs and heads into Santana's bedroom first. She finds Santana tangled in her pajama shirt, and she automatically helps her.

"I tried, mama," Santana murmurs sadly.

"I know you did," Shelby responds. She helps her girl finish changing and urges her to get into bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Shelby sighs and looks down at the extremely sorry looking Santana. "I wanted to talk to you about this morning," she begins, watching Santana's pout deepen. The girl had obviously forgotten about that. "It's rude and disrespectful to call me by my first name. I'm your mama, and that's what you should be calling me," she quietly scolds. "Mama is disappointed that you didn't listen to me about that this morning, and I am also unhappy that you wouldn't do as I told you."

"I'm sorry, mama," Santana mumbles, her gaze downcast. "I won't do it again," she promises.

"I hope not, because you will be in a lot more trouble next time," Shelby firmly states. "Now, I know you and Quinn were really naughty tonight and you will be punished tomorrow, after big girl Santana gets home from college, okay?" Santana nods, fresh tears leaking from her dark eyes. "I'm very unhappy with your behaviour tonight, but I still love you very much and that won't ever change, no matter what you do," Shelby reassures her.

"I love you, too," Santana whispers. "I'll try to be better." Shelby smiles sadly,

"I don't need you to be better," Shelby softly says, "I need your behaviour to be better. I love you just the way you are, you are perfect and couldn't be better if you tried. It's just your behaviour that upsets me at times." Shelby studies Santana carefully, making sure she is getting through to her. She knows that Santana still has huge insecurities and she won't ever stop herself from reassuring her, no matter how naughty she is. She leans forward and kisses Santana's cheek, "goodnight, baby girl."

To be continued... anyone who follows me on tumblr knows why this was late. To anyone who doesn't, I apologise for the wait.

Next chapter will be a loaded one. Please review.