Hello fellow readers. I'm back with another chapter. Thanks so much for those of you who left reviews. I enjoy reading them. I will be having some small time jumps in the next few chapters.

Chapter 10

Sunday seemed to go by in a blur for Rachel. She loved every minute spent with her mom. As much as she was looking forward to seeing her friends on Monday, she did not want the weekend to end nor did she want to share her mom with work and school.

She learned that her mom could be super affectionate. She loved how she never really had to ask for a hug that her mom somehow just knew and would pull her in tight when she needed comfort the most. Shelby would also make it a point to comb her hair before bed and sing her to sleep. It was the small things her mom would do like this that made her feel so loved. Those were the little things that she never had growing up in foster care and won't take for granted.

They had spent the better part of Sunday decorating her room. There was now an assortment of throw pillows and a bookshelf for any books she may want to read. They even painted the room a soft yellow. Shelby reassured her that if she wanted to change the color later, she could. She also had this amazingly soft reading chair off to one corner of the room. All in all, it was a great Sunday.

Rachel was sitting down lost in thought as she ate her bowl of oatmeal with fresh strawberries. She was just about finished when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey bug, you got all your stuff for school ready to go?" Shelby asked walking around the island and placing her coffee cup in the sink and reaching for her portable coffee cup to pack with her to work.

"Yeah I got all my school things." Rachel said placing her bowl in the sink before turning to look at her mom, chewing her lip before speaking. "Thank you again for the new backpack, and other school supplies." She was thankful, everything she ever got before was either used or donated.

"Your welcome bug." Shelby says with a kiss to the top of her head. "Now let's get going before we are late. I have some things I need to take care of in the office before I get settled in my classroom." Shelby stated grabbing her cup of coffee and headed to the front door.

As Rachel waited in the front office for her mom to finish talking with the principal, she hoped her friends came soon because she was dying of boredom and the secretary kept staring at her. Sighing she took out her English book and thought why not read ahead. Halfway through the chapter she felt a hand on her thigh.

Smiling at her mom she leaned into her. "How did things go?" She asked.

"It went." Shelby replied with a neutral face. She did not want to worry or burden her child with what was going on with the Spanish teacher.

Rachel lifted a skeptical eyebrow and then just shrugged. "Can I walk with you to your classroom?"

"Of course baby girl let's go." She reached for her hand to help the small girl up and both made their way to her classroom.

Rachel made a stop by her locker first to place her books in her locker, while her mom left to her classroom.

"Hey Jew babe." Noah said leaning against the locker next to her.

"Hey Noah. How was your weekend?" She asked closing her locker door and giving the young mohawk haired boy her full attention.

"It was okay I guess." He says duly with his hands in his pockets and his head bowed.

Rachel reached out a sympathetic hand and gave Noah's upper arm a reassuring squeeze. "Wanna talk about it?"

Peering up, he locked eyes with the small girl and only saw sincerity. "Maybe another time." He replies with a thankful smile.

He reaches over to grab her books and walks with his arm around her shoulders slowly guiding her to their shared homeroom class. "So I hear you have a cell phone now."

Rachel turns to see his face and lifts a questioning brow.

"I was wondering if I could have your number?" He asked rubbing the back of his head with his free hand nervously.

She furrowed her brows for a minute wondering if her mom would let her have his number? She wondered if she should ask permission first. Shrugging her shoulders, she decided why not, he's been nothing but sweet to her and a great friend.

"Sure you can have my number." A large grin spreads across her face as she sees Noah's eyes light up.

Both kids walk into their homeroom class a few minutes early and see Santana sitting in the back.

Running the small girl practically throws herself at Santana hugging her tight. "Missed you too short stack." Santana beamed.

They all settled quickly, and the small group of friends chit-chatted until the bell rang.


It was mid-morning and Rachel was sitting in Science class reading the assigned pages before Mr. Miller called for the class's attention. "Okay so you all know that we have a group project coming up and I am assigning partners." He begins to instruct Ignoring the sighs from his students. "I will pair everyone in no particular order. You will have 3 weeks to complete this project."

Rachel is drumming her fingers along the edge of her desk while she waits to see who her partner will be. She hoped it wasn't that Ben kid he was really creepy.

"You have got to be kidding me?" She hears Kitty shout unpleasantly in the back of the class. She turns her head in that direction only to be met with a withering glare.

"Miss Berry? Did you hear what I said?" Mr. Miller stated in a scolding like manner.

Whipping her head around to the front of the classroom she met her teachers gaze with a questioning eyebrow.

"As I was saying before. You and Kitty will be partners on this assigned project." He held up his hand silencing any protest either Kitty or Rachel had. "You both have 3 weeks and I want equal amount of effort put in by both."

Slumping in her seat she sighed. This day couldn't get any worse she thought. She hoped that if they both worked together, they could finish the project sooner than the due date. No way was she trying to spend 3 weeks with Kitty.

"Hey short stack." Santana calls from behind Rachel.

The small brunette smiles and rolls her eyes at the nickname.

"You want to eat lunch inside the cafeteria or outside on the quad?" Santana questions the smaller girl.

"I'm fine with whatever you want." Rachel responded, placing her books in her locker.

"Well I know Britt likes to eat outside when the weather is nice."

Before Rachel could reply she was being lifted up and twirled around.

"C'mon Britt, put her down." Quinn states with a laugh.

"I missed you this weekend." The tall blonde said, placing Rachel back on the floor.

"I missed you too Birtt." Rachel replies with a smile. "Let's head to lunch, I'm hungry." She says pulling Brittany's hand as she leads her down the hall.

"So do you have any plans this weekend?" Quinn asked after taking a sip of her drink.

Chewing her food, she swallows before answering. "Um, not that I know of." Lifting a questioning brow. "Why did you guys have plans?"

"Yeah we wanted to go to the festival this coming weekend." Brittany states in between handfuls of grapes.

"Yeah we go every year and want you to come with." Santana says swiping some fries from Quinn's plate.

"Hey, get your own fries." Quinn scowls at Santana.

"Why? Yours taste better than mines." Santana replies with a playful smirk.

"Really? Let me try." Brittany leans over the table to grab a fry. She makes a face before responding. "Well they taste the same to me Sannie." She concludes.

Rachel smiles at her friends. "I'll ask mom if I can go."

The group continues to playfully bicker and finish their lunch, and before they know it they are headed off to class once again.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly and she was ready to go home and relax with her mom, but Shelby had texted and said she would be a few minutes late meeting her. She was to stay with Santana out front by one of the benches and wait for her.

She arrived outside before her friends, so she sat on one of the benches to wait for them and Shelby. She was reading her English book while she waited when it was abruptly snatched away. Looking up she came face to face with Kitty.

"Give me back my book Kitty." Rachel stated in annoyance. Did her former foster sister have to be such a brat?

"What you gonna do about it troll." Kitty sneered.

"Fine don't give it back." She replies dismissively, she lived in a house where there were extra copies of the book anyways. She'd just tell her mom what happened.

Kitty was momentarily thrown off. She thought for sure Rachel was gonna make a scene. "Look I'm not here to argue. I just wanted to see when we can meet up and start this science project." Crossing her arms. "How about this weekend?"

Shaking her head. "This weekend won't work. I may have plans." She comments with a neutral expression. "Maybe tomorrow, I will have to talk with my mom first though."

"Plans? Who would make plans with you or willingly spend any time with your loser ass?" Kitty scoffs.

"Starting problems again Kitty?" Santana comments from behind the short blonde with her arms folded.

"This doesn't concern you Satan." Kitty growled.

"Would you stop Kitty. This is getting old don't you think?" The small girl remarks exasperated.

Shelby had been filling out last minute paperwork as far as emergency contacts for Rachel in the front office. She was walking out of the building and to the spot where Rachel Santana were to meet her.

Coming to a stop she sees Brittany holding down an angry Santana, while Quinn was trying to calm an equally angry and frustrated Rachel. Shelby begins to walk and picks up the pace of her steps when she sees Rachel lunge at Kitty, but thankfully Quinn was quicker and was holding her back.

"Enough" Shelby commands in a stern voice.

All the kids stop immediately. Rachel is slumped and her head is bowed. She could tell her daughter was extremely upset. Santana looked like she was worried of being in trouble. While Quinn looks exasperated.

"What on earth is going on?" Shelby questions hands on her hips. She waits for a minute and still no one speaks.

Turning her eyes on the taller brunette. "Care to explain what happened Santana?" She questions with a lifted brow.

Slightly intimidated, Santana decided to just shrug her shoulders not making eye contact.

"Okay so no one wants to talk? How about I count to 3 and if no one speaks up then we can walk inside to the office and have a chat with the principal." Shelby said threateningly.

She really hoped that the kids didn't make her follow through with the threat. "One...Two."

"Okay, okay." Rachel relents. She did not want to be in trouble because of Kitty.

The small girl takes a deep breath before retelling what took place. "Kitty came and snatched my book from my hands while I was waiting for Santana to come out of the building."

"Hey, I did not snatch the book from your hands I just simply tugged it." Kitty adds offended.

"She was telling Rachel things like 'why would anyone want to hang out with a loser like her.' And that's what I heard when I came out to meet with Rachel." Santana shares, sending a glare to Kitty.

Taking deep calming breaths Shelby did not want to snap at this child in front of her. "Okay Kitty, this isn't the first time you upset Rachel with your hurtful words." She lifts up her hand silencing any protests from Kitty. "This needs to stop. This is your last warning. As a matter of fact, I will make it a point to talk with the principal if this continues." Shelby stated pointedly at Kitty.

Not wanting this to drag on Rachel took careful steps towards her mom. She wanted to go home already, and Kitty took that opportunity to run off to her bus.

Shelby met Rachel's large wide eyes. Sighing she brought her obviously nervous kid into a hug. She smiled when the small girl melted into her. "Okay bug, let's get going." She gently coaxed.

"Are you mad at me?" Rachel asked with watery eyes. She hoped she wasn't in trouble.

"No love, not at all." She replies lovingly. "But we can talk about it more when we get home okay."

"Okay mama." Rachel said leaning her head into her mom's chest for comfort.

Absolutely loving the mama term Shelby placed a kiss on the top of her head and ushered both her and Santana to her car.

The girls said their goodbyes to Quinn and Brittany and made their way to Shelby's car.


"Hey those are my grapes." Rachel whines with a pout.

"What can I say your grapes taste better than mines, and besides I ate all of mine already."

"Then go get some more and stop stealing people's food." She scowls.

"Whatcha gonna do about it short stuff?" Santana teases playfully with mischief laced in her voice.

Seconds later she found herself under Rachel. She shrieked when she felt the small girl tickle her sides.

"Ahh okay.. o-okay I will not t-take your food n-no more." Santana says in between laughs.

Leaning up the small girl smirks. "Next time you take my food without asking I will tickle you until you pee." She threatened with a twinkle in her eye.

"Noted now get off me before-"

"Girls what's going on in here?" Shelby asked walking into the library. She heard some noise followed by laughing. "Rach, what are you doing on top of San?" She questions hands on her hips. Honestly, she wasn't upset. She thought it was cute.

Eyes wide she quickly gets off of Santana. "She kept eating all my grapes. So, I sort of tackled her to the floor and began tickling her." She explains as nonchalantly as possible.

"Oh really?" She looks to Santana with a raised eyebrow. "San, let's not eat other people's food without asking first." She gently scolds, "And you." She says addressing her child. "Let's not attack people and torture them with your clearly talented tickling fingers." Shelby says with a playful smirk.

Rolling her eyes Rachel was worried for a minute that she was in trouble, but it looked as though her mom was unfazed by their loudness. "Yes ma'am." She and Santana both replied.

Leaning down Shelby scanned over the work on the table. "Did you girls need any help?" She knew the girls were playing around but wanted them to at least finish an hour worth of homework.

"No we are okay. Thank you though." Rachel replied.

"Okay well if you both want some more fruit I have more on the counter in the kitchen and there is yogurt in the fridge okay." She didn't want them to go hungry and remembered how hungry she came home from school as a kid.

Both girls nodded and went back to their homework. Shelby was halfway out of the room when she heard Rachel call for her.

"Yes bug."

Rachel was kind of nervous. "Um, today in science class Mr. Miller assigned the class a project that needs to be completed in 3 weeks." She paused for a moment to tug some loose hair behind her ears. "I.. well I got paired with Kitty." She finishes with a frown.

"Wait a minute." Santana interjects sitting up straighter.. "You mean to tell me you have to spend 3 weeks worth of your time with that bi-"

"Santana Marie language." Shelby scolds firmly.

"Sorry Shelby, it just slipped." Santana says apologetically.

"Well let's not let it happen again." She said pointedly. "Your mother gave me permission to punish you if need be." She left it at that, letting the young girl to stew in her thoughts.

Rachel was panicking on the inside she looked over to her mom who wore a stern expression and then to Santana who wore a frightful one.

"Rachel baby?" Shelby asked in a concerned tone. The poor girl looked spooked.

Rachel flinched at the voice, even though there was no malice or anger in the tone she just felt jumpy.

"Oh baby come here." Shelby cooed gently. She brought the small girl into her side. "I'm not mad, okay. I just don't approve of foul language. You are both smart enough to use better words to express yourselves." She lectures.

Nodding into her mother's side. "Okay mama."

"Okay now, let's talk about you being partners with Kitty." She says with a sigh, sitting so both girls are facing her. "Okay how about this. I would feel more comfortable if she came here." She started to explain. "I know you don't want to work with her bug. I really don't want you working with her. But sometimes in life we have to work with situations that make us uncomfortable." Shelby reached out and took Rachel's hand in her own and held it for a moment before letting go. "Your time spent doing the assignment will be supervised. I will not allow her to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home." She says seriously.

Both girls also brought up the plans to go to the festival this coming up weekend and were hoping Shelby said yes.

"Well I don't see a problem with it. I think that I will be there, not hovering but I'll be somewhere close by."

Both girls finished their homework and decided to watch some movies in the media room until Santana's mom came.

Later Rachel was getting ready for bed when her mom came into her room holding a book.

She smiled when she saw the cover. "You bought me the first book in The Land of Stories?" Rachel said beaming with joy.

Sitting on the bed next to her daughter. "Well I kind of figured you liked to read and wondered if you wanted to, we could read it together before bed." Shelby stated hopefully.

"Really? You want to read a children's book with me?" The small girl asked with a surprised smile. She thought most parents stop reading to them like when they are 5 or something.

"Of course bug. I would love to read with you." She said lovingly bringing the small girl close to her and giving her a tight hug. In which the small girl sunk into her.

Shelby had just finished reading chapter one when she felt Rachel succumb to sleep. Leaning down Shelby kisses her head several times whispering I love you and tucking her in bed, before leaving to get ready for bed herself.


It was now Thursday after noon and Rachel sat sadly in her room. Maribel had come to pick up Santana early and her mom just informed her she had to leave to her lawyers and sign a few documents. Then she planned to go by the grocery store to pick up some items before coming home.

Her mother insisted that she was going to have a great evening with her aunt.

Shelby was going over the do's and don'ts with Stephanie. "I'm being serious Stephanie." She stated firmly.

"Okay, okay." She puts her hands up in surrender.

"I'm going to head upstairs and hug Rach goodbye."

Shelby slowly opens the bedroom door and sighs seeing the sadness etched on her daughter's face. It broke her heart to know that she'd made her baby this sad. It was necessary but it just seemed so wrong to leave her baby for the first time even if it was just for a few hours.

"Hey baby." Shelby calls as she walks over and sits on the bed besides Rachel.

Rachel leans in for comfort. "Do you have to go?" She questions with a pout.

"Yes baby I do. But guess what?" Shelby says tapping the small girl's nose. "You are gonna have a blast with your aunt." She says with a smile.

"Okay." Rachel mumbles reluctantly. "Can I hug you a little longer?" The small girl asked shyly.

Shelby spent 10 more minutes holding Rachel before she had to leave.


"So Rach. What would you like to do?" Stephanie asked after taking a bite of her slice of pizza.

Rachel just shrugged her shoulders. "Not sure. Whatever you want to do is fine with me." She replies pushing her plate away from her.

"Not hungry?"

"No not really." Rachel said sadly. "I miss my mom." She admits trying not to cry. She didn't want her aunt to think she was being a baby.

"Oh sweets don't worry she will be back soon." Stephanie says kindly. "So since we are done eating we should clean up really quick and head upstairs and put on a facial mask." She suggested excitedly.

"Sure we can do that. I have never had a facial mask on before."

"Well let's go."

They quickly put their plates in the dishwasher and put the leftovers away.

Rachel gazed into the mirror scrunching her nose. It looked like she had avocado cream spread on her face.

"Okay Rach it's time to remove the facial mask." Stephanie said looking at her phone. "But not before we take a selfie and send it to your mom."

They pose and send several different pics to Shelby, many with funny faces.

"I'm craving something sweet. We should go down and see what your mom has downstairs in the pantry." Stephanie says applying cream to her face after washing off the mask.

Rachel looked at her aunt then back in the mirror she was just about done applying her nightly face cream. "I'm sure we have something." She says taking one last glance at herself in the mirror before leaving and pulling her aunt out of the bathroom and down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Ugh! Your mom has nothing sweet in this house." Stephanie complained.

"Um we have plenty of fruit and yogurt." Rachel suggested. She didn't have much of a sweet tooth.

"That sounds healthy. I want something chocolatey or something." She said. Then all of a sudden, a wonderful idea comes to mind. "Hey how about we make our own cupcakes, you know like off of Pinterest or something?" She stated, like it was the best idea she ever had.

"Um is that a good idea?" Rachel replied unsure. "Do you even know how to bake?" She then questioned curiously.

"Semantics." Stephanie said bringing up a recipe that looked kind of easy. "How hard can it be? We will just follow the instructions on the phone." She said with a shrug.

They both set to gathering all the ingredients they needed and placed them on the counter in front of them. "Okay so it says to mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another than combine them." Rachel read out loud.

Nodding Stephanie grabbed a large bowl and found a sifter. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She pointed to the sifter in her right hand.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "How should I know? I'm the kid here. I can't even make scrambled eggs." She remarks with a raised eyebrow. What did she get herself into she thought?

Rolling her eyes, Stephanie sets it aside and tries to get some measuring cups out of the draw. "Okay it says we need 1 and 3\4 cup of flour." She said reading the recipe. "What if we don't have a 3\4 cup measurement." She asked, confused. Stephanie was not good with math.

"Um how about we google it." The small brunette suggested.

"OMG you are a genius." Her aunt stated hugging her close.

Rachel was carefully measuring what was needed as far as flour. She had a 1 cup measuring cup full of flour and was going to put it in a bowl they deemed the dry ingredient bowl. When all of a sudden, she lost her footing on something wet on the floor causing her to lift the hand holding the measuring cup of flour into the air and onto her aunt's face.

"Oh I am so sorry aunt Steph." Rachel apologized with wide frightened eyes. "It was an accident." She then added.

Stephanie on the other hand wasn't mad but mortified. She probably looked like a walking powdered donut.

Not thinking twice, the older brunette grabbed an egg from the carton in front of her and cracked it on top of her niece's head in retaliation.

"There now we are even." She states with a playful smirk.

Shelby had been gone almost 3 hours and she wanted to get home in enough time to help Rachel get ready for bed and read her another chapter of her book.

She unlocked the door and let herself in. She was going to go to the media room to see if her sister and daughter were watching a movie, but halfway down the hall she heard her daughters high pitch squeal followed by her sisters unmistakable laugh and what sounded like a pan falling from the kitchen counter onto the floor. She hoped beyond all hope her kitchen was still standing.

Shelby is completely left speechless at the sight before her. She has no idea if she should be mad that her kitchen looks like a cake factory blew up or laugh at the cuteness that was her kid running around trying to escape her sister who was chasing her with a carton of eggs.

Having placed the few grocery bags in her hands down on the floor. She placed her finger and thumb in her mouth making a loud and apparently unpleasant whistling sound.

Both brunettes stop dead in their tracks, eyes wide in horror.

Hands on her hips Shelby glares at both brunettes. "Would someone like to explain why my kitchen looks like a bomb went off?" She wasn't mad but wanted the two little mischief makers to squirm a bit.

Both Rachel and her aunt look at each other before both speaking at the same time. Both are yelling loudly trying to plead their case.

"Enough" Shelby commands. "I have half a mind to spank both of you and place you in the corner." Shelby stated seriously.

She watches as Rachel's eyes bug out, had she not been in character she would have laughed out loud, but maintained her stern expression. Her sister on the other hand remained indifferent and still had a slight twinkle of mischief in them.

Rachel's mind was reeling. Spanked! She's never been spanked before. She's been locked in rooms, denied food, shoved and man handled but never spanked.

She turned to face her aunt with a glare. "This was all your idea." She stated, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Me? You went along with it." She says with a shrug. "Making you just as guilty." Stephanie replies. The glare her niece is giving her is so darn cute. It was like looking at a mini Shelby.

"Me." The small girl stated incredulously, stomping her foot in frustration.

"Okay enough you two." Shelby stated. "Let's clean this up." She stated nonchalantly.

Looking at her mom like she had grown two heads. Wasn't she super mad just moments ago? She took a step back from her mom when she saw her walking in her direction.

Shelby tugged Rachel's arm bringing the small girl into her arms. "Shh baby, I'm not gonna spank you. I just wanted to scare both you and your aunt." She reassured.

Taking a moment to catch her breath. She takes a chance and glances up at her mom and sees no anger. "Really? You're not mad at me?" The small girl asks sadly.

"Nope. I'm a little peeved that my kitchen is a mess, but I have you and your aunt to help clean it up so it's not a problem." She replies with a smile.

Rachel unattached herself from her mom. "You're all dirty now." She says with a frown.

"No worries nothing the washer won't fix."

"You are going soft Shellybean." Stephanie comments wiping some flour off her face. "For a minute there I honestly thought you were gonna go all mom on us."

"That was the point I was trying to make." Shelby says with a smirk.

"Meanie." Stephanie announces with a foot stomp much like her niece.

She then walks closer to her sister with the carton of eggs still in her hands with an evil smirk playing at the tip of her lips.

"Don't even think about it." She stated, seriously moving Rachel behind her.

"Oh really, whatcha gonna do about it huh?" Stephanie teases.

Rachel thinks her aunt is insane to go up against her mom, but it's her funeral.

Before Rachel knows what's happening both her mom and aunt are running around the kitchen chasing each other. Eggs are flying and more flour is being thrown.

The small girl watched on laughing as her mom and aunt made an even bigger mess in the kitchen.

Rachel sat in the tub soaking after her shower. Shelby suggested it would make her skin feel better after being covered in eggs for a long period of time. That and it was really hard to get the gunk out of the small girl's hair.

Her aunt had taken a quick shower and borrowed some clothes from Shelby and left with a quick goodbye to Rachel.

Rachel won't admit it, even though she spent the better part of an hour helping her mom and aunt clean the kitchen. She had fun. Though next time there will be no cooking or baking involved.

Rachel is playing with the bubbles in the tub when she sees her mom walk in fresh from her shower and dressed for bed.

"Hey bug. How's your bath?" Shelby asked, taking a seat at the edge of the tub.

"It feels really nice. I've never had a bubble bath that I remember." She says scrunching up her face as if trying to recall if she had or not.

Shelby smiles sympathetically. "Awe baby I'm sorry. Well you can have as many baths as you want okay." She laughs when the small girl wiggles in excitement and bubbles move to their own accord.

"Mama?"

"Yes bug."

"Can you help me with my hair please?"

"Of course love. Always."

Shelby helps rinse her hair and then helps her dry off and get dressed for bed. She takes the time to braid her hair and help her to the large bed to be tucked in.

"Mama, are you really not mad that me and aunt Steph for making a mess out of the kitchen?" She asked with unsure eyes.

Sighing Shelby took a seat next to her daughter. She reached a hand out for her to hold before talking. "Okay bug, I want you to understand that I don't expect you to be perfect. I expect you to make mistakes and get into trouble. It's how we learn." She brings the small girl in for a hug before continuing. "If you want, we can go over expectations and consequences." She receives a nod, so she continues.

She scoots closer to the headboard to make herself more comfortable. "Okay love, I want you to know that I'm not overly strict. But I do expect what I ask of you to be followed." She presses a kiss to Rachel's head. "I just want you to be happy, being a kid."

"What if I get into trouble." Rachel asked with a pout at just the thought.

"Well I guess it depends. My rules are simple. Be respectful and truthful. I don't condone lying or stealing, and any disrespect. I don't appreciate tantrums and do not like repeating myself more than once."

"What if I don't understand something?" The small girl asked curiously.

"Then ask me. I want us to always communicate. If there is something on your mind, please tell me. Or if someone or something is bothering you, I want to know." Shelby replies caressing the small girls face loving.

"There will also be rules that I will go over as they come up. Like your trip to the festival with your friends I will most likely give you a set time to meet me. I want you to check in with text messages and stuff like that." She explains.

"What happens if I break a rule?" Rachel asked softly. She was worried she didn't want her mom to just get tired of her for being a troublemaker and give her back.

"Well that depends on what rule you break honestly." She says with a shrug. She really only had what examples she had growing up, and her parents were firm but fair. In this case she needed to be delicate. She hasn't always had Rachel and needed to take things slowly and take them as they went.

"For example, I won't flat out spank you if you forget to text me or leave your plate at the table or leave your room a mess." She explains.

"So you would spank me?" She questions with a sad pout not liking the idea at all.

"Baby like I said I am reasonable and will give you every chance, but in some cases yes, I will consider a spanking a suitable punishment."

"Like for TP'ing the principal's house?" She states with a mischievous smirk.

"You can say that." Shelby laughed.

"Well you did say the aftermath wasn't worth it." Rachel reached out a hand and patted her mom's upper leg sympathetically.

"Definitely not worth it." She says, settling closer. "Do you have any other questions?"

"What happens if I get in trouble at school?"

"Depends babe. If it's something that is a repeated offense, then I would think there needs to be a discussion about it then maybe a consequence."

"What kind of consequence?" Hoping her mom didn't say spanking.

"Well I would take something away. Or maybe give you an earlier bedtime or ground you from the media room or for the weekend, make you do some extra stuff around the house. Stuff like that."

The small girl leaned in to cuddle with her mom. Those seemed like reasonable consequences.

"You won't give me back if I'm too much trouble, will you?" She asked timidly.

"What? No of course not. You could be the most unruly child there ever was, and I would still love you just the same." She says firmly. "Baby I will never give you back. I will always love you even when you make a mistake and you will. I don't expect perfection. I just want you to be honest and I will always be honest with you."

Rachel laid herself practically on top of her mom's chest crying. She had never had anyone in her life explain what was expected of her. She had just been shuffled from home to home. Most of the time she was just invisible or a meal ticket for some foster parents. But she knew that her mom loved her if she was taking the time to explain expectations and most importantly, she knew that she would never be sent back and would always have her mom.

Both mother and daughter lay holding each other close. Shelby knew eventually Rachel would grow out of her shyness and test boundaries, and she was okay with that. Right now though she had a very unsure and doubtful little girl that just needed reassurance and love and that is what she was going to keep doing.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and if anyone has any ideas I'm open just leave it in the comments or PM me.

Spawn: I hope you liked the little bit of mischief both Rae and Steph managed to get into.