A/N: Thanks for all the love! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

On a side note, I've received a few messages telling me that i'm stealing the idea's of another story. I have never stolen anyone else's ideas, and started writing this before even reading the story I'm being claimed of copying. While there are other stories out there about Rachel's fathers' being abusive, I feel like that's where the similarities end. But I have messaged the author, and if it comes down to it, I will delete this story. I don't like drama and I don't like people telling me my work isn't original I intended on this chapter to be much longer but decided to stop when all of this came to light.

…

Rachel's blood ran cold at the automated message that began playing as she held the phone up to her ear. She was never told what prison her dad and daddy were sent too for holding until the trial, but she also didn't know anyone else currently sitting in prison who would want to make a phone call to her.

After being prompted by the automated voice, Rachel shakily pressed one to accept the call and waited with bated breath.

"Pumpkin?" Her daddy Hiram's voice flooded through the phone, and Rachel found herself smiling at the nickname despite herself.

"Hi, daddy." Rachel said softly, not missing the questioning look that Quinn shot her way.

"I'm so glad you picked up." He said earnestly. "I really need to talk to you."

Rachel stayed silent, and Hiram took that as his cue to continue. "Rachel, I'm so sorry for losing my temper on you. You are my child, and I should have never laid a hand on you, no matter how angry I was. Even if it was only one time." He said innocently. "I know that your father is the one to blame for the majority of your injuries. I guess I just got caught up in the mob mentality. You understand that, don't you sweetie?"

"Yes." Rachel said after taking a shuddering breath. "I understand, daddy."

"So, I've been thinking," he started, "maybe at the trial you can just testify against your father, and not me. That way I can get out and take you home, and you and I can start fresh, just the two of us." He said sweetly. "Honey, your father's temper rubbed off on me, and I can promise you that I will never hurt you again."

"But what about Shelby?" Rachel asked quietly. "She has full custody of me now."

"Oh don't worry about that sweetpea. Once I get released the contract will go back into effect and I'll get sole custody of you." He said cheerily. "We can be a family again."

"What contract?" Rachel asked, feeling her heart rate pick up.

"Shelby didn't tell you?" Hiram asked, feigning innocence. "Honey, when your father and I found Shelby we drew up a contract for her to sign once she became pregnant. The contract stated that she was not allowed to contact you until you were eighteen, thus giving up all parental rights. It also stated that she would be paid her twenty thousand dollars once you were born. I thought you knew that." He tsked.

Rachel felt her eyes well with tears and immediately turned her back to Quinn, embarrassed that her new found friend was seeing her like this.

"I have to go, daddy." Rachel sniffled. "It was nice talking to you."

"Ok, pumpkin. Think about what I said."

Rachel went to speak but was cut off when the line clicked, signaling that her daddy had hung up. She stared at the phone in her hand blankly, her mind racing a mile a minute.

"Rach?" Quinn said gently, "What's going on with your dads'? Are you ever going to tell me?"

Rachel shrugged off the hand that Quinn had delicately placed on her shoulder and stood up.

"I need to go home. This afternoon has been lovely, but I have a lot of last minute packing I need to do before Shelby and I leave tomorrow."

Rachel didn't miss the flash of hurt and disappointment that went across Quinn's face. She quickly turned her back and made her way to Quinn's car, leaving the blonde to pick up the remnants of their picnic. But Rachel couldn't find it in her to care, she was too caught up in her own thoughts, replaying the conversation she had just had with her daddy in her head.

Shelby had willingly signed a contract terminating all of her parental rights. She had been paid to have Rachel. Was that all she was to Shelby, a paycheck? Had she been lying to her this entire time? Shelby had been telling her from the day that she moved in that she had always wanted Rachel from the start, that giving her up had been the single biggest regret of her entire life. But if that was true, why did she willingly give up her rights as a parent? And why hadn't she told Rachel about the contract or the money in the first place?

Maybe she should take her daddy up on his offer, she thought. It was true that Hiram had been the more level headed one of the two. It was usually LeRoy who had preferred to use his hands instead of his words. But that wasn't to say that Hiram was innocent. He had been the first one to hit her in the first place. It had only been once, but he was the first to ever lay his hands on her. But at least with her daddy she knew what to expect, she couldn't say the same with Shelby.

"Rach?"

Rachel snapped her head over to Quinn and noticed they were sitting in Shelby's driveway. Had she really been lost in her thoughts for that long?

"Sorry, I spaced out there for a second, my apologies, Quinn." Rachel said while simultaneously reaching for the handle to let herself out.

"Hey," Quinn said, wrapping a gentle hand around her forearm to stop her, "I'm here if you need me." She said sadly. "Have fun in New York, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back." She said, giving her arm a light squeeze.

"Thanks, Quinn." Rachel said lightly. "I'll see you when I get back."

With that, Rachel got out of the car and slowly made her way up to the house, her stomach filling with more and more anxiety with each step she took. She didn't want to face Shelby right now, All she wanted to do was lay in her bed and get lost in her thoughts. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Shelby had literally handed her over to two men for some easy cash. She didn't know how she would even be able to look the woman in the eye at the moment, let alone speak to her.

Rachel slowly made her way into the house and started quietly heading for the steps, her shoulders sagging when she saw Shelby was currently walking down them, headed straight for her.

"Hey, baby!" She said cheerfully. "You weren't gone very long. Everything okay?" She asked, coming to a halt in front of Rachel, placing a quick kiss on her forehead, causing the younger girl's stomach to roll.

"Everything's fine." Rachel said, pulling away from Shelby's lingering touch. "I have packing I need to finish up and wanted to make sure I was well rested for the airport in the morning." She said, avoiding Shelby's piercing eyes.

"Okay." She said, and Rachel could tell she wasn't quite buying it. "I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

Rachel gave her a nod in response before quickly stepping around her and darting up the stairs towards her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and fell into a heap on her bed, letting the tears she had been holding back since stepping into Quinn's car fall freely. She spotted the box of cards Shelby had given her sitting on her nightstand, and in a fit of rage, swung her arm out, effectively sending the box crashing to the floor, along with her lamp.

Rachel winced as the lamp crashed to the ground, shattering into dozens of pieces.

"Rachel?" Shelby yelled, "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice getting closer.

Rachel just stood and stared at the broken pieces of the lamp along with the cards that were scattered around her floor, not bothering to look over when an out of breath Shelby came flying into the room.

"What's all this?" Shelby asked her, taking in the scene in front of her. "Honey what's wrong? Are you hurt?" She said, taking a step towards her.

"Don't touch me." Rachel said, taking a step back.

"Rachel?" Shelby questioned again, and Rachel could hear the confusion and hurt that was laced into her voice. "Baby, what's wrong?"

Rachel had to refrain from laughing when the nickname rolled from Shelby's tongue. Now she was her baby, but what was she to Shelby sixteen years ago when exchanged her for a check?

"You lied to me." Rachel seethed, her tiny body shaking with rage. "You've been lying to me this entire time. Do you know how stupid I feel?"

Shelby looked at her with a face full of confusion. "Rachel, what are you talking about?"

"I was nothing more than a paycheck to you." She yelled. "You signed a contract and gave up all your parental rights for money. Believe me, I want nothing more than to make it to Broadway one day, but even I wouldn't stoop so low and sell my own flesh and blood to get there."

Shelby's face paled and she took another step towards Rachel. "How did you find out about the contract?" She whispered.

"You're not denying it." Rachel laughed humorlessly. "You actually sold me to them so you could go off and try to be a big Broadway star."

"That's not true." Shelby said, grabbing onto her wrist when she attempted to turn her back. "Rachel, that's not true. All surrogates get paid, and they all have to sign contracts. This wasn't a special case." She said pleadingly. "I was just following the rules."

"Yeah, well most surrogates are using someone else's eggs, not their own. They don't have any relation to the child they birth, you did."

"You're right, I did." Shelby said defeatedly. "And like I've told you before, it is my biggest regret." She sighed. "And if it makes you feel any better, I never took the money from your fathers'. I left it at the hospital with a note asking them to save it for your schooling when you get older."

Rachel studied Shelby intently and she could clearly see the older woman was telling her the truth. But that didn't take away the hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me about the contract?"

"Because I was ashamed." Shelby answered without a moment's hesitation. "You're exactly right, I had given up life's most precious gift. I was young and thought I was doing a noble thing, that giving a baby to a family who so desperately wanted one would be easy." She said, smiling gently when Rachel tentatively sat down next to her. "It wasn't until I heard your heartbeat for the first time that I realized how big of a mistake I was making, but by that point it was too late, I had already signed the contract and there was nothing that I could do. And believe me, I tried Rachel. I went to five different lawyers but they all told me the same thing. There was nothing I could do to get out of the contract."

Rachel nodded and ducked her head in shame at her outburst, wishing she would have just asked Shelby calmly instead of making herself look like a child. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. "I understand if you don't want to take me on the trip anymore."

Rachel sunk into the embrace she found herself being wrapped in and rested her head against Shelby's shoulder.

"It's okay, this is a very confusing time for you, I understand why you were so upset. I should have been honest with you from the get go about the situation regarding your birth, and I'm sorry that I wasn't." Shelby said gently, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "And there's no way were missing this trip, I've been looking forward to it for far too long."

Rachel smiled and nuzzled further into Shelby's shoulder. "But there is something I need you to do for me." Rachel looked up expectantly and Shelby brushed a couple stray hairs out of her face. "After we get your lamp cleaned up, I think you should read a couple of those cards. Do you think you can do that?"

Rachel looked to the floor where the cards lay before looking back up to Shelby and giving her a nod.

Shelby smiled and placed a kiss to her temple before standing up. "I'm going to go get the broom, I'll be right back."

Rachel waited until Shelby left the room to let her shoulders sag. She truly knew how to screw things up.

...

A few hours later and both Rachel and Shelby had eaten dinner rather quietly before Shelby had decided she was going to go up to her room to get a good night's rest. Rachel leaned into her touch when she kissed her goodnight before deciding a couple minutes later to head up to her room as well.

Rachel washed her face and brushed her teeth before putting a couple of last minute things into her suitcase that was sitting by the door before heading over to her bed.

She pulled back the covers and climbed in, reaching for the box of cards that had been neatly picked up and placed back on her nightstand a few hours prior. She shuffled through the dozens of cards before finally settling on one that didn't look like the rest. It wasn't in a fancy envelope, and it didn't have happy birthday scrawled across the top. It was simply a piece of paper folded in two, and it stuck out to Rachel. If it wasn't a birthday card, or a holiday card, it meant that Shelby was thinking about her even on a normal day.

August 5th, 2000

Hi baby! It's me again. It's a gorgeous day here in New York City, and I hope it's just as beautiful back home, wherever you are. I can't believe you're going to be starting kindergarten in a few weeks, baby! Time is flying by. I'm so sad that I'm missing all of these first moments, it kills me. I hope you know that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you. What you look like, what you act like, if you can sing, if you like singing, I have so many questions. I hope you're the happiest little girl in the world and that you're being spoiled with more love than you know what to do with. I love you, baby girl. I hope you have a great first day of school. I wish I could be there, but know I'll be thinking of you. Always

Love, mommy.

Rachel placed a hand over her mouth to cover the sobs that were escaping, not wanting to alert Shelby she was awake.

Even on a random afternoon Shelby was thinking about her, missing her, loving her. Rachel could practically feel the emotion pouring out of the letter and knew for certain that Shelby was telling her the truth earlier today. Rachel was missed by Shelby. But more importantly, Rachel was loved by Shelby.

She quickly brushed at her eyes and placed the letter off to the side, not wanting it to get lost in the mix. She leaned back into her pillows before pulling out another card, determined to read them all tonight.

…

The next morning came much too quickly for Shelby's liking. She groaned at the pounding in her head as she rolled over to shut off her screeching alarm.

After Rachel had gone to bed Shelby had snuck back downstairs to pour herself a healthy glass of wine. One glass turned into two, and two turned into the whole bottle. And now she was sporting a raging hangover and didn't feel any better about yesterday's events.

She felt like a failure. The look of absolute betrayal on Rachel's face was burned into her brain. She felt like she was constantly letting the girl down, and she didn't know how to stop.

Shelby sighed and got up, making her way towards the bathroom to shower, hoping it would clear her head.

She emerged from her room a half hour later fresh faced and ready for the day. She walked into the hallway getting ready to go downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee and was surprised to see that Rachel's bedroom door was still shut.

The girl in question had mentioned to Shelby yesterday she would be getting up at seven so she could get a workout in before she had to get ready for the airport. Shelby took a glance at her watch and saw it was nearly nine. If Rachel didn't get up soon they would be late.

"Rach?" She said knocking softly, listening for any sound of movement before slowly opening the door. "Oh, honey." Shelby sighed, taking in the sight before her.

Rachel was fast asleep, sitting up against her head board, her bed scattered with the dozens of cards and letters Shelby had wrote to her over the years.

Shelby moved to pick them up and placed them gently back in the box before sitting on the bed and running her fingers through Rachel's hair. "Wake up, baby. We have a plane to catch."

She smiled as Rachel stirred and snuggled in closer to her side. Shelby continued to play with Rachel's hair until the younger girl finally opened her eyes and stared into Shelby's.

"I'm sorry for yesterday." She whispered, sitting up fully and leaning against Shelby's arm. "I shouldn't have said the things that I did. I just was so hurt and that isn't an excuse, but I am sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, Rachel. I think I would've reacted the same way if I was in your shoes." She said, putting her arms around the girl and pulling her onto her lap. Smiling when Rachel didn't resist. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret what I did. I hope you know that."

"I do now." Rachel said, gesturing towards the box. "I love you."

Shelby fought the tears that she could feel building in her eyes at Rachel's declaration. "I love you too, baby." She said, giving the girl a squeeze. "Now you better get your butt up or we're going to be late!"

Shelby laughed as Rachel quickly scrambled off of her lap and ran towards the shower, shouting something about her morning routine.

Maybe she wasn't screwing everything up.

…

Three hours later and Shelby settled into the seat next to Rachel on the plane, letting the girl have the window seat. She smiled at the girl's excitement at being on a plane for the first time. After a half hour of being in the air, Rachel had finally settled down and had dozed off with her head resting against Shelby's shoulder. The older woman couldn't help but smile down at her precious daughter.

"She's your clone, she's beautiful." The woman in the aisle seat said gently to Shelby.

"Thank you!" Shelby beamed, never tiring of hearing people point out her daughter's resemblance to her. "I think so too."

A half hour later and Shelby gently shook Rachel awake, knowing that they would be landing soon.

"We're almost there baby!" Shelby said excitedly to the groggy teenager. "I wanted to give you a chance to wake up a little bit."

Rachel nodded sleepily, turning to look out the window, her eyes widening in amazement at the sight before her. "Mom! Look!" She squealed, pointing down to the city below.

Shelby's world stopped for a minute. For sixteen years she had imagined being called mom and how amazing it would be. But even her wildest imaginations didn't compare to this moment. She didn't think it was possible to love another human being this much. Oh how wrong she had been.

Shelby leant over and rested her chin on Rachel's shoulder, choosing instead to look at her daughter's ecstatic face rather than the cityscape below.

"Welcome to New York, baby."