A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for all the love. I'm so excited to see where this story goes. Enjoy the chapter!

…

For the last nine years, whenever Shelby imagined her daughter, she pictured a beautiful little girl. She would have olive skin and dark hair, hazel eyes and a wide smile. In some scenarios she would be athletic and strong, in others she would be a ballerina. In her dreams she was always smiling and laughing, and that's what would get Shelby through the rough days of missing her daughter, was knowing she was loved, happy and healthy.

Never once, in any of Shelby's daydreams was her daughter frail, sick, weak, dying. But looking at her daughter through the tiny window leading into the young girl's room, Shelby felt all of her hopes and dreams for her daughter shatter around her.

It wasn't until she felt LeRoy's strong arms pull her in for a hug that Shelby realized she was sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry." She cried into his chest. "I'm sorry."

LeRoy didn't respond, choosing instead to lead Shelby over to a row of chairs, sitting them down, and holding her.

"All the years I wondered what she looked like, and I would picture this beautiful, happy little girl." Shelby said softly a couple minutes later. "I never once thought she would be sick." She cried. "How did this happen?"

"Why don't we wait until Hiram gets here, okay? We can go over everything then."

"Okay." Shelby said softly.

In all fairness, she hadn't given the men much notice about coming. After her first initial phone call with them, she had let her director of the show know she was taking a few days off, went home and packed a bag and headed to the airport. Letting April know she was leaving, and for now was not making a statement to the press, and texted LeRoy she was getting on the first flight to Lima before shutting her phone off and she hadn't turned it back on since.

Shelby felt LeRoy stand, and glanced upwards, seeing Hiram walking in their direction.

"Shelby." Hiram said warmly, and Shelby stood, gladly stepping into his comforting embrace, feeling another round of tears at the back of her eyes.

When Shelby pulled away, Hiram cupped her face and smiled lovingly. "Still as beautiful as ever I see."

Shelby laughed and brushed away her tears, realizing for the first time in nine years that she not only missed her daughter, but she missed Hiram and LeRoy too.

"I've missed both of you." Shelby said softly when they settled around a nearby table.

"We've missed you too, Shelbs." LeRoy said, reaching across the table to take her hand in his own. "And we both want you to know how sorry we are for writing up that contract. We never meant it maliciously, we were just being selfish."

"It's okay." Shelby said earnestly. "I was never angry at either of you. I knew my daughter was in amazing hands. You two deserved to be parents more than anyone I knew, and I was more than happy to provide you with that." She said with a watery smile.

Both of the men squeezed her hands and they fell into a comfortable silence.

"LeRoy said you got to see Rachel earlier?" Hiram started gently.

Shelby nodded, her throat suddenly tight. "Yeah, I did. Through the window."

"Would you like to see a picture of her before she got sick?" Hiram asked softly.

Shelby nodded and greedily reached for the phone that Hiram held. She let out a soft sob when she took in the young face that looked so much like her own. Rachel was the spitting image of all of Shelby's dreams. From the long hair and olive skin, to the toned, athletic body. She was smiling from ear to ear, one of her front teeth missing, holding up a dripping ice cream cone.

"She looks just like you." LeRoy said after a minute. "She acts like you too."

Shelby smiled and wiped her eyes, handing the phone back to Hiram before meeting both of their eyes.

"How bad is it?" She asked, her voice shaking.

LeRoy sighed, and glanced at Hiram, signaling for his husband to take the lead.

"Rachel has Leukemia." He started. "She goes through chemotherapy twice a week. It was working for awhile, but the last couple of weeks, things have taken a turn for the worse. Her doctor thinks a stem cell transplant is her best bet, but neither LeRoy or I are a match, so she's on the donor list, and until then, she'll continue the chemo and hope for the best." He said sadly. "She's been in the hospital for close to two weeks now. We pulled her from school two months ago because kids were making fun of her for losing her hair. We're trying to keep her up to date on work and assignments, but if she makes it, I'm almost positive she'll have to repeat a grade."

Shelby flinched at the if in Hiram's sentence, not wanting to think about her baby girl not being on this earth anymore. Hiram seemed to notice Shelby's discomfort and immediately grasped back onto her hand. "I'm sorry, that was inconsiderate of me. LeRoy and I have had time to process all of this, and you haven't. Rachel is strong and I believe in miracles, but we also know we have to prepare for the worst."

Shelby nodded along, trying to wrap her head around all of this information. "I want to meet her doctor."

"Of course." LeRoy said soothingly. "She'll be here in a couple hours."

"I want to see if I'm a match for Rachel, for the stem cell transplant."

Both of the men sat silently, taking in Shelby's words before LeRoy spoke up. "Shelby, you don't have to do that. Think of your career. You'd be out of work for at least a week and a half, on top of the time off you're already taking now. You can't do that, especially now, you're about to get a Tony nomination!"

"I don't care about the show." Shelby said fiercely. "If it weren't for Rachel, I wouldn't even have a career. Everything I've ever done has been for her, always. That's not going to change now. I'm here mother and she will always be my top priority."

The men smiled and glanced at each other, knowing they made the right choice of letting Shelby into Rachel's life.

"She's a big fan of yours, you know." Hiram said lightly.

"Does she know? I mean, have you told her yet?"

"Yes and no." LeRoy started. "We told her we found her mother and that you wanted to meet her, but that was pretty much the extent of the conversation, she got sick shortly after and then fell asleep, and now you're here."

Shelby nodded, wringing her hands nervously. "Do you want me to go to my hotel until you have a chance to talk to her?"

"Absolutely not." Hiram said. "You can stay, and when Rachel wakes up we can all go in there together and talk to her. And while you're waiting for her to wake, you can go ahead and cancel your hotel reservations, you can stay with us."

Shelby smiled and sat back in her chair, the exhaustion of the day catching up with her. "Okay."

The next couple of hours were filled with the Berry men telling stories of Rachel growing up, and Shelby was caught between feeling upset that she had missed so many milestones, and happy that she was getting to hear about them. She was shown videos of her little mini me singing and dancing, and Shelby couldn't help but fill with pride knowing her little girl had inherited her talent.

During a lull in conversation, Hiram stood to go check on Rachel, leaving just LeRoy and Shelby.

"I just want to warn you, the chemo has made Rachel even more moody and emotional than she already was. So if she lashes out or doesn't seem over eager or excited when you two meet, please don't take it to heart." He said gently. "She has always talked about wanting to meet her mom and I know she wants you to be in her life more than anything."

"I understand. I can't imagine what she must be feeling or going through."

"Honestly, I think our biggest concern is going to be her getting over the fact you're her broadway idol." LeRoy chuckled.

"Give it a week and I bet she'll realize I'm just another boring, uncool mom." Shelby joked back.

"She's awake." Hiram called quietly from behind them. "Are you ready?"

Shelby stood, expecting to feel nervous, but was surprised when all she felt was calm. She was ready to be reunited with her daughter.

Shelby followed Hiram, allowing him to take the lead, with LeRoy bringing up the rear. Hiram gently opened up the door and poked his head in, making sure his daughter was decent.

"Sweetheart?" He called stepping in. "Daddy and I have someone we'd like you to meet."

Shelby took this as her cue and stepped into the room, locking eyes with her daughter for the first time in nine years. "Hi, Rachel."

Rachel took in Shelby, her eyes going wide, before she promptly burst into tears.

"It's happening isn't it?" She cried, LeRoy and Hiram rushing to her side. "I'm dying."

"Baby," Hiram said, rubbing soothing circles on his daughter's back, "what are you talking about?"

"My make-a-wish was to meet Shelby Corcoran and now she's here. You only get your make-a-wish if you're about to die." She wailed. "You promised you would tell me if I was going to die."

Shelby stood in the shadows of the room, her heart aching at seeing her daughter so upset.

"Sweetheart you are not dying." LeRoy said calmly. "Shelby isn't here because of make-a-wish. Shelby is here because she's your mom." He said, deciding to rip the band aid off.

This seemed to send Rachel even further into hysterics, and she started hyperventilating. "I'm going to be sick." She said.

Hiram reached back, looking for the basin that was usually present on the side table, but found it empty. "LeRoy where's the basin?" He asked, both men standing up frantically searching for it.

"Daddies, I'm going to be sick!" Rachel said more urgently.

Shelby watched as the little girl's body started heaving, and motherly instincts took over. She quickly stepped forward, cupping her hands, catching most of the bile in them. Rachel looked up once she was finished, her pale cheeks turning a shade of pink.

"Better?" Shelby asked gently, smiling softly when the girl nodded.

Shelby stood and walked over to the sink, shooting Hiram a grateful smile for turning it on for her while LeRoy comforted Rachel.

"You're a natural already." Hiram said before walking towards the bed.

Shelby took her time washing her hands, taking a moment to compose herself, before turning back towards the trio huddled around the bed.

"Rachel, I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now, and we are all here to answer all of them." Hiram started, motioning for Shelby to join them on the foot of the bed. "If you need space we will give you space, If you want Shelby to leave for a little bit, she can leave. If you want daddy and I to leave, we can leave. Whatever you need, baby." He cooed.

Rachel nodded, not taking her eyes off of Shelby. "I don't have any questions." She said calmly. "You already explained to me you had me through a surrogate, so Shelby was your surrogate." She stated. "I'm surprised I haven't seen it before, honestly. We both are very talented, and have incredible bone structure, it only makes sense that you would be my mother. You carry the same star power that I have. It's clear where I got my talent from, as it's obvious that it wasn't from either of these two." Rachel said, shooting her fathers' a glare. "By the way, daddies' I'm not happy with the two of you for keeping this information from me. And if I'm not dying yet, why would you drag Shelby all the way here, especially right before Tony nominations? And why are you here?" She asked, turning to Shelby. "Didn't you have a show tonight? Don't you have one tomorrow? Sorry for puking in your hands earlier, I'm highly embarrassed that I would do such a thing in front of a broadway super star."

Shelby blinked, trying to take in everything that was just thrown at her. How the fuck did Rachel talk so fast? She caught LeRoy's eyes, which seemed to be silently reminding her of their earlier conversation. Rachel wasn't seeing her as her mother right now, she was seeing her as Broadway royalty.

"Uhm, I." Shelby started, trying to get her bearings. "Your dads' didn't drag me here, Rachel. I wanted to come, I wanted to meet you, I've missed you."

Rachel cocked her head to the side in confusion. "How can you miss someone you've never met?" She asked innocently.

"Well, I carried you in my stomach for nine months." Shelby started, hoping to remind Rachel that she was more than just a broadway star. "And I've loved you since the moment I found out I was pregnant with you, and I have thought about you every single day for the last nine years."

"So much so that you're missing your shows for me, when you're about to be nominated for a tony?"

Shelby gently reached forward and grabbed her daughters hand, feeling tears spring to her eyes at the fact that she was touching her child for the first time in nine years. "If I had to choose between being a Tony winner or being your mom, I would choose being your mom every single time. Nothing is more important to me than you. No matter where we go from here, that's one thing I always want you to know."

Rachel looked at her, once again cocking her head, Shelby's words finally seeming to click in her head.

"So, you're Shelby Corcoran," she started slowly, "but you're also my mom, like my actual mom?" She asked nervously.

"Right." Shelby said, nodding softly.

"Are you only here because I'm sick?" She asked self consciously.

"No." Shelby replied honestly. "I've always wanted to meet you."

"Then why did it take you nine years to meet me?"

"Well," Shelby started, nervously glancing at Hiram and LeRoy, wondering how much they had told the girl. She didn't want to throw them under the bus if they hadn't told her about the contract, but she also didn't want to start out her relationship with Rachel lying to her.

"Honey," Hiram jumpin in, "it's our fault that Shelby hasn't met you before today. What she said earlier was true, Shelby has always loved you deeply from the day she found out she was pregnant." He cleared his throat, reaching over for his husband's hand. "Your father and I also loved you so much, and we were very selfish. We had a couple surrogates before you that didn't work out and we were crushed. We didn't want that to happen again, so we asked Shelby to sign a contract that gave up her parental rights, meaning she couldn't contact you until you were eighteen." He said. "I know this is probably very confusing for you Rachel, but we all love you and we all are here for you."

Rachel nodded and rested her head back on her pillow, taking in the three adults, her three parents, sitting in front of her.

"If you loved me so much, why would you give me up so easily?"

"Because I loved you so much." Shelby answered simply. "I know you may not understand that now, but one day when you're older you will. I wouldn't have been able to provide you the life your fathers' did. I was a broke twenty two year old, and I knew your fathers' could provide you with more than I ever could."

"Okay." Rachel said simply.

Shelby let out a sigh of relief smiling at both of the Berry men, before finally feeling how exhausted she was, she hadn't slept in over twenty four hours.

"Shelbs, why don't you run to the house and get a couple hours of sleep?" LeRoy said, seeing the exhaustion setting in on the woman's face. "I'll give you a key and you can come back later and meet Rachel's doctor."

"Yeah," Shelby agreed easily and stood up. "I'll bring back lunch on my way. Just text me what you guys want and I'll get it."

"Perfect." Hiram said, standing up to walk her out,

Shelby hovered over the bed, not suring how to say goodbye to Rachel, before finally leaning down and placing on tender kiss on the girl's forehead. "I'll see you later, babe." She said softly, before turning and heading out the door.

…

"It hurts." Rachel groaned a couple minutes after Shelby had left the room.

"What hurts, darling?" LeRoy asked, sitting down beside her and taking her hand.

"Everything." Rachel cried, a single tear slipping down her cheek. "Everything hurts."

"Rachel," LeRoy scolded lightly, pushing the nurses button. "Why didn't you say anything earlier? You know the best way to handle the pain is to stay ahead of it. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and looked away from LeRoy when realization finally set in.

"Rach, you don't need to be embarrassed in front of Shelby or put on a brave face for her." He said gently. "She loves you for you, and she isn't going to judge you. Did she seem grossed out when you puked in her hands?" He asked, waiting for Rachel to shake her head no before continuing. "You want to know why that is?" He asked, once again waiting for a nod before continuing. "Because she's a mom, your mom. You can be your complete self in front of her and she will love you no matter what. Just like me and daddy."

Rachel nodded and scooted closer to LeRoy, grasping his hand tightly. "But dad, she's Shelby Corcoran, she's legendary, she is everything I want to be one day." Rachel sighed dramatically. "I used to dream she was my mom, I would fantasize about it." She said nervously, glancing up to gauge LeRoy's reaction, continuing when he smiled encouragingly at her. "She's everything I ever dreamed of having for a mama, but it just doesn't seem real."

"It's real, darling. All the excitement and newness will wear off before you know it, and pretty soon, you'll find Shelby just as annoying as daddy and I." He said, chuckling when Rachel rolled her eyes. "Now why don't you rest up, I'm sure when Shelby gets back she'll be more than happy to answer all your broadway questions."

"Okay, I love you dad." Rachel said, already drifting off into sleep.

"I love you too, darling."

…

Shelby knew when she left the hospital that she couldn't go to the Berry's house and sleep, she had other business she had to take care of first. She sighed as her taxi took her down a familiar road and gulped when the driver pulled into the driveway.

Shelby's relationship with her parents had always been strained at best. They never supported her dreams, and even after she had finally made a name for herself, they were still disapproving. Shelby had only seen her parents three times in the last nine years. Opening night of Rent, The Tony Awards when she was nominated for best supporting actress and opening night of Wicked. She called on major holidays, sent cards for mother's day and father's day, and they called for her birthday, but that was it. They never went in deep conversations, and it was what Shelby had become accustomed too.

But she knew that she had to be here. It was bad enough her parents had probably already heard that they had a granddaughter from the press and not from Shelby herself. On top of that, she had shut her phone off, avoiding the phone calls from them she was sure she was receiving. Shelby had to step up and talk to her parents on more than just a surface level and explain to them why they didn't know their only grandchild. And to add on to their disappointment, she would have to be the one to tell them that their only grandchild was sick.

Shelby stared at the door for five minutes before stepping forward, knowing she would never be fully ready, and now was the best time to get it over with. She knocked gently three times and waited with baited breath, only releasing it once the door swung open.

"Hi mom."

…

I hope you enjoyed this! I have so many great ideas for this story and would love to hear what you all think! I promise there will be more Shelby/Rachel interactions in the next chapter!