Saviour - What if the men Shelby gave her baby to hadn't been the loving parents she thought they would be

Rating - T

Characters - Shelby & Rachel

A/N -So, I had planned on ending this here, but I've had so many reviews and PMs that I think I might continue this. At least until the end of Rachel and Shelby's first week together, so let me know if you'd like to read more.

Rachel woke the next morning to find herself, once again, being cuddled by Shelby. She frowned as she tried to remember when she sought out her mother but after she gave her brain a minute to wake up she realised she was in the bed she could now call her own. She basked for a moment at the feeling, something most people would take for granted, she was laying on a comfy mattress under a warm duvet in her mothers arms. It was only once that thought had passed that she realised, for the first time in far longer than she could remember she'd slept right through the night without a nightmare, she shuffled slightly before smiling to herself, the bed beneath her was dry. What was it about Shelby that made her feel so safe? She'd known the woman for less than a weekend yet she already felt so safe, so loved. She felt like she was finally home. Rachel smiled as Shelby sighed happily and somehow wriggled closer to her daughter. Rachel glanced over to the clock, it was almost 8.30 on a Sunday morning, if she'd have been with her fathers she'd have been doing chores for nearly two hours now and part of her wondered if she should get up and do something to help Shelby.

"Stop thinking so loudly. I can hear your brain ticking." Shelby's sleepy voice made Rachel jump.

"I'm sorry" Rachel was quick to apologise, she didn't want to anger her mother.

"Don't be" Shelby mumbled, "do you want to talk about whatever's going through your head?"

"No" Rachel shook her head, "I, I don't, it's okay"

"Okay" Shelby shifted slightly so she could kiss Rachel's forehead, "now let's go back to sleep. New house rule, Rachel and Momma sleep til noon on the weekends, or at least 10.30"

"I need to use the bathroom" Rachel whispered. Shelby reluctantly loosened her grip on her daughter, "don't be long" she mumbled, "you're like my own snugly hot water bottle." Shelby waited for Rachel to come back to bed before taking hold of her once again, "do you want to get up?"

"It's only eight thirty fi..."

"It doesn't matter" Shelby said softly, "I'm not going to force you to stay in bed, if you want to get up then we can get up. We need to go grocery shopping anyway."

Rachel sighed, "I'm sorry I've stopped you sleeping in this weekend"

"Nonsense. I'd get up at 5am every day if it meant you were happy."

Rachel sighed again, "I guess I'm just used to not getting much sleep."

Shelby's eyes were already closing, "I'm sure we can change that" she mumbled, "just lay with me for a while?"

Rachel nodded, she didn't really have much choice with Shelby holding her like she was, she didn't even know why her Mom was in her bed but she wasn't going to complain, it was nice to feel loved, to feel like someone wanted her around, she relaxed into the soft cushions and to her mothers embrace and closed her eyes, she knew the chances of her falling back to sleep were slim but there was no harm in trying.

The next time Rachel looked at the clock she was surprised to see it was almost midday, "hey" Shelby smiled sleepily as she walked into the room, "did you sleep well?"

Rachel nodded, "yeah, I did thank you, I've never slept so late before."

Shelby climbed back into bed, "it is pretty late, even by my standards and I'm so lazy at the weekends its unreal." She moved the pillows so she could sit back against the headboard and waited for Rachel to do the same before wrapping her arm around her daughters shoulders and pulling her close.

"Have you been awake long?" Rachel asked as she leant her head on Shelby's shoulder. It surprised Shelby that Rachel was already so open with her, especially after she'd flinched from her touch on Friday, but Shelby had her daughter in her arms, she wasn't going to complain.

Shelby ran her fingers through Rachel's hair and yawned slightly, "not long, only about five or ten minutes. I woke up, went to the bathroom and when I came back from the bathroom you were awake."

Rachel nodded before quietly asking the question that had been playing on her mind since she'd first woken a little after 8am, "why are you in my bed?"

Shelby blushed slightly, "last night, after we said good night I went back downstairs cos there were a few things I needed to do, when I came up to bed I checked in on you and, it sounds creepy but I sat and watched you sleep for a while, you looked so peaceful. I guess I fell asleep talking to you. You can tell me if I'm being too clingy though, I won't mind."

Rachel shook her head, "I don't mind. It's nice I guess. My dad's were never into cuddling or anything."

Shelby sighed, "can we talk about your dads? I don't, I, you said yesterday they never gave you lunch, was there anything else like that that they did? I know it's not going to be easy to talk about darling but once I know about it we can work through it. I don't ever want to do or say anything that might upset you because of something they've done. We can go as slowly as you want to."

"I don't know where to start" Rachel whispered, shifting slightly so her head was buried in the crook of Shelby's neck. If she was going to tell the truth she didn't want to have to look at her mother as she did so, "they rang my teachers every month. If I had anything but straight A's they, Igotaspanking" Rachel mumbled quickly. "10 hits with the belt for every grade I was below an A. I remember one time I was struggling to get above a B in History and Gym and then I got a C in a maths exam. I didn't think I'd ever be able to sit down again."

Shelby sighed and screwed her eyes shut, willing her tears not to fall. "First things first that won't ever happen here. As long as you're trying the best you can then I don't mind if you're getting As or Cs. And secondly, are there any subjects you're particularly struggling with?"

"I sometimes get a B in gym" Rachel said with her head bowed, "and I sometimes struggle with maths."

Shelby nodded, "I can live with you getting Bs in gym, and as for maths it's not my strong point either, but if there's anything in particular your struggling with and I can't help you I'll ask around at Carmel, I'm sure one of the maths teachers there would be willing to give you a bit of extra tuition."

Rachel was shocked, her fathers never so much as asked if she had homework. Shelby had not only offered to help but offered to find someone else to help if she couldn't help herself, "you, you don't have to do that."

Shelby reached out and squeezed Rachel's hand, "I want to, I want you to be the the best you can be, and if that means you need a little extra help in some areas then so be it."

"I was only allowed out of the basement to go to school or do chores" Rachel admitted quietly without being prompted, "I slept on a pile of blankets on the floor, when I erm, when I had the nightmare they bought puppy training pads and took the blankets away. They they never gave me lunch money, they hardly ever gave me any money, all my clothes came from second hand stores, they'd give me maybe ten dollars to get new clothes. I had to take the receipts home so they knew I'd spent the money on clothes" She bowed her head, "they were always at work and they went away at the weekends, they always locked the basement door before they went, I, I..." She shook her head.

"Hey it's okay" Shelby moved to sit beside Rachel and pulled her into a hug, "you don't have to do this all right now. I'd like to get you a therapist though, someone that you can see on your own or we can see together to help you work though what happened, I, I don't want this to hold you back, I want you to be able to move on, would you be okay with that?"

Rachel nodded, "yeah"

"Okay" Shelby smiled, "we'll ask the doctor if they can recommend someone when we go but for now I want to show you something." She stood from the bed and took Rachel's hand, leading her down the stairs and pausing at a door by the kitchen, "this is my basement" she said as she flicked on the light and reached for Rachel's hand again as she felt the girl hesitate, "there are not and will never be any locks on the door and you're welcome down here whenever you like, you don't have to ask permission."

Rachel gasped as they reached the bottom stair, right in front of her was a full size grand piano and behind that a book case full of binders, "the binders are all full of sheet music. When I said earlier you could talk to me about anything I lied, I never want to talk about how the hell I managed to get a grand piano in my basement" she laughed slightly.

"Wow" was all Rachel could manage as she stepped further into the room. The wall at the far end was covered in floor to ceiling mirrors and there was a ballet barre stood in front of the mirror. It was only then that she noticed the floor by the mirrors was different to the rest of the room, "is that?"

"Yeah" Shelby nodded, guessing what Rachel was going to ask, "fully sprung. I used to dance a lot but now I mainly use the floor to do some yoga or something when I've had a bad day."

"Wow" Rachel couldn't believe it, this room was like heaven, and it was only as she turned round that she noticed several pieces of gym equipment in the area under the stairs.

"I usually go on a major health kick at the start of every year" Shelby saw Rachel looking at her 'gym', "it usually doesn't last much longer than the 4th of January" she laughed, "and it's easier to come down here than go to the gym." Rachel nodded, "so, as you can see, even if I did somehow lock you in here, which I promise I never will. It wouldn't really be much of a punishment would it?" She saw the doubt on Rachel's face. "I want you to be happy here. You said you love music so I want you to feel able to come down here and play something or dance, whatever you want, whenever you want. If you think it will make you feel more comfortable I'll take the door off the top of the stairs."

"No" Rachel looked stunned, "you don't have to do that, I'm sorry, I, I'll try harder to..."

"Darling" Shelby reached out to rest a hand on Rachel's arm. "You don't need to 'try' and feel comfortable, that's something that will come with time but my minds made up, I'm going to take the door off tonight. We could pick out a curtain or something to replace it. I'd get rid of every door in the house if it made you feel more comfortable." Once Shelby was sure Rachel had spent enough time looking around the basement she lead her back upstairs, "are you ready for breakfast?"

Rachel frowned, "but I'm still in my pyjamas".

"So am I" Shelby smiled, "does it matter?"

"I, we..." Rachel shook her head.

"Sunday's a day of rest" Shelby smiled as she began pulling things from the fridge, "I consider getting dressed not resting. Sunday is also the day of the pancake breakfast, is that okay with you?"

"I, I don't think I've ever had pancakes."

"Well then" Shelby tried to hide her dismay that the teen had never had something so simple as pancakes, "you're in for a treat baby girl. Do you want plain pancakes with syrup, pancakes with chocolate chips in or pancakes with blueberries in?" She glanced at Rachel and saw the girl was completely overwhelmed, "never mind, I'll make a few of everything."

"Wow" Rachel looked amazed as Shelby placed a large plate of pancakes and a jug of orange juice in the middle of the table before she put a smaller plate and a glass in front of Rachel and another plate and glass in front of herself.

"What would you like to try first?" Shelby asked

Rachel looked exactly how Shelby's young nieces and nephews looked on Christmas morning, "could I have a chocolate one?"

"Sure" Shelby put a chocolate pancake on Rachel's plate, "you can have as many as you like" she said, putting a couple of blueberry pancakes onto her own plate and watching as Rachel cut off a small piece of the pancake and slowly put it in her mouth.

"Oh my" Rachel's face lit up, "these are amazing. What's in them?"

Shelby smiled, Rachel's grin was infectious, "Eggs, flour, sugar, a little milk and chocolate chips."

Rachel swallowed another mouthful of pancake, "could you maybe teach me how to make them one day?"

Shelby nodded, she'd make pancakes every single day of her life if it meant she saw Rachel smile like she was now, "next Sunday we'll make them together" she promised, she saw Rachel finish her pancake and knew the girl wouldn't help herself to more, "how about a blueberry one next? Or a plain one and some syrup? We can pick up some more things for pancakes when we go grocery shopping later."

They sat in silence for a while until almost all the pancakes were gone, "I don't think I can eat any more" Rachel said quietly, "thank you though, they were delicious."

"No problem" Shelby smiled and cleared her plate, "I'll cover them and put them in the fridge, we can warm them up and finish them later if we get hungry, but while we're here I think we should talk about some rules" she saw Rachel's face fall, "nothing like you had at your fathers, I promise. I think we'll start with curfew, if you go out I'd like you to be in at 9.30 on a school night or 11 on a Friday or Saturday, obviously if there's something special going off then talk to me, it's not set in stone, if you need a curfew extension come ask me, if someone's parents are bringing you home and you get stuck in traffic or even if you just loose track of time then call me and let me know okay? Does that sound fair?"

"Yeah" Rachel nodded, "I, I don't go out much, I don't have friends."

Shelby smiled sadly, "maybe that will change now, you're allowed to be out until 9.30, you could join some clubs or something to try and meet new people."

"Yeah" Rachel smiled slightly at the thought, "maybe."

Shelby smiled, "you're almost fifteen so I'm not going to give you a bedtime, I'll let you go to bed when you like, but if there's ever a morning where you're so tired because you went to bed late, that you don't get out of bed when I ask or you oversleep, I'll make sure you're in bed by 9 the next night okay. I'm not into physical punishments Rachel, I hope I wont have to punish you at all but even if I do your punishments will never be physical, I will never hit you. If you stay up late and oversleep you'll go to bed early that night and the next night you'll be able to decide for yourself again, are you okay with that?"

"Yes" Rachel whispered, "thank you."

"It's okay. I'd like you to help out around the house too, nothing major, I don't want you to feel like you have to be my house keeper, I'd like you to keep your bedroom and your bathroom clean and tidy and make sure your dirty laundry is in the laundry room before I do the laundry, I'll give you plenty of notice, and I'd like you to help make dinner a couple of times a week. They're the main things, but y'know, anything you think might help, if you're in the kitchen and you notice the dishwasher has finished put the dishes away, if you hear the washer stop and you're not busy then move the clothes to the dryer. I don't want you to go out of your way to help though Rachel. There might be times when I ask you to vacuum the living room or mop the kitchen but I want you to have time to be a teenager Rachel, unless I ask you to do something I'd rather come home to find you watching tv than scrubbing the floor. I'll never ask you to do a lot and I don't want you doing more than I ask you to."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Last rule" Shelby said with a smile, "never call me Ma'am, it makes me feel ancient, you can call me Shelby, and hopefully one day you'll feel comfortable enough to call me Mom."

Rachel cracked a smile, "Okay."

"Can I add one last rule?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded, "you need to smile more often."

Rachel smiled again, she was sure that, with her Mom's love and support, that last rule would not be a problem.