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 -Really wanted to update this before I went on holiday but I couldn't get all the parts to link together how I wanted them to. I hope it was worth the wait!
The next couple of chapters will be Rachel's birthday Christmas so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen.
Shelby glanced over at Rachel on the drive home, it was the first day in a while that Rachel had gone without a nap and Shelby could tell her daughter was exhausted, both mentally and physically, "are you okay?" She asked Rachel. Rachel nodded but said nothing, "you look tired" again Rachel nodded but said nothing, "you can have a lie down when we get in if you like. Have a bit of a nap before dinner and then we'll have an early night."
"Will you lie with me?" Rachel asked quietly, speaking for the first time since they'd got in the car.
"I'll lie with you until you fall asleep but I need to call my Mom and Amy, I'll do that while you're sleeping, is that okay?"
Rachel nodded, she could hardly say otherwise could she. "Thank you."
"It's okay darling, if I'm not there when you wake you can come and find me, don't be afraid to walk around the house , you don't need to wait until I say it's okay for you to get up."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me darling, you're not staying in my house, you're living in our home, you have just as much right to get up and wander around as I do, and I'll warn you now, there will be many times when you walk into a room and find me trying to wonder why I'm in there."
Rachel smiled before yawning slightly, she knew nothing she could ever say or do would show Shelby how grateful she was for everything she'd done so she said the only thing she could, "I love you Mom" although she wasn't lying it was partly a selfish action, she couldn't get enough of Shelby's response, a response Shelby was more than happy to give.
"I love you too darling." She was convinced if she told Rachel she loved her often enough, the scared teen would begin to believe it.
They were soon pulling onto the drive and after a small snack Rachel took her painkiller and within minutes was fast asleep on the sofa wrapped in the same blanket Shelby gave her to warm up the night her fathers left. Shelby kissed Rachel's head and straightened out the blankets before taking her phone into the kitchen and calling her sister, "Hey Shel" Amy answered after two rings, "is everything okay?"
"Yeah, are you okay to chat?"
"Fine" Amy said, as she made herself comfortable, chats with Shelby were never short, "how's Rachel?"
"She's okay I think" Shelby said truthfully as she turned on the radio to help Rachel find her should she wake up, "we had a meeting at the school today, and she had her first appointment with the therapist so she's pretty worn out, she fell asleep almost as soon as she got through the door."
"How did it go with the therapist?"
"Better than I expected. She had a bit of a meltdown when I suggested I waited outside but the therapist dealt with it, I sat by the door but in the room whilst she and Rachel were in the far corner, she said we'd work up to Rachel going in alone whilst I waited in reception. I was surprised at how quickly she opened up though." Shelby paused for a minute, "I think I might ask her if she can recommend someone for me to see too."
Amy sighed, "that might be for the best. I know Rachel's been through a lot but this can't have been easy for you either."
"I guess I'm just a little worried about telling Rachel, I don't want her to blame herself for me needing therapy."
"I think you just need to be honest with her, tell her it's hard for you to get your head around the fact she wasn't being treated like a princess and you need someone to work through that with. Being a parent is tough Shel, it's okay to say you need help, you don't need to fight through this on your own." She paused for a moment, "it's better that you act now instead of leaving things until they blow up, and don't worry about Rachel, she can come over here while you do whatever you need to do or I'll take the kids to Mom's so Rachel doesn't have to put up with the chaos that seems to follow Max and Lil wherever they go. Things might not be easy but you're not in this alone Shelly, I'm going to help you both, and you know Mom will be suffocating when she meets Rachel, and you'd just have to call Luke or Matt and they'd drop everything to come help you out."
Shelby sighed, "When did my baby sister get so smart?"
Amy laughed, "Your baby sister's got two babies of her own."
"I know. I love you Amy."
"I love you too Shellybelly"
"I'll tell Dad" Shelby warned, trying to lighten the mood, "he's told you not to call me names. I'd love to see Maxie's face when Dad puts you in timeout!"
Amy laughed again, "Won't happen Shellybelly, you know I can wrap him around my finger." There was silence for a minute before Amy spoke again, "Mom said we're having Christmas on Boxing Day?"
"Yeah. Is that okay? It's just it's Rachel's first Christmas here, it's probably the first Christmas she's celebrated in God knows how long, I, I don't want her to be overwhelmed by everyone, and there's a part of me that really just wants to do something quiet, the two of us. I want to give her all the things she's never had, I'm going to take her to the beach when the weather starts to get better, and I've been looking at summer vacations. I think I'm going to get her a pet too, I thought maybe a cat but I quite like the idea of one of those big house rabbits."
"Lily would want to ride it" Amy laughed, "but I think she'd love that."
"It's her birthday soon, I've got her an iPod and some other bits I've ordered online but I thought we could get the rabbit or cat or whatever then too."
"What can we get her? I've no idea what to get her for Christmas or her birthday, maybe some iTunes gift vouchers if you've got her an iPod?"
Shelby nodded, "that would be good. I'm going to order her a tv to go in her room for Christmas, I'll probably have it delivered to your house so she doesn't see it, but maybe you and Jim could get her a DVD player or something? I'm going to ask Mom and the boys if they'd get her DVDs or amazon vouchers or something. She's never had anything Amy, I'm sure she'll be grateful even if you just got her a card."
"Yeah" Amy laughed slightly, "not going to happen, we'll get her a DVD player for Christmas and maybe an iPod dock or something for her birthday. I'll get gift vouchers from the kids, even though they'll probably pick her something out themselves."
"Don't go mad" Shelby almost begged, "I don't want it all to be too much for her."
"I'll talk to Mom and the boys" Amy told Shelby, "I'll bring her presents over the night before her birthday if you'd like, then you can do what you think best, give her a few at a time throughout the day or whatever, I know everyone's excited to meet her."
"She likes reading" Shelby told her sister, "I've ordered a bookcase for her room and bought her a couple of books but she hates me spending money on her..."
Amy took the hint, "I'm sure Max and Lily would love to choose some books out for her."
"I hope it won't be too much for her. She gets overwhelmed so easily, I want this to be something she can remember in a good way."
"It won't be" Amy told Shelby, "Mom's already called the boys, told them to speak to all the kids, she said she doesn't want everybody piling on you and Rachel the second you walk through the door."
"Thanks" Shelby nodded, "I'm going to have a word with her before we go to Mom's, try and tell her that it's okay if she wants to go upstairs or outside for a few minutes to get away from it all. I doubt she will though, she'd rather suffer through it"
"I'll have a word with Jim, we'll keep an eye on her."
"Thanks Amy."
"Don't worry Shel, you've done more than enough for me, It's only fair I repay the favour now I can"
Shelby didn't have time to reply before she heard a loud crash and almost immediately Max's voice yelling, "Mom, you need to come quick!"
"I've got to go Shel" she said quickly, "give my love to Rachel."
"I will, text me later, let me know your house is still standing."
"Mom, come now" Max shouted again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming" Amy told him, "I'll talk to you soon Shel" Amy said before hanging up and going to see what chaos her children were causing now.
Shelby meanwhile called her Mom, they talked for a while about how Rachel was doing, and then, much like it had with Amy, talk turned to Rachel's birthday and Christmas, the former being less than a fortnight away. Shelby's Mom promised to talk to her brothers and get Rachel's presents to Amy before her birthday, there was no way any of her family were going to be talked out of spoiling the girl and Shelby could only be glad that they weren't insisting on visiting or throwing a party. Even if they did nothing but cuddle all day Shelby wanted Rachel to be happy, she wanted the girl to have a day to remember for all the right reasons.
Shelby frowned as she heard a knock at the door, it was late Friday afternoon and Rachel was once again dozing on the sofa, she frowned as she moved to answer the door, she wasn't expecting anyone, the only person who ever dropped by unannounced was Amy and she never knocked she just came straight in. "Hello" She frowned again as she came face to face with a woman she'd never met in her life.
"Are you Mrs Berry, Rachel's mom?" The woman asked, slightly unsure of herself.
"I'm not Mrs Berry but I am Rachel's mom. Shelby Corcoran" she held her hand our for the stranger to shake.
"Nina Kempton" the woman introduced herself, "My son, Sam, he was one of the Hockey players that have been bullying Rachel, the police came to interview him yesterday, I, I wanted to come round and apologise, I couldn't believe it when they said what he'd done, I thought i raised him better than that I really did. He got into trouble last year, he got into a fight with a boy who'd been bullying his sister so I thought he'd know better. I, I've got three kids, I work two jobs but I wanted to give you this" she held out an envelope to Shelby, not giving her chance to reply before speaking again, "it's two hundred dollars, I know it's not a lot but it's all I can afford, you can use it to pay off your insurance or treat Rachel. I wish I could give you more."
Shelby shook her head and refused to take the envelope from Nina, "please, you don't have to do that."
"I need to do something."
"It's not your place to, I don't want your other children to go without because of this."
"I, please, I'll make Sam work off the debt."
"Shelby shook her head, "I'd rather he worked off his debt to Rachel by working with disadvantaged children or something."
Nina nodded, "if you're sure."
"I am" Shelby said firmly, "I really do appreciate the gesture but it's unnecessary."
"I'm ashamed to call him my son right now, I thought he was better than this. It sounds awful but I want you to press charges, he needs to learn a lesson from this. I won't allow him back to McKinley, he's been suspended while this is investigated but I'll make sure he doesn't go back, Rachel should feel safe at school and punished or not I doubt Sam being there will help that."
Shelby nodded, she was still taken aback by this woman turning up on her doorstep, "thank you. Would you like to come in for a drink?"
Nina shook her head, "I should be going, I've left my girls at home, I guess I just wanted you to know I don't, I don't approve of this and I'm not going to try and talk you into dropping the charges, he deserves any punishment he gets." She didn't let Shelby reply before she turned and walked back to her car.
Shelby's phone started to ring almost as soon as she'd closed the door and she rushed to answer it before it woke Rachel, she wasn't surprised to see it was Sue calling her but she was surprised when she heard that Figgins had been suspended whilst what happened to Rachel was investigated and Sue herself was standing in as principal in the mean time. She was also surprised when Sue told her a pupil had asked for Rachel's address to pay her a visit, Sue had told the pupil she would check with Shelby that it was okay for her to give out her address. Shelby agreed it was okay for Sue to tell the student where she lived, Rachel had told her that she didn't have any friends but surely the fact someone wanted to pay her a visit said otherwise.
It was early Sunday afternoon when Rachel finally got a visitor, "Is this Rachel's house?" A tall boy asked Shelby as she opened the door, he wore ripped jeans and a white tshirt, his head was shaved apart from a thick strip down the middle of his head and he held a small box in his hands.
"It is" Shelby answered, "can I help you?"
"I'm Noah Puckerman" he told her, "I erm, I met Rachel at temple when we were younger. I heard what the hockey players did, I erm, I wanted to see how she was doing. I, I" he dropped his gaze to the floor, "I wanted to apologise to her too"
"Apologise?" Shelby raised an eyebrow.
"I'm on the football team" he said almost shyly, "I used to join in with the slushy facials and the name calling. I, I haven't joined in in a while but I didn't stop it either."
Shelby nodded, "any boy can do bad things to fit in with a crowd Noah" Shelby told him, "but it takes a man to be able to admit he was wrong and seek forgiveness, I'll have to ask Rachel if she's feeling up to visitors, but come in, you can wait in the hall while I go speak to her."
"My Ma made hamantashen" Noah told Shelby before she left, holding out the box towards the woman, "Rachel used to love them when we were younger" he explained as he held out the box towards Shelby.
"Thank you" Shelby smiled, "I'll be right back." She took the box Noah had given her through to the living room, "you've got a visitor" she said, setting the box down on the table, "Noah Puckerman. His Mom sent something you used to like when you were younger" she opened the box and Rachel's face lit up.
"Noah came round?" she asked, unable to believe what her mother was saying.
"He's in the hall, he wants to see you but I said I'd make sure you were okay with seeing him before I let him in." Rachel nodded slowly, "do you want to see him?"
Rachel took a deep breath, "I, I think I would."
"Okay" Shelby kissed Rachel's head and smiled, "I'll send him through, I'll either be in my office or in the basement if you want me." She stepped back out into the hall, "do you want to come through?" Noah nodded and slipped off his shoes before following Shelby into the living room.
"Hey" he said softly as he sat down beside Rachel.
"Can I get you some soda or something before I go?" Shelby asked
Noah nodded, "That'd be great, thanks."
Rachel looked at her Mom and Shelby could tell there was something on the girls mind, "soda Rach?"
Rachel took a shaky breath, "could I have apple juice?"
Shelby smiled and nodded, "of course" she left the room, returning a few moments later with soda for Noah, juice for Rachel and a bottle of water for herself, "can I take a couple of these with me?" she asked Noah as she gestured to the box of pastries, "they smell amazing".
"Sure, Ma made loads, there's chocolate, raspberry, apricot and apple" he gestured to the different flavours, "Ma made prune ones once, Rachel thought they were blueberry, she was so disappointed when she bit into it that Ma hasn't used prunes since."
"She always used to have them when I came round." Rachel admitted.
"She used to keep a supply ready just in case you came round" Noah laughed.
Shelby smiled, she'd have to speak to Noah's mom, see if she could find out more about what Rachel was like as a child, "I'll leave you to it" she said as she walked towards the door, "call me if you want anything."
"I'm sorry" Noah said as soon as Shelby left the room, "I, I'm sorry."
"You used to be my best friend Noah"
"I know and I'm sorry Rach, I shouldn't have done it, I should have stood up for you."
"It's okay" Rachel said quietly, "i understand, you did what you needed to do."
"It wasn't right though. You were my friend, I should have picked you over the jerks"
Rachel shrugged, still not able to look Noah in the eye, "we can't change that now" she said sadly.
"No" Noah agreed with her, "but it'll be different from now, I won't let them hurt you again Rach."
"Thank you." They sat in silence for a while before it became unbearable, "do you want to watch a DVD?" Rachel asked hoping Shelby wouldn't mind
"Sure" Noah smiled, "what have you got?"
"I'm not sure" Rachel frowned, "I think they're in here" she opened the cupboard under the tv and found Shelby's DVD collection.
"How about this?" Noah asked as he pulled out Aladdin, "for old times sake."
Rachel smiled, she and Noah had watched the film so many times when they were younger she was sure she could probably recite it word for word and she couldn't even begin to count the number of hours they'd spent in the Puckerman's back yard pretending to be Aladdin and Jasmine with nothing but an old bed sheet to use as their magic carpet and their imagination to entertain them.
"I'm about to make a start on dinner, would you like to stay?" Shelby asked Noah as she walked into the living room at almost 6.30.
"I'll have to call my Ma, make sure she's not made a start on anything."
"Okay, let me know when you've called her, I can run you home if she needs you back."
"Erm, Miss..." Noah trailed off as he realised he didn't know her name.
"Corcoron" Shelby finished off his sentence, "but call me Shelby."
"Shelby" Noah tried again, "Rachel's asleep. The movie finished ages ago but I didn't want to wake her."
It was only then that Shelby realised Rachel was curled in her usual position on the sofa with her head in Noah's lap and the tv was showing the opening menu to Aladdin, the remote on the coffee table just out of Noah's reach, "it's the painkillers she's got for her arm" Shelby explained, "they knock her out. I'll lift her so you can get out and call your Mom."
Shelby lifted the upper half of Rachel's body slowly into a sitting position, allowing Noah to slide out before she laid her daughter back down and covered her with the blanket that had been used more often since Rachel had moved in than in all the time Shelby had owned it. "I should get off" he gestured towards the door, "Rachel obviously needs to rest. She erm, she said we should hang out more" he ran his hand over his head, "me and some of the other guys are thinking of going to see a movie next week, Rachel's welcome to join us if she wants to, and if it's okay with you."
Shelby smiled and grabbed an old envelope and a pen from the sideboard, "do you want to leave your number? I'll get her to give you a call or a text or something."
"Thanks for letting me visit" Noah said as he scribbled down his number and made his way towards the door.
"It's okay" Shelby told him, "everyone deserves a second chance Noah, just make sure you don't waste it up."
"I won't" Noah said as he stepped out of the house, "I promise."