BlackWidowAndCapRule - That's a great idea, however I already had the next couple of chapters (including this one) written and I wouldn't be able to fit it in without completely rewriting the 3 or so chapters I have lined up. I may be able to work it in later in the fic though so I'll see what I can do!

Spawn - I have a big storyine planned that sees Rachel getting a lot closer to her entire extended family but that won't be happening for a long time, but Uncle Jimmy is in the next chapter (or maybe the one after that) and I think I'll be able to work in a visit from Nana and Grandpa in the not too distant future, I hope that's okay!

Shelby frowned slightly as she woke, it was her birthday, her first birthday as a Mom and she'd been hoping to spend some time with her daughter before she got up for work but she'd woken to find the bed beside her empty.

"Rachel" Shelby frowned as she met her daughter at the bottom of the stairs, a nervous smile on the teen's face "what…"

She didn't get time to finish before she was led into the living room, "Happy Birthday Mom" Rachel said shyly.

"Oh Baby" Shelby wanted to cry. There was a chocolate muffin with a lit candle in it on the coffee table, just like the one Shelby had taken her daughter on her own birthday. A helium balloon stood at either end of the coffee table, happy birthday banners hung from the wall and several other balloons littered the floor, "this is… you didn't have to go to any trouble."

"You made me feel so special on my birthday" Rachel whispered, "I wanted to do that for you too" she said as she lifted the plate holding the muffin, "make a wish Momma".

Shelby smiled and blew out the candle, wishing, as she always had, and always would, that Rachel would always be happy. "Thank you Darling" Shelby wrapped her arms around Rachel and kissed her temple. "Are you going to share this with me?"

Rachel shook her head, "not yet" she said softly, taking Shelby's hand and leading her into the kitchen, Shelby beaming with pride at how confident and relaxed Rachel was now, at how at home she seemed to be, and that was all Shelby ever wanted.

"Rachel!" Once again Shelby was shocked to the point of tears as her daughter led her over to the kitchen table where she found a mug of freshly brewed coffee waiting for her beside a card, a teddy bear and a neatly wrapped present, "you didn't need to do all this Baby! Thank you!"

"You've done so much for me" Rachel said softly, "I just wanted to do something for you too."

"Oh Darling" Shelby hugged Rachel again, "having you here is all I ever need, knowing that I get to spend time on my birthday with you is the best gift I could ask for, but thank you so much for these my Darling."

"I erm, I made us breakfast too" Rachel said shyly, "Pancakes. They're keeping warm in the oven."

Shelby smiled, Rachel had gone to so much trouble, "how about I sit down and open my present then while you get them out?"

Rachel smiled proudly and nodded, "Okay."

Shelby sat down at the table and smiled as she picked up the soft brown bear, "this is cute" she said as she ran her fingers over the 'I love my Mom' t shirt the bear was wearing.

"You erm, you need to squeeze it." Rachel told her as she shared the pancakes out into two plates.

Shelby frowned slightly but did as Rachel asked, "oh Baby" she gasped, tears pricking at her eyes when she heard Rachel's voice speak from inside the bear, 'I love you Mom.' "This is…" she hugged the bear tightly, "this is the best thing."

"I'm glad you like it" Rachel smiled as she put a plate of pancakes in front of her Mom, sitting down with her own plate.

"I love it Rachel, thank you." Shelby smiled, sitting the bear back on the table and picking up her present, this time unable to hold back her tears as she saw the simple wooden photo frame that her daughter had chosen to house a black and white picture of them both from their photo shoot. It was one of the candid images Matt had taken, Shelby's hand on Rachel's cheek, a smile playing at the corners of Rachel's lips as Shelby placed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "This is beautiful" Shelby gently stroked the picture through the glass, "thank you baby."

Rachel took a bite of her pancake, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach as she told her, "there's something else, it's in the envelope."

Shelby opened the envelope, finding the birthday card she'd expected, but it was thicker than usual. She read the front of the card before opening it, frowning at the paperwork she found inside the card," Rachel, what the… " Her eyes scanned the form before she looked at her daughter," are you serious? You really want this?" Rachel bit her lip and nodded, Shelby standing from her seat to pull her daughter into her arms." I love you so much."

Rachel smiled and clung to Shelby for a moment, Amy had been the one to take her to the courthouse to pick up the paperwork, and she'd helped Rachel fill it in so all Shelby had to do was sign and date the papers to give her permission for Rachel to legally change her surname to Corcoran. "I love you too Mom."

"Rachel Corcoran" Shelby smiled as she took a bite of her pancakes, "it's got quite the ring to it hasn't it?"

Rachel smiled and nodded as she ate too, "it really has."

"Nana and Grandpa are going to be over the moon too. Amy's probably going to be a bit disappointed but that's her own fault for getting married" she chuckled.

"You don't mind me changing my name?"

Shelby shook her head, "not at all Baby, in fact, I've been thinking about bringing it up for a while, I just didn't want to upset you, you changing your name..." Shelby sighed, "it sounds silly, but you changing your name shows the world that you're my daughter, that we're a family and you're nothing to do with those men any more."

"It's not silly" Rachel told her, "I feel the same way, when we're introduced to people I want them to know that you're my Mom, I want to have your name."

Shelby smiled and nodded, "I'll read through these papers over the weekend and get the ball rolling as soon as possible" she promised.

Rachel was waiting by Shelby's car when the final bell rang, and she smiled when she saw her Mom leave the building, Shelby leaving as soon as she could so she'd be able to spend the rest of her birthday with her daughter. As birthdays went, this one hadn't been too bad, she'd received cards from several members of staff, bottles of wine from both Will and Emma and Sue, but what had made her smile the most were the gas station flowers and chocolates she'd been given from Rachel's friends.

Shelby frowned when she saw someone standing so close to her car, but her frown grew even more when she recognised the figure as her daughter, "Rachel" she frowned, "what are you doing here?" Rachel had attended her morning classes and then stayed at school for lunch, sharing sandwiches with Shelby in her classroom before Amy had picked the girl up, Shelby expecting the teen to be at home when she got back.

"I erm" Rachel suddenly sounded incredibly nervous, "I've booked us a table at Breadstix for dinner" her gaze fell to the floor "but I probably should have asked first, if you just want to go home then that's fine and…"

"Rachel" Shelby put her gifts in the back seat and lifted her daughter's chin to look her in the eye, "I would love to go to dinner with you."

Conversation flowed easily across the dinner table, Shelby deciding right then and there that the best present she'd ever received was seeing just how happy and confident her daughter had become, seeing just how much Rachel had come out of her shell in the short time she'd been in her Mom's care.

Shelby reached for the bill when the waitress brought it over after their meal but Rachel shook her head and grabbed it first, "I've got this" she said, standing to go and pay before Shelby had chance to question how her daughter had the money to pay for the three course meal they'd just eaten.

Her chance to ask came on the drive home. "Rach" she said softly, not wanting Rachel to think she was angry. "You paying for dinner was a lovely gesture, but I need to ask…"

"You want to know where I got the money?" Rachel had been expecting the question since she'd given Shelby her gifts that morning.

"Yeah."

Rachel began to fiddle with her fingers. "A few weeks ago Aunt Amy offered to take me shopping to get you a present" she decided to tell the story from the beginning. "I said I didn't have any money to get you anything so she offered to pay but I, I couldn't. I didn't just want to take her money, so we made a deal."

"A deal?" Shelby raised an eyebrow.

Rachel nodded, "I went over when you were at work and I wasn't at school, I helped her with Lily and Max and did chores with her and she paid me for helping her" Rachel only hoped her mom wouldn't be too mad with her, "she kept inviting me over after I'd already got your gifts, she wasn't paying me but I didn't mind helping her, but then last week she gave me some cash and told me to use it to take you out for dinner."

"Oh Rachel" Shelby reached out to take her daughter's hand, "you didn't have to do that." Shelby made a mental note to call her sister later and thank her too.

"I just wanted you to have a good day, you've done so much for me Mom and I, I just wanted to make you feel as special as you made me feel on my birthday."

"You've certainly done that baby, this has been the best birthday I've ever had" she smiled.

Shelby saw Rachel's face light up out of the corner of her eye, "you really mean that?"

"I already knew it was going to be great just because you were here, everything you've done today has only made that better."

Rachel glanced down at her phone, "would you mind if Aunt Amy came round to see you with Lily and Max when we get home?"

"Of course not" Shelby smiled, "as long as you're okay with them all coming round."

"I don't mind at all" Rachel smiled, replying to her Aunt's text before settling back in her seat as Shelby drove them home.

They hadn't been home long when Amy let herself into the house, Lily and Max racing over to Shelby, "Happy Birthday" they both beamed excitedly as they hugged her tightly.

"This for you" Lily handed over a helium balloon.

"And we made you a cake" Max grinned, his eyes open wide in excitement.

"Thank you for the balloon" Shelby hugged Lily, "and I can't wait to see the cake" she hugged Max too.

"It was nice of you two to help me carry everything in from the car" Amy raised an eyebrow as she put down everything she was carrying and glared playfully at her children.

"Sorry Momma" they both laughed before scrambling over to the gifts to find the ones they'd chosen for their Aunt.

"How are you doing Pretty Girl?" Amy asked as she sat beside Rachel, Shelby's attention solely on her niece and nephew.

"I'm good." Rachel nodded, letting her head fall onto Amy's shoulder, "Mom loved her gifts, and dinner."

"Good" Amy smiled, "I'm glad."

"Are you…"

"Yeah" Amy nodded, "it's all" she gestured at one of the gift boxes on the table, "I'll give the kids some cake in a bit and stick the TV on to distract them, they don't know yet."

Shelby opened her presents from Lily and Max before everyone sung happy birthday to Shelby and she cut into the messily decorated chocolate cake, Max and Lily eagerly telling her to make a wish, just like Rachel had that morning. "Do you like it?" Max asked with a grin as Shelby took a bite.

"I love it" Shelby smiled, "thank you."

Max nodded, happy with his Aunt's response as he then asked, "can we watch TV?"

Shelby looked to Amy, getting a nod in response, Amy grateful that she wouldn't have to find a way to distract her kids as Shelby opened her presents. "Sure" Shelby told her nephew, "but find something Lily wants to watch too."

"Here" Amy handed over two gift boxes once the kids were settled, "open the smallest box first" Amy winked at Rachel, feeling like she might burst with excitement, "I don't want the kids knowing about that one so you can open it while they're arguing about what to watch."

"Amy" Shelby raised her eyebrow as she took the boxes, "if its another sex toy then…"

"That was one time" Amy rolled her eyes, "and you'd been single for so long that I thought that…"

"My daughter is sitting right there" Shelby pointed to Rachel, as if Amy had forgotten she was sat next to her niece.

"There is nothing wrong with enjoying some alone time Shelby."

"No, but we don't have to discuss it in front of Rachel." She glanced at the box, "she's not going to be traumatised by this is she?"

"No" Amy laughed, "so just open it. Please?"

"Okay" Shelby frowned, not sure what could get Amy so worked up, but she did as she was asked, her frown growing as she opened the box to find the words, 'Hello Auntie' printed on white fabric staring up at her. "What the…" her jaw dropped as she took the fabric from the box, unfolding it to reveal the fact that the words were printed on a tiny babygrow, a grainy sonogram picture of something that vaguely resembled a bean with legs still in the bottom of the box, "is this a joke?" she looked up at Amy, looking from the babygrow to the picture, double checking that the name on the top of the image was her sister's.

Amy shook her head, "thirteen weeks tomorrow, it's been so hard keeping it quiet! I haven't even told Mom and Dad yet, or Jim's parents, or the kids, we wanted to surprise you for your birthday."

"Well you've certainly done that!" Shelby stood from the chair, "come here" she smiled before wrapping her sister in a tight hug. She felt a slight pang of jealousy like she did every time her siblings had announced a pregnancy, but the happiness for her sister overwhelmed that feeling, it always had. She might not be able to have any more children of her own, but having so many nieces and nephews more than made up for that, and she had Rachel now, she had her baby back, she didn't need anyone else. "Rachel?" Shelby frowed when she realised the teen hadn't said anything, she knew Rachel and Amy were close and wondered if there'd be some jealousy on Rachel's part.

"Rachel erm, she was in on it." Amy admitted, "I couldn't help it, she caught me throwing up when she was over one day, I had to tell her to stop her calling 911, or worse, you or Mom!"

"You kept this from me?" Shelby turned to her daughter.

"I'm sorry Mom, Aunt Amy asked and…"

"Oh Rach" Shelby sat beside her and pulled her into a hug, "I'm not mad, just surprised, and a little impressed, that you managed to keep it to yourself."

"She's only known for about two weeks, and we already had the babygrow, I had to wait for the sonogram though" Amy explained, thinking back to the day she'd had to tell her niece she'd lied to her, she hadn't had a check up in preparation for trying for a baby, she'd had a check up because she was already pregnant. Luckily Rachel had understood that Amy and Jim hadn't wanted to say anything until they knew the baby was okay, until Amy was in her second trimester, and her excitement and joy about the baby, and that Amy had trusted her with the news before anyone else, had kept Amy smiling for days.

Shelby hugged her sister again, "congratulations" she whispered in her ear, feeling her eyes fill with tears as Amy took one of her hands and slipped it under her top, Shelby's palm pushed against the definite curve of Amy's usually flat stomach.

"Happy Birthday Shel" Amy smiled.

"Yeah" Rachel wrapped her arms around Shelby from behind, Shelby laughing as she found herself sandwiched between her daughter and her sister, "Happy Birthday Mom."