I'm sorry for how long it's taken me to update, the amount of, quite frankly, hateful messages I received after the authors note I posted didn't really encourage me to keep writing, and I guess I needed to take a step back and try and remind myself why I love this AU. This is just a short chapter but I'm getting back into it and I have big plans for the future!
As I said before, I am all for someone taking the general idea of any of my fics and running with it and making it their own, I would be your biggest cheerleader because, in my opinion, the more Shelby/Rachel fics out there the better, I love reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. But when someone takes the tiny little details you've used to make the story your own, that's pretty low in my opinion. But that's the last I'm going to say on the matter.
Thank you to everyone though who's left positive/encouraging reviews or sent me PMs, I really do appreciate it. And an extra special thanks go to Alicemaywrite who's cheered me on on a pretty much daily basis. If it wasn't for her I'd probably have walked away from this for good.
Spawn - I don't think Shelby is 'okay' with the teens drinking, it's more that she knows it's probably going to happen and she'd rather they were sensible about it than they all got wasted and tried to hide it from her. She'd rather know about it and be able to keep an eye on them than have them trying to take care of each other when they've had too much to drink if that makes sense?
Vicky324 - No, that isn't the story, and I don't know if you've read my fic or if you're just jumping to conclusions, but Rachel doing someone else's homework isn't a storyline I've ever used, so I don't know why you think I'd claim that as a 'unique' idea of my own!
Alexa - I'm not planning on any big talk between Rachel and the Unholy Trinity because I don't really think there's anything to explain, they didn't suddenly decide to befriend her, the three of them are Noah's friends and Noah started inviting Rachel to hang out with them and their friendship grew as they spent time together. I hope that makes sense. As for Rachel's relationship, you'll just have to wait and see, but I have no plans to bring Lauren into the story unless it's just a passing mention of the rest of the glee club I'm afraid.
Guest - I wouldn't be comfortable writing Amy breastfeeding Rachel, so that won't be happening I'm afraid.
Alwaysagleek - I have the next couple of chapters already plotted out, so it might not be for a while, but that's something I can definitely work in somewhere!
Shelby knew she was taking a risk leaving the house while Rachel was asleep, but she needed to go to the store, she'd only expected Santana, Quinn and Brittany to be joining them for breakfast, she'd intended on making pancakes for them, but she didn't have enough ingredients to make pancakes for Noah, Mike and Matt too.
Everyone was awake when Shelby returned from the store, she could tell that from the music booming up from the basement, and she was grateful that her house was detached from the neighbours, that nobody would be making a complaint about the noise. She smiled when she heard Rachel's laugh over the music and made her way into the kitchen to start cooking.
She called Rachel's cellphone when she'd made enough pancakes, bacon and eggs for everyone, she'd even made sure to get turkey bacon for Noah, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head when she heard it ringing in the lounge. She fished the device out from between the cushions of the armchair and left it on the coffee table before making her way downstairs.
"Oh" Shelby smiled as she stood at the bottom of the stairs, Santana and Puck were fighting over a game of Mario kart, the rest of the teens dancing together at the far end of the room, Rachel and Quinn obviously struggling a little more than the others as they kept bumping into each other, but instead of getting angry or frustrated, they just kept bursting into fits of giggles.
"Mom!" Rachel was the first to spot her, everyone else greeting her too.
"Hi" Shelby chuckled, "sorry to break up the party but I've made breakfast."
"Oh" Santana grumbled a curse in Spanish as her kart slipped off the edge of the track, sending her into last place, "looks like we'll have to call it a draw Puckerman" she grinned as she turned off the console, "I gotta eat."
"A draw?" Puck grumbled as he followed everyone else upstairs, "I was definitely about to beat your ass Satan."
"In your dreams" she taunted, linking her pinky with Brittany's as they made their way into the kitchen.
Brittany's Mom picked her, Santana and Quinn up a little after 11, and, despite insisting they'd be fine to make their own way home, Shelby insisted on driving Puck, Mike and Matt home, everyone being sure to thank her, as they always did whenever they'd been in her home, they'd all admitted that it was kind of weird to be in their teacher's house but Shelby had promised she'd leave Ms Corcoran at school, and at home she'd just be Rachel's Mom.
"How are you doing?" Shelby asked once they were home, knowing social situations still overwhelmed Rachel sometimes.
"I'm okay" Rachel nodded, "I was a bit scared at the party last night when the jocks started fighting but Noah… he made us all go into the kitchen so we were away from it all."
Shelby smiled, grateful that, whatever was going on between Rachel and Noah, he was looking out for her, "I wanted to talk to you about that. "
"About what?" Rachel frowned slightly, both nervous and confused about what her Mom wanted to talk to her about.
"This morning" Shelby wasn't even sure how to start the conversation she felt she needed to have with her daughter, "you and Noah."
"Nothing happened Mom" Rachel insisted quickly, "I had… it wasn't really a nightmare, just a bad dream I suppose. I woke up and came down for some juice, I was going to come back up and get in with you but Noah was awake and he said he'd sit with me for a while, we were talking about the things we did when we were kids and we, we must have fallen asleep. We're just friends Momma. I promise."
Shelby nodded, she had to admit that she was slightly relieved, "I believe you Baby" Shelby took Rachel's hand, "I do think we need to have a bit of a talk though don't we?"
"What about?" Rachel asked nervously.
Shelby was silent for a moment, trying to process her thoughts. "You're getting to an age now where your friends will be getting into relationships, they'll be talking about things they do, things they want to do, and that's fine, it's a normal part of growing up. I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do, because I think you need to make decisions about your body yourself, but I want you to know that, whatever decision you make, it's okay. Don't feel like you have to give into any pressure, there's nothing wrong with waiting if that's what you want to do. But if you feel ready to have a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, if you feel ready for making out or for having sex or any of the myriad of things that come in between, then it's your body, you are the only person that can make those decisions okay?"
As embarrassed as she was to be having this conversation, it was just gave her another reason to love her Mom, this couldn't be easy for Shelby either but Rachel felt lucky to have someone who was as open and accepting as Shelby was.
Seeing Rachel nod, Shelby continued, "but just because you have to be the one to make those decisions, it doesn't mean you can't come to me. If you're worried or confused, or if you have any questions about… well, about anything, you come to me and I'll try to help you out the best I can."
"Thank you Momma".
"I just want you to be happy Baby" Shelby squeezed Rachel's hand, not wanting to think of her daughter as anything other than the innocent girl she seemed to be sometimes, but Shelby knew she was growing up, she knew what that meant, so she knew she had to have this talk with her, "happy and safe Rach, that's all I want for you. So, with that being said, if you do get a boyfriend, if you do feel like you might be ready to have sex, I'd like you to come to me please. I won't try and change your mind but we can talk about birth control or I'll make sure you have condoms. I know it might be awkward and uncomfortable for us both to talk about, but I've been a teenage girl, I know what happens, and I'd rather us have an awkward conversation that gives you the information to make the decisions that are right for you, that allows you to make the right choices and to be safe, than for you to feel like you can't talk to me and then have to face bigger consequences later on. I will never be angry with you for asking questions, for wanting to make informed decisions. And even if you later feel like you made the wrong choice, that's okay too. I'll be here to help you pick up the pieces."
"Thank you" Rachel whispered, snuggling into Shelby's side.
"You don't need to thank me, I'm your mom Rach, no matter what, I'm always on your side. Rachel nuzzled closer to her Mom, her fathers would never have spoken so openly about sex, would never have accepted that she was capable of making decisions about her body on her own. "Now I know you've probably learnt about the physical, the biological side of sex at school, but do you have any questions Rach? About that or anything else?"
Rachel shook her head against Shelby's shoulder, "no I… no."
"Okay" Shelby kissed Rachel's hair. She'd been Amy's go to person too. The age gap between the two sisters meaning that Amy felt more comfortable asking her big sister her questions rather than their Mom, and Shelby had to admit, she'd found the talks she'd had with Amy slightly awkward, but she'd take those a million times again over having to admit that Rachel was old enough to be thinking about sex and relationships. She'd do it though, no matter how weird she found the conversations, she never wanted Rachel to feel worried or ashamed about her feelings or her body, she wanted Rachel to know she could be open with her with no repercussions. "Now we've got that over with" Shelby tucked Rachel's hair behind her ears, "what do you want to do today?"
"Can we just stay here?" Rachel asked, "I, I'm a little tired." She wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep but she knew it had been almost 2am when she'd come downstairs and she knew she'd spoken to Noah for a while before unintentionally falling asleep in his arms.
"Of course we can" Shelby smiled, "do you want to get changed into something more comfortable and we can watch a movie or something?"
Rachel bit her lip, "will you read to me?" she asked nervously, Shelby had read to her when she'd been ill and she'd found the sound of her Momma's voice more comforting than anything she'd ever experienced before.
"Sure" Shelby smiled, "go get your book and I'll make us some drinks and I'll meet you on the couch yeah?"
"Yeah" Rachel stood from her chair, pausing to kiss Shelby's cheek before she left the room, "I love you Mom."
Shelby would never get sick of hearing those words, would never get sick of being able to reply, "I love you too Rachel, more than you'll ever know."
It was no surprise to Shelby that Rachel was wearing 'her' pyjamas when she came downstairs, the pants 'borrowed' from Amy, the tshirt one Shelby used to call her own. Shelby didn't know what it was about wearing someone else's clothes, but she knew the teen found it a great comfort, Shelby had lost count of the number of times Rachel had worn the pair of Amy's jeans she'd brought home after the waterfight, despite having an almost identical pair of her own in the closet upstairs. She couldn't hold back her smile as she saw that Rachel had brought her blanket down along with her book, Shelby in no doubt that she was going to be spending the afternoon trapped beneath her sleeping teenager, so she made sure the TV remote was in reach before sitting down and gesturing for Rachel to join her, two steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the table in front of them.
Rachel snuggled into Shelby's side as they drank their hot chocolate, the blanket across both their laps as they sat in a content silence, Shelby running the fingers of her free hand up and down Rachel's back. She didn't mind the silence, guessed that after the party and the morning spent with her friends, Rachel might need a little quiet time, she'd never been allowed to spend time with her peers when she was with her fathers, so despite no longer needing a nap after a busy day, Rachel still sometimes found social situations mentally tiring and as much as Shelby hoped Rachel would grow out of it, that she'd become more comfortable spending time around other people, she would take any opportunity she could to cuddle her baby.
"I never thought I'd get to do this" Rachel murmured quietly, the silence and the warm drink meaning she was already beginning to fall asleep. "I, I had friends here this morning and now, now I get to just sit here with you and you, you don't expect anything from me, and you just, you just love me. I feel happy Momma, I think for a while I forgot what that was like."
"Oh Baby" Shelby pulled Rachel closer and kissed her temple, "you're right, I do love you, and it makes me happy to know that you're happy, that's all I've ever wanted."
Rachel yawned, "can you read to me now please?" she asked.
"Of course" Shelby took Rachel's empty mug from her and placed it beside her own, "make yourself comfortable baby."
Rachel laid down on the couch, not bothering with a pillow, just laying her head in Shelby's lap and pulling the blanket around herself, "thank you" she smiled up at her Mom as Shelby helped her straighten out the quilt and tucked it around her.
"It's okay" Shelby brushed Rachel's hair back from her face before she picked up the book, opening it to the page Rachel had bookmarked and beginning to read, keeping her voice soft to help Rachel relax and fall asleep. "Sorry Shelby shifted slightly to take her phone from her pocket when she felt it vibrate just a few pages later, "it's Amy" she said when she saw her sister's name on the screen.
"Is she okay?" Rachel yawned.
"Yeah" Shelby turned her phone so Rachel could read the message Amy had sent her, 'Wish me luck, taking two overexcited kiddos for lunch with Mom and Dad, and then dinner with Jim's parents later' Amy had attached a picture of Lily and Max, both grinning happily and wearing matching tshirts, Lily's announcing 'I'm being promoted to big sister' Max's, 'I'm being promoted to big brother…again'
"Aww, they know?" Rachel smiled.
Shelby smiled and nodded, "it certainly looks like it."
"I'm really happy for them".
"Me too" Shelby gently brushed Rachel's bangs back from her face, "we can go shopping nearer the time and get some things for him or her, I've always spoiled my nieces and nephews, I think I was trying to make up for not being able to spoil you" she admitted, "but now I get to spoil all of you."
"You don't need to spoil me" Rachel protested.
"I know, but I want to, now…" Shelby picked up the book again, running her hand through Rachel's hair, "where did we get to?"