I had a guest review asking for a chapter where Shelby comforts Rachel because she's scared. I don't know if this is what you had in mind, but I hope you like it!
Shelby checked all the doors and windows were locked, set the dishwasher going and tidied round a little to give Rachel time to finish using the bathroom, and, when she walked into their shared bedroom, Rachel was tucked up in bed, bear and blanket clutched in her arms, covers up to her chin, eyes barely open. Shelby smiled and brushed Rachel's hair back from her face before kissing her forehead, "I won't be a minute" she promised as she picked up her pyjamas and headed for the ensuite.
By the time she returned a few minutes later, Rachel's eyes were closed, fluttering open briefly as she felt Shelby join her in the bed, "Momma" Shelby smiled at how innocent Rachel looked, wondered if this would have been what she was like as a sleepy toddler.
"I'm here Baby, do you want me to read to you?"
Rachel shook her head, "sleep" she murmured, but reached out her arm, wanting to be closer to her Mom.
"Okay" Shelby gently pulled Rachel towards her, the teen settling with her head against Shelby's shoulder, Shelby's arms around her waist, "sweet dreams" she whispered, kissing Rachel's hair before flicking off the light, "I love you."
"Momma" Rachel mumbled again, fingertips curling around the hem of Shelby's top.
"Yes Baby?" Shelby began to rub circles on Rachel's back.
"Sing me?" Shelby wanted to cry at how adorable was when she was on her way to sleep, how innocent she seemed, all her cares and worries forgotten, "please."
"Okay" Shelby continued to rub Rachel's back, "comfy?" she got a quiet hum of confirmation before beginning to sing quietly to her daughter, not stopping until she was certain the girl was asleep, "sweet dreams Baby" she whispered, kissing Rachel a final time before letting her own eyes close.
Shelby frowned as she woke to find the room still dark, but a loud rumble of thunder as she reached for her phone told her why she'd woken at, she squinted at the overly bright screen, 1.57am. She dropped her phone back onto the side table and closed her eyes, but they flew open again the instant she heard a muffled sob beside her. "Rachel?" she got no response so reached out to turn on the side light, finding her daughter sat up halfway down the bed, her knees curled to her chest, her face hidden in her blanket, "Rachel" she repeated, sitting up and reaching her hand out, placing it on Rachel's back, "come here baby".
Rachel didn't move, still crying into her blanket, "no" she cried out when she felt hands around her waist, "no, please, I'll stop crying, I'll stop, I, I'll stop."
"Baby" Shelby gently pulled Rachel to sit beside her, cradling the teen in her arms, "it's just me, you're safe, you're okay, it's just Momma, nobody's going to hurt you Baby, and it's okay if you cry."
Rachel clung to Shelby, letting out a shuddering breath as she whimpered, "please" before yelping quietly and pushing herself closer to her Mom as she heard more thunder. "No" she cried out when she felt Shelby move, "no, please! I'll be good, I'll stop."
"Oh Darling" Shelby kissed Rachel's hair, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm just trying to get us a little bit more comfortable" she explained as she moved the pillows a little to support her back and straightened out Rachel's blanket, wrapping it around them both and making sure Rachel had her bear. "There we go" she gently guided Rachel to lay back against her chest, "that's it, I just wanted us to be comfortable, I'm not leaving you, I'll never leave you" she began to play with Rachel's hair, "it's just a storm, you're safe, it's okay."
Shelby began to hum as she played with Rachel's hair, the teen had settled with her head against her Momma's stomach, one hand clutching her bear, the other tightly gripping the bottom of Shelby's top. "Momma" Rachel whimpered quietly.
"I'm here Baby, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. It's just a storm, you're safe here" she repeated, wondering how many times Rachel had been this terrified before, but left alone to deal with her panic and her fear. She could tell the storm was beginning to pass and quickly made a decision, "will you come with me?" she asked. Rachel nodded, still clinging to Shelby, she'd go anywhere, she didn't want to be left alone right now, and she knew going along with what her Mom wanted would mean she wasn't on her own.
"I want to go sit outside" Shelby said softly, "we can take your book and sit on the couch on the covered patio so we're comfortable and we won't get wet."
Rachel froze before clinging tighter to Shelby, "please don't make me sit in it, I'll be good, I'll be good" she tried to pull away but Shelby wouldn't let her, tears stinging her eyes as she kept a firm hold on her daughter, refusing to let her out of her arms as she correctly guessed that she'd been made to sit out in a storm before in the past.
"You are good" Shelby corrected her, "you are so, so good Rachel. And I won't force you to sit outside, I think the fresh air might help you, but I won't force you, and if we do go out, I promise you, I will not leave you. I won't lock the door, I will be with you and you will be free to come back inside whenever you like."
"Please don't leave me."
Shelby used her shirt to wipe at Rachel's tears, "I will never leave you Baby, especially not when you're scared or upset, I'm not going anywhere" she promised. "I'm not leaving you."
"Out, outside?" Rachel hiccuped.
"Only if you want to" Shelby ran her fingers through Rachel's hair.
"With you?" Rachel had Shelby's shirt clutched in her fist.
"With me" Shelby nodded, "we can take your blanket and your book and sit on the covered patio and read, I won't leave you and the door will be open so you can come back in whenever you want."
"Okay" Rachel sniffed.
Shelby nodded and kissed Rachel's hair, "let's get shoes, and maybe a jacket, it might be a little cool out."
Rachel was glued to Shelby's side as they both found flip-flops and Shelby pulled on her jacket, Rachel finding a hoodie of Amy's that she'd left draped over the back of the couch. "Momma" Rachel whimpered as she heard another roll of thunder.
"I'm right here" Shelby took Rachel's hand, "you're safe Darling I promise." She made sure to turn the outside lights on before leading Rachel out of the villa and onto the patio. Just like she said, they were sheltered from the rain and the large L shaped couch was still dry, "I'm going to sit here" Shelby sat down in the corner of the couch, making herself comfortable before telling Rachel, "you can sit wherever you want Baby, if you want to sit on me so I can't leave then you can, if you want to lay down, sit beside me, whatever you want okay?"
Rachel thought for a minute before slipping off her shoes and laying down between Shelby's legs, her head resting against her Mom's thigh, "is this okay?" she whispered.
"Absolutely" Shelby ran her fingers over Rachel's hair, thinking back to how she'd sat like this with her daughter when she'd been in the hospital, thinking about how far the girl had come since then, "shall we read?" Shelby asked as she covered Rachel with her blanket. She felt a nod against her leg and began to read, keeping her voice steady even when she felt Rachel try and hide against her leg when she heard more thunder, it was getting quieter and less frequent as the storm passed, but Shelby didn't make a fuss, just continued reading calmly to the girl, wanting her to know she was safe and she wasn't alone.
Shelby continued reading long after the thunder had stopped, only stopping when she heard Rachel whisper, "Momma."
"I'm here Baby."
Rachel scrambled to sit up, wrapping her arms around Shelby, burying her face in her neck and beginning to sob, "Momma."
"Oh Darling" Shelby shifted slightly, encouraging Rachel to move into a more comfortable position, "I've got you" she let one hand rest on the back of her daughter's head, her other hand stroking Rachel's back, "I've got you Baby, I've got you."
"I'm sorry" Rachel sobbed, "I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for Baby, nothing at all, you're okay, I've got you, you're safe it's okay."
"I got upset once before" she admitted, "they locked me outside all night."
Shelby wanted to cry, no wonder her baby was so scared of storms. She pulled her closer and kissed her hair, "I would never do that to you Baby, I don't care if we fight, if I'm angry with you, if you're angry with me, storm or no storm, you will always have a bed to sleep in, I would never take that away from you. I don't care if you're crying, screaming, fighting, I will never lock you outside overnight. I will never lock you outside at all." she suddenly wondered if she'd made the right decision to bring Rachel outside.
"You didn't leave me" Rachel clung to her Mom, "you came out here and you didn't leave."
"Baby, I'm not going anywhere. You will always, always have me, I will never leave, especially not when you're scared." She kissed Rachel's hair, "do you want to go back inside?"
Rachel shook her head, "can we stay out a little longer? Only if you want to. I, I don't like storms but I kinda like the sound of rain."
"Of course" Shelby wiped at Rachel's eyes, "we can stay here, together, for as long as you want." Her heart broke as she thought about what those men had put her through, she already knew that Rachel was claustrophobic, a fear that came from the weekend she spent locked in a closet with no food or water, a weekend Rachel quietly admitted had ended with, what she described as 'a spanking' as 'punishment' for wetting herself despite not having any other choice, and now there was this, Rachel scared that her fear of storms meant she'd be shut outside during one. Shelby swore that if she ever got her hands on those men she'd kill them herself.
She didn't let herself dwell on it too much though, instead she chose to focus her attention back on the teen that was finally beginning to calm down, she'd settled on Shelby's lap, her head resting on Shelby's shoulder, Shelby's hand slipping under Rachel's top to gently run her nails up and down the girl's back. "That feels nice" Rachel sighed. There was a part of her that felt like she was too old to be clinging to her Mom like this, but there was another, bigger part of her that knew she'd never get sick of being comforted by her Momma.
The rain had eased by the time Shelby and Rachel decided to go back inside, Rachel had calmed down almost completely and had admitted to being a little thirsty from all the crying she'd done.
"Amy?" Shelby frowned when she saw her sister sat on the couch, a book in her hand, "are you okay?"
Amy jumped slightly, "I didn't realise anyone else was awake" she said as she put her book down before reassuring her sister, "I'm fine. The storm woke me, I went to check on the kids and Maxy was awake too, I sat with him for a while but he's fallen back to sleep now and I'm wide awake, I didn't want to wake Jim tossing and turning so here I am".
Shelby couldn't help but smile as Rachel went to cuddle up on the couch with her Aunt, Amy was so, so wrong if she thought her influence hadn't had any effect on how Rachel had changed over the past few months. She and Rachel had formed a bond that Shelby wasn't sure she'd ever understand but it was certainly something she'd never tire of seeing. When she'd walked in on Amy helping Rachel with her makeup that afternoon she'd instantly been taken back to all the times her baby sister would sit beside her to copy her as she applied her own makeup. The offer of Amy's to buy the makeup for Rachel had reminded Shelby of the weekend she'd come home from college to find her thirteen year old sister wearing dollar store foundation that was several shades too light for her. She'd taken her sister out, spent a fortune in mac but made sure the teen had everything she needed, in shades that suited her.
"I was scared of the storm," Rachel admitted to her Aunt, "I cried a lot and Mom took me outside to read on the patio, she wanted to show me the storm was nothing to be scared of."
"She's right" Amy told her, "especially if you're inside, there's nothing to worry about, lightning is just a build up of electricity, you know how if you drag your feet across the carpet and then touch something you get a bit of a shock?" Rachel nodded, "that's what lightning is just on a bigger scale, bits of snow and stuff bump into each other in the clouds and cause electricity, most times that electricity stays in the clouds but when it doesn't, we get lightning, and the thunder is just the noise of the air around the lightning expanding and vibrating."
"But we see the lightning first because light travels faster than sound?"
Amy kissed Rachel's hair, "that's right."
Shelby joined her sister and her daughter on the couch, sandwiching Rachel between herself and Amy, "are you tired?" Shelby asked, tucking Rachel's hair behind her ear and handing over a glass of apple juice.
Rachel shook her head and took a sip of juice, "not really, but if you want to go to bed I'll be okay."
Shelby shook her head, "if Amy wants to, maybe we could watch a movie together or something?"
Rachel didn't get chance to ask, Amy just leaned forward and handed Rachel the control for the TV. "You can choose" she said with a smile. She could tell Rachel had been crying but she didn't push her, she knew she hadn't been alone and upset, and, if the three of them watching a movie together in the middle of the night would help cheer her up, then Amy would sit there til the sun came up.