If, twelve months ago, someone had told Shelby that she'd spend the next summer with a house full of teenagers and she wouldn't mind it at all, she'd have thought they were crazy. But as she stood in her kitchen, watching Rachel and her friends having fun in the back yard, she couldn't help but smile. The teens were making the most of the warm weather, Shelby had bought a large pool and Rachel and her friends seemed to be enjoying the slip 'n' slide, and the water sprinkler shaped like a sunflower that had been left out when Lily and Max had been over the day before. There was a part of Shelby that was grateful Rachel had found friends who were happy to have water fights and run through the sprinklers. Rachel had missed out on so much growing up, and now she sometimes felt like she was 'too old' to play and have fun, so Shelby was happy to see her running around with her friends, enjoying herself like she deserved to.

Shelby had just turned back to the drinks she was making for the group of teens when she heard the creak of the back door open, she glanced over her shoulder to see who it was and smiled at Noah, assuming he'd come in to use the bathroom, "Miss C" he nervously ran a hand over his mohawk, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure" Shelby turned to face him, "what is it?"

"Could I maybe ask Rachel if she wants to go out this weekend, just the two of us?" Noah asked, the boy more nervous than Shelby had ever seen him.

Shelby smiled slightly, "are you asking permission to take my daughter on a date?"

Noah blushed, "yeah, I mean, if Rachel wants it to be a date. If she just wants to go out as friends then that's cool too."

Shelby nodded, "If Rachel wants to go out with you this weekend then it's okay with me."

Noah heaved a sigh of relief, "thank you."

"Thank me by taking care of her" Shelby told him, "listen to her, do not force her into anything, even if she says no to holding your hand, you need to accept that okay?"

"I will, if she wants it to be a date we can take things as slow as she needs to, I know she's still trying to get over what her Dads did to her."

Shelby was pleased with his answer, "have her home by 11.30" she told him, "and treat her, at all times, like I'm breathing down your neck. I know the boy who used to make her life hell has long gone, you've proved that to me on more than one occasion, but she's still my daughter, and I will make you regret it if you hurt her."

"I don't doubt that at all" Noah told her, "but I'll do my best not to hurt her."

"Good" Shelby gestured to the drinks she was making, "can you give me a hand carrying these out to everyone?"

"Sure" Noah grabbed a few of the glasses, heading back out into the garden.

Rachel had become fond of 'mocktails' and virgin cocktails on vacation, she'd been a bit wary until Shelby had explained that they were mainly just fruit juices, and she'd decided to try them when she'd seen Amy was allowing Lily and Max to order them, so Shelby had made one of Rachel's favourite drinks for her and her friends, wanting them to stay hydrated as they ran around in the sun. She'd already made sure the teens knew they could help themselves to water at any time, and checked that they were all wearing sunscreen before they went outside, she knew they were old enough to take care of things like that themselves, but Shelby figured that it wouldn't hurt to remind them to take a break and reapply their sunscreen now and again.

Shelby made her way back into the living room after taking the drinks outside to a round of thanks from the teenagers. She was using the time Rachel spent with her friends to make sure her lesson plans were all in order for when school started up again. She'd originally only been hired on a temporary basis, but Sue had called her into the office before summer break to tell her that the teacher she was providing maternity cover for had decided not to return to work after all. Sue offered Shelby the job there and then and, after discussing it with Rachel, Shelby accepted the permanent position at McKinley.

A couple of Rachel's friends came in to use the bathroom as Shelby was working, but as always, they were polite, tried to be as quiet as they could so they didn't disturb her as she worked, "hey Baby" Shelby smiled when she saw Rachel come into the room, the girl walking over to her instead of heading for the bathroom, "are you okay?"

Rachel nodded, sitting on the arm of the couch and letting her head fall onto Shelby's shoulder, "I just came in to use the bathroom" she told her, "what are you doing?"

"I'm making sure I've got everything ready for when classes start again. It's a bit boring so I thought I'd get it done while you're having fun with your friends so it's out of the way and I don't have to worry about it later."

"Okay" Rachel smiled, "I wouldn't mind you doing it another day though if you need to."

Shelby shook her head, "I should be able to get it done today and then I don't have to worry about it." She kissed Rachel's temple before telling her, "I'm going to go to the store in a little while to get some things for lunch, I won't be gone long and I'll have my phone if you need me."

"Okay Momma" Rachel nodded.

"Do you want me to let you know before I go?" Shelby asked.

Rachel thought for a moment before shaking her head, "I think I'll be okay, will you let me know when you're back though?"

"Of course I will" Shelby promised, "do you want me to come out and see you or just text you."

"A text will be fine thank you" Rachel nodded, "I'll see you when you bring lunch out right?"

"Of course you will Baby, and you can come in whenever you need to, don't worry about interrupting me."

"Okay" Rachel smiled, "thank you."

"It's not a problem" Shelby squeezed Rachel's hand.

"I love you" Rachel told Shelby as she stood from the arm of the couch, "and thank you for letting me invite everyone over. This is the best summer I've ever had" she said, not giving Shelby time to respond before she headed into the bathroom.

Shelby headed into the kitchen after Rachel went back out to join her friends, wanting to check if there was anything else she needed to pick up when she was at the store. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Brittany and Santana were both in the kitchen, a collection of glasses on the side that they were filling with water for everyone, or at least, they had been before they'd got distracted and now Brittany was leaning back against the worktop as she made out with Santana. Shelby cleared her throat gently to let them know she was there, but she was surprised at how violently Santana jerked away from Brittany, "I, we…" she stumbled over her words, her mind drawing a blank as she tried to think of a good excuse for what Shelby had seen.

"Tana" Brittany whispered, holding out her hand, but Santana didn't take it.

"Santana" Shelby said softly, "it's okay."

"No, no it's not okay" she began pacing like a caged animal, "it's not okay, it's, I…"

"Answer something for me" Shelby walked over to Santana, "what I just saw, was it consensual? For both of you?" Santana nodded, "and are you and Brittany happy together?"

Santana's head snapped up, "were not together" she said quickly, before sighing when she saw the look on Shelby's face, "yeah" she nodded, "I'm happy when I'm with her."

"Then I don't see a problem."

"She's scared" Brittany finally spoke, "she thinks her parents would react badly if she told them about us."

Shelby looked at Santana, seeing the fear, the shame in her eyes, "why don't you give us a minute" she suggested to Brittany.

Brittany nodded, "I love you 'Tana".

"You too B" Santana mumbled as Brittany stepped out of the backdoor.

"I can leave if you want me to" Santana couldn't look Shelby in the eye.

Shelby reached out to take Santana's hand, surprised when the girl let her, she'd expected her to pull away, "the only time I would ever ask you to leave would be if you being here was hurting or upsetting Rachel." She saw Santana didn't look convinced so she gently squeezed her hand. "I've worked hard to make this house a safe space for Rachel, somewhere she can grow and heal, somewhere where she can be who she really is without fear of judgement or consequences, and I'd like to think that that safe place extends to you, to all Rachel's friends too. I can't promise you anything else, but I can promise you that, in this house, you won't be judged for who you are or who you love. And I don;t know if this will put your mind at rest but if you, any of you, need it, we have a guest room upstairs."

"You, you'd let me stay here?"

"Of course I would" Shelby nodded, "if you had nowhere else to go, if you need to get away for a night or two, I'm not going to see you sleeping on the streets. I can only imagine how hard this is for you Santana, and I wish I could tell you you've got nothing to worry about when you tell your parents, but what I can tell you is that you're a couple of years away from graduation. If you need to, if you want to, you're just a short time away from being able to move away and make a clean start somewhere else. High school's rough for everyone, but the real world isn't always like that, yes there'll be hate sometimes, but there's a whole world out there of people who will love and accept you, and Brittany, exactly how you are."

"Thank you" Santana whispered, Shelby was right, she'd been so focused on the here and now that it had never occurred to her that soon she could leave Lima and start a new life somewhere new.

"Could I hug you?" Shelby asked.

Santana nodded, "I… yeah" she couldn't find the words to express how much she felt like she needed a hug right about now, needed someone to show her she wasn't 'broken' that the way she felt wasn't 'wrong', she only hoped her own parents would be as accepting of her relationship with Brittany as Shelby had been.

Shelby held Santana until she felt the teen pull away, she knew Santana liked to come across as tough, like nothing bothered her, but at the same time, the mother in Shelby recognised that, right now, Santana needed comfort. "Okay?" Shelby asked when Santana pulled away, reaching for the kitchen roll and handing it to Santana so she could wipe at her tears.

"Yeah" Santana wiped at her eyes "thank you."

"You don't need to thank me" Shelby smiled, "you know where I am if you need anything."

Rachel was in the pool when Shelby returned from the store, having so much fun with her friends that she hadn't seen the text Shelby had sent to say she was back, but her face lit up when she saw Shelby step out onto the back porch with bags of food in her hands.

Shelby had bought snack type food for lunch, finger foods they could all help themselves to. She knew that, although Rachel's appetite had increased greatly since she'd moved in with Shelby, eating with other people still made her anxious if she couldn't manage the same amount as everyone else. Shelby had reasoned with herself that finger foods the teens could pick at when they wanted might make Rachel more comfortable as it wouldn't be obvious how much she was eating.

"Thanks Mom" Rachel smiled as she climbed out of the pool and Brittany threw her a towel, wrapping it around her body as she headed over to her.

"It's okay" Shelby smiled, "I brought out some paper plates, and a trash bag, just throw everything in there when you're done." There was a chorus of thank you from Rachel's friends before Shelby told them, "there's ice cream in the top drawer of the freezer, help yourself when you're done with this."

The teens thanked Shelby again and she made her way back inside to get her own lunch and get back to her work. Rachel meanwhile helped herself to some food before sitting down on one of the large picnic blankets that Shelby had got out that morning. Everyone sat in a circle, talking about random topics for a while but eventually talk came to glee club, "you should ask Mr Schue for a solo" Brittany told Rachel, "your voice is amazing!"

"Yeah" Quinn encouraged, "we'd all practice with you."

"And I'm sure your Mom would help" Matt added.

"No!" Brittany's eyes opened wide in excitement, "you can't tell your Mom, we'd have to talk to Mr Schue, pretend someone else is doing the solo and have you practice in secret!"

Rachel frowned, "In secret? Why couldn't I tell my Mom?"

Brittany rolled her eyes, "so it's a surprise, so she's expecting the solo we've practiced but then you walk on stage and do your thing!"

"That would be pretty cool" Santana laughed, "it's a good idea Britt."

"I don't know" Rachel said quietly, "I mean, it would be good to surprise her but I don't know if I could do a solo in front of all those people, and I don't think Mr Schue would go along with tricking my Mom like that."

"We could ask" Quinn shrugged, "we won't lose anything if he says no."

"And if you don't want to do a solo" Puck spoke up, "we could do a duet, I think your Mom would still be pretty surprised at that and you wouldn't be on your own."

Rachel blushed slightly and nodded, "maybe. I'll think about it."

A little after lunch Rachel headed inside and asked Shelby if Kurt and Blaine could come over, she'd had a text from Blaine asking if she wanted to hang out with them, so, after checking it was okay with everyone else, she asked Shelby if she'd mind them coming over. Shelby could tell Rachel was nervous so she simply nodded and told her, "of course they can, and thanks for asking Baby."

As the evening rolled in the teens all dried off, changing from their swimwear and, instead of spending their time in the pool, they moved to the lawn, Rachel bringing out a stack of games, the group spending the evening playing jenga, twister and pictionary. It was getting dark by the time everyone left and Shelby checked that everyone had a ride home as they said goodbye, not wanting anyone walking home in the dark. As everyone else headed home, Noah stayed behind under the pretence of helping Rachel tidy up, there wasn't much to tidying up to do though, though, they'd done most of it before everyone left, all that was left to do was fold up the picnic blankets and take the towels they'd used and the board games back inside.

"Rach" Noah said nervously as he folded one of the blankets. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure" Rachel nodded, "what is it?"

"Do you erm, do you maybe want to go out this weekend? Just me and you?"

Rachel stopped in her tracks, "I… you…"

"You can say no if you want. Or if you want someone else to come, your Mom or Quinn or whoever then that's cool too."

"I, do you… would we be going as friends?" Rachel finally asked, not sure she wanted to hear his answer.

"We can if you want, but if you want it to be a date…"

"You, you want to date me?" Rachel's heart was pounding in her chest, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, she knew from her talk with Shelby that there was a chance Noah liked her as more than a friend, but hearing him say it himself had still surprised her a little.

"Yeah, I'd like to, but if you'd rather not then it's okay Rach, I won't be angry or offended, I mean, I like you, but if you don't feel the same way then we can just be friends, I don't want to make things awkward or weird between us."

Rachel smiled, "I, I'd like to go on a date with you Noah, but I, I'll have to ask my Mom first."

"I already asked her" Noah admitted, "I didn't want to ask you if she wasn't happy with me asking" he said honestly.

"You asked my Mom?" Rachel looked up at him, "what did she say?"

Noah reached out, gently taking Rachel's hand, smiling when she let her fingers slip between his, "she said exactly what I expected her to say, "that I need to take care of you and she'll make me regret it if I ever hurt you."

Rachel stepped closer, resting her head on Noah's chest as she told him, "I trust you, I know you won't hurt me, you never have." She felt him wrap his arm around her waist, but she spoke again before he could say anything, "Puck, he hurt me, but you're not Puck, you're Noah, my Nono and I've always been safe with you".

"Your Nono" Noah couldn't help but smile Rachel's use of the nickname she'd given him when they were so much younger, when she was happy and carefree and her biggest problem was a grazed knee or a stubbed toe from playing barefoot in his back yard, "does that make you my Rayray?"

"Yeah" Rachel chuckled in his arms and nodded against his chest, "I guess it does."