Spanktember Prompt, Day 5: First Time

Summary: Rachel Berry has been in Shelby Corcoran's life for four months, and mother and daughter are experiencing a lot of firsts. The first week-long stay at Shelby's, the first time Shelby is expected to be The Parent and take care of all of Rachel's needs. The first time Rachel completely ignores her mother's request to pick up her toys…The first time Shelby steps on Legos…The first time Rachel is spanked by her mom for neglecting to do as she was told.

A Day of Firsts

Shelby Corcoran, top-ranked Vocal Director of the six-time National Show Choir Champion glee club, Vocal Adrenaline, sat on the sofa in her pristine, two-story suburban home and watched as her ten-year-old daughter played on the floor with Legos. It was a sight she never thought she'd see, and one she was still getting used to after only four months.

The fates had aligned in early March when Rachel Berry and her fathers, Hiram and LeRoy, bumped into Shelby at a show choir competition. Shelby hadn't seen the men (or the not-so-little little girl) in ten years—not since the day Shelby had given birth to a baby girl on December 18, 1994 and handed her over to the two gay men she had been a surrogate for.

The men had hugged her and kissed her cheek and then introduced her to Rachel. They told the girl that Shelby was an old family friend and exchanged numbers with her, asking to get together soon. Shelby had watched the family of three walk off, tears in her eyes. At the time, she hadn't expected anything to come of it. Oh, how wrong she was!

Only a week after their initial meeting, LeRoy had called Shelby up and invited her out to lunch with the pair of them without Rachel. They spent the time catching up and Shelby choked on her iced tea when Hiram said very matter-of-factly that they wanted her in Rachel's life in whatever capacity Shelby was comfortable with. Shocked at first, the thirty-two-year-old told them she needed time to process. Four days later, Shelby's heart was hammering in her chest as she sat at the dining table in the Berrys' home and answered all of Rachel's questions about her surrogacy.

Weeks passed, then months, as Shelby and Rachel grew more comfortable around one another. Shelby took the girl to the movies and the mall, on picnics in the park, the zoo—anywhere and everywhere Rachel wanted to go. By mid-May, Rachel had spent the night for the first time. In June, she stayed for a whole weekend. Now at the end of July, Shelby had Rachel for an entire week while the fathers had gone to a teaching conference in Indiana.

Shelby was loving it—but it was also more than a little nerve wracking. For the first time, Shelby was all alone with Rachel and expected to provide for her All The ThingsTM. It was one thing to stick her toe in for a day or even a weekend—Rachel still went home to her dads where they made the rules and provided all of her structure. It was another entirely to take the full plunge into parenthood and be responsible for another human life 24/7. Shelby couldn't help but worry that she'd make a mistake somewhere.

As dinner-time neared on the third day, Shelby was beginning to relax. She was clearly capable of taking care of her child by herself. Rachel had been eating three well-balanced meals every day, she brushed her teeth morning and night, she had a shower each day—Shelby had even been getting the girl to bed on time (she was more lax about bedtime when Rachel stayed over on weekends). Things were going well and Rachel was happy. What more could the mother ask for?

Shelby sighed as she scanned the mess scattered all around her usually-spotless living room. It had been this way for two days now. Rachel had gotten several new Lego sets and had been working hard to build them. Shelby was impressed with the girl's progress on them but was amazed at how many pieces still littered the ground around her child. She had let Rachel keep it on the floor both days without making her clean it up in the evenings, but it was getting out of hand.

"Time to start picking up, Rach," she told her girl.

"Aww, Mom!" the preteen whined, turning big chocolate eyes on her mother and batting thick lashes. Her lip poked out in the cutest pout Shelby had ever seen.

"Hey, we agreed that today you'd pick up, right?" Shelby reminded her. "You can pull it all out again tomorrow, but it's time to put it away for tonight. I've got to start dinner and then it will be time for showers and we can put a movie on before bed."

"But I'm still working on it!" Rachel protested. She didn't understand why she had to clean up now when there were still hours until bedtime. Plus, it's not like she had to the previous evenings—what was another night of letting it be?

"And you can work on it again tomorrow. C'mon, Rach, pick up. You have the bin right there," Shelby pointed in the direction of the pink storage container currently nestled under the coffee table. "I'm going to go start dinner—we'll have veggie spaghetti."

"But—"

"No buts," Shelby said as she stood. "Bin." She pointed once more to the pink bin.

Rachel groaned and watched her mom head for the kitchen, then turned her attention back to her current build—Hogwarts Castle. She would build for ten more minutes and then pick up.

Ten minutes quickly turned to thirty and then Rachel shrieked as her mother's voice echoed from down the hall—dinner was ready.

"Hon, did you hear me? I said—Rachel! I told you to pick up; what have you been doing this whole time?" Shelby's tone turned stern as she made her way fully into the room, taking in the state of her floor. If anything, it was worse now than when she had left it! Placing her hands on her hips, she glared down at her child.

"I just wanted to finish this one section, Mom. I lost track of time, honest!" Rachel offered, staring up at her mom with big, innocent eyes.

Shelby rolled her own and let her hands drop. She was a sucker for those big chocolate orbs. "You are picking up as soon as dinner is over, got it?" she said, pointing a finger at the girl.

"Promise!" Rachel answered, jumping to her feet. She wrapped her arms around Shelby's waist in a quick hug.

"Go wash your hands, brat," Shelby laughed, sending the girl off with a light pat. She watched her child flounce off, then turned to leave. She remembered the glass of water she had left on the side table earlier and backtracked to get it. "ARGH!" she cried out as her bare foot found the edge of a Lego piece. That little fucker hurt! "Goddamn, holy shit! She's picking up or I'm throwing it all away!" she grumbled to herself as she hobbled the rest of the way to her glass.

Dinner was a calm affair and Shelby forgot all about her annoyance, enjoying the silly conversation with her daughter. When they finished, however, the mother grew stern. "I will clean up dinner and you, little girl, will go clean up your mess."

Rachel skipped off with every intention to pick up as her mom had asked her—twice now. She started off well enough, putting handfuls of the colorful plastic bricks into the designated bin. It was when her eyes drifted over to the instruction booklet and she realized the next step wasn't all that complicated that things turned south.

Rachel had told herself she'd do that one quick step and then clean up, but one step turned into two and then three and before she knew it, Rachel could hear her mother's footsteps coming closer. Panicking, Rachel scanned the floor in front of her. It was too much to pick up in the time she had but maybe there was a way to stay out of trouble. Using both arms to sweep the remaining Legos into a haphazard pile, she quickly brushed them under the edge of her mom's area rug. She then snatched the throw blanket off the arm of the sofa and jumbled it on the floor to cover the evidence.

"Hey Rach, are you almost—Oh wow, baby, this looks great! Thank you for picking up, love!" Shelby praised as she walked into the living room. She had half-expected the mess to still be there and was pleasantly relieved to see that wasn't the case. She wasn't sure what she would have done had Rachel not listened to her a second time.

Rachel put on her best show face and offered a beaming smile to her mom. Inside, her tummy swirled with guilty butterflies; she tried to brush them under the rug with her Legos.

By the time Shelby and Rachel had finished their showers and they both got into pajamas (Rachel's an old, oversized t-shirt from one of her dads and a pair of My Little Pony undies), Rachel had completely forgotten about her hidden stash of plastic landmines. That is, until her mother picked up the blue knitted blanket and stepped forward—right onto that very pile.

"Oh, gahARGGHAAHH! WHAT THE FU—OW!" Shelby screeched, falling sideways onto the sofa. She immediately grabbed her left foot and held it against the searing pain radiating out from her arch. As the pain ebbed, she turned her injured foot over and inspected it; she was already forming a small purple bruise. Setting her foot down gingerly, the mother then leaned forward to see what she had stepped on. Her eyes caught a tiny red brick peeking out from under her rug; she narrowed them as her suspicions grew.

"Mom, wait—" Rachel blurted, her words dying off as her mother peeled the rug back. Her tummy flipped as her mom's face darkened and then it fell straight down to her feet as hazel eyes pinned her to her spot.

"That's it!" Shelby declared, her hand darting out to get a firm grip on a tiny wrist. Rachel gave a startled little yelp and then Shelby was pulling her forward until the girl fell over her knees.

"Mom!" the girl gasped, squirming over the unfamiliar lap. She couldn't believe this was happening! It wasn't that she was unused to spankings—her dads had given her several over the years, the most recent one happening in May. And she was well-aware that her mom knew spankings were still an option for her—her dads had told the woman as much. Rachel just hadn't considered she'd find herself over her mom's lap—at least not so soon! The woman had barely scolded her before, so this was a bit of a leap! It left her feeling off-balance.

Wrapping her right arm around her child's waist, Shelby tucked Rachel in close to her own body and then flipped up the back of the girl's shirt, exposing the My Little Pony panties. Raising her left hand, she let it fall with a sharp clap against the smiling faces of the cartoon ponies. Several more followed before she began to scold.

"When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it right then. Not in five minutes, not when you feel like it—then." She let her hand fall a bit faster now, peppering crisp swats all over her child's bottom.

"Ow! Ow! Oh, Mom—Ouch!" Rachel yelped, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

"I told you to pick up your Legos twice. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt the first time—I know things are so new with us and we are learning the ropes together. I don't appreciate being ignored, Rachel Barbra," Shelby continued, turning her attention to her child's sit-spots. She wasn't spanking overly hard, but certainly enough to sting if the burning in her own palm was anything to go off of.

"I didn't—Ow! I didn't mean t-to!" Rachel cried as she wiggled and kicked her feet. Her left hand came to clutch at her mother's sleep pants so she wouldn't be tempted to reach back.

"The Legos didn't put themselves under my rug!" Shelby answered, moving back to the fullest part of Rachel's bottom.

"I—Oh ouch, Mama—I know! I'm s-sorry!" Rachel's bottom hurt and she hated that she was being spanked right now, but part of her couldn't help but feel glad too. Her dads wouldn't have hesitated to haul her over either of their laps if she had pulled this stunt at home—now she had a mom that would do the same. It was enough to make Rachel's heart soar.

Shelby's hand stilled halfway to its target. Her vision blurred as tears appeared and her heart was near enough to bursting. Rachel called her Mama.

One minute her mother's hand was clapping down in regular intervals and adding to the growing heat trapped beneath her panties; the next, she was set right-side up again. It was enough to give the girl whiplash.

Her mother wasn't done already…was she? Her dads certainly wouldn't be. If it had been either of them, now would be about the time they peeled back her panties and the spanking really started. That or—

Rachel paled and let out a tiny gasp. Was her mom going to send her off to fetch a wooden spoon? Or a hairbrush?

"M—Mama?" she began tentatively. "What's going on? Are you gonna—Are we—" She mustered up the courage to meet the woman's eyes and was taken aback at the tears she saw clinging to long lashes. "Wha—What's wrong?"

Shelby gave her child a watery smile, her heart melting at the concern written all over that little face. "Nothing's wrong, baby," she assured, pulling the girl down on her lap—face-up this time. "I just—You called me Mama."

Rachel's brow furrowed. "Are you…Do you not want me to—"

"Oh no, Rach, I want you to!" Shelby insisted, wrapping her arms around her child in a warm hug. "I loved that you called me Mama, baby. It surprised me, is all. But I love it and I'm honored—you have no idea what this means to me, Rach," she gushed.

Rachel rested her head against her mom's shoulder, soaking up all the love and cuddles, and considered the woman's words. Was that all it took to get her spanking to end? Calling her mom 'Mama'? She wondered what else that magic word could do for her.

Shelby gave the girl one last squeeze, planted a kiss to her head, and then set her on her feet once more. "Okay, Rach, time to pick up—for real this time, please," she told her child with a knowing quirk of her brow.

Rachel's eyes were still glassy from the tears she never shed and she turned them now onto her mother, along with her best pouty lip. "Mama," she whined, waiting for her mom to absolutely melt. Hazel eyes glistened, and Rachel's lips began to twitch as she fought hard not to break into a triumphant smile.

Shelby narrowed her eyes and raised her brow, giving her child a mere taste of her patented Coach Corcoran GlareTM—two could play this game. "Do you need to feel Mama's hand on your bare bottom, little girl?"

Rachel blanched, her eyes growing wide, and it was Shelby's turn to keep the grin off her face. "No, ma'am!" the girl squeaked, shaking her head fervently. She dropped down to her knees and immediately began picking up her toys.

Shelby laughed and joined her child on the floor. "C'mon, brat, let's get this cleaned up and then I'll make us some hot chocolate, hmm?"

Brown eyes met hazel and Rachel's face finally broke into that smile. Between the two of them, the Legos were picked up in no time and then Shelby was helping her to stand. She wrapped her arms around her mom's waist and breathed in the woman's comforting scent.

"I really am sorry I didn't listen and pick up the first time," Rachel offered, tilting her head up to make eye contact.

"Good. I hope that means there won't be a second time any time soon," Shelby returned, bopping her child's nose with her index finger.

"Don't worry, Mama," Rachel assured as her right hand snuck back to rub at the last of the lingering sting. "One time was enough."