A/N – I'm so sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. I've just been really busy at work and home. Sometimes I just never grab the chance to get the writing done like I want. But I do apologize about keeping you all waiting. I hope you enjoy this one.
Thank you so much for all of the reviews and for reading this little story of mine. I appreciate your feedback and your support so much.
Disclaimer – I don't own Glee.
The gate in the terminal at the airport was crowded for a Sunday evening and LeRoy looked around at all of the travelers and briefly wondered about their stories and where they were headed. He was waiting for his daughter's flight to land from New York. It had been an interesting few days without Rachel around; not that he and Hiram hadn't ever spent time away from her, but it was a whole new level of worry, and contentment, to know she was with someone else she considered a parent. In the past if they had to go out of town for whatever reason, Rachel went to one of her grandparents' houses or they came and stayed with her. Even then, that was pretty rare. They rarely ever had to go out of town together and so Rachel was always home with one parent. The only exception was the vacation they gave themselves in the early spring. They'd started it when Rachel was nine and they took a cruise just the two of them. Their relationship was strong anyway, but Hiram and LeRoy consciously decided to take that time for themselves away from their child. They weren't selfish or horrible; they were human. And for six days out of the every year, they stepped back and took the time for themselves. Rachel loved the adventure of it all as well. She got a couple of grandparents to wrap her finger around for that time and she loved it. Though now that LeRoy was thinking about it, he supposed she'd be staying with Shelby, or that Shelby would come and stay with her. He added that to the list of things they needed to talk about.
They had taken Rachel on a cruise once when she was six and they had been so worried about her falling overboard the whole time that they couldn't enjoy themselves. They'd take her back on one again if she wanted in a year or two. Although that brought about a whole new level or worry for them. Rachel would inevitably latch herself onto a single boy or two and neither parent was ready for that. He pushed that thought as far away from his mind as he could.
LeRoy checked the arrivals board once more and saw that Rachel's plane had just landed. He was anxious to see her and hold her tightly. Hiram stayed home to fix dinner and nurse a cold that he'd been trying in vain to keep away.
As promised, Shelby had been keeping them up to date with how Rachel was doing. She had called them before Rachel woke up this morning and explained about her mother's visit and Rachel's storm out. Shelby had apologized to the men for the swat she gave Rachel and they assured her that it was not the first time Rachel had ever been popped and that it still happened. The girl even still found herself the recipient of an occasional spanking and Shelby had laughed nervously and said she'd never have to do that to Rachel. The men had just placated her when they told her no, of course not. They hoped not too, but they knew Rachel better than she did. They also knew that as the pair grew closer as mother and daughter, it was inevitable that Rachel would start to test Shelby and the woman needed to be ready to handle that. Rachel would want to figure out just how much she could get away with when it came to her mother; it was a natural phenomenon in for all parents and children. It sounded like Shelby was working on getting there. He also realized that they really needed to buckle down and talk to Shelby parent to parent and iron out details like that. They didn't want her second guessing herself every time she dared to pull Rachel back in when the girl had stepped out of line. They had just been flying by the seat of their pants as this new relationship was forged, but it was time for the adults to get together to discuss the facts of Rachel their child.
Rachel was again the last one off the plane and she ran to LeRoy who bent down far enough so she could wrap her arms around his neck and then he lifted her up and hugged her close.
"Hi, Daddy!" Rachel greeted. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, sweetheart," LeRoy said before kissing her head. "Dad is home making us a great dinner. We can't wait to hear all about your trip."
He set her on her feet and, after signing the proper papers, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led the way towards the baggage claim.
"I had a really good time," Rachel enthused. "Mom gave me a key to her apartment and said that I should always think of her place as home now. I've got my own home and my own room in New York City," Rachel said wistfully. "Thank you, Daddy!" She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly as she started to cry.
"Hey now," LeRoy said as he stopped and pulled her to the side so they wouldn't be blocking the walkway. "What's going on?"
"I love Mom so much, but I missed you and Dad so much too," Rachel said. "I didn't want to leave, but I'm happy to be home. I'm just so glad I get to have her in my life."
"Rachel, there's no need to cry," LeRoy said gently. "We missed you too, but we know how much building this relationship means to you. We want you to embrace it and really get to know your mother. You don't have to feel guilty about missing her or missing us or trying to figure out where you'd rather be at any given moment. Your mother and father and I all know this is hard on you and that it's going to take some time to adjust. And you have to accept that you won't always get your way and schedules have to be maintained."
"I know," Rachel said. "I just want to be with all of you at the same time. In New York and here in Ohio. I want to go and visit Mom as much as possible, but I don't want to leave you and Dad out."
"You're not, sweetheart," LeRoy assured her. "We know how important this is to you."
"I'll never leave you, Daddy," Rachel said.
"Oh Rach," LeRoy pulled her close as she started to cry again. He had no idea where all of this was coming from. Yes, he was used to an emotional Rachel, but this seemed to go deeper than that.
"Thank you for always believing in me," Rachel said.
"What's going on?" LeRoy asked. "Why are you so upset?"
"Did you know Shelby's parents and dad never believed in her?" Rachel asked her father with wide, confused eyes. "Her mom said such terrible things to her."
LeRoy rubbed her back as she leaned into him. He and Hiram had heard about Shelby's mother and they had planned to talk with Rachel about it later that evening. But it seems as if Rachel had been thinking about it for a while now.
"I want Mom to know that I believe in her and that I love her so much," Rachel continued. "But I didn't want to seem silly when she was already upset because I stormed out."
Rachel caught herself after that confession and looked back up at her dad. He just gave her a stern glare to let her know that yes indeed he knew all about that. Rachel looked contrite and then leaned back into him.
"I know that you and Dad love me and always believe in me, but I never really understood how much that actually meant," Rachel said.
She had spent the whole flight thinking about how she had left her mother all alone in New York City and how the woman had made it on her own without her parents' help. Rachel honestly didn't know if she'd ever be able to do that. Her dads meant the world to her and she thrived off of their love and encouragement. She wanted to be able to in turn give that to her mom and she didn't want to mess it up so that's why she hadn't mentioned it. She needed to talk to the men who did that for her first. She was trying to tell her father thank you, but it was getting lost in her tears and rambles.
"Rachel, let's calm down, ok," LeRoy said. He was pretty sure he got what she was trying to say. "We can talk about it more at home after you've had a chance to relax. And the longer we stand here, the longer it'll take to get home and see your dad and he is dying to see you."
"Ok," Rachel agreed with a sniffle.
LeRoy smiled, but sent her into the restroom to blow her nose and clean her face. Their over the top, dramatic and emotional girl was back home and that would always be the greatest feeling in the world.
LeRoy thought Rachel might have fallen asleep on the drive home from the airport in Columbus, but she was too busy talking the whole time. She called Shelby to let her know she got home and she texted with Kurt the entire time all while trying to tell her dad about The View and what Katie Couric was like. She was getting her stories mixed up though and would start to try and explain to him what she well telling Kurt. He finally told her that maybe she should wait so she could tell him and Hiram together.
"Hi, Dad!" Rachel said excitedly as she burst through the front door and went to find Hiram.
"Hi, Rachel!" Hiram said with equal excitement and volume as he picked Rachel up in a hug like LeRoy had given her at the airport.
LeRoy smiled at Hiram as he carried Rachel's bags in and set them down. Hiram winked at his husband over Rachel's shoulder and squeezed the girl tighter. They never really got used to the quiet when Rachel wasn't around.
"Dinner is just about ready so go upstairs and get washed up," Hiram said as he set her on her feet. "We expect to hear every detail of your trip."
"I'll be right back," Rachel said as she hurried off.
"How was the drive?" Hiram asked LeRoy before giving him a quick kiss hello.
"Fine," LeRoy answered. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm ok. For now," Hiram said. "This cold medicine is some powerful stuff."
LeRoy laughed and then his demeanor changed as he looked up the stairs to make sure Rachel was out of earshot. "She started crying at the airport."
"Why? What happened?" Hiram asked. He led them back into the kitchen.
"She asked me if I knew that Shelby's parents never believed in her," LeRoy said. "And she wants Shelby to know that she believes in her. She told me how we have always believed in her. She wants to be able to give that back to Shelby since her parents never did."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her we'd talk more about it here," LeRoy said. "I wanted to get us out of the airport. She said how much she missed us even though she misses Shelby now and she wants to be in both places at once. I think she's worried we're going to feel left out or like she doesn't want us."
"She's confused," Hiram finished for him.
"Yeah. And I think she worries about when she'll see Shelby again, but doesn't want to say anything to us so we don't get upset," LeRoy said. "We need to set up a schedule of visits. I know we've been telling Rachel that we'll work it out as we go, but now is the time to get something in place."
"I'll text Shelby and see if we can talk to her after her show tonight," Hiram said.
"That'll work," LeRoy said.
"Hey, what's for dinner?" Rachel asked as she bounded back into the room.
"Your favorite, of course," Hiram said as he led her into the dining room.
Dinner that night had been joyous and loud as Rachel told them about her trip. She strategically left out mentions of Brian or the trouble she got herself into. She didn't want to cloud the conversation with how she felt about the Brian thing. They talked for a while about Evelyn and her relationship with Shelby and Rachel felt better when it was over, but part of her still didn't grasp how parents could be so indifferent to their kid. She'd only known Shelby about a month, but she knew that she mattered to the woman. How awful it must feel to think your parents don't care very much.
Rachel spoke with Shelby briefly before finally going to bed at her fathers' insistence. It was later than she normally went to bed and she'd seemed simultaneously wired and exhausted. Her fathers didn't know how she did it. LeRoy had caught her forty-five minutes later laying in bed and playing a game on her phone. The phone was now on his bedside table charging.
Hiram was lying on their bed with a hand to his pounding head while LeRoy started to empty out Rachel's suitcase to sort the clothes for the laundry. Rachel had grabbed her iPod and toiletries and left all of the clothes promising that she would get to them the next day. LeRoy decided to save everyone the time and do it himself.
Hiram's phone was on the bed and on because they had been talking with Shelby for close to half an hour about arranging a set visitation schedule and Rachel's words about Evelyn. Shelby was in tears at the revelation that Rachel wants her mother to know she believes in her. The woman promised to speak with Rachel the following day about Evelyn. Rachel had seemed to understand that night, but Shelby was starting to realize just how much Rachel internalized despite her outgoing, talkative nature.
LeRoy pulled a t-shirt he had never seen before from the suitcase and held it up to show Hiram who just shrugged. Next came a purple NYU hoodie and both men started to smile.
"Shelby, are you missing a couple things?" LeRoy asked into the phone.
"What? What kinds of things?" Shelby asked. She briefly glanced up at her Tony and verified it was still in its proper spot.
"It seems our daughter came home with an NYU hoodie of yours and another t-shirt," LeRoy explained.
Shelby chuckled and shook her head. She wondered why she couldn't find them when she picked up the sweatpants and socks Rachel had left in the bathroom.
"Don't worry about them," Shelby said. "She's more than welcome to have them."
"Did she even ask?" Hiram said.
"No, but it's ok. I've got other hoodies and can get more," Shelby said. "I actually love that she wanted to keep them."
"Well, not to be outdone, she went through a phase when she was about 4 where all she wanted to wear was one of our dress shirts and a tie," LeRoy said. "We have some of the cutest pictures of her."
"Aw, that's awesome," Shelby said. "You'll have to send me some of those pictures."
"We definitely will," LeRoy said.
LeRoy looked up and noticed that Hiram's eyes were starting to flutter closed and he needed to get him to bed. Trying to ward off the cold didn't seem to be working. The adults all said their goodnights and LeRoy finished emptying the suitcase into a laundry basket and then brought Hiram some more medicine to help him sleep. It was close to one in the morning by the time they got settled in bed. Five was going to come awfully early.
Shelby's mind was full after she said goodnight and hung up the phone. Rachel needed and deserved consistency in the situation and Shelby knew that she was going to have to structure her visits better. The need to get them on a regular schedule was important too and Shelby promised she would call the fathers back the next night with her calendar at the ready so they could start formulating a visitation schedule.
She also knew that the time had come to make a firm decision about the show. She had been leaning towards leaving the show at the end of the summer, but now she knew she wanted to leave sooner than that. The end of May would be perfect and it would correspond with Rachel getting out of school. By that point she would have been in the show for over a year on Broadway and longer than that if you counted workshops and out of town tryouts. She loved it, but Shelby knew the nature of Broadway and there would always come a time when she would leave the show. Now, though, it was even more important to lock in a date so plans could start to be made and a replacement could be named. She would have that conversation with the producers and director tomorrow. Leaving the show three months earlier than she anticipated wasn't that big of a deal and she was too excited at the prospect of having Rachel for longer than a weekend at a time to think about anything else. She wanted to spend so much time with her daughter and she'd love to plan a vacation for the two of them. She loved the show and she loved the role she played, but it didn't come close to the love she had for Rachel.
Rachel groaned the next morning when her alarm went off. She slammed her hand down on the clock to shut off the awful noise and rolled back over and went back to sleep. There was no way she should be awake this early. She could do her elliptical routine later or something.
LeRoy stretched and looked over at Hiram who looked like the last thing he wanted to do was get out of bed.
"Why don't you stay home today?" LeRoy asked.
"No," Hiram sighed. "I'm actually not feeling too bad; I'm just tired."
"You should get some more rest anyways," LeRoy said. "Well you don't want to overdo it and end up feeling sick again."
"I'm fine," Hiram said. He was almost reluctant to admit it because he would love a day to stay in bed and rest.
The men got up and got ready for the day and as Hiram was making the bed, he stopped and looked over at LeRoy.
"I don't hear Rachel."
"Maybe she decided not to do the elliptical this morning," LeRoy shrugged. "I'll go check on her."
LeRoy knocked and when he didn't get a response, opened the door enough so he could peek in.
"Rachel," he sighed as he walked into the room. "Wake up."
Rachel didn't even stir.
"Come on, Rach, it's time to get ready for school," LeRoy said. He patted her leg through the blankets.
Rachel blearily opened her eyes and looked at him. "Ok."
"Good girl," LeRoy said. "Get up and start getting ready. You're going to be running late soon."
Rachel nodded and started to move around so LeRoy left and shut the door behind him. He needed to hop in the shower himself. Rachel shut her eyes again and thought about how she needed to get up even as she was drifting back to sleep.
It was another thirty-five minutes before one of her fathers went to check on her again.
"Rachel, what are you doing?" Hiram said as he stepped into the room. She hadn't answered the knock. "You're going to be late. Get up now."
"No," Rachel whined and rolled over. She was too tired for this. Mondays sucked.
"Rachel, right now," Hiram said.
LeRoy could hear them talking from his bedroom where he was finishing up with his tie. They were all going to bed earlier tonight. His attention was drawn to his bedside table when Rachel's phone started to ring. When he picked it up he saw that it was Shelby and he answered it.
"Good morning," LeRoy greeted.
"Morning," Shelby said with surprise in her voice. "I thought I called Rachel's phone."
"You did, but it was in my room. She went to bed late and then stayed up even later playing games so I took it last night," LeRoy explained.
"Oh, I see," Shelby said. "Are you going to keep it for a while? Do I need to call the house phone? I just wanted to tell her good morning."
"She's not actually out of bed yet," LeRoy said. "She's fighting getting up."
"She's going to be late," Shelby said.
"I know," LeRoy said. "Hang on a sec; I'll let you talk to her."
"Rachel, you've got ten seconds to get out of that bed," Hiram said as LeRoy walked in the room. Shelby could hear it in the background.
"Rachel, you've got a phone call," LeRoy said.
LeRoy pulled her blankets off and she curled herself into a little ball.
"Daddy!" she whined.
Shelby didn't know whether to smile or cringe. This sounded like it was an even harder time than she had getting Rachel up the morning of the interview.
"Here," LeRoy said as he placed the phone in her hand and made her put it to her ear.
"Hello?" Rachel mumbled. Her eyes were still closed.
"Good morning, Rachel," Shelby said brightly.
"Mom?" Rachel opened her eyes and looked up at her dads, both of whom had their arms crossed as they watched her.
"Why aren't you up yet?" Shelby asked. "You're going to be late."
Rachel sighed and rolled to her back. Once glance at her clock and she knew she was really pushing it, but she didn't care. She was so tired.
"Can't I just be sick today?" Rachel whined. She was more talking to her dads than to Shelby, but it was the woman who responded.
"No," Shelby said.
"Mom," Rachel complained.
Hiram and LeRoy had both been about to say something, but stopped when it was clear that Shelby was talking and Rachel was listening to her.
"Rachel, this isn't like you," Shelby said. "If the trip to New York was too much for you and it affects you this much when you get home, we'll have to make other arrangements. You'll have to fly home earlier in the day or I will only come there from now on."
"What?" Rachel asked. "That's not fair." She sat up finally put her feet on the floor.
Rachel, we thought you could handle the trip, but you're showing that you can't," Shelby added. We can make different arrangements."
"No," Rachel said. "I'm up. I'll hurry."
"Good," Shelby said. "Let me talk to one of your dads while you go get ready."
"Fine," Rachel sassed tiredly. She handed the phone over and headed towards her bathroom.
"What did you say to her?" LeRoy asked when he had the phone back.
"Just that if she couldn't handle going to New York, she wouldn't and that I would only come there from now on," Shelby told him.
"Well played, Shelby," LeRoy said with pride in his voice.
"I'm learning a little bit," she said with a smile.
Shelby did, however, leave off the fact that she had let Rachel stay up until after two in the morning the night before. She filed that lesson away with the other things she was learning about having a teenage daughter. She was being serious with Rachel though; she didn't want anything to interfere with the girl going to school.
Later that day, Shelby spoke with the producers and a date was set for her exit from the show. She would be leaving it May 27. She was also going to get designated weekends off so she could fly to Ohio to spend time with Rachel. The first one would be in two weeks and she called Hiram and LeRoy and they told her the guest room in the house would be ready and waiting for her. She would not be getting every other weekend off because that was too much, but Rachel could always come and stay with her while she had to do the show.
A week later Rachel was sitting in her American History class with Kurt and they were talking in soft tones while the teacher waited for the final bell to sound before starting. Santana and Quinn sat in the back of the class and were laughing about something, but quieted down when Mrs. Harris, their teacher, asked for everyone's attention.
"Class, I have written out a new assignment sheet and we'll be participating in something some of you hate and some of you love. Group work." There was a groan. "But don't worry; we'll all get through it together."
Earlier in the school year, Rachel would not have been keen on group work, mostly because she always ended up doing most of the work for whatever group she ended up in. But now she had Kurt and they exchanged a glance and shrugged. Group work? No problem.
"This will be a little different," Mrs. Harris went on as she started to pass out the assignment sheets. "There will be four to a group and if you guys cannot pick, I will be happy to do it for you."
Now Rachel groaned and rolled her eyes. Great.
"You've got five minutes to come up with your groups," Mrs. Harris told them. "Choose wisely." The last part was said with a smile as she sat at her desk to wait.
"Who else should we pick?" Kurt asked Rachel. They were the only two who had not gotten up from their desks.
"I don't know," Rachel said.
"You two are working with us," Santana said. She and Quinn moved to stand in front of them and Rachel and Kurt just stared up at the girls.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"We need two people," Quinn said. "Besides, we're all friends now."
"We are?" Kurt asked.
"Yes, now shut up," Santana said. "It says it's due two weeks from today so we can split up the research and work on it next weekend. How does that sound?"
Kurt gave Santana a quizzical look and was surprised to see her so efficient and on top of school work. He didn't have any real basis for why she wouldn't be, but he shook his head all the same.
"My mom will be in town next weekend," Rachel said with a sigh. It figures she'd have to do a bunch of stupid homework while her mother was here.
That little announcement got the other three's attention and they reacted quickly.
"We're working at your house," Santana said.
"We can't do it where I live," Quinn added.
"What?" Rachel asked as she looked up at them again. "Why don't we go to the library?"
"Because I don't work well in libraries," Santana said.
"Fine," Rachel said. She hoped her dads wouldn't be embarrassing. Somewhere in the back of Rachel's mind it hadn't registered yet that what the other girls were doing was jumping at the opportunity to see Shelby again.
A/n – That's the end of this chapter. Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought. I'm sorry if it seems slow to some people, but I very much want to include the fathers. I love them a lot as characters and I don't want to skip over their part in all of this. Thanks, you guys! And Merry Christmas for those who celebrate!
And provided the Mayans were wrong, I'll see you guys on the flip side. :)
