A/N – I know I'm a broken record, but sorry about the delay. And thank you so much for all of the reviews and for reading and for all of your support. You guys are so wonderful and I appreciate you all so much. You really have no idea how much it all means to me. Thank you, thank you. I hope everyone likes this chapter.

Disclaimer – I don't own Glee.

There was a short moment of silence as everyone stared at each other after Santana had been restrained and the girls accused the other of starting the altercation. Rachel and Santana were glaring at each other with narrowed eyes and they were both worked up and breathing hard because of adrenaline. Rachel was still doing her very best not to cry in front of everyone even though her lip hurt like crazy. She could tell it was still bleeding. Shelby was standing close to her and had placed her hand on her back. Rachel could feel her mother's eyes on her, but she didn't chance to look over at her in case she saw either anger or concern, both of which would probably cause her tears to flow.

Santana relaxed a bit in Hiram's grasp and she knew he wasn't holding her tightly. But she also knew that she needed to get it together because as angry as she might be, she'd never be able to retaliate again right now. And she wasn't stupid; she'd just punched Rachel Berry in the face in the girl's own house. That shit was never going to fly with her parents even if she was standing there covered in orange juice. And somehow she just knew that her mother was going to find out about this. Santana also realized her hand was quite sore and she unconsciously flexed it a few times.

Shelby hadn't taken her eyes off of Rachel since she, Hiram, and LeRoy ran into the room. She could tell that Rachel was trying not to cry and she wanted nothing more than to make her daughter stop hurting. There was blood on her lip and clearly in her mouth and Shelby tried to keep herself cool. She'd never felt anything like this. Her heart was racing at the idea that Rachel might be hurt. Did she need to go to the hospital? Did she need stitches? Were her teeth ok? Shelby had missed out of fifteen years of bumps and bruises and skinned knees and one dancing mishap that required stitches and, just as Rachel was trying not to cry, Shelby was trying not to lose it like some crazy new mother in front of everyone. She suddenly understood Shirley MacLaine's character in Terms of Endearment so much better.

"Now," LeRoy said, "I'm going to ask again. "What is going on?"

That's when the silence ended and all four kids started to talk at once. Rachel and Santana started to point at each other as each girl tried to tell their side of what had happened. Kurt was recounting everything he had seen go down seemingly from the moment they arrived and Quinn stood up straight and did her best to be heard over the crowd. She couldn't quite believe that they had reached this point because she and Santana had talked briefly after their talk with Shelby and agreed to apologize to Rachel. She didn't want to be Rachel's best friend or anything, but she could see why they were in the wrong. But of course, leave it to Santana to let her mouth run away with her. Quinn still couldn't believe Rachel had actually thrown the glass of juice like that. She'd seen her get hit with countless slushies and she never did anything to retaliate.

Shelby took her eyes off of Rachel for a second to look around the room at the other equally loud teenagers and finally at Hiram and LeRoy who both wore expressions of irritation and increasing anger. She sure hoped they knew what to do about this. Her focus returned to Rachel when she heard her daughter mention being able to taste the blood in her mouth. Her poor baby.

Shelby closed her eyes for a second and silently told herself to get it together. It was just a split lip and Rachel was fine. She wondered for a second if this was how her mother felt when she came home with a split lip when she was twelve. Doubtful, Shelby frowned. She was cleaned up by the time she got home and she only remembered her mother being angry.

LeRoy turned and looked over at Kurt and Quinn and then back over at Shelby who was watching Rachel intently. He looked at her split lip and figured it couldn't be that bad at the moment if the girl was able to stand there and argue without any problems. It would sting later, he knew. LeRoy then turned his head and looked at Hiram who looked like he was trying to decipher what was being said. He had heard Santana say something about Rachel throwing the orange juice all over her and at least now he knew what it was. Quinn was saying something about their project and Kurt was doing his best to make sure everyone knew that he was innocent in this whole situation. They weren't getting anywhere.

"Ok, enough. Enough!" Hiram said above all of the kids and the chatter instantly died down. "We are not going to stand here and yell at each other. You two are going to get cleaned up and we are going to talk about all of this calmly."

Santana looked over at Rachel and saw the girl was nodding and so, despite her annoyance and anger, she followed her lead.

"Good," Hiram said. "Santana, you can use the bathroom down here to clean up. Rachel, you can go upstairs. You two," he pointed at Kurt and Quinn, "sit down at the table and wait."

"Santana, I want your phone number so I can call your house and talk to one of your parents," LeRoy said when the kids started to move.

Santana looked over at Quinn and Kurt who were both looking back at her wide-eyed. Quinn shrugged and exchanged a glance with Kurt as they sat down at the table. Santana relented and followed the others into the kitchen where she gave LeRoy her number before disappearing into the bathroom.

"I'm going to clean up the mess of orange juice," Hiram said.

"I'll call Santana's house and then get Rachel cleaned up," LeRoy responded.

"I can help Rachel," Shelby spoke up.

"You sure?" Leroy asked.

"Of course," Shelby told them. "I can handle one split lip."

"Everything you'll need is in our bathroom," LeRoy told her.

"Come on, Rach," Shelby said as she put a hand on the girl's back and led her out of the room and up the stairs.

Rachel glumly took a seat on the closed toilet seat in her fathers' bathroom and she watched as her mother gathered up supplies and set them on the counter. She groaned when she saw a bottle of peroxide. Shelby filled up a glass with water and handed it to her daughter.

"Here, rinse your mouth out," Shelby instructed.

Rachel carefully took a sip and eyed her mother as she let the water slosh around in her mouth. She was torn between still being angry and wanting to be taken care of. She wanted to sulk, but she wanted a hug and she wasn't quite sure yet which would win. Maybe she'd wait and determine how mad her mother might be first. It wasn't fair though. She was mad first. Stupid Santana. This was all her fault.

"Ow," Rachel muttered after she spit into the sink and saw some of the blood.

"Sit back down and let's stop the bleeding," Shelby said.

Shelby gently pressed a clean wash cloth to Rachel's lip and winced with her when Rachel reacted to the pain.

"Are you ok otherwise?" Shelby asked. "You didn't get hit anywhere else, did you?"

"No," Rachel said.

"What happened down there?" Shelby asked as she sat down on the edge of the bathtub and let Rachel take over holding the wash cloth to her lip.

"Santana said something I didn't like," Rachel answered.

"So you threw a cup of juice in her face?" Shelby frowned.

"She deserved it," Rachel said. "And it's not like she's never been right there laughing when people throw slushies at me."

Shelby nodded and then ran a soothing hand over Rachel's arm. "What did she say?"

Rachel looked over at Shelby and then let her eyes fall to her lap. She couldn't tell her mother what Santana had said. She couldn't tell anyone. She couldn't say it out loud because of the fear that it might be true.

"Nothing," Rachel said.

"It can't have been nothing," Shelby said. "You can talk to me, Rachel."

"It was just a stupid argument," Rachel said. "It's over now."

Shelby stared at her intently for a few seconds hoping that Rachel would lift her gaze and look at her. She wanted nothing more than to make her feel better, but she couldn't address it if she didn't know what was said. She couldn't believe Santana did this though after they had just talked about it. She hoped the girl's parents could get through to her and was glad LeRoy was calling them.

"Let me see," Shelby said. She figured it was best to change the subject for now. Plus, the lip needed to be cleaned out. The details would be worked out soon enough.

Rachel moved the wash cloth at Shelby's coaxing and let her mom look over the cut on the right side of her bottom lip. She could tell that it had stopped bleeding.

"It doesn't look too bad," Shelby said. "And it's nothing compared to the bloody lip I came home with one time." Her eyes sparkled when she realized that had captured Rachel's attention and the girl finally looked up to meet her eyes.

"You got hit in the face one time too?" Rachel asked. "What kind of fight was it? Did you win? How old were you?"

Shelby was amused that the girl who was just so reticent was now rattling off a bunch of questions. She moved over to the sink to start getting some peroxide to clean Rachel's lip as she started her tale.

"I was twelve," Shelby started, "and I wasn't in a fight."

"How'd you get a bloody lip if you weren't in a fight?" Rachel asked.

Shelby picked up a clean wash cloth and ran it under the cool water and then wrung it out. She then picked up the bottle of peroxide and held the cloth over the opening and tipped it a couple times. She knew the wet cloth would help dilute the peroxide some.

"I was riding my bike and my best friend Elizabeth was riding on the handlebars," Shelby said.

"Is this the same best friend you hitchhiked to the New Kids on the Block concert with?" Rachel asked. She was doing her best to delay having to put any peroxide on her cut.

"Yep, she's the same one," Shelby answered. "She and I met the first day of pre-school and we've been friends ever since."

Shelby sat back down on the edge of the tub and scooted as close to Rachel as she could get. She held up the cloth, but Rachel tried to inch away and leaned back.

"Wow," Rachel said. "You've known her a really long time."

"Yes, I have," Shelby confirmed. "Come here."

"What happened when you got your bloody lip?" Rachel asked. She shook her head at her mother.

"I will tell you," Shelby said. "While we clean that cut."

Shelby gently pulled Rachel closer to her and put the wash cloth to her lip and looked at her sympathetically when the girl hissed and pulled away. Shelby persisted and held the cloth back on her lip.

"Mommy, that hurts," Rachel whined and pouted and a few of her pent up tears finally made their way down her cheeks.

"I know, baby," Shelby said and then held back her tears of her own. Rachel had just called her mommy. Shelby would never forget what that sounded like. The mixture of hurt and annoyance and childish whining would always sound perfect because this was her first time hearing that name spoken by her little girl. She was a mommy. Shelby stood up some and kissed Rachel's head and then sat back down on the tub.

Rachel, for her part, didn't even realize what she'd done. The word daddy fell from her lips so often when she was hurt or whining or pouting. Even Hiram, who was usually just Dad, got the daddy treatment in times like this. In this moment, Rachel even forgot that she was angry with her mother.

"So what happened?" Rachel asked with the cloth still on her lip. "On the bike?"

"Oh yeah," Shelby smiled and went back to her story. "Her mom didn't like when we would ride each other around on our handlebars. She said that we were going to fall and get hurt. But everyone did that. We didn't have to wear helmets or anything like that back then. And Elizabeth and I did it all the time. We just tried to make sure her mom didn't see us."

Rachel nodded along. Well of course.

"So we were riding and we were goofing off and both trying to dance because I was singing and we lost our balance and fell," Shelby continued. "It was the summer and so we were both in shorts and she got scraped hands and elbows and I got a bad skinned knee and I hit just right and busted my lip. My bottom lip just like yours is now. Let's see."

"That must have really hurt," Rachel said as Shelby took the wash cloth away.

"It did. A lot," Shelby confirmed. "We were both crying as we walked back to her house. Come over here and let's rinse your lip and mouth."

Shelby poured some more water into the cup and Rachel stood up next to her at the sink. She rinsed off her lip and filled the cup again to clean out her mouth once more. Shelby instructed her to pat it dry when she was done.

"Did her mom clean you up like this?" Rachel asked.

"Yep," Shelby said. "She calmed us down and cleaned us up and got us Band-Aids and we were patched up in no time."

"She sounds really nice, you friend's mom," Rachel said.

"Marie. She was and is," Shelby said with a smile. "And after she cleaned us up and made sure we were ok, she gave us each three swats – that's when you knew she meant business – and put us in the corner for ten minutes for riding with a person on the handlebar."

Rachel's smile faded at the outcome and her pout returned. She did not want to get in trouble after all of this. Shelby noticed the change and put an arm around Rachel and squeezed her reassuringly. She was about to ask about the altercation with Santana again, but LeRoy poked his head in the bathroom and got their attention.

"Everything ok?" LeRoy asked.

"Yep," Shelby told him. "It's not too bad and it's all cleaned up."

"Ok, good," LeRoy nodded. "Santana's mother is on her way over. Come on back down whenever you're ready. I was just wanted to make sure you guys were ok."

"We're good. And we're right behind you," Shelby said. "Come on, sweetheart."

Rachel scowled and let her mother lead her out of the room and back down to the dining room where everyone else was gathered. Santana was sitting next to Quinn who was sitting next to Kurt and all three were silent as they watched Shelby and Rachel walk back into the room. Shelby directed Rachel to her own chair to sit in and Rachel shot a glare over at Santana as she sat down. Santana narrowed her eyes, but a light nudging from Quinn with her elbow made Santana stop. Her left hand was resting on the table and there was a towel and a bag of ice over it. Hiram had given that to her when she came back from cleaning herself up and he handed Rachel the same thing and instructed her to put it on her lip. It was swelling already.

Maribel Lopez found the Berry's house without any problem and she grabbed the bag with Santana's clothes and hurried towards the front door. A call from LeRoy Berry asking her to come over with a change of clothes for Santana was not something she'd been expecting that day. Her eyes had narrowed when he told her there had been some sort of fight between Santana and Rachel. When she'd told Santana to behave that morning, getting into a fight and punching a girl in her own house was not what she meant. She might just ground her. Forever.

Hiram answered the door for Maribel when she rang the bell and he directed her to the dining room where everyone was gathered. She took in the sight of the girls with their ice bags and shook her head. Santana had purposefully not raised her head to look at her mother.

"This is my husband LeRoy," Hiram started to make introductions. "This is our daughter Rachel and her mother Shelby. And I'm sure you know Quinn. And that is Kurt Hummel."

"It's nice to meet you all," Maribel said as she shook hands with LeRoy and Shelby. "Santana was excited to get to meet you."

Santana groaned and Rachel scoffed and sat up straighter and leveled her glare at Santana once more. Maribel looked over at Santana and dropped her smile.

"Are you ok, Santana?" Maribel asked. "I brought you some clothes. Would you like to change?"

"No, I'm fine," Santana said. She didn't want to drag this out any longer than it needed to be.

"Are you ok?" Maribel asked Rachel as she took a seat next to Santana.

Rachel didn't want to acknowledge her, but she nodded anyway. Whether she knew it or not, she agreed with Santana and she wanted to get this whole thing over with.

"What happened exactly?" Maribel asked.

"We have been trying to figure that out ourselves," LeRoy answered. "But we haven't gotten very far."

"Santana, what happened?" Maribel demanded to know. She wasn't going to beat around the bush here.

"She tossed her orange juice in my face so I punched her," Santana answered.

"I didn't just throw a drink at you," Rachel retaliated. "You used me and stole my mom and said horrible things!"

"I didn't use you," Santana yelled back. "And if you could have shut up for one second you would have known that I was trying to apologize."

"Some apology," Rachel retorted.

As the girls continued to argue back and forth Shelby looked over at Hiram and then at LeRoy and it was clear they had heard it too. What the hell did Rachel mean when she said Santana stole her mom?

"Whoa, stop!" Maribel said and the girls quieted. "That's enough. We're not here to argue back and forth, we are here to find out what happened. I want the truth and I want it now."

Every kid in the room sank down a little in their chairs at Maribel's tone. Even Kurt wouldn't look up and he hadn't been involved in the fight at all. Hiram glanced over at LeRoy and they shared a smile. They like Mrs. Lopez.

"Santana," Maribel said again when she didn't get a response.

"We knew Shelby Corcoran would be here when we picked a place to work on our project," Santana answered. She kept her gaze directed down at the table.

"But we didn't know she would be here when we formed the group to work on the project," Quinn added. "But Rachel mentioned that her mom would be here when we wanted to do the work so we decided to meet here."

"So you could get close to Shelby Corcoran because she's a star?" Maribel asked. Santana and Quinn both nodded.

Shelby shook her head from her spot standing behind Rachel. She hated when people used her full name while she was right there in the room.

Maribel eyed the two girls and gave them both reproachful looks. She had known Quinn since the girls were in elementary school. She had known of Rachel and Kurt too, but she'd never interacted with them until now.

"I'm sorry," Maribel said as she turned to look at Shelby. "They both should know better than that."

Maribel had to admit, she was a little star struck. Shelby Corcoran was standing right here and it was very cool, but she knew she couldn't focus on that right now. She had to see and talk to Shelby as a parent.

"We already talked about it," Shelby said. "I talked to Quinn and Santana privately about them coming over here and using the project as a way to get to see me. I explained to them that I would be around to see Rachel all the time and that we'd probably see each other again at competitions and stuff like that, but that I would not want to be around them if they continued to use my daughter. I thought they were going to apologize to Rachel so we were surprised when there was a fight instead."

"Santana!" Maribel scolded.

"It's not like she's completely innocent, you know," Santana defended herself. "Quinn and I tried to apologize and she wouldn't listen."

"Whatever, Santana," Rachel laughed bitterly. "Quinn at least tried to apologize. You just wanted to be a bit-"

"Rachel!" LeRoy cut her off.

Rachel recognized the harsh reprimand and wisely kept her mouth shut. Shelby did not want to things to dissolve any farther between the girls and so she took a seat next to Rachel and looked over at Maribel and Santana.

"When I was cleaning her lip upstairs, Rachel said that you said something she didn't like," Shelby said. "What did you say?"

"It was nothing," Rachel said. She wore a deep frown as she kept her gaze down on the table. "I just didn't like how she was talking and I got fed up and threw the drink. It happens to me all the time so it just seemed natural."

"What happens to you all the time?" Maribel asked. "Drinks being thrown in your face? By who?"

Santana and Quinn both looked down at their hands and fidgeted in the chair under the unrelenting gaze of Maribel Lopez when she turned and looked at them.

"You throw your drinks at other people?" Maribel demanded to know.

"Frozen slushies," Rachel was more than happy to supply but quieted again when Shelby popped her leg lightly.

"I've never thrown one at her," Santana mumbled and Quinn nodded when Maribel moved her eyes to look at the blonde.

"But let me guess, you know who does," Maribel said.

Both girls nodded.

"And I bet you think it's funny," Maribel continued. The girls' silence was enough for Maribel and she gave Santana a hard stare. "You watch people get assaulted like that and you think it's funny? You've watched people throw drinks at Rachel and you stand around and laugh? Both of you should be ashamed."

Quinn and Santana only slightly nodded and Rachel's eyes shown with victory. Oh how she wanted to laugh at them and their predicament. This public scolding served them right and Rachel was going to relish in it. She darted her eyes to Kurt and saw that he too was enjoying this moment.

Maribel turned and looked at Hiram and LeRoy in turn and then at Shelby.

"I am so sorry that my daughter ever participated in something like that," Maribel said. "I'll apologize on behalf of Quinn's parents too though I'm afraid they'd never do it on their own."

Quinn scoffed and looked away and brought her hand to her belly and rested it there. Her parents would never step foot in the Berry's house.

"Thank you," Hiram said. "It was mostly a group of boys that was doing it and it has been taken care of and the slushie machine has been removed from the school. But Rachel should have known better than to throw a drink in someone's face like that. Especially because she knows how terrible it feels. And we will be speaking to her about it."

Rachel sank down in her seat some more. She liked this so much more when it was Quinn and Santana getting scolded and not her.

"Santana and I will be speaking as well," Maribel said ominously. "And you can include Quinn in that. Now. Santana, I'm done playing games. What did you say to her?"

Santana took a long breath and shifted the ice on her hand before finally answering the question. She didn't see Rachel pleading with her eyes not to say what she really said.

"Quinn and I started to apologize, but she kept cutting in and wouldn't listen," Santana said. "Then she got all crazy and started ranting about how nice it must be for us to get to see her mom and she was just being annoying. She'd been an annoying brat all day. I don't know what her big problem was or why she was so angry, but she stormed off and that's when Shelby talked to us about why we were there. We really did get the project finished. Anyway, she came back and we tried to apologize and we started arguing instead."

"What did you say?" Maribel asked again. She knew her daughter and recognized that Santana was avoiding the biggest part.

"I told her that it was amazing that she was Shelby Corcoran's kid since they're nothing alike and Shelby must hate to have to fly all the way out here to be with her when she'd rather be in New York."

Santana said it quickly like if she rushed no one would actually hear it. Shelby gasped and looked at Rachel who was staring at the table so intently it looked as if she was trying to put a hole in it with her eyes. Hiram and LeRoy both shut their eyes in frustration and understanding and looked down at their little daughter with sympathy. They wished children were able to grasp the cruelty of their words.

For her part, Maribel Lopez was angry. And Santana knew it. She refused to meet her mother's gaze even though the woman was staring daggers at her.

"Santana Lopez, how dare you say that to her!" Maribel chastised. "That was mean and spiteful and totally uncalled for. That's when she threw the drink, right?" Santana nodded, but barely. "And then you punched her in the face."

"Yes," Santana squeaked out. She knew better than to try and get away with any smart comments when her mother was this angry.

"Apologize to her right now," Maribel ordered. "And to her parents."

Santana was mortified, but she did what she was told.

"I'm sorry, Rachel." She moved on when Rachel wouldn't meet her gaze or acknowledge her words. "I'm sorry," Santana said to Hiram and LeRoy who nodded and accepted. Santana then looked at Shelby who was still looking at Rachel.

"Ms. Corcoran, I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it," Santana said.

"Thank you, Santana," Shelby said.

"I apologize as well, to all of you," Maribel said. "This won't happen again."

"Thank you," Leroy said.

The meeting quickly wrapped up when the true story behind the fight was revealed. Rachel didn't move from her spot and she didn't say anything as people started to get up from the table. Shelby kissed her head as she stood up to walk with Hiram and LeRoy to the door to see everyone out.

"See you later, Rachel," Kurt said. He had lingered behind so he could talk to her. "It's not true. What Santana said."

"Yeah," was Rachel's only response.

"I'll talk to you later," Kurt said before leaving the room.

"Bye, Kurt," Shelby said when the boy got to the door. "I'll see you soon."

"Bye," Kurt said and then smiled when Shelby pulled him into a hug.

Rachel had waited until everyone was out of the room and by the front door to make her escape. She dropped the ice and towel on the table and left her place at the table. She quickly made her way to her room and shut herself in and then crawled into bed and hid under the blankets. She did not want to have to talk about this anymore today, but she knew it was just a matter of time before her one or all of her parents found her.

Shelby walked back to the dining room and sighed when she noticed that Rachel was gone. She needed to talk to her and really get inside her head. She hated that it seemed like Rachel believed what Santana had said.

"She's not here," Shelby said when Hiram and LeRoy appeared at her side.

"She's in her room," Hiram said. "Trying to avoid us."

"She can't possibly think any of that is true, can she?" Shelby asked. Her tone was almost desperate. "Why would she believe that?"

"Shelby, for all of her confidence about performing, Rachel can be very insecure," LeRoy said. "And things like that take their toll. I'm not sure exactly what she's thinking about, but she said Santana stole you. That might help explain her mood all day."

"Let's go up and talk to her," Hiram said.

Rachel wiped a tear from her eye when she heard a knock on her door. She knew they'd be up to talk, but she didn't really want to right now. She wasn't in the mood to be in trouble after everything else that had happened. She was all the way under her blankets and she snuggled down farther into the bed and didn't say anything.

"Rach," Hiram said as he opened the door slightly and peeked in. "Sweetheart?"

The other two parents followed him into the room and it wasn't hard to tell where Rachel was hiding. LeRoy went to the bed and took the pile of blankets and pulled it back. Rachel whined when her covers were gone and she curled herself into an even smaller ball.

"Sit up and let's have a talk," LeRoy said.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Rachel said into her pillow.

"Rachel, please," Shelby said.

"Come on, sweetheart, sit up," Hiram said. He leaned over and patted Rachel's jean covered leg.

Rachel reluctantly rolled over and sat up on the bed and crossed her legs. She folded her hands in her lap and kept her eyes trained on them.

"Rachel, first of all, nothing Santana said down there is true," LeRoy said. "She was being nasty in an attempt to get under your skin and it worked."

"I love you, Rachel," Shelby said. "Of course I want to be here in Lima with you. Or I want to see you in New York. Or anywhere you are. You mean everything to me."

"But you always like hanging out with other people more," Rachel said, finally looking up. "With Brian and now stupid Santana and Quinn. I can't compete with them. They're prettier and popular and they love the sweatshirt on you but they joke me when I wear it. And of course you'd rather talk to them than me." Her emotions were running high now and tears of frustration and anger, hurt and wounded pride started to make their way down her face. "We were supposed to be working on our project, but you kept talking to them. And how am I ever supposed to get more friends of my own when all they really care about is my mom? They didn't want to see me or care about how I felt. Kurt doesn't count because he's as much a loser as I am."

Rachel furiously wiped at her tears and looked away from them. Shelby's mouth fell open in shock and worked to try and figure out what to say. Rachel was jealous and Shelby hated that she was the reason for Rachel's attitude that day. But her daughter was so far off the mark and Shelby planned to rectify that. Before Hiram or LeRoy could say anything, Shelby crouched down in front of Rachel and took her by the arms.

"Look at me," Shelby ordered. "Rachel, look at me."

Rachel sniffed and finally looked down at her mother.

"You, young lady, are not a loser," Shelby said. "And you are not in competition with Santana or Quinn or anyone else. You are my daughter and I love you more than you can possibly imagine. I am sorry if you felt like I was intruding. I was trying to help. I love history and your project was fascinating. And do you know how cool it is for me to get to help my kid with her homework?"

"But you weren't even talking to me," Rachel pointed out.

"Yes we were," Rachel. "We were trying and you did not want to have anything to do with what was going on. You were angry before anyone else got here."

"I was mad that our time was being taken up again," Rachel said. "It's never just us."

Shelby sighed and rubbed Rachel's arm soothingly. "We will work it out where it's just us, I swear. But honey, life doesn't always allow for that. You had schoolwork and you cannot skip any of that just because I'm here."

"It should," Rachel pouted.

Shelby chuckled as she stood back up and pulled Rachel up with her so she could give the girl a hug.

"Everything that Santana said is not true, do you understand me?" Shelby asked.

Rachel nodded and wiped at her eyes again.

"I love you so much," Shelby told her.

"I love you too," Rachel said.

"Now, let's talk about what happened today," LeRoy said. "You should not have thrown your juice on her."

"But I was just so mad," Rachel defended herself. "And you heard her and saw how she acted. It's not my fault she was being such a bitch."

The word was out before she could stop herself and Hiram and reached out and took her arm and turned her and dutifully landed two stinging swats to her backside and then let her go. Rachel's face was bright red when she turned back around and tears of embarrassment pricked at her eyes and she refused to look over at Shelby.

"That is enough with the swearing," Hiram said. "I've heard quite enough of that from you today."

Rachel's blush reached all the way up to her ears and she nodded slightly in response. Shelby wanted to smile at Rachel's reaction, but she kept her face neutral. How many times had Marie gotten onto her and Elizabeth for the same thing? She thought back to how she had handled Rachel running out of her apartment building and she understood it a little more. Rachel was not allowed to do and say whatever she pleased and as her parent it was her job to remind her of that. She still had no idea how she'd handle something more serious than this. Sometimes, like now, she really thought she understood parenting and what she was doing. And other times she felt just as clueless as ever. Shelby wondered if that feeling was ever going to go away.

"Rachel, what I was trying to say is that you should not have thrown your juice because it is wrong and you know how that feels," LeRoy said. "You lower yourself to other people when you do something like that. But, I also want to say that we get it. I don't want to see it happen again, but we get it. You are allowed to have you emotions and you are allowed to react when put in that situation. But in the future I hope that you will try and take a step back and think things through before you act. As your split lip will tell you, rash reactions can come with unforeseen consequences. So promise me that next time you'll think before you act."

"I promise," Rachel said solemnly.

"Good girl," LeRoy said and he pulled Rachel to him and gave her a hug.

LeRoy and Hiram did not have unreal expectations for Rachel and they knew she was an overly emotional and dramatic fifteen-year-old girl. They'd be even more surprised if Rachel hadn't retaliated when faced with what Santana had said to her. The small lecture was also warranted in their eyes, but they were happy to let it go at that. Their daughter had been dealing with that crap for years and she was bound to fight back sooner or later. And it didn't look like Santana was going to get away with anything so maybe some good would come out of all of this for Rachel.

Hiram hugged her next and kissed her head.

"Sorry, Dad," Rachel apologized for her earlier language. She knew the rules.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Hiram. "I know you're angry, but you will not resort to swearing and name calling."

"Yes, sir," Rachel said.

The men soon left the room and Shelby pulled Rachel in for a long hug and rubbed her back. She then pulled back and tucked some hair behind Rachel's ear.

"Rachel, I love you and I don't want you to ever feel worried or jealous about me talking with or being with other people," Shelby said. "And if you are, please talk to me. Let's not have a repeat of today. No one will ever come between you and me."

"Ok," Rachel said. "Ok. Can we just hang out now? You and me?"

"Of course," Shelby said.

"Want to hear Barbra's newest album?" Rachel asked. "It's only been out a few weeks. I downloaded it immediately when it was released."

"Yeah!" Shelby said with an excited tone to match her daughter's.

Hiram and LeRoy returned to Rachel's room forty-five minutes later and found mother and daughter lying side-by-side in bed. They each had one ear bud in an ear to listen to Rachel's iPod, but they had both fallen asleep.

"Shelby," Hiram said softly. "Wake up."

"What?" Shelby said as she stretched and looked up. Had she fallen asleep?

Rachel woke up from the movement and talking and looked up at her dads and gave them a curious look. They were each carrying an overnight bag and were smiling down at the confused pair on the bed.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked.

"We made reservations at a hotel for a couple nights," LeRoy said. "We're going to take off in a few minutes and we won't be back until Monday afternoon just before your mom has to leave."

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"We thought we'd give you two the run of the house for a little bit," Hiram said. "Just to enjoy your time."

"Really?" Rachel asked excitedly.

"Nonsense," Shelby said as she stood up from the bed and Rachel followed suit. "I can't kick you of your own house for two days."

"You didn't," Hiram said. "Maybe we wanted a couple days to ourselves." His tone was teasing and Shelby relented.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

Truth be told, Shelby had thought about getting a hotel room to take Rachel for a couple days, but she thought it would be better to stay at home. Things were different in hotels and she wanted to get to be right at home with Rachel. This gave her a chance just to be mom away from other people and away from New York. Shelby happily thought about how she gets to be the one to get Rachel off to school on Monday. It was that and tons of other little things that she was looking forward to.

"Our pleasure," LeRoy said. "Rachel, behave yourself. Shelby, don't let her get away with anything."

"And if you two break anything, please make sure it's replaced by the time we get back," Hiram added.

Five minutes later they were in their car and backing out of the driveway. Shelby pulled Rachel to her side and kissed her head. Even if it was just for a couple days, she was excited about the alone time with Rachel. She would never take this for granted.

"So?" Rachel asked with an excited glint in her eye. "What are we going to do first?"

A/N – That's it for this one. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please, please leave me a review if you can and let me know. Your feedback is so appreciated and so helpful. I'd love to know what you guys would like to see next.