A/N – I've got a new chapter for you! Thank you all so much for your reviews and your messages. It means so much to me and I love getting to talk to you guys about this story and my other stories. Thank you so much.
Also, I wanted to answer a question that I got a few times. Shelby was able to get to the hospital so quickly because she was already in Ohio. I said in chapter 23 that Shelby could probably be there by Tuesday night to surprise Rachel. So when I had Dr. Lopez call her and she's about to get in a car, it's supposed to be her rental car at the airport in Columbus, Ohio. I was trying to keep it kind of vague so it was more of a surprise when she showed up at the hospital at the end, but yeah, I mentioned it earlier that she'd be there early. I'll address that in this chapter as well, but I wanted to make sure people knew that I know you can't get from New York City to Ohio in a couple hours.
Disclaimer – I don't own Glee.
"Mom?" Rachel said again. "What are you doing here?"
"That's the very same question I should be asking you," Shelby said as she shut the door behind her. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," Rachel answered. "I just cut my hand."
Shelby crossed the room and pulled Rachel into a hug and that gave the girl reason to relax. She didn't know how her mother had gotten there so quickly, but so far it didn't seem like she was mad. Rachel knew she had to play it cool and maybe everything would turn out to be even better. At least now she wouldn't have to try and hide her injured hand for the rest of the week.
Shelby kissed Rachel's head when she let go from the hug and then gently took Rachel's bandaged hand in her own and looked it over. Rachel winced a little even though she couldn't really feel it because of the numbing medicine they'd injected into her hand before they did the stitches. She hadn't really liked that.
"How did you cut it?" Shelby asked.
"I cut it on a knife in the kitchen when I was making dinner," Rachel answered. She didn't look up at Shelby while she was talking and instead focused on her hand.
"Oh," Shelby said and shook her head slightly because Rachel wasn't looking at her. She had spoken to both Dr. Lopez and Wanda, the nurse, before coming in here and it seems as if she had just been lied to. That was not the story Rachel had told her nurse. "What were you making?"
"Spaghetti," Rachel said. "I was chopping up some vegetables. I don't even really know how I did it. I'm usually a lot better in the kitchen."
"Accidents happen," Shelby said.
"Yeah," Rachel agreed.
Shelby stood up straighter and moved away from the bed and crossed her arms and looked down at her daughter. She was not at all pleased with her behavior right now, but she could address the lying later. Right now they needed to talk about how she got to the hospital in the first place.
"Rachel," Shelby said seriously.
"Yes, Mom?" Rachel asked as she looked up at her. She was innocence personified in that moment.
"Who did you call when you realized you needed to go to the hospital?" Shelby asked.
Rachel looked down again and studied her nails for a second. "I didn't want to bother anyone."
"That's not what I asked," Shelby said. "Who did you call?"
"Quinn," Rachel answered.
"Why?"
"Because I thought she could help me out," Rachel said. She was already starting to get defensive.
"Why Quinn and not someone else who could also help you out?" Shelby asked.
"Quinn's the first person I thought of," Rachel lied weakly.
"Oh," Shelby said. "Well then if it wasn't already clear that your fathers and I made a mistake by leaving you home alone, that just sealed it."
"What?" Rachel exclaimed. "That's not fair!"
"Why not?" Shelby asked.
"Because all I did was cut my hand," Rachel said. "That could happen at any time, even if you or my dads were home. It's not my fault I got cut."
"I'm not talking about getting cut," Shelby said calmly despite Rachel's rise in volume. "I'm very sorry you got hurt. I'm talking about how you responded after that."
"I got myself to the hospital," Rachel said.
"I know you did," Shelby said. "I just find it awfully funny that the very first person you can think to help you is a girl you're not really friends with and who you don't really get along with. Tell me again why she's the one you called."
"What does it matter?" Rachel asked sarcastically. "You already made up your mind that I shouldn't have done it."
"Oh it matters, young lady," Shelby said. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd watch your tone."
Rachel stared at Shelby incredulously for a few moments and then looked away. "I don't have a tone."
If Shelby had been any closer to the bed, she'd have swatted Rachel. That girl was walking a line right now and she didn't even seem to realize just how fine it was. Shelby was taking a second to try and choose her words carefully, but a knock at the door interrupted them. Mother and daughter looked to the door as Wanda walked in.
"I know you two are probably anxious to get out of here, but I need to give Rachel a tetanus shot before she can go," Wanda said.
"Why does she need a tetanus shot?" Shelby asked. She knew the answer to this because she had talked about it with Dr. Lopez earlier.
"We just want to be sure that she doesn't get any type of infection because of the nail," Wanda said.
"Oh ok," Shelby answered the woman lightly and then turned and stared at Rachel. Her normally bright green eyes seemed darker and they pierced into Rachel.
Rachel only caught her mother's eye for a second and then looked down at her hands. Crap. She hated that she'd been caught in the lie so easily, but how did she know Wanda was going to come in here and spill the beans like that? Rachel didn't look back up, but she didn't have to know her mother was still watching her and she squirmed under the woman's unrelenting gaze.
Shelby moved closer to Rachel's bedside when Wanda did and they both watched as the woman put the tray down and picked up the syringe and prepped it.
"Now, this shot can either go in her arm or her backside," Wanda said to Shelby.
Rachel instinctively turned pleading eyes on her mom and Shelby relaxed her posture a bit.
"Her arm is fine," Shelby told Wanda.
"Ok. Rachel, this will burn a bit and be sore, but it shouldn't be too unbearable," Wanda said as she prepped Rachel's arm with an alcohol wipe.
"Ok," Rachel whispered out.
Shelby reached out a put a hand on Rachel's head and moved some hair away from her face. She rubbed the girl's head lightly as the shot was administered.
"That's it," Wanda said. "Dr. Lopez will be in a few minutes to sign off and get you guys out of here."
"Thank you," Shelby said.
"Dr. Lopez?" Rachel asked when Wanda was gone. "Santana's father?"
"Yep," Shelby said and she watched as realization started to dawn on her daughter.
"But I didn't even see him at all tonight," Rachel said. "What happened to Quinn?"
"Mrs. Lopez came and got her," Shelby answered. "She mentioned something about taking Quinn home with her permanently. Your little stunt has landed both of you in a lot of trouble, young lady."
Across town, Quinn sat quietly sulking in the passenger seat of Maribel Lopez's car. They had just left the Puckerman's with all of Quinn's belongings and were on the way to the Lopez's. Maribel and John had made the decision right there in the hospital that Quinn was going home with them because clearly she was not getting any supervision or guidance while living in Puck's basement. They were going to step in when she had to leave Finn's house when the truth about the baby's paternity came out, but Puck had offered up his place. However, Quinn being pregnant did not change the fact that she was a kid who needed structure. Maribel and John had known Quinn since she and Santana were in the same fourth grade class and they'd watched her grow. They very often did not agree with Russell and Judy Fabray when it came to their daughter and they certainly didn't agree with how Quinn's parents had taken the pregnancy. They should have stepped in right then, but Maribel couldn't change that now. What she could do was be there for the girl going forward.
"What were you thinking, Quinn?" Maribel asked.
"I don't know," Quinn said. "She said she needed some help and talked me into going."
"Where you willingly signed your name on an official hospital document," Maribel said. "You lied about your age and your relationship and you said that you were willing to make medical decisions for Rachel. Did you think that no one would eventually figure that out? What would have happened when her parents got the paperwork from their insurance company or a bill from the hospital?"
"I don't know," Quinn said with a scowl.
"You would have found yourself in a lot more trouble, but this time legally," Maribel answered for her. "You're lucky that it was John who discovered it and not someone else."
Quinn sank further into her seat as Maribel continued to scold. She certainly didn't feel very lucky right now.
They arrived at the Lopez house in the affluent neighborhood of Lima Heights Adjacent and Quinn soon found herself holding her bags in the Lopez's kitchen. Santana had been shocked to see them walk in, but she knew that look on her mother's face and knew it was best to keep quiet.
"Are you hungry?" Maribel asked Quinn. "Would you like a snack?"
"No," Quinn answered.
"When's the last time you ate anything?" Maribel asked. She was standing with her hands on her hips looking at Quinn. Santana sat on a chair at the island and looked back and forth between the two.
"I had a sandwich at Puck's earlier," Quinn said. "I'm fine." Could this get any worse? She glanced over at Santana who was looking at her with questions in her eyes.
"Fine," Maribel said. "Then go upstairs and get ready for bed and then pick a guest room and stay in it. You are grounded."
"But-"
"Not another word, Quinn," Maribel cut her off. "Go."
Quinn let out a dissatisfied huff as she turned and left the kitchen. Could Mrs. Lopez even do that? Quinn didn't know the answer for sure, but she'd known Maribel long enough to know better than to argue right now so she carried her bags up the stairs and picked the larger of the two guest rooms, which was near Santana's room, and went in. She was going to kill Rachel Berry.
Santana looked back at her mother with a look of shock. What was she missing here?
Maribel looked over and saw her daughter watching her. "You girls all need to learn to think before you act."
Santana didn't even argue back and remind her mother that she wasn't involved in anything that had happened that night.
"Yes, Mama," Santana said. She took another sip of her drink and watched as her mother stalked out of the room. She didn't know what had happened, but she was really glad she had stayed home tonight.
Back at the hospital, Rachel moved her arm around as she got out of the bed. It was really sore from the shot and she and she wished she could reach up and massage it, but her other hand was bandaged. She was certainly ready to get out of the hospital and go home. She was mad, though, that her mom was mad.
Dr. Lopez entered the room and smiled at mother and daughter before handing Shelby a clipboard with some papers to sign.
"I just need a couple of signatures and there is some information on care for her hand while the stitches are in," Dr. Lopez told Shelby. "Bring her back in Friday and we'll take a look and see how the hand is doing."
"Will do, Doctor. Thank you," Shelby said as she took the clipboard and looked over the paperwork before adding her signature.
"Rachel, next time you need to come to the hospital, it would be best to bring an adult with you if you're able," Dr. Lopez said. "Being in the emergency room for any reason isn't a game."
Rachel only nodded and looked away. Shelby looked at John and apologized with her eyes and he smiled and gave the woman a slight nod. He knew what she was going through.
"She and I will be having a long conversation about that as soon as we get home," Shelby told him.
Rachel groaned internally and headed for the door. Shelby said goodbye to John and caught up with her daughter and they walked to the car in silence. The ride home was in the same tension filled silence. Rachel was stewing over the fact that she had been caught and it made her even angrier to think that she might actually end up in some kind of trouble. She did not deserve to be in trouble.
Shelby's mind was filled with worry as they drove. She was upset and she was disappointed in Rachel's actions and her lying. She had called Hiram and Leroy as soon as she got off the phone with Dr. Lopez. They were worried since they had just been able to listen to their messages and heard that Rachel was in the hospital. Shelby assured them she was on the way. She had asked what she should do and they told her she needed to be the one to handle it since she would be there. Shelby knew what Rachel had done was serious, but she was so worried she was going to screw it all up. What if she didn't know what to say or how to punish her? What if Rachel ended up being really angry with her by the end of the night? But The Berry men had reassured her and told her she could handle it and that she would know what to do. She promised to call them before she went to bed that night and fill them in on everything that happened.
It was 9:45 by the time they got home and Shelby couldn't believe it was still that early. It felt like it should be so much later. Rachel tried to slip up the stairs as soon as they got into the house, but Shelby caught the back of her sweater and pulled her back.
"Mom," Rachel whined.
"I don't want to hear it," Shelby said. "Go and sit at the table in the dining room."
"Why?" Rachel asked haughtily.
"Rachel," Shelby warned. "Now."
Rachel changed direction and stalked off while Shelby took a few moments to hang their coats up in the entryway closet. She made Rachel wait for a bit because she stopped in the kitchen and heated up some leftovers. She knew that neither of them had eaten and they both needed to.
Rachel picked at her food when it was put in front of her, but she ate enough to satisfy Shelby. The silence that accompanied them fueled their own thoughts and Rachel kept debating about what she should do. Part of her wanted to speak up and try and get her mom to understand and another part of her knew she needed to keep her mouth shut and wait for Shelby to lead this conversation. In the end, she decided to stay quiet in the hopes that by doing so she wouldn't inadvertently make it worse by telling something her mother didn't know about. Plus by waiting to see what her mother would do next, Rachel thought she may get an advantage over the situation and be able to sway Shelby one way or another.
Shelby took their plates to the kitchen and then returned and sat across from Rachel. She looked at her for a long moment before getting on with the conversation.
"Why did you call Quinn and not someone else?" Shelby asked.
"I figured she'd be able to help," Rachel said. She was immediately defensive again. She was trying to convince herself it wasn't that big of a deal, but she was also smart enough to know that if she didn't think she'd be in real trouble, she wouldn't be trying so hard.
"Rachel, it is too late for this," Shelby said. "I want the truth and I want it now. I know you had the numbers of multiple other people you could call that would have been far more appropriate choices to take you to the emergency room. And I know you know that Quinn wasn't your best option. So I'm going to ask again, why did you call her?"
"Because I knew everyone would be like this," Rachel shot back. "I only cut my hand. It's not a big deal, but I knew you and dads and everyone else would make it into a federal case and think that I couldn't handle myself!"
"You called her so you could hide that you cut your hand from your fathers and me?" Shelby asked incredulously. "How did you think you were going to pull that off? You've got seven stitches in your hand and I was supposed to be here tomorrow. Did you think you'd be able to hide that all week?"
"What are you doing here so early anyway?" Rachel asked in an attempt to deflect Shelby's question. "You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow and you wouldn't even have had to worry about the hospital if you weren't here now!"
Ok, it was a stupid excuse and Rachel knew it, but it had come out of her mouth before she could stop it. She'd go with it now.
"For your information, young lady, I got the chance to come early and wanted to surprise you so we could spend more time together," Shelby said. "I was already in Ohio when I got a phone call that my daughter was in the hospital. How do you think that made me feel? How do you think it made your fathers feel to have to listen to a voicemail like that? I swear my heart stopped for a second, Rachel, when I heard you were there. I didn't realize I could ever feel that amount of panic so quickly. You can't blame me for showing up and ruining what you still clearly think was a good idea. You were caught before I ever knew."
"Caught at what?" Rachel argued. "I was handling it!"
"You were not handling it," Shelby said. She was determined to keep her voice level, especially since Rachel was starting to yell. "Why would you take Quinn? If you could handle it so well on your own, why bring along someone else? Especially someone you don't really like?"
"I like Quinn just fine," Rachel said.
"Rachel…"
"It doesn't matter why," Rachel said. "I got scared when I cut my hand and I panicked and called Quinn. But once I got to the hospital, I realized I didn't need even need her there."
"You really are too young to handle any of this," Shelby said as she shook her head.
"I am not!" Rachel retorted. "I handled everything just fine until you showed up!"
"Really, Rachel?" Shelby asked. "Tell me why you had Quinn sign you in the emergency room and why she signed for your insurance?"
Rachel's eyes widened for a second as she tried to think of how she should answer that. This was all unraveling a lot faster than she ever anticipated.
"The truth, Rachel. Right now," Shelby said.
"She… I had to be seen by the nurse and so she filled out the paperwork," Rachel said.
"Rachel Barbra, I said I wanted the truth!" Shelby said, finally allowing her voice to rise.
"Because Quinn looks older than me!" Rachel yelled back. "I couldn't sign myself in because I'm too young and I knew I needed an adult. I told Quinn to dress so she looked older and she's pregnant and she told them she was my older sister. Are you happy now?"
"No, Rachel, I'm not happy now," Shelby said. "And you shouldn't be either." She took a long breath and got her voice back under control and spoke in a calm tone that was really beginning to irritate Rachel. "You got hurt and called someone else and convinced her take you to a hospital so you could both willfully disregard the law. And you think that was ok?"
"We didn't disregard the law," Rachel said. "I just needed her to get me in."
"You did disregard the law," Shelby said. "She signed paperwork that has to be filled in by an adult guardian. Quinn is not legally old enough to make medical decisions for you. Rachel, you are not legally old enough to make medical decisions for you. When the nurse came in and asked where she should give you your shot, she wasn't talking to you. She was talking to me because I am your mother. And you know what's funny, Rachel? It didn't even occur to you to make that decision yourself. You looked at me and pleaded with me to make the decision you wanted. You are a child, Rachel."
"I am not a child!" Rachel argued. "I was able to take care of myself just fine without any help."
"Yep, for two days you played house," Shelby said. "But making dinner and getting up for school do not make you an adult. Why did you really call Quinn?"
"I knew she wouldn't tell you or Dad and Daddy," Rachel finally answered honestly.
"Why didn't you want us to find out?" Shelby asked.
"Because I knew you would freak out just as you are now," Rachel said. "You'd all think that I wasn't capable of taking care of myself and you'd never let me stay home alone again."
"Honey, you getting hurt is not the issue," Shelby said. "Your decisions after that proved just how childish you really are."
"I am not childish!" Rachel yelled. "I got taken care of; that's what matters."
"You lied to get taken care of," Shelby said. "Your concern wasn't with your hand, it was with if you'd be caught. You had another minor lie on official documents to get you what you wanted. Did you not think your fathers and me would ever find out about that? You do realize that statements from insurance and the hospital would be mailed here, right?"
Rachel's face betrayed her and it was clear she hadn't known that.
"You didn't think of that, did you?" Shelby continued. "You didn't think of the legal ramifications to misrepresenting yourself on those documents. You didn't think of the trouble the hospital could have been in for treating you without legal permission. What if you got an infection in that hand? What if the hospital was at fault for that? You didn't think of the trouble it might cause for Quinn because you were only thinking of yourself. You want to be seen as an adult, but every decision you made proved how much of a kid you really are."
Rachel was tearing up and she shot daggers at Shelby. "I had to take care of it myself. If I had called Mr. Hummel he would have just called you and Dad and Daddy. And I'd have been in trouble."
"You only would have been in trouble if you still insisted on lying about how you cut your hand," Shelby said. "But you would not have been in trouble for getting hurt. Calling Mr. Hummel would have been the right decision and your fathers and I would have been glad you had been grown up enough to make the right call. That would have proved to us that you were really ready to stay alone more because we could have trusted you to make the right decisions. But instead, you chose to lie to everyone and I can guarantee that you are in worse trouble than if you had called Mr. Hummel."
"Mom," Rachel whined. She hated having it spelled out like that.
"Your decisions after you got hurt are why you are in trouble," Shelby said. "Rachel, doing the adult thing sometimes means doing the thing you don't want to do. It means doing what is right despite the consequences. You were too busy worrying about trying to look like you could handle it instead of actually handling it."
"But it's not like that," Rachel said as she tried to swiftly backpedal who reasons. "I thought that if I could just handle it-"
"That's the thing, Rachel, you couldn't handle it and you knew it," Shelby said. "You thought that if you could handle it, you could lie to me for the rest of the week. You thought you could lie to your fathers about how the week was going. You brought Quinn into a situation she had no business in and you got her in trouble too. Your decisions and actions led us to this point. Your decisions are why I know you will not being staying home alone for a long time after this. Your decisions are why you are in so much trouble right now."
Rachel had heard enough and sulked down in her chair and crossed her arms. She had just been told everything she knew to be true, but she did not want to hear it.
"This is bullshit," Rachel muttered.
Rachel's eyes went wide when Shelby shot up from the table and rounded it to get to her. Her mother had her by the arm and was pulling her out of the chair before she couldn't think of how to defend herself. She unconsciously did her best to cover her backside because she knew how her dads felt about swearing.
"Rachel, just a warning," Shelby said. "I have wonderful hearing."
"Mom, I-"
"I don't want to hear it," Shelby said. "Now, you need to get to bed soon and we aren't done yet so I'll get right to it. Where is the nail you cut your hand on?"
Rachel looked away from her mother's angry face tried to think fast. If Shelby only knew it was a nail it could be anywhere and at this point, Rachel was not too keen on having to tell her mother she'd been climbing the shelves in the basement again.
"Why?" Rachel asked to buy some time.
"I want to look at it and see what I can do so that no one else will cut themselves again," Shelby explained patiently. She knew what Rachel was doing; she'd been Rachel once upon a time.
"Oh. It's uhhh…"
"Rachel, I better not hear one more lie come out of your mouth," Shelby said. "You have done enough of that today and it stops right now. You are in enough trouble as it is so I would think you would have stopped digging that hole by now."
"Mom," Rachel said as genuine tears filled her eyes this time.
"Let's go," Shelby said and led her from the room by the arm.
At the Lopez's house, Quinn had changed into some comfortable pajamas and was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. She figured she could just go to bed, but she didn't feel like it. It wasn't that she minded being at Santana's house and she was not opposed to staying with them, but it had all happened so suddenly and everything felt so out of her control and she didn't like that feeling. She'd felt that way a lot recently and it never quite settled right.
A knock at the door pulled her attention away and Quinn looked over as Santana peeked her head in.
"Hey," Quinn said.
"Hi," Santana replied as she came in the room and shut the door behind her. "Mom said you should eat something." She held up a plate with a cut apple on it and a glass of juice.
Quinn rolled her eyes and sat up. "I told her I wasn't hungry."
"Yeah, like that's ever worked with my mom," Santana said.
"I know," Quinn said as she grabbed an apple slice and took a bite. "Did she tell you why I'm here?"
"Yeah. She said you'd be staying too."
"I wonder how long," Quinn said.
"For at least as long as you're grounded," Santana laughed.
"Shut up," Quinn said, but she was smiling.
"You played dress up to take Rachel Berry to the hospital," Santana said as she shook her head. "Seriously?"
"I know it was stupid," Quinn said. "But you know how it is to argue with her. It's easier to just give in sometimes so she'll be quiet."
"Mom said you could have gotten in some pretty serious trouble if someone else had discovered it besides Dad," Santana said. She too picked up a piece of the apple and started to eat.
"I didn't even think about it to be honest," Quinn said with shrug. "I kinda figured if we got caught it would be her issue and not mine."
"Except it would be your name on the dotted line," Santana reminded her.
"Ok, stop impersonating your mother," Quinn said. "I don't need another lecture."
Santana laughed and grabbed for another piece of the apple. "Hopefully Rachel's in a lot of trouble too."
"She better be," Quinn said. "But I heard your dad say her mom was coming to get her. I bet Shelby Corcoran is a pushover when it comes to Rachel."
"Probably," Santana agreed and shook her head at the injustice of it all.
There was a knock at the door and both girls looked up as Maribel walked in. "It's time to start getting into bed. Santana, stop eating her snack."
"It's ok," Quinn said.
"Quinn, eat up," Maribel just ignored her. "And then get into bed."
Quinn rolled her eyes, but reached for another piece of apple all the same. She smiled a bit though when Maribel and Santana left the room. She loved the Lopez family and this room in the house was certainly a lot better than the pull-out couch in Puck's basement.
Rachel stood quietly in the basement of her house while her mother stood on her tip toes to try and get a better look at the nail that cut Rachel's hand. She'd have to bring a step stool down from the kitchen later and either remove the nail or add more support around it to tighten the shelf back into place. She turned and looked at Rachel and wish the girl would just drop her attitude already. Rachel had her arms crossed and was staring at a far wall so she wouldn't have to look at her mother.
"So why did you tell me you cut yourself on a knife?" Shelby asked.
"I don't know," Rachel said.
Shelby wanted to shake her. "How many lies do you have to tell tonight before you've reached what you consider to be too many?"
"Mom," Rachel whined.
"No, I'd like an answer," Shelby said. "I want to know why you could tell the nurse and doctor the truth, but you lied to me."
Rachel looked past her mother and then down at the ground and gently nudged the wrench she'd dropped there earlier with her foot.
"I knew you would be mad if you found out I was climbing the shelves again," Rachel finally said.
"You're right," Shelby assured her. "I am. I know I told you very clearly the last time I was here that you I didn't want you to climb up them anymore. And I believe it was for the very reason that you could get hurt."
"But this was the first time!" Rachel argued. "And the board is loose. That's not my fault."
"Why do you think the board is loose?" Shelby asked. "I highly doubt this was meant for anyone to climb on like you do. What if the loose shelves had come down and fallen on you?"
"They didn't. It's just a small cut," Rachel insisted.
"Seven stitches goes well beyond it being a small cut," Shelby pointed out. "What was so important that you had to come down here and disobey mine and your fathers' rules?"
"There's a small leak in the pipe under the sink in the kitchen," Rachel explained. "I wanted to fix it for my dads to be helpful and show them that I could take care of things while they were gone. I got a wrench," she pointed at it with her foot, "but I dropped it after I cut my hand."
"All of this because you wanted to fix a leaky pipe?" Shelby asked. She almost wanted to laugh.
"I was just trying to help," Rachel said pathetically and turned on some tears.
"You did quite the opposite, young lady," Shelby said. "I'm not even really sure you get the full impact of everything you did wrong tonight."
"I shouldn't have lied about how I cut my hand," Rachel conceded.
"That's a start," Shelby said.
"A start?" Rachel asked.
"Yes," Shelby said. Shelby took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Rachel, I want you to go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be up there in a few minutes and we'll continue our discussion."
Rachel did not like the sounds of that at all. "What else are we going to talk about?" she asked cautiously.
"We are going to go over everything that happened tonight and then I'm going to give you a spanking," Shelby said. She hoped her strong exterior was holding. She believed Rachel deserved this, but she was finding it to be a lot harder to actually say than she thought.
"But, Mom!" Rachel gasped. "I... You can't! It's not fair!" She stamped her foot like the petulant child she was. Sure, she knew her mom had threatened, but Rachel didn't actually think it would happen.
"You will also be grounded until Monday," Shelby said. "Now go on."
"I don't want to be grounded!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Tough," Shelby told her.
"I don't deserve that for cutting my hand," Rachel said. Her tears of anger and frustration were real now.
"I agree," Shelby said. "But you deserve it for the poor decisions you made tonight. You lied to the hospital and the doctors and nurses. You lied to me. You dragged Quinn into it. You climbed this shelf after you were explicitly told not to. Your attitude and temper tantrums have been deplorable and I don't appreciate your language. And it was all so you could get to pretend you were still grown up enough to be trusted to stay home alone. Well, all you did was prove just how much of a child you still are. You made that phone call to Quinn with the plan of lying to me and your fathers all week. All of that, Rachel, was completely unacceptable. So yes, you are going to be punished and I do not care if you agree with it or like it. Now go."
Rachel wisely kept her mouth shut as she turned and hurried up the basement steps. Shelby waited until she knew Rachel was gone before letting out a long breath and rubbing her face. She agreed with her sentence, but this was so much harder than she realized it would be. She'd been on the receiving end of spankings from Marie and the woman was always cool and collected and resolute. She was a jumble of nerves and worry, certainty and doubt. She was about to take her child in hand, but first she had to calm her shaky legs and pounding heart. She knew the mechanics of what she was doing, but she hadn't been prepared for the emotions it would bring. And she hadn't even started yet.
Shelby gave Rachel about ten minutes and then she slowly climbed the stairs to the girl's room and knocked. She didn't get a response and after a few moments, opened the door slowly and looked in. Rachel wasn't there, but the light was on in her bathroom.
"Rachel," Shelby called out so she wouldn't startle the girl.
Rachel came to the door and looked out at her mother. She was in her pajamas and had a toothbrush in her mouth. Shelby could tell she was upset, but she wasn't going to back down from this now. Rachel needed to be punished. And Shelby knew the only reason her daughter was upset now was because she'd been caught and not because she was sorry about what she had done.
"Finish up," Shelby said and Rachel turned and went back into the bathroom.
A couple minutes later Rachel finally reemerged and was not pleased at all to find her mother sitting on the edge of her bed. Shelby got up and walked over to her hesitant daughter and wrapped her in a hug and held her tightly.
"Mama," Rachel said pitifully and Shelby smiled.
"You broke a multitude of rules tonight and now you have to face the consequences," Shelby said with a hint of sternness in her voice. She could do this. "Come on."
When Rachel was over her lap, Shelby rested a gentle hand on the girl's upturned bare bottom and took a deep breath. Rachel was already sniffling and tensed up when Shelby raised her hand. It didn't take long for Rachel to start to cry and Shelby had tears swimming in her eyes.
"Mommy, I'm sorry!" Rachel cried out and Shelby truly believed her.
"I know, baby," Shelby said and she tried to hide the emotion in her voice. This was so much harder than she ever could have anticipated. "But I will not tolerate what you did tonight. You disobeyed me and you got hurt because of it. You lied to numerous people and that is unacceptable. You lied at the hospital and dragged another person into it and you were prepared to lie to me and your dads for as long as you needed to. Your attitude is going to stop and so is the language. Got it?"
"Yes, Mama, I promise," Rachel wailed.
"Good girl," Shelby said as she landed a few more hard swats on her daughter's red backside.
When it was over, Rachel stay over her mother's lap and cried for a minute with her face in a pillow. Shelby rubbed her daughter's sore bottom lightly and then pulled her underwear back up. Rachel stopped her when Shelby tried to also pull her pants into place. Instead, Rachel let them fall to ground. Shelby stood up and pulled Rachel to her and let her cry into her chest. She was doing everything she could to keep all of her emotions in check. She wanted to hold Rachel and make her feel better even though she was the one who had inflicted the pain in the first place. It felt terrible to make her daughter cry but she also knew Rachel needed this lesson. And Shelby felt certain that she needed to be the one to impart it.
Shelby sat on the bed and Rachel cuddled into her side and they lied down together. Shelby rubbed her back and kissed her head while Rachel rested against her.
"I love you, Rachel," Shelby said after a while. "I hope you understand why I did this."
"I do," Rachel mumbled.
Shelby couldn't tell if Rachel was angry or just tired and her heart clenched a bit. What if Rachel hated her? Sure, she'd grown a lot more comfortable in her role as a parent, but this was a whole new level. She wasn't worried about cross words or tantrums from her daughter anymore, but she didn't know how Rachel would react to and after a spanking. What if she didn't want her around anymore? What if it had been too weird or unsettling for Rachel?
"Good," Shelby said.
"Do I still have to go to school in the morning?" Rachel asked after a few minutes even though she was certain she knew the answer to that question.
"I'm afraid so," Shelby said.
Rachel made a displease grunt and moved off of her mother and lied down on her stomach. "I need to go to sleep then. Goodnight."
Shelby took the hint and got up from the bed and looked down at her daughter with sad eyes. She had planned to stay with Rachel and hold her until the girl fell asleep, but it was clear that was not what Rachel wanted.
Rachel clutched a teddy bear while Shelby pulled the blankets over her. She was looking away from her and Shelby leaned down and kissed her head.
"I love you, sweetheart," Shelby said.
Shelby's heart sank when she didn't get a reply and Rachel made no move to look at her. Her only movement was to reach back and rub her sore backside.
Shelby walked to the door and put her hand on the light switch and then looked back over at Rachel who had turned her head the other way so she still wasn't looking at her mother.
"Goodnight," Shelby said. "I'll see you in the morning."
She waited a few seconds for a response and when she didn't get one, Shelby turned off the light and then shut the door behind her on her way out into the hall. She wasn't even all the way downstairs yet and her tears started to fall. When she'd threatened Rachel with a spanking, she had no idea it would be this hard to administer one. She needed to talk to someone who had been in this position before so they could tell her it would all be better because right now she wasn't so sure.
Shelby pulled out her phone and, though she didn't like calling so late, she knew she needed to.
"Shelby?" Marie's familiar and loving voiced filled Shelby's ear. "Honey?"
"Mimi," Shelby cried out the familiar nickname she'd long ago given her best friend's mom.
"Shelby, what's wrong?" Marie asked urgently.
"Rachel. She hates me now!"
A/N – Ok, that's all for this one. Please let me know what you think. Your feedback means a lot and I'd love it if you left me a review. Thanks! The next chapter will be up soon.
