I do not own Glee or any of the characters created by Ryan Murphy. If I did we would see way more of Shelby. This story will contain spanking of a teenager. If that's not your thing stop reading now and go read something else.
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The rest of the weekend passed rather quietly for Shelby and Rachel and though Shelby had tried to get ahold of Hiram again, she had been unsuccessful as had Rachel. The lack of communication with her fathers was starting to bother Rachel more than she wanted her mother to know and Shelby knew that if things weren't fixed in some way that Rachel would eventually snap and that wouldn't be good for any of them.
Monday morning came too soon and Shelby dragged herself downstairs to find Rachel cooking them breakfast. "Rachel?"
"Good morning, Mama." Rachel handed Shelby her customary cup of coffee. "I took the liberty of making your coffee and our vegetable frittata will be ready in a few moments."
"Rachel how long have you been up?" Shelby asked before taking a sip of the coffee and smiling in bliss. "Very nice coffee, Rachel."
"Thank you." Rachel slid the frittata from the pan onto a cutting board and sliced it before plating it and then sitting down at the table with her mother. "Here, I hope you like it."
"It smells wonderful," Shelby looked at Rachel closely and noticed the smile did not reach Rachel's eyes. "Honey when did you wake up this morning?"
Rachel shrugged, "Early."
"How early, Rachel?" Shelby demanded.
"I woke up before my alarm," Rachel hedged.
"Rachel Barbra, answer my question right now."
"I woke up at 4:00 and was out of bed by 5:00. That's how I had time to make breakfast." Rachel quickly took a bite of her food. "Oh and I made our lunches for today too."
Pinching the bridge of her nose Shelby nodded and finished her breakfast. "Why were you up so early, sweetie?"
"I tried to call Dad and Daddy but they never answered." Rachel picked up her plate and Shelby's taking them to the sink. "I thought maybe I'd have a better chance of catching them at that time."
"I am sorry they've been so hard to reach, Rachel. I plan on emailing them tonight after school and discussing that with them among other things. We'll get this worked out, okay?"
"Okay," Rachel hugged her mother as she handed her the travel thermos of coffee. "One thermos of your coffee ready to go."
"Thank you," Shelby stood and hugged Rachel again. "Oh and Rachel, just so you know, you are going to bed early tonight."
"Mama," Rachel whined.
"Don't Mama me, young lady. Four o'clock is way too early to be up and you know it."
"Do I have to like it?" Rachel pouted.
"Nope. You just have to do what I say."
"This sucks."
"I know, I'm just awful wanting to make sure you have enough rest every night," Shelby teased as she moved to the front door slipping into her shoes and grabbing her briefcase while Rachel grabbed her bag and handed her mother the lunch she'd made earlier.
"Let's go, Rachel," Shelby encouraged opening the door and allowing the shorter brunette to exit before her. Trying to turn off her mind from the anger she was feeling towards the Berry men Shelby put on her school face and followed her daughter to the car.
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"But I'm their daughter," Rachel pleaded with the woman on the other end of the phone. "I need to know the condition of my father, LeRoy Berry. Yes, I said I'm their daughter. No, I haven't been able to get ahold of them today. I understand." Ending the call Rachel groaned in frustration.
"What's wrong with you, Miss Focker?"
Looking up dejectedly at Coach Sylvester Rachel sighed, "Striking out from getting information on my dad."
"Where is he again?" Sue demanded leading Rachel from the corner of PE dressing room to her office.
"At this hospital in Sweden. It's an experimental treatment that they're doing and he has one of the foremost experts working with him."
"It's not Dr. Andreas Strand by any chance is it?" Sue asked sitting behind her desk and offering Rachel the seat in front of her desk.
"How did you know?" Rachel asked in surprise.
"It's a story of two young kids backpacking through Europe and a little place in the Swiss Alps where young love bloomed." Sue looked nostalgic for a moment. "Of course we had to go our separate ways but we've kept in touch over the years. Give me that number."
Handing her phone to Sue, Rachel watched quietly while Sue hit the redial button. Eyes opening wide in surprise as Sue began to speak in Swedish, Rachel wondered what the woman was saying. She heard the name of her father's doctor, Sue's name and the word idiot sprinkled repeatedly throughout the conversation. Finally Sue switched to English and handed the phone to Rachel. "There you go Barbra Jr. The woman on the other end will tell you everything you want or need to know. If they give you any more grief let them know Sue Sylvester can and will make sure they don't see sun all winter if I so choose."
"Thanks Coach," Rachel stammered.
"No problem, Rachel." Sue waved her hand. "Well, talk to the woman I don't have all day to have you in my office mini-Shelby."
"This is Rachel Berry," Rachel finally spoke into the phone and listened. "Yes, I understand. And how is he responding to the new medicines? Thank you. Yes I'll check in in two days. Thank you for your help." Ending the call Rachel's heart sank before her anger began. Why hadn't her fathers told her that there were days LeRoy wasn't recognizing anyone? Why hadn't they told her the truth that sometimes he was too tired to even lift his head off the pillow? No wonder they weren't calling as often or talking on Skype. Still, her anger grew with Hiram. He could call her and make time for her even if LeRoy wasn't up to it. Why weren't they doing it? Why was she being left in the dark?
Standing up Rachel looked at Coach Sylvester. "Thanks again, Coach Sylvester, if anyone sees me coming out of your office I'll be sure to tell them you were giving me a hard time for wanting to add a section of music from Sweeny Todd to the next performance we give."
"Fair enough," Sue nodded. "Out of my office, Fanny."
Saying nothing else Rachel exited Sue's office shoving her phone into her pocket. Heading to her next class on autopilot Rachel wasn't paying any attention as she walked forcefully down the hallway. Her anger towards her fathers was growing as was her confusion on why they were keeping her and Shelby out of the loop. She knew her mother was as upset as she was and Rachel wondered what else the men had hidden throughout the years.
"Watch where you're going, Munchkin." Santana's voice made Rachel take a step back.
"Leave me alone, Santana," Rachel growled moving around the Latina to slide into a seat in the classroom.
"What's your problem?" The Cheerio sat down next to Rachel.
"I don't have a problem unlike those who choose to tell me nothing and expect me to be fine to live in the dark," Rachel responded pulling out her homework.
Looking at the brunette Santana made a note to ask Kurt if he had any idea in hell of what was going on with Berry. They had a competition coming up and couldn't afford to have her acting crazier than usual.
"Ms. Berry would you care to answer the question?" The English teacher's voice finally broke through Rachel's fog.
"I'm sorry," Rachel looked at the woman and shook her head. "Seeing as I have no idea what you asked or what question you would like me to answer I would have to decline answering it. Please move on to someone who actually gives a damn about the book we're currently reading."
"Excuse me?" The teacher moved from her spot at the front of the room and walked to stand next to Rachel's desk. "What did you say to me?"
"Weren't you listening?" Rachel stood up and grabbed her books. "If you'll excuse me I have something I need to do."
"You need to report to detention, Ms. Berry."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, but a detention would conflict with my glee club rehearsals and since I don't plan on majoring in English at NYADA, I believe glee will be more beneficial."
The silence in the room followed Rachel as she walked from the room with her head held high. Watching Rachel go Santana put her head in her hands. Great, just great. The munchkin decided to have a nervous breakdown now. A month before their final competition of the year. Just great.
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Seeing the number of McKinley High on her cell phone Shelby sighed and slowly answered. "Hello? Yes, this is Shelby Corcoran. She what? No, Mrs. Smith, I am so sorry. Yes, I will make sure that Rachel makes morning detention with you this week. Yes, don't worry, I will take care of it. Thank you."
Ending the call Shelby put her head in her hands and groaned. What the hell was going on with her kid? Dialing a number Shelby was glad when it was answered rather quickly. "Yes, Billie Jean, it's Ethel. Any idea if anything happened at school today with my kid?"
Putting her phone on her desk Shelby put her head in her hands once more. It seemed as if she needed to get ahold of the Berry men as soon as possible. Otherwise her hand may not survive the year.
Hearing a knock at her office door Shelby looked up, "Come in."
"Hey, Ms. Corcoran everyone is ready for rehearsal."
"I'm coming Tyler," Shelby stood and put on her VA mask. "Let's go and see if you can dance that set any better tonight than yesterday. A herd of feral cats could have danced better."
The boy ducked his head and wisely remained quiet. Everyone knew that when Ms. Corcoran compared you to anything other than perfection anything you said could only cause more grief and pain.
"For the love of all that is Barbra stop! Just stop!" Shelby stood and moved from her makeshift desk to the stage. "Do any of you actually know how smile while singing and dancing? Or are you only capable of doing one of those things at a time?"
Marching up the steps she pointed to the seats in front of her, "Move people. Watch and learn and then see if you can do it right."
Turning to the pianist Shelby took a breath, "The Wizard and I in Ab major." Pulling out his sheet music the pianist nodded and began the song. Using the entire stage to her advantage the vocal coach proved once more why her students were pushed to their limits.
Finishing the song Shelby looked at her audience. "Alright people, back on stage and this time do it right or I swear to all that is Streisand you will not have a free Saturday until next Christmas."
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Pulling up in front of the Hummel house Shelby texted Rachel that she was there and waited. Rachel slid into the car a few moments later and sighed heavily. "You're late."
Looking at the dashboard clock Shelby frowned. "I am late by three minutes, Rachel. That barely constitutes late."
Rolling her eyes and huffing Rachel put her seatbelt on, "Right, and if I ever came in after your imposed curfew, which I'm sure will be very early, by three minutes I'm sure you would call me on my tardiness."
Taking a deep breath Shelby turned to look at her daughter. "Rachel you are already in trouble and I would suggest that you curb the attitude that you have right now."
"What do you mean that I'm in trouble?" Rachel demanded as Shelby pulled away from the curb.
"I mean that I got a rather interesting phone call from your English teacher."
"What did the old bat tell you?"
"Your teacher, not an old bat," Shelby warned, "Told me that you have morning detention with her all this week and that you were very disrespectful to her in class." Shelby ignored the huff. "And then you proceeded to storm out of her classroom after informing her that you would not come to her detention since it would conflict with your glee schedule."
"Well it was true," Rachel protested. "It's not like I'm going to NYADA to study Of Mice and Men. I mean really, why is that book on every freshman reading list in every high school? Is it truly that much of a thought provoking read that we have to study it ad nauseam?"
Pulling into their driveway and then the garage Shelby turned off the car and looked at her daughter once more. "It's required reading, Rachel. You will read it and you will do the assignments that Mrs. Smith gives you over it. And you had better never speak to her that way again. Glee is a privilege, Rachel. Do not make me ground you from it to get my point across."
"You are being ridiculous!" Rachel unhooked her seatbelt and stormed from the car before Shelby could grab her.
Slowly following her daughter into the house Shelby heard Rachel's bedroom door slam shut and decided to let the girl cool down for a bit. Heading to her own bedroom she changed into something more comfortable before returning to the kitchen to throw dinner together for the two of them. Thinking about how she would handle Rachel's disrespect in class Shelby finally had a game plan as she finished up dinner. Rachel Barbra Berry wasn't going to know what hit her once Shelby got through with her. That much she knew.
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