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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Chapter 31

Shelby put a gentle hand on Rachel's bouncing knee. They had been waiting in the doctor's office for close to fifteen minutes and Shelby knew that her daughter's energy was barely being contained. "Rachel, stop please," Shelby finally directed.

"I just want to see Dad and Daddy," Rachel's chocolate eyes looked at her mother. "Where is the doctor?"

"He will be here, Rachel." Sue's unusually soft tone caused the teen to look at her as well. "I'm sure he's just finishing up with something that couldn't be avoided."

Before Rachel could reply, the office door opened and a tall, blond man entered. His blue eyes looked at the three occupants of his office warmly. "Hello, I'm Dr. Andreas Strand, I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"Hey there, Andy." Sue rose and hugged the shocked man. "About time you showed up."

"Sue?" The doctor took in the blonde as she sat down once more. "I wasn't told you'd be here. How? I mean," stammering for a few moments Dr. Strand moved behind his desk and sat down. Looking at Shelby and Rachel he shook his head, "I apologize. I was just a little surprised to see Sue."

"We understand," Shelby said only to be interrupted by Rachel.

"Yeah coach tends to have that reaction on people."

"Don't I know it?" The doctor finally leveled his gaze to Rachel. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rachel. Your dads talk about you all the time."

"They do?" Rachel's leg finally stopped bouncing as she moved forward in her chair. "I miss them so much. How's Dad doing?"

Leaning back in his chair, Dr. Strand sighed. "As much as I want to share with you and your mother, Rachel, I can't. You're going to have to get those answers from your fathers."

"Unfortunately they aren't giving us those answers," Shelby spoke again. "Which is why we are here." Hazel eyes caught blue and leveled a hard stare. "We need to see the Berry men and then I need to speak with them alone. We have to find out what is going on and since they've chosen not to tell us…"

Holding up his hands the physician nodded. "I understand, Ms. Corcoran, and I can empathize with you. If you'll follow me I'll take you to Mr. Berry's room. Both men are there and LeRoy is having a good day. I think, once they get over their shock, that they will be thrilled to see you."

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"LeRoy, Hiram," Dr. Strand announced as he entered the room and smiled at the men. Hiram was sitting on the edge of LeRoy's bed as they engaged in a card game that they called War. Shaking his head as they each made their last play before acknowledging him the doctor waited quietly.

"Doctor?" Hiram was the first to acknowledge the man. "Is there news?

"In a way." Stepping aside the man smiled. "You have visitors."

"Visitors?" The men looked at each other and then jumped slightly when the squeal came.

"Daddies!" Running into the room Rachel practically threw herself at Hiram. "I am so happy to see you!" Turning her attention to LeRoy Rachel gently hugged him. Moving back she grinned again. "So who's up for take-out?"

"Take out?" LeRoy eyed Rachel hard. "Does Shelby know you're here? I mean, did you get past the no fly list?"

"She didn't." Shelby and Sue's arrival had gone unnoticed by the men and both of them looked at the women in semi-shock. "We decided since you couldn't come home, then a bit of home would come to you."

"Isn't it wonderful?" Rachel crowed. "We actually get to spend time together. I can fill you in on everything and you can fill us in on everything. We can share and then overshare."

"Overshare?" Hiram squeaked.

"Yes," Shelby moved closer. "I think it's time we get to talk about everything."

"Everything?" LeRoy asked.

"Everything," Shelby confirmed holding up the documents she had received from them little more than a week before. "In fact, I think that after you and Rachel catch up, that it will be time for us to catch up. Don't you agree?"

"Sure, Shelby," Hiram finally spoke looking at his husband with uncertainty in his eyes.

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Watching as Sue practically dragged Rachel from the room and towards the cafeteria, Shelby moved her chair so it was closer to the men who had raised her daughter. Pulling the papers from her bag she threw them on the bed, "Which one of you wants to tell me what the hell these are?" Shelby demanded, her eyes flashing.

"Um, well, those are legal documents," LeRoy began.

"I am fully aware that they are legal documents, LeRoy," Shelby supplied. "I want to know which of you geniuses decided to suggest that your house be put into a trust in Rachel's name with me as executor. And then these," Shelby pulled out a single paper from the envelope she had. "These give me permanent custody of Rachel. Not joint, not sole custody while you are gone, but permanent custody with no way for you to change this when you come home."

Taking a deep breath Hiram looked at LeRoy and then back to Shelby. "We aren't coming home, Shelby." The man's voice was soft and he held up his husband's hand giving it a gentle kiss. "LeRoy isn't getting better. The tumor is growing again and we've reached the end of the proverbial road. Our only option is to make LeRoy as comfortable as possible…."

"I am so sorry." Shelby moved to the bed and put her hand on top of their joined hands. "I never let myself believe that you both wouldn't be coming home." Sitting down once more Shelby took a deep breath. "That still doesn't mean that these papers make sense. Hiram…"

Shelby was interrupted by LeRoy's soft voice. "He isn't coming back after I die, Shelby. We love Rachel. God knows we love that girl more than we could have possibly imagined, but Lima…"

"Lima will be my worst nightmare," Hiram finished. "I don't want to be in that house without LeRoy. I don't want to take Rachel from you and make her start over. We talked about it a lot, Shelby. This way Rachel will be financially provided for beyond what we've already set up and what you're able to do for her."

"And custody?" Shelby asked.

"I wanted to make sure that she never had to worry about being left by a parent again. Permanent means that, Shelby."

"And you're not going to see her again?" Shelby demanded. "You raised that girl for 14 years and now you're going to walk away from her?"

"No," Hiram sighed. "I want to visit with her, but not in Lima. I'm going to need time, Shelby. I just…"

"You're just being a coward, Hiram. Rachel is going to lose both of her fathers. How do you think that will make her feel? Did you even think about what this would do to Rachel? Did either of you even think about her and not yourselves? That little girl has gone through so much this year and neither of you has been there to experience it. And now you're telling me that you want to give up that opportunity?"

Shelby's eyes flashed once more as she continued. "I know, better than most, how hard it is to walk away from your child. I am telling you that giving up Rachel, walking away from her without a fight was the worst thing that I ever did. The biggest mistake I made in my life, and now you are willingly making that mistake? Don't you think she's lost enough? What are you going to tell her?"

The men looked at each other again. "We don't know," LeRoy finally admitted. "We never thought you'd show up here."

"What else was I supposed to do, LeRoy? Neither of us are getting any answers from you. Rachel tried to come here alone! Or have you forgotten that? She was running to her daddies because they have almost cut her out of their lives." Standing up Shelby glared at the men. "You aren't dead yet, LeRoy. Stop acting as if you are. And as for these papers," Shelby collected them and put them back into her purse. "I can't stop you from doing what you want to, but know that if you do this, there is no going back."

Standing Shelby headed to the door and stopped to turn back, "And one more thing, gentlemen, I'm not telling Rachel that you are doing this. You are."

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Hope you enjoyed the latest update. RL interferes here more than I'd like.

Don't forget to check out the newest book in the Mockingbird Chronicles series: Coming Home. It was written by Stardawn Cabot and me under the pen name of Kikilia James. Please check it out on Amazon.