A/N: It's been a while since I posted the last chapter. And while I am not done with my schoolwork and had to get an extension on my research paper until mid-April, I have been itching to post another chapter and I don't want to stall my readers any longer. I can't promise that I'll be able to post as regularly as I did before, because I have to hand in my research paper on April 15th and the following week I am traveling to Ireland (consider it research for Sharon and Andy's honeymoon. Just kidding, but I'm sure I'll get some ideas there). I'm not sure I'll be able to post from there, but I'll try. I should be able to post regularly once I return home in May.
This chapter takes place in episode 3x10 - Zoo Story, which is probably one of Sharon's most badass episodes ever. However, I chose to focus on the aftermath of the Sharon Beck incident.

Sharon shoved her hands into her pockets to hide their trembling as she looked at her soon-to-be daughter and tried to quiet the thoughts about what Sharon Beck asked Rainie to do for her. The day before, Rainie told her that Sharon Beck called her from the county jail and said that she was arrested. She went to visit her today – a chilling visit that Sharon had a chance of watching and hearing only hours after it had happened. If Sharon had any doubts that Sharon Beck was an unfit mother, hearing her steer her daughter to prostitution in order to earn bail money for her, hit the nail on the head.

"Is everything okay?" Rainie's voice drew Sharon away from her thoughts.

"Umm, no, actually," Sharon admitted. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Look, if the adoption is not working out –" Rainie started, but Sharon shook her head.

"It's not the adoption," she said and felt the wood of the doorframe of Rainie's room digging into her side. The worried expression that spread on Rainie's face made Sharon's stomach twitch. She didn't want to trigger any bad memories for Rainie. She didn't want to bring up the girl's painful history that she was working so hard to move on from. But she couldn't let go of what she has heard, and the dangers of denial outweighed the risk.

"Did I do anything wrong?" Rainie wondered.

"No, sweetheart. You're fine, don't worry. I just wanted to talk to you about your visit with your mother," Sharon explained.

"Oh."

"You may know that prison visits are recorded and filmed," Sharon started.

A clueless expression appeared on Rainie's face.

"Your mother said something to you today that was inappropriate and illegal," Sharon continued.

"I'm not gonna do it, Sharon, don't worry," Rainie replied quickly.

"I'm glad you refused to do that, Rainie, but I still think we should talk about it. It must have made you feel horrible," Sharon hoped to guide her into the emotional conversation they needed to have.

"It made me feel like I had to do it for her, but I got over it, Sharon, I swear. I didn't do anything like that with anyone."

"I know, honey. I'm not blaming you of anything. You reacted well to your mother's request, and I'm proud of you for telling her that it was wrong," Sharon wanted to reassure both the girl and herself. She was relieved that Rainie had the sense to turn down the dubious offer to engage in sex-for-hire again.

"Were you able to make a deal for her?" Rainie asked.

"She'll serve a whole year, as long as she doesn't misbehave or does anything illegal in prison," Sharon informed her.

"And what happens if she does?"

"Then she gets six years added to her sentence. Rainie, whatever situation she's in right now is a direct consequence of her choices. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"I know," Rainie replied and buried her gaze in the drawing she was working on. Sharon watched her silently for a few moments. Rainie was not one to bottle up her emotions. Most of the times she was open with Sharon about her feelings; sometimes she needed a little goading, and sometimes she exploded, her emotions erupting out of her like lava out of a volcano. The latter was more common during her first couple of years with Sharon and rarely happened anymore. Either way, trying to appear unaffected was not Rainie's style, which made Sharon worried that something was actually wrong.

"Sweetheart," Sharon left the grounding feeling that the doorframe provided her and walked into the room. "What's going on?" She took a seat on the bed by Rainie's side.

"Nothing," Rainie shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look like you're hiding something," Sharon insisted.

"I'm not hiding anything; I'm just…" Rainie sighed and put her drawing down. "After visiting my mom, I went back there."

"There?" Sharon looked at the girl with confusion.

"The street where I used to work," Rainie elaborated. "There's a new girl in what used to be my usual spot. She looks young. Maybe 13 or 14."

"Rainie, what on earth were you doing there?" Sharon felt chills going down her spine. What has Sharon Beck done to her daughter? She fought the urge to clench her fists.

"I needed to go back there, and see what it feels like now that I'm not one of those girls anymore," Rainie explained. "Anyway, that girl, she reminded me of what my life used to look like before I came here. I tried to talk to her, get her name so I could call Cynthia and ask her to help that kid, but she wouldn't cooperate. And then a client walked up to us. He asked if we wanted to have a threesome with him. It made me feel so disgusting like I'm a piece of rotten meat that only the flies want to touch."

Sharon's skin crawled, and she could see goose bumps forming on Rainie's skin too. The fury that filled her at the thought of Rainie reliving her past in such a horrible way, and that there were other girls like Rainie that she couldn't save from the street was overwhelming.

"I refused, of course, but the girl went with him to the alley nearby, and I left. I couldn't look at it anymore."

"I'm sorry you had to experience that," Sharon said. "But I don't want you to go there anymore, no matter what happens, okay?"

"I won't. I promise," Rainie replied.

Sharon nodded in approval and noticed the notebook on Rainie's bed. "Is that a new drawing?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah, I felt like shit when I came back home. So I needed to let it out, you know?" Rainie picked up the notebook and handed it to Sharon. The drawing depicted a naked girl who was surrounded by several threatening looking werewolves. It looked more like a comic book drawing than Rainie's usual drawing style, but at the same time, Sharon felt more touched by it than by Rainie's other pieces of art.

"Wow," Sharon breathed out the word. The drawing made her feel things that she never experienced from art: terrified, hopeless, sick to her stomach. Ever since she first saw Rainie's artwork, she knew the girl was talented, but this drawing was a whole new level of talent. Rainie poured her emotions onto the paper, and it showed. Sharon was proud of her daughter for finding an outlet for her dark feelings.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Rainie commented when Sharon handed her the notebook back.

"It's just… this drawing. Is that how you feel right now?" Sharon asked.

"I'm safe now," Rainie replied.

"But emotionally, is that the place you're at tonight?" Sharon asked and pointed at the drawing.

Rainie placed her palm on top of Sharon's forearm. "Sharon, I am home, and I'm safe now. That's where I'm at emotionally."

Sharon wrapped her arms around Rainie and kissed the crown of her head. This young woman had grown so much since she came to live with her. She had learned so much about ways to cope with her past and her emotions, and Sharon realized that Rainie was stronger than she had been in the beginning. She was able to withstand hardships Sharon never thought Rainie could, and she was sure that when the day came for Rainie to fly the nest, she'd be an incredible young woman, ready to conquer the world and what it had to offer.

"You are home, and I'm glad you're safe," she whispered against the girl's hair.

"I think you'll like this one better." Rainie turned the page in her notebook and showed Sharon the portrait she had drawn several days earlier. "He agreed to model for a portrait, but he made me swear I'll make his hair look right," Rainie said.

Sharon looked at the drawing of Ricky. Rainie had captured the amusement in the boy's dark eyes, the slightly slouched left shoulder, the small crinkle of his nose when he smiled, and the raised right eyebrow. It was as if Ricky was looking at her from the paper, so vivid and lively.

"Can I have this one?" Sharon asked.

Rainie carefully removed the paper from the notebook and handed it to Sharon. "Maybe I'll make one of Emily when I finally get to meet her."

"She'll try to make it home this Christmas," Sharon replied.

"I hope I'm gonna have an easier start with her that I did with Ricky," Rainie sighed.

"Don't worry, she already likes you," Sharon informed her. Emily had expressed her desire to meet her soon-to-be little sister and asked Sharon to consider bringing Rainie for a visit in New York by the end of the summer vacation. While Sharon's divorce proceedings were still ongoing, however, she needed to be in LA. She wasn't sure if she could fit a vacation into her schedule.

"What is she like? I mean, in person?" Rainie's voice drew Sharon from her thoughts.

"She's smart and sensitive, and sometimes she can be stubborn as a mule. She can be funny sometimes, although not when she tries to be," Sharon grinned. Emily's sense of humor was a bit quirky, but in a cute way, and her jokes always reminded Sharon of her grandmother, Diana, who always seemed to tell unamusing jokes. "She has an interesting sense of style," Sharon continued.

"Like what?"

"Have you watched 'The Breakfast Club'?" Sharon asked.

Rainie nodded.

"Well, remember Allison?"

"The weirdo?" Rainie made a face.

Sharon smacked Rainie's knee playfully. "Yeah, that girl. Emily's style always reminds me of her," Sharon replied with a giggle.

"What is it with your children not having any style?" Rainie burst into laughter.

"They certainly don't get it from me," Sharon joked.

"I can testify to that," Rainie agreed. "Oh, God, this is too funny."

Sharon wrapped her arm around Rainie's shoulders and pulled her close. "At least I have one daughter with a good sense of style. I guess I've done something right," she twirled one of Rainie's coppery curls around one finger. "But seriously, I think the two of you will get along really well."

"I hope so," Rainie replied.

A comfortable silence spread between them as Rainie rested her head on Sharon's shoulder and closed her eyes. Sharon could smell the scent of Rainie's coconut shampoo. It was a scent that she wasn't fond of before Rainie came to live with her, but somehow, she got used to it, and the smell grew on her. The sweet scent now evoked thoughts of home, of family, love, and warmth in Sharon's mind, and she closed her eyes and smiled to herself. It was the first time she realized that Rainie has changed the way she felt about a lot of things in life. She couldn't wait until the moment she'd be able to become Rainie's mother legally.

-TBC-

As always, I'd love to know what you thought about this chapter, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.