I wasn't planning on updating so soon but this chapter seemed to write itself, so here it is. I'm not sure if things might be moving too fast with Shelby and Will, so I'd love to know what you think.
"Are you ever going to give me a chance or should I just stop asking?" Will chuckled slightly as he dropped his things into his bag. They were into their second month of classes and he'd been asking if Shelby wanted to grab a coffee at the end of almost every day since their first week. The pair got along well and most days they ate their lunch together, but Shelby always had to leave as soon as classes were over at the end of the day.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that" Shelby smiled, "and I'd love to, but I can't."
"Let me guess, it's not me, it's you?"
"Yeah" Shelby nodded before changing her mind and shaking her head, "actually, it's not me, it's my daughter, I have to pick her up from daycare and…" she trailed off, expecting Will to look relieved, that he'd dodged a bullet, he was 18, could probably have his pick of any woman in the room, he didn't want to be stuck with Shelby and her baby.
"Okay" Will shrugged, "why don't you go and get her and then meet me at starbucks?"
Shelby frowned, "I have a baby Will…"
"I know, I've known for a while".
"You… How?" Shelby frowned.
Will laughed, slipping his arm through Shelby's and leading her out of the lecture hall, "you have a picture of you and a baby as the background on your phone, and you told me to grab a pen from your bag the other week when mine ran out, you had diapers and pacifiers in there, I didn't think they were yours." Shelby rolled her eyes, "look, I get that she's always going to come first, but I'm not asking you to marry me. It's just two friends getting coffee, it doesn't have to be anything more than that."
Shelby laughed, "you're not going to let me say no are you?"
He shook his head, "nope".
"Okay. One coffee. I shouldn't be too long, maybe 10-15 minutes."
"No rush" Will smiled, "I'll be going through my notes."
Shelby said her goodbyes to Will before going to collect Rachel, grateful for the fact she'd managed to get her a place in the daycare on campus, it was one less thing for her to worry about, knowing her baby wasn't too far away if there was an emergency, and that she didn't have to worry about sitting in traffic for ages before she could see her daughter at the end of the day.
Will had found a table at the back of the coffee shop, two comfy armchairs and his notes from that days classes spread out across the table. "Hi" he looked up as he heard Shelby's voice, the mysterious bundle of black fabric she kept in her bag now wrapped around her chest, just the top of a baby pink, woolen hat visible to Will.
"Hey" he quickly scooped all his papers back into his folder and dumped them into his bag, "sit down" he gestured to the empty chair and pulled out his wallet. "What can I get you?"
"A soya latte would be great" Shelby sat down and reached into her bag for her purse, "and can you see if they've got some carrot sticks or apple slices or something for this little one?"
"Sure" Will shook his head as he saw Shelby take out some money, "it's on me."
Shelby smiled and rubbed the baby's back as she began to whine, "thanks."
When Will came back with a tray in his hands, Shelby had settled herself in the chair, discarded the sling, and Rachel was feeding contently at her breast. "I got you a muffin too" he said as he sat back down, "I didn't just want to get one for myself, and I guessed you wanted a soya latte for a reason, so I got you the vegan raspberry, I hope that's okay."
"That's great thanks" Shelby smiled at his thoughtfulness before glancing down at Rachel, "you don't mind me feeding her do you?"
"No, of course not" Will made sure to keep his gaze on Shelby's face, "how old is she?"
"She had her first birthday two weeks before classes started."
"Oh wow, she's…"
"Small?" Shelby laughed before nodding, "she was nearly 11 weeks early, she seems to put weight on, then get sick and lose it again, but we're trying aren't we kid?" she smiled down at the baby, gently stroking her cheek, Will smiling too when he saw the girl's tiny hand wrap around Shelby's index finger.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's fine" Shelby reassured him, "you're not the first person to be surprised when I tell them how old she is. After everything that she went through when she was born, I'm just grateful to have her at all."
"So does she have a name?" Will asked as Shelby shifted her daughter to feed from her other breast.
"Sorry, this is Rachel." Shelby smiled as she reached for her coffee.
Will and Shelby made small talk about their classes and their teachers as Rachel fed. Shelby sitting the infant on her lap once she'd finished, "are you gonna say hi to Will?" she asked, chuckling when Rachel looked suspiciously at him before burying her face against Shelby's shirt. "She's a bit shy with strangers" Shelby apologised.
"It's fine" Will didn't mind, "do you want these?" he held out the pot of carrot sticks. "They come with a dip but obviously you don't have to use it."
"Thanks" Shelby took the package from Will, scanning the ingredient list before opening it.
"Is everything okay?" Will asked.
Shelby nodded as she offered Rachel a carrot stick and the pot of dip, watching as she inspected the food she had before clumsily dipping it in the pot Shelby held, "she gets ill if she has dairy, I was checking if she'd be okay with this."
"Is that why you wanted a soya latte?" Will asked curiously.
Shelby nodded, she can tolerate a little, but whatever it is that doesn't agree with her is passed through my breastmilk, she still feeds quite a lot, so if I have too much, she's the one that suffers."
"That makes sense" Will nodded, "my brother had a dairy allergy when he was young but he grew out of it by the time he started school, hopefully Rachel will grow out of it too."
"Hopefully, her doctor thinks she might but obviously all we can do is wait and see."
"She seems to be enjoying her carrots though" he smiled, watching as she chewed happily on her carrot stick.
"We've been struggling with weaning, she's a bit of a milk monster, but she seems to be happier to try food she can feed herself over me spooning mush into her mouth."
"I don't blame her" Will chuckled, "that seems much more fun than being fed mush" he said, Rachel giggling quietly as she got dip on her fingers, dropping the carrot, instead sucking on her fingers.
"Apparently some preemies have sensory issues, so it might be a texture thing for her, I don't know, she's the only one that knows what's going on and she can't tell us." Shelby gently stroked Rachel's back before offering her another carrot stick to stop her dipping her fingers back into the dip.
"You just have to find something that works for you both" Will smiled.
"We do, we just keep trying things don't we?" Shelby kissed Rachel's head before looking up at Will, "sorry, you didn't invite me here just so I could talk about Rachel."
"I don't mind" he shrugged, "I think if I had a daughter as adorable as Rachel I'd want to talk about her all the time too."
Shelby smiled and kissed Rachel's head again as she leant forward, "I think you've made a friend kid" she chuckled as she put her coffee down and picked up her muffin instead.
Will laughed as Rachel dropped her carrot stick, reaching out her little hand and clenching and unclenching her fist, a sure sign that she wanted something. "This is mine" Shelby raised one eyebrow, "these are yours" she offered Rachel a carrot stick.
"Oh, look at that pout" Will laughed as Rachel refused the carrot stick and babbled almost angrily at Shelby, still reaching towards the muffin.
"She might be tiny but she certainly knows how to get her own way" Shelby laughed as she broke off a little bit of the muffin for her daughter, "you're meant to be getting used to the tastes of fruits and vegetables".
"It's a raspberry muffin" Will held his hands up in surrender at the glare Shelby gave him.
"You're going to be a bad influence Schuester, I can tell!"
"I'll do my best" Will teased, "she's beautiful though" he smiled, "you must be proud."
"I am" Shelby kissed Rachel's head, "she's so tiny, and she's been through so much but she just keeps fighting, you're a tough one aren't you kid?" she dipped her head to rub noses with Rachel when the baby grinned up at her, patting Shelby's cheek with her little hand.
"Is her dad…" Will shook his head, "sorry, that's none of my business."
"No, he… It's complicated but he's not around, I'll tell you about it some other time, maybe when we're somewhere less public?" she suggested.
"So you're going to let there be another time?" Will smirked.
"Only if you don't push your luck" Shelby teased.
Shelby and Will fell into easy conversation, as they drank their coffees, Rachel occasionally adding to the conversation with a babble or a gurgle, Shelby digging a set of plastic keys out of her bag to keep the baby entertained for a while once she'd eaten the muffin and lost interest in her carrot sticks.
She'd only intended on staying for a little while, but she lost track of time and realised they'd been talking for almost an hour before Rachel started to get a little cranky and Shelby decided to take her home before she got too upset. "I'm just going to use the bathroom before I go" she said as she stood with Rachel in her arms.
"I erm, I could take her if that would make things easier for you" Will suggested nervously when he realised Shelby was taking Rachel but leaving her bag behind so probably wouldn't be changing the girl's diaper.
Shelby smiled, "if you're sure?" she saw Will nod before kissing Rachel's head, "I'll be back soon" she promised as she handed Rachel over to Will, smiling as he gently bounced her on his knee, before making her way to the bathroom.
"I never had you down as a Bob Dylan fan" Shelby smiled as she returned from the bathroom to find Will stood by their table, singing 'Forever Young' quietly to Rachel as he swayed with her in his arms, Rachel gazing up at him inquisitively.
"There's a lot about me you don't know" Will teased, "she wasn't happy about you leaving her with me, but she seems to have settled a little bit."
"She always does if someone sings to her" Shelby smiled as she held her arms out to take Rachel from him.
"Could I take you out for dinner?" Will blurted out without thinking, quickly adding "both of you."
"No" Shelby saw Will's face fall, "I mean, Rachel doesn't settle too well if she's out of her routine with regards to bedtime, you're more than welcome to come over to ours one evening though, I can cook us dinner and then I'll put this one to bed and we could watch a movie or something?"
"Yeah" Will smiled happily, "I'd like that."
"Friday?" Shelby suggested, "if you don't already have plans."
"No, no, I, Friday's good for me."
"Okay" Shelby smiled, "I'll give you my address tomorrow, I think it's time I got this little one home" Shelby sat Rachel in the chair as she slipped on her own jacket before crouching down to slip Rachel's arms into a tiny coat, "I know" Shelby cooed as Rachel began to fuss, "we usually have quiet time when we get home so we can relax a little after our busy days don't we?" she gently stroked Rachel's cheek, "but it's okay, we're going now and when we get back you can have a bath with Momma, how does that sound?" she asked, rummaging in her bag, pulling out a pacifier and briefly sucking on it herself before popping it into Rachel's mouth, her fingers fanning out on the baby's cheek as her thumb held the pacifier in place until she was sure Rachel was going to keep it in her mouth, "better?" she asked, kissing Rache's forehead before lifting her daughter into her arms and standing again, Rachel snuggling tiredly into Shelby's shoulder.
"Sorry" Will said softly after watching the interaction with a small smile on his face, "I shouldn't have pushed you into this, you two obviously have your routine and…"
"Will" Shelby put her bag on her shoulder before reaching out to put her hand on his arm mid sentence, "don't worry about it, I wouldn't have agreed if I hadn't wanted to come, yes Rachel's getting cranky but she's tired and probably a little overstimulated, but she'll fall asleep in the car and the two of us will have some down time when we get home and she'll be as right as rain, honestly, you don't need to apologise, in fact, I've enjoyed spending time with you, and I think Rachel has too."
Will's face lit up, he knew how important Rachel was to Shelby, so he knew it was important that, even if they were only ever friends, Rachel was comfortable with him, "really?"
"Yeah" Shelby smiled as she began to rock Rachel, "she was happy to stay with you so I could pee alone out of the house for the first time since she came home from hospital, that's a big thing for her.
Will smiled, "I erm, I don't mind watching her sometime, if you maybe wanted to take a bath or go out for a while or something?"
Shelby smiled and reached up with her free hand to gently stroke Will's cheek, "that's very sweet of you" she smiled, "thank you" she said, leaning up on tiptoes to gently kiss his cheek, "I'll keep that in mind, but for now I think I should get Rachel into the car so she can nap before she has a meltdown."
"Okay" Will almost couldn't believe what had just happened, "I'll see you in class tomorrow?" he asked.
Shelby nodded as she turned to leave with Rachel, "absolutely."