Sorry this has taken so long, there was a part of this chapter that I just couldn't get to read right no matter how many times I rewrote it, so I decidedjust to delete that part so you wouldn't be waiting any longer. Hopefully it won't take me quite so long to get the next chapter finished!

"It's me" Shelby called as she let herself into her brother's house, it was raining quite heavily and Daniel had already texted his sister telling her not to knock, not wanting his niece waiting in the rain for him to answer the door, "are you letting them know you're here too?" Shelby cooed as Rachel babbled nonsense that sounded like she was trying to imitate her mother's words, "you're a clever girl aren't you?" she kissed Rachel's forehead, smiling at the cheeky grin she got in response.

"Auntie Shelly, Rachie!" Jake beamed, bouncing down the stairs on his butt, Daniel following close behind.

"Sorry" Dan apologised, "monkey didn't want to get dressed this morning."

"It's okay" Shelby turned her attention to the baby squirming in her arms, "give me a minute" she chuckled, slipping off Rachel's jacket before setting her on the floor, watching as her nephew wrapped her daughter in a big bear hug. "We wouldn't have minded him not being dressed" she turned her attention back to her brother as Rachel crawled into the living room after Jake.

"If he was in his pyjamas I wouldn't have minded, but he was running around butt naked, nobody wants to be greeted with that" Dan chuckled, moving to stand by the door to the living room to keep an eye on the kids as Shelby slipped off her own jacket and shoes.

"It's not like I haven't changed his diaper before" Shelby laughed, "but yeah, clothes are probably a good idea in that situation."

Dan waited for Shelby to make her way through to the living room before asking, "coffee?"

"I'd love one thanks. Someone had me up at 5" she rolled her eyes.

Dan laughed as he pushed himself up from the door frame, "I'll make it a strong one then."

"Where's Katie?" Shelby asked her brother, thanking him as he passed her a mug and sat down beside her.

"She goes to some exercise class or something on a Saturday morning with her friends and they go out for coffee after, I don't really ask, she has the little dude all week, she deserves a break."

Shelby smiled, "speaking of a break" Dan raised his eyebrow, "would you like to let your baby sister have a break and watch your favourite niece for a few hours on Friday?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"Jeez Shel, use a trowel, you can spread it on thicker" he laughed, "and Rachel's my only niece, of course she's going to be my favourite. But sure I'll watch her, do you want to bring her here or do you want me to come to you?"

"It might be easier to get her settled if she's at home, but if it's easier for you to watch her here then I'll bring her over."

"No, I can watch her at yours" Dan smiled as he watched his son playing with Rachel, Jake was usually a loud and boisterous toddler, he loved climbing and running and play fighting with his dad but he completely changed when he was with Rachel, he was calmer and quieter and often stopped what he was doing just to hug his cousin. "Do I get to meet the little punk that's taking my baby sister out?"

Shelby sipped at her coffee, "who says I'm going on a date?"

"Oh, come on" Daniel playfully nudged his sister, "it's written all over your face, so, do I get to meet him?"

"Absolutely not, I'm picking him up just to be sure."

"Hmm, so he's making you pick him up? Not being the gentleman and…"

"He offered" Shelby interrupted, "I turned him down because I knew either you or Dad would be at my house to watch Rachel and I didn't want either of you scaring him off."

"Have you spoken to dad recently?" Shelby's words distracted Dan from trying to find out more about his sister's love life.

Shelby thought for a minute, "I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, why?"

Dan shook his head, "no reason, I just wondered" he lied.

"Dan" Shelby raised an eyebrow.

"It's not really my place to say anything."

"So there is something? Is it Dad? Is he okay? Has something happened?"

Dan sighed, "you can't say anything, let him tell you when he's ready" Shelby nodded, "he's left Mom."

Shelby's jaw dropped, "he's, I… when? Why?"

"It's been a couple of weeks, he crashed here for a few nights before he found somewhere else."

"What happened?" Dan didn't say anything, couldn't even look his sister in the eye and her heart sank, Shelby desperately trying to swallow the lump in her throat as she asked, "was it because of me?"

"No" Dan's head snapped up, "absolutely not," this was all on Mom" he saw the tears forming in Shelby's eyes and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before telling her, "Mom found Dad's bank statement, saw he'd been sending you money every month and pretty much told him he had to choose her or you, and he chose you Shel."

"He…? No! He shouldn't have done that. I, he…"

"Shel" Dan put his mug down, "just imagine for a moment, this guy you're going on a date with…"

"Will."

"Will" Dan nodded, "imagine something happened and Will wanted you to choose between him and Rachel…"

"Rachel" Shelby interrupted, "every time" she didn't even need to think about it.

"Okay, so, you choose Rachel and you and Will split up. Is that Rachel's fault?"

Shelby shook her head, "no, he, she's my daughter, she'll always come first.".

"And that's exactly how it is between Mom and Dad, Dad made the same decision you would, and for the same reason you would, you're his daughter, Rachel's his granddaughter, you come first."

"But it's different, Rachel, she's just a baby, I, I can support myself, I…"

"Do you really think your answer would be any different if Will waited 20 years to ask you to choose between him and Rachel?"

"No" Shelby whispered, knowing her brother was right, Rachel could be 50 years old and Shelby would still put her first.

"If I'm honest, I'm surprised it took him this long, I've been expecting it since Christmas, he was furious with her for trying to intimidate you into letting her see Rachel." Dan held up his hand, "that wasn't your fault either. You said no, you told her why you said no, you were a scared new Mom of a sick baby and instead of supporting you, she ignored your wishes, tried to push herself into your home and get her own way. Her selfishness is not your fault Shelby, and let's face it, you and I haven't spoken to her since, Dad's gone and as for those two" he gestured to Rachel and Jake, still playing together, "she's never met Rachel, she hasn't seen Jake in almost a year, she's the one that's missing out Shel, not us."

"Yeah" Shelby sighed, "I suppose so." She smiled slightly as she saw Rachel slowly crawling towards her, "hey kid" she watched as Rachel sit back on her heels and babble at her, "come on then" she held out her arms but made no effort to lift the girl from the floor.

"Wha…"

"Just give her a minute" Shelby stopped Dan picking Rachel up, both watching as, with a determined look on her face, Rachel crawled closer, using Shelby's legs to pull herself to her feet, clinging tightly to her jeans as she got her balance before reaching out, she couldn't quite reach the couch so Shelby held out her own hand, Rachel gripping tightly to her Momma's middle and index finger as she took a shaky step towards the couch, bashing both hands against the fabric with an excited shriek when she made it. "Clever girl" Shelby beamed, lifting Rachel into her arms and kissing her nose before sitting the girl on her lap.

"Wow, you are getting big aren't you" Dan reached out to tickle Rachel's stomach, "when did she learn that?"

"She's been pulling herself up on things, mainly me, for a few weeks now, but she took a couple of steps the other night, I was sat on the floor, she was clinging to my hands and then she took a really shaky step forwards and sort of threw herself at me" she beamed proudly, "I don't think she's ready to do it on her own though.

"That's great, and if she's walking holding onto things she'll get the hang of doing it on her own eventually won't you?" Dan tickled Rachel's stomach again, smiling as Rachel giggled and batted at his hand, he knew that, by the time he was Rachel's age, Jake was racing around chatting away to anyone and everyone, and he had to occasionally remind himself that Rachel had spent her first three months in hospital, fighting for her life, and the fact she was here at all was almost a miracle.

"We just have to be patient don't we kid" Shelby tapped Rachel's nose, "you'll get there."

"She's chatty" Dan took his niece, bouncing her on his knee when she babbled and reached out to him.

"She is" Shelby reached into her bag and pulled out a toy for Rachel to chew on when she saw her push her fingers into her mouth, "I just wish I knew what she was trying to tell me, but right now, I think it would be along the lines of how her gums hurt because she's got another tooth coming through."

"The more teeth the better" Dan smiled, "we'll get you eating steak soon, that'll help you grow."

"Good luck with that, she's the fussiest eater I've ever known, she is growing though, just very slowly!"

"As long as you're growing kid, that's all that matters."

Rachel and Shelby left Dan's just before lunchtime, eating together at home before Shelby took her daughter upstairs, curling up with her on the bed so they could nap together. Shelby was always reluctant to do too much on the weekends, she'd spent so long being with Rachel 24/7 that she liked to spend as much time as she could with her daughter when she wasn't at college. They still went out, Rachel enjoyed going swimming, and always got excited by the ball pit at an indoor play centre not too far from thier house, but Shelby always made sure they had plenty of time to spend together just the two of them, and from the way Rachel always cuddled so closely to her, Shelby knew her daughter appreciated their time together too.

"Hey" Shelby couldn't hold back her smile when she opened the door to Will, a little after 9.30 on Sunday morning, "come in, we won't be a minute."

"Okay" Will stepped inside and pushed the door closed, smiling when he saw Rachel clumsily crawling towards the door, the baby wanting to know where her Mommy was. "Hello to you too" Will crouched down when Rachel babbled up at him, "you're in a better mood than the last time I saw you aren't you? Oh" he was surprised when Rachel reached out to him and he looked up at Shelby, "can I…"

"Sure" she smiled, adjusting the fabric of Rachel's sling over her chest, "you don't have to ask."

Will lifted Rachel into his arms and stood to his feet again, "are we going to go for a walk in the park?" he asked, noticing the inquisitive way Rachel stared up at him, like she wasn't quite sure what to make of him yet.

"She likes to swing" Shelby told him, "she always has" she said, slipping Rachel's arms into her jacket as Will held her, "come on then" she held her arms out, chuckling as Rachel almost threw herself towards her Mommy, "let's get you settled."

Will watched as Shelby got Rachel into the sling, kissing her head and asking if she was comfortable before pulling on her own jacket and picking up a small rucksack, "doesn't she have a stroller?" Will asked curiously, he could understand Shelby carrying Rachel from her car to daycare and back as it wasn't far, but he hadn't expected her to carry the baby on their walk.

Shelby shook her head as they left the house, "I did buy one when she first came home, with a bassinet thing so she could lay flat, but she spent so long sleeping on my chest when she was in hospital that she cried whenever I so much as laid her in it so I returned it. I think about buying another one every now and again but" she shrugged, "I guess I've got used to carrying her now, even my Dad and my Brother carry her if they watch her. She's so small she barely weighs anything and it's a lot easier not having to worry about lugging a stroller round when we go some place busy."

"Yeah, I can imagine there are times when it's easier to carry her, and I suppose I wouldn't be able to do this if you were pushing a stroller" Will said softly before slipping a slightly clammy hand into Shelby's.

Shelby bit her lip, feeling her cheeks flush slightly, "no" she moved her hand to slip her fingers between Will's, "I suppose you wouldn't."

There was a content silence between the pair for a while as they walked, hand in hand, towards the park, "so" it was Shelby who spoke first, "what made you want to be a Spanish teacher?"

Will shrugged, "It was plan B. I wanted to go to New York, study acting, I had this dream that maybe one day I could be on Broadway."

"What happened?" Shelby asked, surprised to have found someone with the same dreams she's once had.

"My dad died when I was 16, he'd been ill for a while so we'd been expecting it but my Mom took it hard, my brother was only 12 and I…" he shrugged, "I didn't know how he'd cope if I moved away, Mom's doing better now but she still has bad days, so I stayed here to make sure he was okay. What about you? What made you want to go into teaching?"

Shelby gestured to Rachel, "like you, I had other plans but then this one happened and I had to shelve those dreams and find something that would work around her."

"In that case" Will reached out his free hand to gently shake Rachel's hand, "thank you for being the reason I got to meet your Mom."

Rachel babbled nonsense up at Will and gave him a happy grin, "thank you" Shelby whispered, "for being so understanding. She's taken so well to you, it's… just thank you."

Will gently squeezed Shelby's hand, "you don't need to thank me Shelby."

They walked around the duck pond first, Will and Shelby not needing to speak, happy just to be in each other's company, but the silence between them was filled with Rachel's happy little shrieks as she pointed at the ducks, gurgling and babbling nonsense, occasionally looking up at Shelby or Will like she expected them to understand her. And they were only too happy to play along, both chatting back to her, asking questions and pretending they knew exactly what she was saying to them.

They were surprised to find the smaller of the park's two play areas completely empty, and they spent a while there, Rachel even going down the slides, both on Will's knee and Shelby's knee, rocking on the wooden shapes attached to the ground by large springs, until Shelby saw the girl was getting tired and tucked her back into the sling as she walked over to the swingset, knowing it would help rock Rachel to sleep.

"You asked about Rachel's dad" Shelby said softly as she rocked back and forth on the swing with her daughter against her chest.

"You don't have to tell me" Will said quickly as he sat on the swing beside Shelby, "it's none of my business."

"I don't mind" Shelby shrugged, "I think I'm going to be honest with Rachel if she asks about it when she's older so…" she shrugged again, "I haven't told my Dad or my brother though, I don't think they'll understand they just know her father isn't in the picture".

"Okay" Will reached out and took Shelby's hand, "you can tell me as much or as little as you like."

"She wasn't meant to be mine" Shelby whispered, her gaze focused on the top of Rachel's head, "like you, I wanted to go to New York, I wanted to study musical theatre but I couldn't afford it, I barely had enough for the plane there, and then one day I saw an ad in the paper, a gay couple wanted someone to be a surrogate for them. Before I was even pregnant I signed a contract to say that I'd have no contact with the baby until he or she turned 18 unless they found me first, and they signed an agreement to pay me a hell of a lot of money. And then she was born, she was absolutley tiny and so, so sick. She was born just after 9pm and the doctors weren't even sure she'd make it to morning. They didn't even see her. They left a note on my bed while I was showering, "sorry, we only wanted a healthy baby, we've torn up the contract and signed our rights over to you but we'll still pay you."" she summarised the note the men had left for her. "I was terrified, she was so small, so sick, and I wasn't ready to raise a baby, I'd spent so long trying not to get attached to her and then suddenly she was mine, I was the one spending days at a time by her incubator begging her to keep fighting and I was on my own. I wouldn't change it, change her for the world though, I don't know how I ever thought I'd be able to give her away, I know her prematurity has had a big impact on her, that she's not the same baby she would have been if she was born at full term but I, selfishly, I'm glad that she was early because that's what made her mine, and I will fight as many battles for her as I need to to make sure that she's always happy and healthy."

"Oh Shelby" Will gently squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry they did that. I mean, I'm not sorry that you got to raise her because you obviously love her so much, but I'm sorry they just abandoned her like that. It must have been tough for you to deal with all that on your own."

"It was a tough few months" Shelby nodded, she hadn't spoken to anyone about this since Rachel had come home, hadn't even told her brother or her father the truth about Rachel's father. "The relief when I got her home was more than I ever imagined, but she, she's so perfect, it was awful, but if I had the chance to go back and make the choice again, I'd still do it, I could have walked away, I could have said she wasn't my problem, she wasn't my daughter, but she is, and all the worry, all the sleepless nights, I'd do them all time and time again if I got her at the end of it."

"I'm glad" Will said softly, gently squeezing Shelby's hand again, "she deserves you, deserves someone who's going to love her exactly how she is, someone who's willing to fight for her, not someone who's going to walk away the second things get tough."

"It's been hard" Shelby sighed, "it's been so hard and I, I thought I was on my own, I thought it would always just be me and Rachel and it's harder than I thought to get used to the idea that I have other people who love Rachel, who want to support her and fight for her just as much as I do."

"I can imagine." Will gently stroked his thumb over the back of Shelby's hand, "but you've both got people willing to fight your corner, it's not just Rachel."

"I know" Shelby squeezed Will's hand before letting go so she could reach up to wipe away the few tears that had slipped from her eyes. She looked down at Rachel, "she's asleep, do you…" she glanced at her watch, "it's a bit early for lunch, do you want to get brunch? Or maybe just a coffee and we can get lunch later?"

"Yeah" Will smiled, "coffee sounds good, I know a deli that does the best sandwiches, we could go there for lunch later if you want? My treat."

Shelby nodded and smiled, taking Will's hand again as she stood from the swing, "that sounds like a plan to me."