I am so, so sorry that it's been so long. I thought this whole lockdown thing would give me more time to write, but it turns out that, with other members of my family being home, the opposite is actually true. I am hoping that the next chapter will be done in a matter of weeks and not months though!
Spawn - Thank you for the suggestion, I've used it in this chapter, and the storyline will continue into the next chapter too, I hope you like it!
Lovetoread66 - Thank you for your suggestion too, that's definitely something I can include in a future chapter, so keep your eyes peeled!
Savageverse - I was born in Britain. My Parents and my Grandparents were born in Britain. My first language is British English. I was educated in the English school system and I have a linguistics degree from an English University. The devices I write on all have the language for spell check/autocorrect set as 'English (UK)'. So it's going to be almost impossible for me to 'stop writing so British', just like it would be hard for a native French/Urdu/Mandarin/whatever speaker to stop writing in their native language just because a stranger on the internet tells them to. If you'd like to provide some more constructive feedback, perhaps by telling me which parts of my writing are 'too British' and how I can change that, then I will be more than happy to take that on board. Otherwise, if my British way of writing is that distracting for you, you are more than welcome to skip over my fics and read something else.
Shelby and Will's relationship continued to flourish over the next few weeks. Despite Dan's teasing, he was ultimately supportive of his sister's new relationship, kissing her cheek as she left for her date, reassuring her that Rachel would be fine and telling her to have a good night and not to worry about what time she'd be home.
Will was waiting outside his own home when Shelby pulled up, telling her, "if you're picking me up to save me from being grilled by your brother, the least I can do is save you from the same from my Mom" placing a kiss to her cheek as he settled himself into the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt
Shelby knew Will had booked them a table for dinner, but she hadn't expected him to direct her across town to one of the best restaurants in Lima, "Will" she frowned as she pulled into a parking space. "This is…"
"I asked when I booked the table" he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "there are plenty of dairy free options and the chefs are happy to do what they can to make any of the other dishes work for you."
Shelby smiled and took his hand, squeezing it slightly, "thank you."
"Come on" Will smiled, leaning over to kiss Shelby gently, "let's get inside." He took Shelby's hand as they walked through the parking lot, holding open the door for her once they reached the restaurant. He was the perfect gentleman, pulling out Shelby's chair for her and ordering a bottle of alcohol free champagne as they were left to browse the menu. "You look amazing" he told her as they sat opposite each other, "not that you don't always look great but…"
"It's okay" Shelby chuckled, blushing slightly at the complement, "it's not often I get the chance to put something nice on, it's usually something Rachel's wiped her dinner down."
Will smiled, "we could erm, we could do this again if you want, I mean I know you won't want to leave Rachel every weekend but…"
"It's okay" Shelby reached for Will's hand across the table, "you're right, I don't want to leave Rachel too often but I, I wouldn't be against us spending more time together without her."
They'd spent a while making out in the car at the bottom of Will's street at the end of the evening before they'd finally said goodnight to one another and Shelby drove home to find Dan dozing on her couch with Rachel sleeping against his chest.
Dan stirred as he heard the door click and smiled over at his sister, "how was your date?" he asked as he stretched slightly, trying not to disturb the baby sleeping against his chest.
"It was good, how was Rachel? Is she okay?" Shelby was slightly worried by the fact her daughter wasn't in her crib.
"She's fine" Dan glanced at his watch, seeing it was almost midnight, "she woke about an hour ago, I gave her a bottle and her cheeks looked a bit red so I put some teething gel on her gums and she fell asleep again with no trouble. As did I apparently" he chuckled as Shelby sat beside him on the couch and he carefully passed Rachel over, "now" he wrapped his arm around Shelby's shoulder, "put that fierce Momma bear back in her cage now you know your cub's safe and tell me how your date went."
"It was good" Shelby nodded before kissing Rachel's hair, smiling as Rachel snuggled into her. "And you don't need to worry, he was the perfect gentleman, he held doors for me, pulled out my chair, he wouldn't even let me split the bill with him."
"I'm glad to hear it" Dan smiled, "I mean it Shel" he pecked her cheek, "you deserve someone who's going to make you happy."
Shelby and Will continued to spend more time together outside of college, Will spent most weekends with Shelby and Rachel. He'd yet to spend the night at Shelby's but he didn't mind that, he understood that Rachel shared Shelby's bed and he was happy to take things at Shelby's pace, and, although he hadn't spent the night, the three of them had spent several lazy afternoons napping together in Shelby's bed.
Rachel was getting more used to Will being around, she still had odd moments where she'd refuse to even look at him, but more often than not, she was happy to see him. Shelby was amazed, not only was Rachel content to share her with Will, but Will seemed just as happy to share her with Rachel, he understood if she took a raincheck on their plans because Rachel was having a bad day and, if Will was making plans, he'd always plan for something they could do with Rachel too. She was slowly beginning to accept that she wasn't on her own anymore, she knew that, if it came down to it, she'd choose Rachel over Will in a heartbeat but she was beginning to loosen up a little, she no longer worried or felt guilty if she left Rachel with Will so she could shower or make dinner and she loved seeing the bond between Rachel and Will grow.
"What on earth is that?" Shelby asked as she saw Will walking down her driveway with a large box and a bag of multicoloured plastic balls.
"Well" Will set the box down in the hallway, "I saw how much Rachel liked the ball pit at that place we took her to last weekend, so I thought she might like one of her own."
Shelby laughed and rolled her eyes, "I'm sure she'll love it, thank you" she kissed Will softly once he'd taken off his shoes and hung up his jacket, "look who's here Kid" Shelby smiled as she walked through to the living room where Rachel was sat playing with a set of stacking rings, more content with banging the plastic disks together than trying to stack them on the stand.
Once she heard her Mommy's voice, Rachel dropped them instantly so she could crawl over to her. "Hello" Will reached out to gently tickle Rachel's chin as Shelby lifted her up, "you're a happy little thing aren't you?" he asked as she babbled happily.
"Will's got you a present" Shelby gently bounced Rachel on her hip, "can you say thank you?"
Rachel giggled and babbled nonsense, "eh, close enough" Will smiled, "shall we go and set this up?"
Shelby gestured to the open space in front of the couch, "knock yourself out, do you need a screwdriver or anything? I don't know what you need to put a ball pit together" she said as she sat on the floor, standing Rachel in front of her, the toddler clinging to her hands as she stood between her legs.
Will shook his head, "the pool just pops up and then you tip the balls in, I thought it would be easier than something solid, so you can put it away when she's done."
"Thank you, I appreciate you not turning my living room into a play centre" she teased as Will used his keys to slice open the tape on the box.
"Oooh!" Rachel's eyes opened wide in excitement as Will let the pool pop open and set it down on the floor.
"What is it?" Shelby asked her, "shall we go see?" She kept hold of Rachel's hands, helping her keep her balance as she toddled unsteadily towards the pool before bending her knees, her way of letting Shelby know she didn't want to be standing any more.
"There we go" Will emptied the balls into the pool before frowning when he saw how few there actually were, "looks like I'm going to have to get some more of those."
"I'm sure that's plenty for her" Shelby smiled as she lifted Rachel over the side, sitting her amongst the balls, "and anyway, she'll be able to crawl and play in those, she's not going to sink like she does in the bigger one at the play place."
"That's true" Will smiled, watching as Rachel crawled around the small pool, giggling and shrieking at the balls.
"Thank you" Shelby kissed Will as he sat beside her, "you don't have to buy her things though, I don't expect you to…"
"I know you don't expect anything Shelby, I was in Walmart, I saw it and I thought Rachel might like it so I got it. Not because I thought you'd expect me to buy it for her. If I didn't want to get it or I couldn't afford it then I wouldn't have done it" he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close as they sat on the floor to watch Rachel play.
They managed to drag Rachel away from the ball pit long enough to go for a short stroll at lunchtime, grabbing a sandwich in their favourite cafe before heading back to Shelby's, where Rachel crawled straight back over to her new favourite toy as soon as Shelby put her down, the baby glancing over at the adults, waiting for one of them to lift her over the side so she could play.
Rachel amused herself for a while before holding out a ball towards Will. "Have you found a blue one?" he asked. Rachel giggled and held out another ball, "and a yellow one?" Rachel giggled again.
"You shouldn't have started that" Shelby chuckled, "you're going to be going all afternoon" she laughed as Rachel held up a red ball and giggled excitedly.
"She'll get bored eventually… won't she?"
"She's stubborn like her Mom" Shelby winked, "I wouldn't hold your breath."
"Oh" Will laughed, "well I could be in for a long afternoon then" he said before telling Rachel, "that's another red one." He noticed the look he was getting from Shelby, "I mean you're not stubborn at all."
Shelby laughed and shook her head, "smooth Schuester, real smooth." Her attention was distracted by a knock at the door, "I wonder who that could…" she froze when she heard the door open, there were only two people who'd let themselves into her house, her Dad and her Brother.
"It's only me love, I was just passing and…"
"It's my Dad" Shelby told Will as Rachel clapped excitedly as she heard the man's voice, reaching out for someone to lift her from the ball pit so she could find him.
"Oh" Shelby's Dad walked into the room just in time to see Will lift Rachel into his arms and then put her down when she squirmed, the girl heading straight for her grandfather, "I didn't realise you had company I'll…"
"No, it's okay, I'll get off" Will pushed himself to his feet as Rachel was scooped into her grandfather's arms, squealing happily as he swung her into the air before blowing a raspberry on her belly.
It took Shelby a moment to find her voice but she closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, "neither of you have to leave, I suppose it was inevitable that the two of you would meet eventually, Will, this is my Dad, Dad, this is Will, my boyfriend."
Will tried to hold back his smile, it was the first time he'd heard Shelby refer to him as her boyfriend, "it's nice to meet you" Will held out his hand.
"Likewise" Shelby's dad shifted his hold on Rachel to shake Will's hand firmly. There was an awkward moment of silence before he spoke again, focusing his attention on his granddaughter, "so kid, how about we get your Mom to put your car seat in my car and get your diaper bag so we can go find some mischief to get into and Mommy and Will can do whatever it is they might want to do if you weren't here to disturb them."
"Dad!" Shelby gasped.
"Oh please, you've got a child Shelby" the man rolled his eyes, still unaware of the finer details surrounding Rachel's conception. "Now, jump to it" he handed her his car key, "Pop-pop wants to spoil his little Princess."
Shelby knew she wasn't going to win this argument, "I thought I was your princess" she pouted as she took his car key and grabbed her own so she could move Rachel's car seat.
"You're my big Princess" he winked, watching as Shelby left the house before turning to Will. "You can relax" he told him, "I'm not going to warn you off or threaten to kill you if you hurt her or anything like that, I don't have a shotgun either. As much as I hate to admit it, Shelby's an adult and if this is what she wants then that's not for me to say otherwise." He put Rachel down when she began to fidget, letting her crawl back over to her toys before telling Will, "I will ask you to look after her though, to look after both of them, Shelly isn't always as tough as she thinks she is, especially not after everything that went on with Rachel, so just, just take care of her."
"I will Sir" Will nodded, "she means a lot to me, they both do and I, I'd never intentionally hurt them."
"I'm glad to hear it, but less of the Sir please, my name's Jerry. Now, I don't suppose you happen to know where Shelby's put that little Monster's jacket?"