Thank you for the reviews! I will do my best to write longer chapters. Sometimes my muse decides to abandon me in the middle of a chapter and I have to end it there, but I will do my best.

About Rachel's age. I am really confused about what month it is, because season 4 and 5 seem to be portraying the longest school year ever. I wrote she was 19, because I assumed it was 2014. Did Frenemies happen in 2013?

…

"Mommy, we go to the park?" Beth asked, as she jumped up and down. Shelby had promised the day before that they would go to the park if Beth behaved well during Broadway daycare and she had done her best not to throw a tantrum or speak in that loud voice her mom didn't like, so she was sure that they were going to the park.

"Of course, baby, you were such a good girl yesterday! And it looks like it's going to be a nice day, so we can go to the park and maybe, we could go visit your friends at the zoo" Shelby replied, smiling sweetly at Beth.

"Yay, monkeys!" Beth answered, clapping her hands. "We go now?"

"Let's see if Rachel wants to join us." Shelby said, glancing at her watch. Rachel had been in the bathroom for a long time, and she was starting to wonder if everything was okay. How long could it take a person to have a shower? She wanted to go and see if Rachel was alright, but she didn't want to hover. She didn't know how long it usually took Rachel to be ready in the morning, so her taking that long might be normal.

While Shelby didn't want to invade Rachel's privacy, Beth had other plans, as she ran into Shelby's bedroom as soon as she heard her new friend might be joining them.

"Wachel!" the little blond girl said as the barged into the bedroom, just in time to see Rachel coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her thin body and a towel on her hair. "Mommy's taking us to the park!"

"Beth, you cannot run into someone's room like that!" Shelby said in a serious tone.

"It's okay, Shelby" Rachel said as she smiled at the little girl. For the first time in her life, she felt like someone truly liked her for who she was. Beth had never heard her sing, and yet, she seemed to like her. Rachel had always wondered if people actually put up with her, because she was talented and not because they liked who she was. "I was going to wear a dress today, but if we are going to the park …"

"No dresses" Beth said shaking her head.

"I'll just go into the guest room and change," Rachel replied, suddenly feeling very self-conscious standing there, in front of Shelby, wearing nothing but a towel around her body. She knew Shelby was her mother, but she was practically a stranger, and she didn't feel comfortable in that state of undress.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Shelby asked.

Rachel nodded and smiled. "I haven't been to the park in a while. It sounds like fun"

"Okay, then, we'll let you get dressed and then we can go" Shelby added, with a smile on her face. She had always wanted to take Rachel to the park, she had pictured the fun they would have and all the time they would spend in the swings and the slide. She couldn't believe she was going to be able to do that.

"No dresses, Wachel!" Beth yelled, as Rachel was making her way out.

Rachel chuckled and shook her head.

Several minutes went by before Rachel made her way out of the room, wearing black shorts and a white top. She was almost ready. She just had to brush her hair.

"Shelby, have you seen my brush? I don't think I took it out of my bag last night, but I can't find it" Rachel said, as she looked inside her purse.

"Maybe you left it at the apartment when you left" Shelby said, walking into bedroom to get her own brush. "But you can use mine"

Rachel was about to grab it, but her action was interrupted by Shelby's voice. "Sit down"

The young brunette raised her eyebrow, wondering what was happening, but she followed the instructions. She sat down on the couch and looked at Shelby.

"I've always wanted to do this" Shelby said, brushing Rachel's long hair.

The action took Rachel by surprise and she stayed still, even though hundreds of thoughts were running through her mind. What did that mean? What Shelby was doing was a very motherly thing to do. Was she only doing it because she had forgotten her brush? Was Shelby trying to tell her something? She didn't understand what was happening and why her heart suddenly filled with joy. Her fathers had never brushed her hair that way. When she was little, one of her dads used to do her hair, but by the time she was five and she was able to brush it by herself, they stopped.

Every caress of the brush through her long hair brought a new thought. When she was seven years old, she had watched a TV show where the mother of a little girl was brushing the girl's hair as she spoke sweetly to her, and Rachel started to imagine what it would be like to have a mother who'd play with her hair and brush it every night before bed. A mother who made sure her hair looked pretty before being sent to school. Since she didn't have a mother to do that for her, she used to go to sleep and force herself to dream of that mother she was missing in her life.

Shelby wanted to speak, but she was also lost in her own thoughts. When she was little, she loved it when her mom brushed her hair. It made her feel loved and safe. As she grew older, she would often imagine doing the same with her own daughter. When she had to give Rachel away, she had spent days crying and one of the things she kept telling herself was that she was never be able to offer that kind of comfort to her own child and that made her sad.

"You have beautiful hair" Shelby said softly. She didn't think Rachel would be so still while she brushed her hair and deep down, she hoped it was a sign of her daughter giving her a second chance.

"Just like yours," Rachel said.

They stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, but then Rachel heard a sound she recognized, and tried to turn around when she heard Shelby sniffling. "Are you crying?"

"I am just being silly" Shelby replied, wiping a tear with her hand. "You're all ready to go"

Rachel stood up to see herself in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised to see her long hair done in a French braid. "Wow"

"Mommy, let's gooooo" Beth said, pulling Shelby's hand and growing frustrated by the minute.

"Okay, okay, Miss Impatient, let's go"

…

As soon as they got to the park, Beth ran to the slide, which was her favorite. She could spend hours climbing up the ladder and coming down the slide.

"Be careful, Beth" said Shelby, guiding Rachel to a bench nearby, so she could keep a watch on her youngest daughter.

Shelby and Rachel stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, until Rachel decided to break the silence, "I used to love the swings. I loved it when dad pushed me, because he pushed me higher than daddy."

Shelby smiled at the new piece of information and asked, "Did you often go to the park?"

Shelby wanted to know what Rachel's childhood had been like. She wanted to know if all that suffering throughout the years due to her giving her daughter away had been worth it. She was praying those two men had treated her daughter well.

"We went every Saturday after my dance class. Dad took me to the park and then to have lunch. At the beginning, he used to take me to McDonald's! Can you believe it? I don't want to say my dad was irresponsible, but he did not have the best judgement. McDonald's!" said Rachel, feeling more at ease around Shelby. "I mean, you are supposed to feed your children healthy food. So, I decided enough was enough and I became a vegan."

"How old were you?"

"I don't remember. Eight, perhaps. Eating meat is atrocious!" Rachel declared.

Shelby chuckled, "But you need those vitamins and minerals to grow up healthy."

"You can substitute them by other things. There is no need to kill animals."

"You may be right, but I still like to eat meat" Shelby said.

Rachel shook her head and was about to lecture Shelby on the consumption of meat, when she heard her name being called.

"Wachel, come play with me!" Beth said from the top of the slide.

Rachel looked at Shelby, as her mother encouraged her to go play. "It's fun" Shelby said.

"I'm too old"

"You're never too old to play, Rachel."

Rachel shrugged and rushed to the slide. She couldn't hide her excitement for long. She hadn't played in a park for a long time, and she loved that she had an excuse to do so, even if she wasn't a child anymore.

"Wachel, wanna go to the swings?" Beth asked, making her way down the slide.

"Sure! I'll push you!" Rachel replied smiling.

Beth grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her towards the swings. "Okay"

Rachel lifted Beth so she could sit safely in one of the swings. She secured the bar around her waist and started pushing her. At first, she wasn't doing it too hard, because she didn't know what Beth liked, but she realized that the higher the little girl got, the more she laughed, so she decided to push her a bit harder.

"Rachel, be careful! Not so high!" Shelby said, walking closer to her daughters.

"It's fun, mommy!" Beth yelled as she continued laughing.

Rachel didn't pay much attention to what Shelby had told her and continued pushing Beth, so the little girl could go higher. There was nothing wrong with that, they were just having fun.

"Rachel, I mean it, don't push her that high" Shelby said again, getting ahold of the swing and trying to slow it down.

"Come on, Shelby, she is obviously loving it" Rachel replied, not understanding what Shelby's problem was.

"And she will still love it, even if she doesn't get that high. It's dangerous"

"That metal bar is keeping her safe" Rachel argued.

"Don't you see how that steel bar raises every time she goes up? It is not entirely safe" Shelby continued, trying to explain.

Rachel rolled her eyes and gave the swing a hard push, instead of stomping her foot, not noticing that she had actually hit Beth on the back.

"Ow! Mommy!" Beth said as she started to cry.

"Rachel!" Shelby said, raising her voice. "Why would you do that?"

Shelby stopped the swing and held Beth in her arms.

Rachel just stared at Shelby and then looked at Beth, feeling bad. "Beth, I didn't mean to."

"You hit me, Wachel" Beth said, whining.

"I didn't mean to. I was just …"

"Rachel, apologize to your sister!" Shelby said, without thinking about the implications of what she had just said.

In that moment, Shelby didn't see Rachel as the baby she had given away or the teenager she had walked away from. She saw her as her daughter who had hurt her other daughter. In that moment, every doubt and fear she had felt in the last 24 hours had dissipated and had been replaced by the actual feeling of being a mother to both girls.

"What?" Rachel whispered, unsure of what to say. Had Shelby just called her Beth's sister? Did Shelby really see her as her daughter?

"Apologize to Beth, Rachel" Shelby insisted.

"Uh … I'm sorry, Beth. I didn't mean it" Rachel said in a low voice, as her brain kept trying to process what Shelby had said.

Beth wiped her tears and pouted. "Okay"

Shelby held Beth close and gave her a kiss. "Would you like to go to the zoo now?"

Beth nodded.

Shelby put Beth down and held her hand. Then, she offered her other hand to Rachel, who looked at her, hesitant about whether to take it or not. She knew they would have to talk about what had just happened, but she knew that it would be difficult with Beth around.

"We'll talk about it later" Shelby said to Rachel, as she held her daughter's hand.