"Aly?" Hearing uncertainty in the unfamiliar voice, Aly stood from where she was crouched in front of Becca and slowly turned around, "It is Aly right?"
"Shelby." Aly nodded in acknowledgement. She would have recognized this woman from their one short meeting in the hospital and her striking resemblance to Rachel, but it was the nine month old baby girl sitting in the stroller in front of her that left her with no doubt. Beth. Aly would know those eyes anywhere, plus the chubby little girl was identical to Becca at that age.
"I'm surprised we ran in to you, are you visiting? I thought you lived in Iowa." Shelby asked sounding cautiously optimistic about the chance meeting.
"Yeah, um, Dad got promoted so we came back. We just moved into a house in Lima Heights a few days ago." Aly responded, not taking her eyes off the baby. She felt Becca shift her weight from behind, trying to get a better look around her.
"Aly," Becca whispered tugging on the sleeve of Puck's hoodie that Aly was wearing, "is that...?" She trailed off and when Aly looked down she was staring at Beth.
"Yeah, kid, that's her." Aly whispered back, then turning her attention back to Shelby, "Puck said you moved away. New York or something?"
Shelby smiled again, but it looked a little strained around the edges, "We did, but it didn't work out. I've just stared teaching vocal and theater class at Lima Community College." She looked like she was about to say more, but stopped when she realized Becca had been slowly inching closer to Beth until Aly grabbed her by the back of her jacket and held her in place. "It's okay," she said, looking first at Aly and then Becca, "she's a very friendly baby, she doesn't scare easy, you can come say hi to her if you'd like." Becca looked up at Aly for permission. Aly eyed Shelby for a moment, then looked back at Becca and nodded. The little girl wasted no time, she scrambled over to the strolled and kneeled down in front of the smiling baby.
"Hi, Beth," Becca whispered, "I'm your Aunt Becca, I'm sorry I didn't come to the hospital to see you when you were born, but nobody would let me. You're really cute you know, you're lucky you look a lot like me." Becca continued to talk to Beth, but Aly had to close her eyes and try to block it all out. This wasn't fair. There was a reason Becca hadn't been allowed to see Beth in the hospital, the same reason she had never seen the picture of the bright pink baby Puck kept in his wallet. Becca had been kept away because they all knew she would get attached instantly, and no one could bear to break the girl's heart along with their own. Puck was going to kill her.
Just as Aly was about to drag Becca out of there and not look back, Shelby looked up from watching the two little girls giggle at each other, "I'm glad we ran into you, I was going to try to get in touch with Quinn and Noah. I know first hand how hard it is to be kept away from your child, and I was hoping we could work out a way for them to still be in Beth's life." She said sincerely, then, after digging around in her purse for a second, she pulled out an envelope and held it out to Aly. "Here are some pictures of Beth, our address and phone number are written on the front of the envelope. I'd appreciate it if you could give it to Noah and ask him to call me, if he's interested, no pressure."
Aly hesitantly took the envelope from Shelby's outstretched hand, "Are you sure about this? Because there is no way I'm going to get Puck's hopes up if you're just going to back out later. Losing his daughter broke him once, I won't let that happen again."
"I'm completely serious about my offer, I give you my word, I won't change my mind." Shelby promised with such conviction that Aly had no choice but to believe her. "Rachel and Beth are the only family I have. I don't want Beth growing up like that, with just me, she deserves to have family all around her. I want to make sure she gets that."
"Okay," Aly nodded, "okay, I'll give it to him; you'll probably be hearing from him soon. In fact, I would be surprised if he called you tonight." Shelby smiled genuinely, hooked her purse back on the handle of the stroller, and turned as if to walk away. Before Aly could stop herself she said, "And Shelby, I've watch Mrs. Puckerman be a single mother for years, I know how hard it can be. If you ever just need some time to yourself, I'm free Saturdays, I'd be happy to take her for the day."
"I'd like that, and I'm sure Beth would too. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon, Aly, Becca." And with that she turned the stroller and walked farther into the store.