Here's the next chapter :) hope you like it! Big thanks and hugs to notnow, TheAsianWhoIsAFanzel and Galinda Upland of the upper for reviewing the last chapter. It really means a lot to me :)

Rachel could hardly sleep with excitement. Tomorrow her mum was going to coach her glee rehearsal. She knew she'd be amazing at it. 'Hell,' she thought 'she was amazing at everything!' Rachel had spent the entire car journey back sharing her ideas with her mother, ideas that Mr Schuester never seemed to listen to. Shelby's willingness to listen to what she had to say reminded her slightly of Holly Holliday, the substitute teacher who had taken over glee while Mr Schue was sick. Miss Holliday had listened and even helped Rachel with a song that she'd wanted to perform for ages and, although Rachel didn't always agree with her decisions, the New Directions all liked her and were happy when she came back, albeit only briefly. With this in mind, along with Shelby's fame, she was sure her teammates would enjoy tomorrow almost as much as Rachel would, 'if not more,' she thought, her mind wandering to Kurt.

Across the hall, Shelby's thoughts were also on her daughter's glee club and what tomorrow would bring. She knew that Rachel was excited and had hoped that her being there would give the teenager some more confidence around school, but the more she thought about it the more she realised the risks of her going. To anyone who knew, their relationship as mother and daughter was obvious but she prayed that none of Rachel's peers would notice the similarities in the way that the two women looked and acted.

Without warning, Shelby's thoughts drifted to one, Will Schuester. She couldn't help but feel guilty for not staying in contact with him when she moved to New York. He'd been such a good friend to her when she was going through a rough patch with her parents and had even let her stay at his house, despite neither his parents nor his girlfriend, Terri, being too happy about the situation. She hoped that Will had forgiven her for not making more of an effort to stay in touch, although she was struggling to think of anyone she was still in contact with from her school days given her very busy lifestyle.

Rachel had informed her of Will's divorce during the car ride home, making Shelby glad that she hadn't bought up the subject of his now ex-wife. She had never really liked Terri, but didn't dare tell Will as it was obvious that he was completely smitten with the blonde. Personally, Shelby found her to be annoying and selfish, and she was sure that the woman in question didn't think too fondly of her either. Of course, it didn't help that Shelby was jealous as hell of Terri. She guessed that had been the start of her problems and knew that was why she hadn't stayed in contact with him. It was simple, it hurt her too much. She knew she'd be better off if she forgot about him.

Thinking back to high school made Shelby realise who would be in the class tomorrow. Rachel had mentioned that some of the New Directions were some of the worst when it came to bullying her and throwing slushies, second only to the footballers and cheerleaders. She knew that she had to control her anger when faced with these teenagers, despite all that they had done to her daughter, if she was going to keep their connection a secret from the press.

Dismissing this thought, Shelby turned over in bed and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to come soon as she knew that she had a busy day to wake up to and needed all her energy if she was going to be in charge of a group of teenagers for a couple of hours.

The next morning Rachel woke up even more excited than the day before. She couldn't believe that Shelby Corcoran would be teaching at her glee club. Well, she still couldn't believe that she was her mum but she knew it would take a long time for that to sink in.

She took a bit of extra time getting ready as she wanted to make sure she looked her best for her mum. She knew that her usual fashion sense wasn't, well, fashionable and she didn't want Shelby to be embarrassed to be seen with her. She put on her new jeans and white blouse that she bought yesterday, teamed with a pair of ballet pumps and straightened her hair. She added a red headband and, once she was satisfied with her appearance, headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Hi Rachel." Hiram called, putting his empty glass in the dishwasher.

"Morning Daddy." She smiled.

"I like the new outfit." He commented. "What's the occasion?" He then asked, confused by his daughter's change from her usual style.

"You know Shelby's helping out with glee today."

"Oh yeah."

"It's going to be so amazing. Everyone's going to love her!" Rachel said, her excitement clearly growing.

"Rach! Have you seen the time? You should have left five minutes ago!" Leroy screamed at her from the living room.

Rachel looked at the clock to see that her dad was right. She finished the rest of her banana in one mouthful whilst fishing through her bag for her car keys. She yelled at her dads to remind Shelby to be at the school for just before 3pm and rushed out of the door.

"Right guys, listen up!" Will said as he walked into the choir room later that day. "We've got a very special guest joining us for our rehearsal today." The room instantly filled with chatter, all of the teenagers wondering who the 'special guest' would be.

Rachel smirked, listening to Kurt rambling on about who it might be and asking her for suggestions. Seeing him this excited made Rachel glad that she hadn't told him last night and she knew that keeping quiet would be worth it when she saw his face when her mother walks in to the room.

"She's an old friend of mine from high school and I have a feeling some of you with recognise her." He continued.

"Oh God, please don't let it be that drunk Rhodes woman." Puck groaned. "I mean she was hot and all but she was a little crazy in the head."

"She tried to teach me and Mercedes how to shoplift." Tina added.

"Wait! She what?" Will exclaimed, having not known about this. "Never mind that now. No, Puck, it isn't April." He started. "Kids, please give a warm welcome to the amazing and talented Miss Shelby Corcoran."

Shelby stepped into the choir room, blushing at Will's compliments and internally cursing at herself for still feeling like this around him. She was met by a small round of applause, the loudest claps coming from the front row at the far left where her daughter and Kurt were seated. Not that she was surprised by this, she knew that they were two of the biggest Broadway fans around.

"Why is Rachel's mum here?" Brittany asked innocently. A wave of panic spread across Rachel and Shelby's faces, the younger woman looking to Kurt for help.

Getting the message, Kurt leaned over to Brittany.

"She's not Rachel's mum, Brit. She's on Broadway."

"Rachel's mum's on Broadway?" She questioned, even more confused.

"No, Shelby's on Broadway. She plays Elphaba in Wicked. Rachel doesn't know who her mum is." The young boy lied. Shelby gave Kurt a smile and mouthed 'thanks' at him, causing him to blush and send a small smile back.

"Yeah Brit." Santana added. "Berry is no way cool enough to have a famous mum. Sure she can sing but just think of the clothes she wears."

"I think my Gran is more fashionable than Man-Hands." Quinn added with a smirk.

"Although with her nose who's to say she's not secretly Pinocchio and has been lying so much about her mum that it's grown and grown. No wonder she wanted to get a nose job." Santana continued.

Rachel could feel tears beginning to form in her eyes. Why did they have to do this now? Why? Her mum was here and they were embarrassing her in front of the one person who she really wanted to impress.

Shelby could feel herself getting angrier with every word the two young girls were saying. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything that could make people suspicious. Her mind drifted briefly to what the cheerleader had said about Rachel wanting to get a nose job and she made a mental note to talk about it with her later. That thought was quickly pushed away but Will interrupting the two teenagers.

"That's enough!" He yelled. "You two have got to learn to have some more respect for everyone in this room. I would have thought you'd known better than to behave like this after the last couple of years, especially you Quinn."

"Sorry Mr Schue." The young blonde said. Will nodded at her and looked to Santana. When it was clear she was saying nothing to apologise he decided it was best to move on.

"Right, let's get started then. Shelby, the floor is yours."

"Thanks Will." The older woman smiled. "Okay everyone. As Mr Schuester said, my name is Shelby Corcoran. I've heard that you guys have Regionals coming up in a couple of weeks and was asked if I could lead a session to try and help give you the edge. First things first though, introductions."

Shelby asked everyone for their names and did her best to try and remember them. She could tell some of the teenagers were nervous and wanted to try and put them at ease a bit more. There was no way she could get the best out of them if they weren't feeling confident.

After a couple of silly warm up exercises that left everyone looking, feeling and sounding like idiots, Shelby felt the group relax a bit more. She explained to them that they were going to be working on a theatricality number together and performing it the next day.

"Theatricality isn't about crazy outfits. It's not enough to douse yourself in gasoline – you have to light yourselves on fire to make it work! Being theatrical doesn't mean you have to be a nuclear explosion. It can be like a quiet storm. You just have to express what's deep inside you. That's what theatricality is truly about." Shelby said.

'Wow' Rachel thought. 'She's really good. No wonder she made it on to Broadway.'

"Perhaps you could demonstrate?" Will suggested. Shelby was about to refuse, not wanting to steal valuable rehearsal time away from the class but seeing the pleading look on her daughter's face forced her to reconsider.

"Alright then." She smiled and turned to Brad, who was sat at the piano. "Funny Girl, E flat."

She heard the piano and took her position in the middle of the floor, instinct taking over as she performed the song.

"Funny
Did you hear that?
Funny
Yeah, the guy said honey
You're a funny girl
That's me I just keep them
In stitches doubled in half
And though I may be all wrong for the guy
I'm good for a laugh
I guess it's not funny
Life is far from sunny
When the laugh is over
And the jokes on you
A girl ought to have a sense of humour
That's one thing you really need for sure
When you're a funny girl
The fellow said a funny girl
Funny, how it ain't so funny
Funny girl."

She finished the song to a round of applause from the teenagers and smiled. This was part of why she loved her job so much. Seeing such a positive reaction and the joy on people's faces when she performed made all the stress of the paparazzi worthwhile.

Shelby and Will set the group to work with their song. With their combined years of experience, plus seemingly endless suggestions from Rachel and a couple from other members of the New Directions, including Finn which surprised everyone in the room, a routine was soon choreographed as the session drew to a close.

As the students gathered their bags and made their way out of the choir room, a couple of them asked Shelby for her autograph. She promised them that she would sign things tomorrow so that they could come prepared.

Rachel and Kurt hung back briefly after everyone had left to talk to Shelby.

"Shell, can I have a word with you in a minute please?" Will asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll see you in your office in a bit. Let me just talk to Rachel and her friend." Shelby responded with a smile. Will left them to it and made his way to his office.

"Oh my God, Mum you were amazing!" Rachel gushed when she was sure it was just the three of them in the room.

"Thanks Rach. You were great as well. I never realised that you were so good at dancing."

"Well she has been having lessons pretty much since birth, as we are frequently reminded." Kurt said.

"Right well I've got to go and talk to Mr Schuester. Will you be coming back for dinner, Kurt?"

"I'll have to ask my dad. I'll let Rachel know if I can."

"Ok. It was lovely seeing you again. I'll meet you back at home Rachel."

After a hug goodbye, Rachel and Kurt made their way outside to their respective cars and drove home.

Meanwhile, Shelby was just walking in to Will's office, wondering what it was that he needed to talk to her about.

"Shell, hi! I thought you were brilliant today. The kids loved you." He said as she took a seat opposite his desk.

"Thanks. I have to admit I was a bit nervous." She replied.

"Shelby Corcoran was nervous? That's not like you."

"Don't start." She warned with a smile. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"I remember before you left you talked to me about being a surrogate." Will started. Shelby felt her heart begin to beat faster. Did he know? Was it really that obvious? Did that mean everyone else knew? Her mind was buzzing with questions and in the panic all she could do was nod and mumble a quiet 'yes'.

"Rachel?" He asked.

"Oh God, Will you can't tell anyone. Please. We don't want the press finding out. I can't do that to her." Shelby rambled.

"I'm not going to say anything. Surely you know me better than that Shell?" Shelby started to look guilty at this. Of course he wouldn't tell anybody. She knew that, after everything he'd done for her. "I've still kept your other, err, secret all these years."

Shelby looked away in shame. She knew exactly what Will was referring to. It was something very few people knew about her and part of the reason he had tried to warn her against being a surrogate. She'd only mentioned it to him once but knew he didn't approve. It didn't stop her though. Once she moved to New York it was clear that she needed the money and she figured that this would be the easiest way to get it. Will was always more sensible, Shelby had neglected to think about the effect that giving up a child would have on her emotionally.

"Was it obvious?" She asked him.

"Well I suspected something when I saw you together but it was what Brittany said that made me certain. You know, that girl has a reputation for being a stereotypical blonde but sometimes she's the most observant and socially smart one of the group." Will chuckled before continuing. "And no, to someone who didn't know that you gave up a child it won't be obvious."

"Thanks."

"How long has she known? She's never said anything."

"Only a couple of days. Her dads invited me to come and see her when they found out that she was being bullied."

"I'm sorry." Will said, sadly. "I've tried everything but glee club just isn't cool like it was when we were here. Rachel does seem to get it the worst though, second maybe to Kurt."

"And from what I've heard the Principal isn't much help."

"Figgins is doing what he feels he can but his hands are tied. The school board doesn't see slushies as dangerous and Sue, the cheerleading coach, seems to be able to get the kids out of any trouble they get in for bullying. Not to mention she's constantly trying to get the club disbanded so she can have a bigger budget."

"She sounds lovely." Shelby commented. "I'm sorry, Will but I should get going. I want to spend as much time as I can with Rachel before I leave tomorrow." She paused to get a pen out of her bag. Grabbing a scrap of paper from Will's desk she wrote down her phone number and told him to get in contact with her and she'd let him know next time she was in town. The pair hugged goodbye and Shelby left, knowing full well that the feelings she'd kept buried for years were resurfacing.