Author's Note: A Shelby/Fababy ficlet in honor of Calliope's birthday. Set after Watching the World Take On A New Form.

It's Only Just Begun

Precious little angel
Take a look at what you've done
Well I thought my time was over
But it's only just begun.
~Precious, Annie Lennox

Today is the day that Shelby Corcoran gets to meet her granddaughter for the first time.

Rachel had called her last night with the news that Calliope Alice Fabray had arrived screaming into the world at four fifty-three pm, at a healthy seven pounds and twelve ounces.

Shelby has been trying since then to push aside the small sting of disappointment that it had taken Rachel nearly two hours to call her. She would have been understandably preoccupied in those first precious moments, so it's easy enough to forgive some of that lag time, but Shelby somehow doubts that Rachel had waited quite so long to tell Leroy and Hiram. It's hard to not feel like an afterthought—even when she knows she'd mostly done it to herself.

There'd been nothing that she'd wanted more than to jump in her car and rush to the hospital last night to meet Calliope, but it had been late, and she could hear the exhaustion in Rachel's voice peeking through the elation and suspected that Quinn had to be even more drained, so she'd smothered her own desires and decided to play the patient, responsible grandmother, offering to wait until the morning to visit.

Rachel had seemed to appreciate Shelby's monumental show of restraint.

Beth had not.

"Why do we have to wait?" she'd demanded the moment that Shelby hung up the phone. There'd been a mild scowl on her face as she'd stood with her arms crossed and her hip cocked, clearly unhappy with the decision, and Shelby had been struck (not for the first time) by the strong resemblance to her birth mother in that moment.

"Because Quinn and Rachel are both exhausted, and I'm sure that Calliope is too," Shelby had explained, "so you and I are giving them time to rest and recuperate so they'll be at their best when we visit them tomorrow."

Beth had reluctantly accepted the decision, but she'd been awake bright and early this morning, demanding that they leave for the hospital as soon as she'd scarfed down her breakfast. Shelby hadn't been inclined to argue. She'd been at the very end of her own patience, eager to see the baby, so here they are, standing outside of room number six—about to meet Calliope Alice Fabray for the very first time.

The familiar thorn of uncertainty prickles at her heart before she can lift a hand to knock on the door, and her moment of hesitation allows Beth the opportunity to forgo all politeness and simply twist the handle to push open the door. Shelby huffs out her daughter's name in exasperation, but Beth is already barging into the room with an excited, "We're here to meet my baby sister niece."

Shelby internally cringes at the use of that particular description of the baby again, and as she clears the doorway, she can see a matching look of exasperation on Quinn's face while Rachel utterly fails to stifle her amused grin. Quinn is out of the hospital bed, sitting on the loveseat under the window next to Rachel. There's a hospital tray with dishes on it pushed off to the side, and it's clear that they'd just finished eating breakfast. They both look tired and less put together than Shelby has ever seen them—well, apart from that one time she'd seen a much younger Quinn in the hospital right after she'd given birth to Beth—but they also look incredibly happy.

Shelby and Beth are barely inside the room when quick, staccato cries suddenly erupt from the bassinet at the foot of the bed, and Rachel is up in an instant. "She was napping," she informs them with a wry smile before bending down to soothe the baby.

"Oops. Sorry," Beth apologizes, appearing suitably remorseful.

Quinn smiles. "It's okay. She was probably just about to wake up and demand her second breakfast anyway." She makes an attempt to stand from the loveseat, but it's obvious from her sudden grimace and the way she immediately sinks back down on the cushions that she's still more than a little sore. Beth seems to notice too and rushes to her side, holding out her hands to help Quinn up.

Shelby's attention is very quickly stolen away from them when Rachel lifts the baby from her bassinet, gingerly cradling the tiny, squirming body against her chest. Safe in her mother's arms, Calliope's cries gradually taper off into little grunts.

"Is she hungry again?" Quinn asks her wife, standing with Beth's help.

Rachel shrugs faintly, gazing down at her daughter with adoration. "I don't think so. I think she was just surprised by the new voices in the room." Her eyes lift and lock onto Shelby, and she smiles. "She already loves being the center of attention."

A breathless laugh escapes Shelby, and she presses and hand to her heart, unable to tear her eyes away from the vision of her daughter and granddaughter. She can barely see more than a head full of dark hair and the side of a chubby, little cheek, but she's already enraptured.

Quinn wraps an arm around Beth's shoulders. "You want to meet your sister?"

"Niece," Rachel counters, sharing a conspiratorial smirk with a giggling Beth while Quinn huffs her displeasure at the teasing, but there's a smile on her face as well.

Shelby's heart flutters when Beth takes a quick step forward, but then her daughter hesitates, glancing to her mother before she looks back to Rachel. "I think Mom should get to meet her first."

Rachel's eyes dart to Shelby before returning to Beth, and she nods, smiling gently. "I think you're probably right." And then she's looking at Shelby again with questioning eyes. "Shelby? Would you like to hold your granddaughter?"

Shelby inhales deeply, ignoring the lingering scent of hospital that had followed them in from the hallway and focusing on the sweet smell of baby powder that's more prevalent in the room. "I very much would," she breathes out, drifting closer to Rachel and the precious little bundle in her arms. With every step closer, Calliope's little face comes clearer into view, and Shelby falls more and more in love.

Standing next to Rachel, she simply gazes down at the baby for a long moment, hand still pressed over her heart. Calliope's hair is already a mess of waves flowing in every different direction, her dark eyes are wide and alert, and she looks so much like Rachel that Shelby can barely breathe.

"Calliope, this is your Grandma Shelby," Rachel murmurs in her sweetest voice.

All Shelby can seem to manage is a whispered, "Hi." She can feel Rachel's eyes on her, and she glances up to meet them, chuckling at her own utter lack of eloquence in the moment. And then Rachel smiles at her, so soft and genuine, and for the first time in such a very long time, Shelby feels like she actually belongs here—like the connection that she has with Rachel is real and strong and true. "She's perfect," Shelby says, silently adding, and so are you.

Rachel's smile widens. "Well, obviously."

She can hear Quinn and Beth giggling at the exchange from over her shoulder, but her focus remains on Rachel and the baby, and then Shelby is reaching for Calliope, and Rachel is carefully transferring her into Shelby's arms, and everything else disappears but the perfect little person now cradled against her chest.

"Oh, look at you," she coos with tears prickling at her eyes. "You look just like your mommy."

For twenty-eight years, Shelby has carried a single, fleeting memory of that brief moment when she'd been permitted to hold Rachel right after she was born. There are times when she can swear that she still feels the phantom weight in her arms—a ghost that even Beth hadn't been able to chase away—and holding Calliope now brings all of it rushing back as though it happened only yesterday. There's really no way to stop the tears that stream down her cheeks as she gazes down at her granddaughter.

"Mom?" Beth questions in mild concern, moving close to her side. "You okay?"

"I've never been more okay," Shelby reassures her with a tearful smile. She's holding her daughter's baby girl, and while nothing can ever replace all the years that she'd lost with Rachel, being allowed this little piece of her life now is so much more than Shelby had ever dared to dream she could have.

Satisfied with the answer, Beth grins down at the baby. "She's pretty cute." She glances up at Rachel, who's been watching Shelby with an oddly contemplative look. "I can definitely tell she's related to you and Mom."

"That's what I was hoping for," Quinn confesses, moving to Rachel's side. Her expression is so openly adoring of both Rachel and their daughter that Shelby wonders how she could have ever doubted their relationship.

"I'm just so glad she didn't get my nose," Rachel adds with a self-deprecating smile.

Beth laughs, and Shelby meets Rachel's eyes again with a tiny frown. She sees nothing wrong with Rachel's nose.

Quinn frowns at her too. "You need to stop saying that."

Rachel shrugs. "It's the truth."

"So can I hold her now?" Beth asks eagerly.

Shelby shifts her frown to her younger daughter—not nearly ready to relinquish Calliope just yet, not even for Beth—and Rachel chuckles, shaking her head. "I think you need to let Mom have more than a minute with her granddaughter. You'll get your turn soon enough."

Shelby's breath hitches as the words register, and both Quinn and Beth seem to go still as they stare at Rachel in surprise, but Rachel doesn't seem to realize exactly what she just said, merely glancing back and forth between them while her smile turns confused.

"Unless..." She aims an uncertain glance at Shelby. "Were you ready to let Beth hold her?"

Shelby shakes her head, silently relishing the moment, as unintentional as it may have been, because she knows that it might never happen again—and certainly not for a long time if it does.

Beth, bless her soul, almost calls attention to it. "Rachel, you just called…"

"Sorry, kiddo," Shelby quickly interrupts, giving Beth a meaningful look. "I'm not ready to let go of this little angel just yet. You'll just have to wait."

Beth looks at her in confusion for a moment, but then Quinn reaches out to brush back a strand of her hair. "You understand, right?" she questions softly, meaningfully. Beth's face instantly clears, and she nods.

Those pesky tears spill from Shelby's eyes once again as her gaze moves from one daughter to the other before coming back to rest on her beautiful granddaughter. Everything about Calliope is absolutely perfect, and Shelby memorizes every little feature, vowing that she'll never forget a single moment of this day. She's suddenly very certain that it will be the first of so many more days to come.