A/N: Hello my dear readers! Sorry for taking so immensely long to post the second chapter. I'm currently traveling and it's become very difficult to find time to sit down & write another chapter. I just want to say how blown away I am by the number of reviews/story favorites/story alerts I've received for the first chapter! I would normally respond directly to each and every reviewer, but I have a limited time on the computer here at my retreat, and I'm worried I won't finish & delay posting this even longer, so I apologize for that. You guys literally had me in tears of joy with your reviews, I'm so thrilled that I've sparked your interest; it means everything to me!

"Three hundred and twenty five. Three hundred and twenty six. Three hundred and twenty seven..."

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could get them as she tossed around in her mother's bed.

"Whoever said that counting make-believe sheep was an effective way of falling asleep was deeply mistaken," she thought glumly as she turned on her side for the millionth time that night.

It had been exactly four hours since Rachel had arrived at Shelby's door, but the time seemed to mesh together in one blurry wave. She could distinctly remember blubbering out almost incoherent bits of an explanation to Shelby in between sobs, but it truly felt like that had taken place weeks ago and the aftermath of that conversation, if you could call it that, still wasn't very clear to Rachel. Not that she really cared. It was the farthest thing from her mind after her evening of trauma.

With a defeated sigh, Rachel sat up in bed and ferociously tugged at the sweatpants Shelby had given her to change into as she tried to block out the emotionally draining events that took place only a few hours ago. Rachel was never one to try and bottle up her emotions, but it literally hurt her to think about what had happened, and she couldn't control her mind from jumping, almost mockingly so, to the worst moment of her entire sixteen years.

"No, no, no, Finn, you've got this Glee assignment completely backwards! We're supposed to be epitomizing childhood in a single song, not singing cartoon melodies!"

"I thought the assignment was just childhood songs, not epitomizing, or...whatever."

"Well that's what Mr. Schue meant, I'm absolutely positive, and since we're working together on this one, I think we should look for other creative inspirations. What do you say?"

"Alright, but I really don't see what's wrong with singing the theme song to-"

"Finn Hudson, we are not singing that Winnie the Pooh song, we are Sectional champions, future National champions, and future Tony award winners, and we should be able pick something with more depth than Winnie the Pooh's honey pot."

Finn laughed, "Okay, okay, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe something more dramatic. Like, we could do Bob Carlisle's Butterfly Kisses or even go down the melodramatic route with Family Portrait by Pink! I personally prefer the former, but we can narrow our choices down and make our official decision by Tuesday."

"That sounds awesome Rachel, I think-"

"Oops!" Rachel interrupted, "I've got a call on the other line, sorry!"

"No big deal. I'll talk to you tomorrow about the assignment, okay?"

"Sounds fantastic, I'll see you then! Bye Finn!"

"Bye Rachel!"

"Oh wait, Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to bring in a list of song ideas; we need as many options for this song as we can get, okay? Bye!"

Rachel smiled as she switched lines. Finn was really sweet, but he could be so clueless when it came to appropriate choices of song. The thought of even considering the Winnie the Pooh theme song for Glee made her shudder and she was thankful for her musical taste for both her and Finn's sake.

"Hello, this is the Berry residence, Rachel speaking," she politely recited.

"Hello Ms. Berry, my name is Alicia Brandenburg; I'm the chief of staff at Northside Memorial Hospital. I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but your father is here in the ICU after an accident."

"Wh-what?" Rachel stuttered as panic flared throughout her body, "Which one of my fathers? Is he okay? What happened? Where's my other father? What's going on? Why-"

Dr. Brandenburg cut her off mid-sentence, "There was a shooting at the law firm where your fathers are employed. I'm sorry Rachel, but your father Phillip didn't make it. Your other father Benjamin is in intensive care at the moment. Is there any way that you could drive down-"

Rachel dropped the phone before Dr. Brandenburg could finish her sentence.

"D-dead?" she thought, "Daddy is dead?" She couldn't wrap her head around it at all and collapsed to her knees with an expression of horror etched across her face.

She had just seen him, only a couple of hours prior. Phillip and Benjamin had to make a quick run to the firm to sort out some incorrectly filed paperwork. They were supposed to be home any minute, not lying in a hospital beds. Or graves. The thought of her wonderful Daddy Phillip lying stoic in an open casket brought home the concept of what had happened to Rachel & she broke into heaving sobs while cradling the now disconnected phone.

"No, no, no, no, no, no" she moaned weakly. She looked up at the living room table where pictures of her family were scattered across the table. They looked so happy. Rachel looked eyes with a picture of herself and her father, Benjamin.

"Dad," she thought as she remembered her other father, who was still in the hospital. Rachel scrambled to her feet & ran out the front door, not even bothering to close it as she threw herself into her father Phillip's car and raced down through her neighborhood towards Benjamin.

But by the time she had arrived, Benjamin had already left.

Tears streamed down Rachel's face at the memory & for the first time since she had come to Shelby, she took in her surroundings in an attempt to stop her racing thoughts.

Shelby's bedroom was a stunning white color with soft rose details hidden about the room. A large chandelier hung above Rachel and there was a picture of Shelby and a man who Rachel assumed was her father up above the bed mantle. There was a gigantic mirror that sat across from the bed.

She couldn't help but stare at herself in it in awe. She didn't even resemble herself. Rachel looked exhausted & her perfectly styled hair was sticking out from every angle.

A beautiful white fireplace tied the entire room together and Rachel could almost picture her mother lighting it up on a warm winter's night when things got a bit chilly. The thought stung Rachel.

In all honesty, she didn't even know why she was here. After hearing the news about Benjamin, her first instinct was to run as fast as she could away from the hospital, and she did that, but how or why she ended up at Shelby's doorstep was still a complete mystery to her. It was instinctual, she supposed. After all, she really didn't have any other family. Not that she could rightfully call Shelby family, but she was the closest she had.

"The closest I have aside from Great Aunt Penelope," thought Rachel as she physically grimaced of the thought of her estranged, homophobic relative.

Great Aunt Penelope was the only relative of Benjamin's that Rachel had ever met. His family was "stuck", as Phillip liked to put it, in past traditions & hadn't hesitated to disown Benjamin at the mention of the G word. It had been hard for her Dad to accept, Rachel knew, but Phillip's family was a comforting welcome. Her Nana Ester & Papa Richard loved both their son Phillip and Benjamin. And Rachel, of course. They used to spoil her rotten with presents & the warmest hugs Rachel had ever received. They had died only one year ago, a mere two weeks apart from each other. Her Daddy used to say that it was meant to be that way because they couldn't live without each other. Somehow, this made Rachel understand, & she accepted their passings with hope that they were together in a better place.

Rachel turned over onto her side again, as another wave of tears fell down her face.

"I'm not going to get any sleep tonight," she thought, matter-of-factly to herself as she sat up and made her way to the door of Shelby's bedroom.

As she tiptoed down the upstairs hallway, she could hear Shelby talking in an agitated, but hushed tone. Rachel made her way to the staircase and took a seat on the top step in order to hear Shelby a bit more clearly. She could only make out part of a conversation.

"No, I understand that, but what I'm saying is that I think it's inappropriate at this time..."

Shelby's voice was quiet and Rachel could barely hear her.

"She's probably exhausted, have some sympathy, she's not going anywhere tonight."

Rachel knew that Shelby was talking about her, and with a sigh, she got off of the stair she was sitting on and made her way back to Shelby's room. She wasn't in the mood to talk to Shelby and she was done with her eavesdropping. She was turning the handle of Shelby's door when she spotted the white door at the end of the hallway with a green butterfly welcome sign hanging off of the doorknob. It had to be Beth's room.

Immediately, Rachel looked down at the floor, as if embarrassed just to be there. Under the same roof as Shelby's chosen daughter. It was not a comfortable feeling.

Before she knew what she was even doing, Rachel made her way over to the door and opened it slowly. If Shelby's room was beautiful, which it was, Beth's was even more so. There were delicate pieces of white furniture around the room & green wallpaper graced the walls, giving it a soothing aura.

Rachel treaded softly over to the crib. The soft green, white, and light pink pillows surrounded Beth, who was fast asleep in her white footie pajamas, little blonde locks framing her peaceful face as her chubby hand gripped a small stuffed kitten. She was beautiful. Even Rachel couldn't help at smile a bit at the little angel that slept before her.

Taking care not to wake Beth, Rachel slowly pulled the white rocking chair that sat in the corner up to Beth's crib and took a seat.

The exhaustion began to hit Rachel full force, and she stopped fighting the urge to close her bloodshot eyes as images of sheep she had yet to count began bouncing in her head once more.

"Three hundred and twenty eight, three hundred and twenty nine, three hundred and thirty."

A/N: Sorry about having two lengthy authors notes in one story, but I need some reviewer input here. I've already mapped out what direction the main plotline is going to go, but I'm undecided on which people (if any) should be the love interests for Rachel and Shelby or if I should omit that completely and have no romances (since Shelby really only has one potential love interest, with her I was thinking either introduce an OC, go with Will, or keep her single). Rachel could go with Finn, Puck, Jesse, Quinn, an OC, or whoever you guys think seems to fit. Let me know what you're thinking!