Shelby Corcoran can count the number of times she's been left speechless with one hand. The time when she took her first bow in her Broadway debut. The moment she realized she won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, when years of sacrifices, rejection, and hard work finally paid off. The seconds after her beautiful baby girl was born.

And right now.

The time when she saw the baby she had given birth to—her baby—for the first time in more than thirteen years. Except she wasn't a baby anymore. She was a young lady now—even more beautiful than Shelby could have imagined and even more talented than Shelby could have dreamed. She was on stage belting out Barbra Streisand's "Don't Rain On My Parade" almost flawlessly during a high school show choir competition in Akron, Ohio.

And Shelby knew instantly that she was hers.

"Wow," Jesse St. James said in awe as he peeled his eyes from the stage and turned to face his coach. "That song is difficult. I mean there's nowhere to breathe! And she sang it almost perfectly. I didn't hear a single note out of tune, did you? The entire team was good too. Vocal Adrenaline is better, of course, but that girl was amazing. Wasn't she, coach?"

Jesse continued to ramble but Shelby was floored. She felt a million things and nothing all at once. She was shocked, elated, heartbroken, and proud, so proud. Overwhelmed, she opened and closed her mouth a few times but nothing came out.

She was completely and utterly speechless.

"Her name is Rachel Berry and she's a freshman from McKinley High School," Jesse relayed aloud as he read the Central Ohio Show Choir Sectional Competition program, his brows scrunching in confusion. "A freshman? And she's already that good. What do you think, Coach C? Should we be worried?" He asked again, now slightly concerned that his teacher wasn't answering him back.

Again, she said nothing. Shelby stared at Jesse seeing him talk but not hearing a single thing of what he was saying. All she could hear was the deafening pounding of her heart. She glanced at him then back to the stage where her daughter had just been.

"I just.. I.. She.." Shelby croaked out. She couldn't breathe. The room was spinning and she couldn't put her thoughts in order. She was losing fast control of the repressed emotions thirteen-years-in-the-making that was coursing through her.

Jesse was worried now. In the two years that he's known her, he's never seen his show choir coach flustered. Not once. She was usually the picture of perfect control. "Coach Corcoran, are you alright? You don't look too good. You look... kind of sick."

"That was my daughter," Shelby whispered to herself, continuing to ignore him, her focus faraway.

"What was that, Coach C? Whose daughter?"

Shelby shook her head furiously. "I have to see her. I need to see her," Shelby said again to herself while she began to gather her things.

She took a deep breath and attempted to slow down the pounding in her chest before turning to her student.

"I'm okay, Jesse. I promise. I just saw someone I know, and I really need to see her now. Are you going to be alright getting home?" She asked distractedly, looking around the theater for any signs of her daughter.

"Uh yeah, of course. I drove here so I can take myself home," Jesse said. "But are you sure you're alright, Shelby?"

Shelby immediately put on her show face in order to pacify his concerns and nodded. "Yes, I'm great. Thank you for coming with me, Jesse. We can compare notes later. I'll see you for rehearsal first thing Monday morning."

Before Jesse could even formulate a response, Shelby stood up abruptly and walked away before her student could ask her any more questions. She practically ran down the aisle, and pushed open the doors to get out of the auditorium.

Rachel was in this building. Her daughter was somewhere in this building. She started to walk with a ferocious purpose toward the direction of the classrooms where the teams were placed to wait during the competition... until she remembered the contract.

She stopped dead in her tracks and felt her heart plummet to her stomach. The contract that said that she couldn't see or speak to her daughter until she was 18, unless Rachel contacted her first.

Shelby mentally berated herself again for signing it for the millionth and one time in her life, suddenly feeling that all-too familiar and all-too consuming hurt in her heart anytime she thought about how she gave up her daughter.

Not knowing what to do and realizing that she had not thought things through, she turned around and began to walk toward the exit. She picked up her pace knowing that if she stayed any longer, she'd turned the building upside down in order to find Rachel and pull her into her arms.

Focused on getting a grip of all her raging emotions and not paying attention to what was happening around her, Shelby bumped right into a tall, slender back.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking," Shelby began to apologize but stopped as soon as the man turned around, her heart racing once again as recognition sunk in. "Hiram?" she gasped.

"Shelby! There you are," he said, as if this isn't the first time he was seeing her in thirteen years. "I knew that was you who walked past me. I'd know you anywhere. Anyway, hi! I was looking for you. What are you doing here?"

"What? I.. Coach.. Rachel.. Chicago.. What?" Shelby rambled, shocked and unable to form a coherent sentence once again. What. Was. Happening. Shelby Corcoran, Broadway-Star-Turned-Show-Choir-Coach-And-High-School-Teacher usually had such strong command of the English language.

Hiram looked at her amused, not used to seeing her so unhinged. The woman even made childbirth look graceful. "What are you doing here, Shelby?" He asked once again. "Did you know Rachel was performing? Is that why you came?"

Shelby recoiled and took a step back, immediately feeling defensive. "No! Of course not! I'm a show choir coach at Carmel, I came to scope out the competition. I always do. I didn't know she would be here, I didn't know she would be performing. What are you doing here? I thought you lived in Chicago. I thought she was supposed to be in Chicago. I thought—"

"Woah, woah, woah, Shelby, slow down." Hiram interrupted. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you, I was just shocked to see you that's all."

A few tense moments passed without either of them saying anything. "She looks just like me," Shelby finally whispered, feeling tears she didn't even know she had begun to shed roll down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly, feeling betrayed by her emotions for the hundredth time that day.

Hiram's face softened and he gave her a kind smile. "She doesn't just look like you, Shelby. She's exactly like you too. In her tastes, her interests, her mannerisms. Even in her hopes and dreams, Shelby. She's you through and through."

Shelby felt her heart swell with both happiness and despair at the same time. "Why are you telling me this?" She asked, choking back a sob. "You know I can't see her until she's 18. The contract was your idea."

A flash of hurt spread across Hiram's face and he paused for a moment. A few seconds passed by and Shelby, dejectedly thinking that she wouldn't get an answer, began to walk away.

Hiram quickly grabbed her arm. "Shelby, wait. I think we need to talk. There's something you need to know."

A/N: Not trying to reinvent the wheel. This is just my take on the Shelby/Rachel/Rachel's dad storyline. More to come!