Some character traits apply, some don't. I wanted to be true enough to Glee, but still have my own thing going on.

INTRO.

Shelby POV

If you had told me 26 years ago that this would be my life, I probably would have called the cops on you. Not that I'm unhappy, but this isn't exactly what I envisioned for myself when I moved from Lima, Ohio to New York City when I was barely eighteen. See, I thought I was going to be the next Barbra Streisand. I thought that all I needed to do was go to New York and I would be cast in all these great shows and my life would be perfect. Well, Shelby meet reality, reality, Shelby. Needless to say, getting a job was much harder than I thought it was going to be. But by some stroke of luck, after about two years of living in squalor, and no I'm not being dramatic, a struggling actor's life is not exactly filled with riches, I was cast in the role of a lifetime. I got to play Eponine on Broadway. I was ecstatic. I was even more ecstatic when I saw who was going to be playing Marius. His name was Will Shuester. He was cute and funny, but most of all, he was so talented. And to top it all off, he was from Lima, too. It's really not too surprising that we didn't know each other, considering kids from Carmel, where I went, and McKinley, where he went, didn't really cross paths much. After the first rehearsal, we were both head over heels for each other. Of course, neither of us admitted it for months, until opening night, when the curtain fell and his just leaned over and kissed me. It was a great kiss: passionate, sweet, and unexpected. We continued our run on Broadway for a year and a half after that, in total bliss. We were young, in love, and living the dream. Nothing held us back. Until I got pregnant. Then we wizened up, got married and bought four-bedroom house on Long Island.

On August 14, 1989, Finn Hudson Shuester came into the world, a little dazed, a little sleepy, but just happy to be here. He's still exactly the same. Just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He may not be top of his class, but he's got a huge heart and a good head on his shoulders. Of course, sometimes it pays to be a little clued in. There are times when I wonder how he gets himself dressed in the morning. But Finn is so smart, the smartest person I know, with people. He is so attuned to other's needs and feelings. It obviously comes from being the oldest of eight. He's always breaking up fights, trying to sort of the situation. He's such a natural born leader. I don't really know where we would be without Finn. He keeps the peace.

Then, on September 2, 1991, Noah William was born. Weighing a whopping 9 pounds 12 ounces, he was by far my biggest baby. He was always a momma's boy, though, even though he acts all tough. He was Puck from the time he was two. Finn had taken up hockey, and Noah was just fascinated by the whole sport. He loved it. He's been playing ever since. I think he liked it at first because Finn was doing it. He loved anything Finn did. He used to follow him around all day, copying whatever he was doing. Finn got pretty annoyed, actually. I thought it was adorable. Those two are incredibly close. They're the oldest, so I think being around the longest and going through all the other births and adoptions really bonded them. Puck only gets called Noah when he's in trouble, or someone just wants to annoy him. Which happens quite a lot in our house. A lot.

We had never really planned on adoption, but I guess you could say that fate sort of laid a hand in our lives. Our friends had adopted a baby girl from China and Will was adamant that adopting was something he wanted to do, so we went for it. The process felt like it took forever, but finally, a week after Puck had turned two, we got a call that said our baby was waiting for us. We traveled to China on October 8, 1993, and officially adopted our son, Michael Tai Yang on October 15. He was only three months old. We wanted to keep his Chinese name, so we moved it to the middle name spot. Sometimes we call him Tai. I remember being so afraid that it would be different, that maybe I wouldn't love him the way I loved Puck and Finn, but I couldn't have been more wrong. When you adopt a child, it's like they were yours in the first place, you know? Like they were always meant for you. Mike is a little shy; he's always been that way. I remember when he was two; he would only talk to me, Will, Puck or Finn. Literally no one else. We all had to translate for him. That kid can dance like nobody's business. Will taught him from a young age, and he just really picked it up.

We loved our boys, but both of us, especially Will, really wanted a little girl. We thought about it, about trying again, but decided that we wanted to adopt again. We loved Mike so much, and were so excited. People thought we were crazy for wanting to add fourth child to the mix when Mike was only a year old, but we did it anyway. Instead of China, this time we looked into South America. We eventually decided on El Salvador. We figured it would take a while to actually get a child, so by then our boys would be a little older and things would be easier. Again, Shelby, meet reality. On August 18, 1994, Will and I boarded a plane to El Salvador with a five year old, a two year old, and a fourteen-month old. Yeah, I don't recommend that. But in all honesty, it was so worth it, because one week later, we boarded another plane with our two-month-old baby girl, Santana Maria, named for Carlos Santana, obviously. What can I say about Santana? Well, she is definitely a handful. She's always been sassy and tough. I think it comes from being the only girl in a house of wild and crazy boys for the first few years of her life. Sometimes, she makes me want to pull my hair out, but other times she makes me so damn proud I could cry. She's had Will wrapped around her little finger from the moment he saw her. She can still do no wrong in his eyes. Most of the time it's sweet, but sometimes I feel like I'm the bad cop. But she's my girl. She takes a while to warm up to people, but once you're in, she'll love you forever.

Will thought we were way done after Santana; we had our boys, we had our girl. But I wanted more. I felt like 'Hey, we're already out numbered, what's one more?' and I really wanted to give Santana a sister. I'm very close to my sister, Sherry (I know, I know, Shelby and Sherry, my parents were perfectionists). I just wanted her to have that experience. So I convinced Will to give it another try. I mean, honestly, the guy is a total softie (especially when it comes to his babies) so I didn't have a whole lot of convincing to do. Well, we got a bit more than we bargained for when we welcomed Samuel Evan and Quinn Elizabeth into our crazy home on December 12, 1996. All Will and I could say for a while was 'Oh my God, there's two, there's two!' It's funny; they're the two in our family who look the most alike, blonde hair, big eyes, same face shape. Really, they're both gorgeous. I mean, I think all of my kids are stunning, because they are, but Sam and Quinn are very pretty.

When I was pregnant with the twins, I had no idea of the bond that they would share. Sometimes it's like they share the same mind. They know what the other feels without them having to say it. But don't get me wrong, they're about as opposite as possible. Sam is my sensitive guy. He was always the one that would come in late at night while all the other kids were sleeping and cuddle up to me on the couch while Will and I were watching a movie. He didn't say anything, just sat there with us. With so many other kids in the house, I think he really just wanted us to himself. I think all of my kids are pretty close and protective of one another, but Sam is the one that will come running if any of his brothers and sisters need him.

Now we're at Quinn. Oh, Quinnie. That girl is a force to be reckoned with. When she was born, she was pretty underweight because she was a twin, and had some serious health problems. There was a time when Will and I weren't sure she would make it. But Quinn is strong. She is strong and smart and passionate. But she's also caring and kind. However, if Quinn doesn't like what you're doing, if she thinks you're being rude or out of line, you better watch out. She will cut you down, that girl. She's always had that in her. Thankfully, due to years of revoked privileges, many stern talking-tos, and countless trips to the naughty corner, she's learned how to control herself. She's still Quinn, though. And I love it.

This time Will and I really thought we were done, but a second honeymoon to Hawaii and a bottle of red wine changed our plans. On October 16, 1998, Kurt Marius was born. Kurt, because that was Will's grandfather's name, and Marius because we were sure this would be our last baby and we wanted to pay tribute to the show that brought us together with at least one of our children. Kurt is so special. He is the wittiest person I know, hands down. He has impeccable fashion sense, too. Kurt's always been different, that's just him. I admire him so much. He's always known who he is; nobody's ever had to tell him. My other kids always tell me I baby him, but I can't help it. He's my baby. Sometimes, though, I worry about him. I worry that people won't be able to look beyond the superficial stuff to see the fantastic human being that he is. Will and I have always tried to teach our children that being different is okay. In fact, it's a good thing. Some of them got it more than others, but as a whole, they are all very accepting. Unfortunately, I know most of the world is not. He gets teased at school; called horrible names. It breaks my heart every time I see him hurting because of someone else's ignorance. Kurt is still trying to figure things out. No, he is not "out" yet, and maybe he isn't even gay, but regardless, I want him to know that he never has to give us any explanation for who he is. We all love him, every single one of us, the way he was made.

At this point, Will and I were basically just trying to stay celibate. Really. For some reason, he was so stubborn when I asked him to get a vasectomy. His response was, "it's a guy thing." Well, the whole celibacy thing lasted for about two weeks. We tried everything. I was on birth control, which I took every single day. Except one. Of course, nine months later, on April 14, 2001, the one and only Rachel Barbra was born. Needless to say, Will got the surgery. I don't even know how to begin with Rachel. She's loud, she's demanding, she's dramatic, energetic, precocious, and a little bit psychotic. She's also hilarious, ambitious, intelligent, and ridiculously talented. She's me. From her big brown eyes to her long, dark hair, she's the spitting image of me. It's funny; the only two of my kids who look like me are Rachel and Puck. Everyone else looks like some family member from Will's side. Light hair, blue or green eyes, freckles. None of my kids really look much alike at all, actually. I think it's good. They're all so completely different personality-wise that it makes sense. Rachel is truly one in a million. Yes, she can be incredibly difficult to deal with considering her unwavering flair for the dramatic, but you can't help but admire her passion. There is just no stopping that girl. She is a performer through and through. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, and she's not afraid of standing out. When she loves someone, they know it, and she wants to give them everything. She adores all her siblings, especially her sisters because they're older and cooler. This sounds cheesy, I know, but from the moment Rachel was born, I knew she was a star. I knew she would do great things. So far, she hasn't proven me wrong.

All of my kids are extraordinarily talented. I know all parents probably think this, but I know I'm right. I mean, they were raised by Will and me; some of our talent was bound to make it through. And it did, to all of them, even Mike and Santana, who don't biologically share our genes. I genuinely believe that God gave us those two kids knowing what family they would be brought up in. Also, the fact that all our kids grew up with Family Friday night dance parties, piano lessons, guitar classes, and youth theatre was not lost on Will and me. I think the biggest thing in our family is singing. I can guarantee you that if you walk into my house sometime between 6 o'clock am to 11:59 p.m., someone will be singing, and they will sound awesome. Now, it might sound as if we pushed our kids into the arts. Not true. I think part of it is the fact that they grew up around people who love to perform. At first we tried to dissuade them from that career path, knowing the pain and rejection they could face. But they all just gravitated toward some form of the arts, whether it be dancing, acting, singing, painting, writing, whatever. They are all very creative people. When Will and I realized this, we had no choice but to just let go. They were going to be who they were, no matter what activities we put them in. That's not to say that out kids only like the arts. Definitely not. Most of them play one or more sports and are involved in school clubs. They're great kids, and I know I may be biased, but I truly believe that they can change this world for the better.