Hello Readers! Here's a brand NEW Shelby/Rachel one-shot (I have plans for a second story in this universe, but not sure when that will happen...). This story explores the idea that Shelby stays in Rachel's life after the events of Theatricality (at Rachel's prompting) but wants to remain her friend only. I really enjoyed writing this story and hope you all enjoy reading it! This Shelby is so different than the other Shelbys I've written. She doesn't know what she's doing at all when it comes to Rachel. Good thing Rachel is there to tell her what to do! ;)

For those of you that follow Open Arms (the revised edition), I have started the next chapter, but it's less than a page. I'm hoping to get more written for that this week/weekend, but no promises. My wife and I are actually getting ready to undergo IVF—my eggs and she will carry. It's a really long story of how we got to this point, but this way we both get to have an undeniable link to a child. We lost our first pregnancy last Thanksgiving, so we are both incredibly anxious and excited to start the process (ok, and really scared). I start stimulation next Thursday. Needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be crazy for us, so writing is going to be on the backburner. But, think positive thoughts!

I hope you all enjoy, and thank you, as always, for reading!

Asking For It

Shelby Corcoran sat on the coffee table in her living room across from her fifteen-year-old daughter, Rachel. She was bewildered and unsure of what to do—a sensation that was altogether new for her.

Shelby prided herself on her ability to be in charge of any situation that was thrown at her. She was an experienced teacher and top-ranked vocal coach, director of the eight-time National Show Choir champion glee club, Vocal Adrenaline.

Yet here she sat, completely dumbfounded at what her daughter just asked of her. Her daughter that had only recently come back into her life.

It all began when Shelby went to the show choir sectionals in Lima. She had gotten word that a new club, New Directions, had been formed and were the favorites to win. They couldn't possibly be better than Vocal Adrenaline; her team practiced three hours every day after school and all day on Saturdays. Still, she was curious.

And that's when she saw her—Rachel Berry. Shelby recognized her right away; it was like looking through a mirror at her younger self. It was then that Shelby knew. She had to reveal her relation to the teen.

Shelby had gone home that evening and devised a plan. She enlisted the help of her star singer, Jesse St. James. The twelfth-grader was handsome, talented, and cocky. If anyone could gain Rachel's trust, it was him.

It was Jesse's job to plant the seed of curiosity in Rachel about her birth mother, which he accomplished spectacularly. Shelby then gave Jesse a cassette tape that she had recorded of herself singing I Dreamed a Dream, which he was to slip to Rachel without her knowledge.

Rachel turned up to spy on a Vocal Adrenaline practice (at Jesse's goading) several days later. Shelby was teaching her kids a lesson on theatricality and performed Funny Girl; Rachel had recognized Shelby's voice at once and announced herself.

And that was when things started to fall apart. Shelby began to regret her actions immediately. Rachel wasn't hers, after all—Shelby was her birth mother, yes, but she had been paid to be the surrogate for a gay couple so they could have a child. She had signed a contract stating that she had no legal rights to the child and wouldn't have any contact until that child turned eighteen years of age. She had broken her promise and realized it was only going to hurt Rachel in the long run.

Shelby had told Rachel that they should be grateful for one another from afar. She was Rachel's mother, but she wasn't her mom. It would be better this way, she had said.

Except Rachel hadn't listened.

The girl was there waiting after every practice, her face lighting up at the sight of Shelby. Shelby had explained gently at first, telling Rachel she couldn't loiter around the school. Then she tried being stern and scolding the girl. Finally she threatened to report Rachel to William Schuester for spying on her show choir. And when all that failed, Shelby took Rachel to dinner.

It was only supposed to be a one-time thing. Shelby would sit and have a nice meal with the teen and then they would move on. But that one dinner turned into a second, and then a third, and before Shelby knew it, it had become their weekly Thursday routine.

As the weeks passed and summer drew near, Shelby knew they would have to come clean to Rachel's fathers. It was only fair. The men deserved to know that their daughter had met Shelby and they were spending time together.

The outburst that Shelby had been expecting never came. Hiram and LeRoy Berry were shocked, sure, but they welcomed Shelby into their lives with open arms.

Shelby had made it clear to the Berry men and to Rachel that she wasn't looking to step on anyone's toes. She wanted to be a part of Rachel's life, but she was happy to be the girl's friend. She didn't want to confuse or complicate the life Rachel had with her fathers, and all parties agreed that would be best.

In the months that followed, Shelby and Rachel began to spend more time together. Shelby found herself cutting down on Vocal Adrenaline practices in order to see her daughter more often, and finally getting rid of Saturday practices altogether so she and Rachel could spend those days with one another.

Her relationship with Rachel had turned into a sort of mentor/big sister role. She was there to guide the girl not only in her singing, but in her life as well. She helped Rachel navigate through the pitfalls of high school, boys, and the special hell that only came with being a teenage girl. As such, it wasn't uncommon for Rachel to share things with Shelby that she may not have shared with her fathers. Shelby was honored to have gained her daughter's confidence. She knew how important it was for a girl Rachel's age to have an adult she trusted that she could confide in.

And so, it didn't surprise Shelby when, on that Saturday afternoon in early October, Rachel began to tell her of her most recent excursion to the mall with fellow Glee Club members, Kurt and Mercedes. What did surprise her was Rachel's confession that she had stolen a shopping bag from an unsuspecting stranger as part of her teammates' dare and was now asking Shelby to punish her for it. And not just any punishment; she was asking Shelby to give her a spanking.

"Rachel, what, I—" Shelby fumbled over her words as her mind spun. Rachel had just dealt her a wildcard and she wasn't sure where to begin.

She was upset to learn that Rachel had stolen from someone and knew she had to address that. A stern lecture was already forming within her head. She could also feel the first stirrings of anger build inside her as she wondered whether Rachel was somehow trying to trick her into getting away with her actions.

No, Shelby said to herself. Rachel had trusted her enough to confess her crime to her. The girl was aware that she had done wrong and was even asking for a consequence. The problem was that it wasn't Shelby's place to carry it out.

"Rachel," Shelby began again, feeling more sure of herself, "I'm glad that you feel safe enough with me to tell me these sorts of things, but you understand that I'm going to have to call your dads and tell them, right? I can't let you get away with stealing."

"But Shelby, I—My dads already know," said Rachel, brown eyes meeting hazel.

Shelby frowned and shook her head. "They know? Well then, I don't understand, Rachel. Why are you asking me to…Surely they punished you?"

It was Rachel's turn to shake her head. "They were disappointed, and even angry, sure, but I wasn't punished," she said, her eyes fixating on her clasped hands in her lap.

"They lectured me, but in the end they told me that they knew this was out of character for me and that they could tell I had learned my lesson. They said they knew I wouldn't do something like this again, and that was it. That's all they ever do. Normally I like that they are so lenient. It's not like I get into trouble often, and it's never all that serious…well, until now. This time, I need to—you know—pay for what I've done," she continued.

Shelby sighed. If that were the case, Shelby couldn't blame Rachel for asking her for a punishment. The girl wanted to be absolved for her wrongdoing and she hadn't been. Shelby could understand that. Still…it wasn't her place to handle it.

"Well have you tried talking to your dads about it and explain that you're feeling guilty?"

Rachel's eyes darted back up to Shelby's and she stared at her mother as if she had two heads. "I'm not—I can't tell them that."

"Why not?" Shelby asked, genuinely curious.

"I can't ask my dads to spank me. I'd die!" Rachel exclaimed.

Shelby laughed and felt a bit of the weight that had been pushing down on her since this conversation began give way.

"But you asked me," Shelby pointed out.

"Well that's different—you're my mom."

"Why don't you tell them you think you deserve to be grounded then? Explain that you feel that you need to pay for what you've done, like you told me," Shelby suggested.

"A grounding isn't enough!" Rachel insisted.

"But why not?" Shelby asked. "I certainly think two weeks of not being allowed to see your friends or go to Glee Club would be more than enough punishment for this. You took something from someone, you deserve to have something taken from you. I can talk to your dads with you, if you'd like."

"Shelby, no!" Rachel gasped, tears stinging her eyes. She felt her heart constrict at the very thought of missing two weeks of Glee—she wanted to be punished, not tortured.

"From your reaction, I'd say that's a very fitting punishment. If you're serious about a consequence, Rachel, I think this is it."

"No, please!" Rachel sniffed. "Glee is the only good thing I have going for me at school! I can't have that taken away!"

Shelby stiffened at her daughter's words. She reached forward and tilted Rachel's face up so she could meet her eyes. Shelby was aware that Rachel dealt with some bullying at school and that sometimes affected her feelings towards it, but she never thought that the only thing her daughter looked forward to was her glee club.

"Oh, Rachel—"

"Please, Shelby. Why can't you spank me?" Rachel said, her brown eyes pleading. Several tears escaped and trickled down her cheeks.

"Sweetheart, I'm not—I can't…we agreed that I wouldn't take on any sort of—of parental role," Shelby said gently, wiping away her daughter's tears with her thumb.

"But you're my mom. You're supposed to correct me when I've done something wrong. That's what moms do," Rachel insisted.

"Let me talk to your dads with you. It can't be so embarrassing to suggest a spanking to them. I know it's a childish punishment and you're much too old for it, but they spanked you when you were little. If you think you deserve that punishment now, I'm sure they'd do it," Shelby offered.

Rachel shook her head, sending several tears flying. "I…I can't. They never h-have," she confessed.

"What do you mean they haven't—Never? Then why on earth would you—Oh, Rachel," Shelby sighed in exasperation, her tone harsher than she meant it to be. She was confused and unsure of what to do, and it frustrated her beyond belief.

"Don't be m-mad at me, Shelby! I need you! You're my m-m-mom!" Rachel burst into tears.

A wave of guilt crashed over Shelby and she moved over to the sofa and gathered the small teen in her arms.

"I'm sorry, love, I'm sorry. I'm not mad. We'll figure this out. Shhh, shhh," she soothed, rocking them gently as she stroked Rachel's long silky hair.

Rachel latched onto her mother and cried into the woman's shoulder. She was hurting and felt incredibly guilty and didn't understand why Shelby wouldn't agree to her request. She had to see Rachel's guilt plastered all over her face. Why wouldn't she just help her to feel better? All this talk about having her fathers handle it was dumb. Sometimes a girl just needed her mom to take care of things, and this was definitely one of those times.

As Rachel's tears lessened and the girl calmed down, Shelby sat back in order to continue their conversation.

"Rach," she began gently, "If you've never been spanked before, why would you ask me to—to do that? How did you even come up with the idea?"

Rachel sniffed and rubbed at her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. "I just though that, well…I've heard that a spanking can relieve a lot of guilt. I did something horrible, Mom. I should—I don't know—feel some…some pain for what I—for the pain I inflicted on that lady I stole from."

Shelby's heart skipped a beat when Rachel called her 'Mom'. She didn't even think the girl realized what she had said. Rachel hadn't called her that since the very first time they met and Shelby had then told the girl that they should appreciate each other from afar; Shelby never thought she would hear her daughter call her that again.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and consider the rest of Rachel's words. She couldn't deny that the girl's reasoning was valid. She had done something horrible and caused another person pain. Perhaps she did deserve to feel a bit of that pain in return.

But Rachel was much too old for a spanking…wasn't she?

Perhaps not, Shelby considered.

Rachel was asking for it, after all. She wanted to feel like she had paid a penance for her actions. Shelby could understand that. The real question was—could she give Rachel that?

As Shelby tried to decide what to a do, a thought came to her. "Rachel, what made you follow through on the dare in the first place? I know you know it was wrong. Why would you do it?"

Rachel hung her head and chewed on her bottom lip. She had been asking herself that same question since the whole thing happened on Wednesday.

"I know it was wrong. I never wanted to take it that far, but Kurt and Mercedes…They're my friends. I wanted them to like me," Rachel confided.

"If they asked you to steal, Rachel, they aren't real friends," Shelby said in a gentle but firm tone.

"I know but…I figured fake friends are better than no friends at all," the girl muttered, wiping at her runny nose.

"Rachel—"

"I know it was wrong, and I'm really sorry for what I did. I don't know how to make it better...It's not like I can give back what I stole. I don't know who the lady was. I'll never find her again."

"I don't know how you can make it better either," Shelby said truthfully. "I think this is one of those times that you are going to have to live with what you have done, knowing you can't take it back or make it right."

Rachel felt tears well in her eyes again. Her mother wasn't going to spank her. Rachel knew how absurd it was to be disappointed about not being spanked—most kids would be overjoyed. But she wanted so much to face a consequence for her horrible choice. She wanted to be free from the awful pain of the guilt that twisted in her gut every waking minute of the day. She was a kid, and kids were supposed to be punished by their parents when they did something wrong. So why wouldn't any of her parents do that for her?

Shelby heard the soft sob come from her daughter and she made her decision. Rachel was asking for her mother. Shelby was right here. She couldn't deny the girl her mom, not when she so clearly needed her to be an active part of her life.

"I need to call your dads, Rachel," she said.

Rachel's head snapped up and she stared wildly at Shelby. "No, Shelby, please!" she begged through tears. "D-Don't tell them to take Glee a-a-away! It's all I have!"

Shelby felt a stab of pain slice through her heart as Rachel returned to using her name, but pushed that aside. There were more important matters to deal with now.

"I'm not going to tell them to take away Glee," she promised as she wrapped her arms around Rachel and kissed the girl's sweaty head.

If it was possible, Rachel cried harder in relief. With a frown, she met Shelby's eyes with watery ones of her own. If Shelby wasn't going to tell her dads to ground her and restrict her from Glee, why was she calling?

Shelby understood the teen's unspoken question and answered frankly, "I will spank you, if that's what you really want me to do, but I need to talk to your dads about it first and make sure they are okay with me doing that."

"What?" Rachel croaked, her tears coming to an immediate halt. "No, you can't—you can't tell them! It's too embarrassing!"

Shelby chuckled and rubbed soothing circles on the girl's back. "It's not meant to embarrass you, sweetheart. Your dads deserve to know what's going on, though. And I need to get their permission."

"But Shelby! Why? You have my permission! It's happening to me, that should be all that matters!"

"Rachel—"

"Please don't call. Please," Rachel begged.

"I won't call if you don't want me to, Rach, but that means that I won't be giving you the spanking you've been asking me for. The choice is entirely up to you," Shelby said calmly.

Rachel let out a frustrated sigh and slumped back against the sofa cushions. A deep scowl formed on her face as she weighed her options. She didn't want Shelby to call her dads and let them in on what she had asked of her mom. The idea of her dads knowing that Rachel wanted to be put across her mother's knee and spanked like a little kid was horrifying. She'd never be able to look her fathers in their eyes again! But at the same time, Rachel really wanted to feel forgiven for what she had done, and she felt that a spanking was the only way for that to happen.

"Oucancallem," Rachel mumbled, her words jumbled together.

"What?" said Shelby.

"You can call them," the teen replied, her cheeks growing red.

Shelby smiled gently as she rested her hand on Rachel's knee. She gave her a few pats in understanding before going to fetch her phone from the console table in the front hall. When she returned, Rachel had pulled her knees up to her chest and was resting her chin on top of them.

The talk with the Berry men went better than either Shelby or Rachel could have expected. Shelby put the call on speaker so that she and Rachel could both be part of the conversation. Rachel spent the first ten minutes hiding her face in her hands, too embarrassed to look at the phone where the calm and understanding voices of her fathers were coming from.

Hiram and LeRoy Berry were on speaker on their end as well. They listened quietly while Shelby explained the situation to them and Rachel groaned at even intervals. The men were saddened to learn that their daughter was guilt-ridden over her recent actions and felt she needed to be punished.

The men had raised Rachel as a princess. Neither one of them would deny that they coddled and even spoiled the girl, but overall she was a good kid and she rarely got into any mischief. When she did, a few stern words were enough to reduce their child to tears.

The same had been true on Wednesday when Rachel returned home after the mall and told the men what she had done. They had been furious with her. Their anger quickly dissipated as Rachel continued talking. It was clear to the men that she deeply regretted her actions. While they were terrible, Rachel was only fifteen and she had succumbed to peer-pressure.

They lectured at length about responsibility and doing the right thing even when others try to convince you otherwise. They told Rachel they understood that she wanted her friends to like her, but it was important to stay true to herself no matter what anyone else said. They reiterated that they loved her with all their hearts and this one mistake did not make her a bad person. And finally, they finished off with the hope that Rachel would remember the lesson she gained that day and never do something to deliberately hurt another person again.

Rachel had broken down in sobs and promised she wouldn't let anyone convince her to do something she knew in her heart to be wrong. She apologized over and over and swore she'd never hurt any living soul again; she understood too well how it felt to be the target of someone's cruelty and she truly didn't want to be the cause of someone else's suffering.

The fathers had felt their lecture had been more than enough and Rachel had learned a valuable lesson. Any thought of punishment had been brushed aside quite quickly. Besides, neither of them could ever seem to make one stick—they just didn't have it in their hearts to cause Rachel any pain.

Hearing their daughter's cries now as she sobbed out her feelings of guilt and disappointment at the utter lack of repercussions tore at the men's heartstrings. In their desire to not cause pain, they had inflicted even more upon their child.

And so, it was the easiest hard decision they ever had to make in allowing Shelby to spank their daughter. If that's what Rachel felt she needed in order to move on from this mistake, then of course the dads were going to agree. Had Rachel asked either one of them to do they same, their answer would still have been yes…although, how they would have ever been able to follow through, they'd never know.

As the conversation came to an end, everyone was feeling relieved. Shelby felt relief not because she had been granted permission to spank her daughter, but for what that permission meant—with one simple word, the Berry men had cemented Shelby firmly in place as Rachel's mom. Rachel was relieved that she was finally going to pay her due and be able to move forward. And the dads were relieved that it was Shelby and not they tasked with carrying out the deed.

Shelby's relief was short-lived and she was soon filled with uncertainty and unease. She sat rigidly on the center cushion of her sofa with Rachel facedown over her lap. She stared down at the girl's yellow-plaid-skirted bottom, completely, one hundred percent out of her league.

There hadn't been much more to say after the telephone conversation with Rachel's fathers—all of the points had been made, several times. Rachel knew what she had done wrong and why and now the only thing left to do was the spanking.

The spanking. The phrase repeated over and over in Shelby's mind, taunting her. Why had she agreed to this? Why had the dads? She didn't know what she was doing! How was she actually supposed to—to spank her daughter? The whole thing was absurd!

No, she reminded herself. Rachel needs this. She is asking you for this. You can do this. You have to.

Shelby took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She could do this. She raised her hand, her eyes following its climb. When she thought she reached an appropriate height, she brought it back down, watching as if in slow motion as her hand fell and then made contact with Rachel's bottom.

It landed on the girl's left cheek and Shelby quickly raised her hand again, aiming the next swat for the right side. A third and forth followed and Shelby thought she was getting the hang of this.

Rachel wiggled at the fifth spank and Shelby paused, her hand held motionless in mid-air. Was that a good sign? Was Rachel starting to feel the sting build? Shelby watched as Rachel craned her neck around, her eyes flicking to Shelby's raised hand for a second before meeting her gaze.

"Um…Shelby?" the girl squeaked.

"What's wrong, Rach?" asked Shelby, concerned.

Another wiggle and dart up to look at Shelby's hand, then a sigh, and a quick chew on her lip. "You have to—um—h-hit…uh…harder. It's gotta—you know—hurt…'cause I'm supposed to…um…cry," Rachel managed to say, feeling the color creep into her cheeks.

"Oh," came Shelby's reply. It was the only thing she could think to say in the circumstance. Inside, her thoughts tumbled one over the other and she wondered again why she had agreed to this.

That's right, Shelby reminded herself. Rachel had asked her. And she would do anything for her child, even if it meant…this.

Shelby un-paused her hand and continued its ascent upwards. She was just about to shift gears and let it fall with Rachel spoke up again.

"It should probably be, um…onmabarebotum," Rachel rushed the end in sheer embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had even suggested such a thing, but at the same time, she wanted—needed—this spanking to be done correctly. And Shelby clearly she didn't know what she was doing at all!

"What?" Shelby asked, hoping Rachel hadn't just said what she thought she had.

Rachel groaned but forced herself to be strong. She needed to say this if she had any hope of getting a proper punishment. Her mother was hopeless!

With a deep breath, she said, quite clearly, "You've got to do it the right way, Mom. You don't know what you're doing and I'm trying to tell you how to do it correctly."

"Okay, hold on," Shelby said, ignoring Rachel's use of 'Mom' for the moment. In one swift move, she had Rachel off her lap and standing in between her knees. "How do you know my way isn't the right way?"

Rachel blushed and fidgeted as much as she could trapped between her mother's knees. "You're not doing anything like you're supposed to," she muttered, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"And how do you know what I'm supposed to do? You've never been spanked!" Shelby couldn't help but laugh.

Rachel's eyes darted up to Shelby's and her face darkened as a pout formed. She didn't appreciate her mother's laughter; Rachel needed her to take this seriously.

"I looked it up," she said with a huff.

The mirth that had played across Shelby's features fell from her face as her eyebrows rose in alarm. Her thoughts spun as she imagined the sort of things that would have popped up during the fifteen-year-old's search.

"What do you mean you—What exactly were you looking up, Rachel?" she demanded, trying to keep her tone light. She didn't quite manage it.

The angry inflection in her mother's voice didn't go unnoticed by Rachel, who tried to take a step back. Shelby reached out and took hold of Rachel's wrists, pulling her back into place. She squeezed her legs in against Rachel's thighs for good measure.

"Mom. Let me go," Rachel whined, pulling against her mother's restraint.

Shelby softened her features but not her grip on her daughter. "Rach, I just need to know what you were looking at," she said gently. "You have to be careful about what you search for on the Internet—there's all kinds of things that you shouldn't be seeing."

"Oh, believe me, Mom, I know," said Rachel in a serious tone.

"Rachel—"

"I just wanted to know about spankings and—and how to give one," the girl answered, fidgeting.

"Oh, Rach," Shelby sighed, not at all surprised by her daughter's words.

"I…I can show you," Rachel offered, breaking the stretch of silence.

Shelby, who had been lost in thought, was momentarily startled by her daughter's voice. As her surprise wore off, she considered the girl's words. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see just what her daughter had been looking at.

"Yes, let me see," Shelby agreed, releasing Rachel from her hold.

Rachel turned to retrieve her phone from her purse and returned to her mother quickly. A few flicks of her thumbs across her screen and she was handing the device over to Shelby.

Shelby had been preparing herself for the worst and was relieved when she looked down at the teenager's phone and saw that the website she had opened to wasn't that bad after all. It was mostly text, with illustrations and charts scattered throughout. Several headings caught her eye, and Shelby wanted to read more in-depth, but not with her daughter hovering above her.

Shelby tilted her head up to meet her daughter's nervous gaze and gave her a small smile. Without a word, she stood and slipped the girl's phone into the left pocket of her lounge shorts. She then took Rachel's hand and guided her through the archway and into the dining room.

Rachel watched in confusion as her mom dragged a cushioned straight-backed chair from the table to the nearest corner, turning it to face the wall. Shelby turned to look expectantly at her daughter and Rachel just stared back with a puzzled expression, her lips pursed to the side.

"Come sit, Rach," Shelby said when Rachel had yet to move.

Rachel frowned but moved forward. She stopped when she was just about a foot from Shelby.

Shelby shook her head and smirked, pulling the girl to her. With a hand on either side of the teen's shoulders, she maneuvered her over to the chair and then down onto the cushioned seat.

Rachel looked up at her mother with a pout, not quite believing that Shelby was putting her in the corner for a time-out.

Shelby ignored her daughter's pout and leaned down to plant a kiss to the top of her head. She then pointed a finger towards the corner and leveled the girl with a raised eyebrow.

Rachel sighed and turned to stare at the plain, boring corner in front of her.

Shelby was just about to return to the living room when a thought occurred to her. "Rach, I don't want you looking up spankings or any other—uh—questionable things on the Internet again. Okay?"

"Is that why you're giving me a time-out?" Rachel asked, looking over her shoulder to meet Shelby's eyes.

"Something like that," Shelby nodded. "Next time you are curious about something, come talk to me. We can figure it out together."

"Okay, Mom," Rachel agreed with a sigh.

"Good girl," Shelby smiled as she made her exit.

Shelby flopped onto the sofa with a sigh and pulled Rachel's phone from her pocket. She took her time reading through the site's homepage, surprised at the tone of the website. It emphasized the importance of safety, punishing with love, and providing comfort afterwards.

The deeper Shelby delved into the site, the more impressed she was with it. There was a lot of good information here. One page was solely dedicated to how to give a disciplinary spanking—the steps to take before, during, and after, as well as how to position your hand or use a number of implements (paddles, hairbrushes, and the like) in a safe and effective manner without leaving lasting damage.

Shelby studied the illustrations of the hand positions and tried to shape her hand to match the drawings. The first position, a cupped hand, seemed too soft. It mentioned it would create a loud sound without much sting—not appropriate for a nearly sixteen-year-old girl. The second called for a stiff hand, flattened like a paddle, but Shelby feared that would be too harsh. The final one suggested a more relaxed, flexible hand position, striking more with the fingers rather than the palm, as if you were playing a set of bongos.

Shelby continued down the page, reading more in-depth about how to spank, including the severity of the swats, how long to continue the punishment, and what sort of rhythm may work best for parent and child. She skimmed through the suggestions for if a parent wanted to lecture or scold during the spanking, deciding to forgo that aspect of the ritual; she felt it best that Rachel focus solely on the spanking while it was happening and not be distracted by Shelby's words. And finally, she read carefully over ways to provide comfort to your child after their punishment was over to let them know that they were forgiven and the slate was wiped clean.

Deciding she had enough information to go on, Shelby closed the tab on her daughter's phone and set it on the coffee table. She stood and stretched, planning on springing her kid from jail when an idea formed.

Plopping back down on the couch, Shelby hiked up her shorts to expose her bare leg and then raised her hand. The swat landed with a sharp sting that Shelby immediately tried to rub away. She tested out two more spanks—one lighter and one much harder—and hissed at the pain. Still, none of the swats had left more than a light pink mark in its wake. If she could reproduce this effect on Rachel's bottom, she had no doubt the girl would be feeling properly punished by the end of it.

Rachel jumped in her seat at the first crack that rang out from the adjoining room, and spun around at the second one.

"Mom?" she called out, wincing at the third and loudest crack.

Shelby smiled at her daughter's voice carrying over to her, her insides bubbling over at hearing her call her 'Mom' again. She wasn't sure if the girl was aware of it or not, but this was the fourth or fifth time in a row that she had used that title for Shelby, and the woman couldn't be happier.

"I'm coming, Rach," she called back, taking a moment to collect herself. She couldn't melt now—she'd never be able to discipline her girl if she did.

Rachel sighed in relief when her mom released her from the corner; she had begun going cross-eyed staring at a tiny raised paint droplet on the wall.

"What were you doing that whole time?" she asked with a tiny pout.

"Doing some research of my own," answered Shelby with a smirk.

"Oh," Rachel said, chewing on her lip.

Shelby wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders and led her back out into the living room. Rachel expected to be taken to the sofa again and looked up at her mom as they walked past it.

Shelby felt her daughter's eyes on her but remained silent, instead steering her up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

Rachel was wide-eyed as she was led into her mother's bedroom; she had never seen the inside of the room. This room was so unlike her dads' master that was messy and mismatched. There wasn't a thing out of place in Shelby's room and the bed looked like it had come straight out of a magazine; the sheets coordinated beautifully with the duvet cover, which in turn brought out the pops of color in the throw pillows.

The teen was busy admiring the chaise lounger sitting in front of the bay window and didn't notice as Shelby tossed shams and accent pillows onto the floor and settled into the very center of the king-sized bed.

"Come here please, Rachel," she said as soon as she felt ready.

Rachel turned and gulped at the sight of her mom sitting on the bed, looking at her expectantly. The looming threat of her spanking felt so much more real now than it ever had when Rachel was laying across her mother's lap downstairs. Gone was the anxious and uneasy expression on Shelby's face, replaced with sheer determination.

"Mom, we don't have to—"

Before the teen could finish her sentence, Shelby had leaned forward and taken hold of the girl's wrist, pulling her to the edge of the bed. A gentle tug was all that was needed to encourage Rachel to climb up next to her.

"Let's get this over with, sweetheart," Shelby declared gently, guiding Rachel over her lap. The girl whimpered and hugged the pillow Shelby had laid next to her thigh for that very purpose.

Shelby took a deep breath, staring down at her daughter's skirt-covered bottom for the second time that day. The first time that Rachel was over her lap, Shelby had never even considered raising the girl's skirt, let alone doing anything else. Her daughter's earlier jumbled request, paired with the website's recommendation to spank on a bare bottom for both maximum sting as well as for safety, steeled Shelby's resolve.

In one swift move, Shelby had Rachel's skirt flipped up over the girl's back and was working on pulling the teen's heart-printed undies down to mid-thigh.

Rachel groaned and buried her head in the pillow, her stomach doing a somersault at the realization that this was really, truly happening. Her mom was going to warm her bottom and Rachel had asked for it. What had she been thinking?

You deserve this, Rachel reminded herself. She took a calming breath and tried to relax—she had read tensing just made it hurt worse. She would feel better after this was all said and done. She could handle this.

Shelby watched as Rachel clenched and unclenched her bottom in her nervousness. Wanting to help reassure her girl, Shelby rubbed soothing circles on the teen's back until she felt Rachel was calm enough.

As soon as that moment came, Shelby wasted no time and landed a sharp smack onto the girl's left cheek. She immediately followed that up with an equally hard spank on the other side before decreasing the strength and falling into a slow tempo. She wanted each swat to reach its maximum sting before the next one landed.

Rachel yelped at the very first spank and then bit her lip and pushed her face into the pillow. She was quickly regretting ever having asked Shelby to spank her and then telling her she had to do it properly. Her mom had taken Rachel's requests too much to heart!

Shelby was keeping a close eye on Rachel's reactions. She wanted to give her an appropriately firm spanking, but didn't want to cross the line. From the look of the girl's bottom, they were nowhere near finished—her daughter's skin was just beginning to turn pink. She was, however, expecting a more dramatic flair to her daughter's protests, but Rachel was hardly making any noises aside from the occasional grunt or hiss. For now, Shelby would chalk her daughter's lack of noise up to a higher pain tolerance. If it continued, she'd have to figure out what to do; she had read it was important for a child to completely give in to the spanking in order to let go of their guilt and feel like they had paid their due. Most of the time that involved breaking down into tears, but Shelby worried Rachel wouldn't do that if her current reactions were a preview of what was to come.

Who's being dramatic now? Shelby scolded herself. It was too soon to be worried about the what-ifs. She was hardly even into the warm-up part of the spanking; they had a long way to go yet.

Rachel couldn't believe how much her bottom hurt and it was only the beginning! She wanted to yell and kick her legs, but she also wanted to make it as easy as possible for Shelby. She couldn't imagine what was going through her mother's mind at this moment. Rachel was grateful (Well, as grateful as a kid could be when getting their bare butt roasted!) that Shelby was doing this for her, and she wasn't about to be difficult for her.

By this point, Shelby had covered every inch of Rachel's bottom once-over. The skin was dusty pink in color and Rachel was squirming trying to avoid her swats. Shelby knew it was time to kick it up a notch; she wrapped her arm around her daughter's waist and pulled her close.

Rachel whimpered as she felt her mom secure her closer to her body—that couldn't be a good sign. Her promise not to be difficult fell away quickly as a flurry of spanks fell on the previously untouched area just below her bottom where she would feel it most when she sat down.

"Ow! Ow! OW!" the girl yelped, twisting her hips back and forth at the onslaught.

Shelby felt a rush of relief at Rachel's reaction. She had really been beginning to worry that something was wrong and was glad that the girl was finally responding.

Rachel could feel the tears building as her mother finished her second circuit. "M-Mom, please! Y-You can—Ow!—stop n-now!"

Shelby felt a hot knife stab at her heart, but pushed forward. She had to. Rachel had asked her to do this, and she had to finish. She knew the girl wouldn't have the release she needed if she stopped now.

"We're almost done, baby," Shelby assured her child.

"No, Mommy! It hurts! Please, i-it's too much!" Rachel begged as she flung a hand behind her to block any more swats.

Shelby's resolve wavered as her heart literally burst into pieces. She was hurting her child—her child that was crying out and calling her 'Mommy'. How could she do this to her baby? She was a horrible, horrible person.

She was just about to pick up her daughter and hold her close when the last shred of reason inside her told her to stay strong. It was almost over.

"It's okay to cry, Rachel. Let it out," Shelby said in a shaky voice, catching her daughter's hand in her own and holding it gently out of the way.

She took a deep breath, feeling tears sting at her eyes, before turning her attention back to her daughter's bottom. She peppered the girl's sit-spots and start of thighs with light swats that no doubt still hurt on the already sore flesh.

"Ow! I'm sor—Ah! M-Mommy! 'M s-sorry!" Rachel cried as she struggled in a last-ditch effort to get away from her mother's punishing hand. It was no use and she quickly wore herself out, going limp over the woman's knees as she sobbed her heart out.

Shelby stopped the moment Rachel went limp, resting her hand on her daughter's cherry-red bottom. She began to rub the hot flesh gently, hoping to ease some of the pain that Rachel was undoubtedly feeling.

Rachel was feeling incredibly sorry for herself as she continued to sob over her mother's knees, but she was relieved that it was finally over. Her bottom stung fiercely and the girl was sure she would never be able to sit comfortably again! A small part of her was upset with Shelby for dealing with her so thoroughly, but mostly she felt an overwhelming outpouring of love towards the woman.

Shelby took a moment to very carefully pull Rachel's undies back into place before lifting the girl up and off her lap. Rachel latched onto her as soon as she was able and Shelby scooted down into a more comfortable position so she could hold her close.

Rachel cried heavily for a long time, letting herself be soothed by her mother's gentle fingers trailing through her hair and over her back. As her tears turned to sniffles, a hand snaked back to inspect her bottom. She was shocked at the amount of heat rising from her skin—even through her underwear! It was growing to an incredibly uncomfortable level and she wouldn't have been at all surprised if it soon caught on fire.

She began to rub at the sting and yelped when that only intensified the feeling. "Mommy, it hurts," she whined, letting her hand fall to her side.

"I know it does, love," Shelby sympathized. "Are you feeling better emotionally, at least? Now that you've been given a consequence?"

"Yes," Rachel answered without missing a beat. The pain of the guilt she had been carrying for the last three days was completely gone and she was left with a feeling of weightlessness. She was free and her heart was light.

"I'm glad," Shelby smiled, giving Rachel a tight squeeze.

The pair fell into a content silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they stayed cuddled up in the soft bed. Rachel was the first to break the spell.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, Rach?"

"I just want to, um…say t-thank you for, well…you know—doing…that…for—uh—for me," the teen blushed, meeting her mother's eyes for a split second before looking away.

"I know that's not…not what you wanted to—uh—do and all, but I'm glad you helped me. And, um…I'm sorry if I was…uh…if I made it hard on you," the girl continued, talking to her hands.

"Oh, sweetheart," Shelby breathed, hooking her finger under Rachel's chin and forcing her to look up. "You didn't make anything hard, and I'm happy to help you whenever I can. I would do absolutely anything for you…including spank your butt when you need it—that's what moms are for, right?"

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, her eyes shiny as she stared at Shelby in awe.

Rachel had been pointing out that Shelby was her mom all day, and had even slipped into calling her by that name. It hadn't been intentional at first, but now she couldn't bring herself to go back to calling her 'Shelby'. Her mother never corrected her, but she hadn't said anything else about it either—until now. In fact, this was the first time that Rachel had ever heard the woman hint at herself being Rachel's mom. Rachel hoped this was a good sign and that their relationship could move forward; as much as she enjoyed Shelby as her friend, she would much rather have Shelby the Mom.

Luckily, the girl wasn't left wondering long.

"Rachel, I love you more than I can ever say, and I'm so incredibly happy to have you in my life," Shelby sniffed as tears welled in her eyes.

"I love you too, Mom."

"I'm sorry it took me this long to let myself be your mom, honey." She paused and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Why did it?" asked Rachel.

Shelby let out a deep sigh and gave the girl a sad smile. "I didn't want to take away what you have with your dads. And, if I'm being completely honest…I was scared that you wouldn't be—that there wouldn't be a place for me in your life," she finished, several tears making their way down her cheeks.

Rachel frowned and wiped away her mother's tears. "There will always be a place for you right here," she said with a determined look on her face as she stuck her finger to her chest, directly over her heart.

That's it for this story. There will be a second story, as I said, I'm just not sure when. Please let me know what you think! I love reviews!