Shelby got up at 5:30 and clambered out of bed. Her daughter was snuggled up with her and she sighed, she loved this feeling. Shelby realised that she really needed to start getting ready. She quickly had a shower and dressed before waking Rachel up. The girl was very tired and Shelby almost had to hold the girl up.
"Come on, let's get you changed?" Shelby said and Rachel just huffed.
Shelby giggled at the girl. Shelby managed to reach over to the girl's clothes.
"Come on baby" Shelby said as she helped her daughter get into her panties and pink skinny cuffed sweatpants.
"Mom, I'm too tired" Rachel complained and Shelby shook her head.
"Your top now" Shelby said. She took the girl's pyjama top off and placed the crop top on and then pulled on the girl's long sleeved white top with pink writing on it.
"We need to go now, can you walk please" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. Everything was ready to go so they just had to get their shoes and on and take the suitcases to the car.
"I'm going to miss this apartment" Rachel said getting emotional.
"Baby, this is still going to be our house. We will be back here by January next year I promise" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
"We'll see, we might come home for Christmas if you really want and I am turning the lights on in Times Square so we will be back for the weekend in a couple of weeks" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded.
"Okay" Rachel said wiping her eyes. Shelby knew that the girl was only emotional because she was tired.
"Quickly, Rach" Shelby said as they walked to the lift and to the car. They drove to the airport and quickly got through. People were starting to notice Shelby and following her.
It was starting to scare Rachel.
"Hey, don't worry" Shelby said as she grabbed the girl's hand. They quickly got their suitcases through before being rushed through security and to the executive lounge.
"Baby, do you want something to eat?" Shelby asked and Rachel shook her head.
"Come on baby" Shelby said as she got up to go and get herself a coffee. Rachel just stretched her arms out.
"Okay" Shelby said as she picked the girl up.
"Do you want some pancakes?" Shelby asked and the girl nodded.
"Can we get a portion of the pancakes?" Shelby asked and the chef nodded.
"I'll bring it over" He said.
"Thank you" Shelby said before getting herself a coffee and the girl some apple juice.
"Mom, can I get a muffin?" Rachel asked and Shelby nodded putting the girl down. Rachel walked over and picked a muffin before going to sit with her mom.
The chef came over not long later and they ate their pancakes. Just as they finished, the assistant came over to them.
"Miss Corcoran, your flight is here. You may go on early" The assistant said and Shelby nodded.
"Thank you" Shelby said as they started getting ready to go.
"Come on Rach" Shelby said as they walked towards the door.
"I can't remember the last time I was on a plane" Rachel said.
"Oh it's okay, don't worry" Shelby said grabbing the girl's hand. They got onto the plane and got seated. They were sitting in the business class and the plane wasn't very busy.
They spoke for a bit as the rest of the passengers got on the plane.
"You can go to sleep if you want" Shelby said putting her arm over the girl's shoulder.
"Who is going to be at the house?" Rachel asked nervously before closing her eyes.
"Well, my mom and dad, they are your nana and papa. Then there is my sister Sarah, she is two years younger than me. She has two children, Emily and Harrison. Then my brother, he is a military soldier so I don't know if he will be there. Then my youngest sister, Eleanor but just call her Ellie" Shelby explained. Rachel nodded even though she was basically asleep.
The plane journey was a breeze for Shelby. Rachel slept the whole way to Ohio and Shelby had to wake the girl up as they landed.
"Come on, baby it's time to get off" Shelby said waking the girl up and Rachel nodded.
They got off the plane and through security.
"Rachel, sit down here until I get the suitcases" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She knew she had to do what her mom asked but then she realised that she really needed the toilet. The sign for the restroom was just up from where she was. She jumped off the seat and went to the restroom.
Shelby had quickly managed to get the suitcases and went back to the bench that she left Rachel at. Shelby got a fright when the girl wasn't there.
"Sorry, have you seen a little girl about this height with long brown hair?" Shelby asked and the couple shook their head. Shelby was really starting to worry now. She looked around before feeling someone behind her.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Rachel asked.
"Where were you?" Shelby asked. "I was so worried"
"I just went to the restroom" Rachel said and Shelby sighed.
"Baby, you should have waited for me" Shelby said.
"Sorry, I was bursting" Rachel said.
"Rach, next time don't go anywhere without me knowing" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. Shelby gave the girl a cuddle before they headed to get a taxis.
"I have a car at my dad's but we are just going to have to get a taxi home" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded.
The journey from Columbus to Dublin only took 30 minutes. Rachel was starting to get nervous now. Once they arrived outside the house, Rachel couldn't believe the size of it. She had never seen a house so big and her house with her dads was very big with 4 bedrooms.
"Shelby" Elizabeth Corcoran called from the steps.
"Hi" Shelby called as she got the suitcases.
Shelby walked up the steps with the suitcases. Rachel followed closely behind her. Elizabeth gave her daughter a hug before turning to Rachel.
"Hello, sweetheart, I'm your nana" Elizabeth said moving towards Rachel. Rachel backed away towards her mom before turning around and jumping into her mom's arms.
"Hey it's okay" Shelby said as she rubbed the girl's back.
"She's just a little nervous" Shelby said and Elizabeth wasn't sure.
"But I am her nana" Elizabeth said as she went to touch her granddaughter.
"No" Rachel said squirming.
"Stop please, just leave her" Shelby said stepping back.
"We are away to go up to my room" Shelby said and Elizabeth huffed.
"Hey, Shelbs" Thomas said.
"Hey Dad" Shelby said smiling. "Can you help me carry these suitcases up the stairs?"
"Of course" Thomas said and they headed up the stairs. Shelby's room was the mother in law suite of the house. She was the oldest child so she got that room as it was the biggest. She loved having the living room as well.
"Thank you dad" Shelby said as Thomas put the suitcases down.
"I'm be down shortly" Shelby said and Thomas nodded.
"Take your time" Thomas said and Shelby smiled.
Once her dad was away, Shelby put Rachel down on the bed. She hadn't been aware that the girl had her eyes shut and was holding onto Shelby top.
"Hey, baby everything is okay" Shelby said. "It's just me now"
It took about another 10 minutes of Shelby speaking to the girl before she opened her eyes.
"Hey, everything is okay now" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded.
"Good girl" Shelby said.
"I'm tired mama" Rachel moaned and Shelby's heart melted. The girl had never called her mama before.
"Okay, my baby. You can go to sleep for an hour okay?" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
"I'll just unpack and go see my parents. When you wake up just call on me okay?" Shelby said and Rachel nodded before following back to sleep. Shelby quickly sorted out their clothes before going down the stairs. She knew that she needed to speak to her parents.
"Shelby, why did you let her get away with that?" Elizabeth said. "You are spoiling her"
"No mom, you see Rachel has been through a lot" Shelby explained. "She gets scared"
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth said. "You said that she went to a gay couple"
"She did but Hiram died and well I don't know what happened with Leroy. All I know is that Rachel has been hurt. She has been abused, not just by her father but by another couple as well. We don't know what they did to her and I am still trying to get her to speak to me. But we think she might have been sexually abused" Shelby said and both Elizabeth and Thomas were shocked.
"I know" Shelby said putting her hand through her hair.
"I don't understand it, she is only 11 and she is tiny. I hope to god that no one has done that to her but I'm really not sure" Shelby said and Elizabeth nodded.
"I'm sorry Shelby" Elizabeth said walking around to her daughter. She put her arms around the woman. Shelby nodded and relaxed into her mom's hold.
"Shelbs" Ellie said coming down the stairs.
"Oh hi, Ellie" Shelby said pulling her little sister into her chest.
"How are you?" Shelby asked. Ellie and Shelby had a very good relationship and Ellie told Shelby everything. Shelby instantly noticed that something was up.
"I'm fine" Ellie snapped and Shelby was shocked. Ellie hadn't really been a moody teenager.
"Okay, well I'm away to wake my daughter up but we will speak later, just the two of us" Shelby said and Ellie sighed before nodding.
Shelby ran up the stairs to find her daughter still sleeping.
"Come on, baby if you sleep any longer you will not sleep tonight" Shelby said and Rachel nodded before moving over to her mom.
"Mom, I'm scared" Rachel said.
"Hey, you have nothing to be scared about. These people are your family and they love you" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
They went down the stairs and into the family area. Elizabeth, Thomas and Ellie were all sitting down in the living room.
"Hello, Sarah is just on her way" Elizabeth said and Shelby nodded before sitting on the sofa with Rachel.
"So Rach, will I introduce you to everyone properly" Shelby asked and Rachel looked at her.
"Well, this is your nana, she is my mom" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded.
"This is papa, he is my dad" Shelby explained and Shelby noticed the fear in the girl's eye.
"He might look very tall but he is very cuddly" Shelby said trying to relax the girl.
"And this is my sister" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
"Ellie" Rachel said quietly.
"Do you remember me telling you about them on the plane?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. That was the first time any of them apart from Shelby had heard the girl speaking.
They sat quietly before Elizabeth had to start making tea.
"Shelby, would you be able to help me?" Elizabeth asked and Shelby nodded.
"I'll just be in the kitchen" Shelby explained but Rachel still looked worried.
"Look" Shelby said walking to the kitchen.
"Rachel, can you hear me?" Shelby asked speaking slightly louder.
"Yeah" Rachel said and she was happy that she could still hear her mom.
"So Rachel, did you like New York?" Ellie asked and Rachel nodded.
"Do you want to play snakes and ladders?" Thomas asked and Rachel nodded. She liked that game. They got the game sat up and played silently.
"No papa, you're cheating" Rachel moaned as Thomas tried to go up the snake. Thomas smiled at the girl.
"Rachel, shall we jump on him for cheating?" Ellie asked and she jumped on her dad's back.
Rachel laughed before doing the same.
"Oi girls" Thomas said before standing up. Ellie was sitting on the ground holding his legs while Rachel was on his back.
Shelby and Elizabeth had come back to see what was going on.
"Well, if you want to act like this Miss Rachel, I shall be the tickle monster" Thomas said as he pulled Rachel gently to the front of him. He started tickling her and she giggled. Shelby hadn't seen the girl like this before.
"Please stop Papa, please" She laughed.
"Okay, then I suppose someone might want their mommy" Thomas said handing Rachel over to Shelby.
"Was that fun?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded.
"I love Papa, Mama" Rachel said and Shelby smiled loving the new name Rachel was calling her.
"Hello, what's going on in here" Sarah asked walking into the room.
"Auntie Shelby" Emily shouted running to Shelby.
"Hello, sweetie" Shelby said hugging the girl as she put her hand around her waist. It was a bit more difficult as Shelby was holding Rachel.
"Is this my little niece?" Sarah asked and Shelby nodded.
"Rach, this is Sarah" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
"Hello sweetie" Sarah said.
"You look like my mom" Rachel said and Sarah and Shelby giggled. Everyone said that about them.
"Do we?" Sarah asked and Rachel nodded. She had decided that she liked everyone in here.
"Rach, this is your cousin Emily. Emily do you want to go to the Kid's room with Rachel?" Shelby asked and Emily nodded. Rachel looked worried.
"Baby, it's just two rooms away. I'll be right here" Shelby said and Rachel nodded before holding Emily's hand and following her.
"Oh look at how big he is" Shelby said walking over to Harrison. She picked him up from her car seat carrier and held him.
"I wish I knew Rachel when she was this size" Shelby said.
"You have her back now, Shelbs" Sarah said and Ellie sighed.
"So does everyone know what happened in this room apart from me?" Ellie shouted.
"Oh yeah, I'm the baby so I never get told anything" Ellie shouted and stormed out the room.
"I should go and speak to her" Shelby said.
"Just leave her to calm down" Elizabeth said and Shelby nodded.
"I'll speak to her tonight" Shelby decided.
"So, Shelby and Sarah can you help me serve tea?" Elizabeth asked and they nodded.
Shelby walked into the kitchen.
"Rachel is so cute" Sarah said and Shelby smiled.
"She is, I feel like I am finally getting to know her. It's hard, it's like she doesn't know how to be a kid" Shelby explained and Sarah nodded.
"You missed it earlier, her and Ellie attacked Dad and then Dad turned the tickle monster on her. She loved it. I have never seen her giggle like that before" Shelby said.
"Shelbs, you will get there. She obviously has a lot of trust in you. She constantly wants your reassurance" Sarah explained and Shelby nodded.
"Right, let's serve dinner up" Elizabeth said and Shelby and Sarah nodded before helping their mom.
"Emily, Rachel come for dinner" Sarah shouted and the girls appeared a minute later. The dining room was massive and the table had 12 seats at it. Elizabeth had moved some of the seats away so they had more room and not to many seats.
"Auntie Shelby, I want to sit next to you" Emily said sitting next to Shelby. Ellie was already sat on the other side. Rachel's lip started to bubbling, she wanted her mom.
"Rach, you can sit next to Papa" Shelby suggested and Rachel shook her head. The tears threatening to spill even more.
"Ellie" Shelby asked.
"Fine then, even though I always sit in this seat" Ellie complained.
"Thank you" Shelby said and Rachel sat down.
They started helping themselves to the buffet of food. Shelby got food for Rachel.
"If you can't eat anymore just leave it but if you want some more just say" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded.
She started eating as she was getting a bit hungry now. She ate the food her mother had got her.
"Do you want any more?" Shelby asked and Rachel shook her head.
"That's okay, it's good in a way as my mom has a lot of sweets for desert" Shelby explained and Rachel smiled.
Elizabeth disappeared and came back with lots of cakes.
"It looks yummy" Rachel said to Shelby and Shelby smiled. She got the girl a couple of small slices of the different cakes and ice creams.
"Thank you, it's lovely" Rachel said to Elizabeth.
"It's okay, sweetheart anything for my grandchildren" Elizabeth said and Rachel smiled. She liked it here.
They then went into the living room to talk. Sarah was getting Emily ready for bed. Emily came bounding down the stairs about half an hour later in her pyjamas.
"Auntie Shelby, can Rachel sleep in my room tonight? There are two beds" Emily explained and Shelby looked at Rachel. She noticed Rachel snuggle more into her.
"Maybe not tonight, sweetie but you can play with her tomorrow and maybe in a couple of days she can sleep in your room" Shelby explained and Emily nodded.
"Okay then" She pouted before going back up the stairs.
"I was planning on changing one of the guest rooms to Rachel's room" Elizabeth said. All her grandchildren and children had their own room in their mansion.
"Thanks Mum, Rachel will love it but for just now I think she will just come in with me" Shelby said and Elizabeth nodded.
"Right, I think I better get this little one to bed but I will be back and I'll go speak to Ellie" Shelby said and Elizabeth nodded. Just as Shelby and Rachel was going up the stairs, Sarah came down. She smiled at her sister.
They got into Shelby's room.
"Just get changed in your pyjamas, you can have a shower in the morning" Shelby said handing the girl her pyjamas. Rachel quickly got changed before climbing into her mom's bed.
"Am I your skivvy?" Shelby asked pointing to the dirty washing on the floor.
"I didn't know where to put them" Rachel said and Shelby nodded.
"The laundry basket is in the bathroom" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
"Go to the toilet and put the clothes away" Shelby said and Rachel nodded jumping off the bed.
Once Rachel was finished, she climbed into bed.
"I love you baby, girl" Shelby said kissing the girl on the head.
"I'll just be down the stairs" Shelby said and Rachel nodded
"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep" Rachel said and Shelby nodded. She hummed a lullaby to her baby girl until she fell asleep and then walked to her sister's room that was just down the hall.
Shelby knocked before going in not waiting for a reply.
"Who are you texting?" Shelby asked lying on the bed and trying to see the girl's phone.
"It's got nothing to do with you" Ellie said.
"Oh come on, Els. I am your sister not your mother. You can talk to me" Shelby said. "Just admit it"
"It's just Jackson" Ellie said sighing.
"Oh, is he your boyfriend?" Shelby asked and Ellie nodded.
"Ah baby girl, all grown up" Shelby said and Ellie rolled her eyes. She was not a baby.
"So now about your outburst early, what are you so upset about?" Shelby asked and Ellie sighed.
"Come out with it Els" Shelby said.
"I just don't understand what is going on with Shelby? I never knew about her" Ellie said and Shelby sighed.
"You see, I was only 22 when I had Rachel. I had just finished College doing Music and English and then I added on a teacher qualifications so it was hard going. I was working when I could but after college I knew that I wanted to make it to Broadway. I didn't have the money and well you know what I am like, I could never ask mom and dad for money it's just not me. I saw the AD in the papers for a surrogacy for a gay couple. I knew that I was what they wanted. I met them, got pregnant and well I had Rachel" Shelby said.
"Didn't you want to keep her?" Ellie asked and Shelby nodded.
"I did, so much but a contract was drawn up. I wasn't supposed to see her until she was 18 unless something happened to her parents" Shelby explained and Ellie nodded.
"So why do you have her now?" Ellie said.
"Hiram died and well I don't really know what happened to Leroy but I do know that Rachel has been hurt. They were abusing her, it is why she is so nervous and scared. I hope you'll take her under your wing, ES. She loved playing with you and Dad today" Shelby explained and Ellie nodded.
"I will, Shell" Ellie said.
"Right, I better go to bed. Rachel will be missing me" Shelby explained and Ellie nodded.
"Of course, I am glad you are back" Ellie said and Shelby smiled.
"None of this comes between us Els" Shelby said and Ellie nodded.
"Thanks" Ellie said giving her sister a hug. There was 16 years between Ellie and Shelby and Shelby was just like a mom to the girl though she could speak to her about anything. She saw Shelby as both of them.
"Get to sleep baby" Shelby said and Ellie nodded. Shelby walked out and to her own room. Shelby smiled as she saw Rachel sleeping.
"I love you baby" Shelby said kissing the girl on the head before getting changed.
"Mama" Rachel mumbled.
"I'm just getting changed baby" Shelby said as she put her top on before climbing into bed with her daughter. Shelby snuggled up with the girl and Rachel moved about until she was comfortable. She ended up with her head in her mother's chest with her hand resting on Shelby's breast. At first Shelby felt slightly awkward but then she relaxed. It was her baby, this was a natural movement, she didn't need to be embarrassed.
Shelby smiled before falling asleep, she loved this little girl more than she had ever loved anyone before. She didn't realise she could have so much love for one person.
Hope this is okay :) thank you to all my followers :) please review and let me know what you are thinking
Hope its okay, it's longer than I normally write :)