We're introducing some new characters in this chapter, which technically makes this story a crossover. Please welcome Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles, with different professions from the show on TNT and the books by Tess Gerritsen, but otherwise the same personality. Also they're paired in this story. #Rizzles
We obviously do not own any of the characters being used.
Love always, keeperofwords and Hayley
Chapter 6: Follow the Yellow Brick Road
The blonde's heels clicked the sidewalk as she closed the door of the cab doctor, bag in one hand and oversized handbag on her shoulder. She nodded a greeting to the doorman as her heels clicked a quick staccato on the shiny floor of the luxury apartment building.
"Doctor Isles, Ms. Corcoran told us to expect you," the doorman greeted the beautiful blonde pediatrician who had the reputation as one of the brightest minds in the state. Some argued she had one of the brightest minds in the country. It was matched with her reputation as a caring, hands-on medical professional who was beautiful both inside and out.
"Thank you, Will. How is your son? How is he liking NYU?" the blonde asked while pulling out her phone to send a quick text to her girlfriend, telling where she was. The brunette lover was still at the hospital checking on a patient that she had done a cochlear implant for at five this morning. Otorhinolaryngology + was the field that she worked in.
"Danny's doing great, thank you. He loves NYU. Although he misses working as your intern," was Will's response.
"I miss having Daniel as my intern, as well." she replied with a smile. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get in to Ms. Corcoran." She said the name with a slightly mocking tone. It'd been a long time since Maura had taken formalities with Shelby or Cassandra. They were closer friends than that. "Have a lovely day." she shot him a smile that would soften the hardest of hearts and made her way up to Shelby and Cassie's apartment.
Getting on the elevator, Maura Isles's phone chimed letting her know she had received a text message. She looked down at it and smiled.
Take a picture of Rachel for me, and say hi to the girls. We should all get together sometime soon. Still on for lunch?—Jane
Maura smiled and let the warmth of a Jane Rizzoli message add a spring to her step. The pediatrician had no idea what Rachel's situation medically was. She knew none of her history. She only knew that the Berry's were awful human beings and atrocious parents. She also knew that she could not wait to meet this child that Holly had called a "mini Shelby".
The blonde doctor stepped out of the elevator and walked at a slower pace up the hall as she sent her lover one last text message.
12 sharp. I love you
Message sent, Maura knocked on the door.
Cassie was the one to answer, smiling a warm smile at the sight of her friend whom she hadn't seen in long while. Maura lost all sense of professional acting when Cassie pulled her into a heartfelt hug.
"Maur! It's been forever, how are you?"
"Very well, Cassandra," Maura answered after the two separated from their hug and the apartment door shut. "My practice is very successful. Jane and I got an apartment together overlooking Central Park about nine months ago. And the Isles foundation just funded a new wing of the Children's Hospital for pediatric cancer patients." Maura smoothed down her designer skirt and gave Cassie a soft smile. "Shelby told me when she called me. Congratulations Cass, I am so happy for you and Shelby both. You are going to be beautiful brides."
"We haven't figured how our infant daughter can be a flower girl but there is no way Shelby will not have that kid in the wedding party somehow," Cass smiled, putting a hand of Maura's shoulder. "Can I get you some coffee?"
"That would be lovely, but first tell me how things are going with you at NYADA?" the blonde doctor asked, flipping her hair and focusing completely on the dancer.
"I got tenure after the spring semester," Cassandra told Maura proudly. "And that meant this fall I have not had to teach those god awful late classes. With the baby now, that will work well due to Shelby's stint in Wicked."
From down the hall, Shelby's voice rang out.
"Cass, Cass. Get your camera and get your ass in here, I think Rachel is about to crawl."
Sharing an excited look, Cass dove for her camera and she and Maura rushed to the bedroom, practically shoving each other giddily to get through the door.
Rachel rocked back and forth on her knees with her hands firmly planted, palms down on the wood floors. Wide brown eyes looked into Shelby's hazel ones and she released out a little grunt. Her little body did not wobble like it had just yesterday. She wanted to go forward. A tiny hand scooted forward and then the other. With a kick of her diapered hips, the infant moved forward. First one time and then another. It was tentative but the baby was moving towards Shelby who lay on her stomach on the bedroom floor with her chin on the floor and her brown hair pulled up in a messy bun.
"She looks like an inch worm," Cass commented with a goofy little giggle.
Shelby grinned from ear to ear. "Our little inch worm." she said through her smile. "Come see Mommy, sweetie!"
"Did you know that inchworms are not actually worms at all, but caterpillars? They turn into adult moths, which many people don't find as interesting as butterflies, however I think they are gorgeous."
Continuing with her smile, Shelby lifted her head only to shake it with laughter at her friend Maura Isles. Cassie just stared at the woman, with an amused, incredulous look. Some geniuses just never changed, did they?
"It's nice to see you again, Maura." Shelby giggled then turned her attention back to her baby's awkward but successful motions forward.
"Likewise," Maura laughed back, aware that her comment was a bit random. Jane called her out on things like that all the time, always ever sarcastically with an undertone of admiration. Shelby, Cassie, Holly, and April had always done the same. "She is doing really well actually. She will be perfect with her motions as she figures what works best to get where wants to go."
"Cutest caterpillar I ever did see," Cass remarked, slipping in behind Shelby and standing on her knees taking multiple pictures. The blonde had never even gotten so excited about watching a young person learning a dance routine as she did watching Rachel figure out how to crawl.
"Crawl, gonna crawl, gonna crawl, to the ugly bug ball, to the ball to the ball," Holly stepped into the room and started singing, bopping her head back and forth. As she pressed the button on her phone to start taping the little girl's progress.
"My goodness, her little bottom does sort of push up instead of swishing," April commented, snapping a picture with her cell phone falling to her knees to get a close-up. "She is sort of like an inchworm, isn't she?"
"Always watching a woman's ass," Holly teased her girlfriend, "Especially the young ones."
April responded with a quick pop to her lover's butt. Then started harmonizing with her girlfriend.
"Come on, let's crawl
(Gotta crawl, gotta crawl)
To the Ugly Bug Ball
(To the Ball, to the Ball)
And a happy time we'll have there
One and all at the Ugly Bug Ball."
"Holly Holliday you are too much, and where did you ever hear that song?" Shelby scolded but with a smile on her face. "And you better not be comparing my sweet, innocent, beautiful little girl to an 'ugly bug'."
Rachel moved forward again shakily. Her little hands rubbed on the floor, making tiny squeaks.
"Come here, sweetheart," Shelby cooed and reached out her hand, opening her fingers and encouraging her little girl to come towards her. Shelby flashed a smile first at her daughter, then her lover, and finally at all of her friends in the room.
"My baby, my baby is crawling," Shelby exclaimed with teary eyes. "My little girl is crawling and she is crawling to me"
. . .
"Shhhhhh," Cass held Shelby in her arms, comforting the Broadway star and rubbing her back, "Rachel is fine honey. Maura is not hurting her. Maura has to look in her ear."
"I know, I just don't like my baby being so upset and…and frightened…" Shelby sniffed back tears as her voice broke. The brunette kept her eyes on her daughter who had been placed on the master bed while Maura did a quick but limited examination. Rachel and whimpered while being undressed and when the stethoscope had checked her heart and lungs. When her ears had started to be examined, the little girl had screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Is she in pain, Maura?" Shelby asked, concerned at the continuous wailing.
"No Shelby, Rachel is frightened as are a lot of children her age," Maura assured the new mother. "I expect she associates someone examining her ears with pain. Let me check the other one quickly and then you can pick her up, Mommy."
Maura did her job swiftly so Rachel wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. Despite having to see many children cry, for no one liked going to the doctor, the sobbing of children always broke her heart. Rachel was ripping her heart to shreds with these wails, the little sweetheart.
"All done." Maura wrapped up and placed a kiss to her little patient's forehead for good measure. She usually wouldn't be so informal with a child like this, but this wasn't just any child. This one was special. Shelby's baby girl.
Shelby gave Maura a grateful, teary eyed glance and promptly scooped her baby into her arms. "Baby mine don't you cry..." She whisper sang, her lips pressed to Rachel's forehead.
"The wall of Rachel's middle ear has collapsed and no air can be pumped up from the throat, thereby causing hearing loss," Maura explained. "I suspect since you told me that she had measles, it originated from a blockage of Eustachian tube when the measles virus attacked."
"Do, you see this in both ears?" Cass asked carefully, noticing Shelby was still pulling herself together. Shelby was swaying back and forth with Rachel in her arms. Rachel was clutching to Shelby for dear life.
"I do see this in both ears, and it is imperative we get Rachel in to see Jane during her office hours on Monday," Maura told the new mothers. "We need to do some tests and get a treatment plan for her."
Shelby asked the question they were all wondering. It was the elephant in the room. "Is it possible for her to ever get her hearing back, Maura?"
Maura Isles knew a lot of things about a lot of subjects, and many considered her an expert in just about everything, so it would seem. For a while she worked as an ME (Medical Examiner) until she decided to go into general surgery, and even later transferred and became a pediatrician. A lot of medical information was crammed into her head at that time, all information that Maura memorized and kept in a file inside her head for, among plenty of other information.
However, she never said anything for certain until she did extensive study on the subject in question. Even as an ME, what Jane and many others would insist as blood, she would refuse to confirm until the lab tests came back, or other evidence was proven first.
For that reason, with a sadness in her heart as she knew that Shelby was worried enough as it was, she had to respond in this way,
"I truly..." she sighed and sat down next to Shelby, laying her head comfortingly on her friend's shoulder. That's what Shelby was. She wasn't just a patient. She was a close friend who was in need of some more comfort right now. "I don't know, Shelbs. I can't say until Jane gives her opinion. I'm sorry."
"If you had to guess?" Cass attempted to push a bit further.
Maura winced. "You know I don't like to guess, Cassie..." she said quietly.
"But if you absolutely had to though," Cassie tried a final time.
"I think she might have the potential to get her hearing back, Cass, but like I said, Jane may think otherwise..."
Seeing the look on the concerned mothers' faces, Maura closed her bag and pulled her head up to look at Shelby, touching her shoulder.
"We are gathering information at this point, Shelby, and I don't want to speculate on anything until we have all the information we need to give the best treatment plan and prognosis," Maura said honestly. "But regardless of the severity, we will deal with it and will give Rachel the best care possible to get the most hearing she can. Even if Cochlear Implants are decided upon by you, if they are an option, she is young enough that she will adjust quickly."
There was a silence. "In the meantime, we learn sign language and teach it to her?" Shelby supplied.
Maura gave a nod and kissed Shelby's cheek. "It wouldn't hurt." Another quiet pause. "Now, ladies," Maura moved back on the bed and crossed her leg, putting her hands on her lap, "Rachel is underweight and if she has been prone to infections like her previous pediatrician stated, I recommend breastfeeding."
Shelby double blinked for a moment, wondering how that could be possible. Maura addressed the quizzical look by adding onto her statement.
"We can medically induce breastfeeding, even though she's not a newborn and you haven't been recently pregnant. It will give you a closer bond with her, and it will get her weight back up, if you're willing."
Exchanging a look with Cassie, she turned back to Maura and nodded. "Let's do it then. Anything to help her. Anything to be closer to her."
"See your primary and let your doctor prescribe Domperidone. It comes in pill form," Maura explained, smiling as she zipped up her bag, "In some women, milk can come in in less than a week. Others may take up to four."
"I also want to get Rachel into the office for a complete exam and start her on her shots," Maura said, looking at her watch. "Now! How about a picture of you with Rachel to show Jane? She hasn't gotten to see just how adorably cute she is."
Shelby gave a soft smile and adjusted Rachel on her lap, pulling Cassie up close to her until the blonde was practically on her lap as well. Maura stood with a grin with her camera phone and stepped back a bit in able to capture all of them in the frame.
"Smile and say "I love you"." Maura prompted.
"I love you," Shelby and Cassie said simultaneously.
"I love you, too. As does Jane." she snapped the picture.
. . .
Holly grunted as she read what Shelby had handed to her just before she had gone on stage for the night. Today, a rocking chair had been added to the small dressing area behind the stage where Wicked was performed 8 times a week.
Holly sat down in Shelby's chair and looked over at Cass, who was rocking a dozing Rachel.
"You approved this? And since when are the two of you writing press announcements?" Holly asked. "I thought that was my job."
"Zip it, Hol," Cass voice whispered, but her voice did have an edge. "Shelby is very insistent that this be presented as a birth announcement, because to her it is."
"Have you read this? She is outing you as her fiancée'. Are you ready for that?" Holly asked, cocking her head to the side and taking a sip of her diet soda.
"Well, technically I sort of am her fiancé'." Cass said back, still with a defensive tone. "Don't sound so jealous."
"Jealous." Holly laughed. "I love Shelby but I happen to also love April. You know, my girlfriend. I just want to make sure you and Shelby know what you're about to be in for. You two thought the paparazzi and fans were getting dangerous when she first started this stint with Wicked. You remember how we had to not only tighten security but also switch dressing rooms, AND change the locks on your apartment. Are you ready for the press when this announcement goes out? This isn't JUST a birth announcement, but it's an engagement announcement. This is a double hit. People are going to go crazy, you won't have privacy for months."
"Shelby and I agreed, we go on the offensive before Hiram and LeRoy put something out that presents Shelby and/or Rachel in a negative, offensive way," Cass told Holly. "And you were hired for a reason, Holly. You have the contacts to get us tighter security. Get us some body guards. I was going to request that of you anyway for both Rachel and Shelby until things settle down and we get Hiram and LeRoy out of our hair."
"Shelby Corcoran and her fiancée, Cassandra July, of New York, New York would like to announce the arrival of Rachel Barbra, age nine months, born December 18th to their home. The proud mothers hopes you share in their joy and ask for respect and privacy during this time of mother-daughter bonding." Holly read out loud. "I know Shelby is always all gun-ho, but can we slow down what we release? Let the public get used to Shelby having custody of her daughter back. Maybe release in a few weeks that Rachel has a hearing problem, and after we get rid of the Berry's, announce the engagement?" Holly asked, her voice now soft and the anger gone and she pleaded for Cass to be reasonable and not to release all of this information at once. "Maybe we can keep the gossip rags off of you three if Shelby does some interviews that I set up. But no mention of the Berry's. I am getting a restraining order against both of them come Monday and talking to their lawyer about putting a gag order on this case."
"I went through hell from the press calling me a whore and cold hearted bitch for being an incubator," Shelby spoke from inside the doorway. It was intermission and she had come to check on things with Rachel. "I can handle what they throw at me and I would rather I speak out first of my joy of this reunion before somebody spins this as me having no choice but to take back a "defective child"." Shelby sat down on the small love seat in the dressing room. "I will agree for now not to mention Cass as my fiancée, but I am not taking off my ring."
Holly had nothing to say. What could she say? She wasn't going to be able to convince Shelby that this was too much. She just hoped that the girls wouldn't regret it later, and knew with a sadness that they would. But if they had to learn it the hard way...
From the hallway, April appeared, "Excuse me for eavesdropping but I could not help but notice the battle of egos. Holly, why don't you share with mommy and mama your recommendation. Let's all keep a cool head for Rachel's sake. We know Shelbs and Cass are both bad ass women."
Holly took a deep breath. "I just feel like it's too much. You're already overwhelmed. This is going to be too much more on top of it. The press, the paparazzi, the people, they're going to kill you. They're going to eat you alive. I know you're used to it. I know that. But this is different. Hiram and LeRoy are already talked about with so much mixed emotion...we're going to court with them, and I just don't think...I think maybe the two of you should hold off. For now."
Holly walked across the room and wrapped an arm around Shelby. "Honey, I know you are proud of her. Hell, we all are. I know you want to show her off. Get used to being a mother and bond with your baby intimately without eyes on you twenty four seven," Holly Holliday told one of her best friends. "You've got enough going on dealing with Hiram and LeRoy, and helping your little girl with her hearing loss."
Shelby's bottom lip quivered, "What do you want me to do? People are going to notice me with a baby. I won't hide her Hol."
"I..." Holly was at a loss. She didn't want Shelby to have to hide the two best things in her life-her daughter and her fiancé'. But at the same time...
"I don't know, sweetie...but we'll figure something out, okay? We will. I promise."
"Promise?" Shelby asked in a quiet, timid, very Un-Shelby like voice. Maybe she was rushing things trying to do too much at once. But she was not about to hide Rachel away. Shelby wanted to live her life with her partner and child. "Maura already said she wants to give me a baby shower."
Holly had to laugh at Shelby's adorable excitement. She kissed her forehead. "Maura will be able to give you your baby shower, sweetie. I'll come up with something. I won't sleep until I do, okay?"
To drop the tension in the room, Cassie piped up, "Is Jane in on the party too? That's something I'd pay to see."
"Janie as a party goer? She does drink a lot of beer..." Holly laughed.
"But that's it! She doesn't party, she works and works and works and occasionally she sleeps."
"She'll be at the party," April scrunched her nose in a cute fashion. "Maura will make sure of it."
With a moment of clarity of thought, Cass stood up baby in her arms and moved to stand in front of her lover.
"Honey, we just live our lives for now without Broadway intruding in our private affairs. We do it for Rachel's sake and for the sake of this thing with the Berry's when it gets into court. We live as a lesbian couple raising a baby and do what all mothers do. Nobody needs an explanation from us. We just live our lives. Yes?" Cass asked, handing Rachel to her birth mother.
"Yes." Shelby captured Cassie's lips with her own and then kissed Rachel's forehead. This was her blood and home family, not her Broadway family. She had promised herself years ago she was going to keep those separate, and now she had to stay true to her word. She couldn't let her work life get in the way of this. She knew that Cassie and Holly were right.
"It is what is best for Rachel so it is what is best for me too. No, for us. As a family." the Broadway Singer spoke with emphasis. "We don't always have to follow the yellow brick road."
