Keeperofwords here: I would like to begin with by wishing you a Happy Holiday Season and as we count down 2020 please join my co-author and I in remembering to hold true to the lessons of this year to hold those you love close, remember the small things are more important than all the BS that politicians try to spin at you and hold fast to the hopes for the new year. A very happy and hopeful new year to all of you dear readers.

This chapter is very rich with conversations with our beloved characters. Though I enjoyed writing all of it, I loved Shelby and Cassie towards the end of the chapter. Good Things are to come so stay tuned and thanks for your continued support and interest in the Fragile Universe. Spoiler Alert! Cliffhanger at end of chapter!

Hayley here: Long time, no talk, dearest readers. It's been a long, tumultuous year filled with struggles, disappointments, and loss. In the times that I have been struggling with online college and lack of theatre and loss of family members, I have found myself turning to writing as my form of escapism. We have made some great progress with this book this year, (even more so through an outline that we are excited to share with you in the form of full chapters). I am very proud of us for pushing through a lot of writer's block and repressed emotions. We hope that you had happy holidays, that you are all staying safe, being responsible, and are blessing you with good vibes and positive energy as we enter the new year. Much love.

Chapter 23: Put Your Best Foot Forward

"Glass half-full, Shelby," Shelby spoke to herself calmly as she glanced out the window to see Dee pulling into the driveway on her moped. Normally, in the late afternoon, Dee would pop her head in and the two of them would share a cup of tea. Shelby frowned, her stomach doing a flip flop at her feeling like a spectator. Her aunt opened the compartment under the moped seat and grabbed her briefcase. Dee did not look in the direction of the mansion, instead keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead. Shelby noticed that Dee's shoulders were slumped forward, which was very unlike her given her yoga, meditation, and daily stretch routines.

"Feels empty, though..." Shelby mumbled to herself, stepping away from the side window. This incident with her aunt was killing her inside. There was a real and sharp strain happening on her marriage too, which neither she nor Cassandra were properly addressing. It was a paradox, really, that her marriage was strained not because either was upset with the other, rather because one was protective of the other. It astounded her how much outside stressors could take a toll on her mental and physical health, as well. She felt exhausted and, truth be told, had not even accomplished much that day. It was already getting late…

Rachel was doing better, at least. Her brown eyes had lost their sickly look and her appetite was picking back up since the antibiotics were helping reduce the soreness in her throat. Shelby and Cassasandra had thought they were going to have to postpone their trip by a week or so for Rachel's sake, but with April's excellent doctor's care and Rachel's resilience, the little girl had bounced back quickly. Besides, Rachel was beyond thrilled to go back to "The Big Apple" on an airplane. Neither Shelby nor Cassandra had been successful in getting the girl to listen to them long enough to realize they would be across the bridge, in the state of New Jersey. With all that was going on, Shelby had just let it drop. She guessed that Rachel would see for herself soon enough. Shelby had never been to Jersey City herself. She did not associate with those egotistical, self absorbed, christian fundamentalists with more money than common sense. Going to that neighborhood was enough to make her skin crawl, and that was before she got into her wife's deceased parent's stone manor.

"Mommy, can I take your and Aunt Dee Dee's photo album on the plane?" Rachel asked, skipping into the room and causing a distracted Shelby to jolt. Rachel continued, "I want to see all of those same places."

"Rachel, Baby," Shelby gently took the album from Rachel's hands and opened it to a random page. It was a picture of herself and Dee at Radio Center Music Hall. Her eyes did a quick scan to the other pictures on the page. They were snapshots of memories. History...her history.

The night that they found out about Dee's secret double life, Shelby had been asking herself if their whole relationship up until that point had just been an act. If she had been strung along all these years. If Dee had been the greatest of actresses, giving the performance of her life on one of Broadway's biggest of stages...But this had not been one big fucking scene in the play that was her life. It had not been directed by her aunt and orchestrated by her mother…This photo album was proof of that.

Shelby found herself staring at one picture in particular. It was at her high school graduation. Shelby remembered what Dee had told her, as she bobby pinned her cap to her head before the ceremony:

"This is the start of a new chapter for you. All of those dreams that you have are right there, ripe for the taking, if you embrace the journey Shelly. In the good times, and in the bad, I will be cheering you on and will bring you the biggest bouquet of flowers that money can buy when you open your first show on Broadway..."

"That's a good picture of you and Aunt Dee Dee, Mommy," Rachel commented. "Her smile is so big that her eyes are squinty. Are those lines from smiling or is she already wrinkly?"

"They call those love lines, Rach," Shelby laughed lightly at Rachel's commentary, but her stomach flipped for the thousandth time thinking about her aunt's love. She loved Dee so much…did Dee truly love her like she had always thought she did?

Rachel knew things were strained between her mother and her aunt. It was so obvious. Rachel also knew she couldn't really talk about it, because she didn't want to make anyone sad or upset. At least she couldn't talk about it until her Mommy and Aunt Dee Dee were actually talking about it, and it was abundantly clear that was not happening. Rachel could, however, ask something that got to the heart of the matter.

"Mommy, do you still love Aunt Dee Dee?" she asked, nibbling at her bottom lip much like her mother tended to do.

"Yes," Shelby answered quickly. Her tone was firm, but soft. Shelby said nothing else to her daughter, because nothing else came to mind. She was still processing everything, but the shock had finally worn off, at least. "And Baby, I don't know if your suitcase has enough room for a photo album. Especially if you take Elphie Bear." her attempt to change the subject was futile.

"I'll make room, Mommy," Rachel declared, deciding to let the matter with Dee drop for now, but not until she told her mother, "Aunt Dee Dee still loves you too. I know that. No matter what happened."

She decided that for now, she was just going to close the photo album that was clearly making her mother emotional and give her the biggest hug that she could.

. . .

"Can we read another chapter?" Rachel asked, her brown eyes pleading with her Aunt to continue their story time. Up until this point, all of the adults in her life had been reading her fairy tales and stories that were short enough that heard the whole story in one sitting. This was her first experience with a "chapter" book, and the whole experience felt like a very grown- up thing to do. On a lot of levels, Rachel felt that could relate to Harry Potter. Rachel had felt lost with no family too, until she found her mother. Now, Harry seemed to have a new start at this wizard school, and Rachel knew that she was getting a new start too with homeschool and performing arts school. She wanted to know what other adventures he was going to have and what else they might have in common, and was not accustomed to having to wait to hear more of the story.

"Sunshine, my throat is going to need a nice, warm cup of honey tea after reading all the way through those first two chapters. These are much longer than we're used to reading, and I'm not like your Mommy- I can't talk for hours and hours on end without my vocal chords getting upset with me." Dee spoke to her great niece patiently, winking at her and moving the straight back chair brought in from the guest room so that she was sitting right next to the canopy bed. "Besides, someone needs to go to bed," Dee sing-songed.

Rachel groaned at the last part, knowing she was not going to get out of having to go to bed, especially considering she'd already pushed her luck for an extra half an hour, but the youngest Corcoran-July thought she might have a way to get her Aunt Dee Dee to read more. "Can you read to me until I fall asleep at least?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"No can do, sunshine," Dee asked laughing. "That trick didn't work with your mom either. She loved to be read to just as much as you do." Dee's heart skipped a beat as she thought of her niece. "And even when your Mommy was older and out of high school, she still liked to be read to..."

This drew Rachel's attention away from Harry Potter for a moment. She loved, loved, loved to hear about her mother. Besides, if her Aunt Dee Dee was willing to talk about her mom, maybe that meant that things were going to get better soon.

"By who?" Rachel asked, thinking that her mom being read to even when she was older was a weird concept. Mommy was a good reader. Why have someone read to her if she could read all by herself?

"Me, Rach," Dee answered, placing a bookmark in the Harry Potter book and setting it aside to read another time. "Your mommy had a lot going on in her mind and heart when she came to live with me in New York." Dee stopped herself from saying, "after you were born". "For a while, she didn't want to sing, dance, or much of anything. Her mind was already too overwhelmed. So, I read to her."

Rachel considered this and sat in comfortable silence with her. She was a smart little girl, and she quickly figured out that Aunt Dee Dee was meaning the time after she had given birth to her and they had been separated. Rachel was glad her Aunt had been there for her mother, but hadn't thought about how much it had taken a toll on her. Mommy probably had just as hard of a time as I did without her, Rachel started to realize. She looked up at her Aunt, feeling sad. Maybe Mommy will remember that Aunt Dee Dee was there for her when she needed her the most.

. . .

Shelby was beside herself. It was only because Rachel had requested her Aunt read to her that Shelby had let Dee into the house, and it was without consulting her wife beforehand. Cassandra's reaction was to suddenly declare that she was taking Cadence over to Holly and April's for a visit, claiming that she had some last minute paperwork to go over with Holly before they flew out to New Jersey without her. Shelby, in turn, left Dee with Rachel in Rachel's room, and then went to her room to decide what to pack for New Jersey. She told herself it was to give Dee and Rachel privacy, but knew deep down it was to avoid having awkward conversations with Dee if they weren't necessary.

Shelby did crack the door, however, so she could hear her Aunt read to her daughter. Dee's voice was so calming, and it took her right back to the comfort that she felt whenever Dee would read to her when she was sad. Some of the coldness around her heart melted as she listened to her aunt weave the author's story. She remembered. She remembered all the times that Dee had read to her when she laid, for the most part catatonic, in her bed hating herself. Hating the world, and consumed with grief. The longer the visit ran, the more Shelby found herself getting curious of what they were talking about besides reading. Dee's usual reading cadence stopped, and now she and Rachel were just talking. Although Shelby knew that eavesdropping was impolite, she found herself quickly exiting her bedroom and sliding down to sit at the top of the stairs to listen.

Shelby was surprised that Barbra appeared and snuggled up beside her- Barbra did this sort of thing pretty often with Cassandra, but not so much with Shelby. She sat with the siamese and pet her softly. Shelby was generally a pretty good judge of character, and could usually spot when someone was playing her. She had no clue what the hell her aunt was doing with her mother, but she did remember what Dee had done for her not too long ago.

How she had picked Shelby up from the depths of despair and walked beside her while she stumbled through purgatory...was not fake. It could not have been fake. There had been hours, days, weeks and months full of literal blood, sweat and tears. Dee was not one for saying "I love you" very often, but Shelby knew that she did.

"Aunt Dee Dee?" Shelby could hear Rachel ask. "Why did you not just turn the page down in the book or put a pencil in it like Aunt Lena does? What's that old piece of paper?"

"It's not just any piece of paper, it's a bookmark," Shelby heard Dee explain. "This one is sort of older... I made it with watercolor paints for Shelby when she was little. See the rainbow on it? It was my way of telling her that there is happiness if she can get to the end of it. The back of it reads, "You can't have a rainbow without a little rain.""

My old bookmark… Dee used to make those for me all the time, Shelby reminisced. Whether it was a book she was reading for school or a book the two were reading together, Dee always seemed to produce a new bookmark, with words of love and comfort on the back. It was their secret way of communicating when Shelby was having a hard time.

"So you made this?" Rachel inquired, running her finger down the hard cardstock. She turned it over to read more words on the back. At least, she tried to, but it was written in cursive.

"Aunt Dee Dee? What does this part say?"

Out in the hall, Shelby knew exactly what it said, she remembered, and whispered the words softly as her aunt said them outloud.

"To my darling, Shelley. I love you endlessly, Dee"

Standing, Shelby shook off the memories and forced herself to focus herself on the present. She had to get prepped to go to New Jersey. This trip was going to be very interesting without Holly there with them. With going through Cassandra's parent's affairs, someone with experience of the law with them would be helpful. Dee had her law license to practice in the state of New York, just like Holly did. When Shelby was lying awake at 3am the night before, she was still on the fence whether or not to ask Dee to go with them. Listening to Rachel and Dee talking now, Shelby had made her decision. She was going with her gut, she wanted Dee them.

The trick was going to be convincing Cassandra, and Shelby was looking forward to that as much as she would having a root canal. Cassandra and Dee's relationship was difficult at times, but it had gotten better since Rachel had come into their lives. With this latest revelation of the things in that damn box, they had taken at least ten steps backward. Shelby knew it would be up to her to at least get everyone's feet in the right direction.

Shelby watched, anxiously picking at her lower lip, as her Aunt tip-toed out of Rachel's room. She exchanged a look with Dee, the two of them looking deeply into each other's eyes but neither daring to speak first. Shelby crossed her arms protectively over her chest, wanting to ask Dee to go with them but knowing it was illogical to do so until she talked to her wife. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words died on her lips.

"I should go," Dee said, clearing her throat. "I um...have a lot of work to do."

Shelby nodded, wordlessly. Her mind was shouting at her to say something. Anything.

"Thank you, for reading to Rachel." Shelby offered. Well, Corcoran. I guess it's a start. "I know she really enjoys it."

She's talking to me like I'm a stranger to her. Dee tried not to show the hurt in her eyes. She knew she and Shelby had a lot they needed to talk about, but it was clear neither was ready to do so. "Anytime," She responded softly. She smiled a sad smile. "Good night, Shelby." she turned and made her way down the stairs. Shelby bit her lip hard, fighting back tears, as she heard the back door of the kitchen shut behind Dee.

As much as the tension between them hurt, she wasn't sure she was ready to forgive her yet, and she knew she wasn't ready to talk about why Dee had been lying to her in the first place. It was too hard to face the fact that the one person that Shelby had trusted more than anyone in the world hadn't been honest with her. How could she believe Dee's intentions when she had been hiding so much in the first place? Shelby shuddered, feeling gross. She wondered how long it would take for Cassandra to come home.

Giving up, she made her way to the master bedroom. She hadn't even started packing like she claimed she was doing earlier, her mind racing with too many thoughts. She knew she would have to wake up very early to pack Rachel's suitcase and get her together as well, but she had already kissed her goodnight and wanted to give the little girl some time to rest for the night.

About an hour went by before she heard Cassandra coming up the stairs. Shelby had packed the essentials, but had gotten distracted by a messy bathroom cabinet, and had taken to promptly reorganizing it and cleaning it out. A few moments later, during which she assumed Cassandra was putting Cadence to bed, Shelby heard her wife's voice from the bedroom.

"Honey, I'm home," her tone was sarcastic, but playful.

"I'm in here," Shelby announced, putting the last of the cabinet back and closing it before standing up to wash her hands in the sink. She made her way into the bedroom and found Cassandra staring at an empty suitcase. Shelby smirked, knowing she should have guessed that her wife hadn't started packing either and that she should have done it for her. "You want some help with that?" she gestured to the bag.

Cassandra shrugged. "It shouldn't take me too long. How was Dee?"

Leave it to Cass to cut right to the chase. Shelby sighed. "I wouldn't know, we didn't talk."

"Mmm." Cassandra threw some underwear and shorts into her suitcase, haphazardly. Shelby's instincts to fold started to nag at the back of her head. She resisted, nonetheless.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about Dee…" Shelby started, knowing it was a weak start.

"What about her?" Cassandra's jaw set.

"Look, I know you're mad at her-" Shelby started.

"That's the understatement of the year. I mean hell, Shelby, you should be mad, too. You're the one she's hurting here." Cassandra jumped on the defense.

"Which is why I should be the one to say when enough is enough," Shelby argued.

"Please, if you really believed that, you would have talked to her tonight," Cassandra pointed out. "You're not really ready to put all of this behind you, you haven't said a word to her about any of it. What's all of this about?"

"I...I think she should come with us to New Jersey. Since Holly can't." Shelby admitted, bracing for Cassandra's next outburst.

Cassandra laughed. "You've got to be kidding. What, Holly's replaceable now?"

"Of course not, Cassandra," Shelby rolled her eyes.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Cassandra?"

"Well, you're pissing me off. Just listen and talk through this with me instead of just shutting me down right away, that's all I'm saying." Shelby said. "I think having someone with a legal background would be really useful, and she is a lawyer like Holly is. Since Holly can't be there…"

"She's not a real lawyer!" Cassandra argued.

"Just because she didn't go to NYU like Holly did, doesn't mean she isn't a real lawyer. She does admirable work, and she's licensed in New York-"

"So now you're defending her," Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Cassie... she made a mistake." Shelby brought her tone down. "I don't think that makes her evil. I'm not saying that means I'm ready to forgive her, either. Of course she has to earn my trust back. But...remember the good in her. All of the good in her. I know what she did is bad. It's really bad. I am very hurt by it, I won't pretend that I'm not. But she isn't the devil incarnate, either. There is some sort of middle ground here, and I think she walked a very thin line in hiding all of that from us and in talking to my mother… but it is her sister, after all, and maybe she had a really good reason. Or maybe she didn't and she has a lot to make up for. But I...Cassie, I can't just cut her out of our lives, or out of Rachel's life. I...can't lose her."

Cassandra picked at the zipper of her suitcase, annoyed but understanding. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I don't hate her. She's on my list right now, but I don't think she's the devil...at least not anymore. I was really really mad at first...and I still am- people don't get to treat you like that and just...get away with it. You're too forgiving sometimes and it's hard for you to see that, but I see it. I don't like seeing you get hurt just because you don't want to lose people. She has to pay for what she's done."

"And she will. She is, Cassie, look at how miserable she is right now." Shelby said. She sat down on the bed, crossing her legs underneath her. "I don't know. I know it's not equivalent to what she did. I think that in time, we'll heal from this. But I don't think that healing will start if we keep shutting her out like this."

"So you're ready to talk to her?" Cassandra challenged.

"No, I'm still mad at her. I just don't want you to hate her." Shelby admitted.

"Okay, fine. I don't hate her. I still don't think she should come to New Jersey." Cassandra shrugged, throwing a few tank tops into her suitcase just as haphazardly as she had the shorts. Shelby stared down at the suitcase, feeling anxious. She knew if she reached into it to fold Cassandra's clothes she'd never hear the end of it.

"Why? I didn't mean to imply she could replace Holly, I just think-"

"I think she will be a distraction, and that things will be tense, and then Rachel is going to ask us a billion questions that we don't have answers to and to be completely honest with you, Shelby, I don't know if I can handle all of that while going through my dead parents' stuff in my childhood home," Cassandra ran a tired hand through tangled blonde hair, knowing she desperately needed to wash it.

"I just think it would be good to have a support system with us," Shelby said.

"Some support system she is," Cassandra responded bitterly.

"That's not fair. You know she has been amazing to us," Shelby said.

"Yeah, no doubt to make up for how guilty she felt about lying to us for years, Shelby, you can't be that naive."

"...She's the only real family I have left, Cassie." Shelby's voice cracked a little when she spoke.

Cassandra glanced over at her wife, her heart sinking at how upset she clearly was. "Shelby…I'm not telling you to shun her. I'm just saying I don't think she should come with us."

"Well someone should," Shelby argued. "And April and Holly have work, and so do Stef and Lena. So if you have a better solution I'd be happy to hear it, but I'm telling you right now that you can't be calling Holly every ten minutes when you don't have an answer to something. Dee can help us with that sort of thing, and she'll be extra hands. Besides, you know she'll be willing to do it if for no other reason than because she feels guilty...and because she wants to spend time with us and explain. Maybe it'll be easier to hear in a different setting. In a few days. Maybe we can try to work this out."

Cassandra fought the urge to roll her eyes again. She wanted no part in whatever forgiveness game Shelby was trying to play. "She's going to keep hurting you. How can you trust her?"

"I don't know if I do. But I know I'll have no chance to if I never talk to her again. And we can't do that whole house in a week by ourselves." Shelby felt tired. She hadn't gone into the conversation expecting to win, but she'd expected it to be shorter than this.

"Fine," Cassandra bit the inside of her cheek. "Fine, she can come, but I'm not playing this fake friendship, bullshit, whatever that you're doing with her right now. I'm not going to be fake. I don't act professionally anymore for a reason."

"Deal. You don't have to pretend you're not upset with her. I'm not asking you to do that. But I am asking you to be cordial. The last thing we need is some sort of big scene on the plane." Shelby implored her.

"I'll be cordial on the plane," Cassandra mumbled, moving to the bathroom to pack her essentials from there. She came back with an armful of makeup, her hairbrush, and toothbrush, then padded back into the bathroom for the rest of her stuff.

Shelby decided she would take that, knowing that Cassandra had made no promises about being cordial anywhere else, but deciding to fight her battles when they got to her. She pulled out her cell phone and curled up under the covers, biting her lip in contemplation at how to word this.

Hey… I know that you know we're leaving for New Jersey for the week starting tomorrow morning...I know it's a little last minute, but we already bought an extra ticket for someone to go with us…We were wondering, if you're in a place where you can take work with you...would you want to come with us?

She sent the text before she could get too nervous and back out, leaning her head against the bed frame and banging it lightly a couple times in frustration. Why did relationships always have to be so complicated?

Cassandra moved in and out of the room, finishing her packing and zipping the suitcase up, barely, before tossing it to the floor and crawling into the bed as well. She was still annoyed, but not necessarily with Shelby. She rolled her neck, feeling tense and less than excited to board the plane in the morning. The last place she wanted to be was her childhood home.

{Anything for you Shelly. What time tomorrow morning?}

Shelby felt the phone's vibration in her hands and sighed in relief.

Be here at 7:30?

She figured she could have breakfast ready by then, and if they were out the door by 8 that left them with plenty of time for a 10 am flight. Her stomach fluttered nervously and she was unsure how well she or her partner would sleep through the night, but she knew her eyes were heavy. She anxiously awaited her aunt's response.

{See you then}

. . .

Shelby was in Rachel's room by 6 am to pack her stuff, but was quiet so her daughter wouldn't hear her. She didn't want to wake Rachel until she absolutely had to, especially with her finally healing up from her cold/tonsillitis situation. As she folded a couple of dresses, and then a pair of leggings and a couple pairs of shorts, Shelby thought about how unfair all of this going back and forth was to Rachel. They had considered leaving her with Holly and April, considering they would already be watching Cadence (with some help from Natalie), but somehow it felt even more unfair to leave her behind. Even though Rachel was comfortable with Natalie, she had voiced that she never wanted to be without her Mama and Mommy at the same time ever again. With that in mind, they asked her if she wanted to come along and she said yes.

Regardless of the fact that she wanted to be with her moms, Shelby doubted the little girl wanted to be around so much tension and the morbidity of the July estate. It was bad enough that she'd been to the funeral and had to witness Cassandra's family members during that. The instability of their family unit was a lot to handle, that Shelby knew. She also knew that Rachel was very adaptable, and liked to be anywhere that Shelby or Cassandra was. Her recent attachment to Dee meant that Rachel would be comfortable around her, too, regardless of the situation they were finding themselves in. Shelby decided to pack some of Rachel's favorite books, the iPad, and a couple of Broadway/New York coloring books. It wasn't a long flight, but she would need something to occupy her time while the adults sorted through stuff at the house.

Shelby finished packing everything that she could until Rachel got ready, and sat at the edge of her daughter's bed to gently wake her up, realizing it was now 7 am and that she was already running late.

"Hey sleeping beauty," she whispered. "It's time to wake up…"

Rachel shifted, scrunching her nose. She had definitely developed Cassandra's affinity for sleeping in, no matter how much rest she had gotten the night before. "What time is it?" the little star grumbled.

"It's 7, honey. I know it's early but I need you to get up so Mommy and Mama can get breakfast together before Aunt Dee Dee gets here… we have a plane to catch soon and you know how long it takes to get through the airport and to our gate…" Shelby said.

"5 more minutes, Mommy?" Rachel asked, keeping her eyes closed. She looked so cozy. Shelby felt bad moving her. The older woman sighed.

"5 more minutes," she agreed. "But you have to be up and ready for breakfast at 7:30, okay? That means dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed, and sitting in the kitchen. So I'm going to set this alarm on my phone and when it goes off you gotta get up, okay?"

Rachel nodded sleepily.

"I'm going to go start breakfast…bring my phone down to me with you when you come, okay?" Shelby slipped out of the room and jogged down the stairs. She had just enough time to throw some pancakes together if she cheated and used the box mix. She checked her watch and yawned while pulling plates and utensils out and setting them on the counter. Cassandra was upstairs trying to get Cadence ready to go to her aunts' house and was, as per usual, also running behind.

When 7:30 hit, Shelby found herself alone in the kitchen. She yelled up the stairs for her girls to get a move on, and as she made it back into the kitchen she saw Dee sitting up at the counter, her suitcase and carry-on sitting next to her.

"Hi," Dee greeted her niece, softly.

"Hi," Shelby responded, feeling frazzled. She piled pancakes onto a plate and set it in the middle of the island. "How are you this morning?"

The formalities were killing Dee. "I'm fine. Do you need help with anything? You look stressed."

Shelby pressed her lips together, hating that she was showing her stress. She shook this thought out of her mind. It was just Dee.

"Yeah, um...if you wanted to grab the juice from the fridge, maybe? And the coffee creamer?" Shelby allowed her to help. They silently continued to set up the space. Rachel ran down the stairs to join them and Cassandra and Cadence were quick to follow, running behind but not wanting to upset Shelby by making them later than they already were.

"Shelby, I'm going to run Cadence over to Holly and April, come say goodbye before she realizes what's happening and freaks out-" Cassandra entered the kitchen mid sentence and stiffened a little seeing Dee sitting up at the counter. She knew Dee would be joining them, but that didn't mean she was excited about it.

Shelby kissed Cadence on the forehead and kissed Cassandra on the cheek. "You have ten minutes max, July, or we're leaving the house without you."

"Good luck getting into hell manor without me." Cassandra smirked. Shelby wasn't smiling. "Ten minutes max." she repeated, nodding her head and slipping out the back door with Cadence on her hip and a crowded diaper bag swinging on her shoulder.

Shelby poured Rachel a glass of orange juice and drizzled syrup on the eager, but still sleepy girl's pancakes. "Don't get a tummy ache, but don't dilly dally either," Shelby warned. "We're pushing it today…" she shoved a plain buttered pancake into her mouth without using a plate or a fork, trying to save time by eating and cleaning simultaneously.

When Cassandra returned, they had about five minutes to get out the door. Shelby tossed a pancake onto Cassandra's plate and the woman picked it up with her hand, wordlessly, and took a huge bite before running back upstairs to grab their stuff and bring it to the door. After she did so, she made it back to the kitchen and finished off the pancake.

Rachel starred in awe. "Why does Mama get to eat with her hands but when I do it, I'm making a mess?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

"Mama thinks she's too good for syrup," Shelby teased. "When you start eating pancakes plain, you can eat them with your hands.

"I have no problem with syrup!" Cassandra teased right back. "I just didn't have time to properly enjoy my meal because someone was throwing flapjacks at me."

"Someone doesn't understand the concept of ten minutes max," Shelby shot her wife a warning glance, although not unkindly.

"Excuse me for having a hard time saying goodbye to my little sister for the first time since we got her. I know we couldn't take her with us, we're going to be too busy trying to get things together in a decent amount of time… she drives me crazy, but she's so damn cute that I forgive her for it, you know? I'm gonna miss that little stinker."

"I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be insensitive." Shelby sighed. She was ready to go back to bed.

Dee stayed silent for the duration of the meal, wordlessly helping Shelby clean up the rest of the kitchen. When everyone was done, she moved their stuff to the front door. Shelby did a final sweep of the house before declaring them good to go.

She opened the door just as someone else was starting to knock on it, and she jumped, startled at the sound. "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect someone to be standing there," she admitted to a man in a black suit and tie.

He nodded his head. "That's quite alright, ma'am. I apologize for scaring you," there was a pause, but before Shelby could ask who he was or what he was doing there, he spoke again. "Are you Shelby Corcoran-July?" he asked.

She set her suitcase down and folded her arms over her chest protectively. Her clan behind her watched with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yes...who is asking?" she wondered.

He held a paper out to her and she took it, tentatively.

"You've been served."