Shelby placed her phone on the counter and didn't even know what to say. Her mind was flooding with too many thoughts—she wanted to run upstairs and hold Rachel close and never let go, but she's sick and needed her rest; plus, Olivia was coming over and she needed to deal with whatever the hell was going on.
"What is it sugarplum?" April questioned, cautiously.
"I umm," Shelby turned to face both the blondes and April could tell she was trying extremely hard to keep it together. "Can one of you go get my parents please?" The pleading in Shelby's voice kicked the tiny blonde into action.
April didn't hesitate, she took off up the stairs making sure to be quiet as she passed Shelby's bedroom knowing the baby was sleeping. She knocked on the guest bedroom at the end of the hallway and April was greeted by Thomas who opened the door, clearly expecting to see Shelby not her.
Seeing April nervous put Thomas on high alert immediately—the little firecracker was never nervous, especially around them…well, anyone really. She was a natural flirt with a huge personality all wrapped up in her little body. The amount of times she 'flirted' with Thomas in a joking manner alone always made for very funny family gatherings considering Shelby's friends were always invited.
Although she had a flirty personality, she'd never act on it—she loved Holly more than anything in the world and Holly knew what she was getting herself into; her girlfriend used her southern charm along with her flirty personality to crack jokes when she was in a new situation, meeting someone for the first time, or when she became super comfortable around someone.
"What's wrong," Thomas questioned when April didn't immediately start talking like she normally did.
"Shelby asked me to come get you two—one of the detectives just called her and from the way she's trying to hold herself together right now, I'm guessing it wasn't good news. She didn't tell us anything, just asked for you, so here I am getting you…" April explained without taking a breath.
Katherine had made her way to the door hearing Shelby needed them—she needed to push aside the feelings of guilt she had for dragging in germs getting her grandbaby sick and go be there for her daughter. Katherine understood that all children get sick, her grandchildren had been sick countless times in their lives but Rachel being so small and fragile…it made Katherine physically feel sick herself.
Thomas had been trying to convince his wife it could have been him who passed along the germs just as much as it could have been her—however, Katherine and Shelby were so similar when it came to them being both stubborn and self-blaming. He knew there was only so much he could say to his wife to make it better; right now though, they needed to go downstairs.
Holly got Shelby some water and practically forced her to drink it; over the years, when Shelby became so stressed out or worked herself into this state of mind, she always requested water…so much so that now when Shelby got water for herself at night sometimes, she wasn't sure if she was drinking it because she was upset or just thirsty.
Either way, Shelby had yet to say anything or answer any of the questions Holly had asked her. She quietly drank her water while staring at the baby monitor keeping her tears at bay. They both heard footsteps on the stairs and Holly looked relieved seeing Shelby's parents—they seemed to know more than the best friends did right now which made sense because they are Shelby's parents.
Plus, the best friends didn't know anything about children so going to Katherine and Thomas was like getting the answers to a pop quiz handed to you before you took it. They had answers none of the blondes did; of course they were still there for Shelby and always would be…it's just different than anything they could offer.
Holly walked over to April while the parents walked over to Shelby, "What is it Shelly bean?" Thomas asked in practically a whisper.
"I—" Before Shelby could answer, there was a light knock on the door. Shelby was happy she didn't ring the doorbell even though she didn't think it would wake Rachel, she didn't want to chance it. The brunette walked over to the door, checked out the peephole, and then welcomed Olivia in.
"What's going on that has Amanda so worried for our safety? Why did she say I couldn't let anyone in or out until you got here?" Shelby asked the second the door was closed.
She quickly apologized and back peddled feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry it's just, the phone call with Amanda has left me a bit on edge." She took a calming breath and then started introductions.
"Mom, dad, April, Holly, this is Lieutenant Olivia Benson, Olivia these are my parents Katherine and Thomas, and my best friends April and Holly. I know Amanda said to not let anyone in or out until you showed up and my friends were here visiting so they are still here and…"
Thomas put his hand on Shelby's shoulder and the brunette realized she was rambling, "I'm sorry, I'm just so nervous."
Olivia could feel the tension in the air and hated all of this for Shelby. "I'm glad you waited until I got here. And it's nice meeting everyone," Olivia gave a tight smile to the Corcoran's and the two blondes.
"Shelby, do you have somewhere we can speak privately?" Olivia wasn't sure how much of this she wanted her best friends to hear; sure, Shelby described them as being thick as thieves, the type of friends who knew everything about her and vise versa but some things are better said with just family.
Holly being a lawyer took this as Olivia's cue, "April, we should get going; the grocery store won't be so crowded if we go now."
April reluctantly agreed; she wrapped Shelby up in a tight hug and whispered, "Text me or call me later to let me know you're okay. I love ya babe!"
Shelby nodded, "I love you too, thank you for coming to visit and for everything you brought Rachel."
She said the same thing to Holly and then Olivia sent a text down to Fin stating two blondes were coming downstairs (one being April Rhodes who again, the 1-6 knew of) so he'd recognize her. She wanted to make sure they got out safely and Fin would do just that.
The parents, Shelby and Olivia all took a seat in the living room where the older brunette started to explain what was going on.
"This morning, Detectives Rollins and Amaro along with our ADA Alexandra Cabot drove to Massachusetts because we got a call saying they had Hiram in custody. Due to the fact he was apprehended in another state, we obviously needed him to be transported back to the city to be prosecuted on the charges we have against him…" Olivia saw everyone nodding along, Shelby was waiting for the bad news though and the lieutenant could tell.
"My detectives made it back to New York when the Marshalls transporting Hiram were in an accident," Katherine gasped at Olivia's words. "…an accident that seemed to be staged, or in other words planned. Hiram wasn't in the vehicle by the time my detectives and the other officers in the surrounding area got there."
Shelby now had tears running down her cheeks—Thomas wrapped an arm around his daughter and tried to comfort her the best he could while still listening to the detective knowing Shelby needed answers and was trying to keep it together the best she could.
"Why?" Shelby whispered. She cleared her throat and her voice became stronger, "What does he want here in New York? I don't get it—the note he left was clear, 'no need to look for me, I'm 'fleeing'."
Shelby didn't know what else to say—she didn't understand his motives. She was honestly still in the mindset of self-blame regarding Rachel's ear infection and now she's terrified for her daughters safety knowing this man was in New York. She was in the mindset that he was far, far away.
Was Hiram somehow trying to get her baby back? He had no legal right to her anymore—she doesn't even share his DNA, he said he didn't want her why would he be back here? What was the point? Shelby shook her head of all the thoughts running through her mind and tried to focus her attention back on the conversation.
Olivia took a deep breath and Thomas knew whatever she was about to say wasn't going to be good: at all. "Shelby, we believe he's after you. The reasons are still unknown to us at this time…"
"What do you mean you they are unknown? Isn't it your job to figure it out and catch the son of a bitch?" Thomas gritted through his teeth. If this man was after his daughter after already causing constant harm to his granddaughter, he wasn't going to sit there and keep his mouth shut.
"Daddy, stop. They are doing everything they can for us, it's not Olivia or her detectives fault," Shelby stated unclenching her fathers fist he had balled up.
"I'm sorry; this is just a lot to process," Thomas apologized to the woman.
"No apology necessary, I'd react the same way if someone was threatening my family. We are doing everything we can to track him down again—Amanda was the one who figured all of this out and we are not going to let him get to you or Rachel. For now, it would be best if you all stayed inside, at least until we can go over the nearby cameras and see what we can find. I don't want you to live in fear because we will keep you safe, but staying inside at least for the next 24-48 hours to give us some time would be ideal."
Shelby nodded; she didn't want to live in fear however, she already was fearful for her daughter—she could handle herself, her daughter was just a baby who needed her though. "Rachel is sick anyways so we aren't going anywhere."
Olivia frowned; Shelby really didn't need this information right now especially with the baby being sick. "Is she okay? I mean, I know you said she's sick but…"
"Ear infection; her pediatrician came over for a house call and gave me some antibiotics," Shelby said in a very monotone voice. Her emotions were everywhere—she wanted to go snuggle upstairs to be with her daughter and never leave her room until they found Hiram but she couldn't let her emotions show because Rachel, even being so young noticed if Shelby was anything less than happy.
"I'm so sorry Shelby," Olivia said sincerely. "I have my detectives going over everything we know at the station now, Amanda and Amaro are still at the scene of the accident however they should be back at the station soon to help us. I have two uniforms downstairs meeting with your security, Joe and Mike—they are going to sit outside for the night and we have another set coming at shift change. He won't get close to you, Shelby."
The younger brunette nodded, "Thank you Olivia."
Shelby looked down at the baby monitor and saw Rachel stirring, "I need to go, Rachel's waking up. Please keep me updated," she said running up the stairs.
After Shelby disappeared, Thomas looked back at Olivia, "What are the possible reasons for him wanting to get to Shelby?"
"We've only be able to come up with a few possible reasons right now and until we can confirm them, I'd rather not leave you with those."
Thomas understood what Olivia was saying—they were bad and she didn't want them to be more fearful due to the reasoning's they've found. Katherine on the other hand didn't get it, "Why won't you tell us?"
"Katherine," Thomas tried to interject. "Just let the detectives do their work, okay?"
"Mrs. Corcoran, if I were to tell you the possible reasons we've come up with and we find them to be unfounded, you'd be worrying for nothing. Until we have concrete evidence, it's in your best interest to let us handle this. Unfortunately, this is what we are trained for and see daily. I can tell you though my detectives won't stop working until we catch him. Shelby and Rachel are our top priority and have been since her case came in. You've raised a wonderful young woman who is more concerned with us needing to help others instead of herself but believe me when I tell you, we're doing everything we can."
Katherine seemed to accept this answer and politely said, "Thank you, I appreciate that. We know you're doing everything—we just didn't expect all of this chaos."
"Neither did we until Amanda called me earlier when driving back from Massachusetts stating her concerns. We didn't expect him to flee, especially while in custody and I apologize for that."
"You couldn't have known," Thomas said, his anger now long gone. That's not completely true, he was livid with the situation, however, no longer angry with the lieutenant.
They spoke for a little while longer and then Olivia excused herself stating she needed to get back to the station to held her squad promising to keep them updated. Olivia gave the Corcoran's her card as well even though Shelby had it because she wasn't sure how Shelby would handle this; Olivia stated they could call her anytime and she would always answer what she could.
That being said, the information would go through Shelby first unless the young brunette gave her permission to speak with her parents instead of her—then Olivia would contact her parents instead however, she also knew Amanda was going to want to check on them later as well and was hoping they'd have better news when the blonde goes to check on them.
Upstairs, Rachel was cranky as ever and Shelby honestly couldn't blame her; the poor little angel was sick and unfortunately, there was nothing Shelby could do about it. It was too soon to give her more Tylenol and she was too fussy at the moment to give her the antibiotics—not that they'd help immediately either. Shelby held her crying baby close, swaying back and forth singing to her hoping to calm her down.
"Shh, shh, shh, mommy's here baby. I've got you—I know you feel so icky, mommy is so sorry peanut."
After what seemed like hours Rachel finally calmed down; in reality, it was only about 20 minutes of on and off screaming along with a constant stream of tears but that was too long in Shelby's mind. Rachel had suffered enough, she didn't deserve to be sick now too. Even though they were 'ordered' to stay inside, Shelby would obviously rather her be healthy and inside instead of sick and in pain.
Rachel hiccupped and tugged at Shelby's shirt and the mother wasted no time taking her shirt off completely so she and her daughter could be skin to skin—she knew Rachel loved it more than anything, well, she loved nursing more however, if she didn't want to nurse skin to skin always calmed Rachel down.
Shelby unclipped her nursing bra and Rachel latched on immediately; she didn't feel good, at least that's what her mommy said…she didn't really know what that meant though. Rachel knew her ear hurt and she couldn't stop herself from crying, even when she tried, she just couldn't.
If she had been with her daddy, he would have yelled at her then completely ignored her not bothering to figure out what was wrong; he'd close the door to a room that she was kept in often and leave her alone especially when sick. Her daddy said she was in there to keep her from getting into trouble, but Rachel didn't know what that meant either. The room had nothing in it and she used to feel like she was in there forever sometimes.
Her mommy never left her alone, or if she did, Rachel wasn't really alone because nana and papa were there and she could hear her mommy's voice and see her in the kitchen or know she was just using the potty. Her mommy also cuddled her, held her closely, gave her 'mommy milp', fed her too many times (considering Rachel wasn't used to eating every single day nevermind multiple times a day); all in all, she loved being with her mommy, even right now when she was feeling icky.
She started feeling better while nursing, even though her ear still hurt, she felt calm, safe, and protected from everything she's been through in her little life. Feeling her mommy's skin always made her feel better; maybe because she was sick, she could ask mommy to sleep in just a diaper too. Her mommy's diapers were different than hers though, she had them in all different colors while Rachel's were always white with little shapes and colors on the top near where the sticky parts were.
Shelby always wondered what was running through her baby girls mind, especially when she nursed and those brown eyes locked with her green ones. If Shelby knew Rachel was thinking about her wearing a 'diaper' all night so they could be skin to skin because the baby didn't know the difference between diapers and panties, Shelby would have a hard time suppressing her laughter. Her little innocent little angel still had so much to learn.
Shelby smiled and placed a kiss to her daughters temple as Rachel gripped onto two of her fingers; even though she was still warm, Shelby wasn't too concerned because Arizona told her to expect the fever to still be present so she didn't read too much into it. She knew when Rachel was due for Tylenol next and would continue to give the baby the medicine to at least keep the fever at bay until it broke and was prepared for a long night together.
Shelby could tell Rachel was still exhausted as her eyes were fluttering while she nursed; this typically only happened around nap times and at bedtime, right now was neither: unfortunately this had everything to do with being sick. Shelby decided it would be best if Rachel did go back to sleep—her little body needed it to get better and hopefully by the time she woke up again it would be time for some more Tylenol.
Shelby wasn't going to fuss about the antibiotics right now, Arizona said after dinner would be fine and that rest was best for her. She stroked the baby's cheek and smiled, "Go back to sleep baby, mommy's right here."
Rachel didn't need to be told twice, her eyes closed and after a few minutes she stopped suckling. The mother wiped the sides of her mouth and put the pacifier in her mouth, fixed her bra and cradled Rachel closer to her body. She grabbed the remote and put on the TV for some background noise acting as if it would be enough of a distraction from her rapid thoughts…
Shelby realized that she didn't need anything playing to keep her mind from spiraling, all she needed to do was look down at her little baby and an instant smile formed on her face. Shelby traced her tiny face with her finger and then pressed a kiss to her temple. "I love you more than you'll ever know."
"I just don't understand, how the hell did he get away?" Amanda growled. "He must be injured, we sent both marshals to the hospital with severe injuries and this man just walks away, no way? He'd have to be banged up meaning he couldn't get that far."
Amaro knew Amanda was close to this case—it had been evident since the first time she and Olivia went to talk to Miss Corcoran, hell, it was evident when they all listened to the recording she sent over of the mother asking her daughter what happened on that awful night. Of course Amaro himself was trying to keep his own emotions at bay listening to the recording because he kept thinking of his own daughter, but he was able to separate his feelings.
Amanda on the other hand had been working herself over this case in a way he'd never seen before and he wasn't completely sure why. He knew she hated getting personal over a case and couldn't figure out what about this particular case got to Amanda so much. Honestly, Amanda wasn't sure herself what about this case made her emotional wall break either.
If she were to guess, it was seeing someone who everyone knew wanting so desperately to be just like everyone else. She saw Shelby for the young mother she is, trying to do right by her baby while keeping her emotions at bay to make sure Rachel didn't pick up on anything other than a happy mommy which is what she deserved.
But Amanda knew Shelby deserved to be happy as well—even though she had her baby back, there were too many components to all of this that were so unhappy, so devastating that the blonde just wanted to ease some of the stress and catch the son of a bitch.
"I mean, there's a small blood trail but it doesn't look like he was that hurt and it's not like he's going to go to the hospital because he knows we will be checking them all," Amaro responded. The amount of blood wasn't enough for them to be worried about, especially with the piece of scum they were trying to catch. Honestly, Amaro was hoping when they did find him he'd be all banged up and in an enormous amount of pain—he kept those thoughts to himself though.
"They are checking hospitals, urgent cares and fire stations just in case; fucking asshole should have been killed," Amanda muttered the last part under her breath. "We need to get back to the station—I would like to have some type of good news to give Shelby when I go over there later."
Amaro didn't say anything, just nodded and walked back to the cruiser. There were certain cases that got to everyone, clearly this one got to Amanda. Amaro can't say he blames his partner, he's had more than his fair share of cases get to him…so much so that Olivia has told him to go home because he couldn't focus. Amanda's focus was dead set on protecting the Corcoran's while chasing down the asshole, and he silently commended her on that knowing she wouldn't actually want to hear it.
When they got back to the station, Amanda looked over all the evidence again and realized trying to figure out the motives for Hiram being so angry at Shelby was harder than they thought. Clearly he was beyond pissed, but if he was that angry why give Rachel back to her in the first place? Why was he so angry at her in to begin with? Would they even figure out the answers from the evidence they had gathered or would they need the douchebag himself to tell them?
Amanda couldn't get the possibility out of her head that Hiram wanted Shelby to be able to experience her baby and then take her away somehow. He clearly hated the child for reasons that made no sense to anyone—so you don't share DNA, does that really mean you treat your child the way he did?
Was he so messed up from losing his husband, or was Leroy just as much a part of all of this and it only escalated when he died? It had to be before because there's no way Rachel would be so small from the year Leroy has been dead. Why try so hard for a child you want nothing to do with?
Why go through with any of it? Not to mention put Shelby through everything they did with the 'contract' after saying she could be a part of the baby's life. It was clear Shelby wanted to keep Rachel, so if they truly didn't want the baby why not walk away? It didn't make sense, unless Leroy gave him more information on his deathbed…maybe they didn't just learn about the paternity, maybe there was more to it the detectives were missing.
Kathrine went upstairs to check on Shelby and Rachel and when she peeked inside her daughters bedroom she found them both asleep. Good, they both need their rest, Katherine thought to herself. She walked into the room and pulled the covers up around both of them, placing a gentle kiss to both Shelby and Rachel; this was the first kiss she's ever given her littlest grandbaby and frowned feeling how warm she was.
Not wanting to linger any longer and wake either of them, Katherine walked out of the room, slowly closing the door before letting her tears fall. She went into the guestroom to clean her face then went back downstairs hoping her husband wouldn't pick up on the fact she had been crying: again.
Once back downstairs, Thomas and Katherine took the time to call their children to update them on what was going on. After telling them all numerous times 'do not come to New York, we will all be fine', (even with a threat against Shelby and possibly Rachel) they all reluctantly agreed.
The boys were harder to convince, although Addie put up a pretty good fight for a while as well. Lexie didn't know what to think about everything—she heard all of her siblings arguing with her parents but she was in too much shock to talk.
After hanging up, Lexie called her brother Jeremy knowing as the oldest and almost like another parent at times, he could help her. After expressing her own fears, Jeremy said he'd come pick her up stating to pack a bag because she was staying with him for a while. (Or at least until she was feeling better and they knew more about the case) Lexie was attending Franklin University in Columbus so it didn't take long for him to drive up and get her knowing she wasn't in any state of mind to drive.
Lexie may have been in shock on the phone call but after, she completely broke down. Knowing Jeremy's kids were in their teens and didn't depend on him the way Jake and Addie's kids did, she knew he'd be the best choice. In reality, any of the siblings would rush to Lexie's side but the youngest Corcoran felt the most comfortable with Jeremy when she felt this way if she couldn't lean on her parents.
Katherine and Thomas were drinking some coffee at the kitchen island when they heard a knock on the door. Thomas immediately stood up putting himself in front of his wife before walking to the door; even though there were two officers stationed outside along with Mike and Joe in the lobby and the fact Max had to call up for any visitors, he was still nervous.
After finding out Hiram staged the accident to getaway and possibly come after Shelby once back in the city, they didn't know what else he was capable of. Thomas looked through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief seeing Amanda. Both parents really liked the detective they got to spend time with when they took Rachel out; she was extremely polite, seemed very skilled, and very dedicated to solving the case.
He opened the door and could tell by Amanda's face she was not expecting him to be the one answering. "Hello Detective Rollins," he smiled. "Please come in."
"Hi Mr. Corcoran, I'm sorry for intruding," she said seeing the cups of coffee on the island. "I just wanted to check on Shelby and Rachel myself." Saying it out loud made her feel a bit embarrassed knowing Olivia had already been over however, this case was getting to her.
"You're not intruding on anything honey, can I get you a cup?" Katherine offered the detective. Amanda nodded and thanked the woman. She followed the woman and sat on one of the bar stools after Thomas pulled it out for her saying to 'take a load off, you've been working hard'.
Amanda looked around and Katherine immediately knew she was looking or rather listening to hear for Shelby and Rachel. After handing her the cup of coffee and passing her the cream and sugar, Katherine informed the blonde why she wasn't seeing or hearing who she came here for.
"Rachel has a fever along with an ear infection, Shelby went upstairs when she woke up from her nap almost two hours ago and once the baby was fed, it seems like they both fell asleep together."
"Rachel's sick? Oh gosh," Amanda put her hand over her mouth. Shelby really didn't need the added stress of the bull shit Hiram was pulling right now. "Do y'all need anything? Not to say that Shelby wouldn't have it here already because I know she's an amazing mother…"
Thomas did the same thing he did with Shelby earlier, put a hand on the blondes shoulder to stop the rambling, "We understood what you meant. The pediatrician made a house call earlier so Shelby has the antibiotics for Rachel and plenty of children's Tylenol here which is exactly what she needs." Amanda nodded at this and Thomas continued.
"Thank you though, you've already gone above and beyond. My wife and I were talking about your dedication to helping our daughter and granddaughter earlier today and this was before your lieutenant told us you were the one to figure out there was more to this case. We don't know how to thank you for everything you've done already."
Amanda felt like a fraud knowing they didn't even have Hiram in custody yet and here Shelby's parents were being so nice and thanking her. "I umm, I'm just doing my job; I wish I figured out what was going to happen before we drove back to the city. I'm so sorry."
"There's no need to apologize honey, you couldn't have known," Katherine said, surprising herself that she was keeping it together. "Plus, we know you're the one who is working overtime each and everyday when the other detectives go home."
Amanda blushed, she didn't realize Olivia had informed them of this. All I wanted to do was check on Shelby and Rachel now I'm being thanked for doing my job poorly and embarrassed all at the same time. They are all such incredible people.
Shelby woke up and was a bit confused. She didn't remember falling asleep yet, she clearly did because she was laying in bed with her little angel on top of her chest and realized it was much later than when she came upstairs to nurse Rachel.
She gently moved the tiny overheating body off of her and into the middle of the bed, pressing a kiss to her temple then went to freshen herself up. Making sure Rachel was still asleep, she turned on the baby monitor and then went downstairs.
Shelby was confused hearing a third voice coming from her kitchen—she was quite positive Olivia wouldn't have stayed much longer after she excused herself to go upstairs so who the hell was in her house? I'm not really in the mood to entertain anyone, she thought to herself.
Shelby smiled though when she reached the bottom of the stairs seeing Amanda having coffee with her parents. She would be lying if she said she didn't wish it was Cass here instead of the other blonde, but maybe Amanda had some news for her; plus, it was sweet to see her 'checking on them' like she told Shelby on the phone earlier.
Oh shit, I still need to tell Cass, April and Holly what's going on…I'll do it later, Shelby thought to herself before making her way into the kitchen.
"Hi sweetie, did you have a nice nap?" Katherine asked, seeing Shelby first.
"Yeah, I didn't mean to fall asleep though; I'm sorry," Shelby stated, massaging her temples. Not giving either of her parents the chance to respond to her falling asleep, she smiled at the blonde. "Hi Amanda, thank you for stopping by. Is there any new news?"
Amanda looked up and gave Shelby a small smile, "Actually, there is."