The next few weeks seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Rachel loved her first Christmas—even though she didn't really understand everything, it was an amazing day. Christmas Eve they made cookies which really made the baby happy, and Christmas morning she, mommy, and Tassie opened presents around the elegantly decorated Christmas tree where three beautiful stockings hung nearby.
Shelby gave her parents an early present, plane tickets home to celebrate with everyone seeing as that's what they always did. Christmas was always celebrated at the Corcoran family home and knowing Rachel wasn't ready to meet her uncles and aunt nevermind all her cousins yet, Shelby decided her parents should be home.
They did a big zoom call as Rachel napped so Shelby could speak with all her nieces and nephews along with her siblings and parents; something she has done for the past three years even though she was heartbroken, she at least wanted her nieces and nephews to hear from her before she quickly hung up…this year was different though, and she spent nearly all of Rachel's nap talking with everyone.
Then later on in the day they FaceTimed with just nana and papa where Rachel 'told them' all about her new toys and her special day. With the help of mommy, Rachel was able to show them not just her presents but the Christmas tree and, what her mommy called stockings, where there were more toys inside. The grandparents thought it was adorable and were overjoyed to see the constant smile on her little face.
Nana and papa were definitely missed however, because Rachel was having such a fun day with mommy and her Tassie, it's fair to say she had an incredible day. They all did; it was the first Christmas in four years considering she didn't see her parents the year she was pregnant where Shelby felt happy, overjoyed, and blissfully complete.
Shelby broke down into happy tears at the scrapbook Cassie made for her, the blonde making sure Rachel was down for her nap before giving it to her girlfriend for that reason. They actually exchanged most of the gifts they got each other while Rachel took her second nap knowing Rachel wouldn't understand what happy tears were.
She was also gifted matching jewelry: a necklace, bracelet and ring although the necklace had Rachel's name engraved into it—Cassie made sure to tell Shelby it was from her and Rachel even though the baby obviously didn't know it was from her too.
Shelby was able to help Rachel do some finger painting while Cassie was back at work to wrap up for her—she also painted 'pwetty p'ters' for nana, papa, Auntie Addie and extras which Shelby sent home with her parents as well for her other siblings.
Rachel didn't completely understand who the other pictures were for because the FaceTime's with her siblings were brief for the baby—but she was always overjoyed to get to finger-paint especially knowing mommy would hang it up or nana and papa would at their home.
Cassie was given a necklace as well seeing as she didn't wear bracelets or rings (although she will wear a wedding band one day, as the blonde often tells herself). The necklace had two hearts, one bigger than the other symbolizing Shelby and Rachel because Cassie held their hearts. Cassie cried tears of joy and happiness at the necklace—it was so special to her.
Shelby also bought Cassie a new car, although it was currently residing in the garage of their new home in Akron so she opened a box with a picture of it—the brunette knew Cassie's car needed upgrading (even though it was only two years old).
Shelby also knew Cassie wasn't planning on paying to have them ship it when they moved stating she was leaving it to Holly who could use the upgrade. Shelby told Cassie she bought it so they could match as there was actually another new car in their Akron garage waiting for Shelby as well—she also used the excuse of Rachel who needed all the safety bells and whistles.
Range Rovers for both of them and Cassie was beside herself—leave it to the blonde to love cars so much. She knew everything about them, seeing as she secretly or not so secretly spent lots of time on the Range Rover website designing her 'dream car' that was now a reality.
Cassie had her trust funds however, living in one of the busiest cities bought herself a BMW sedan to get around in seeing as it was easier than navigating a huge car. She did love Range Rovers though—pointing them out wherever they went and knowing everything about them.
Shelby never had a car in the city because she had her car service—April had the car service as well meaning Holly and Cassie were the only ones with cars. Because Shelby had a designated parking spot in the penthouse garage, she decided when they eventually started traveling back and forth to the city, she'd get another car.
To say they had a magical Christmas would be an understatement—it was absolutely perfect and not because of any of the presents, because of Rachel who was not only physically with them, but who also had a smile on her face all day long.
Rachel was loving each and every outing mommy and Cassie took her on over the last few weeks—she also loved when nana and papa would come too which they did before leaving for Christmas in Columbus, and when the returned.
When Shelby and Cassie actually spent the time to search for activities, they found multiple things to do out of the house and places that were happy to accommodate a backroom or a few hours where they had the place to themselves.
Shelby was doing well with using her fame to get her certain things for Rachel—and surprisingly, she didn't feel incredibly guilty about it either knowing this is what her daughter needed right now. She was hoping by the time they got to Akron where things weren't so hectic all the time, it would be easier to take Rachel out and about.
Cassie and Shelby talked about it all the time—even being able to take Rachel outside their house and into the backyard would be amazing. Granted, they'd need the weather to warm up a bit but until then, their house had plenty of fun things to do and they would also find local activities similar to the ones in New York.
This week the trial began meaning, Addie was flying back along with her brothers who were going to stay at a nearby hotel wanting to be in the courtroom while they nailed the son of a bitch who caused their niece and in return, sister, so much harm.
Jeremy and Jacob were excited to see their sister perform, and hopefully visit at her house as well—not to mention, they were also happy to get to see their parents for the first time in almost a month besides Christmas which was great. Even though they were 37 and 35 years old, the brothers loved their parents and missed seeing them so often.
They had also FaceTimed with Rachel, however, it was more so with Shelby and Cassie when the blonde was home seeing as the baby didn't really understand the whole FaceTime thing when it wasn't someone she knew.
She loved FaceTime when nana and papa were gone for those two days when they went home to get new clothes to 'not be stinky', and loved it when Addie would FaceTime since her first visit—but because she didn't know her uncles or her other aunt, those FaceTime's were more of them watching Rachel play with her toys while the adults spoke.
It did give the baby the opportunity to get used to their voices which was good because unbeknown to Shelby and Cassie, Rachel spent a lot of time listening to the different voices and deciding in her little mind if they were good or bad.
The FaceTime's with Lexie confused Rachel the most because this Auntie Lexie lady sounded and looked a lot like mommy and Auntie Addie to her—Shelby had tried to explain again how siblings worked to her daughter however, it seemed she was still having a hard time grasping onto what it really meant.
Due to the holiday break, Lexie was also able to fly with her siblings to the city and was staying with her parents as well. Addie and Lexie would have to share a bed, but considering it was a queen and there was plenty of space, they didn't care. It reminded Lexie of when she was younger when she and Shelby would have 'sleepovers' in each others rooms.
Lexie was beyond excited to meet her niece in person—she was head over heels in love with all the pictures, videos and FaceTime's however, she was ready to meet the little princess. Addie had prepared her the best she could, as did their parents however, as Addie and the grandparents already knew, there's not enough preparation in the world.
Even though Rachel had now been with her mommy for about six weeks, she had only gained 2lbs which didn't do anything to hide how small she is. Arizona knew this would most likely happen, she compared Rachel to a newborn explaining how when babies were brought home from the hospital, they typically dropped weight before gaining that weight back and then more.
Although Rachel didn't drop weight, she didn't gain right away either; and then when she started, it happened by ounces and not pounds. It broke everyone's hearts but there was nothing they could do besides continue to feed Rachel the way she was eating now, while Shelby continued to breastfeed.
Slowly, she would gain weight although it would take months for that weight to actually be noticed and she'd never be the size of an average little girl her age. As long as she continued to put on weight, even if painfully slow, it was progress that Arizona was happy with.
Shelby's contract, although almost finished would continue even with the trial and because they didn't need her nor would she be attending, she and Cassie planned to keep busy. The blonde took another week off so she could support her girlfriend even though her family would be there as well.
They'd have to see how much of the press got wind of everything happening before keeping up with their typical outings because even though Shelby could get places cleared out so they could have the place to themselves, there might be too much paparazzi around them again.
Not to mention, having her siblings here meant Rachel would have new visitors which took a lot out of the baby and mother, so outings may not even be an issue. Of course Shelby wanted to continue getting Rachel out of the house, however, if the paparazzi was too out of hand she'd keep her inside to save her from being absolutely terrified.
Amanda and Olivia were heading over to the courthouse to meet with Alex before the trial started and were met by one familiar face, along with two men who the women could only assume were Shelby's brothers as not only did they look exactly like Thomas with Katherine's hazel eyes, they looked like Shelby.
"Hello Amanda," Thomas greeted her first then looked at the brunette, "Lieutenant Benson," he nodded. He was much more familiar with Amanda who had not only checked in regularly with Shelby via phone but in person as well when Thomas and Katherine were there.
Amanda was also the one who let Shelby have her five minutes with Hiram about three weeks ago, something everyone was worried about but knew the mother needed. Thomas was the one who went with her and was able to speak with Amanda during that time as well.
Shelby was terrified to leave the house during Rachel's nap seeing as if the baby woke up, she wouldn't be there however, after speaking with Cassie and her mother who would be staying at the penthouse assuring her it would be okay, she left knowing she needed to do this.
Shelby was able to not only get those five minutes, but also make it back before Rachel woke up with a special treat from the café near her penthouse.
Thomas went with her and watched through the glass with Amanda who told Shelby she wouldn't go in unless the brunette became too emotional or got out of control. It's also another reason why Thomas went with his daughter knowing he could easily help her calm down if need be. Not to mention his need to see the piece of scum before the trial.
Flashback:
Shelby and Thomas entered the station with Amanda who picked them up from the penthouse in an unmarked black sedan knowing it would be better for them having a familiar face on the way there and to answer any questions before the little 'chat'.
Hiram was transferred from Rikers for this 'meet and greet' seeing as the station was much closer than Rikers, and they were easily able to pull some strings. Anyone famous the squad has ever worked with always asked for things left and right, not Shelby though, and the least they could do was have Hiram brought over for this special visit.
Shelby looked through the glass and saw Hiram cuffed to the table, a scowl on his face, sporting his prison jumpsuit. The anger coursed through her veins seeing him although, she couldn't help but smirk at the bruises that were evident on his face. Seems as if some prisoners got to him, but she didn't care, he deserved it and a lot worse in her mind.
After getting the go ahead from Amanda, Shelby entered alone. Hiram picked up his head and you could see the anger building in him the second he saw Shelby but that didn't turn her away. She knew he had absolutely no reason to be angry with her however, heard the bullshit reasoning's he gave to the detectives once they got him talking.
It physically made her sick hearing what he said to them—she didn't care what he said about her, what she did care about was what he did to her baby. He seemed smug about it, almost proud that he would leave her for hours at a time, not feed her, take away her binky and giraffe just to make her cry, lock her in an empty room…
He would get drunk and scream at her, hell he didn't need to be drunk to constantly yell and belittle her, call her names that the baby wouldn't understand (thankfully), and treat her like absolute shit for no reason—even though she's an innocent baby, he didn't care and that didn't stop his behavior.
What the detectives didn't know was more of Leroy's deathbed confessions where Leroy was the one to suggest Hiram give Rachel back to Shelby—he had a guilty conscience about everything they put the baby through as he was dying, and about the forged documents. Leroy said over and over to Hiram, 'a little girl needs her mommy', which pissed Hiram off even more.
Shelby didn't even give Hiram a chance to speak before she started in on him—she screamed in his face for one, yelled about how he was going to rot in prison for the rest of his miserable life, told him about what she knew, and how amazing her baby's life was now that she wasn't with scum anymore.
Shelby made it a point to keep bringing up the fact Rachel was hers, and had absolutely no part of him which was an amazing thing considering he wasn't more than a piece of trash that people would now stomp all over as payback for what he did to her baby.
He tried to stand up however, Shelby pushed him back down in the seat—she may look small on the outside but she was strong as hell, and her momma bear mode gave her super strength.
At the end of her five minutes, which was truly all she needed to break him with words, she smacked him across the face feeling extremely smug herself at the look of pure shock on his face afterwards.
Shelby has never been a violent person, but damn did that smack make her feel better. Not to mention the fact he already had a black eye on the side where she hit him.
Intentional? Absolutely. Message delivered: do not mess with my daughter. Also, 'enjoy being known in prison as a man who hurts sweet innocent girls'. Exaggeration? Only because of the fact she used girls plural (and Rachel was a baby), but Shelby didn't care in the least.
Rumors like that spread faster than wild fire in prisons, and he'd be the perfect bait. Shelby walked out of the interrogation room feeling better than ever even though her veins were pumping full of adrenaline.
Of course she still had a long way to go with Rachel and her own healing to do, but they'd get through this. She had her beautiful baby back, and mommy will always be there to protect her and keep her safe: forever.
No one would ever mention the smack Shelby delivered, or the fact Hiram thought he could press charges against her for it. They'd never stick considering 'nobody' saw it. In reality, Amanda gave Thomas a high five after Shelby smacked him and said, 'Your daughter's got a mean left hook' to which Thomas agreed.
End of Flashback.
"Mr…Thomas," Amanda corrected herself knowing he didn't like it when she called him Mr. Corcoran, he said it was too formal. "It's nice to see you, how are Shelby and Rachel doing?"
"They are," he pondered for the right word, "…doing as well as can be expected seeing today is a big day. These are my sons, Jeremy and Jacob. We will all be here for the trial while Katherine and my two daughters spend the day with Shelby, Rachel and Cassie," he explained.
"Jeremy, Jake, these are the detectives who went above and beyond for our family; Lieutenant Benson and Detective Rollins, as well as the rest of the squad members whom are wonderful people." Thomas signaled each women as he spoke.
Jeremy was the first to shake their hands, and after greeting them made sure to comment exactly what he was thinking, "We've heard so much about both of you. Lieutenant, you have an incredible squad that you should be very proud of: thank you. And Amanda, thank you so much for all you personally did to nail this prick—our family can't properly express how much everything you have done means to us."
Jake nodded along, "Seriously, you two don't know how much it means for you two to not only be here today, but for everything you've done for our sister and niece. Thank you for treating Shelby like a human being…" he let that sentence stand on it's own knowing the significance of it, especially to their sister.
"We were just doing our jobs," Olivia replied with a smile.
"No," Thomas denied immediately. "You've gone above and beyond. I'm so happy I was able to introduce you to my sons before the trial started, it's actually why we are here a bit early. We also wanted to thank your ADA, I think Shelby said her name was Alex? We know she's already done a lot of work for the case and if she had a minute I, we, personally wanted to thank her beforehand."
Olivia and Amanda both smiled—these Corcoran's were the most polite and grateful family. They've worked with thousands of families however, none have been so adamant about calling random times throughout the process to thank them, bringing in baked goods (which Katherine has done with Thomas, even though she was the one to bake them), and send food to the squad room on numerous occasions.
Shelby also sent flowers to Olivia, Amanda, and Alex to 'brighten' up the squad room and Alex's office to thank them seeing as the men wouldn't appreciate the flowers like the women would. She sent them after Hiram was arraigned for what seemed like everything in the book to Shelby because Alex was hitting him with everything.
"Yes, her name is Alex," Olivia replied. "We were just on our way to meet her now, you can join us."
"Perfect!" Thomas smiled and they all walked in together.
While walking in, Amanda asked how the rest of the family was doing to which Thomas answered, "My youngest, Lexie met Rachel yesterday for the first time which she was thrilled about. Today they are taking Rachel to the indoor play area which will be great for her seeing as she loves it there."
Jake interrupted his dad, "Lexie will probably love it too, she's still a child."
"How old is she?" Olivia asked, not knowing much about the rest of the family besides Katherine and Thomas who have been there all but the first time she met Shelby and Rachel.
"19, but she practically grew up with my children," Jeremy said, causing the two women to look at him a bit funny. "Lexie was mom and dad's oopsies baby."
Jake and Jeremy laughed while Thomas just shrugged, "She definitely was a surprise—we thought Shelby was our last and she was our first surprise; it worked out for the best though seeing as Shelby had someone to grow up with considering the age gap between Addie and Shelby is 9 years not to mention the boys."
It then clicked for Olivia and Amanda as to why Jeremy said what he said. "Jake, Addie and myself all followed in our parents footsteps and married young, starting our families young as well. Lexie was 5 when my wife had our first, 8 when Jacob and his wife had their first and 12 when Addie had what we always thought was the youngest grandchild of the bunch until Shelby told us about Rachel."
"Between the three of us, we had 8 children as Lexie was growing up, now there's 9 grandchildren," Jake continued to explain.
They spoke for a bit longer, Olivia learning more and more about the Corcoran family considering Amanda already knew a lot of this seeing as she has had coffee a few more times since that first encounter with Katherine and Thomas weeks ago.
Amanda seemed to always end up staying for coffee, and while Shelby put Rachel down for a nap, ended up talking to the grandparents who would not only ask about her life but tell them about theirs.
Truthfully, if Shelby was staying in the city, Amanda and Olivia would most likely end up being friends with the brunette. That being said, Amanda sees herself at least maintaining some type of connection with her after the case is over seeing as she's become close with the grandparents too.
Katherine and Thomas have even mentioned seeing her one day in Ohio when she comes to visit Shelby, Rachel and Cassie. Traditional police work? No. But that's who the Corcoran's were—they loved meeting new people, and not only that, Amanda has been so adamant about constantly making sure their daughter and granddaughter were okay it warmed their hearts.
It's not as if Ohio was a great vacation spot, but the house Shelby bought definitely was. Katherine and Thomas after learning about Amanda's troubled family quickly took the blonde under their wing for lack of better words and made it known to her she could always reach out to them. Amanda hasn't felt so welcomed in a long time.
Eventually they made it to Alex where another set of introductions were made along with multiple 'thank you's' from all three men. Alex was very shocked to say the least considering the trial hadn't even begun yet however, after receiving flowers and multiple dinners of her own along with thank you voicemails from the grandparents as well, she really shouldn't have been. She wished everyone she represented were like the Corcoran's in terms of respect and gratitude for her just doing her job.
While the trial began, Shelby, Rachel, Cassie, Katherine, Addie and Lexie were at the indoor playground. Rachel had only met Lexie yesterday but when the baby realized she would play with her toys too, the baby warmed up faster than she has with anyone except Cassie. The blonde still held the record for that and she was very proud of it too.
Rachel squealed in excitement being when they arrived at the indoor playground—she loved it when mommy brought her here seeing as there was so many fun things to do.
Because it was specifically designed for babies/toddlers, everything was the perfect size for her just like her trampoline at home. Even though she remembers going down the slide with her mommy when they were outside that one time, the slides here she could go down by herself.
The trampolines were the only things bigger here but that excited Rachel because not only were they bigger than the one at home, but mommy could bounce with her too. Rachel suddenly stopped bouncing while watching, who mommy called her, Auntie Lexie jump into the foam pit. The brothers were right in their assessment, Lexie loved the playground just as much as the baby did.
Shelby wasn't really bouncing knowing if she did she'd double bounce Rachel by accident which wouldn't be good seeing as she was so small, so when Rachel stopped bouncing, she followed her line of site.
The foam pit was something Rachel never went into—even when Cassie threw herself in there, ready to catch Rachel, the baby always shook her little head no and pointed to do something else instead.
"What do you think baby? Is Auntie Lexie so silly?" Shelby teased, squatting down to be eye level with her daughter as they watched Lexie struggle to get herself out after throwing herself into the pit without a care in the world.
"Siwee mommy," Rachel agreed and started to giggle at her aunts expense.
"Do you want to try too?" Shelby questioned, and Rachel immediately shook her little head no. "Okay baby girl, should we keep bouncing or go do something else?"
Rachel looked around trying to decide. She saw nana sitting on one of the benches and realized that's not what she wanted to do; she saw Lexie still struggling to get herself out of the foam pit and knew she didn't want to do that either especially after she heard Lexie tell nana she lost her sock.
Rachel didn't want to lose her socks too, and in her little mind, she assumed that would happen if she jumped in there.
Then she saw Auntie Addie and Cassie sitting on the swings and realized that's what she wanted to do. They had what Shelby called 'mommy swings' next to the baby swings which is where the two adults were sitting.
Addie was recording Lexie's many failed attempts at getting out of the foam pit while laughing, and Cassie was snapping pictures of Shelby and Rachel until they stopped bouncing.
"Simgs mommy, me, me!" Rachel bounced up and down while pointing her little finger.
"You want to go on the swings?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. She then scooped Rachel up and held her above her head peppering kisses all over her face—every head spun to look at the mother and daughter as Rachel's laugh echoed through the gym.
They spent the next fifteen-twenty minutes on the swings listening to the squeals and babbles from yours truly as she kicked her little feet and Shelby pretended to get hit by them each time. Rachel thought it was so much fun and couldn't contain the giggles each time she 'hit' her mommy with her little piggy's.
Katherine was in charge of the phones while watching everyone, hence why she was sitting on bench. She knew her husband would be updating her on how the trial was going when he could and was also sitting with the diaper bag and Shelby's phone seeing as the mother knew everyone else was snapping pictures and videos.
Back in the courtroom the three Corcoran men were not only tossing dirty looks and glares towards Hiram, but were clenching their fists in anger hearing what they already knew. Thomas however, also felt the pain in his heart hearing everything again.
Especially because Alex was currently introducing the evidence found in Maine regarding his little girl, his favorite child, even though he'd never admit it. Shelby has always held that extra soft spot in his heart, although he loves all of his children more than anything in the world along with his wife, there was just something special about Shelby.
He always thought it was their matching piercing green eyes, along with the fact she was his wife's mini who had a dream since the age of three and made it happen—he really couldn't describe it and would never bring it up. He treated all of his children equally, and always will…there was just something special about his little princess.
Maybe because Addie grew up with her brothers wanting to do everything they did and Shelby was the first to actually enjoy all things pink and princesses? Honestly, Thomas didn't know—even though he did know he shouldn't have a favorite. Family was everything to Thomas Corcoran and he would always do anything and everything for any of his children and grandchildren.
That being said, right now he was seeing this evidence for the first time and even though he knew about it because Shelby told him and Katherine then they relayed it onto their children, it was causing him to feel immense anger towards the asshat sharing the same air in the courtroom. Hiram had no right to not only stalk his baby girl, nor do what he did to his littlest grandbaby.
Jeremy and Jacob could barely contain their anger—luckily, they knew if they reacted in a negative way it wouldn't be good for the trial so they stayed quiet but their inner monologues were going crazy with what they wanted to do to Hiram.
They felt zero sympathy seeing the man limp into the courtroom, a fresh black eye on his face, and hearing his lawyer explain how he was beaten by another prisoner trying to gain sympathy from the members of the jury which wouldn't happen.
If anything, the brothers only wished they could have beaten the man themselves instead of someone from the prison. Even though neither of them were violent, when you mess with their sisters, it's always fair game.
They had already heard Al's testimony and saw the video of the bastard literally dumping their hysterically crying niece on the sidewalk however, not wanting to give Hiram the satisfaction of knowing how upset it made them, tried to contain their tears when they saw him smirking at them.
Thomas however, couldn't help but let his tears fall while Jeremy and Jacob made fists so tight they nearly could have made themselves bleed. The brothers wanted to smack that smirk off his face but saw the jury members looking at the evil piece of scum and knew they'd be thinking what the family was feeling.
It was clear looking at the members of the jury that everyone was horrified seeing the video, audible gasps were heard—every women and a few of the men also had tears in their eyes after seeing it. Not to mention the women wiping their tears after hearing how Al prevented the baby from being hit by a taxi.
That was a detail Shelby knew however, with everything she's been through either forgot or intentionally didn't mention to her parents, meaning the siblings didn't know. If you asked Shelby, she herself didn't forget the detail, she did forget to mention it to her parents though—it wasn't intentional.
That detail earned a gasp from not only the women on the jury, but Thomas as well. Amanda who was sitting next to him felt badly seeing as he clearly didn't know—she knew how hard this would be for the family…it was hard for her and she wasn't family, and was honestly relieved that Katherine didn't come.
Naptime came for Rachel the minute they got home from the indoor playground—they had picked up lunch on the way for everyone however, the baby wanted nothing to do with it. She tugged on her mommy's shirt and made it abundantly clear real food was not something she wanted anything to do with right now.
Shelby told everyone to eat and took Rachel upstairs to nurse her. Rachel nursed for forty minutes getting herself a 'full meal' without eating what they ordered for her at the restaurant—clearly seeking not only comfort but nutrients as well from mommy; Shelby knew they could heat up what they ordered for Rachel later for her or for dinner instead.
"Go to sleep baby girl, mommy's got you," Shelby said, wiping the corners of Rachel's mouth where the excess milk was gathering. She gently stroked her cheek until the fluttering eyes closed fully and then kissed her temple.
"Mommy loves you so much, my sweet little angel."
Downstairs, Lexie and Addie were asking their mother if they heard anything from their father regarding the trial as they cleaned up lunch. Shelby had been upstairs for a long time, so long they had already ate their lunch.
Cassie went upstairs to check on Shelby leaving the Corcoran's to talk. Even though she felt completely comfortable and loved them all, she gave them some space wanting to check in with her girlfriend herself.
She knew today was hard on Shelby—she also knew they could communicate without really talking; Rachel may have extremely expressive eyes, but so does her mother which Cassie absolutely loves. It's evident the baby didn't get her eye color from Shelby, however, she did get her expressiveness along with everything else.
Katherine handed her cellphone over to the girls who read the messages from their father, basically stating 'it's going', 'it's not easy, but I'm glad we're here', 'lunch break now', essentially not giving the sisters much to go by so they took out their own phones to send messages to their brothers who would hopefully tell them more.
Cassie walked into what they now considering their bedroom and saw Shelby rocking a sleeping Rachel, her shirt still bunched up meaning the baby must have just fallen asleep after nursing. She smiled and walked over to them, kissing the top of Rachel's head then Shelby's lips.
"You okay?" Cassie asked.
"I am—obviously she doesn't know what's going on," she signaled the sleeping baby in her arms, "…but maybe she feels something is off? Why else wouldn't she want her lunch?"
Cassie didn't know how to answer that so she simply shrugged. "Mommy's milp is better," she winked, using Rachel's words hoping to gain a smile from her girlfriend.
Cassie was successful seeing as Shelby smiled; she loved hearing her daughter's little voice especially when certain letters just didn't seem to be in her vocabulary yet like her k's and c's.
"Did you eat?" Shelby asked her girlfriend knowing she would be the one to wait for Shelby letting the others eat together so they could eat together.
Cassie briefly looked away giving Shelby her answer, "Babe, you should have eaten. I can hear your talking tummy," she laughed and so did the blonde.
"My talking tummy is waiting for you."
"Well I appreciate that. I know I should lay her down, I just…I needed a little extra snuggle time I guess."
"You don't need to explain honey, I get it. We all do. Hopefully Alex is right and things will be wrapped up in three days at most."
"Honestly, I'm more worried about my dad sitting there everyday and listening to what is being said." Shelby held up her hand before Cassie could say anything. "I know, he's already heard everything that's going to be said but it's still not easy to hear."
"If it's too much for him, hopefully he will take a break—with your brothers being there one of them can take him out for some coffee or something right, maybe even a doughnut?" Cassie joked seeing as he always 'complained' that Katherine never let him have any treats.
Shelby and Cassie laughed at that—it's true, her mother always made sure her father ate well but seeing as Rachel was getting to experience all these special treats, he would give Katherine a 'hard time' stating he wanted one too.
Even though Shelby's brothers wanted to be in the courtroom the entire time, part of the reason why they are going is for their father so he wasn't alone and because they will know if he needs a break. They didn't tell Thomas that though—however, none of the siblings felt badly about keeping it from him because…it's their dad.
"Yeah, and he'll obviously go it's just…I know I don't want to be there, I can't be there," Shelby shuttered at the thought—she wasn't only not going because of Rachel, she knew she'd completely lose it if she went.
"I just feel badly they are there, you know?" Shelby asked, almost pleadingly.
They also decided in their sibling group chat, which there were two of considering one had Lexie in it and the other didn't knowing she was still too young according to all of them, that the brothers would tell their father they needed a break instead of asking if he needed one.
Thomas would never let his child go out alone if they were in distress, so they all figured that was the best way to get him out of there if either brother thought he needed a break.
"I know you do babe, however there's no reason for you to take that on—especially on top of everything else you're handling. They chose to go Shel, you didn't force them; and they want to be there to support you and Rachel because you two are their family. If they didn't want to be there, they wouldn't be."
"You're right," Shelby reluctantly agreed; she couldn't help but feel guilty however, knew she shouldn't because if the roles were reversed she'd be there to support her siblings.
"And you better remember it, because me being right doesn't happen often," Cassie winked. "Let's put this little one down so we can get some lunch in you babe."
Shelby kissed Rachel's temple one more time before laying her in the bassinette and hugging Cassie. They shared a kiss then watched Rachel for a few more minutes before going downstairs to be with the rest of the family.
"I love you baby girl, sweet dreams," Shelby whispered, taking Cassie's hand and closing the door leaving it slightly ajar on the way out.
After Shelby and Cassie ate the brunettes phone rang. "Hello," she quickly answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Hi Shelly," her brothers voice sounded through the phone.
Knowing her father would tell her about court, Shelby didn't even bother asking. "What's going on Jake? How are you holding up?"
Four sets of ears perked up hearing Shelby say Jake's name as Rachel continued to play not knowing anything was going on besides the fact her two aunties were at her house instead of just mommy, Cassie and nana.
Rachel did ask earlier in the day where papa was, however mommy explained this week he was spending time with her uncles, not knowing how long the trial would last, and told her he'd be coming over for dinners.
Rachel didn't really like the fact he wasn't here with her because in her little mind he was her papa not what her mommy called uncles, however, being just a baby and having her aunts there meant she was quickly distracted.
Shelby was curious to see how Rachel would react when they moved to Akron, being able to meet her cousins learning papa wasn't only hers; he was papa to eight others.
That being said, even Addie's youngest was old enough to understand that Rachel hasn't had the same childhood as the rest of the grandchildren and would need some special time with their grandparents.
Addie has left out most of what the baby has endured when explaining Rachel to her children while Jake and Jeremy have told their children most everything considering they are old enough to understand—they have left out a few details knowing they are still kids, even the teenagers but for the most part they know a lot.
They all think it's super cute how Rachel 'claims' the people she loves and understand that they will most likely meet her slowly meaning, each little family at a time. Honestly, Jake and Jeremy's kids were hoping Rachel would claim them as well and were very excited to have another baby in the family.
"We're all okay, really," Jake assured. Even though they were livid and heartbroken hearing everything and seeing the piece of scum in person for the first time (besides Thomas who saw Hiram in the squad room), they were keeping it together for their sister.
"I was actually calling to see if mom has started anything for dinner, dad said he would pick something up for everyone if mom hasn't taken over the kitchen," he laughed knowing that's what his mother did wherever she was. It didn't matter which house she was at, her own or her children's, she took over the kitchen.
"We haven't decided on dinner yet however, we did have food from Melotti's for lunch so Italian is definitely off the menu. D-a-d-d-y can pick anything else though, he knows what we like," Shelby said, spelling out daddy knowing Rachel still tenses at the word.
They found that out by mistake when Lexie said 'bye daddy' earlier before he left for the courthouse—he walked the girls and his wife over to the penthouse wanting to quickly give Shelby and Rachel a kiss and the piece of banana bread he specifically got for the baby along with the coffees they picked up on the way over.
Luckily Rachel was already in Shelby's arms when Lexie said it so she was able to console her, taking her into the living room to play with some toys as a quick distraction after whispering sweet nothings and bouncing her a bit. The younger brunette felt absolutely awful about it however, Shelby waved it off knowing her daughter would be okay in a few minutes: and she was.
Shelby knew Jake wanted to ask her something considering if they were only calling about dinner, her father would have called her not Jake—not to mention the fact Lexie and Addie were meeting their brothers for dinner tonight...
"Okay, I'll let him know. So umm," Jake was never one to get nervous causing Shelby to feel a bit anxious in return.
She thought it was about the trial until he asked, "Jeremy and I were hoping we could take turns meeting Rachel once the trial is over, you know, so we don't overwhelm her if that's okay? I know it's probably best to do during the day instead of after court because it's late…"
Shelby smiled at her brother even though he couldn't see her; he was always so thoughtful; both her brothers were, even more so since they found out about their little niece it seems like though. And not when they found about Shelby getting her back, but when they found out their sister was pregnant in the first place and everything that followed a few years ago.
"That sounds like a good plan, you can figure out who wants to go first yourselves, I'm not deciding for you two though. Or ask Addie and Lexie for help," Shelby whispered the last part, feeling a nudge in her side from Cassie who heard, and smirked at her.
"We both can't wait Shelly, and can't wait to see you too," he added.
"Smooth," Shelby laughed. "I can't wait to see you two either. I love you."
"I love you too, give Rachel a kiss from both of us. Dad said he's going to grab dinner then he'll be there—Jeremy and I are going back to the hotel to freshen up, tell Addie and Lexie to decide where they want to go and have them text us."
"I'll let them know, and I'll give plenty of kisses to my little one."
"Perfect, bye squirt." Jake hung up the phone before Shelby could give him a hard time about the nickname.
She then tossed her phone on the couch, walked over and scooped Rachel up from her spot on the floor where she was playing with her toys hearing a squeal that turned into a fit of laughter as she lifted the baby above her head and peppered kisses all over face.
As she sat on the floor with Rachel in her lap so she could continue playing, Shelby kissed the top of her head and whispered, "You have so many people who love you baby girl."
After relaying the conversation to the adults in the room as she helped Rachel put together the puzzle she was working on before Shelby interrupted her with kisses, she got lost in thought smiling about how excited Jake sounded on the phone about meeting Rachel and knew Jeremy was feeling the same way.
She couldn't wait for the trial to be over—not only because it would be one less thing to stress over, but because then her brothers could meet her sweet little angel. Even though Rachel will most likely be afraid to begin with, she's hoping once the baby realizes they are both 'good' and extremely nice, everything will work out for the best.
Right now though, she's just happy at how taken the baby is with her parents and sisters. Not to mention April, Holly, and especially her Tassie. Slowly but surely, Rachel is learning how to interact with her family, and realize that not everyone is bad.
Time.
Rachel needs time to warm up to people; luckily, due to Lexie's school vacation and her brothers children being old enough and their wives being so amazing, they are all staying for two weeks giving them plenty of time. The baby already seems comfortable around Lexie, most likely because she's not only a big kid who loves to play with Rachel, but also looks and sounds like mommy and Auntie Addie.
Time.
Something Rachel has plenty of and something Shelby thought she'd never have with her baby girl. Now they have all the time in the world to not only spend with each other, but their family who one day, the baby will come to realize always love her, support her, protect her, and be there for her: no matter what.
Up next: Rachel meets her uncles :)
I know not everyone is a fan of the SVU side of things, however I feel the need to complete the trial before moving onto full family fun.
