I'm so sorry for the delay. My wife has recovered from Covid which is great, what's not so great was when one of my little ones smashed my laptop by accident. My wife decided it was time to upgrade our laptops anyways so it took a bit longer than normal seeing as doing anything with five little ones takes time. Anyways, here's the update! Sorry it's so short.
Katherine's 'world famous' dessert had been nearly licked off of Lexie's plate by the time she was finished with it and Rachel wasn't far behind her aunt there—however, Rachel is a baby and currently, she was innocently licking her little fingers while her eyes locked with her mommy's.
No, Lexie didn't actually lick the plate but the way she polished off her trifle consisted of practically doing the same thing. Even at 19, she could easily slip into being 'one of the kids', as everyone points out when they get together as a family.
Lexie always plays with, who are technically her nieces and nephews, even when she grew up with most of them and up—until she graduated high school, she even always sat at the kids table too. It was where she preferred to be most of the time anyways; they loved her like crazy though.
Of course, when you have more than one child all of your children will always be your babies, but to Katherine and Thomas, Lexie is the baby of the family and obviously the siblings agree seeing as she's the youngest. Although, Shelby just sees Lexie as her little sister because their age gap isn't that significant in her eyes when you compare it to the rest of her siblings.
There were things they kept from Lexie regarding everything with Hiram and the investigation, but that was only because of the fact she really didn't need to know about all the horrific details, especially while in college—in that situation and in others like it (although nothing compares to what Rachel has been through), they do treat Lexie with kid gloves.
Hell, there were some moments Shelby wished she didn't know everything even though she specifically asked the detectives to tell her everything they knew. Honestly, she just felt so badly for letting her little baby down—if she had just told her parents, one of her siblings, someone, Rachel could have been with her from day one.
Screw Broadway if she was able to keep her baby girl; but everything comes with a price and not just in the sense of dollar signs—if Shelby hadn't gone through with the surrogacy in the first place, her father wouldn't have made it. Now however, she has a completely healthy father and even though she has what looks, feels, and most of the time acts like a baby back, her little one has a long way to go. Never alone though: never alone.
Shelby could see Rachel's eyes fluttering even as the baby continued to lick the whipped cream from her fingers and couldn't help but stifle a laugh. There is no denying she's a mini-me.
Shelby knew her mother has a picture of her in the exact state and when Shelby turned her head, she saw Katherine taking a picture of Rachel—she couldn't wait to see them side by side once her mother printed it.
This is going to be a fun story to tell one day, Shelby thought, before focusing back on her little messy peanut. She stood up and knew there was no way of not completely making a mess of herself while picking up her daughter seeing as Rachel was covered in whipped cream, when Cassie suddenly appeared next to her with a towel.
Wow, I must have been deep in thought to not realize she left the table. "Thanks, love," Shelby smiled then opened up the towel. She gently placed it under Rachel's armpits and lifted her out of her highchair after wiping her face off enough for when…
Once Rachel was in her mothers arms, her head lolled right into Shelby's neck and the brunette could feel some of the whipped cream she missed. She didn't mind though, the only reason she did not completely clean off the baby's face was because she didn't want to startle Rachel awake; plus, whipped cream never hurt anyone.
"I'll be back," Shelby smiled at her parents and siblings who were smiling back, Addie and Lexie blowing kisses to a sleeping Rachel. Cassie followed them upstairs moments later after Katherine shooed her away telling the blonde she had 'plenty of helping hands' to clear the table and get the dishes done.
Shelby was just about to put Rachel's onesie on her little body when Cassie came into their bedroom; the baby hadn't woken up during the process so the blonde whispered, "Do you need anything, babe?"
Shelby finished zipping up the baby's onesie before turning to face Cassie who was now right next to her—knowing Rachel wasn't going anywhere seeing as she was asleep, Shelby wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and sunk into her embrace instead of answering verbally.
Cassie rubbed her back for a while and before they separated, the women shared a kiss, and then another, and another until the two were interrupted by a small whimper. Shelby stepped out of Cassie's embrace and picked up her now squeaky clean little one up, cuddling her close.
"It's okay baby, mommy's got you," Shelby cooed, swaying back and forth.
Rachel suddenly seemed a bit more awake being in mommy's arms and pulled at Shelby's shirt—the mother wasted no time in unclipping her nursing bra and giving the baby exactly what she wanted. Within fifteen minutes of nursing and Shelby singing one of her favorite lullabies, Rachel was sound asleep again.
Shelby then locked eyes with Cassie who proceeded to do their little nightly routine the two of them have created, after the blonde essentially moved into the penthouse back in the city, by pressing a kiss to Rachel's temple whispering, "Goodnight princess, have sweet magical dreams."
Shelby loved how Cassie treated her daughter—gosh it was not only adorable to see them interact together, but even when the baby was asleep, Cassie was still amazing.
Shelby then stood up and carried her daughter over to the bassinette, kissing her temple a couple times, and her little cheek because she couldn't help herself before whispering, "I love you so much baby girl, sleep well my angel."
The two watched the rise and fall of the baby's chest for a few minutes before they went back downstairs to be with everyone. Being upstairs was so peaceful, serene, calm, and they both knew the second they went to rejoin the family, those things would be gone.
Downstairs, Shelby and Cassie were met with two very different atmospheres; Katherine, Thomas and Jeremy were sitting in the breakfast nook with coffee/tea (it always varies) while Jake and Addie were in the living room arguing about who knows what—and god only knows where Lexie is...
At least that's what Cassie was thinking until Shelby answered the unasked, "She's probably living it up, jumping around on the trampoline now that she won't double bounce the baby."
Cassie laughed, knowing it made complete sense, especially for Lexie. "What do you think those two are fighting about?" she signaled to the two who were now rolling on the floor wrestling as they fought, small giggles heard through the 'fighting'.
"Who the hell knows." Shelby paid no mind to her siblings and took Cassie's hand as they walked into the kitchen to sit down with the 'normal' part of their family. Their family because Cassie has really always been a part of it since Shelby has known her—not to mention, they are living together.
"Did you give the little one extra kisses from all of us?" Jeremy asked.
Shelby smiled, "Always—she was out like a light until I put her pjs on and then woke up a little bit giving me plenty of time to give out all those extra kisses."
Then she turned to her mother, pointing towards the living room, "What are they fighting about now?"
Katherine looked past Jeremy so she could see into the living room and could not see either of her children anymore; she could hear their voices though, along with laughter meaning the 'fight' was essentially over.
"Whatever it was, is clearly over seeing as they're laughing now; Addie and Jake were downstairs with Lexie and when they came up the stairs, they were already arguing so I told them to 'solve their problems like adults' before joining us."
Shelby burst out laughing while Thomas and Jeremy bit back a chuckle of their own however, Shelby was laughing for a very different reason than her father and brother. They were trying not to laugh because of Katherine's words, Shelby was laughing because…
"What's so funny?" Katherine asked.
"Mom, when we walked down the stairs Addie was pinning Jake down after rolling around to try and get on top of him—so yeah, they may be laughing now, but my gosh they are still like little kids; and here we are thinking Lexie is the baby…"
Katherine raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and in the voice that still sent shivers down all her kids spines said, "Addison Marie Corcoran and Jacob Ethan Corcoran you get your butts in here right now."
The voice wasn't loud, wouldn't travel upstairs nor downstairs, but did get the attention of the two in the living room within seconds. Full and middle names were never a good sign—it meant 'mom means business', which Addie and Jake knew all about from their childhood. Those two got into more trouble than Jeremy, Shelby and Lexie combined.
A minute later, Addie and Jake were straightening out their clothes after their little wrestling match apprehensively appearing in front of the table where not only their mother was, but their father and siblings—both sets of eyes cast downward.
They felt like little kids all over again; here they were, 35 and 37 years old getting in trouble at their little sisters house. What were the odds? Oh, with Addie and Jake you'd be surprised—the two of them always seem to cause chaos wherever they go.
"Care to explain what you two were fighting about?" Katherine asked calmly, eyebrow still raised.
"And how you ended up pinned to the floor," Jeremy laughed at his brother, then threw an apologetic smile to his mother.
To be honest, Katherine too was curious as to why they were wrestling again, Addie 'winning' again but she wasn't going to tell them that. It has always turned into wrestling battles with these two and Katherine thought they would have grown out of it by now.
"Well," Addie said dramatically, waving her arms around. "…we were downstairs while Shelby put the baby to sleep and of course, Jake was throwing himself in the foam pit while Lexie jumped on the trampoline but then…" Addie paused for effect, "…he just had to push me into it because—"
"Lexie told me to," Jake interjected.
"She wouldn't do that nitwit," Addie rolled her eyes, "I was literally talking to her, how did you two communicate this whole plan with each other while she was mid conversation with me? Hmm? Anything? Oh, that's right…you don't have anything to say now that mom—"
"Addison, stop it!" Katherine interrupted her daughters rant, getting the gist of what happened and knew they would start 'fighting' again if she didn't stop it now.
Truly, their 'fights' weren't anything serious and really never have been—none of the Corcoran children actually fought with each other, it was more back and forth like this, even when they were little. That being said, when they were little, their little fights were cute—now they are just ridiculous.
"Both of you are too old for this nonsense; wrestling on your sisters living room floor, really? Jake, we all know you came up with the plan yourself," before Addie could triumphantly announce her victory, Katherine held up her hand, "…so you got pushed into the foam pit, who cares? Instead of wrestling and fighting about it, you could have had some fun like Jake was and Lexie still is."
Jake and Addie looked at their mother nodding along knowing they were each guilty of starting a fight for no reason, or more so just because they could, then apologized to each other before their mother would 'make them'. When they saw Katherine's eyebrow still raised, two sets furrowed.
"What?" Jake asked, puzzled by what their mother was implying.
Katherine looked towards Shelby causing the young brunette to shrug her shoulders; she didn't know what was going through her mothers mind either. Suddenly it clicked, "We're sorry for wrestling in your new house Shells," Jake said for the two of them.
Katherine smiled and it was Shelby's turn to furrow her brows. "Uhh, it's fine?" she questioned.
Shelby truly didn't care what her siblings did as long as Rachel was asleep; until the baby is used to the way their family interacts sometimes, like Jake and Addie mini arguments, the constant noise when everyone gets together when the kids are involved.
Shelby just doesn't want Rachel to see the 'fighting' knowing it may scare her because she won't understand they are pretending/not actually upset with each other, and it's why they aren't having a family get together with the whole family just yet because the baby isn't ready for that.
"Okay, how about we figure out a schedule now that these two crazies are done—Lexie can continue to bounce her heart out seeing as there's no reason for us to bring her up here for this, right?" Jeremy prompted, sensing his sisters awkward discomfort; he knew Shelby truly didn't care what her siblings did as long as it stayed away from the baby for now.
"Sounds like a plan," Shelby agreed.
Everyone, besides Lexie, was now in the living room and had just discussed everything from where, when, and whose family would be meeting Rachel first. Shelby and Cassie decided (even though Shelby obviously had the final say) that each of their little family meet ups would be best at their house so Rachel would be familiar with her surroundings.
With meeting new people, she'd at least have the comfort of being in her own home—if they were out, even if Shelby could rent out the place, it would be a new environment, plus new people as well. Even though it was ultimately Shelby's decision, everyone agreed with her on that.
Addie did not like that her family was going last—even though she's been able to see Rachel multiple times, along with FaceTime her, and can stop by anytime if she gives a heads up to Shelby…it wasn't her favorite.
The only reason she was going last was because she has a husband and her brothers have wives—they all know Rachel reacts better to females, what they don't know is how she'll react to other kids. Another reason why they were starting with Jeremy's wife and girls, seeing as the baby would probably see them more like Auntie Lexie than other kids.
Because the children are in school and there are only two days in the weekend, Jake may come by with his family the following day, as Jeremy's family was coming over Saturday after Rachel's naptime so she'd be well rested.
Jake and his family will only come Sunday if Rachel does okay meeting Vanessa and the girls on Saturday—if it's too much, they will have to stretch 'meeting the family' out through three weekends.
If Rachel does do well, Addie will come over the following Saturday with her family seeing as she's going last—a statement she's brought up multiple times over the entire conversation because Addie is Addie and that's what she does.
The tricky part about all of this will be, if Rachel truly loves being with her cousins the way she does her nana, papa, aunts, and is starting to with her uncles—the baby will want to see her cousins more often than the kids are able.
Sure, the aunts and uncles can come around more during the day because the flexibility of their jobs, being a stay at home mom, or extended lunch breaks, but the kids have school and after school activities to participate in leaving the weekends as their 'free time'.
That meant finding plenty of activities for mommy, Cassie and little miss Rachel to do during the day until it gets warmer outside so they can play out there too; the backyard in itself will open up another whole level of excitement for the baby—between the playset, the sandbox, trampoline, tons of space to run around, and the pool…it will be great.
Shelby is also going to get a private swim instructor as soon as she can even though the pool is gated, seeing as Rachel loves the bathtub, she will most likely love the pool too.
Although, maybe they can find indoor swimming lessons once the baby feels a bit more comfortable around others…it could get risky though knowing sometimes daddies bring their daughters/sons instead of their mommies.
'Daddy' was another thing they discussed—obviously Shelby wouldn't ever ask her siblings to have their children not address their fathers while in the presence of Rachel (at least until the baby becomes a bit more comfortable) but right now, Shelby has no idea what will happen when one of them says daddy while in her home, and it honestly makes her a bit anxious to think about.
Not to mention, sad for her little one knowing how when she has said the word to either ask Rachel about Hiram, or explain to the baby that Shelby's daddy was coming for a visit the first time, it didn't go well at all. Her little body tensed, and she burst into tears repeating her fears about 'daddy's' being bad and yelling.
This is another reason why Jeremy's family is going first because his girls were at an age that they could understand that fact—Jeremy didn't explain everything to his girls, not even close to it, however, enough for them to understand how nervous, small, baby-like but perceptive Rachel is.
If Grace, Ella and Emma need their dad while at Auntie Shelly's, they would just approach him instead of calling him dad/daddy, until further notice; they understood their little cousins wouldn't know as much as they did, and they would say daddy which would test out how things went.
They also couldn't wait to meet their littlest cousin—especially because they've been there for all their other little cousins as babies and it's been a long time since there has been a baby in the family.
Being 16 and 14, they are at an age where babies are 'so cute', and Grace babysits for a family next door so she is super excited…maybe she can babysit Rachel one day too.
Talking about all the things Shelby wants to do with Rachel once she's comfortable filled the brunette with so many different emotions; she was obviously excited, elated, happy to get the opportunity she thought she'd never have, but there were underlying nerves, anxiousness, and sadness knowing what her baby has been through.
Once Rachel is comfortable with her family, and being around other people, whether it be in the grocery store, little outings Shelby and Cassie take her on, restaurants, etc…, Shelby has already made a list of a bunch of other ideas of where she wants to take Rachel.
Hawaii to play in the sand, take beautiful pictures, see the hula dancers, sunsets, and just be as a family; it's a relaxing place, where you don't always have to be around a ton of people.
Disney World is another place because she can just see her daughters face lighting up at the princesses and Disney characters the way she does at the books Shelby and Cassie read to her.
Shelby was so lost in her daydream she didn't hear what her brother said; she was envisioning a time where her little baby didn't flinch hearing the doorbell, ran up to not only her grandparents and aunts, but her uncles and couldn't wait to play with her cousins too—a time where she loved to be out and about with mommy and Cassie without a hint of fear…
"You do realize she's too young to remember any of those trips right? We all want Rachel to feel comfortable with not only our family but being out in general, however, she won't remember any of those vacations…" Jake repeated himself, seeing as his sister was back from her daydream.
"I know she is too little to remember those things, but I wont; I also know that during the possible vacations, those are the same moments she will never remember and I will never forget," Shelby smiled at the moments and memories she's made so far with her daughter.
Cassie placed her hand on her girlfriends thigh giving it a little squeeze in agreement—the blonde also had similar thoughts however, she knew how extra special these memories were for Shelby.
Her girlfriend has cherished every single memory she and her daughter have made so far—even on the plane as Rachel slept, Shelby made sure to take plenty of pictures to document it, while staring at the baby practically the entire flight to make sure she was comfortable.
Now that everything was decided, everyone was ready to go home for the night—they'd be back to visit throughout the week, but right now they had to get home for their own children's bedtimes. First though, someone had to go get Lexie from downstairs as she had never come up during the entire discussion.
Jake ran down and laughed seeing his baby sister laying on the trampoline with a foam square under her head, eyes closed, sound asleep. He took a picture and sent it to the family group chat before waking her gently—luckily for Lexie, she was going home with her parents so once she made it upstairs, all she would have to do is get into their car where she could fall back asleep.
Once everyone was gone, Shelby collapsed next to Cassie on the couch—it wasn't a long night per say, however, the topic after dinner took a lot out of Shelby. She's excited for the rest of her family to be able to meet her daughter, but she also thought about how nervous her daughter still is which makes her feel so incredibly sad.
Shelby knows one day, Rachel won't flinch, tense, tear up, have her bottom lip quiver, or have such prominent fear in her eyes when introduced to new people and places—they are just not there yet.
No matter how long it takes though, Shelby will be there every step of the way.
This week, they are trying a few more activities in town, and if those goes well, restaurants too—some just with mommy and Cassie, some of the activity or lunches at least will be with the family Rachel is currently comfortable with.
Saturday the baby will be introduced to her first set of cousins—until then, keeping her happy is all Shelby truly cares about.
meet the cousins is next... :)