Saturday was now here and if you asked Shelby, it seemed as if Rachel was truly catching onto the whole family thing. She had explained over the course of the week how Auntie Addie has kids that are cousins to the baby, doing the same with Uncle Jake and Uncle Jeremy. She started with Addie though because the baby always paid more attention when regarding her aunts.

Shelby also told Rachel that Uncle Jeremy's wife and daughters, or the baby's aunt and cousins, were coming over in a few days. Not as if Rachel truly understood how the days of the week worked yet and how many it took before the weekend, but she did seem excited about it.

For now, Shelby has only mentioned the names of Jeremy's wife and girls to Rachel, letting her absorb the information in her own little way before adding more names to the list.

She already knows nana, papa, two aunts that look like mommy, two uncles, and two 'aunts' that she used to see more but now only sees on FaceTime because they are in NY, that don't look like mommy.

That's a lot for her little brain to process, so it was easier to just give her a few more names to start with instead of overwhelming her.

Until Rachel is ready to meet the next little family, Shelby wasn't going to overload her daughter with names and faces—she had already pulled up some pictures of Jeremy's family, pointing out who is who, and the baby can now tell you who they are if you ask her.

She does however believe Ella and Emma are the same person even though there are two of them, not fully understanding why they look the same because they are twins, and mixes up their names. If you ask Shelby though, it's just too cute to correct her.

Not to mention there are still times when the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents will say the wrong name by accident. Of course they know who is who, but Rachel is just a baby—one day she will learn the differences between the identical twins, just not yet being so young.


Today Rachel was in a maroon long sleeved onesie with the cutest pair of floral leggings, her hair was pulled half up with an adorable bow, and her little piggy's had yet to be covered.

Shelby and Cassie both agreed it was too damn cute hearing her little pitter patters when she didn't have on any socks while in their bathroom and some of the bedroom seeing as the rest had their large carpet underneath the bed.

Rachel loved having the freedom of running around the bathroom and bedroom where some of her toys were while mommy and Cassie got ready—they had gotten to a point where it was okay to get ready separately however, because Rachel still wants mommy while getting clean, switching off normally only works when doing their makeup or getting dressed.

Neither were worried Rachel would go far though, and even if she did, the baby gate was up so she wouldn't possibly get hurt on the stairs (something Shelby is reluctant to let the baby do on her own—at least until she's a little bigger in size). Plus, it's not like the baby would actually want to go anywhere besides to get her toys specifically designated for mommy's room, so it all worked out.


Twenty minutes later, they were all ready and sitting in the playroom so the baby could play until her cousins came over. Rachel was currently opening her little refrigerator where she not only had toy food that actually belonged in the fridge, but other toy food that had no business being 'refrigerated'.

Shelby and Cassie tried to teach her what foods went where however, at the end of the day it really didn't matter as long as Rachel was happy—right now, she was happily taking a mini loaf of bread out of the fridge along with a cupcake which was all she could hold in her little hands.

Carrying it over to the table, Rachel happily squealed when Cassie held out two plastic plates for the baby to put her food on. She then went and grabbed a pear for the third plate, sitting herself down at the little table where she had already led Shelby and Cassie over to.

After asking Rachel what color the pear was, the color of the frosting on the cupcake, and plates, the two women happily played along; whenever they could, both Shelby and Cassie would ask Rachel what she was giving them, what color certain things were, what shapes things were, etc.

She was learning more and more every single day which made Shelby beyond proud of her angel. A little over three months of being with mommy and Rachel knew her colors, shapes, sign language, could string more words together that made sense to Shelby's parents and siblings, and was able to tell you most of the time what was in front of her food wise.

The only thing she wasn't doing at such speed was gain weight. Shelby tried not to dwell on it, but it's hard not to when your three year old is wearing 9-12M clothes.

Breastfeeding was definitely one of her main sources of food, which is more than she's been used 'eating' in her whole three years, so that is huge—she also loves fruit and certain vegetables, pasta, chicken, salmon, and baby puffs are a must have since that first day.

Shelby knew it would take time for her little one to gain weight, she just didn't realize it would take this long—thinking about herself, it felt as if when she ate a big meal she gained weight without trying; not Rachel though, she's gained 3.6 pounds even with breastfeeding five or more times a day and completing at least two full meals.

Time.

That's a reoccurring word in the Corcoran household—time is something they have plenty of and something they will need for many daily things in the baby's life.


Rachel was almost back to the table after getting up for gosh knows how many times now when she froze mid step hearing the doorbell. Shelby stood and scooped her daughter up, peppering kisses all over her face to help settle some of her nerves.

"It's okay love bug, that was just the doorbell, right?" Shelby reminded her. Rachel herself loved to push the button when they showed her what made the noise, but when she didn't expect to hear it, would still get anxious.

Cassie went to go answer the door while Shelby explained one last time who was here, loving when Rachel repeated, "Acp, Ewa, Em-ma, Essa," clapping her little hands when mommy said she was proud of her.

"That was so good baby, are you ready?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded, tucking her head into the crook of Shelby's neck. "Okay peanut, let's go."

Shelby carried Rachel out of the playroom and saw Cassie and Vanessa getting everyone drinks while Jeremy spoke to the girls in the living room. The three brunettes were facing their dad so Shelby was able to see Jeremy first, smiling as she heard him remind them to not be too loud even though 'Aunt Shelly's new house is so much fun'.

Shelby assumed he was referring to the trampoline downstairs considering they were in high school and wouldn't be interested in the baby's toys. They would definitely play with her in the playroom, it just wouldn't be their first choice seeing as they were much older.

"We know," Ella said, sounding like she's heard this multiple times already. And with Jeremy, it's most likely she, along with her sisters, probably had.

Shelby chose that moment to make herself known, "Hey girls."

Three brunettes spun faster than ever to face their aunt and meet their new little cousin—not wanting to scare the baby who was already hiding from them, they each smiled at Shelby who was gently bouncing while rubbing Rachel's back, cooing in her ear that everything was okay, she was safe, and mommy was here.

Normally the girls would have all run up to Shelby to hug her, but they knew better from talking with their dad—they were also old enough to see how scared their little cousin was and it made them sad to think about.

None of them could imagine not having their entire family in their life, so they would follow any and all instructions from their aunt. They did however, all hug Cassie when she opened the door the same way they'd hug Shelby—the girls love Cassie, and have ever since they first met her.


"You can speak sillies," Shelby teased her nieces, then thought about what they could be thinking, "She's awake, aren't you baby girl? You're awake, right?" Shelby tickled her daughter and everyone heard the baby's giggles.

Rachel had briefly peeked around to see her cousins, then hid again in the crook of mommy's neck where she felt safer—Vanessa and Cassie came into the living room with drinks for everyone and then they all took a seat on the couch, besides Shelby and Cassie who sat near the few toys Rachel had left in the living room.


Vanessa had tears welling in her eyes looking at her newest niece; she wasn't overly emotional, it was just the fact that Rachel is so small that had her thinking back to her own babies. Even her twins were bigger at birth than Rachel, a fact she learned from her husband, and they continued to grow like weeds meeting all of their milestones.

If anything, she and Jeremy had three chubby babies, so seeing how incredibly small Rachel was broke her heart—she couldn't imagine how Shelby was holding up on the inside.

Grace, Ella and Emma were all sitting completely still, not really knowing what to do—they didn't want to scare their little cousin and figured Auntie Shelly would tell them what to do once she stopped rocking back and forth with Rachel.

Cassie grabbed the blocks they had in the living room and started to stack them while asking the girls questions, 'how's school going?', 'what's your favorite subject?', 'what are you doing for after school activities?' things like that letting Rachel hear their voices.

Shelby was actually the one who picked up on that little tidbit of information; she realized when introducing her brothers to Rachel that the baby was paying complete attention to the conversation, and figured out it was because she was trying to place the voices she had heard on FaceTime.

Even though only Vanessa has occasionally been on the FaceTime calls with Jeremy, staying out of eye sight and not speaking, Shelby could tell her daughter was making sure these voices were nice, didn't yell, and whatever else went on in her little mind.

Rachel eventually turned her little body enough to see her Tassie stacking blocks then lifted her head to look up at mommy who whispered, "What is it baby?"

"Me bops mommy, Tassie pway wif dem," she pointed.

"You're right, Cassie is playing with your blocks; do you want to play too?" Shelby questioned, knowing the answer already. She felt Rachel nod and repositioned her so they were no longer chest to chest, keeping the baby in her lap.

Rachel ignored the others in the room and reached out for a block of her own, one in each hand before Cassie pushed a bunch closer to her. For about 15 minutes, everyone continued to talk while watching Rachel play with her blocks because she's just too cute for words no matter what she's doing.


Whenever Rachel played, she always made sure mommy was either playing with her, or at least watching what she was doing—it's something she's done since the first few days they were together and Shelby thought it was adorable.

Knowing the girls were itching to 'play' too, when Rachel looked up once again at her mommy, Shelby whispered, "Rach baby, do you think your cousins can play with you too? We can play with your blocks, go into the playroom where your other toys are, or even go downstairs to play on the trampoline and in the foam pit."

That's another thing Shelby and Cassie tried to do often, give Rachel choices, something they knew she never had the opportunity to have before living with mommy. It took a while, but eventually Rachel understood, whether it was choices of where/what to play with, what to eat, or what type of fun outing they'd go on.

Rachel took another look at what her mommy called her 'cousins' and slowly nodded while looking into her mommy's eyes. Shelby could see she was deciding what she wanted to do and gave her that time—they were in no rush.

Whispering again, Rachel told her mommy she wanted to go into her 'pwayoom', so that's exactly what they did. The girls, even being 16 and 14 were a bit mesmerized by the room—obviously they had a playroom when they were younger, along with the playrooms that were at their other aunts and uncles houses but this one was so amazing even to them.


Jeremy, Vanessa and the grandparents took a seat on the couch that was in there while Cassie sat in one of the beanbags—Cassie knew Rachel would stay close to Shelby and if she wanted to continue what she was playing with before the cousins arrived, she wouldn't be able to fit at the mini table too seeing as there were only four chairs.

"Hi Rachel," Grace said, her voice even softer than it was normally. "Can we sit at your table too?" she gestured to her twin sisters.

Rachel was still in Shelby's arms and briefly looked up at mommy who nodded, as if she seeking permission, then nodded her own little head at Grace. Once the girls sat down at the table, Shelby also sat in the last chair with Rachel in her lap; she knew her daughter would squirm to get down when she was ready to get more toys.

Right now though, the baby's little head was cocked to the side studying each of the girls. Because she only briefly looked at them before, now she took the time to really look at them. An excited squeal echoed through the room as Rachel shifted so she was once again chest to chest with her mommy.

"What is it love bug?" Shelby smiled.

"Me mommy, me Acp, me Ewa, an umm…me Em-ma." Rachel was confident when referring to Grace, but still didn't know who was Ella and who was Emma. It was also adorable how Emma came out of her mouth so broken, as if the name was too big for her little mind to currently process.

"You're right baby," Shelby flipped Rachel around again pointing to her nieces. "Ella is wearing…what color is that baby?" Shelby asked Rachel who whispered in return, "urtle mommy."

"That's right, Ella is wearing purple; and Emma is wearing…?" Rachel looked over at the identical brunette who was wearing a different color and whispered, "boo mommy!"

"Emma is wearing blue baby girl, you're so smart aren't you?" Shelby was very proud of her little one and it seemed as if Rachel was too considering she nodded her head when mommy praised her.

Neither Ella nor Emma took it personally that Rachel couldn't tell the difference between them; the twins knew they were identical and even their parents called out the wrong name sometimes, so it truly wasn't a big deal. They had grown out of matching a long time ago though, which made it easier for their other little cousins too.


"Oo pway me?" Rachel asked her cousins shyly.

The girls didn't look exactly like Auntie Lexie, but they reminded the baby of her because they were big like her aunts and uncles. Of course, the girls weren't fully grown yet but to Rachel, they were much bigger than her so it automatically made them big like the grown-ups.

Grace, Ella and Emma definitely had a lot of the Corcoran genes in them however, they did look like their mom as well. While they all had brown eyes and brown hair, the twins looked a bit more like their mom with a slimmer face—Grace looking like a mini Jeremy with her round face.

Actually, Grace looked more like a mini Corcoran girl—not just her Auntie Addie and Auntie Lexie but her other female cousins who inherited the rounder face from their parents. Grace looks exactly like Addie when she was growing up, seeing as besides Shelby, the rest of the Corcoran children had Thomas's rounder face.

The girls all smiled and nodded at the baby's question. "What do you want to play with?" Grace asked.

Grace was normally the one who 'took the lead' when it was her and her sisters, something Ella and Emma appreciated as they were a bit shy themselves, unless with family and friends. But this was a new situation for all of them so they were happy their big sister was taking charge.

Rachel then squirmed out of Shelby's lap and ran over to her play kitchen to get another piece of toy food seeing as there was now another person, happily pitter pattering back once she had a toy apple in hand. The baby was getting better at playing with more than one person seeing as her aunts and uncles came over during the week, along with her nana and papa.

She didn't necessarily interact with them all, often times spending more time making sure mommy was playing too, or giggling at Cassie's funny faces she made at the baby however, if someone did direct a question at Rachel, she'd respond the best she could.

Shelby scooped Rachel back up so she was sitting at the table again and watched as she pushed the apple over to Grace who sat at the seat without any food. With a smile, Grace thanked Rachel and to say the baby was happy would be an understatement.

She loved that being with mommy meant being able to play with endless toys, do all types of new things, receive compliments, praise, and was paid attention to. Even though she wasn't completely confident in meeting new people yet, and it still caused her a lot of anxiety, once Rachel realized these people were nice she was very happy.


The adults sat around watching the girls 'play' for a while until Rachel decided it was time for a new activity. The baby didn't even notice that Katherine, Jeremy and Cassie had left the room to go make some lunch for everyone seeing as she was so wrapped up in playing with her cousins.

Jeremy went to help his mom knowing Vanessa wanted to be able to spend as much time as she could with the baby, and Cassie went until she was kicked out by Katherine to 'go keep Vanessa company, we're good in here honey'.

It's not that she didn't like Cassie, Katherine loved Cassie—she just took over any kitchen no matter if it was her own or not. Yes, Thomas was in the playroom, still sitting with Vanessa however, Katherine knew she was capable of making lunch for her family with the help of her son.

Cassie felt badly considering technically, they were their guests, however she knew Katherine would never task her with anything anyways—plus, she loved Vanessa along with all of Shelby's siblings spouses, nieces and nephews included, so she didn't complain.


Even though the girls were now teenagers, they were still Katherine's grandchildren and just like her children who will always be her babies, her grandchildren will always be little to her as well—because of this, she didn't just make Rachel PB and J for lunch, but the girls too.

For the adults, she and Jeremy made sandwiches, plenty of fruit for all, and some chips. She did make sure to cut Rachel's fruit up though seeing as she didn't want her to choke and knows Shelby and Cassie do the same thing.

Rachel also had baby puffs instead of chips because she didn't like chips at all; when they had sandwiches the first week nana and papa came to the penthouse, Rachel tried a potato chip and the face she made was just too cute. Shelby assumed it was the salt that had her daughter making faces, and since then, hasn't tried another.

To be honest, Shelby doesn't like them all that much either—like mother like daughter.

They were only on her plate that specific day because Katherine honestly forgot as she was so overwhelmed with meeting her littlest grandbaby. Plus, it's not the easiest keeping track of everyone's likes and dislikes when you have five children and eight grandchildren—now she's learning all about the likes and dislikes of her ninth grandbaby and loves every minute of it.


Lunch was nice, and everyone would agree to that; Rachel loved the fact her cousins had PB and J just like her and made sure to point it out to mommy. Shelby silently thanked her mother knowing her nieces did like the sandwiches the adults were eating but had PB and J instead—it made the baby so excited.

Everyone was able to see more and more of Rachel's little personality shine through when they were eating, hear giggles, see smiles, and even the cousins couldn't get enough of her. She was too cute for her own good.

Grace thought it was especially cute how Rachel made a complete mess between the peanut butter and jelly, it was not only all over her face but fingers as well. Due to the sticky nature of the sandwich, her baby puffs stuck to her hands and she looked at mommy while shaking her little hand multiple times to get them off.

Shelby eventually moved Rachel into her lap to help her eat knowing it would just be easier even after Cassie got up to grab a baby wipe to clean off those sticky hands before she made more of a mess. Even though her hands were clean, Shelby still fed Rachel the rest of her lunch which the baby was content with.


After eating, Shelby took Rachel and the girls back into the playroom to digest a bit before bringing up the trampoline and foam pit she knew her nieces were dying to go play on.

Rachel was now in the routine of a nap mid morning and mid afternoon seeing as she was getting proper sleep being with mommy, so Shelby didn't know if the baby would make it downstairs before or after her nap.

She has already had an eventful morning/afternoon with meeting four new people, even though she didn't truly interact with Vanessa much yet, she was still new to the baby. Shelby was waiting to see how long Rachel stayed interested in her toys because if she was being honest, naptime would most likely come soon.

She may bring the girls into the living room to watch a movie if the baby seems tired, and had already told Jeremy about naptime so he was able to inform the girls beforehand, knowing they would have plenty of time to play downstairs without worrying about double bouncing, being too loud, and doing flips into the foam pit.

Grace, Ella and Emma were very understanding of this and already knew before they arrived at their aunts house that Auntie Shelly would be calling the shots—in actuality, Rachel was calling the shots and Shelby was going off of what her little one needed.


The girls had been in the playroom once again for about a half an hour before Rachel lost interest and wanted snuggles—they all ended up laying on the couch together, Rachel cuddled in her mommy's arms watching one of the baby's favorites: The Little Mermaid.

Twenty-five minutes later, Rachel became extremely fussy and Shelby knew it was time for a nap. She signaled to Cassie who knew now would be the perfect time to bring the girls downstairs after Shelby and Rachel went upstairs.

Rachel barely nursed before falling sound asleep still holding what was hers, as Shelby rubbed circles on her little belly. "I love you so much baby girl, have sweet dreams."

Shelby stayed upstairs for a bit before laying Rachel in her bassinette, and eventually went downstairs to join everyone else.

Cassie, Vanessa and the girls were all in the basement—Cassie because she would happily spend as much time as she could with Shelby's nieces and nephews; being an only child, then essentially losing her parents who disowned her when she was barely an adult meant that meeting Shelby was beyond amazing in more ways than one.

Cassie not only got a best friend and girlfriend all in one, but a huge family who treated her like she was one of them without question. Cassie has always loved Shelby's family, especially watching the kids grow the past three years; she wishes more than anything Shelby had Rachel those three years as well, but if she did, they never would have met.

Everything happens for a reason, is what she always tells herself.


Shelby bypassed her brother and parents who were in the living room, Jeremy and Thomas watching gosh knows what on TV while Katherine read a magazine. Katherine was waiting for Shelby before going downstairs so she quickly stopped her, "Wait up honey."

"What's up?" Shelby asked her mother, not realizing she was waiting for her.

"Did the baby go down alright?" Katherine questioned.

Shelby turned to face her mother, eyebrow perfectly quirked, "Yeah…why wouldn't she?"

"It was just a question honey. She seemed so exhausted I didn't think it would take long for her to fall asleep but you were up there for a while."

Shelby then smiled at her mother, "She barely nursed she's so exhausted, I just get lost looking at her and didn't realize I was up there so long."

After a few seconds of comfortable silence as they walked towards the basement door, Katherine touched Shelby's arm and said, "I'm so proud of you, Shelly."

Shelby smiled then they continued to walk down the stairs, already hearing the girls giggles; the brunette knew her mother had tears welling in her eyes which is why she didn't turn around to look at her—it was always nice to hear though.


When Rachel woke up from her nap, she was very happy to see her cousins still there. The girls had been bouncing, flipping, and dancing around for the entire hour and forty-five minutes, essentially getting it out of their system knowing when their cousin woke up, they couldn't be as crazy.

Grace sat down on the trampoline and her sisters followed suit after seeing their Auntie Shelly and Cassie sitting as well. Rachel happily squealed while bouncing around all of them—she always did this with mommy and Tassie, but having others there too was so much fun.

The girls eventually stood up and lightly bounced, Shelby and Cassie remained sitting near the edges so Rachel would know mommy was still there, something Rachel frequently checked even when it was just her, Cassie and mommy. Shelby assumed it was another one of Rachel's comforts, and was happy to reassure her as many times as she needed.

Emma and Ella asked their Auntie Shelly after a bit of watching Rachel bounce if they could go back into the foam pit, and of course the brunette said yes. Rachel watched her cousins jump right into the foam pit and felt a funny feeling in her tummy.

She was still a little anxious when it came to the foam pit due to the size and how easily she could get lost in it if Cassie or mommy weren't in there—however, they have always been in there with her so she hasn't had to worry. Now though, they were both on the trampoline and Rachel didn't know if her cousins would be the same as mommy and her Tassie.


Shelby watched her daughter closely and could tell she was considering stepping into the foam pit as well seeing as she typically stepped off the side instead of jumping with her little legs—the trampoline was easy to bounce on, the foam pit was another story though…Rachel still didn't quite understand how to jump in.

It made Shelby think of how Rachel would be when the weather got warmer and they opened the pool; babies/toddlers typically just step off the edge waiting for their parent to catch them, which is exactly what Rachel does with the foam pit.

Shelby gently grabbed her daughter who was watching her cousins while lightly bouncing and the baby squealed immediately as mommy tickled her. "Do you want to go into the foam pit too love bug?" Shelby whispered.

Rachel nodded and was happy mommy suggested it because she didn't know how her cousins would feel if she came in too even though it was her house not theirs. This was one of the things the baby still needed to learn when interacting with others seeing as she wasn't used to it.

It was different with mommy and Tassie because they always asked her what she wanted to do, and always seemed like they were two steps ahead of her; when she would look over to the foam pit, Cassie would get off the trampoline jump into it holding out her arms…but with her cousins, nobody was doing that.


Five minutes later, Cassie was in the foam pit holding out her arms like she typically did with Shelby encouraging her little one who was now stepping off the side, squealing as Cassie caught her.

Now in the foam pit, Cassie of course encouraged Rachel to throw the foam squares at her cousins knowing the baby couldn't throw very far and even if it 'hit' her cousins, foam wouldn't hurt.

Shelby rolled her eyes at Cassie's encouragement as the blonde helped Rachel aim right for Ella and Emma however, realized after they 'hit' Emma together how happy it made her daughter that it truly didn't matter.

The twins were great sports about it and Shelby knew they already had their own match that was much more intense than this before Rachel even woke up.

Grace quickly joined Rachel and Cassie's team, the twins only retaliating at Grace not wanting to scare their baby cousin—even though it was just foam and Cassie would catch it before it hit the baby, they only threw them back at Grace.

Rachel thought it was so much fun; she was squealing, wiggling her little legs in excitement, and couldn't stop giggling when one of the twins got hit with the foam she (with Cassie's help) threw it at them.


Vanessa and Katherine luckily had their phones and were recording the whole thing—Shelby realized she had absolutely no idea where her phone was and because of that, was extremely happy her family had theirs knowing she'd get a copy of the pictures and videos later.

Shelby couldn't help the huge smile on her face watching her daughter interact with her cousins—they were being so gentle with her, so amazing by playing with baby toys, watching a baby movie, not being too loud, and trying their hardest to understand what the baby said, it was beyond sweet.

She knew how polite and kind her nieces were, but seeing them with her little one was just so perfect.

Shelby knew from Rachel's reaction, her body language, and actions, that she had made a connection with her cousins today and for that, she was beyond grateful.


As the game continued, Shelby joined in the foam pit, taking Rachel from Cassie so the blonde could help Grace out more while Shelby helped her little peanut.

Life was good, life was great.

Hearing those precious giggles was music to everyone's ears, especially Shelby's. There was a permanent smile on her daughters face, and her little legs continued to wiggle with constant excitement.

Today was an amazing day—a day spent with family…family Rachel seems to be very content with; a day that wasn't even close to being over seeing as Jeremy told her they'd call for pizza for dinner later meaning, Rachel would get to spend more time with her cousins and get to know her aunt a little more.


Shelby looked down at her daughter who currently had two hands securely holding a foam square and couldn't help but laugh at the face of pure concentration she was wearing. When Rachel threw it herself, a throw Shelby herself wasn't prepared for, it went straight up in the air and hit her right in the head messing up her hair.

The giggles that erupted from her daughter were absolutely priceless especially after she said, "Me det oo mommy."

Shelby started to tickle her daughter then held the baby above her head peppering kisses to her face, "You did get me baby; you're such a cheeky monkey aren't you silly girl?"

And although true, Shelby found herself choking up when saying 'You did get me' knowing there was a double meaning behind it. Of course Rachel had got her with the foam square, but she also got her as a mommy. A mommy who would always be there for her, no matter what.


Yay for Rachel meeting her first set of cousins; more fun times to come!