Happy Holidays everyone! I took some time off to spend with my wife and girls, and hope you all had a great holiday as well.
Here's a continuation, along with the start of the next set of family introductions. After all the little families are introduced, things will pick up a bit.
"Okay," Jeremy asked his father later on that day, "how many pizzas do you think I should order for dinner?"
Thomas was too caught up taking pictures of the girls who were once again back on the trampoline to hear his son—they were being so gentle with their bouncing as to not scare or double bounce their baby cousin as Shelby and Cassie sat on the trampoline providing Rachel comfort.
Vanessa was also sitting on the edge this time to not only be closer to Rachel but to talk with Shelby and Cassie whom she loved so very much. Vanessa watched Shelby grow up seeing as she and Jeremy went to school together, and when Shelby brought Cassie home the first time, Vanessa loved her instantly as well.
Jeremy then realized his father had his phone out taking pictures of the kids: again, and didn't hear him so he turned to his left to ask his mother instead. He should have just asked her to begin with knowing she's the one who has fed their family for 37 years—more than that if you count before he was born and it was just Katherine and Thomas.
Katherine patted Jeremy's leg and took the cell phone in his hand knowing the number was already pulled up for the pizza place; she quickly made the phone call ordering two large cheese, two large everything, and one medium vegetable—she then handed Jeremy back his cell phone and smiled at her son who just shook his head in amazement as if she had done something truly difficult like solving a rubix's cube.
Shelby watched her daughter and nieces interact and couldn't help but smile—she also couldn't help but notice how worn out her little one was getting as well. She held out her arms and smiled at her jumping bean, "Come here love bug, come see mommy for a minute."
Rachel bounced herself right into Shelby with an 'oomph', causing Thomas to chuckle as he was recording his granddaughters for the last ten or so minutes—she may be beyond tiny but she knew how to propel herself well, when and only when, jumping into mommy's arms.
Rachel looked to her right and saw who mommy called Auntie Nessa, what all the nieces and nephews called her seeing as Vanessa didn't roll off many tongues when they were little, and it stuck, then buried her face in the crook of mommy's neck.
Shelby rubbed her back and held her closely, "Are you getting tired, baby?" Shelby knew the answer was yes, however asked anyways.
Rachel nodded her head and snuggled closer into mommy, her little legs were getting really tired and was amazed that her mommy knew that, but mommy always knew everything in her little mind. Shelby placed a kiss to the top of her daughters head and then stood up with her, the two other adults following suit so the girls could really bounce without them being in the way.
Shelby swayed back and forth while standing, continuing to place kisses to Rachel's temple while smiling at her nieces who started to really bounce again. Their legs were much bigger meaning they could jump for days, her little ones legs though were not only tiny but weak due to how underweight she is.
"Dey til om mommy," Rachel pointed back to her cousins, looking up into her mommy's green eyes.
"They are still on baby," Shelby agreed. "It's okay to need a little break sometimes though, right? I think nana even has some juice for you and Uncle Jeremy just ordered some yummy pizza for your tummy which will be talking soon," she winked.
"Issa?" Rachel asked innocently, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"Yeah baby, we're having pizza for dinner," Shelby smiled. They have had pizza in the past, but didn't have it that often. It wasn't a food Shelby or Cassie really ate so the only time they have had it was with the grandparents a few times in New York and the day they moved to Akron knowing it was quick and easy.
Rachel loved pizza. Well, she loved the bread and cheese part of the pizza as she typically smeared the red sauce around on her high chair tray, herself, or the kitchen countertop if she was sitting at her table top seat. They didn't have a high chair in their new house, just two attachables which Shelby loved much more than the highchair.
"Should we go get your juice?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. They had continued with the anxiety drops and gave Rachel strawberry pedialyte instead of juice after her time on the trampoline as it's full of electrolytes which she definitely needed.
When Rachel got used to eating more, Arizona suggested introducing pediasure however, because she wasn't eating full meals yet it would just fill her up instead of eating. Shelby had continued to speak with Arizona since their move as well as Amanda.
Arizona because she said to 'call anytime you have any questions', and Shelby felt like she had them very often; Amanda because she made such an impression on the entire Corcoran family and they all truly loved her company.
On the wall closest to the trampoline and foam pit they had a little seating area installed, although it was more like a bench—and near the dance studio part of the room, they had some bean bags because Cassie said 'you can never have too many bean bags'.
Shelby walked over to where her mother was sitting as Jeremy and Thomas had now gone upstairs to put on the TV and wait for the pizza—Rachel happily squealed when nana handed her a sippy cup and threw her head back while taking a big sip.
The adults laughed at her dramatic nature although, if Katherine and Vanessa were being honest, they were laughing more so because Rachel reminded them of a young Shelby; Cassie and Shelby laughed because it was just too cute not to.
"Is that good?" Vanessa asked the baby.
Rachel stopped drinking and looked at Vanessa—she had yet to take the time to really study her and now was the perfect time seeing as she asked her a question. Vanessa let her, smiling the entire time even through the quirked eyebrow that matched the typical Corcoran eyebrow, Shelby's especially as they looked so much alike.
After a few minutes, Rachel smiled and nodded her head answering shyly, "Eah."
The simple 'yeah' was plenty for Vanessa who felt like she was making progress—not only had Rachel maintained eye contact, she answered her as well. She'd take that as a win any day in her book after hearing all the reactions Rachel has had with the family along with April and Holly.
The adults continued to talk for a bit until Jeremy came downstairs telling them the pizza had arrived, Vanessa sitting right next to Shelby and Rachel who was on her lap the entire time. She had asked the baby a few more questions, even held her sippy cup when Rachel wasn't drinking it then gave it back to her when she was thirsty again: progress.
It was simply progress in which everyone was grateful for.
After everyone ate dinner, they moved into the living room to put on a movie to relax a little bit before leaving. Shelby wasn't sure how Rachel would react when her cousins, aunt and uncle left so this would be interesting. Nana and papa were spending the night so hopefully that would counteract any negative type of reaction like when her parents left the city for the first time.
When it was time to say bye-bye, Rachel did her typical backwards wave and 'hugged' everyone, in a way, because she was in mommy's arms and Shelby gave her family hugs mindful of the baby in her arms. Rachel did surprisingly well, she didn't mind that she was a part of the hugs but didn't make a move for any of their arms which nobody was surprised about seeing as it was their first time meeting (besides Jeremy).
Grace, Ella and Emma were extremely happy with how everything turned out though because Rachel did 'claim' them through the day—even if it wasn't to their face, they still overheard the baby speaking with their Auntie Shelly saying things like 'me Ace, me Ewwa, me Em-ma,' which melted their hearts, along with all of the adults in the room.
Vanessa felt complete meeting the new baby in the family, although she knew she'd go home and cry after the girls went to bed in her husbands arms seeing in person just how small Rachel is. It was hard to see, and even with all the pictures and warnings from her husband and the rest of the Corcoran siblings, nothing can prepare you completely until you're there.
Once they were gone, nana and papa went into the living room for their nightly routine of reading and watching whatever Thomas watches on TV as Shelby took Rachel upstairs to start their nightly routine, Cassie following along.
Shelby and Cassie were both extremely proud of how things went today however, they decided, or more so Shelby decided, it was a lot for Rachel to handle and pushed Jake's family to next weekend instead of tomorrow.
They would use tomorrow to 'recover' a bit from all that the baby encountered today and spend time with nana and papa who would obviously still be there. Jake had no issue at all with coming the following weekend, it was Addie who was a bit upset as she'd be pushed two weeks out now.
That being said, Addie could come over multiple times during the week so she wasn't truly that upset—plus, she knew her children were the youngest of the bunch and Jake's kids would be very telling as to how things would go.
Jeremy's girls never once said 'daddy' or 'dad' while there, Jake's kids may or may not remember as well as the girls—Charlie may being 13, but Callie was the biggest daddy's girl so that would really test things. They were all preparing themselves for anything that could happen…
Shelby didn't want her nieces and nephews changing their behavior to accommodate her daughter when she could easily remove Rachel from the situation; it did make her a bit nervous though and all her siblings knew that to be true—more importantly, they understood it completely seeing first hand how anxious the baby got even at the smallest of sounds like the doorbell.
The next week went by in a similar fashion to the previous—they took Rachel on different outings to see how she'd react, and they had some great experiences and some not so great in regards to the baby's anxiety.
That being said, the baby did enjoy herself for most of what they did even the simple things like the grocery store because of the popsicle section and certain cafes close to their house because of her special treats. Due to the weather, being inside wasn't uncommon however, they didn't want to keep Rachel inside all the time even though the house had plenty of fun activities inside.
Shelby and Cassie were used to their hectic lives, barely spending much time at all in the house unless it was to sleep so they were all getting accustomed to their new lives—they loved every minute of it though especially Shelby because she had her beautiful little angel with her.
Cassie and Shelby took time while the baby napped to 'play around' in the basement; Cassie dancing and trying different things keeping her mind and body fresh, Shelby playing the piano and singing to ground her, let out her emotions, and just have fun.
Not to say they didn't spend plenty of time down there when the baby was awake, it was just spent differently when it was just the two of them each watching the other in their element, or closing the soundproof door while entertaining themselves separately.
It was now the following Saturday meaning Jake, Emily, Charlie and Callie were coming over—Shelby thought because her parents were there when Rachel met her first set of cousins that it would be good to keep the same 'routine' and have them over again.
Jake and Emily had prepared their children the best they could—Jake more so because he had met and been around Rachel and because Emily was feeling the same way Vanessa was before they even arrived, more intensely though.
Jake new his wife was thinking back to when Charlie was born; although he was a good weight, they had a hard time with him in the first few months medically—he obviously lost weight immediately and gained it back like all babies do but his weight for the first few months frequently dropped or remained the same unlike 'typical' babies.
That being said, around month four he started gaining weight like it was his job when they switched him to formula on 'doctors orders' and he became a very chubby baby. Callie on the other hand was also born at a good weight but did really well and steadily gained weight becoming chubby while breastfeeding instead of needing formula.
What Jake and Emily experienced with Charlie was nothing like what Shelby was going through with Rachel though; there was no comparing and Emily knew that just as well as her husband did—although, Jake handled Charlie's struggle to gain weight at first a lot better than Emily did as Jake knew he had to be strong for the both of them.
When they arrived, the kids jumped out of the car just to be stopped by Jake who motioned for them to come back for one more quick pep talk to not be too noisy—that was something all the Corcoran siblings agreed to tell their children because they knew how hard it was for Rachel to deal with loud noises.
This would also be Rachel's first time seeing 'kids' even though Charlie was a teenager, they were still kids—Jeremy's girls were as well however, they got Jeremy's height and Lexie got Katherine's meaning they were closer in height making them look more grown up.
Charlie was on the cusp of his growth spurt considering the amount he ate these days while Callie was still small, something Rachel would most likely notice. Nobody truly knew how the baby would react to seeing another 'boy' in the house seeing as her uncles and papa were 'boys' in her little mind not knowing the difference between a boy and a man. They also didn't know how she'd react to Callie who was more of a 'little girl' than Jeremy's girls seeing as Rachel's never interacted with any other kids.
Cassie saw the car pull up and signaled to Shelby who conveniently had Rachel in her arms as she was walking down the stairs after reading to the baby, helping her wake up from her nap.
"Okay baby girl, are you ready to meet more of your cousins and your other auntie?" Shelby asked in an excited voice.
They had spoken many times throughout the week about what a cousin was, the baby now recognizing Grace, Ella and Emma as her cousins as mommy put it. Rachel still didn't really understand how that meant they were related, but didn't know how to articulate that to mommy.
Shelby had also pulled up a picture of Jake's family so Rachel would be familiar with their names and faces, the same thing she did with Jeremy's family. Rachel tried so hard to pronounce the names mommy said but C's were still so difficult for her which made for truly adorable alternatives.
'Emy was what they had so far for Auntie Emily, Ap was still for Uncle Jake, Tawie became Charlie, and Tawie also became Callie' which Shelby and Cassie thought was too damn cute.
The R in Charlie didn't roll of the baby's tongue, the L coming first making the siblings the same to her, though not in the same way Ella and Emma were because they didn't look identical like the twins—even though the baby could point to the picture and refer to who was who, the names of Jake's children were the same when Rachel said them.
Her speech was getting better each and everyday—longer sentences, clearer words, but sign language was still such a big part of their day especially when Rachel was tired. Shelby knew how hard her daughter was trying and was truly so proud of all the progress she was making not just with her speech but everything else they were teaching her daily.
Rachel nodded in the crook of her mothers neck signifying she was ready to meet everyone, not paying nana or papa much attention as Shelby got to the bottom of the stairs—she was awake from her nap but still so snuggly and Shelby didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. They'd find out soon enough.
Charlie and Callie were very quiet when they entered the house, hugging their grandparents and Cassie while their mommy and daddy spoke with Auntie Shelly. Honestly Charlie and Callie were extra quiet because they were looking around the house in amazement—Auntie Shelly always had the coolest places to live and that's what they were both thinking as their eyes bugged out of their heads.
Jake smiled at a snuggly Rachel giving his sister a side hug then wrapping an arm around Emily's waist seeing the tears well in her eyes. Emily was also a brunette, a little shorter than Shelby and Cassie, meaning Charlie and Callie were also little brunettes seeing as both parents were.
Addie was the only one who married a blonde however, her oldest had brown hair like she did and her younger two had very, very dirty blonde hair. Typical Corcoran minis: Charlie was Jake's mini, Callie had a lot of Jake in her but looked a lot more like Emily—Amanda was Addie's mini, her other two taking more after their father.
Rachel was tucked in the crook of Shelby's neck, her little body shaking after hearing the doorbell and then seeing people she didn't know enter the house (besides Jake). Shelby bounced her, cooed in her ear, and eventually she settled a bit but didn't loosen her death grip on her mommy.
After everyone had something to drink, Shelby asked if the kids wanted to go into the playroom, more so speaking to her daughter who nodded now that she had a chance to digest the anxiety drops in her juice.
Rachel wasn't sure what to think of these new people—Auntie Emily looked nice enough, and kind-of like her other aunts as well because her hair was the same color. Rachel didn't really like having a boy there, especially in her playroom because she didn't know he would never yell.
Rachel had the hardest time figuring out what to think about Callie who wasn't a grown-up but wasn't small like she was herself. Studying her, she couldn't quite understand why she wasn't big like everyone else however, decided she seemed okay too.
Feeling safe in mommy's arms, Shelby found herself pulling out certain toys she knew the kids would like as well as some toys for her daughter who seemed lost in her own little world at the moment. Cassie interacted with the kids like she did with Jeremy's girls, Jake, Emily and the grandparents sitting on the couch as to not overwhelm the baby.
Twenty-five minutes later, Rachel was very interested in playing with her dollies like Callie was. She didn't mind the fact Callie was really playing with them as opposed to Grace, Ella and Emma who were more playing along with what the baby wanted.
Shelby wasn't surprised as her daughter did love to share, but she was a little weary when Callie picked up the Elsa doll knowing it was Rachel's favorite because it was 'me mommy dowee'. Rachel didn't seem to bat an eye though, she just wanted to play too.
Rachel didn't mind that Charlie was using a racecar set Shelby had purchased to teach her daughter the different types of vehicles, (firetruck, police car, ambulance, regular cars, etc.) she also purchased it knowing her nephews would love it even if her daughter never touched it.
The little baby was more mindful of Callie who was currently dressing one of the dolls in another outfit, something else Rachel didn't bat an eye at. The baby shared really well in Emily's mind who knew her daughter would play with anything and everything she saw even if it wasn't hers.
Fifteen more minutes passed, Rachel inching closer and closer, with mommy, towards Callie as she picked up one of the dolls asking mommy to help get the doll in another outfit just like Callie was doing. Callie said she could help, looking more at her aunt than the baby not really knowing who to ask however, Rachel wasn't up for that quite yet.
Callie didn't take it personally—she didn't completely understand why Rachel wasn't with Auntie Shelly her whole life, or why she was so afraid of new people, but did accept it. It was a weird thing to think about, not being with mommy and daddy her whole life, and even stranger to think about not having everyone else in the family her entire life either.
Callie did understand adoption though, although surrogacy and adoption weren't technically the same thing, the adults used the term to explain the situation the best they could. One of Callie's best friends is adopted, so she kind-of got it—but her best friend was adopted as a baby and didn't go back to her birth mommy like her cousin did, that part was confusing to her.
Either way, Callie was happy to have another girl cousin even if she was a baby because she would grow up and Callie could teach her things along the way. Charlie was indifferent about the whole situation—especially when he was in the awkward stage of almost high school, but still in middle school, too cool for playing with trucks and Legos, but still loved it anyways type of thing.
He did feel differently about Auntie Shelly who he has always been super close to, and wasn't sure how he felt about not getting all of her attention seeing as now she had a baby; he then remembered how Auntie Addie still treated him the same when she had Anthony—by that time, he was old enough to know how a baby could change things, but it didn't.
Charlie knew Auntie Shelly wouldn't be the same right away, but hoped his little cousin would open up to the family soon because he really loved being a big cousin. A big brother was another story because Callie got on his nerves more and more these days being in the awkward stage he was in.
He loved her to death anyways though, especially when his dad would tell him about Jake and Addie seeing as they all grew up together for a while until Shelby and Lexie came into the world. Charlie took all that to heart and was an amazing big brother—he was extremely excited when Anthony was born though because he finally had a cousin that was a boy.
As the day progressed, Charlie joined the tea party even though he really didn't want to, although he did think his baby cousin was really cute so it made it better. Emily also joined the tea party giving Rachel plenty of time to study her.
Rachel listened to all of their voices and realized none of the people mommy introduced her to yelled or even made their voice loud, in other words raised their voice in any way, shape or form: ever.
The adults did when they knew the kids were asleep and were upset about something like when they found out about all Rachel had endured, but that's another story because none of the kids knew about it nevermind the baby herself.
Emily interacted with the baby during the tea party and again when they went downstairs to jump on the trampoline and see the foam pit. She loved every minute of it even though it was really hard—she didn't know how Shelby was handling everything on a daily basis.
When they were downstairs was when Rachel had her first anxiety moment (besides the doorbell and when everyone entered). Callie looked over at Jake and said, "Daddy watch me!" as she jumped right into the foam pit, instantly freezing Rachel in her spot.
She was on the trampoline, Shelby, Cassie and Emily sitting on it as she was bouncing watching her cousins jump in and out of the foam pit. Shelby internally winced hearing Callie and kicked right into action when her daughter froze and broke out into a fresh set of tears.
The lip quiver was completely bypassed, as were the tears that occasionally welled in her eyes before she cried—this was a set of full-blown tears, her teeny tiny body violently shaking but she couldn't get herself over to mommy as she stood frozen in her spot hearing her daddy's voice in her head screaming at her for some unknown reason.
She didn't hear his voice much anymore and hadn't for what felt like a really long time—all she knew is that she didn't like it at all, not one single bit. The baby wanted mommy, and wanted her right now!
Shelby reached out to her daughter who was thankfully right next to her, cradling Rachel to her chest swaying back and forth, "Shh, shh, shh baby. Mommy's right here, mommy's got you."
Without thinking, Shelby stood up and carried Rachel upstairs away from everyone as the wails intensified.
Cassie knew better than to follow as she heard Callie start to cry as Charlie questioned why his little cousin was so upset. Emily seemed almost as frozen as Rachel was a minute ago not knowing how to respond to her son—Callie had already climbed into her daddy's arms and Cassie helped gently explain to Charlie what was going on as Jake calmed his daughter down.
Katherine and Thomas were watching the scene unfold, the grandmother wiping her own tears away after seeing how physically effected her littlest grandbaby was by hearing the word daddy, then how upset Callie was afterwards not understanding; Thomas was comforting his wife while making sure everyone else was okay in the process, besides Shelby and Rachel who he knew needed space.
Upstairs, Shelby was still trying to calm her daughter who still seemed to be stuck somewhere else; her mind wandered to those dark places she tried her best to always keep hidden, wanting to find a way to kill Hiram and Leroy, who was already dead, before quickly focusing back on calming her little angel.
"You're okay baby girl, shh, shh, shh, mommy's got you. You're safe baby, you'll always be safe in mommy's arms," she kept repeating almost like a mantra until Rachel calmed herself down.
Well, now we know how my little angel will react to hearing daddy, Shelby thought to herself.
Rachel tugged on Shelby's shirt who didn't think twice and started nursing Rachel as she sat in the rocking chair they had in the living room. Gosh you'd think she had multiple babies with three rocking chairs but Shelby wanted to make sure there was one in her room and the nursery to make sure it looked the same as their house in the city, and then added another to the living room for moments like these.
"There we go angel," Shelby stroked Rachel's little cheek and wiped away her tears as the baby settled completely feeling mommy's skin and getting 'mommy milp'. "You're okay baby," Shelby smiled down at her daughter to keep her own tears at bay.
She thought about her niece and nephew who were most likely asking questions downstairs, and if she knew Callie, which she did, the little girl was probably crying herself which made Shelby feel badly.
She knew this wasn't going to be easy for anyone, most of all her daughter—it was going to be a long road ahead of them but they'd make it.
Shelby was going to speak with Arizona come Monday to see if she had a contact in Akron, a child psychologist, that Shelby could speak with herself; hell she'd paid for a session just to ask questions regarding the best way to help her daughter in situations like these and those to come knowing introducing another person into her baby's life most likely wouldn't be the best option right now.
Rachel fell asleep nursing, all the crying took a lot out of her not to mention all the playing and meeting of new people so far today however, Shelby wasn't ready to put her down yet.
Cassie found Shelby singing to Rachel, her shirt still lifted even though the baby was sound asleep which the blonde found out quickly once she walked closer to her two loves, seeing Rachel's hand clinging onto the shirt realizing that's why Shelby had yet to pull it back down.
The two women shared an unspoken look as Shelby continued singing, her green expressive eyes telling the blonde that she wasn't completely okay but would be; to that, Cassie sat on the ottoman placing her hand on Shelby's leg, squeezing it slightly to let the brunette know she'd be there when Shelby needed her.
Cassie also conveyed without speaking that the kids were okay knowing Shelby would be concerned about them as well. It was a quick and silent conversation while Shelby was still singing, something Cassie knew would never get old no matter how many times she heard the same song, or new ones for that matter.
No matter what was thrown their way, they'd get through anything together. Rachel would be okay, and eventually, she would be playing with her cousins not giving a care in the world about hearing the word daddy or about being loud because she'd be just as loud. At least, that's what Shelby loved to think about anyways.
Once again, it all came down to time.
Time and love would get her little one through anything and everything…
Shelby finished singing and gently placed a kiss to her daughters temple, "I love you so much baby girl, have sweet, sweet dreams my little angel."
More of Jake's little family to come, no worries!
