Chapter 7
Shelby made quick to pay for all of the merchandise chosen from the toy store, and managed to only take a single paper bag with handles that contained one special teddy bear she was planning on giving to Rachel later. Shelby wanted to keep the bear close by, so nothing would happen to the notorious stuffed animal.
Karen parted ways with the mother and daughter noting she needed to run a few more errands before she was finished for the day since it was Saturday and she normally didn't work for Shelby on the weekend unless there was a special event. Shelby tried to convince Karen to eat lunch with them, so Shelby could repay her extra hours of work, but Karen insisted it would be good to have some time with Rachel.
Shelby and Rachel hopped into a cab and decided deli sandwiches were the way to go. Shelby wanted to take Rachel to her favorite local deli and bakery, not even a block from her building. Jerry Natolie and his two sons ran the Natolie Deli and Bakery. They were a few of the nicest and most genuine people Shelby had encountered since her fame began four years prior. She wanted to introduce them to Rachel and have Rachel get used to the place since Shelby frequented the local spot.
A minute into the cab ride Rachel had fallen asleep. Shelby wanted her to stay awake a little longer to eat before she took a much needed nap so she wasn't forced to wake her little darling daughter to eat. Ideally, Shelby would have preferred to not disturb Rachel's sleep, but the girl hadn't eaten since her pancakes a few hours prior and it was important for Shelby to keep Rachel healthy and make sure she was getting the proper nutrients. If she had a snack in her purse she could have given Rachel a little something to eat already. These were new things she was quickly learning as a mom. And Shelby was quickly figuring out her normal routine, and scheduled followed life, would not be as plausible in her new life with Rachel. But, Shelby wouldn't trade any of these moments in the past 12 hours for anything in the world.
The cab driver pulled over right outside of Natolie's Deli and Bakery and Shelby quickly paid the cab fee. Rachel had slumped next to her mother, so Shelby pulled her sleeping beauty towards her, kissing her daughter several times before placing Rachel on her hip. Shelby knew she was never going to tire of kissing Rachel and she hoped the little tot would never tire of receiving them.
"Rachel, wake up. We need to eat some food, baby." Rachel fluttered her eyes open and whined a bit still resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Light snow flurries began to drift along a light breeze which caused Rachel to shake a bit. Shelby quickened her pace to get the two indoors noticing a darkness begin to set over the city meaning a storm was coming.
The ding of the bell from opening the door made Rachel pop her head off of her mother. The four-year-old found herself in a warm and lively joint. "Mommy?"
"Hmm?" Shelby questions looking for a possible spot to sit down after ordering; the place was bustling with people since it was lunchtime.
"Food?" Rachel mumbles out.
"Yes," Shelby grins and removes her daughter's beanie and begins to unbutton her daughter's coat.
"SHELBY!" Jerry shouts from the back of the deli and walks towards her, "I haven't seen you in a couple of days and…" the man pauses staring at Rachel unsure of what to say, "and I see a lot has changed in a couple of days." He warmly smiles upon the sleepy child.
Shelby leans in to kiss his cheek, "This is my baby girl, Rachel." Jerry happily nods his head. "And Rachel this is Mr. Natolie."
Jerry holds his hand up, "Oh no calling me Mr. Natolie. You must call me Jerry, Princess Rachel." Jerry declares grabbing Rachel's toddler hand and kisses the top of it like she's royalty.
Rachel giggles at the notion and can't help but immediately like the kind, short, grey-haired man standing before her. "Okay, Jerry!"
"Good." Jerry turns and calls out behind him, "Nick, Joe, come here." Two younger versions of Jerry walk over to the small group and quickly give kisses to Shelby and smile at Rachel. "Boys, this is Princess Rachel. She is Shelby's daughter. Anything she wants, she can have. Understand?"
Nick and Joe bow to Rachel and tell their father they understand. The younger men turn back to the counter to continue to help customers as Jerry guides Shelby and Rachel towards the front of the line.
"Oh, Jerry, no we can wait in line." Shelby tries to convince the generous man.
"Hush, my dear. You are family and we were just introduced to our newest member, so let's get this Princess and yourself food and we'll sit you down over here." Jerry explains.
No one in line seemed to mind when they noticed Shelby and her adorable daughter who began waving at the people in line taking the role of Princess seriously. Most of the customers found the toddler beguiling and waved back much to Rachel's delight.
Jerry ushered Shelby and Rachel to a table top near a corner window close to a couple of other tables, but far away enough from the flow of customers to give them some privacy. Shelby sat Rachel down on a chair and pulled another chair next to it for her to occupy. Jerry explained he'll take their order from them, even though they normally order at the counter. Shelby was flattered and relished how much Rachel was enjoying all of the attention she was receiving from some of her favorite people. Shelby loved that the Natolie's didn't press her or Rachel for questions, but rather received them with open arms, no questions asked. This is why she loved coming in here so much and the fact that they made the most delicious and comforting food.
Rachel's fatigue was hitting her quickly and her eyes were fluttering shut. Shelby thought she should just tell Jerry to bag their food, but she wanted Rachel to take a few bites and get her to take a dose of her medicine for her ear.
Jerry stepped over to the duo with a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk, "Can she nibble on this before your food comes out? It's almost ready."
Shelby nods, "you're so kind. Thank you."
Rachel perks up at the sight of the cookie and sits up in her seat taking the cookie from Jerry's hand, "Thank you, Jerry."
"You're welcome." Jerry responds and squats down near the tot. "So, what have you two been up to today?" He asks wanting to help the obvious new mom out a bit and keep the child awake.
Shelby noticed his antic and gave him a knowing, thankful smile.
"I got shot!" Rachel responds to which both Jerry and Shelby look upon her shocked.
"Shot?"
"Yes, in both arms." Rachel points to her arms still traumatized with receiving shots in her arms earlier.
"Honey, you got shots in your arm with medicine. You did not get shot." Shelby tries to explain chuckling a few times in the process.
"Oh." Rachel responds devouring the cookie in her hand.
Nick shows up with their plates of sandwiches and a side of homemade mac-n-cheese cups, "Turkey for the Queen and PB and J for the Princess." Nick places each plate in front of the ladies and hands Shelby to-go containers, "I figured you will need these."
"Ah, Nick. You read my mind. Thank you."
"No problem."
Jerry stands and pats his arm around his son's, "Alright ladies, please let me know if you need anything else. I'll let you two eat. Be sure to say goodbye before you leave, and Rachel you must come visit us soon. It's not often a Princess comes to visit us."
Rachel giggles and hides her head in her shoulder before looking to her mother for Shelby's reaction. Shelby winks at her daughter and informs Jerry they'll be back often.
Rachel took three bites of her sandwich and two bites of her mac-n-cheese before she leaned back in her seat and began to drift off. Shelby took one last bite of her sandwich and made quick to pack up the rest of their food in their to-go containers. Shelby picked up her partially awake daughter and their belongings, waved to the Natolie men and headed out into the now small blizzard.
Rachel woke up a bit at the bite of the immediate cold and buried her face into her mother's neck. Their home was only a few buildings down and then the two could take a long nap together before all of the items they bought that day arrived at their home.
Rachel turned to face outward when she felt the warmth of being in a building. This was her mother's home, now her home too and she wanted to see all of the people and the lavish lobby.
Ben was one of the daytime doormen that Rachel had met earlier in the morning. Rachel was excited to recognize him again and greeted him with a friendly, "HI BEN!" when Shelby and herself made it over towards the elevators.
Ben waved grandly from his desk, "Hello little Ms. Rachel! Hello, Ms. Corcoran."
"Hi Ben, we are going to have a lot of packages delivered by this evening. I apologize ahead of time."
"It's not a problem, Ms. Corcoran. I will take care of it."
"Great. Thank you. See you later." Shelby calls out after the elevator door opens and she and Rachel quickly get on and make their way to their home.
Shelby opens their front door and places Rachel down in the entry way of the house. Shelby slides off her shoes and places them in a basket from an entry side bench and next to a coat hanger. Shelby takes off her scarf and coat and hangs them on the coat rack, "Rachel, take off your shoes and coat okay?"
Rachel plops herself on the tile entry floor and pulls at her pink converse. Her shoes were double-knotted and Rachel began grunting when she found difficulty taking off her shoe. Shelby smiles down at her eager daughter and squats down and begins unbuttoning Rachel's coat.
"Need some help?"
Rachel pouts out her lip and drops her shoe-cladded foot to the floor giving up, "yes, help."
Shelby quickly pulls off the shoes and makes Rachel place them in the shoe basket. Shelby takes Rachel's coat, new scarf and monkey beanie and hangs them next to her own noting how such simple things as seeing her daughter's shoes and coat next to her own make her feel more fulfilled than she's felt in a long time.
Rachel rubs her eyes and Shelby holds out her hand for Rachel to grab and the two head towards the kitchen. Shelby had her purse, the handled bag, and their leftovers in hand. Shelby placed the leftovers in the refrigerator and dropped her purse and bag on the countertop. Shelby bends down to grab her sleepy daughter and places her on top of the counter.
"You need to take your yummy medicine and then you and I are going to take a nap. How does that sound?"
"Yes nap. No thank you medicine."
Shelby smirks at her daughter's remark, "tough, little one. You're taking the medicine because I want you to feel better. Don't you want to feel better?"
Rachel dramatically sighs, "oh okay."
Shelby measures out the dose of the pink liquid but the sight of it makes Rachel turn her head. "Honey, it tastes like bubble gum and its pink!" Shelby tries to convince her daughter to take the medicine.
Rachel reluctantly opens her mouth and Shelby quickly pours the spoonful of medicine down hoping her daughter will swallow it. Rachel does and gives her mother a smile, "I did it."
Shelby chuckles and places the cap back on the bottle. She scoops up Rachel and heads to the master bedroom. Rachel rests her head on her mother's shoulder fading into sleep, but she is quickly uprooted and placed on the floor of her mother's master bathroom.
"I don't need this." Rachel whines and points to the toilet.
"Honey, you need to use the restroom and then mommy will put some of your ointment on your bottom." Shelby brushes some stray hairs from Rachel's face.
Rachel rubs her eyes, "But, I-I tired."
"I know, baby. Come on." Shelby assists the tired and sick tot and pulls down her pants and panties and places her daughter on the toilet.
Rachel quickly goes potty and Shelby helps Rachel properly wipe her bottom with toilet paper and then a warm washcloth like the doctor had suggested. Shelby begins to put the ointment on Rachel's bottom and pauses for a moment and stares in earnest upon her daughter, "Rachel, no one but Mommy is allowed to put this on you okay? No one should ever touch you down here, accept mommy when I'm helping you. Do you understand?"
Rachel nods her head, "Okay, Mommy." Shelby felt after all that Rachel had been through that it was important to explain a few rules that every child should know. She wanted her daughter to be protected and feel safe and Shelby knew she was going to need to teach her daughter many important lessons.
After both mother and daughter used the restroom, Shelby pulled back the covers of her bed and snuggled herself and Rachel into the warmth of the bed. Rachel fell asleep the moment her mother snuggled with her. Shelby quickly silenced her phone and let herself fall into a peaceful slumber.
Two hours later, Shelby opened her eyes and noticed the sun was setting. She looked upon her beautiful sleeping child and was enthralled with the love she has for her daughter. Shelby kissed Rachel's cheeks and head and slowly rolled out of the bed not wanting to wake her ill child just yet. She knew Rachel needed some extra sleep. She didn't want her to sleep too late for fear she wouldn't sleep through the night, but a half hour more wouldn't hurt the young girl.
Shelby grabbed an over-sized cream-colored sweater from her walk-in closet after getting a small chill, pulled her hair up in a messy bun, and grabbed her phone before heading out to her front room. Shelby noticed she had several missed calls, voicemails and text messages. She made quick to make herself a cup of coffee before looking at her phone.
Shelby takes her steaming cup of coffee to her couch and picks up her remote to have some background noise while she shuffles through her voice messages and texts.
Shelby is not surprised her first message is from Karen, "Shelby, it's me Karen. I finished some errands and let myself in while you two were sleeping. I bought Rachel four sippy cups and some Princess plates and bowls, spoons and forks, as well as the snack items, body wash, and shampoo and conditioner you wrote down. I also bought her the pink bathrobe you were talking about. It's too cute. Ben helped me bring up her clothing items that were delivered and I started a load of laundry for you, so you'll need to change it over by the time you get this. Okay, I think that's it. Call me if you need anything. If not, I'll see you on Monday. Bye."
Shelby sent Karen a quick text thanking her. The woman thought of and did everything; she was truly amazing. Shelby played the next message as she got up to head to the laundry room to change over the laundry and continue to clean Rachel's new clothes.
"Shelby! It's me, Angie, ya know your publicist that you should have called first thing this morning or even last night. I hear you have an adorable rug rat on your hands now. You know we need to come up with a statement soon. That shit is going to hit the news like crazy as soon as someone finds out. Call me back."
Shelby cringed at Angie's words realizing all of the people she and Rachel were exposed to today. Shelby knew all too well how the media responds to any story let alone a daughter that appeared out of nowhere. Shelby inwardly sighed as she listened to the next message.
"Ms. Corcoran, this is Detective Brian Banks. We have made some headway with Rachel's case. I would like to discuss a few things with you and possibly Rachel when you are available. I know you've only had a day together, but let me know if tomorrow sometime would work. I can come to you. Just let me know a good time. Have a nice evening."
Shelby sighed knowing she had a few things to discuss with the detective as well. Shelby placed her phone in her pocket not wanting to deal with anymore messages at this point and moved a new load into the washing machine and placed Rachel's clean load into the dryer.
"Momma where are yous?" Rachel called out from the hallway rubbing her eyes still visibly tired.
Shelby runs out from the laundry room and notices down the long hallway Rachel rubbing her eyes and standing only in her panties, socks and her shirt from earlier. "I'm right here, baby. I was washing some clothes. Come here." Shelby holds out her arms to pick the four-year-old up.
Rachel grins ear to ear at the sight of her mother and runs straightway into her mother's loving arms. "I don't like when you not there." Rachel whines into her mother's shoulder.
"I know. But, I didn't want to wake you up. You need your rest. How are you feeling and where are your pants, bug?" Shelby places her hand instinctively on her daughter's forehead, which seems a more normal temperature.
"I AM HUNGRY! And I kicked them." Rachel gallantly informs her mother.
Shelby laughs and places Rachel down on the wooden floor and takes her by the hand, "You kicked them? Are you cold?" Rachel shakes her head not wanting to put her pants back on. Her rash felt better without the pants and she always enjoyed being pantless anyway.
"Well then let's go finish our leftovers from earlier. How does that sound?"
"Nope."
"No?" Shelby is surprised to hear Rachel declining the food she was offered.
"YOUUUU make me something." Rachel flashes a smile that Shelby cannot resist. "Please, Mommy?"
The two reach the kitchen and Shelby picks Rachel up to place her on the countertop, "Hmm, well what do you want me to make you?"
"Apples."
Shelby laughs, "Honey, I don't make you apples. I just have to cut those up."
"Okay, cut them up please."
"I can do that, but you need to eat something else."
"Mac N cheese, please."
"Rachel, you have that in your leftovers."
"I don't want that one anymore."
"Well, I spent money on that food and I don't want it to go to waste, so you need to eat that."
"Tomorrow." Rachel was not backing down and Shelby didn't understand why.
"Why not now? Is there a reason?" Shelby bent close to her daughter.
Rachel wrapped her arms around her mother and whispered in her ear, "Cause I want to eat yoooouuurrr food, mommy."
This child was going to be the end of Shelby, "okay, baby I'll make you some Mac N Cheese myself." Shelby scooped up her kid and planted Rachel with several kisses, which made the toddler hysterically laugh and shout "Stop" even though she didn't want her mother to stop.
Shelby told Rachel to go sit on the couch and find a blanket to lay over her. Shelby grabbed a pair of Rachel's new pajama bottoms instead of her jeans, and found the Disney channel that had Sofia the First playing to occupy Rachel while she could make some food for her kid. Shelby was thankful she had several boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese since it was her go-to comfort food.
Shelby cut apple slices and poured some milk in a new sippy cup for Rachel and herself a glass of water. She poured the cooked Mac N Cheese into bowls for both mother and daughter and placed the items on a tray to take over to the couch. Normally, Shelby eats at her kitchen table or dining room table but the sight of her daughter bundled up on the couch convinced Shelby the two could have a picnic of sorts in front of the television.
Shelby placed the food items on the coffee table in front of the couch and turned to face Rachel whose eyes were fluttering shut. Shelby caressed her daughter's flushed cheeks and moved some hair away from her face, "ready to eat?"
Rachel smiles up at her mother, "yes. Did you make it, Mommy?"
"I sure did. Just for you."
Rachel pulls herself up excited to be eating something her mother had made. Rachel sits forward on the comfortable couch and dangles her feet over the side.
Shelby moves Rachel forward a bit more so she can reach the coffee table. "Okay, dig in, baby. But, I want you to know we are not always going to eat out here because I like my couches and I don't want them to have food stains on them. Okay?"
Rachel nods her head and her stomach growls smelling the freshly made macaroni and cheese. Shelby laughs at her daughter's face upon hearing her stomach and hands her the food, "here baby."
The mother and daughter duo happily feast upon the simplistic Mac n Cheese dish. Rachel was famished and finished every bit of her macaroni and slices of apples. Shelby had asked her if she wanted more, but Rachel was content and wanted nothing more but some snuggle time with mother and to watch some more of Sofia the First.
After finishing one episode, Shelby eyed the clock on the cable box noticing it was nearing seven pm and was hoping the items from the toy store would be delivered soon. She wanted this to be an early night for Rachel since the ill child had been nodding off and on since they arrived home. Shelby would give the girl another half an hour before she got her ready for bed. She wanted to give her the Edward bear before bed, hoping she would find comfort in her missing bear. Shelby would love to spend each night sleeping next to her darling daughter, but she knew Rachel will eventually need a space of her. Shelby immediately began to think of which room she was going to turn into Rachel's bedroom. She was thinking the room closest to her own would be good, so the tot could easily come to her mother and not have to walk a long distance through the giant apartment.
The sound of the doorbell startles Shelby from her thoughts and Rachel from her TV show. Shelby begins to uproot herself from the couch much to Rachel's displeasure. She was enjoying the warmth and love sitting next to her mother. Shelby looked down after hearing a whine from her daughter, "honey, we can snuggle in a minute. This shouldn't take long. I believe this will be all of your new toys, little bug!"
Rachel's face lit up and the young girl tries to quickly get out of the blankets she cocooned herself in, but finds it too difficult. Shelby chuckles and helps her baby out of the mound of blankets and holds out her hand to walk them to the front door. "I get my dolly, right mommy?" Rachel asks excitedly.
"Yes, you do."
"I want to sleep with her tonight too, okay mommy?"
"Of course you can, sweetheart." Shelby playfully pokes her daughter's nose.
Shelby unlatches the locks on her door expecting to see delivery men, but is at a standstill in complete shock to see both of her parents and her younger sister on the other side holding suitcases and disgruntled expressions on their faces.
"Mom?" Shelby barely gets out in fear of the reproach she's about to receive.
"Shelby Kim Corcoran, I think you have a lot of explaining to do!"
Thank you to all those who are reading this story and your responses. I love to hear what you think and appreciate each one. I would also like to thank the PMs I've received from some very kind people. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I can't make promises for the next one. As all of you know, life is busy but I'll do my best to not make the wait too long! Have a wonderful week! -Tessa