When Shelby opened her eyes, she couldn't help but smile seeing her daughter still sprawled out on top of her chest, claiming what was hers, and feeling the rise and fall of her little chest. She thought back to why she stayed up here in the first place with her daughter and choked back her tears, although she found it to be harder than expected.

Suddenly she felt Rachel stirring and started singing the first song that popped into her head softly while gently patting her daughters diapered bottom.

…While you're *laying* around thinking about what you can't change

And worrying about all the wrong things

Times flying by, moving so fast

Better make it count 'cause you can't get it back…

Cassie, Katherine and Thomas all heard singing again as they completely forgot to turn off the baby monitor, yet again, immediately pausing what they were doing to listen to Shelby sing. Jake, Emily and the kids had left after Cassie went upstairs and saw Shelby sleeping as well stating they are more then welcome to come back anytime.

In all honesty, Emily was ready to get home so she could do the same thing Vanessa did, cry in her husbands arms after getting her own children fed, bathed and in bed that night—they were actually going out for dinner as a distraction because Emily was all up in her feels.

That left Cassie to clean up the toy room as Katherine and Thomas started making something for dinner—if Shelby and Rachel didn't wake up when it was ready, that was fine, Katherine just wanted to keep busy as well. However, now Cassie had taken over as sous chef while Thomas listened to his wife and future daughter-in-law explain what happened while he was downstairs with his grandchildren and son.

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing, is just a grain of sand

And what you've been out there searching for forever, is in your *arms*

And when you figure out, love is all that matters after all

It sure makes everything else, seem so small.

Katherine and Thomas gave each other a knowing look when they heard what song Shelby was singing to who they assumed was a snuggly Rachel, and then Katherine and Cassie shared their own look as well.

It seemed like the rest did Shelby some good just as it did the sweet little baby in her arms—she was hopefully realizing that what happened today and in the years she wasn't with Rachel was anything but her fault.

It's so easy to get lost inside, a problem that seems so big at the time

It's like a river that's so wide, it swallows you whole

While you're *laying* around thinking about what you can't change,

And worrying about all the wrong things

Time's flying by, moving so fast,

You better make it count 'cause you can't get it back.

Sometimes, that mountain you've been climbing, is just a grain of sand

And what you've been out there searching for forever, is *finally* in your *arms*.

Shelby finished singing and smiled at her daughter who was now repositioned in her arms as Shelby had sat up and cradled Rachel so she could look into those beautiful big brown doe eyes as she woke up.

"Hi baby girl, did you have a good sleepy?" Shelby asked softly, knowing her daughter still wasn't fully awake. When it came to nap times, it took her a bit longer to fully wake up as opposed to mornings where she would perch herself up on Shelby's chest first, then become snuggly and nurse. Priorities.

Rachel nodded, more like rubbed her face against her mommy's skin and reveled in the feeling—she loved it when mommy didn't have any barrier in between them, it made her feel extra loved. Nobody else has ever done that with her, at least she didn't remember anyone else.

And it's true, the Berry men did not do skin to skin with the baby, her Tassie doesn't do skin to skin, nor do nana or papa—just mommy, which made her extra, extra special because in Rachel's little mind, mommy was already super special.

Shelby could smell her mothers cooking and looked over at the clock realizing it was almost dinner time—she definitely didn't mean to sleep that long but clearly both she and Rachel needed it. She didn't hear the kids, Jake or Emily however that didn't mean much, they could be in the basement playing—that being said, if she thought about it, they probably left for the night.

That's okay though, nana and papa were still there so hopefully that would make Rachel feel better about not being able to say bye-bye to her cousins, aunt and uncle. She also knew none of them would take offense to both of them needing a nap because the adults at least knew how draining today was for Rachel and consequentially Shelby.

Katherine dried her tears because, of course, she was crying again after hearing Shelby sing while Cassie excused herself to go check on her two loves. She knew Thomas would take back over in his role of sous chef although, it was evident Cassie was doing a better job at it as he kept commenting that over the course of making the meal.

Cassie loved Katherine and Thomas so much—they truly became the parents she desperately needed at the time and treated her like one of their own; they had such a great relationship and because of that, Cassie didn't feel her heart ache as much anymore and hasn't for years.

She used to think back to her childhood and her parents however, once they disowned her for following her dreams and loving who she loves, there wasn't much else she could ever want or need from them as they weren't the best parents to begin with. They weren't bad parents, they just weren't there a lot and being an only child meant she spent more time with her dance family than anyone else it seemed like.

Cassie gently opened the door to their bedroom and smiled seeing Rachel still cradled in Shelby's arms as they spoke softly to each other. It's as if the mother and daughter were in their own little world, giggling, smiling, and relishing in just being close to one another. Anytime Cassie saw them like this she couldn't help but smile and feel like complete mush.

Neither saw her yet and not wanting to scare them, she just stood and watched for a while. Cassie couldn't exactly make out what either was saying however, knew they were both happy. Cassie had also turned off the baby monitor before coming upstairs—everyone agreed to not mention to Shelby that they heard her singing both times, along with what she said to Rachel and let Shelby come to them because they knew she would.

Shelby was getting much better at letting others in, whether it was just Cassie, Cassie and her parents, or sometimes Addie or her parents on the phone while Cassie was dancing, Shelby was slowly asking for help and being vulnerable with her emotions which she typically kept bottled up.

Eventually, Rachel turned her little head and squealed in delight seeing her Tassie, squirming around in Shelby's arms waiting for Cassie to come closer to her because she was comfortable right where she was.

Cassie sat down on the bed and smiled at her two loves—Rachel made absolutely zero effort in moving towards her but that didn't matter, she was just as happy to sit right next to them, especially right now when she could tell the baby really needed her mommy.

"Me Tassie!" Rachel exclaimed, waving her little arms around.

"Hi my princess, did you and mommy have a good nap?" the blonde asked.

She was the only one who got away with saying 'mommy' as opposed to your mommy—something Cassie loved more than anything because it showed how comfortable the baby was with her; Rachel also didn't 'claim' possession after seeing mommy and Tassie kiss, hug, or snuggle up together either. For whatever reason, the baby was just so happy to be around both of them, especially mommy.

"I didn't think we'd sleep for that long," Shelby commented, looking down at her daughter and gently rubbing her tummy the way she did when the baby typically nursed. "Clearly we both needed a little extra sleep, huh love bug?"

Rachel nodded her little head snuggling even closer into Shelby's chest with a huge smile on her face. She didn't really know the reason behind her need for an extra nap today, however, she did know that mommy never got upset if she was feeling extra sleepy for whatever reason.

"Well I'm glad you both got some rest," Cassie said, smiling at both of them reaching her hand closer to Rachel who took two of her fingers to hold onto. "Your parents are making some dinner, it's actually almost done so I came upstairs to check on you two," she lied, knowing full well they were awake or at least starting to wake up considering they heard Shelby singing on the baby monitor.

Shelby was just about to ask Rachel if she was hungry however, her little ones tummy beat them too it. "Mommy can hear your talking tummy baby girl, should we go straighten ourselves out then see what nana made us for dinner?"

Rachel didn't really know what mommy meant by 'straighten ourselves out' but nodded along anyways knowing after that, she could go downstairs and see her grandparents. Neither mother nor daughter questioned if Jake and his family were still there as Shelby had already ruled it out in her head—she was going to see how it would play out with Rachel and go from there, hoping for the best like when Jeremy's family left last weekend.

One quick diaper change later, adding pants this time because it was now later in the night and Rachel didn't have an issue with mommy putting them on her anymore, some brushing of Shelby's own messy hair and they were off to go see what was for dinner.

Cassie made silly faces at Rachel who was still in Shelby's arms as they went down the stairs, the baby was looking up at her smiling and giggling at how funny her Tassie always was with her. She truly did love the blonde so much.

Walking into the kitchen, Rachel's head whipped around hearing her nana's voice, "Oh there you two are! I was just talking to papa about possibly leaving this in the oven until Cassie gave us the verdict of whether you were awake or not."

If anyone referred to Thomas when speaking with Rachel around, they called him papa instead of daddy as to not upset her any further—typically Katherine would have said 'talking to daddy' however, she knew better, especially after what happened earlier today.

"Did you have a good sleep sweet pea?" Katherine directed her question towards the baby who replied with an enthusiastic, "Me nana me nap! Me an mommy!" as if nana didn't already know, gosh she was so dang precious.

"Woah, you got to have a nap with your mommy?" Thomas questioned, loving how excited Rachel was about the fact mommy was there too.

"Eah me! Me papa me do an mommy!" Rachel's smile was bigger than life—you'd think a simple nap with mommy was the greatest thing ever, and to the baby, it really was.

All the adults hearts were melting at how adorable she is; truly, Rachel never failed in making them smile, laugh, and have such an amazing time when she was clearly excited, in her little element, or being silly like her mommy and Tassie are with her.

"That must have been so nice," Thomas continued to speak with Rachel although, she never left Shelby's arms while Shelby asked her mother what was for dinner.

Ten minutes later, dishes were plated and everyone was sitting in the breakfast nook eating another one of Katherine's homemade meals—something both women and Rachel loved so much. That being said, Rachel loved anything you put in front of her and it helped that Shelby and Cassie were actually great chefs themselves.

They never made anything super fancy, but they could throw multiple different dishes together and have them taste really good while still being healthy. Shelby wasn't trying to disregard their typical 'health kick' in anyway because that's how they've always been however, she did try to have more 'cheat' meals for Rachel to help her put on some weight while keeping it balanced as well.

When Katherine cooked though, you know it was automatically a cheat meal because she would dish out seconds on your plate before you even finished your first. It was the mother in her, didn't matter who she was cooking for, it just happened: always.

Cassie remembers the first time she ate at the Corcoran's and Katherine put more food on her plate before she finished the first helping and looked over at Shelby with wide eyes as her jaw dropped open.

She had just met the woman about three hours prior and there she was loading up Cassie's plate again. All Shelby could do was shrug, laugh, and wait for her mother to do the same to her plate as well knowing that's exactly who Katherine Corcoran is and always will be. Now though, Cassie knows to expect it.

Over dinner they listened to Rachel babble away about anything that came to her mind about the day, luckily either not remembering or no longer feeling the significance of the emotions and reaction she had towards hearing the word daddy. It made everyone hold their breath for a minute when she brought up the 'tampwine' seeing as that's where she had her meltdown.

Then she asked if they could 'ump adain' which made them all feel much better—Shelby told her they could jump again after dinner settled into their bellies to prevent her little jumping bean from getting sick. See, not going on the trampoline after eating made sense to the young mother, what didn't make sense was the whole not going swimming right away.

Here she was at 24 years old and still couldn't understand why it was such a bad thing to go swimming after eating—knowing her mother would most likely make up an excuse as to why it's 'bad', she kept that to herself. It's not like she had to follow her parents rules anymore anyways, so come time for the pool to be opened, Shelby is going to test her theory out herself.

After watching an episode of Bubble Guppies to let their tummies settle, everyone headed downstairs to be a part of the nightly bounce. No, Katherine and Thomas wouldn't be jumping but they did want to be down there with their girls. Thomas has jumped on the trampoline many times so it wouldn't be shocking for him to be on there, just not after dinner.

"Woot mommy woot me!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I see you baby, you're bouncing so high aren't you?" Shelby smiled. Rachel was slowly but surely putting more words together, although they didn't always sound like the word exactly, she did her best.

She was also getting better at being more vocal in general—for the first three weeks, maybe a month, it seems like the baby relied more on her sign language Shelby was teaching her or nodding more than anything else. Shelby didn't know if it was because her little one was having a hard time pronouncing the words, or if she was still just getting used to everything; either way, they made due.

It was really nice to see her daughter coming out of her shell more and more though and only hopes it will continue with meeting and seeing the cousins, aunts and uncles more often. It will definitely be too much to have all of them over for a while but seeing each little family during the weekends, even two days in a row eventually will hopefully make for a really great summer for all.

"Me mommy me baumcin' me, me!" then proceeded to somehow double bounce herself, bursting out laughing as her little diapered bottom landed on the trampoline.

Everyone followed suit once they saw that Rachel thought it was hysterical and laughed along with her. It was now a bit past the typical time that Shelby started their nightly routine however, because it seemed as if they had just woken up, figured it would be okay for tonight.

There are a lot of things Shelby has always taken extremely seriously throughout her life, and a schedule is one of them. When she was pregnant with Rachel, she had a strict schedule even with her workout routine until a week before the baby made her grand entrance into the world.

It started at such a young age for her; school work, dance lessons, singing lessons, spending time with her friends and family, focusing on her dreams, it truly kept Shelby feeling as though she had complete control of her life when sometimes she felt she had anything but.

That being said, with a baby, life is full of unpredictability—schedules get changed or altered quite frequently, and you learn to just roll with it. Tonight was one of those nights where they were just rolling with it—her little jumping bean was happy, wearing herself out, full of smiles and giggles, and she was surrounded by some of the people she loves most in life.

It's true what they say though, your child or your children will always and forever be your greatest love—of course if you have a partner you love them to death as well but your child holds something so special in your heart while also being a beating piece outside of your heart all at the same time.

Shelby always thought Rachel would be that beating piece outside her heart until the contract was 'over' and now…well now she doesn't ever need to think of her sweet little baby in only that way anymore. And that's something she's so, so grateful for.

While watching Rachel bounce around, Shelby kept thinking back to the song she sang while Rachel was nursing earlier and the song she sang when she was waking up from their nap together. Today has truly been a whirlwind of emotions and she knows that talking with her parents and Cassie will help her sort through everything she's feeling.

But right now, the only emotion that truly mattered was the happiness radiating off her daughter and projecting right into her own heart. Gosh how did I create someone so dang perfect? She is so beautiful in everyway, so precious, so innocent…

Shelby's thoughts were cut off with an 'oomph' as Rachel jumped into her arms, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Hi love bug," she laughed, lifting Rachel over her head and peppering kisses to her face hearing the perfect squeal combined with lots of giggles.

It was getting closer to seven now and as the baby plopped down in her mommy's arms, she started rubbing her eyes with her little fists. "Are you getting sleepy my little jumping bean?"

Rachel really wanted to keep bouncing but mommy was right, she was sleepy again. Maybe when she gets big like mommy she won't get so tired all the time. What her little brain didn't understand yet was that babies/toddlers and even children need much more sleep than adults—but yes, maybe when she's stronger she'll be able to bounce a bit longer however, she will still need plenty of sleep.

In response to Shelby's question Rachel just nodded and everyone knew it was time to start their nightly routine. They all went up the first set of stairs where the grandparents veered off from Shelby, Rachel and Cassie who proceeded to go up the second flight of stairs while they stayed in the living room.

About thirty-five minutes later, Shelby carried a freshly cleaned pj clad Rachel back downstairs to say night-night to nana and papa. This was one of Rachel's favorite times when nana and papa were here because she didn't realize you could give hugs to anyone besides mommy multiple times a day, but at bedtime, she was always able to give more hugs.

The grandparents loved every minute of it—the last 2 weeks in New York is when Rachel started to hug them before bed instead of just waving. They of course got their hugs when they'd go back to their apartment or when they got to Shelby's in the first place but the extra hug at bedtime always made their hearts so full.

"Goodnight sweet pea, have sweet dreams," Katherine said, pressing a kiss to Rachel's temple and soaking up that sweet baby scent as much as she could before passing her along to Thomas.

"Goodnight pumpkin, nana and I will see you in the morning," Thomas said gently—he used this voice specifically for Rachel and Rachel only because even though she was no longer timid around him, he didn't want to do anything to scare her at anytime if he could help it.

Rachel reached back out for Shelby who scooped her up, "We love you," Shelby said with a smile; her parents already knew both she and Cassie would be coming back down after the baby was asleep like they typically did.

The parents knew tonight though, Shelby would need both of them so they were mentally preparing themselves for any and everything she had to say. Believe it or not, not even Katherine or Thomas had all the answers like their children and grandchildren thought they did.

"We love all of you too," Katherine replied.

While Rachel was nursing, Cassie read her a book and when the story was over, Shelby took over by singing. She made it a priority to sing to Rachel before every naptime and every bedtime even though the baby typically fell asleep during the songs; it was just another way they bonded—at least, Shelby felt that way anyways.

One look at you, my whole life falls in line

I prayed for you, before I called you mine.

Oh, I can't believe it's true sometimes,

Oh, I can't believe it's true.

I get to love you, it's the best thing that I'll ever do.

I get to love you, it's a promise *I'll forever make to you*

Cassie already had tears forming in her eyes—she knew the second line of the song represented those almost three years Shelby was without Rachel and it broke her heart however, Shelby kept on singing pushing herself to let her baby know how precious she really is.

Whatever may come, your heart I will choose,

Forever I'm yours, forever I do.

I get to love you, I get to love you.

The way you love, it changes who I am.

I am undone, I thank *my lucky stars* once again

*Cause'* I get to love you, it's the best thing that I'll ever do.

I get to love you, it's a promise *I'll forever and ever keep to you*

Shelby herself was getting choked up and knew this song described more than one person to her—she obviously thought of the little bundle of joy in her arms who she was nursing to sleep, those big brown doe eyes fluttering shut but also thought about Cassie and how lucky she feels to love her as well; not just that, but to be loved back by her.

And they say love is a journey,

I promise that I'll never leave,

When it's too heavy to carry, remember this moment with me.

I get to love you, I get to love you…

When the song was over, Shelby pressed a lingering kiss to Rachel's temple and then wiped the corners of her mouth as Cassie handed her the pacifier after wiping her own tears. She too could relate to that song in the sense of thinking about herself and Shelby—honestly, the blonde has no idea how she got so lucky to not only have Shelby in her life, but Rachel as well.

Per their nightly routine, Cassie leaned forward and kissed Rachel, "I love you princess, see you in the morning."

Shelby watched the rise and fall of Rachel's chest for a few more minutes before standing up and giving her one last kiss, "I love you so much baby girl, sweet dreams my angel."

short chapter although lots of feelings and emotions being discovered throughout.

Songs:
So Small: Carrie Underwood
I Get To Love You: Ruelle