SEBASTIAN:
I can't keep avoiding this. I have to tell the kids the truth. So much has happened in the last twenty-four hours, a lot which I haven't even had the chance to process myself. But they need to know.
I take a deep breath before opening the door to the empty conference room where my kids are. "Daddy?" Bianca looks up. "What's going on?"
"Why was Papa dragged out of here by those cops?" Isaac asks.
"You saw that?" I try to keep a cool, unaffected tone. I didn't want them to see that I was just as scared and sad as they were.
"Yeah. He lunged at the glass," Isaac points to the glass windows lining the walls.
"Son of a b!tch," I mumble to myself.
"Did Papa do something bad?" Bianca asks.
"Yes. He- uh-..." I have no idea how to explain this to a six-year-old and a three-year-old.
Bianca starts to tear up. I haven't even said anything yet, but it's clear that she's scared. They both are. I can't blame them. I'm scared as sh!t, and I actually know what's going on. I can only imagine how scary this situation must be to someone who has no idea of what's actually going on.
"Sometimes, there are bad people in the world, and we don't always know it. Papa is one of those bad people."
Bianca blinks through her tears. "Why is Papa bad?"
"He made some choices that weren't okay, and people got hurt."
"Why would he hurt people?" Isaac asks.
"I don't know, kiddo. But he did. And now he has to face the consequences for what he did."
"Does that mean Papa doesn't love us?"
"What do you mean, kiddo?"
"People make bad choices because they feel bad inside."
I taught them that. I didn't realize he remembered. "Yes. That's right."
"Did Papa not love us? Did we make him feel bad inside so he wanted to make other people feel bad?"
"I don't know why he did what he did, but I promise you, it isn't your fault. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"I have some good news, though."
Both kids perk up slightly at that, although Bianca's face is still stained with tears. I sit down and pat my lap. Bianca sprints over and sits on my lap, and Isaac sits on my knee. I use my hands to soothingly rub their backs.
"You have a new brother."
They both gasp, looking up at me, wide-eyed.
"Really?" Isaac asks.
Bianca frowns. "Another brother? Why couldn't you make it be a sister?" she whines.
I laugh. "I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like that, sweetie."
Ten minutes later, I go back up to the hospital room as one of the nurses brings the kids back to the daycare.
"How did it go?" Lucy asks, her hand resting on her bump.
"It went... okay, I suppose. They were obviously very frightened and sad. Apparently, as they were dragging Liam-" I pause. "I mean... Alejandro out of the hospital, they walked past the room that the kids were in, and he lunged at them. There was glass protecting them and he was in handcuffs, but they're little kids, so it had to have been scary."
"What a sh!tty person," Tim mutters.
"Hey, I'm not disagreeing with you, man."
"Does he have a name yet?" Lucy asks, suddenly changing the topic of the previously depressing conversation.
"Who?"
"The baby."
"I-..." I stutter. "I don't know. Wow, I'm the worst dad ever. I don't even know my kid's name."
"You haven't even met him yet and you love him like he's one of your own."
I shrug. "I mean... It's not his fault he was brought into the world this way. Besides, he's Isaac and Bianca's sibling. He and Isaac share the same biological dad, so they are technically half-siblings regardless."
Tim sighs. "Look, man, you didn't even know this kid existed until, what, an hour ago? No one blames you for not knowing his name... If I'm being completely honest with you, I don't think we know his name, either."
"Why don't we have John and Bailey bring the baby here so the kids can meet him?" Lucy suggests.
"Who?" I ask.
"They're our friends. They've been fostering him this whole time."
My face falls. "Then I can't just... it's not fair to take him away from them, whether he is Isaac and Bianca's brother or not."
"We don't need to think that far ahead just yet. Let's focus on the present, and what's happening right now, in this moment."
"Do you want us to call John and Bailey?" Tim asks me.
I think about it for a brief moment before nodding. "Yes, I'd like that. If anything, I want to thank them for taking him in and keeping him safe throughout all of this."
Lucy smiles. "That's sweet."
She winces, and Tim jumps forward. "Lucy?"
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah," she smiles weakly, rubbing her belly. "One of our girls just loves to kick my bladder."
"How do you know it's one of the girls?"
"I'm not sure. I just have a feeling."
"I'm going to call them," Tim says, grabbing out his phone. He taps at it a few times, finding the contact and placing the call on speaker phone.
On the second ring, Bailey picks up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Bailey,"
"What's up? Is everything okay?"
"Well..." Tim sighed and proceeded to fill her in on everything that had transpired. I keep forgetting with how fast everything is moving that some people need a chance to catch up.
"Holy sh!t," John says. He clearly had been in the room when Bailey took the call.
"Yeah... so, anyway, we were wondering if you could bring the baby by to meet the kids."
"Of course."
"By the way..." Tim says. "Does he have a name yet?"
A pause. "No, actually, not yet. We've been so busy with what's been going on, that and the fact that if we give him a name it'll be that much harder to give him up eventually."
"Wait, you weren't going to adopt him?" Lucy asks, surprised.
"No," Bailey sighs. "We had both talked and agreed that we wanted to find someone in his family who is still alive that he could live with. We thought it would be better for him to be with his biological family, if we could find them."
"Wait, that's actually perfect."
"Yeah, and besides, John doesn't really want kids. Then there's also..." her voice trails off.
"Also what?"
"Nevermind, it's not important," Bailey says. "Did, um, did Sebastian want to adopt him?"
"Actually... yeah."
LUCY
Half an hour later, John and Bailey arrive at my hospital room with the baby, who is fast asleep in his carrier. Sebastian went down to the daycare to retrieve the kids.
Bailey shuffles nervously on the balls of her feet. "Hey, Lucy, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure. Tim?"
"Yeah?" Tim asks.
"Can you go get me some ice chips, please?"
Tim gets the hint that I want to be alone with Bailey, so he suggests that John accompany him. Once we are finally alone, I pat the empty spot at the end of my hospital bed.
"Thanks," Bailey says, sitting down.
"So what's up? You seemed a little preoccupied on the phone, and you've just been... off since you got here. Are you okay?"
"Well... um..." she sighs and reaches into her purse, holding something out to me. She adjust her hand and I am able to see plain as day what it is.
"You're pregnant?" I ask, grabbing the test from her to study it more closely.
"It looks like it."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure. I've been suspecting it for a week or so, and this morning, I finally decided to take a test to be sure. I honestly wasn't expecting it to actually come back positive."
"What made you suspect that you might be pregnant?"
"Well, I was feeling pretty tired and light-headed almost all day. I was frequently nauseous, and even threw up a few times. I've also been having the weirdest cravings..."
"Oh, girl, say no more. I understand, especially that last part..." I say. "A little too well, if you ask me."
"Yeah..."
"So why do you seem so blue? Isn't a baby a good thing?"
Bailey shrugs. "Yeah."
"Don't you want this baby?"
"Of course I do, but..." her voice trails off.
I am suddenly reminded of our earlier conversation and give her a knowing nod. "But John doesn't want more kids."
"Right."
"I take it you two weren't trying?"
"That's correct."
"Hey, what are you two ladies talking about?" Johns' voice asks from the doorway, catching us both off guard. We jump a little, and Bailey quickly shoves the test back into her purse.
"Oh, you know, just... girl stuff," Bailey spares a glance at me before turning to her husband, a fake smile plastered onto her face. I wink at her.
"Here are your ice chips, baby," Tim crosses the room, handing me the cup before sitting down in the chair beside my bed. "What's going on?" he whispers.
I just shake my head, silently letting him know that I can't say, and this isn't the time nor the place to say anything regardless.
Sebastian returns with the kids a few minutes later. They light up when they see the baby fast asleep in his carrier. "Be gentle, okay? He's sleeping, so try not to be too loud," Sebastian reminds them. They both nod and hurry over to the baby.
"So, are you guys sure that it's okay for me to adopt him?" Sebastian asks Bailey and John while the kids are preoccupied with their brother.
"Of course. It makes much more sense for him to stay with his family, especially since it's an option, now. We had always planned to find a loving home for him eventually. Besides, we weren't wanting kids," John says, and Bailey winces silently. I can tell that although John has no idea and would never intentionally do or say anything to hurt her, that is the affect his words have on her.
"It'll take a little while to get the paperwork finalized, but I talked with the agency and they said we can transfer custody over to you right now. It'll just be a bit before you can 'officially' adopt him."
"Right. Thank you so much."
A/N: Let me know if you want a spin-off series when I'm done with this book about Bailey and John's pregnancy journey.
QOTC: Who is your favourite 'The Rookie' character?