The day started like any other day. Bosco and I walked from the locker room to roll call with Sully and Davis. We got our assignments and headed out. Bosco and I were the lucky ones that had gotten the prostitution assignment.again. We parked ourselves around the corner and waited. We had been talking and then heard the radio.

"5-5 units be on the lookout for a white male late 20's, black pants, gray hooded sweatshirt, known drug dealer by the name of Paulie, wanted for assault of two paramedics. Considered armed and dangerous. Last seen running northbound on 110th."

Bosco and I looked at each other. He started the car and we sped over to 110th. Bosco hated anyone who tried to hurt any of his colleagues. I didn't like it either, but Bosco took it personally. After about a half hour of riding around Bosco and I were flagged down by a dealer on the street. He told us he had just seen Paulie and that he ran around the corner. We chased him. Bosco ran him down and arrested him. We took him into the station, processed him and headed to the hospital.

As we were walking in we ran into Doc and Carlos.

"Hey guys. I hear you found Paulie," said Doc. "Yeah we got him. What exactly did he do?" asked Bosco. "You haven't heard?" "No what is it Doc?" "He shot Bobby in the chest and held Kim at gunpoint." "Oh my god.How's Bobby?" "We don't know, he's still in surgery." I was in shock, I couldn't say a word. I had no idea what that little jerk had done. I had to find Kim. "Hey Doc, where is everybody?" I asked. "There up in the OR waiting room." "Thanks." I headed for the elevators and Bosco followed me. When we got up to the floor we went right for the waiting room. I walked over there and looked at Kim. She was an absolute mess. It hit me then when I saw Kim, a normally strong and held-together woman, I realized the seriousness of Bobby's injury. I ran over to her and gave her a hug.

Bobby had been in surgery for several hors. We all were just sitting there. No one said a word. No one did anything.

Another hour had passed and then the doctor came into the waiting room. He asked to see Mrs. Caffey. She wanted all of us to hear also. We all gathered around the doctor, there was an eerie silence in the waiting room. It seemed like forever before he finally spoke. "Mrs. Caffey, everyone, my name is Dr. Lopez. Bobby was brought in with a gunshot wound to the chest. He lost a large amount of blood. We managed to control the bleeding. However, when we brought him into surgery we discovered that the bullet had hit the lower right chamber of his heart. While we were attempting to repair the damage his heart stopped. We were able to bring him back and stabilize him. Unfortunately the stabilizing only lasted about fifteen minutes before he coded again. We did all we could to try to restart the heart, but our efforts were unsuccessful. Bobby's injuries were too severe for him to survive. I'm sorry."

With that said the doctor turned around and walked away. Mrs. Caffey collapsed in Kim's arms. No one knew what to say. Bobby was gone. The loveable, caring Bobby Caffey was gone. After everyone got over the initial shock of the news people began filing out of the hospital with their heads hung. Bosco and I headed back out onto the street. We sat for the rest of the shift in silence. I kept thinking about what I would do if something happened to Bosco. I don't know what I would do. Bosco is the one I always turn to and have always turned to when something was wrong. I knew I could always count on him. He was my best friend. I needed him. He was my rock.

We finished our shift and headed back to the station. Bosco went straight for the locker room. I had to turn in some paperwork, but I quickly joined him in the locker room. No one was saying anything in the locker room. Everyone was just changing and leaving. I caught sight of Bosco over by the sink looking in the mirror. He turned around and looked at me. He didn't say a word, but I knew what he was saying. He was thinking about the same things I had been this evening. I looked over at Sully and Davis, they were exchanging similar looks. I finished getting changed and headed for the door.

"Faith?" "Yeah Bosco." "I just want to tell you that you are my best friend. I want you to know that." "I do know what Bosco. You are my best friend." "Good, I just wanted to make sure." "You will always be my best friend Bos." He smiled at me and I headed out of the locker room.

It was after midnight by the time I got home. I opened the door and found Fred passed out on the couch. I could smell the alcohol on him from the door. I knew he was drunk and I didn't feel like dealing with him so I went right to bed.
Chapter 2 I woke up and looked at the clock, 8:43. I got up and went to the kitchen for some coffee. As I passed the couch I saw that Fred was still passed out on the couch from the night before. I got my coffee and went to take a shower.

After my shower I walked back into the living room. Fred had decided it was finally time to wake up.

"I see you made it home," he said. "What?" "Why the hell did you get home so late? Another late night emergency again?" "No Fred it was nothing like that?" "Then why the hell weren't you home?" "I had to talk to Bosco-" "That damn Bosco again. He is always interfering." "Do you even care what I had to talk to him about?" "No not really." "Fred you can be so ridiculous sometimes." "Oh I'm the ridiculous one?" "Yeah Fred you are."

I couldn't take fighting with him again. I walked back into the bedroom. I couldn't believe he didn't even care. What if something had happened to Bosco? Hell what if it was something to do with me? He didn't even care. I just sat in my bedroom thinking about Bobby, Bosco and Fred. About an hour later the phone rang.

"Hello." "Officer Yokas this is Sgt. Christopher." "What's up sarge?" "The department has decided it would be best to allow everyone on the third watch in the 55th to have the next three days off." "For what reason?" "What happened was very traumatic. We would rather have our officers and paramedics dealing with this personally and not having it interfere with their job performance. The funeral is in three days so the day after the funeral everyone will return to their normal shifts." "Ok, sarge thanks."

I think the three days off will be a good help. I really don't need them to get over Bobby, but maybe I could use them to help the other aspects of my life.

***Three days later at the Funeral Parlor The funeral service was beautiful. Everyone had such nice things to say about Bobby. The time then came for everyone to pay their respects. I was sitting next to Kim and she asked me to go up with her. She was afraid to go alone. I agreed and followed her up to the casket. "Bobby, it's me Kim. I'm so sorry I didn't help you more. I should have done something else. I have only one regret, not telling you my true feelings when I had the opportunity to. I told you I only loved you as a friend and that was not true. I was just scared. I didn't want you to hurt me like Jimmy had. And to make it worse I was chasing Jimmy around right in front of you. I knew that he and I had no chance. I thought that maybe if you saw me trying to get him your feelings would go away and I wouldn't have to worry about being hurt by you. Bobby I love you and I will always love you. I'm so sorry I was selfish and didn't say anything sooner. I'm just so sorry Bobby." Kim just started sobbing. I gave her and hug. Her words though, they hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm doing the same thing. I'm doing the same thing she did.

***That night-Faith's apartment I unlocked the door hoping that for some odd reason Fred would either be asleep or not home. Of course I was not that lucky. "What the hell are you doing home? Why aren't you at work?" he snapped. I had no desire to talk to him again. He was drunk again. So drunk he didn't even remember that today was Bobby's funeral. I just kept walking towards the bedroom. "Dammit Faith, what the hell are you doing?" "Going to bed." "Why the hell aren't you at work? Do you even have a job anymore? How are we supposed to support a family if you are never working?" I couldn't say anything. I was so pissed at him right now. I just walked into the bedroom, locked the door and went to sleep.
Chapter 3 ***The next afternoon in the locker room I walked into the locker room. I was still pissed at Fred. I still couldn't believe he was blaming me for our situation while he is drunk on the couch every night. "Hey Faith," said Davis as I walked in. "Oh hey Davis." "Hey Faith," said Bosco. "Hey Bos." I couldn't even look at him. I didn't want to talk to him about why I was so upset. He was part of the reason. He was the good part though. I had done a lot of thinking before I fell asleep last night. Those words that Kim said still played over in my head, "I never got to tell you my true feelings.". My true feelings? What were my true feelings? I think I might have come up with an answer to that question. I knew Bosco could tell something was wrong. It was only a matter of time until he said something. I started getting changed as Sully and Davis left to head for roll call. That's when Bosco made his move. "Hey, what's with you today?" "Not now please Bosco." "Faith talk to me, it's me Bosco." "I said not now." "Later then?" "I don't know." I knew he was concerned and I hated shutting him out, but I wasn't ready to talk yet. I knew he would try to get me to talk later. Maybe I would feel better about talking then. We headed to roll call in silence. After roll call he went to get our radios and we headed out.

It had been a quiet shift so far which gave me more time to think. Like the night Bobby was killed Bosco parked underneath the bridge. He knew I wanted to be alone and think. He was being so patient. He wasn't begging me to talk or complaining about some stupid thing. He was really being supportive, even though he had no idea. Every so often he would look over at me, as if he was trying to get me to talk. I knew I had to. "It's Fred again," I finally said. "I assumed as much. So what happened this time?" "He has no sympathy for Bobby or me for that matter. He has been drunk every day this week. And last night when I came home from the funeral he got on my case about not working and asking me how we can support a family if I'm not working. He was so drunk he forgot I told him it was Bobby's funeral." "Is what happened to Bobby bothering you?" "No not really, it's Fred and something Kim said." "What did Kim say?" "You remember at the funeral when I went up to the casket with her?" "Yeah, what about it?" "When she was up there she said that she never got to tell him her true feelings and she realizes now that she was wasting her time trying to get Jimmy back." "What true feelings?" "She said that she had always loved Bobby, but never said anything because she was afraid he would hurt her like Jimmy did." Bosco looked away for a minute. He had almost a hurt expression on his face. "Bos you ok?" "Yeah, sorry, so how did that get to you?" "Do you think I am wasting my time trying to keep my marriage with Fred together?" "Wasting your time? No Faith I don't. You have Emily and Charlie to worry about." "I don't want them to see their father like I saw mine." "Faith you have to follow your heart and do what you think is right. I can't tell you what is right for you and your family." Bosco was right. I needed to think about what was right. Would it be best to get Emily and Charlie away from Fred? I sat back thinking about what Bosco said.

***2 weeks later "So how's Fred been lately?" "Same old Fred. At least he was sober one night this week." "Have you done anymore thinking about what we talked about a couple weeks ago?" "Yeah I have, I realized that I don't love Fred anymore. I have been trying to make this work because of Emily and Charlie, but I think I am hurting them more." "How so?" "By staying with Fred they are around when we fight all the time. They see him drunk and everything." "So what are you going to do?" "I'm filing for divorce tomorrow." "Are you sure that's what you want to do?" "Yes Bosco I'm sure." "I'm here if you need me Faith. I want you to know that." "I do know that Bosco, and I will probably need you. I have a feeling this is not going to be easy."
Chapter 4 ***1 week later I had filed for divorce that next day after talking to Bosco. I knew that's what I had to do. I couldn't take living with him anymore. I was also thinking more and more about what Kim had said. In these past few months with Fred being really bad I have always gone to Bosco. He was always there for me and cared about me. I began to think about him as more than my partner.

Fred had gotten the divorce papers yesterday. He thought I was crazy. He said I was screwing up our marriage. I was the problem, yeah right. I told him it was for real and that I didn't love him anymore. He stormed out of the apartment and I haven't heard from him since. Today was the day I was going to tell Emily and Charlie. I hoped that they would understand.

"Em, Charlie can you guys come out here?" "Coming mom," said Emily. They both came into the living room. "What's up mom?" asked Charlie. "Guys sit down,. I need to talk to you." "Mom what's wrong?" "Emily, Charlie Daddy and I are getting a divorce. We won't be living together anymore." "Can we live with you mom, please?" Charlie begged. "For right now you are." "What do you mean for right now?" asked Emily. "Your father and I haven't discussed living arrangements." "Mom please don't make us live with him. He is always drunk. I hate having to be here when he is like that." Emily began to cry. "Emily, don't cry. It's ok, well figure something out." "Does that mean no more fighting?" asked Charlie. "Hopefully Charlie, hopefully." "Good, cause I hated listening to dad constantly yelling at you." "Why didn't you guys say something sooner if you were uncomfortable?" "We thought you would think we were trying to break you guys up for some reason." "I would have listened to you. Please don't ever be afraid to talk to me about anything. I mean anything." "Ok mom." "So you guys are ok with this." "Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to worry about what dad does anymore." "I'm sorry I didn't do anything sooner guys." "It's ok mom, really we are happy something finally got done." They went back into their bedrooms. I had no idea that they felt that way about Fred. They were actually scared of him. I was really hurting them by staying with him. I sat back down on the couch and started crying. I ended up doing what I was trying not to do, hurt my kids.

"Hello." "Bosco?" "Yeah, who is this?" "Bosco it's Charlie." "Hey Charlie, what's up?" "Can you come over here now?" "Why buddy, what's wrong?" "I don't know, my mom is really upset and crying on the couch. I didn't know what to do so I called you." "Did she say anything to you?" "She told us her and daddy were getting a divorce." "How did you and Emily take it?" "We are happy. We wanted to get away from dad. Bosco we were scared of him." "Thanks, buddy. I'll be over in a little while." "Thanks Bosco."

I just sat on the couch. I couldn't believe what they had told me. Then there was a knock at the door. I decided to ignore it. I didn't want to talk to anyone. Especially someone who would show up at my door.

"Faith? Open the door. It's me Bosco." Bosco? Why is he here? I walked over to the door and opened it. "Faith? You've been crying what's wrong?" "Why are you here?" "That's not important. You need to talk to me." "I don't want to talk Bosco, please not now." "Faith Charlie called me and said you were on the couch crying hysterically and he didn't know why." "Charlie called you!" "Yeah and I am glad he did. Faith what's wrong?" I knew Bosco wasn't going to leave, so I just walked over to the couch and sat down.

Chapter 5

Bosco had followed me over to the couch. He sat down next to me. "I did what I was trying not to do," I finally said

"What was that?"

"I hurt my kids. I was trying not too, but I ended up doing it."

"How did you hurt them?"

"Bosco, they were afraid of Fred and here I was trying to keep us together."

"You didn't know."

"But why couldn't they come to me?"

"It's a hard thing to deal with Faith. Maybe they thought that that was how all families are. That all parents fight like that."

"God Bosco, what am I going to do?"

"You are doing the right thing Faith, keep doing that."

I just sat on the couch thinking about what had just happened. I just stared at Bosco. Charlie had called him and he came over immediately. I didn't deserve him. He was too good to me.

"You know what?" he said.

"What?"

"I'm taking you, Emily and Charlie to the zoo tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"Faith you need to start having fun again. I have seen you unhappy for too long."

"Bosco you don't-"

"I know, I don't have to, I want to. I hate seeing you so upset. I liked you better when you were happy. It's time to go back to that time again."

"But Bosco."

"No buts Faith, we are going. Emily, Charlie come out here for a minute please."

Emily and Charlie came out of their rooms and stood in the doorway of the living room.

"Bosco what are you doing here?" asked Emily.

"I wanted to talk to your mom and make her feel better. And you guys are going to help me."

"How?"

"How would you guys like to go to the zoo tomorrow?"

"Cool," said Charlie.

"Really, the four of us?" asked Emily.

"Yeah the four of us."

"Thanks Bosco. That's cool."

Emily and Charlie went back into their rooms after hearing the news of their plans for tomorrow.

"See Faith, they want to go."

"Bosco, I don't know what I would do without you."

He smiled and said, "Hopefully you won't have to find out."

***The Zoo I still couldn't believe Bosco had taken us all to the zoo. He was really an amazing guy. I knew he had this sensitive side to him. He just didn't like to show it to many people, luckily I was one of those lucky people.

"Mom can we go over on the playground?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah be careful. Bosco and I will be over here on the bench."

"Ok mom."

Emily and Charlie ran over to the playground. I sat next to Bosco who was sitting on the bench.

"I'm really glad you did this," I finally said.

"I am too. I am having a lot of fun."

"I am too. The kids are having fun too."

"Thank you Bosco. I owe you."

"All I want is for you to be happy."

"Right now I am, very happy."

We finished going through the zoo. We had taken a couple pictures that Bosco said he would get developed. After the zoo we got some dinner and headed home. Bosco dropped us off at my apartment and went back to his. I told the kids to get ready for bed and they did. I got changed and sat on the couch.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, Em. What's up?" "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure, anything."

"Are you and Bosco seeing each other?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you and Bosco dating?"

"No, no we aren't. Why do you say that?"

The expression on her face changed. She almost looked upset.

"I don't know, he has been around a lot and then today at the zoo."

"What about today?"

"I don't know, you just looked happy for the first time in a while."

"Well I was, I had fun with my kids."

"Oh, I just wanted to ask."

"Why do you look upset? Is there something else?"

"No, I was just kind of hoping that you were seeing Bosco. He's a good guy. Charlie and I like him."

"Yeah he is isn't he?"

"Yeah he is."

"Good night Emily. I'll be in in a minute to tuck you in."

"Ok, good night."

I got up and tucked Charlie and Emily in bed. Then I went back out onto the couch. Emily and Charlie like Bosco. Hell I like Bosco. I did have fun today. But I don't know what Bosco thinks. Maybe he is just concerned for me. It doesn't have to mean anything more. I don't want to risk the friendship we have. I could really scare him away if I told him how I felt. I had two kids, but he was really good with them. What was I thinking? This is Bosco. The hot-headed partner of mine.

Chapter 6

***2 day later Again it was a quiet start to our shift. Bosco was getting really antsy. He hated when we had nothing to do. I wasn't real fond of it either. We decided we would get an early dinner. We stopped at a local diner. I ran in to get our food and Bosco stayed in the car. As I was walking back to the car I saw that he was looking at something. As soon as he saw me he tried to hide it by shoving it in his pants pocket.

"What was that? A picture of your latest fling?"

"You could say that." He had a strange look on his face so I decided it would be best to drop it. We ate in almost complete silence. Bosco had something on his mind. I could tell. I decided I would let it be for now. When we were done eating Bosco offered to throw the garbage away. The dumpster was down the block a little. When he got up I noticed something sitting on his seat. It was the picture he had been looking at while I was getting our food. I couldn't resist I had to see who this new fling was.

I picked up the picture and unfolded it. I looked at the picture in disbelief. It was a picture of him, me, Emily and Charlie from the zoo. I sat there for a minute. Then it hit me. His latest fling? What did he mean when he answered me? Did Bosco have feelings for me after all? I saw him coming back to the car so I put the picture in my pocket.

The rest of our shift was pretty quiet. Bosco and I just parked for the rest of the shift. All I could think about was that picture. Why did he have it? Why did he not want me to know he had it? I really did have a good time at the zoo. Should I say something to Bosco? Should I see what he thinks? I don't want to scare him away? Emily and Charlie like him, that's a plus. He has always been great with them.

The shift was finally over. We headed back to the station. Bosco went straight into the locker room. I had to turn in our reports. Then I headed to the locker room myself. When I got in there I saw that Bosco was searching for something.

"Hey, what are you looking for?"

"Oh I just misplaced something."

"What? Maybe I saw it."

"It's just something."

I thought about the picture I found. Should I tell him? I figured the locker room wasn't the place.

"Maybe it's in the car?"

"I already looked. I'm sure I'll find it."

"Ok, you still coming out with us?"

"Of course."

We headed to the bar as we did at least once a week. I wasn't really into going, but I wanted to help Bosco out. We were there with Sully, Davis and a couple of the firefighters. I could tell Bosco wasn't really into it either.

"Hey, we can go back to my place and talk if you want."

"I don't have anything to talk about." "You sure? You haven't been yourself the passed couple days."

"Yeah I just haven't been sleeping good."

"Well could you come over anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah sure." He had a curious look on his face.

We left the bar and headed to my apartment. I asked him if he wanted anything to drink. He said no as he sat on the couch. I sat on the coffee table in front of him.

"So what's up? What did Fred do now?"

"It's not Fred or anything he did."

"Then what is it? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Remember when you were talking about something you lost?"

He got a somewhat nervous look on his face.

"Yeah why?"

I took the picture out of my pocket and showed it to him.

"Is this what you were looking for?"

"How the hell did you get that?!"

"It was on your seat when you went to throw our garbage out."

"Oh god Faith, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"The picture. I'm sorry."

I could tell he was uncomfortable, so I decided I had to be the one to make the move.

"Bosco, I need you to answer me this honestly, ok?" He hesitated for a minute.

"Yeah, Ok."

"Is there any significance to this picture?"

"Some yes."

" What kind of significance?" "It reminds me of the fun I.we had at the zoo. It was good to finally see you smile again."

"It was a lot of fun. It also got me thinking."

"Thinking? About what?"

"Thinking about you."

"Me? Why me?"

I took his hands in mine and looked him in the eye.

"Bosco, since I have been having problems with Fred you have been there for me. There whenever I needed you to be. You did whatever you could to help me and cheer me up. I needed you and you were there. And at the zoo, it felt right. It felt like we all belonged together."

I couldn't think of anything else to say. He was just sitting there, speechless I guess. I did the only other thing I could think of. I leaned forward and kissed him. I pulled away and saw the look of shock on his face.

"Wha.what was that for?"

"Bosco, you have made my life better. You have been so good to me since I met you. In the past several months I have begun to realize just how important you are to me. I want you in my life. I don't want to lose you."

**The ending next..

Chapter 7

"Faith I don't know what to say. I have had feelings for you for a long time, but you were with Fred. It hurt me every time you would come to work complaining about something he did. I always thought he didn't deserve you. You were too good of a person to be with him. He always seemed to be hurting you and I could never imagine hurting someone like you the way he did. I always envisioned keeping you happy. You, me, Emily and Charlie, one family always having fun. I would never hurt you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did. You were so unhappy."

I just sat there. I couldn't believe what Bosco had just said. I didn't expect that much from him. I was speechless.

"I'm sorry..I'll leave." He said as he began to get up.

"Bos, no stay." He turned around and looked at me.

"I wanted you to say those things, I guess I wasn't expecting so much from you." I said.

"It's the truth and has been for a long time Faith."

"I know that and I want it to be the truth for the rest of our lives."

I could see a smile appear on his face. He walked over to me, put his hands around my waist and kissed me. It was the most amazing kiss I had ever experienced.

"Mom?" I heard from behind me. I jumped from Bosco's arms.

"Emily, what is it?" I could see a smile on her face.

"It can wait, but I do have something else. Were you lying to me the other night?"

She had a smile on her face like I had never seen before.

"No, I wasn't lying, but I would like to change the answer if that's ok with you?"

"You bet it is, I'm going back to my room. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Emily."

I turned back to Bosco and saw that he was still blushing.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"The other night when we got home from the zoo Emily and I were talking and she asked me something."

"What were you talking about?"

"You."

"Me? Why? What did she ask?"

"She wanted to know if you and I were seeing each other."

"And what did you tell her?"

"Then I told her no. She almost seemed upset with that answer."

"Why?"

"She said her and Charlie like you and would like having you around more."

"Really? They like me?"

"Yeah they do, and so do I."

"This keeps getting better."

"And I think they are right, it would be nice having you around more."

"I'd love to be around more."

He pulled me closer to him again and kissed me. "That is of course if you can handle that."

"Oh you know I can."

He kissed me again. Soon enough we were on the couch on top of one another making out like we were teenagers again.

*******The End

I hope everyone enjoyed my story. I would love to hear what you thought. Please leave me some feedback. I'm off to work on my next story.