A/N: While working on my stalled ongoing story "Our Live To Live", I sometimes found myself mulling over ideas for Kish stories set farther into the future, when the boys are married and Sierra Rose is older. This one-shot is one of them and finds Kyle and Oliver making an important decision about their family. It can be considered in line with "Our Life To Live"'s continuity and takes place when Sierra is thirteen years old.
"The Littlest Fish-Lewis"
"Dr. Fish-Lewis!" The raspy, unmistakable voice of Nurse Andrea Albright, the queen bee of the pediatric floor's nursing staff, echoed behind him. Knowing he would be unable to refuse whatever favor she was about to ask him, Kyle Fish-Lewis tugged up his jacket collar, trying to make himself invisible.
"You don't see me, Andrea," Kyle called over his shoulder as he quickened his pace across the lobby of Cherryvale Community Hospital, just steps away from escape through the automatic glass doors. "I'm not here."
"But I do see you, Dr. Fish-Lewis. I'd recognize that cute fanny of yours anywhere. You're not going to make me chase it down, are you?" Unable to help himself, Kyle spun on his heels and arched a flirty eyebrow at the stout nurse as she approached.
"Don't make me report you for sexual harassment, Nurse Albright," Kyle playfully scolded her. He paused for a moment before asking a very important question. "Do you really think my butt is cute?"
"Just adorable," Andrea deadpanned, a twinkle in her eye. She then extended a chart towards him. "It won't take long, I promise."
"Andrea, I'm already late for dinner with my husband and my daughter," Kyle informed her. "Which is kinda a problem since it's my night to cook."
"So you're already in the doghouse. Another half an hour won't hurt," Andrea pooh-poohed his concern with a flap of her hand. "And how can they possibly stay mad at you when you tell them you got delayed helping an abandoned child?"
"Oh, it's that case?" Kyle inquired as he flipped open the file. He had heard the story in bits and pieces. A security guard had discovered the baby discarded in the ambulance bay, wrapped only in a ratty sweatshirt. Premature and underweight, not to mention suffering from exposure to the chilly March elements, he had been admitted to the NICU. No one had stepped forward to claim him in the days that followed so the nurses had all been taking a particular interest in his recovery.
"He's made weight and his temperature has stabilized," Andrea said, reading over Kyle's shoulder through her red-rimmed glasses. "All he needs is for a physician to examine and sign off on him so we can move him into the nursery. Get that poor little guy some human contact," she added.
"Consider my heart strings sufficiently tugged," Kyle assured her. "I don't want him to spend another night in the NICU if he doesn't have to." He took a glance at his watch. "But there's nobody else who can do this? What about Dr. Jacobson? She's the one who admitted him."
"Still in surgery. Dr. Meyers is down in the ER on a consult and I wouldn't trust those newbie interns with a hamster," Andrea scoffed, making Kyle snort. "Besides, this patient deserves the very best and we both know that's you, Dr. Fish-Lewis." Kyle heaved a sigh. He could feel the last bit of his resolve crumbling.
"Flattery will get you everywhere, Andrea. Alright, I'm in," Kyle finally relented. "But if I get any grief from the mister, you can bet I'll be telling him to give you a call."
"I'm shaking," Andrea snarked before fixing him with a sincere smile. "Thank you, Dr. Fish-Lewis. I'll see you in the morning."
"Wait, wait a minute, after all that, you're not sticking around?" Kyle exclaimed in disbelief as she slid past him.
"Oh no, honey, my day is over," Andrea corrected him confidently. "And my Stanley's cooking dinner for me tonight. Jillian will handle the transfer if you give the go-ahead. Good night."
"G'night." Watching Andrea walk away, Kyle could only chuckle at being had. Turning back towards the elevators, he dug his cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialed home.
"Chelsea?" His teenage daughter Sierra Rose answered breathlessly after one ring, as if the four hours max she had been out of contact with her best friend had been sheer torture.
"Young lady, is that how we answer the phone?" Kyle tsk-tsked half-seriously as he approached the elevator bank. The doors of one whooshed opened and he stepped inside, jabbing the button for the fifth floor.
"Oops, sorry, Dad. Ahem…Fish-Lewis residence." Sierra corrected herself with an over-the-top flourish that made Kyle smile despite himself. She didn't have his blood, but the streak of sarcasm that ran through her was all him.
"Muuuch better," Kyle laughed. The elevator door slid open and Kyle strolled out into the hallway, heading in the direction of the neo-natal unit. "How was volleyball practice?"
"It was good, Officer Dad picked me up," Sierra revealed. "Say, how come you're still at work? I thought you were making dinner tonight…I'm staaarvinnng!" Kyle felt a brief, silly pang of paternal failure.
"I was just asking myself the same question, kiddo," Kyle confessed. "Do me a favor and put your father on the phone." There was silence for a minute and then his husband's baritone filled his ear.
"Where are you, Dr. Dad?" Oliver asked, perfectly mimicking Sierra's whine. "We're huuungry!"
"I know, I'm sorry, but my afternoon surgery went long and then, just as I was making a break for it, I got roped into consulting on a case in the NICU," Kyle explained. Walking up to the nursing station outside the unit, he mouthed a request for the paperwork he needed.
"You got Andrea-ed, huh?" Oliver guessed. "She has you wrapped around her little finger. I gotta find out how she does that." Kyle rolled his eyes. In all their years together, Oliver had found and exploited every button Kyle had, whether he was teasing him or trying to win an argument or seducing him in the bedroom. Luckily, Kyle knew all of his too.
"Hardy har. How about this…we swap tonight with Pizza Night and I'll stop by Renaldo's on my way home," Kyle suggested. "Delivery in thirty minutes guaranteed."
"Sounds good," Oliver agreed. "Just hurry up and get home, would ya? I miss you." Kyle grinned big at Oliver's sweet admission. They had had their problems and their struggles, but they still cherished each other as much now as they ever did. Kyle couldn't imagine that feeling ever fading.
"I miss you too, Oli. See you in a bit." Clicking his phone off, Kyle was handed the updated chart by a nurse (Jillian, Andrea's right-hand woman) and he thanked her with a smile. He then grabbed a disposable gown from the nearby dispenser and, as he struggled to get it on, went to get a look at his patient through the observation window.
It came out of nowhere, struck him like a tidal wave. Warm affection coursing through his chest like soup on a cold day while, at the same time, a dizzying sense of overwhelming concern threatened to choke the air out of his lungs. Letting out a shaky breath, Kyle leaned against the window's frame for support, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the bundle in blue, covered in wires.
He had made a career of treating sick children, many in worse shape than this patient, some who didn't make it. This feeling…this feeling was different…something new…
…or old. The realization of when he'd felt this way before came to him as suddenly as the sensation. A hospital, but not this one. A snowy night. A motherless child who needed his help.
"Sierra Rose…" The words escaped Kyle's lips against his will, just like they had thirteen years ago, soft like a prayer.
A few nights later, Kyle was at home, relaxing on the living room couch, flipping through a medical journal. Every so often, he reached over and scratched behind the ears of Morris, the chocolate brown mutt they had rescued from the pound and given to Sierra on her eighth birthday.
The quiet was broken by the front door opening and closing. Barking, Morris leapt down off the couch to see who it was. Kyle, knowing it was just Oliver coming home, didn't bother lifting his head.
"Hey you," he called. "Sierra get off to her slumber party okay?" Sierra had been bouncing around the house all day, excited about going to a sleepover at Kaitlyn Wegman's, the most popular girl in her class.
"Yup, no problems," Oliver answered. Kyle could hear him stomping snow off his boots. "Linda Caruthers is going to drop her off in the morning."
"Oooh, and how is your girlfriend?" Kyle teased, tossing the journal and his glasses on the coffee table. It had been love at first sight when lonely divorcee Linda Caruthers had met Oliver at a PTA meeting a few years ago. The older woman wasn't any kind of threat so Kyle enjoyed making Oliver squirm about her unwanted affections.
"Not funny," Oliver whined as he came into the room. His guard dog duties done, Morris scampered in after him and curled up on his doggy bed. "What part of married doesn't she understand? Or gay, for that matter." Plopping down next to Kyle on the couch, he reached for the remote, but Kyle put a hand on his arm to stop him.
"Hang on, I've got to talk to you about something," Kyle informed his husband. He had been thinking about what he wanted to say all afternoon, he only hoped the words would come out right.
"Oh yeah?" Oliver asked, turning towards him with a seductive smile stretching across his face. He nudged closer to Kyle and started kissing on his neck. "And what could my husband possibly have to tell me when we have the house to ourselves for the night?"
"Ollli…I'm being serious…for a change," Kyle laughed and he reluctantly shoved Oliver back a bit. He took Oliver's hands in his and gazed into the face of the man he loved, weathered but still as handsome as the first day they met.
"Did I ever tell you about the first time I saw Sierra?" Kyle finally began. Oliver shook his head no and, though he tried to cover, Kyle noticed him swallow hard. All these years later, even after all the love he had given her since, he knew Oliver still hadn't fully forgiven himself for not stepping up for his daughter the night she was born.
"It was a horrible night," Kyle recalled. "The ER was swamped with patients, but it was all just a blur to me. I was so worried about you and Roxy and the baby. Then I heard that Gigi and Schuyler had brought her in…I almost wiped out on the wet floors running down to the NICU." Kyle smiled faintly at his past klutziness. "And when I saw her…I got this…this feeling in my gut, like nothing I'd ever felt before. And I knew. That she was yours…that…that she was a part of you. I knew…right then and there…that she belonged with us. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you those first few days, I dunno…"
"And I'll be grateful for that for the rest of my life," Oliver assured him, bringing one of Kyle's hands to his lips and lightly kissing his knuckles. "But…why are we talking about this?"
"Remember the other night? When I got stuck late at the hospital?" Kyle gave Oliver the Cliff Notes version of what had happened. How the baby had been discovered and admitted for care. How Andrea had shengaihed him into administering a routine exam. How the sight of the boy had struck Kyle with the same intense feeling he had experienced the first time he had laid eyes on their daughter.
"K-Kyle…" Oliver stammered, his mouth hanging open in surprise. "Kyle, are you saying that you want to…?"
"I know we haven't talked about kids in a long time." They had had the discussion a few times over the years. After Sierra had started school, after Jeanine and Bentley had gotten pregnant, after Oliver had started teaching at the police academy. But they could never decide on whether to adopt or use a surrogate and if they used a surrogate would they use Oliver's sperm so Sierra could have a blood sibling or Kyle's so he could have a biological child. And then, inevitably, something more pressing would pop up and the issue would be backburnered again.
"I can't explain it…it's just a feeling," Kyle pressed on. "But we could give this baby a good home. We…we could be his family." He trailed off, trying to gauge Oliver's reaction. "What do you think?" Oliver sat quietly for a few moments, staring at his lap, his expression a mixture of emotions, before suddenly turning back towards Kyle and squeezing his hand.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Kyle hadn't expected that. He had expected a list of the very valid reasons why adopting this child wasn't a good idea. That they'd once again be taking responsibility for a baby overnight with no time to prepare themselves. That their house wouldn't be big enough for the four of them for long. That, though more stable than when Sierra was an infant, they still worked long hours at demanding jobs. That Sierra might not like the idea of getting a little brother out of nowhere.
"Okay," Oliver affirmed. "On Monday, we'll call Billy Douglas and see where we stand from a legal standpoint. We can…go rummage in the attic and check if there's any baby stuff left up there. And I guess I should meet the little guy, huh." Oliver then seemed to take in Kyle's stunned silence. "What?"
"Nothing," Kyle exhaled. "I just didn't think you'd come around on this so quickly. I mean, you're not exactly the impulsive one in the family, Oliver."
"I'm well aware," Oliver chuckled. He then attempted to explain. "When Sierra was born? Kyle, we had just started dating again. Nobody would have blamed you if you had just walked away. Especially given our history. But you didn't. You took a leap with me, Kyle. And now…now I wanna take this leap with you." The sincerity in Oliver's eyes made Kyle's heart somersault in his chest. He loved that Oliver still had that effect on him.
"And that's why I love you, Oliver." Kyle leaned across the couch and met his husband's lips in a long, lingering kiss.
"I love you too, Kyle," Oliver responded when they eventually broke apart. "And I'm going to love and care for this baby just as much as I do you and Sierra. Saaay, I just realized, we get to pick out the name this time."
"Ollliver," Kyle chuckled as he snuggled against Oliver's shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still have a long road ahead of us."
"You sound like me," Oliver laughed, putting his arm around Kyle. "Besides, we've got the Kyle Lewis gut on our side. Somehow...we're going to make this happen. So c'mon," Oliver prodded him, "let's talk baby names."
Eventually, they decided to name their son after their grandfathers. And soon enough, Rodney Walter, the littlest Fish-Lewis, came home.