This is a little Flack/ Angell companion fic to "Kidnapped" and to be honest, I'm sure you all were expecting this at some point, so enjoy!
I own nothing!
When Mac sent Don out of the hospital room, he couldn't leave fast enough. He stopped just a few feet from the door for a second so he could collect himself. He couldn't believe he'd just taken a statement from a broken and bruised Stella once again. The flashbacks of a much similar day years ago in the aftermath of the Frankie ordeal were making Don sick to his stomach. Stella had to have the worst luck. No scratch that, she just had really bad luck. The woman did have a husband who adored her with every fiber of his being and a beautiful baby boy. So yeah, just REALLY bad luck. He never, NEVER wanted to do that again. At least this time she wasn't forced to kill. With that thought he pulled himself back together and all but ran out to the car to take his wife and child home.
When he got to the car, he learned that Jess was in a state much similar to the one he left Stella in. She was staring blankly out the window.
"Daddy!" Maeli squealed.
"Hey Maeli-bug," he greeted. Jess turned and gave him a soft smile. He reached over and took her hand. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. He could only imagine what happened in interrogation. He navigated out of the parking lot and started the journey home.
When they got to their apartment, Maeli immediately took of towards her bedroom to go play and Jess collected guns and badges to go lock them up. Don went to go do the dishes left over from breakfast. When he finished, he went to find Jess, hoping to figure out what was on his mind.
His heart nearly broke when he found her. She was standing in the middle of their bedroom, both guns still in her hand, absolutely overcome with tears. His first move was to take the weapons. They sooner they were locked up, the less he had to worry. Not saying Jess was going to do anything, but the longer the guns were out of the safe, the chances of Maeli getting her hands on them increased ten fold. From there he took his wife into his arms.
"Talk to me," he pleaded.
"He said he thought about taking Maeli and I," she sobbed. "He said he would have done things to Maeli," she added. Don had to nearly physically stop himself from going back down to lock up and finishing the guy off.
"Jessie, he's locked up, he's not going to do anything to anyone, anytime soon," Don tried to console her, even finding it appropriate to slip in her endearing nickname.
"I know, but I keep thinking he would have taken us if he had known," Jess mentioned cryptically. Don furrowed his brow in confusion.
"If he knew what, Jess?" he asked.
"That I'm pregnant," she stated, starting to cry again. Don's eyes widened. He reached a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him.
"You're pregnant?" he checked. She nodded. "When did you find out?" he wondered.
"A couple days ago, are you mad at me?" Jess asked, looking adorable with her red rimmed eyes and wet lashes. Don chuckled softly.
"No honey, I'm not mad at you and I'm sure this was not how you planned to tell me," he said with a soft smile.
"No, it wasn't, I hadn't really come up with a plan, but this wasn't it," she agreed, her mood lightening considerably.
"Well, I tell you what, we're going to forget all about Nathan Marx and celebrate, albeit modestly, the fact that we are going to have another baby," he said, giving her a light kiss.
"Ok, but I don't want to tell Maeli yet, I'm only about a month into this thing and I don't want to get her excited about something that could potentially be taken away," Jess disclosed. Don shook his head as if to rid himself of a thought.
"I don't want to even think about that possibility, but I understand where you're coming from, but we are going to tell the people at work as soon as we reach the third month mark," he laid out his own provision. "I will not allow you to scare me like you did last time," he added playfully. Jess smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, sir," she said with a curt nod.
"Daddy?" Maeli's voice came from the door. Both the parents' heads snapped in her direction.
"What's up, bug?" Don asked.
"Mommy, are you ok?" Maeli ignored her father, when she saw her mom.
"I'm fine, sweetheart, it's just been a really long day," Jess assured her daughter. That didn't stop the little girl from running to her mother and wrapping her in the tightest hug she could manage.
"It'll be ok, Mommy," Maeli mumbled against her.
"Thank you, baby," Jess chuckled, running her fingers through Maeli's tangled hair. Don reached over and lifted Maeli into his arms.
"So what did you need, kiddo?" he asked, kissing her cheek.
"What are we having for dinner?" Maeli wondered.
"Ah, I should have known, she is so your daughter," Jess laughed. Don stuck his tongue out at her.
"You can't blame the girl for having a healthy appetite," he shrugged.
"Can we have macaroni?" Maeli interrupted, confused by whatever her parents were saying.
"No honey, we can't have macaroni," Jess answered.
"Why not?" Maeli pouted.
"Because if you eat any more macaroni, you're going to turn into a big ole macaroni noodle!" Jess explained playfully.
"Oh, well I don't want to be a noodle," Maeli responded thoughtfully.
"Ok, come on goofball, lets go find something for dinner," Don smiled, carrying Maeli out of the room.
In the end they just ended up ordering pizza. Neither Jess nor Don had the energy to do any extensive cooking and they were running low on any ingredients for a low maintenance meal.
Don was putting Maeli to bed.
"Daddy?" Maeli started as she pulled her PJs over her head.
"Yes, dear?" Don smiled.
"Why was Mommy crying?" she asked curiously. Don felt his chest tighten. He didn't like thinking about Jess being upset and he really wasn't sure what to tell the little girl.
"There was a really bad man at work today and he said some mean things and hurt Mommy's feelings," he tried.
"It's not nice to hurt other people's feelings," Maeli stated.
"You're right," Don agreed.
"Did Stella return from her trip?" the questions kept coming. Don cringed at his little lie coming back on him.
"Yes baby, she's at home with Mac and Aaron," he informed her.
"Good," she replied with a firm nod.
"Anything else before you close those pretty blue eyes?" he laughed.
"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" Maeli wondered.
"Well, it's Thursday, so yes, you do," Don answered.
"But I didn't go today," Maeli protested.
"Well, that was special, tomorrow you have to go to school, so get some sleep," Don finished with a pointed look.
"Ok, goodnight Daddy," Maeli responded with a grin.
"Goodnight, bug," he said, kissing her and tucking her in.
"You need sleep," Jess noted as her husband returned to the living room. Don rubbed a hand over his face.
"I know," he mumbled as he threw himself on the couch next to her. Jess pulled his head into her lap and prompted him to stretch out. She began to card her fingers through his hair. She could tell her was relaxing some, but all of the tension had yet to leave his body.
"Relax honey, turn guard dog mode off," she encouraged. She smiled when he breathed a light laugh. "We're all ok, I'm right here and Maeli is asleep in the other room. Mac is taking care of Stella. You don't need to worry anymore," she added softly.
"Well, I still have to worry, just not about the same things," Don mentioned.
"Shh, don't think about any of that right now, just relax," Jess continued. "Right now, only think about happy things," she instructed.
"Like our baby?" he smirked.
"Yeah, like our baby and our bright little girl, all good things," she smiled back at him.
"I'm excited about the baby," he admitted.
"I was hoping you would be," she replied with the slightest waver in her voice.
"You saw how bad I wanted to feed Aaron this morning," Don added in a reassuring tone.
"Yeah, but that's someone else's baby, you can give him back when you're done," Jess stated with a dry laugh.
"Jess, remember, I brought up the idea of having another baby, I want this," he grinned.
"So do I," she disclosed. Don reached around and lifted the bottom of her shirt and placed a soft kiss on her still flat abdomen. Jess swallowed back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she watched and felt his enduring gesture. Damn hormones. Her hands continued to move through his hair. She smiled when she saw his blue eyes fall closed. Yes, they should probably just go get in bed, but he needed this. He needed to know she was right there and that his daughter was safe in the other room and her unborn sibling was doing just fine in mommy's tummy. Some nights, even big bad police officers need a little comforting.